Category: Uncategorized

COBB AREA COUNCIL
PUBLIC MEETING
Thursday July 18, 2019,
6:30-8:30pm NOTE NEW START TIME
Little Red Schoolhouse/Cobb Mountain Lions Club
15780 Bottle Rock Rd., Cobb, CA 95426
Draft Meeting minutes:
CALL TO ORDER (shut down cell phones; sign in please)
Roll Call: Cindy Leonard, Cathy McCarthy, Jessica Pyska, Eliot Hurwitz, Absent: Frank Lincoln. (Gary Prather has resigned as treasurer)
• Annual Election of CAC Board members (2 seats) and officers (postponed from last month)
-Opening for council position: Jake Strickler is nominated by Jessica Pyska and Cathy McCarthy. All in favor of electing Jake: unanimous.
-Eliot’s position is up for election. He is excited to continue on as Chair. All in favor of re-election of Eliot as Chair: unanimous.
-Opening for treasurer: Eliot proposes that Frank Lincoln take over treasurer from Gary and that all other positions remain the same.
33 people in attendance
Approval of Minutes from May 16, May 24, and June 27 2019. Motioned: Robert Stark , Seconded: Jim. all in favor and none opposed.
SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS
-KPFZ mentioned that the county is exempt from Hazardous Vegetation Ordinance, as is the state and federal, is this correct? Yes, that is true. Magdalena suggests that we contact the other municipal advisory councils to get a letter from all the councils to let the county know that
Lisa Kaplan announced that the Eco Arts show has returned to the Trailside Park in Middletown. Please come check it out!
Middletown Arts Center is having their Fire Anniversary Show on Friday September 13. Look on their website for information on submitting art for this show. All That is Now is the theme.
Next Friday is a talk about a 13 panel piece that Alana has done. Please come join them for that show.
Justin Coundjeris came to announce that the path from the Estates neighborhood to Hardester’s is now being closed because the lot is now going to have a house built on it. Jessica says that one of our long-term goals is to have walking paths around town. Maybe an easement could be made like they do for beach access? Robert Stark says that it is a prescribed easement and unless the public takes action to state that it is a known and obvious easement then you will lose out on keeping that path. You would need to contact the county to order a “stay” to prevent construction until the issue is resolved. Jake says that in that situation, somebody has to take responsibility for the easement. The county would be an obvious choice, but Justin says he has been maintaining it thus far. Perhaps Hardester’s needs to be involved. Ben Murphy says that the fire department is wanting enough room for a firetruck to drive through
Jon Meyer announces that Bingo Bob is coming back a week from tomorrow. Also another Lobster dinner will be coming up.
Joe from Pine Grove is going to have a star gazing night with Angelo who lives in Anderson Springs. It is a 16” lens and can be programmed to locate specific points in the sky. Look out for posters about this event.
TREASURER’S REPORT Eliot says there will be a treasurers report next month as we transition to Quick books. Thank you to Jon Meyer for helping with that transition.
t-shirt report: Pre-sold $2400 plus $2200 for the ones Hardester’s bought.
PUBLIC and BOARD COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS (3 mins./individual):
Fire Season Update:
new CAC “Puller Bear” loan program (big tool to pull out big weeds like Broom)
Cindy is looking for approval of a document that community members sign to check out our weed wrench tool. All were in favor of document.
Firewise Community organizing update. lots of good news about insurance discounts for people living in Firewise neighborhoods.
Mel has an update on the communication committee. He gave a demonstration of the radios in different locations to explain how the new repeaters work. There are now about 40-50 radio users (the less expensive $12 toy radios), plus 4 ham radio operators. CAVERN is the name of the network. Mel will program them for you if you would like to join in and get one. Each of the Firewise areas has a different zone, but in general they just use one for the testing on every Saturday at 1:00.
Supervisor’s Comments
Community Reports
Introducing Guests from Paradise, CA – sharing recovery/regeneration stories. The guests from Paradise attended an event at the New Paradigm College in Lucerne. Then they also toured around our area to help bridge our communities and share experiences.
-Susan says that one of the things that they are reflecting on is that the work that we have done after the Valley Fire has made things they are doing easier. For example our trouble with insurance has made it easier for them.
-David says he is feeling that we are the big brothers and sisters in disaster, even though they know there are some big differences in the two fires . They know there is a lot they can learn from our experience.
-Susan says she was contacted by a southern California filmmaker to take the story of Paradise to Washington, DC. The first filming he did was when they initially visited the rubble of their home.
Please look up “Refugee John Michael Son” on YouTube to see a video of a film that was written by a fire survivor.
Tom comments that he is so pleased with the progress
Blackberry COBBler Festival Plans – Jessica Pyska
We successfully obtained a grant from Calpine donation fund. ($4,000 for the Economic Development Committee which includes $2,700 for the Cobbler festival, and $2,000 for the Disaster Preparedness Committee)
Jessica reports that the Economic Development Committee has lots of plans and has produced t-shirts to show our Cobb pride. The goal is to add some more fun events, and get back some of the events that we used to have on Cobb. We now have lots of music committed and local vendors. It will be noon to 5:00.
Cathy announces Tuesday August 6th 5-9ish Cobb Village night in the Hardester’s parking lot. Renee Chastain is going to be selling food, pizza place will be open, Wendy Collins is reaching out to Mandala Springs to have massage chairs, informational tables, hopefully music. This is just the first Village Night of many that we will be having.
Update from Cobb Area Water Company – Ben Murphy (including Rainbow Bridge project)
-On July 25th there will be the final committee CDBG vote for the final funding. The money is there and they have never seen one turned down in 12 years, so we have very high hopes that the vote will be yes. There are over 5 million dollars in funds. 1.8 has already been received as well as 2.4 million planning grant.
Carol Hutchinson already has been given approval to do the go-ahead. We hope that the bridge builder can begin with the pilings in the fall for the pipeline crossing on Rainbow. This will be a brand new single lane 80 ton bridge with speed bumps.
Summit project is 40 days out to go to the county, then it will go out to bid.
For two weeks in August Ben and his crew will be going up to Paradise to work to help that community.
Ben announces that the Geothermal Committee still needs a Cobb resident on the committee. You can get the form at the Cobb Water office or Calpine Visitors Center.
motion to adjourn at 8:07 by Robert, seconded by Jessica.

Draft Meeting Minutes-June 27, 2019
COBB AREA COUNCIL
PUBLIC MEETING
Thursday June 27, 2019,
6:30-8:00pm
Little Red Schoolhouse/Cobb Mountain Lions Club
15780 Bottle Rock Rd., Cobb, CA 95426
Draft Meeting Minutes
CALL TO ORDER (shut down cell phones; sign in please)6:32 p.m.
Roll Call Eliot Hurwitz (Chair), Cathy McCarthy, Frank Lincoln (alternate), Jessica Pyska, Absent: Cindy Leonard, Gary Prather (?)
20 people in attendance
Elections: Eliot announced that elections would be postponed until July 18th meeting, in keeping with the previous elections, which were held at the July meeting. Gary and Eliott’s terms will expire in July. Gary is stepping down. Eliott seeks reappointment. After the election takes place, new roles of Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer will be determined.
SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Hobergs is readying plans to submit to the County for approval in the fall.
Cobb Economic Development Committee announced that its T-Shirts have arrived and will start arriving in Cobb businesses for sale during the first week of July. (Hats have not yet arrived.) Prices are $25 for adult sizes and $20 for youth. Businesses will keep $5 from the sale of each shirt as commission. John Carlisse provided funds for upfront costs of shirts in the amount of $5727.00 for which he will need reimbursement. Online presales were in the amount of $2635.00
4th of July Parades will be held at both Pine Grove Resort and Whispering Pines
CAM Cobb Area Musicians will be performing at Kelseyville’s Kickin’ in the Country Street Dance on July 4th.
Kelly Stuckey announced Lion’s Club will host Family Bingo and Square Dancing on July 6th at Little Red School House.
Inez reported, in the interest of public safety, a violent altercation between a hitchhiker and a would-be good samaritan.
TREASURER’S REPORT: Gary was absent but sent report that states total in bank $3970.00
PUBLIC and BOARD COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS (3 mins./individual)
-Eliot announced that the Cobb Area’s efforts toward recovery from wildfire is being noticed by surrounding counties. Cobb will be visited in conjunction with the event at New Paradigm College featuring Charles Eisenstein who will speak to “Climate a New Story” on July 17th. The visit will be on July 18th, and will culminate in attending the July 18th meeting of the CAC. Our visitors will come from Sonoma County and Paradise.
-It was announced that Cobb School has a new principal Aram Osterlye, who was previously principal at a school in Paradise which was destroyed by the Camp Fire.
Short reports from CAC Committees as needed
Communications Committee:
– Mel reported that there are 6 new licensed ham radio operators in Cobb. Saturday radio check-ins continue. Repeater sites in Hobergs and Boggs need adjusting. The committee members present will gather briefly after this evening’s CAC meeting. Lake County Broadband solutions, located by the airport in Kelseyville, is up and running with 100 subscribers and looking to place equipment to reach all parts of Cobb
Economic Development Committee: What’s Up on Cobb
Jessica reported that shirts from Pre-Order would be available for pickup at the Little Red School House on July 3rd from 8-10am.
The BlackBerry Cobbler fest is still trying to secure a venue. Adams Springs Golf Course is looking to be the choice, and we have a verbal agreement and are seeking to sign a contract. Adams Springs would require a $1000 facility use fee, which along with other fees, is an obstacle. Cobb Area Council would be asked to purchase a $358.00 Broadcast Music Industry contract that would give the CAC one year of rights to play music at its events, both live and recorded. A $250 event insurance package would need to be purchased. Additional costs for marketing and Passports to local businesses, as well as staff T-shirts for the event would possibly total $1000.00, for a total budget of $2608.00 Proceeds from current T-shirts would go to compensate for some of these expenses. Vendors will also be asked to submit a nominal fee to participate. Additionally, requests for a grant from Cal Pine and the Rebuild North Bay are being submitted to offset these costs.
Glenneth motioned for the purchase of the BMI contract, contingent upon adequate funding through T-shirt sales or one of the grants. Trina seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
What’s Up on Cobb facebook page is up and running.
Cobb Village Night is scheduled for July 16 and Augst 6
Next meeting is Wednesday, July 10th at 6:30
Firewise Community Update:
Magdelena reported on county-wide fire season preparations.
Disaster Recovery in Fire Communities- create a preparedness plan at Moose Lodge in Clearlake
the Joint Powers Risk Reduction Authority. The committee has a $75K budget but no funding source, and is applying to Rebuild North Bay but so far their goals are unclear.
So. Lake County Fire Safe Council is an adhoc committee of the Lake County Board of Supervisors since 2008, which includes Office of Emergency Services, Dept. of Forestry, Bureau of Land Management, Fire Protection District, and the County
PG&E planned power outtages: PG&E will need to do manual inspections of the lines after the outtage event before they can restore power, which will extend outtage timeline. Generator safety is a cause of concern. Wendy Collins has been drafting a generator safety pamphlet, and garnering the approval of PG&E, South Lake County Fire, and others, prior to publishing,
Governor Newsome’s office is offering grants, which North Coast Opportunites will administer, for Communication About Emergency Preparedness.
CERT training grants are available, also administered by NCO. Dale and Theresa at Lake County OES has already been working with 6 CERTs in Mendocino
Supervisor’s Comments- not present
New Items:
Cooling stations may be needed in the event of power outtages. Lion’s Club may be the recipient of a donated generator and the Lions’ Club could offer meals and refrigeration of medicines, and power other medically necessary items. It will need a licensed electrician to be set up.
KQED published a report on the Wilder than Wild screening at Soper Reese.
PG&E to make presentation at regular meeting of the Cobb Area Council on August 15
Next meeting of CAC is July 18, 2019 at 6:30pm at Little Red Schoolhouse/Cobb Mountain Lions Club: 15780 Bottle Rock Rd., Cobb, CA 95426
Motion to adjourn Cathy, Seconded Jessica 7:47

Draft Meeting Minutes-May 16, 2019
COBB AREA COUNCIL
PUBLIC MEETING
Thursday May 16, 2019,
6:00-8:00pm
Little Red Schoolhouse/Cobb Mountain Lions Club
15780 Bottle Rock Rd., Cobb, CA 95426
Draft Meeting Minutes
CALL TO ORDER (shut down cell phones; sign in please)6:02 p.m.
Roll Call Cindy Leonard, Eliot Hurwitz (Chair), Cathy McCarthy (arrived later), Gary Prather, Frank Lincoln (alternate), Jessica Pyska
32 people in attendance
Approval of Minutes from March 21, 2019 Jessica motions, seconded Magdalena
SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Geothermal committee needs a Cobb resident to be on the committee. Ben has applications at the Cobb Area Water Company. There are grant applications for Cobb projects there too! Next meeting July 11
-Kelly announces: Memorial Day Weekend Lion’s Club Square-dance on Saturday night, Pancake breakfast Sunday morning
Robert Stark attended the Calpine seismic meeting on Monday. The history based on re-injection shows that in the spring there is a substantial amount of small earth movement, based on shrinkage and groundwater. The geologist that is involved in that project is incredible. There is no doubt that there is really good monitoring happening! We will be seeing derricks and other equipment because there are three drills going in.
Glenneth states that he is doing a class starting June 4th with natural building materials. Sculpture, cob, papercrete, etc. 4-5 people max in class.
Note that there is difficulty accessing the Lake County website if you are outside of the country
David and Trudy Wakefield from The Lake County Bloom newspaper are introduced by Jessica.
Loch Lomond Roadhouse is now having music every Sunday. Wednesday May 22nd will be a very good guitarist. The Loch Lomond Roadhouse Facebook is a great place for their info.
Short announcement: Jeff Lucas says thank you to the Cobb community for help with the survey work to re-do the income survey. It has been submitted and the survey part was approved. It was a big hurdle and he is grateful for our support.
Eric Sklar announced the Kokoro Resort (Avalon Hot Springs) on Big Valley Road in Middletown. This project is submitted to the County of Lake for Preapplication Development Review.
Jessica asks how will you ensure that Lake County residents can still afford to use this facility? If you show your ID then perhaps a mid-week discount for local residents. Eric states that this resort will be year round.
Rich Curtola asks what will the egress for the damaged roads? Eric says $250,000 would have to be put into the roads coming into the resort (by their resort). Also, his resort would be generating TOT tax to go to Lake County.
Eric says he is not targeting any particular age. Rooms will cost roughly $250 or so, so much less that over in Napa. There will be a cannibis component to this resort. There will be cannibis gardens on site, and the processing of this will be done at the Clearlake facility that they own.
June 5th is the preapplication meeting to decide what needs to be done next. Then a 4 month process to get through the hearing process. Spring of 2020 would be the hopeful beginning of construction.
TREASURER’S REPORT: Gary states total in bank $7073.05
-request from Cindy that we purchase a square card reader and also a cash box for the Wilder Than Wild event on June 14th. These are items that we can also use for other things (like t-shirt sales, Blackberry Cobbler event, etc). Jessica will have
PUBLIC and BOARD COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS (3 mins./individual)
-David asks for advice for getting rid of poison oak.
-Also, thank you for everyone for getting addresses to Mary Jane Montana for the Hazardous Vegetation inspections. They are finishing up Cobb and moving on to Anderson Springs this week.
Short reports from CAC Committees as needed
Firewise Community Update:
The May 4th community clean up date was really great! (Eliot project photos on screen). This was a great way to continue to build strength among our neighborhood groups.
The funds were dispersed to all of the working groups, with the remaining $140 going to purchase a Puller Bear for the Cobb Area Council.
It is now official that the California Fair Plan is giving a discount to homeowners who live in a Firewise Community. Make sure that you know what community you live in! A detailed map will be located on the California Fire Safe Council website the second week of June. The current map does not have specific details: https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/By-topic/Wildfire/Firewise-USA/Firewise-USA-Resources/Firewise-USA-sites
-Cindy states that she and Magdalena have continued to attend the county meetings regarding Disaster Preparedness and recovery. Cindy states that we are hoping to encourage the rapid growth of the Lake County Fire Safe Council so that it can help bridge the gap between what the many state, local and non-profit agencies are doing and what the local communities/homeowners (Firewise Communities especially) are doing. There is a rapid amount of grant announcements and we want to make sure that Lake County has the structure in place to capture all the grant money and utilize it efficiently.
These groups all have a role in this organization:
1) Fire Safe Councils
2) Resource Conservation Districts
3) Fire Adapted Communities
4) Firewise Communities
The public needs the Lake County Fire Safe Council as the liaison to find out about: upcoming power outages, help clearing properties, home hardening, notification systems (sirens), what do the colored ribbons on trees mean?
We hope that the Wilder Than Wild screening at the Soper Reese Theatre will help get the many groups together who are doing great things in Lake County but have not met the other groups working on the same thing. Creating synergy and helping us do more.
CalFire states that they are waiting on the Archaeology report on the Bottle Rock Road clearing project. They hope to have that in the next month so that their crews can do the clearing.
CalFire Grant: Homeowner defensible space re-imbursement. Currently there are 37 applications, another 7 that were recently received.
Supervisor’s Comments- not present
New Items:
Jessica Pyska- Economic Development, aka “What’s Up on Cobb”
-it will be on the Facebook page (the “Cobb-webb”)
T-Shirt Design Contest- 1st- Rosie Starchild, 2nd- Emma Wakefiled, 3rd- Samantha Wood.
Music nights at the Hardesters parking lot (maybe a Thursday night)
Joe at Pine Grove might have star gazing in the meadow, plus music
Solstice party June 22nd at Pine Summit Pool. Price to be announced, music, vendors, Kelsey Creek Brewery, Mandala will sponsor massage chair.
Blackberry Cobbler Festival Plans (Aug 24)
1st Annual Blackberry Cobbler Festival
August 24, 2019
Whispering Pines Resort
“What’s Up on Cobb” is a marketing and promotion group that was formed through the Cobb Area Council to support the businesses in the Cobb Area by creating synergy and a “buzz” to get people excited again to live here and visit here. Our goal is to help local businesses have at least one event this summer that will be open to the community, marketed to summer visitors, and promoted throughout the county. We have a team of volunteers that are dedicated to “bringing the fun back to the mountain” and want to help make this a summer the beginning of a new era.
A Day of Picnicking Under the Pines
Sponsored by the Cobb Area Council & “What’s Up on Cobb”
Bring your picnic blankets and enjoy a day of old fashioned fun!
1. Cobbler Contest with “celebrity” judge: Cobb School Principal David Leonard
2. Food-
Cobb oven pizza, Fairlight Ahlgren
BBQ
Blackberry cobbler, Lions Club
Blackberry lemonade, Cobb School Science Camp
Blackberry ice cream sundaes, CAC & What’s Up On Cobb
Adams Springs Golf Course Clubhouse
2. Vendors-
Local and Cobb artists (about 15)
Pottery, jewelry, Valley Fire art & furniture, blackberry jam, honey…
Style and Soul “pop-up” in the building
Kids play area
The donated foam play set
Kids craft area
Jumpy house, Cobb School Science Camp
3. Music-
Acoustic, picking music, bluegrass, Americana
Square Dancing
Lake County Clickers?
Bingo Bob leading dances on the grass (Eric could sub in… he’s a great teacher)
4. Passport Raffle
“Passport to Cobb” will be available earlier in the month, get all the stamps and enter the raffle.
Stamp ideas- Swim at Pine Grove, yoga at Mandala… a way to get people to visit every Cobb business.
Raffle prizes will be donations from vendors.
5. Garbage
CAC seeking local businesses to sponsor garbage cans
Asking So Lake Refuse to donate dumpster/cans for the event
Cobb Mt Leo’s and/or HS students in need of service hours to clean up/pick up trash while the event is underway and afterwards
6. Restroom facilities
How many toilets are already on premises?
CAC seeking local businesses to “sponsor” portable toilets.
motion to adjourn Rich Curtola, Seconded Jessica 7:43

Cobb Area Council
Special Meeting
Friday May 24, 2019
Little Red Schoolhouse/Cobb Mountain Lions Club
Call to order at 6:15
Roll Call:  Cindy Leonard, Cathy McCarthy, Jessica Pyska, Eliot Hurwitz, Frank Lincoln, Madeline
Approval to Apply for “Access to Housing and Economic Development-Disaster Response” (AHEAD-DR) Grant from Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco.
Cobb Mountain Fire Recovery and Development Strategy.
Application would be for $200,000 to:
– set up a real Community Visioning process (changes to zoning we might want to do in the Area Plan?). Four or five meetings to involve all the community members.
-Hire Jeff Lucas to do sector analysis
-Use this information create the Economic Strategy
-Assist with setting up a “Cobb Area community foundation”. Establish a Cobb Area Business association.
Motion to approve an application to Access to Housing and Economic Development-Disaster Response” (AHEAD-DR) Grant from Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco.
Frank motions, Jessica seconds, all approved.
Meeting adjourned at 6:41P.M.

Draft Meeting Minutes April 18, 2019
COBB AREA COUNCIL
PUBLIC MEETING
Thursday April 18, 2019,6:00-8:00pm
Little Red Schoolhouse/Cobb Mountain Lions Club
15780 Bottle Rock Rd., Cobb, CA 95426
Draft Meeting Minutes
CALL TO ORDER 6:01P.M.(shut down cell phones; sign in please)
• Roll Call: Cindy Leonard, Eliot Hurwitz (Chair), Cathy McCarthy, Gary Prather, Frank Lincoln (alternate), not present: Jessica Pyska
19 people in attendance
Approval of Minutes from March 21, 2019 gary motions, Cathy Seconds
SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Ken states next Wednesday the 24th 6:00 amateur radio class goes for 8 weeks, on the 9th week there will be a test. No need to reserve. Instructor is Bill Gave. No cost for class, $15 for FCC license.
Lion’s Club sponsors Easter Egg Hunt at Blackrock Golf Course Saturday April 20, 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. Hot dogs, chips, drinks available. Egg hunt begins at noon
Scott Parady: Cobb Mountain Art and Ecology Project in Loch Lomond will be having a Spring Open House on Saturday and Sunday June 15&16 from 10-6:00. Pottery, Plants and Pizza sale.
Cathy announces Blackrock twilight golf May 3 begins every Friday
Adams Springs twilight golf May 8 every Wednesday
Geothermal committee needs a Cobb resident to be on the committee. Ben has them at the Cobb Area Water Company. There are applications for the projects there too! Next meeting July 11
TREASURER’S REPORT Gary Prather. Deposit of $5,000 donation from Rebuild North Bay brings total to $8,024.43. $600 from NCO for theReimbursement from Cindy for Cobb Safe expenses (lunch, printing, etc.) in the amount of $851.38. Reimbursement from Girl Scout troop #10463 for Cobb Safe drinks in the amount of $100. Brings current total in bank to $7073.05. $4,000 of the donation from Rebuild North Bay is for the Cobb Resilient event on October
PUBLIC and BOARD COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS (3 mins./individual)
John Carlisi Report on Broadband Solutions:
Yesterday he attended a meeting with CalState and they have agreed to help us determine the need for us here in Lake County. We need grant money from the state to proceed. We can help them help us. Please fill out the form that is on the back table, and that form will be on the CAC website, too. We are on the edge of being underserved. If we can make the argument that we are underserved, then we can get help to improve it. Our problem is that it is so patchy. Lake County Broadband Solutions is community owned and community based. The address to send the form is listed at the bottom of the form.
Ben Murphy Report on Rainbow Bridge:
Community block grant money. Of the $5 million we have received $3million. There is an income survey that we need to complete to get the rest of the grant. Please please fill out the form when they come door-to-door and ask for the information. If we don’t get all the information that we need, then we cannot access the fund. Jeff Lucas will be coming door to door with CAC members. We need 90%.
Funding for the Starview project is still being worked on. They need $1 million, but nothing is approved.
3 projects are part of Community Development Block Grants.
Report on Hoberg’s Resort: Karl contacted Dan Nelson about Jessica’s email regarding business meeting. Here is Dan’s response:
Dan’s reply: “I agree – As we get closer to our final goals we should start that process for sure. Hope you are doing well – miss you guys.”
Then:
Just got a note back from Dan. He said he’s asked Scott to respond. Which at least confirms that Scott is still engaged in the project. I take that as a good sign. I will keep you informed.
Report on Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest:
Debbie Bloomquist-
-Extensive damage was done in the forest, so the forest is still closed. A bunch of equipment was shot up, tires slashed, etc.
-small work days have begun and a 50-person work day is scheduled for Saturday. Please look at the FOBM Facebook page to get updates for the next work day. All work days require a sign-up. Or, you can join FOBM to receive information: (show application)
-People are coming as far away as Santa Cruz to help.
-They are excited to be working with GoPro, who is helping to put the project on the GoPro blog. Then we can all follow the process online.
-We have a new membership volunteer and a letter just went out to update
Short reports from CAC Committees as needed
Firewise Community Update:
-Hazardous Vegetation inspections begin on April 25 (next Thursday). Show the two types of LE-100 forms. These were handed out at the Cobb Safe event…more are available on the table.
Announcement of May 4th grant winners (refer to banner) Hand out checks. Vote to use remaining money for a CAC puller bear.
Please continue to fill out the homeowner work forms
New Lake County Community Risk Reduction Authority:
Magdalena and Cindy are attending this newly formed group to make sure that Cobb is included in all programs.
-possibly a fall community event
-looking to help make Lake County an epicenter for fire-science and research, like at the New Paradigm College in Lucerne.
CalFire Grant: Magdalena: Homeowner defensible space re-imbursement
-about 45 applications received so far. We think that many more applications will come after the County starts the homeowner Hazardous Vegetation inspections.
Supervisor’s Comments
Community Reports
reports on important meetings in the past month:
Cobb Economic Development Strategy: get the buzz going!
-t-shirt design contest is underway. All designs due at May 16th CAC meeting where we will all vote on winner. Prizes are $100 first, $50 second and $25 third
-Next meeting on Monday April 22 at Little Red Schoolhouse 6:30
-Event announcements: Solstice at Pine Summit Pool on Friday June 21, Blackberry Cobbler Festival event on August 24 at Blackrock Golf Course.
Cobb Safe 2019
-Cobb Safe was 100 or so attendees
-People liked the format
-Lunchtime meetings helped neighbors connect and form Firewise groups. Always room for growth and improvement!
-The “large landowner” group formed, Forest Health Grant possibilities
-I provided masks, but forgot to elaborate on them. Take a group photo of everyone wearing masks. It is very important to take care of our health, not worry about our beauty in the case of a fire.
Feedback:
-unanimous that information and resources were relevant
-a few comments that lunch could be improved and the lunch meeting better organized (noisy)
-ways people heard about it: Facebook, leaflets at door, person to person, CAC, KPFZ, ,P.O., Lake Co news, SLFSC, Loch Lomond homeowner assn.
-loved the raffle, good raffle prizes
-loved siren test (good feedback on the CAC website)
-could be longer
Any other comments?
Please look on the table for handouts that were handed out at the event, in case you missed it or want to get something for a friend or neighbor.
Cobb Resilient 2019
-this event will be held on October 19. We will be able to review progress of the Hazardous Vegetation ordinance. Hopefully by then we will have money to assist with Home Hardening!
Wilder Than Wild: Friday June 14 6-8 at Soper Reese Theatre. Free to the public. Partnership of CAC, SSCRA, Sierra Club, NCO. We will show the hour long film, then follow it with a panel discussion.
New Park Plans for Cobb Area: John Carlisi states that there was a meeting with Rob Brown and the county about changing Forest Lake into a park. The county is looking at three areas to turn into a park, none of which are on Cobb. Jake Strickler, his family and his company are working hard to get a lot of the prep work for Forest Lake to get made into the Park. Rob Brown seems supportive of the idea.
Gary states that he is frustrated that the Cobb Area Council was not invited to the news event that Gavin Newsom did in Middletown last month.
Western Fire Equipment has fire blankets for sale (about $200). They could be very effective, but the smoke inhalation could still get you.
Meeting Adjourned at 7:32P.M. Rich Curtola motions to adjourn, seconded by Cathy McCarthy

DRAFT Minutes
COBB AREA COUNCIL
PUBLIC MEETING
Thursday March 21, 2019,
6:00-8:00pm
Little Red Schoolhouse/Cobb Mountain Lions Club
15780 Bottle Rock Rd., Cobb, CA 95426
Draft Agenda
• CALL TO ORDER at 6:01(shut down cell phones; sign in please)
PRESENT: Cindy Leonard, Jessica Pyska, Eliot Hurwitz (Chair), Cathy McCarthy, Gary Prather, Frank Lincoln
22 people in attendance
-Eliot has one line to amend in the minutes from last month:
replace: The company that was saddled with developing this is suggesting that we on Cobb develop our own “Economic Development Strategy” because much of what is in the larger document does not apply to us.
with:
Community Development Services, of Kelseyville, the company that has been tasked with managing the new Countywide Strategy, has suggested that we on Cobb develop our own “Supplement” to the Strategy, to better reflect the unique development challenges the Cobb community is facing.
Approval of Minutes as amended from February 21, 2019 Motion: John, Seconded David.
SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS:
-Cathy announces second annual disc golf tournament on March 30th at Black Rock golf course.
April 20th Easter Egg hunt sponsored by Lions club to be held at Black Rock
TREASURER’S REPORT Gary states total balance $2,424.43.
PUBLIC and BOARD COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS (3 mins./individual)
Short reports from CAC Committees as needed
Update on BOS Hazardous Vegetation Ordinance (Mary Jane Montana, Fire Marshal)
-Initial reading on March 19th, second reading next Tuesday March 26th. It can go into effect 30 days following that. 30 foot setback is listed, 100 foot recommended by CalFire vegetation management on all improved parcels. Sovergn Immunity we do not have the authority to impose authority upon other governmental authority. All parcels will have inspections using (probably) the CalFire LE-100 forms. Over the next 5 weeks we will coordinate with CalFire and other organizations so the work is not duplicated. New technology will be imployed (like the CalFire online program).
There will be details to be worked out as the inspections proceed. The results of the inspections will be given to the owner (and residents if rental). For the first couple of years it will be flexible as we work out the details.
We need programs to help people harden their homes, replacing windows, screening on vents, covers for gutters, etc. We will review this in 6 months and update needed changes.
After reports of the inspections are given, work will need to be done within 30 days. If it is not complete, note will be made. If there is nothing done, one more abatement letter will be give, stating work must be done in 10 days. If still nothing is done, a contractor will be hired to do the work. There is an appeal process where you can go to the board and the board will decide how to proceed.
She spoke to the contractor license board and if no heavy equipment is used, no license is required. Insurance and indemnity will be required.
The database will be most likely accessible by the public and insurance companies.
Initially the hope is that the highest risk properties will be done first, then in six months there will be a hard review.
Is there a way to request areas to be inspected? It is worth emailing to give information about high-risk properties. In particular it is good for organized Fire Safe Councils and Firewise groups to give information on high-risk areas.
The fines are $100 for first, $200 for second, $500 for third. And this can be per day. If it presents a great hazard to the community, then the county will be doing the abatement and then there will be a lien on the property taxes of the owner.
Will the CalTrans 40 foot setbacks be followed? They will be notified, but with sovereign immunity they can’t be made to do the work.
Information will be put on the Cobb Area Council website.
Firewise Community Update: (Cindy)
-Announce Cathy’s group certified- total of 4 in Cobb now
-Continue to collect Homeowner work recording sheets
-May 4th National Wildfire Community Preparedness day $500 grant for clearing (also Win Cary from Wolf Creek in Spring Valley) 5 x $100 grants for printing, supplies
-Wendy’s event (plan for May 4th) (pool as safe area)
-Vestra demo by Ken Kelsen (retired firefighter from Clearlake Riv) They are trying to track 3,000 parcels and it was a logistical nightmare. They are using an outside agency to rate the lots for fire safety. This helps them to know where to concentrate their resources. A big problem is finding people we trust to do the work. They can log the information on the parcel numbers and they know that the work is scheduled for the future. They have a benefit assessment and will be working closely with the county on the abatement process. There is such a dense population that they want to assist the firefighters to make sure that it is easier to protect the community.
There is a biomass plant going in by Scotts Valley Pomo Indians. This will be a private partnership. This will help get rid of the biomass surrounding Clearlake Riviera. It will be another tool in the toolbox when it comes online.
CalFire Grant: Homeowner defensible space reimbursement (Magdalena)
-Cobb Area Community Fuel reduction grant for individual homeowners.
Planning for “Cobb Safe 2019” on April 13 (Cindy)
-RCD will have trees and forester Jim Bridges
-Maybe siren testing?
-free lunch, plan for May 4th lot clearing
-Cobb beautification (Scott Parady, Native plant society, Plant giveaway?)
Wilder Than Wild Film Screening Friday June 14th Soper Reese
-Partner with Sierra Club, NCO, SLFSC, CAC, SSCRA
Supervisor’s Comments
Presentations
Cobb Area Supplement to the Lake County Economic Development Strategy (Jessica)
Eliot, Cathy, John, Frank, Jessica, Jake Strickler, Jeff Lucas all met on Monday to discuss ways to energize the Cobb business community. Jeff Lucas is working to find a way to micro-finance small businesses and businesses that are already here.
-They discussed forming a group to market the resorts, restaurants, wineries, golf courses, pools. Become a hub of marketing by looking at the Kelseyville business association. They decided that perhaps having an event like a Blackberry Festival at the end of the summer with music, cobbler, food, fun. We need to get everyone together and focus on a central hub of information.
Formalize an Ad Hoc committee so that we can work on this process: Cindy motions that we formalize a committee, Jessica seconds that motion. All are in favor of the committee.
Jessica, Eliot, Cathy will be on the committee. The next meeting will be April 8th at 6:00 at Little Red Schoolhouse.
Motion to adjourn Robert, seconded by Magdalena at 7:28

Draft Meeting Minutes- February 21, 2019

Draft Meeting Minutes- January 17, 2019
COBB AREA COUNCIL
PUBLIC MEETING
Thursday January 17, 2019
Little Red Schoolhouse/Cobb Mountain Lions Club
15780 Bottle Rock Rd., Cobb, CA 95426
Draft Meeting Minutes
PRESENT: Gary Prather, Eliot Hurwitz, Jessica Pyska, Cindy Leonard, Cathy McCarthy
24 community members present
CALL TO ORDER at 6:04 (shut down cell phones; sign in please)
Approval of amended agenda
MOTION to approve Cathy, seconded by Gary, all approve.
Approval of Minutes from December 20, 2018 postponed….
ELECTION OF NEW CAC BOARD ALTERNATE
-nominations: Jessica nominated Frank Lincoln, seconded by Rich Curtola
-nomination of Glenneth by Gary, seconded by Trina
All nominate Frank and approved
SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Kelly- Lion’s Club info:
Super Bowl party starting at 3:00 on February 3.
March 2nd is Crab Feed fundraiser tickets $60
March 17 $15 St. Patty’s day event
All donations welcome
~Fundraiser for Cobb Mountain Elementary School Garden, February 2nd at Moore Family Winery. Crab Boil tickets at http://www.moorefamilywinery.com/event/crab-boil-2/?instance_id=194
Silent Auction items needed by January 28, drop off at Cobb School office.
TREASURER’S REPORT Gary states total balance $2,674.43
Proposal of one-time donation to Lion’s Club: $250.00 Motion by Jessica, seconded by Glenneth. All in favor.
PUBLIC and BOARD COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS (3 mins./individual)
~Dead trees falling in the storm: Jessica says that a dead tree fell on a home on Gifford. Rob Brown says that it is something we need to continue to pursue. Cathy says that sending a certified letter helps with the insurance process when a tree fell at her home.
Andre Ross (attorney) came to a previous CAC meeting to inform us about drafting a letter to send certified letter.
Rich doesn’t understand why the county doesn’t come take down the dead trees and bill the homeowner. There was a hazardous home next to Rich and the county tore it down, removed it and billed the property owner. Why are they not doing anything with the dead trees? It seems the county should be responsible if/when someone gets hurt.
Eliot: The ordinance that the BOS is maybe going to include the dead standing trees.
Ben: The county doesn’t have the funding to do anything, even if they do pass an ordinance, how will they enforce it?
This could help us get funding if they have some sort of ordinance.
Jessica: FEMA funds might be eligible for taking down trees now.
Eliot: What can the county do, What can we do ourselves? Eliot, Charlene Hamilton, Tom, Jessica and Terre will be on a committee to explore this.
Jessyca Lytle: precedence was set in Napa county for litigation. Code enforcement is funded by the fees charged.
Cindy: Update from Dale Carnathan, Lake County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Services Manager regarding sirens:
Four sirens have been installed and communications/activation verified.
ENSS (Emergency Notification Sirens System) address locations.
Loch Lomond Fire Station 64
10331 Loch Lomond Road
Replacement of existing Siren
Cobb Fire Station 62
16547 Hwy 175
Replacement of existing Siren
Anderson Springs
10350 Socrates Mine Road
New siren placed at request of community
Middletown Fire Station 60
21095 Hwy 175
Replacement of existing Siren
This list does not include Hidden Valley Lake, or any proposed sites. I understand several HOA’s and Communities are actively considering additional systems.
Agreements for operation and maintenance have been signed.
What we are working on: a Standard Operating Procedure for activation, which must be approved by the Sheriff, CalFire and the Fire Districts. That SOP must also ensure that there is supplemental or directional information available before we push the button(s);
We also need to solidify a public information campaign about the system(s), and what it means when they hear the sound. We MUST standardize that message, as we have many folks that travel throughout the County, and the sound needs to mean the same thing regardless of your location. The message we wish to convey is that the siren sound is a notification to look for more information, and to be aware of your surroundings.
Also, regarding new police car emergency siren info:
We’re enabling it on our newer units. There is a post on the Sheriff’s Facebook page about it, with a sound bite. It’s a unique hi-lo sound that will ONLY be used to advise of an emergency or evacuation.
Update on Rainbow Bridge repairs:
Ben is waiting on the government funding before project goes out to bid. Jeff Lucas says that paperwork is submitted, block grant funds and water resources control board is confirmed. Rainbow pipeline project is being funded by HUD. Ben is hoping to get started in the spring.
Short reports from CAC Committees as needed:
Glenneth states that the wattles have been installed at Hoberg’s
FireWise Community: Update on CalFire Grant for Cobb Mt. Hazard Reduction
~Magdalena and Cindy will be attending the Northwestern California Community Wildfire Resiliency Conference which is presented by the Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network Feb 8-10. About 7 people will represent Lake County. We hope to learn about Policy Updates & How to Engage, Fuels, Evacuation, Permitting, Prescribed Fire, Fundraising, etc.
Magdalena: South Lake Firesafe Council looking into developing a local Community Wildfire Protection Plan that can be aligned to the countywide plan
There has been a proposal by Raymon Baltar for a BioChar demonstration on Cobb. 30 people minimum needed, cost $35 per person, during burn season. They bring flame cap kilns.
Magdalena is working with South Lake Fire Safe Council to make an index of documents you need to present for grants and what grants are out there.
Calfire grant to SSCRA is ready to be implemented.
Last week Magdalena and Wendy went to a meeting to find out what the details are for the grant that has already been awarded. Please sign up for more info at the front table: Cobb Area Community-Based Fuel Reduction Project. Depending on the demand priority will be given to residents residing in a Firewise community or a group that is preparing to be one, participating in a community firebreak, a house along major evacuation route, or any neighbors who are willing to band together in a contiguous minimum of 5 acres to use goats or sheep.
The Cobb Area Community-Based Fuel Reduction Project (the “Project”) in Lake County, California is accepting applications for participation. The Project is a state-funded reimbursement program for qualified homeowners owning residences in Cobb and its environs and who wish to be reimbursed for 75% of their expenses for certain lot-clearing activities there, and up to no more than $1250.00 total.
Volunteer activities through the Firewise Communities(R) program count twice – once towards the Firewise Communities certificate and a second time towards the match needed from the community for the Calfire grant. Stay in touch with your Firewise coordinator.
Reimbursement is possible only for “new” projects, i.e., no work done previously for 6 months, due to the need for CEQA (pron. SEE-kwuh) clearances before beginning any work that needs to be reimbursed. CEQA = California Environmental Quality Act; it covers but is not limited to native species, air quality, archaeological significance, watershed effects.
Reimbursement is $1250 per acre, homeowner pays 25% and the $1250 can cover up to 75%. The grant money comes from the State’s Cap and Trade fund. Need to get everyone’s application soon because we have 18 months from December 2018 to get all the CEQA clearance work submitted.
The Project application period is open from January 15, 2019 until May 31, 2020. Reimbursement requests may be submitted until May 31, 2022 and paid until the end of June 2022, or until funds are no longer available, whichever condition occurs sooner.
More information at: firewise@sscra.org, phone (707) 812-1853.
Reminder: Cobb Safe on April 13 at Cobb School. Save the date! This event will have updated information regarding Emergency plans, grant information and we will have neighborhood break-out meetings. And free lunch!
Supervisor’s Comments
Supervisor Brown was not present to give any remarks.
Presentations
CalFire will be present to discuss progress on the Bottle Rock Rd Brush Clearing Project. Due to mis-communication, this is postponed.
Presentation on the new Lake Co. Economic Development Strategy – Jeff Lucas, Lake County Economic Development Corporation
-small businesses can contact www.westcenter.org for help getting loans, marketing, building your brand, etc.
-They will have an emergency preparedness workshop on March 4th from noon-2:00 at the Lakeport City Hall. Call 707-964-7571 to register.
New Lake County Economic Development strategy: this is something that is being developed since 1983. Helps with loans for businesses, educational workshops, and help with loans for housing for employees.
Short term goals:
1) find 25 commercial sites to market
2) expand broadband services
3) fund infrastructure improvements (like public bathrooms and wastewater treatment at Lampson Airfield) This will attract businesses to go there.
Jeff encourages us to create our own vision of what we want for Cobb to be included in the Economic Strategic Plan. The more we can do for ourselves on our own the better. Economic path to prosperity to give our input on what we want for that and the Cobb Area Plan.

November 15, 2018
Draft Meeting Minutes
COBB AREA COUNCIL
PUBLIC MEETING
Thursday November 15, 2018
Little Red Schoolhouse/Cobb Mountain Lions Club
15780 Bottle Rock Rd., Cobb, CA 95426
Mtg called to order at 6:02pm
PRESENT: Gary Prather, Eliot Hurwitz, Jessica Pyska, Cindy Leonard, Cathy McCarthy
Ron Hasket has submitted his resignation due to not having enough time to do the job.
38 community members present
Moment of Silence for the victims of the Camp Fire National Disaster
•
Approval of Minutes from October, 2018 Motion to approve Rich Curtola, seconded by Gary Prather
SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Kelly- This Sunday is a Lion’s Club “Leo’s” meeting 12-18 age. 1:00 at Little Red. They will be creating a low-sugar hot chocolate recipe.
There will be a holiday Christmas dinner at the Lion’s club on Christmas Day. Looking for food donations and also names of the families that would need Christmas dinner delivered to their home.
Cindy reports that the Friends of Boggs Mountain membership drive was a big success and that it doubled membership! Trail rebuilding will be in phases and so that sections can get up and open as soon as possible. There is a professional trail builder who is helping to train the Friends of Boggs in building long-lasting trails. This is important for planning the volunteer trail building parties. Calpine donated $20,000 for the purchase of the proper sized excavator.
TREASURER’S REPORT Gary states balance was $2951.93. Cindy has reimbursement of $277.50 for Cobb Resilient supplies and having the maps laminated. Brings the total balance to $2,674.43.
PUBLIC and BOARD COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS (3 mins./individual)
Jessica: Family Health mental health resource in Kelseyville:
Given all that we have been through together over the past few years, it is not unusual to feel overwhelmed and triggered by these new fires. The Lake Family Resource Center in Kelseyville received a grant to help our community manage the stresses of these repeating disasters. They are offering free short-time counseling for Lake County residents. The help is here, should you need it. Kelseyville Office
5350 Main Street
Kelseyville, CA 95451
707-279-0563 – Main Business Phone
707-279-8564 – Confidential Fax
Another resource is the Disaster Distress Helpline, 1-800-985-5990, is a 24/7, 365-day-a–year, national hotline dedicated to providing immediate crisis counseling for people who are experiencing emotional distress related to any natural or human-caused disaster. This toll-free, multilingual, and confidential crisis support service is available to all residents in the United States and its territories. Stress, anxiety, and other depression-like symptoms are common reactions after a disaster. Call 1-800-985-5990 or text TalkWithUs to 66746 to connect with a trained crisis counselor.
Jessica: Dark Sky proclamation will happen at the BOS meeting this coming Tuesday. No change in law, just promoting it as good development
John Hess is reminding us about an application for “Share Institute” programs $500 grants for schools. Magdalena and Jessica will send out any promotional notices he has.
FireWise Community Update: Cindy Reports that the group meetings at the recent Cobb Resilient event were successful in getting some new people interested in the Firewise project. There are 3 groups now that are on the verge of completing their Firewise application for certification (which will hopefully happen before the end of the year) and another group (Pine Grove and Gordon Springs) that is forming.
Short reports from CAC Committees as needed
CAVERN: There are more small radios available for purchase from Mel when he returns from vacation. $28 for a pair. Which way is the best way to communicate during an emergency? All ways!!
Glenneth states that there is more wood available to pick up at Hoberg’s this Saturday from 8-4 at the South Gate.
Concerns about the clearing that CalFire will be doing along Bottlerock road:
50 feet upslope, 100 feet downslope. Only 35% of homeowners have signed right of entry sheets. Ben Nichols has approved the CAC to piggy-back on the letters they have sent to homeowners.
Ken is concerned about the erosion that will happen if there is clear-cutting along Bottle Rock. He is really concerned about Harrington Flat and how that area could be cleared. We need some clarification on exactly what they will be doing.
Jessica is concerned about the area along the creek and will they work with Fish and Game?
Rich Curtola is concerned about the burn ban on property owners who have less than an acre.
Gary states that CalFire opposed the burn ban when it was imposed, but it was the Air Quality commission that forced it.
Perhaps we will have warming fire all winter long?
Eliot states that we should address this topic in more depth at another meeting.
Magdalena will take these concerns to Calfire and ask for clarification as she and Chief Nicholls have already agreed that the Firewise program could piggyback a letter of encouragement onto Calfire’s mailings to those residents.
• Supervisor’s Comments (None. Supervisor Brown was not present.)
DISCUSSION ITEMS
(no formal presentations this month)
Report on Cobb Resilient 2018 – Magdalena. The attendance was lower than at Cobb Safe earlier in April due to late promotion, but the quality of the presentations and attendance was high. We had a few county officials and agents present this time, and we made a strong impression on them with the fact that we had residents talking to each other instead of only listening to officials or experts. The entire event is being made into a video so anyone can watch the presentations. We hope to have raw edits of clips available soon, but it will take substantial time to fully process 700 GB of data for the full video. .
-Magdalena states that one unique character of Cobb is our mixture of large and small landowners. We need to learn from some of the large landowners that have lived on Cobb for generations. They have lots of experience that we can learn from those families.
Roberta Adams is suggesting that we get a herd of goats for our community and it could be shared around for difficult clearing situations
• Discussion of new Hazardous Brush ordinance
Michael reports that this was formally proposed November 6th and then it was discussed at the following BOS meeting. The existing public resource code already states that homeowners must have 100 ft. defensible space. The new ordinance would enable the county to go onto your neighbors property. There would be inspectors and if something is found out of compliance, the homeowner is contacted. If the land is not cleared within 30 days, then it will go into abatement and then the county will clear it. The homeowner will be sent the bill. Civil penalty builds.
This is specifically for unimproved lots that are next to a structure. The wording also states that the property line must be cleared.100 feet.
Shaded fuel break has been the approved method in the past, why not now?
Comments from Michael: This only applies to unimproved land. The way it reads is possibly not the way they intended. Because each property owner will have to clear 100 feet on both sides of the line, you will have 200 feet cleared thousands of feet all over the county, so it will have great impact, but the county is stating that they do not need to do an environmental impact study. That seems wrong–do the math, this would be a tremendous amount of environmental impact. Also this seems to be a tremendous fine system. Michael states that there already is a CalFire mechanism to eliminate any fire hazards, so this isn’t needed.
Rich Curtola- The county has no money, so is this being written just to raise money? Eliot states that Jim Steele and Anita Grant (county counsel) wrote it.
Roberta wonders if all the trees are cut, then will everyone will just put up wooden fences and so no difference to the fire safety.
Gary Prather: has a problem with the section 58.4 requirement to get rid of seasonal and recurrent weeds.
58.6 improved parcel: why aren’t parcels of 6 acres and greater? What is the structure definition?
Improved next to unimproved parcels 59.2 requirement next to the improved roads. Will he need to maintain the logging roads? If they are going to implement this, why is the cost not shared?
Eliot suggests that we have a public workshop to discuss this so that it can be clarified.
Tom feels like his comments were not respected at the Board of Supervisor’s meeting. He said he asked about programs and funding, but was told that is not in this, it is in another ordinance. He feels he was not shown respect when he was told he needs to read up on the laws.
Jessica and many others want to make sure that this ordinance will include the standing dead trees that were burned in the Valley Fire. They have fallen on people’s homes and vehicles and we worry that they will eventually fall on people. For example, there are many next to Hwy 175 that could fall onto cars. Jim Steele told Cindy at the BOS meeting that this ordinance is not for that purpose and there is another ordinance for the dead trees. What is he referring to? We have been contacting landowners about these trees and getting nowhere.
In general, we feel the community needs clarification and to have a workshop before this thing is passed. We applaud that they are doing this, but there are too many loopholes and too much responsibility on the large landowners. If this is going to be a model for other counties, let’s do it right! Then we can show that it actually works.
Gary is meeting with Rob Brown tomorrow who wants to see what Gary is talking about. His property shares a border with 23 homes. There is no way that two of us could clear all that space within 30 days, and certainly not by ourselves with all the physical work and cost.
Motion on the floor from Magdalena to delegate John Hess to accompany Gary Prather at his meeting with Rob Brown to bring the items discussed tonight to the attention of Rob. Motion seconded: Glenneth Lambert. Eliot called the vote and the motion was passed.
Status of Measure L and Fire Dept. Funding
Eliot states that he spoke with Jim Comisky and that by the next CAC meeting we should know the outcome of the vote. December 6th is when the final outcome will come out according to what Rich Curtola heard from the county today. It seems like perhaps there are other funding options, and those need to be explored if this does not pass. There should be affordable solutions in this very poor community.
Roberta states that Jim Comisky has spent a lot time answering her questions. Do we want to start our own fire department again? We want to have a fire department, so she would love to work with someone to write grants or figure out how we can fund our fire department.
Michael suggests that the CAC puts a bulletin board or comment section on the website. Jessica will do this.
Eliot entertained a motion to adjourn. Jessica so moved. Seconded by Gary. Meeting adjourned at 7

COBB AREA COUNCIL
PUBLIC MEETING
Thursday October 18, 2018,
Little Red Schoolhouse/Cobb Mountain Lions Club
15780 Bottle Rock Rd., Cobb, CA 95426
Draft Meeting Minutes
PRESENT: Gary Prather, Eliot Hurwitz, Jessica Pyska, Cindy Leonard, Cathy McCarthy
56 community members present
• CALL TO ORDER at 6:03 (shut down cell phones; sign in please)
• Approval of Minutes from September, 2018 One addition to add Ron as present in last meeting minutes.
MOTION to approve with amendment Robert Stark:, seconded by Magdalena, all approve.
• SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Replacement wood stove program
The Lake County Air Quality Management District will begin taking applications for the Woodsmoke Reduction Pilot Program on Oct. 15.
There is $135,000 available for residents of Lake County who want to replace an uncertified wood stove or fireplace insert with a new, EPA-certified wood, electric or gas device.
The Woodsmoke Reduction Pilot Program is a voucher program supported by the California Climate Investments Program and administered by local air districts.
This program provides vouchers to replace non-EPA certified wood-burning stoves and fireplace inserts with an EPA-certified woodstove or insert, or a natural gas, propane, or electric heating device. A wood-burning fireplace used as a primary source of heat may also qualify.
For certain communities designated by the state and for low-income households, the vouchers may cover the entire cost of the replacement (up to $8,000).
After all the low-income applications are processed or after 2 months of the start of the program, a standard voucher of $2,500 is available to all households that want to upgrade to a 2020 compliant woodstove or cleaner device, and $1,500 for a standard EPA certified device. (If funds are still available, the standard vouchers will be issued)
Homeowners and tenant occupied residential homes are eligible. Tenant applicants must obtain owner approval prior to receiving a voucher.
The program will begin accepting applications on Oct. 15. Applications are available at the Lake County Air Quality Management District office: 2617 S. Main St., Lakeport, or by emailing Fahmy Attar at fahmya@lcaqmd.net.
Vouchers will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis, and expire four weeks from the date they are issued.
• TREASURER’S REPORT Gary Prather: $54 post office box renewal,$2951.93 new balance.
• PUBLIC and BOARD COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS (3 mins./individual)
• Short reports from CAC Committees as needed
COMMUNICATIONS COMMITEE CAVERN Cobb Area Volunteer Emergency Radio Network now has about 40 radios out in the community. We hope to get to 100. Update from Mel. Settling on one of three repeater sites. He has the proposal regarding the location if you would like to see. Website soon up.
Ham repeater held up on Prather mountain for about 3 hours during the power outage.
• Firewise Community Update from Cindy
Continuing to organize our community.
Cobb has been divided into six sections and is in the process of organizing to become Firewise certified communities.
Group One (calling themselves Jones Creek Crossing) consists of Gifford Springs, Star View, Alpine Meadows, Cobb View Heights and they meet the first Wednesday of every month at 6:00 at the Little Red Schoolhouse.
Group Two includes Whispering Pines, Cobb School, Estates neighborhood, Pine Grove and Gordon Springs. There is a small group formed within this larger group that is organized to get Firewise certified. This is “phase one” and then the larger area will be considered “phase two”
Group Three is the Bottle Rock corridor and Harrington Flat and is gathering momentum and learning about the process
Group Four Includes Adam Springs, Fox-Venturi, Pine Ridge, Pine Summit and had done a lot of work gathering information and working on the application process
Group Five includes Loch Lomond, Salmina Meadows, Seigner Springs and Wildcat. The sub-group in Salmina Meadows has recently had their Firewise application approved and is the first Cobb Firewise community! The remainder of Group 5 is organizing.
Group Six is in need of volunteers.
All groups meet during the “working lunch” portion of the Cobb Safe event every spring and the Cobb Resilient event every fall. Free lunch is provided at this event.
Three groups were far enough along in their organization to have Jeff Tunnell from the Bureau of Land Management come to do the required assessment (Groups 1,2 and 4). The information from Jeff will be used to create a neighborhood work plan. This plan will have 3 or 4 achievable goals to work on over the following year to help the community be fire safe. Each year the groups will do a bit more to help their area be more resilient.
The strengthening of community ties can benefit residents in many ways, and is especially helpful in an emergency
Cobb Resilient update:
On Saturday, November 3, 10AM-5PM, a Neighbors Firewise Public Forum day will take place at the Cobb Elementary School.
Calfire Grant update:
The release of funds for the Calfire grant awarded to the nonprofit SSCRA to help Firewise Communities get established by providing homeowners with 75% funding assistance up to $1250 per acre has been delayed, pending CEQA and some smaller concerns. Eliot and Magdalena will be meeting with Calfire officials from the Sonoma Lake Napa Unit and the State next week to address these concerns. Development of the homeowner application process is also delayed as a result.
There will be overall grant firewise priorities and then at the next level priorities from the local firewise groups that will inform setting the final requirements at the level of individual residents. The firewise groups may decide to prioritize income, but there is no such general requirement.
PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS
Brief re-cap of presentation from last month on Dark Skies Jessica Pyska. Shows a photo looking toward Santa Rosa of how bright the light is that direction. She had a letter drafted last month regarding this issue. Hopefully we can prevent future developments from creating light pollution.
She presented the new draft of the letter which includes all the comments that were submitted on the Cobb Council website.
Gary Prather states that he was not clear about the original letter, but with this clarification he does support it now.
Robert Stark noted that the Friends of Cobb brought this issue up when the Hardester’s Market went in and made sure that they had considerate lighting. So this is an issue that has been discussed on Cobb in the past.
You can read more online about these ideas at darksky.org
Here is the letter with all the comments that had been emailed in added. It was passed around to be signed by anyone who supported it.
Lake County Board of Supervisors
255 N. Forbes Street
Lakeport, CA 95453
RE: Lake County Dark Sky Certification
Dear Supervisors;
As all residents and visitors of Lake County know, one of the most amazing shows in town happens after the sun goes down. The dark, rural lands of this county offer some pretty spectacular stargazing. For generations, the Cobb Mountain area has hosted visitors from all over California who come to admire our starry nights and stay up late watching meteor showers. For many Cobb residents, the dark nights are the reason we live here. We want to preserve our dark nights and protect the economic bump that our summer friends provide the community each time they visit.
Much like most of California, Lake County is on a path towards growth and development. We, of the Cobb Area Council, encourage the County government to explore how light pollution can be managed thoughtfully and proactively with new development. In particular we encourage you to define appropriate lighting guidelines to protect our local dark skies. Please join with the efforts of the Taylor Observatory as they seek Dark Sky Certification from the International Dark Sky Association for Lake County. We feel an obligation to maintain our dark nights for future generations, as well as continue to promote Astro-tourism locally. Lake County has the unique opportunity to use the Dark Skies certification to promote astro-tourism, combined with eco-tourism, wine tourism, and arts/crafts tourism, to create a full package for attracting outside dollars to Lake County without significant capital investment by the County.
Thank you for your consideration.
Letter was signed by 35 people.
Election Preview –
Measures L Jim Comisky the fire district contracts to CalFire for services. Costs went up this year on the contract, so they came up with a formula of $200 per household, with other formulas for land, etc. This is just to maintain the current staffing. This is not for new equipment or new buildings, just to keep what we have. For more information go to: http://www.lakecountyca.gov/Government/Directory/ROV/Current_Election.htm
Question from Rich, 1.6 million shortfall for CalFire. What is to say that they won’t do that again? Response: this situation has never happened before and we don’t expect that it will happen again. Gary says that it is very rare that CalFire personnel get raises, so it probably won’t happen again soon.
Dave Leonard Measure H Bond measure to help repurpose and refurbish equipment and buildings in Middletown Unified School District. After four meetings priorities were made and they created lists of critical needs vs. desires. He brought an informational sheet with specifics of what this bond measure would fund. More questions can be addressed with the Superintendent, Catherine Stone. She can be contacted at catherine.stone@middletownusd.org 707-987-4100
-No money can be spent on teacher salaries, but one comment is that we need to increase the salaries to help teacher retention in MUSD. That will not be addressed with this Measure, but it is something we need to address.
Proposed Lake County Geothermal Exploration and Development Ordinance – Supervisor Rob Brown
-after the Valley Fire we talked about infrastructure projects. We knew that some people would not rebuild, so we talked about Right to Farm Ordinances that would inform new people who moved here about the Geothermal projects. Then the disclosure is there.
-This proposal has been being worked on for awhile, but because of all the other distractions the comment period has been extended. If we still need more time, we will take that time.
-Use permits will remain the same. The use permit cannot be changed without going through the public input process.
-There is a concern about the make-up of the grievance committee. This should be clarified. Calpine cannot be on the committee if they have a financial interest in the claim.
Perhaps there could be an academic or a regulator on the committee? The number needs to be higher. It doesn’t need to be a majority, it is a board to resolve issues.
Nuisance Section 3.1- it seems like the Geothermal industry is getting a big bonus that the community that we cannot claim any nuisance for geothermal activity.
Questions about how many days we have to complain. How long would we have to make a claim? 60 days seems insignificant.
Friends of Cobb format should be revisited. There is already a committee in place.
Robert Stark:
-Why are we even making this law?
-In 1980’s this town stunk and had many problems with the Geothermal industry.
-There are many industries that should have been notified.
-If there is a 5 mile radius
-The Geysers were just purchased by investors, so they are going to want to make some money. They are going to be moving North. Already there are two new power plants approved by the BOS.
-The current field is already swimming, no additional water can be added.
-This could affect the real estate value
-Incurable defect that negatively affects property values. Suggestion to contact the Board of Realtors to find out the reality of the effect.
-Rich-Other than the County of Lake, the Geothermal is the next larger employer. Supervisors must be concerned about the money coming into the county, so it would be beneficial to keep the Geothermal industry happy. This must have been the case for the previous BOS in the 60’s and 70’s when the Geothermal industry first came here. Our quality of life is at stake here. In 1964 there were no earthquakes. This is going to make things worse!
-Rob- There was a decline, but then it has come back with the wastewater re-charging. He wants to make it work.
-Jessica- don’t we already have an ordinance? Not sure.
-John Carlisi- Geothermal is becoming less efficient compared to many other types of power systems.
-Anderson Springs is concerned that the ability for mitigation and to make a claim.
John Jennings- Where did this come from? We need to be clear with any new residents that would move to Lake County. Rob: Community Development was leading this. We wanted to get something on paper.
Eliot asks, Where do we go from here?
-Draft a letter to the BOS. December 4th is the date that it is on the Board of Supervisors agenda, but if needed it can be postponed again.
Motion to adjourn the meeting, Jessica, seconded John. Adjourned at 8:04p.m.