COBB AREA COUNCIL
HYBRID PUBLIC MEETING
Thursday January 19, 2023 at 6:30pm
In person and online via Zoom and Facebook
MINUTES (Approved)
CALLED TO ORDER at 6:39pm by Chairperson, Cathy McCarthy
ROLL CALL:
Present: Cathy McCarthy, Chairperson; Chris Nettles, Treasurer; Darlene Warner, Secretary; Jake Strickler, Vice-Chairperson
Absent: Joe Schneider, Member-at-Large
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND MINUTES
Agenda: Strike 7:15pm item, Tourism Ambassador item, from tonight’s agenda, moved to February Agenda.
Chris Nettles moved to approve Agenda with amendment. Magdelena seconded. All in favor. Agenda approved.
Noted that WiFi is not working, so there will be no live broadcast of the meeting, however it is being recorded.
Minutes: Chief Paul Duncan moved to approve December 15, 2022 Minutes with no changes, Chris Nettles seconded, All in Favor. Minutes Approved.
SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Chair, Cathy McCarthy regarding Cobbite of the Year – Chief Paul Duncan present to receive the award. Slight error with his plaque; will be corrected. Cathy expressed appreciation for Paul’s accessibility and going above and beyond.
Robert Stark, President of the Mountain Lion’s Club – announced the Lion’s Club is having their Crab Feed on March 4th, tickets are available now for $75. Stated they are purchasing 600 pounds of crab at $8.95 per pound. He also mentioned that the Mountain Lion’s Club is the organizational Cobbite of the Year, thank you. Brought a copy of an article in the Record Bee and stated that the Attorney General has settled the lawsuit regarding the Guenoc project, and encouraged everyone to pay attention to it, especially due to fire routing, and as Cobb is Lake County as well.
PUBLIC AND BOARD COMMENT – NON-AGENDA ITEMS (3 MINS./INDIVIDUAL)
Eliot Hurwitz – Guenoc footnote – they need to start from the beginning again, resubmitting all environmental documents and public hearings, etc. Cobb Mountain Watershed Education and Restoration Program is able to receive significant funding from PG&E’s Nature Positive Restoration Fund. Looking for 10 to 15 participants who have properties that border Kelsey Creek, Alder Creek, and Cole Creek. On 1-28-23 there will be an introductory workshop with lunch provided. There will be 4 weekend sessions. They are working in close cooperation with the Pomo Tribes.
Glenneth Lambert – Sculpture Jam. Glenneth is putting together a team that will meet two weekends where basic art materials and lunch will be provided to create sculpture to be placed around Cobb. A handout was presented and passed out.
Inez – Neighborhood Watch. Signs are up. Was able to get rid of three squatters behind The Hub, and one in a car. She has Neighborhood Watch stickers available.
NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS
Vacant Regular Seat, 1-Year:
There is one vacant regular seat for the remainder of the term January 2022 to December 2023, which is for one year. Nominations taken, can self-nominate. Chair, Cathy McCarthy introduced Darlene Warner as the new Chairperson of the Communications Committee, and nominated Darlene Warner to be on the Council for the regular seat for a 1-year term ending December 2023.
Chair, Cathy McCarthy motioned to elect Darlene Warner, Chris Nettles seconded.
Discussion of the Bylaws regarding meeting attendance. Darlene has not attended in-person meetings, but has watched them via Facebook for two years. There is a requirement of 2 in-person meetings. Supervisor Jessica Pyska stated that the purpose of the Bylaw is to ensure participation. Jessica asked Darlene how long she had chaired the Communications Committee, and how long she had been with the committee. Jessica was satisfied that the participation requirement was filled. There were no other nominations.
A vote was taken. Unanimous. Darlene Warner was seated immediately.
Vacant Alternate Seat 1-Year:
There is one vacant alternate seat for a 1-Year term. Will address at next Council meeting.
Councilmember’s Roles on the Board:
Chris Nettles nominated Cathy McCarthy as Chairperson. Darlene Seconded. Cathy accepted.
Cathy McCarthy nominated Chris Nettles as Treasurer. Darlene Seconded. Chris accepted.
Chris Nettles nominated Darlene Warner as Secretary. Cathy Seconded. Darlene accepted.
Chris Nettles nominates Jake Strickler as Vice-Chairperson. Cathy Seconded. Jake accepted.
TREASURER’S REPORT – Chris Nettles, Treasurer
Thank you to Frank and Laurie (past Treasurers), they have been very helpful with the transition. There are no changes from the last report, we are still in the black! The T-Shirt fund will be combined with the General Fund.
General Fund $ 2,860.77
Blackberry Cobbler Festival $ 14,998.25
Cobb Resource Hub $ 1,124.62
Emergency Preparedness $ 2,417.62
T‐shirt sales $ 2,603.89
_________
Total assets: $ 24,005.15
SUPERVISOR’S COMMENTS – Jessica Pyska, County Supervisor, District 5
Missed November 2022 Council Meeting – was at a conference.
Missed December 2022 Council Meeting – was at a Christmas performance at Cobb School
As of the morning of January 19, 2023, Clearlake was at 4 Rumsey, rainfall is at 52.7 inches
There are new faces to Lake County for 2023:
Tax Collector, Patrick Sullivan
Auditor/Controller, Geneveve Harrington
Sheriff, Rob Howe
County Supervisor, District 4 (Lakeport), Michael Green
Tree Mortality: Spoke with Cal OES, received the bad news that we will no longer be getting the CalFire 25% match due to the State deficit. Jessica has spoken with Congressman Mike Thompson, and has engaged with a contractor. This is a $10-12M project in which we would now have to cover 25%.
Bottlerock Corridor: training still going on, Hogback crew is working under CLERC. Able to cut down approximately 500 trees in the Fox Drive area.
LIDAR (Fuel Mapping) funding: used $5K to engage grant writers. Submitted to the USGS and Department of Conservation. Both are funding, so we have $650K project 100% funded. There will be fly-overs in 2023. On Tuesday, January 24, 2023 around 9:20-9:30am there will be a Board of Supervisor’s meeting addressing Fire Severity Maps. Basically the entire County is red. Chief Paul Duncan commented that you must be there in-person to give input and that it’s comment only. OES is working on updating it’s Hazard Mitigation Plan. Had Disaster Council Meeting on January 19, 2023 – there have been two public meetings already, Hidden Valley’s meeting is coming up.
We now have a Climate Resiliency Officer. CA State Emergency is ending in February, in-person meetings to resume.
INTRODUCTION: SHERIFF, ROB HOWE – NEW LAKE COUNTY SHERIFF
Sworn in January 2, 2023. Is a local, grew up in Lake County, lives in Lakeport, has two children who are away at college. He has 20 years in Law Enforcement with the Lake County Sheriff’s Department – as a Corrections Officer, Sergeant, Patrol, Lieutenant, and as Chief Probation Officer for 10 years. This includes 20 years of SWAT team experience, 15 years as a Defense Tactics Instructor, and 10-15 years as an Active Shooter Instructor.
Glenneth had a question regarding CERT team, Sheriff to follow-up.
FIRE SEASON UPDATE – Chief, Paul Duncan
Commented on how much he appreciated Sheriff Rob Howe’s demeanor and calmness during the atmospheric river storms. Loves the rain we’ve been getting. At base staffing level. Have a fuels engine at Kelsey-Cobb Station. Gave reminder that we see many trees and power lines down during storms – assume power lines are live until proven dead. Don’t put a generator in your house; a couple people perished in a home in Sea Ranch due to this. If you see a tree with no bark on it, stay away from it when the wind is blowing. Oak trees look like a bush when first coming up; you can speed up the growth process by trimming the main stem and cutting suckers at the bottom. The LIDAR/Fire Severity mapping is not supposed to be used for insurance ratings. We have a masticator and excavator that CalTrans has been using South of Middletown for roadside clearing, as we don’t have the staffing at this time; it’s eligible to be used all up and down the 175 corridor. Boggs Forest is closed to cars, but the parking lot is still open. There are a lot of trees down, and the bathroom lost half it’s roof. Jessica mentioned the Friends of Boggs Forest will have a cleanup day on January 28, 2023, chainsaws only on certain days.
Jake Strickler asked Chief Paul Duncan if the Fire Severity map would restrict future building. Paul said no, it is for fire use only.
Tom: Highway 175 is overgrown in the Summit area. South Lake/Middletown fuel break.
Chief Wink was promoted to Division Chief and is now at St. Helena headquarters.
CERTIFIED TOURISM AMBASSADOR – MICHELE CARSON
COMMITTEE REPORTS (3 MINS/INDIVIDUAL)
2023 Cobbler Festival – Cathy McCarthy: First meeting for the 2023 Cobbler Festival will be held on January 26, 2023 at 5:30pm. Will need a lot of help this year, to consider outsourcing. Cathy to contact Pam at Mountain Meadow venue.
Firewise Communities:
- Magdelena – the SSCRA and SS Redevelopment Association will have a kickoff meeting on January 21, 2023 from 10am to 3pm. There will be another meeting two weeks later on a Saturday. There will be a total of 3 meetings: 1st one focused on strategy and deadlines, 2nd/3rd meetings on forest stewardship and forest health. These meetings will coordinate projects for both organizations; we are by ourselves and need funding. We need to learn more about wildfire behavior and wildfire history in this area.
- Glenneth – Jones Creek renewed, now in good standing as of a week ago. Neighborhood needs help. Cathy will be helping.
Communications Committee – Darlene Warner
Jessica requested Darlene explain to Sheriff Rob Howe what Cobb Alert Net is. Darlene described the radio network, how it works, and it’s purpose – expressing a desire to work with the Sheriff in this area. Tom had a question for Darlene regarding whether the current repeater is being kept and where the new repeater location will be. Darlene said we are keeping the current repeater, it will be a redundancy to any new repeater. Currently looking at Seigler Mountain for new repeater location, but many technical things to consider and work out yet. Tom also asked about a County-wide radio system; Darlene described how Cobb Alert Net is confined to Cobb area, but there is a repeater on Mt. Konocti that is more of a County-wide radio group. Cathy commented about the radio network being more formalized, Eliot mentioned proper radio protocol, and Magdelena mentioned the forming of a North County area net.
Budget Committee – Chris Nettles
Talked of training of Councilmembers on the Brown Act and Roberts Rules of Order [note: we don’t use Roberts Rules, consult County Counsel] by having a public Board Retreat/Workshop. Suggested discussing priorities of the Board, and that this will be on a future Agenda. Proposes promoting Cobb Area via Explore Cobb Facebook page, etc. and noted this usually falls under Economic Development
Forest Health Committee – Eliot Hurwitz
The air curtain incinerator has room. It can take slash and brush, but doesn’t do well with logs. Eliot has talked with the Wheelan folks regarding how to dispose of logs so we can recycle back out to the forest, such as biomass/bio char, a valuable compostable material. A bag of bio char was passed around the room. Robert Thomas has a Hugo Culture demonstration set up at the air curtain burner, it shows a way of recycling excess fuels to promote health of the forest. Beyond fire prevention, looking at promoting the health of the forest altogether, looking at getting a wood shredder in the coming year. Thinking of doing a Cobb symposium in the Spring.
Economic Development Committee – Joe Schneider (not present)
NEXT MEETING
AB361 Consideration – Consideration of the findings required by AB-361 to allow teleconferenced meetings by this body to continue (AB-361 Brown Act and Virtual Meetings)
Date of next regular meeting: February 16, 2023
MEETING ADJOURNED at 7:59pm