COBB AREA COUNCIL
PUBLIC MEETING
Thursday October 19, 2023 at 6:30pm
In-Person and Online Participation Available
MINUTES (Approved 11-16-2023)
CALLED TO ORDER at 6:34pm
ROLL CALL:
Present: Cathy McCarthy, Darlene Warner, Mel McMurrin
Absent: Chris Nettles, Jake Strickler, Joe Schneider
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Approval of Agenda: Motion by Robert, 2nd by Eliot. All in favor. Agenda approved as Amended.
Amendments: Strike 7:10pm item
Approval of Minutes: Motion by Eliot, 2nd by Inez. All in favor. Minutes approved.
Short Announcements
Cathy: Lion’s Club had food distribution today. Cobb Elementary School Garden Harvest Gala is this Sunday (can donate gift)
Friends of Boggs Mountain – event at Little Red. Introduction to Map reading/Navigation lessons by Richie Bucher, free, about an hour-long class. Bring a real compass if you have one. Will be on November 4th at 10am. RSVP via email FOBM@boggsmountain.org No age limit, children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
Glenneth: Sculpture Jam started last weekend. One more weekend to go, will be both Saturday and Sunday. Has donated piece for auction. Contact Glenneth at 707-295-6934
Public and Board Comment on Non-Agenda Items (3 mins./individual)
Jessica is running for District 5 Supervisor again. A lot of wonderful things happening, and many projects to continue. www.supervisorjessicapyska.com
Richie Bucher: giving the community notice we are in the summer to winter transition beginning November 1st to typically April 1st. The Boggs Mountain voicemail (707-928-4378) will reflect road conditions. Camping remains closed; day use is permitted from sunrise to sunset. There will be road closures when (greater than ½ inch) wet to prevent road damage and for public safety. Roads may be closed for extended periods after snow or atmospheric river events to allow roads to dry out. Special use permits to be coordinated with FOBM.
Supervisor’s Comments – Jessica Pyska
Missed last month’s meeting due to a lot of traveling to meetings and conferences. Attended a CPUC hearing on POTS/cellular/broadband lines in rural areas, attended the Rural Counties Caucus (3-day event), went to Sonoma for “Rebuild Northbay” where Senator McGuire was keynote speaker, went to Redding for the Governor’s Wildfire Task Force, was out with TERA this morning at Middletown Rancheria prescribed burn. Will be gone to NACO conference twice per year – February in D.C. and July in TX. Going to CSAC in November. Golf Road/Cobb Blvd. – getting new roads from PG&E due to undergrounding lines. PG&E has one contractor doing the roads where undergrounding was done, and they have another contractor coming back to pave the damaged roads. Bottlerock Road – lots of grinding happening. Due to undergrounding as well. Lanes will be replaced. County has a 10-year repaving plan. Cobb roads should be happening within next 2 years – top of the list. Rainbow to Sulphur Creek undergrounding is slated next year. Need to seek outside funding. There is 5-year moratorium on new roads. Resource Conservation District (RCD) received a grant to do vegetation abatement work in three areas of South County. The area in the Cobb Area is along Seigler Canyon Road. Will have masticator out there the first week of November. Fire Safe Council (www.firesafelake.org) just received a $500,000 grant for defensible space that will help low-income/seniors; will be about $1,500 per home (County-wide program). Approved $1.7M contract with consultant to update General Plan and Area Plans. Cobb’s Area Plan was created in 1989. Consultant will come to Cobb Area Council and have open meetings, surveys, many ways for public to provide input and participate in the Cobb Area Plan. The consultant will then write the plan and bring it back to the Council for more input before final adoption by the County. The Safety Element will be first, very aggressive schedule. Part of the funding is from ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act). Updated and Adopted CWPP (Community Wildfire Protection Plan). Originally created in 2009 and hasn’t been updated since. Was a massive effort. This document is used to apply for grants. Hazard Mitigation Plan – another guiding document for grants. Has been submitted to FEMA. Awaiting FEMA comments. Coming back mid-November for Board adoption. Cities want to join in a multi-jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan, developing a multi-jurisdictional plan as well. Hired Housing Deputy this week, after searching nationwide for a year. Housing Strategic Plan attracting developers, working only on housing projects. Melinda Rivera is no longer our representative with PG&E, no new rep yet.
Fire Season Update – Paul Duncan
Next week the burn ban will be lifted on Monday at 8am. Permits are required, and available via website. There will be smoke in the air. Staffing remains the same, no changes. Theme: fuels projects, Seigler ingress/egress will have masticator working on road first week of November. Boggs Forest staff is moving to the where the Hub is now. ACI: will be moved to Hwy 175 just north of sewer ponds and across from Bear Canyon in the Spring of 2024.
Treasurer’s Report – Chris
Chris (via Darlene) – still some checks outstanding from the Blackberry Festival; not much has changed from last month.
Discuss/Approve to continue rental of storage for HUB materials until new HUB location is determined. Report progress on finding new location for Hub
Eliot and others met with Paul at Loch Lomond Fire Station for storage, found usable space, but not for all of the Hub items. Meeting room also available for us to use. Obtained a storage unit in Middletown.
Continue rental of storage unit in Middletown: Motion by Eliot, 2nd by Paul. All in favor, Motion approved.
Discuss/Approve continuance of rental of storage space to be voted upon on a quarterly basis instead of monthly
To be discussed quarterly, to be voted on again at the January 2024 meeting. Motion by Magdelena, 2nd by Inez. All in favor, motion passes.
Winter Recreation Operations Plan: presented by Richie Bucher, Assistant Forest Manager at Boggs Mountain Demonstration Forest [Struck from Agenda]
Discuss/ Approve: RFP Explore Cobb webpage/ social media management proposals
Economic Development Committee received two proposals: recommended Sally. Abby with a score of 59/100 and an hourly rate of $40/hour, and Sally with a score of 68/100 and a rate of $35/hour. Sally provided resume and letter of reference. The proposals were not available to view at meeting. Glenneth recommends Sally.
Motion to Table until next meeting: 1st by Paul, 2nd by Inez. All in favor, Motion passes.
Committee Reports (3 minutes/individual)
Firewise Communities – Magdelena, Cindy, Glenneth, David, Laurie
Magdelena – received notice from Firewise USA that 5 of our Firewise groups are due for renewal: Seigler Springs, Cobb Mtn Group 2, Cobb Mountain View, Jones Creek Crossing, Loch Lomond
Lake County Fire Safe Council holding conferences in the near future.
Communications Committee – Darlene
Not much to report. Check-ins remain around 30 per week. Mel is back from Australia.
In the process of transferring funds from SSCRA to CAC, working with Chris and Magdelena on that. Mel: a lot our fire awareness has dwindled since 2015. We need help this winter. We need to re-invigorate people.
Forest Health Committee – Eliot
Now that we have a County-wide plan, we are putting together a Cobb-specific plan. Goal is long term, fire-resilient communities. Up to $250M available in grant money. SSCRA will be developing a plan, identifying priority parcels, local ecology, topography, fire history, tribal partnerships. This is at a landscape level. 100 high-priority treatment parcels. Local CWPP. Economic development. SSCRA will be applying for this grant at the end of this month; there is a 10% match; CalFire (planning funds, Mike Wink) and others are willing to contribute in-kind contributions from local Firewise and the Forest Stewardship Committee to meet this match. Asking for $5K non-Federal match from CAC.
Approve/Disapprove: Letter of Support from CAC for Community Wildfire Defense Grant
Motion by Paul, 2nd by Jessica. All in favor, Motion approved.
Approve/Disapprove: CAC matching grant funds of $5,000
Jessica moved to approve matching funds from CAC Small Business loan funds to SSCRA, with an MOU to be in place. Paul 2nd. All in favor, Motion approved.
Economic Development Committee – Chris
Chris (via Darlene) Met and discussed RFP proposals, with a recommendation.
Blackberry Cobbler Festival – update on financials
Chris (via Darlene) – still a few checks outstanding
Cobbite of the Year
Committee Nomination Meeting November 30th at Cobb Mountain Pizza
If you are a previous recipient, you are on the committee. You can also email Cathy.
Next Meeting: November 16, 2023
ADJOURNED AT 8:01pm
Respectfully Submitted,
Darlene Warner, Secretary
