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LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Tuesday night the Lakeport City Council received an update on city staff’s efforts to get federal funding and approval for 2017 flood repair projects.

Public Works Director Doug Grider gave the council the latest news on his department's progress on projects that center primarily around the city’s Library Park, which had been closed for weeks and sustained significant damage during the flooding that took place in January and February of last year.

While it’s been a slow and complicated process, Grider and his staff’s efforts have so far garnered the city $250,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, with Grider estimating that the city could ultimately recoup between $1.5 million and $2 million, which would cover almost all of its repair costs.

City Manager Margaret Silveira emphasized the city’s gratitude for help from the federal and state agencies involved in the repair funding process.

Some of the key projects in Library Park – such as seawall and sidewalk repair – are still in the process of being approved and so the chain-link fence that cordons off the damaged areas of the park from the public will stay up for another summer. Silveira said the goal is to do that work when the lake is lowest, with a target date of this fall.

The process

During his Tuesday night presentation and in a followup interview on Wednesday with Lake County News, Grider explained the process that the city is following in seeking FEMA funding for the repair projects.

Grider explained that two separate presidential disasters were proclaimed in response to the floods. The first declaration was in January, the second in February.

“Once the president makes a declaration then FEMA comes in,” he said.

Under the January declaration, Grider said the city submitted eight projects, including three small road projects scattered throughout the city that are the result of isolated roadway failures; a road project involving damage to the culvert headwalls on North Street; the Fifth Street boat docks, which Grider said will be removed and repaired; debris removal; protective measures; and the First Street boat ramp.

Grider said the First Street boat ramp has been denied by FEMA, and the decision hasn’t yet been made whether or not to appeal it. He said the city has strategies in place for dealing with that project, including some available insurance coverage.

The other seven appear to still be going through the process, with tentative approval. The city just needs the last piece in getting final approval, which is an obligation letter, he said.

Debris removal and protective measures already were completed. “The city is slowly getting funding coming in to pay for those,” Grider said.

Grider said the city’s second disaster declaration, for February 2017, had 12 projects, 10 of them approved and two that were denied.

Projects include repairs on Green and Sayre streets, Loch Drive, Esplanade at E Street, and Esplanade at Konocti Avenue, the Third Street dock, along with more projects at Library Park, including replacing decomposed granite, ADA-accessible bark for the playgrounds, sod replacement, park lighting repair, the park irrigation system, debris removal and protection measures, the seawall and sidewalks behind the seawall, Grider said.

The two projects that were denied were the repairs on Esplanade at E Street and at Konocti Avenue. Grider said they’ve filed an appeal on the E Street project and appear to be likely to get it, while they never received an official denial letter on the Konocti Avenue project and are trying to get clarification to submit an appeal.

Grider said the city went ahead and fronted its own money to replace the bark in the playgrounds, and it looks like the city will get reimbursed for that work.

Another project that’s already been finished is repairing the park’s lighting, which included checking all of the wiring connections and grounds, and making necessary repairs such as replacing broken globes, he said.

Also completed is the park irrigation project, which Grider said involved Public Works staff digging out every sprinkler head in the park, cleaning and testing them, and repairing the irrigation lines. The city will be reimbursed for those costs.

He said the repairs to the crank up dock at Third Street is upcoming. “We’re hoping they can repair it where it’s at.”

Perhaps the biggest project of them all is the seawall replacement. Not only is it substantial in scope – the wall measures 536 feet long – but Grider said several other projects depend on it.

He said the old seawall is built of cinder blocks. FEMA appears to be in agreement with the city that the new seawall should be built of steel sheet piling.

The sidewalks and center promenade are separate from the sheet piling wall, but Grider said the seawall needs to be completed first due to the order of progression. Because there are failures under the sidewalk, materials will need to be compacted underneath the new sidewalk and up against the seawall.

Grider said he hopes to have confirmation from FEMA within the next 30 to 60 days that the seawall project has been approved so they can begin the environmental process that will be necessary due to federal funding plus the county, state and federal permits needed because the project involves Clear Lake.

The city is trying to get all of its projects wrapped up with insurance companies and with FEMA, and hopes to have a meeting with officials the first week of April, Grider said.

Grider said he can’t believe the city has gotten as many projects approved as it has.

“It was worth sticking to our guns and following all of the steps,” he told Lake County News, noting that it appears that the city will be made whole.

He said that the city is going through the process to save city residents and taxpayers money, and while they apologize for the inconvenience of the delays, they don’t want the city to be hit with a $2 million bill.

Council members on Tuesday night praised Grider for his work, with Silveira also crediting the city’s success to Grider and his staff’s efforts.

In other council action on Tuesday night, council members set an April 3 public hearing on a new ordinance to move to June 1 the date to have hazardous vegetation such as weeds abated on city properties, unanimously approved appointing Cindy Ustrud, Jen Hanson and Ben Moore to the Parks and Recreation Commission and also approved the mayor’s appointment of Councilwoman Stacey Mattina and Councilman Kenny Parlet to the city’s finance committee, which will work on creating an investment strategy for the city.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Beginning fall 2018, all first-time students will not pay fees at the Woodland Community College’s main campus or Lake County and Colusa County campuses.

The “WCC Promise” program, scheduled for a fall 2018 semester launch, requires new WCC students to enroll in at least 12 units as a full-time student.

Students must also choose a short-term occupational certificate, university transfer preparation, or an associate degree as their academic program of choice when enrolling at WCC.

Successful fall 2018 WCC full-time Promise students who return in the spring semester of 2019 will enjoy the same free college benefit for that term as well.

The WCC Promise program incentivizes students to enroll as full-time students and to continue from the first semester to the next.

National research shows these student behaviors are associated with academic program completion.

Since full-time California Community College student fees total more than $550 each semester, parents and students will save well over $1,000 for the 2018 fall and 2019 spring semesters.

The WCC Promise will also save tens of thousands of dollars for those parents who might otherwise send their son or daughter to a four-year institution immediately after high school.

Woodland Community College is recognized for its four-year transfer programs to the UC and CSU institutions as well as its short-term career certificates.

“It was only a few decades ago when a high school diploma ensured Americans had the skills they needed for good paying jobs,” said WCC President Dr. Michael White. “Today, over 65 percent of all job openings require a college degree or skill set acquired only with some level of college education. A workforce certificate or associate’s degree from Woodland Community College will absolutely translate to a better life via the individual’s skill acquisition and upward social mobility.”

For careers requiring a baccalaureate degree, the same upward social mobility is realized when the individual transfers after two years from WCC and later graduates from a university, White explained.

“Our college has been providing free classes to high school students, called dual enrollment, for two or three years now. Our new WCC Promise program now offers that life-changing opportunity to every new fall 2018 WCC student.”

Summer and fall 2018 WCC class schedules will be available in print and online in April.

Parents and students are encouraged to visit the campus Web site at https://LCC.yccd.edu/ for more information as the fall 2018 registration period nears.

Admissions, counseling and financial aid office hours are posted on the Web site for those parents and students wishing to take advantage of this exciting WCC Promise program.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Board of Supervisors proclaimed Tuesday National Agriculture Day.

Lake County has a long and rich agricultural history, starting in the 1850s when early settlers planted the first vineyards.

The first Bartlett pears were planted in 1890 and continue to be a county’s mainstay.

The county’s agricultural industry brings in more than $113 million from the major crops of pears, wine grapes, and walnuts with olives, nursery, livestock and field, seed vegetable crops adding to the landscape.

Lake County farmers are stewards of the land, contribute to our local economy, support local charities and organizations, ensure the production of safe food and promote agricultural education in the community.

Sharron Zoller is a member of the Lake County Chapter of California Women for Agriculture.

NORTH COAST, Calif. – Authorities in Lake and Mendocino counties made two arrests in connection to the operation of a hash lab discovered on Tuesday.

Joseph John Scorese, 30, of Lakeport and Joseph Dean Loren, 36, of Willits were arrested in the case, according to a report from Lt. Norm Taylor of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

Taylor said that on Tuesday the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Narcotic Unit, with the assistance of the County of Mendocino Marijuana Eradication Team, or COMMET, and Mendocino Major Crimes Task Force served a search warrant in the 6600 block of Highway 20 in Potter Valley in Mendocino County.

When the teams arrived, they contacted and detained Scorese and Loren on the property, Taylor said.

Detectives discovered the entire residence had been modified into an industrial butane hash – or marijuana – oil extraction laboratory capable of producing commercial high volume concentrated cannabis, according to Taylor.

Taylor said Scorese and Loren were in possession of a sophisticated and explosive closed loop butane/propane chemical extraction system which occupied several rooms in the residence. They also were storing five large cylinders totaling hundreds of pounds of the explosive chemicals in the living room for continuous hash oil production.

Detectives located and seized a total of 48.3 pounds of BHO, or concentrated cannabis, product with a street value of more than $768,000, along with 1,150 pounds of marijuana used in the extraction process and extensive, detailed pay and owe ledgers indicating the suspects recently sold more than $100,000 of the illicit substance, Taylor said.

The laboratory equipment with an estimated value of more than $250,000 was seized as evidence. In addition to the BHO lab, Taylor said detectives located and dismantled a marijuana alcohol extraction lab.

Taylor said $5,700 of cash and a 2017 Jeep Rubicon were seized pending asset forfeiture proceedings.

Scorese and Loren were placed under arrest for felony violations of manufacturing a controlled substance using a chemical process and misdemeanor violations of possessing marijuana for sale. Taylor said both subjects were transported and booked in the Mendocino County Jail.

Bail for each was set at $50,000, with jail records indicating that Loren posted bail and was released late Tuesday and Scorese was released early Wednesday morning.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Nearly eight and a half years after Konocti Harbor closed its doors to the public, the resort has been sold.

On Wednesday afternoon, the sale of the famed Kelseyville resort closed escrow and its change in ownership was recorded at the Lake County Recorder’s Office, according to Phil Smoley of Country Air Properties.

Smoley confirmed that his company was the broker for the resort’s buyers.

Separately, a representative of the buyers confirmed to Lake County News that they are a Bay Area group and that more information about their plans for the resort will be forthcoming.

Terms and conditions have not been disclosed.

Smoley said it was amazing to be part of the transaction and his company is looking forward along with everyone else to the future for Konocti Harbor Inn and Lake County.

Early Wednesday evening social media posts began to circulate by local real estate agents who are not part of Country Air Properties about the sale being completed, which Smoley acknowledged was a reason for addressing the sale publicly.

“The big thing is, long-term, it’s going to be so good for everybody in the county. That's what the main focus should be,” he said, adding he was constrained from saying more at the present time.

Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa’s possible sale has been one of the most speculated about topics in Lake County since it closed its doors to the public in November 2009.

A series of potential buyers have all stepped up to purchase the property, owned since 1959 by Lakeside Haven, the convalescent trust fund of Local 38 of the United Association of Plumbers, Pipefitters and Journeymen.

However, all of those previous efforts have fallen through due to a variety of issues, one of the key ones being the funding needed to renovate the resort.

This story is developing and Lake County News will post additional updates on the resort’s purchase as they become available.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said a suspicious device that had been located on Wednesday morning in Lower Lake has been rendered safe and Highway 53 has been reopened.

The Napa County Sheriff's Office Bomb Squad rendered the object safe on Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.

Highway 53 in the area also has been reopened, the sheriff’s office reported.

While the device resembled an improvised explosive, it did not appear that the device was an explosive, authorities said.

The discovery of the object was reported to the sheriff’s office at about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. It had been located in front of a business on Highway 53 near Highway 29 in Lower Lake.

The roadway in the area had been closed for close to three hours while the bomb squad responded.