News

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Lakeport City Council will meet next week to discuss its goals as part of the annual budgeting process.

The council will meet at 5 p.m. Monday, March 21, in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.

The council chambers will be open to the public for the meeting. Masks are highly encouraged where 6-foot distancing cannot be maintained.

If you cannot attend in person, and would like to speak on an agenda item, you can access the Zoom meeting remotely at this link or join by phone by calling toll-free 669-900-9128 or 346-248-7799.

The webinar ID is 951 6769 7302, access code is 529272; the audio pin will be shown after joining the webinar. Those phoning in without using the web link will be in “listen mode” only and will not be able to participate or comment.

Comments can be submitted by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. To give the city clerk adequate time to print out comments for consideration at the meeting, please submit written comments before 2 p.m. on Monday, March 21.

The special meeting on Monday is being held in order for the council to conduct a workshop to receive presentations of 2022-23 fiscal year recommended department goals.

The council also will discuss its priorities for the coming fiscal year.

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.

On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Mike McGuire introduced a bill that he said will finally advance what should have been done years ago — undergrounding Pacific Gas and Electric Co. transmission and distribution lines in the most fire-prone zones.

SB 884 will provide a path to expedite undergrounding of 10,000 miles of PG&E utility lines in the highest fire risk zones, save ratepayers money, and hold PG&E accountable to their timelines. Currently, PG&E undergrounds less than 100 miles of their electrical lines annually.

McGuire said that for far too long, America’s largest utility — PG&E — has failed its customers and made California unsafe.

For years, the utility underfunded modernization and wildfire safety efforts, which has had devastating impacts here in the Golden State.

PG&E has been charged with nearly 100 felonies in the deaths of California residents in wildfires they caused over the past four years. Californians have literally run for their lives while their homes burned to escape flames from PG&E-caused wildfires, McGuire said.

He said Californians have sat in the dark with food spoiling in their warm refrigerators for days on end during wind-driven public safety power shutoffs, and they’ve been left without access to critical lifeline services when power lines go down.

McGuire said this has been the state’s reality for long enough.

SB 884 will do the following:

· Mandated performance metrics would be implemented by the California Public Utilities Commission on undergrounding projects, including timelines for completion, financial penalties for not hitting timelines, and the utility would have to prove safety protocols are met prior to receiving a rate of return.

· Develops a pathway to expedite undergrounding construction by establishing a shot clock for local government permit approval/denial to just 150 days.

· The legislation would save ratepayers money by forcing PG&E to first use available federal infrastructure funds to construct the undergrounding project before using ratepayer funds and it would mandate telecommunication companies underground their utilities in the same trench as the electrical undergrounding. This dig-once policy will help as a cost share and help make our state telecommunication system more resilient, especially in the highest risk zones.

· Guarantees a 270 day judicial review in California courts if an undergrounding project faces a California Environmental Quality Act Lawsuit.

“Every single time a wildfire has ripped through our communities, PG&E apologizes, pays a fine and claims to harden their lines in the areas that might burn next, and then moves on,” McGuire said. “I have great respect for the women and men who work everyday to keep our lights on, but I don’t trust the lip service from those at the top.”

McGuire added, “For years, PG&E has known the way to fix this — it’s burying their damn lines. With this legislation, we can get PG&E to finally underground the lines most at risk to start a wildfire and it would hold them accountable with strict performance metrics. This bill will save ratepayers money and save lives. If PG&E doesn’t hit their performance metrics, the utility would be held accountable.”

This legislation will further reduce the devastating climate impact wildfires have in our state, McGuire said.

In 2020, more than four million acres — 4% of land in California — burned across the state in just one record-setting year. The smoke from these fires generated the equivalent emissions of 28 million vehicles and blanketed many parts of the state with unhealthy smoke for weeks

“The western United States is getting hotter and drier, and the threat of wildfires is only getting worse. Everyone knows the only path forward is for PG&E to speed up the pace of moving power lines underground. Lives are literally at risk. This legislation will safeguard our communities and save ratepayers money,” McGuire said.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. — Clearlake Animal Control is offering eight dogs to new homes this week.

The City of Clearlake Animal Association also is seeking fosters for the animals waiting to be adopted.

Call the Clearlake Animal Control shelter at 707-273-9440, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to inquire about adoptions and schedule a visit to the shelter.

Visit Clearlake Animal Control on Facebook or on the city’s website.

The following dogs are available for adoption.

‘Terry’

“Terry” is a male shepherd mix with a short brindle coat.

He is dog No. 48443693.

‘Snowball’

“Snowball” is a male American Staffordshire mix terrier with a white coat.

He has been neutered.

He is dog No. 49159168.

‘Sassy’

“Sassy” is a female American pit bull mix with a short black coat.

She has been spayed.

She is dog No. 48443128.

‘Fritz’

“Fritz” is a male Australian shepherd mix with a black and white coat.

He is dog No. 49278179.

‘Ebenezer’

“Ebenezer” is a male American pit bull terrier mix with a short tan and white coat.

He is dog No. 49191651.

‘Chai’

“Chai” is a female Alaskan husky mix with a gray and white coat.

She has been spayed.

She is dog No. 49279552.

‘Bear’

“Bear” is a male Labrador retriever-American pit bull mix with a short charcoal and fawn coat.

He has been neutered.

He is dog No. 48443153.

‘Andy’

“Andy” is a male American pit bull mix with a short gray and white coat.

He is dog No. 48995415.

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.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Lake Local Agency Formation Commission on Wednesday held a hearing to consider approving the city of Lakeport’s annexation plans for the South Main Street corridor, but put off a decision in order to consider how to proceed with a formal protest.

The commission, or LAFCo, discussed the Lakeport annexation plan for more than two hours at its meeting at Lakeport City Hall before setting a special meeting for 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 30, to continue the matter.

At issue is whether properties at the edge of the annexation area, whose owners are protesting the process, can be removed, clearing the way for the process to proceed. LAFCo counsel Scott Browne will take the next few weeks to consider if that is an option.

The city is proposing to annex 137 acres, consisting of 50 parcels, along South Main Street to Soda Bay Road.

It’s what is called “an inhabited annexation” because the area includes more than 12 registered voters, said LAFCo Executive Director John Benoit.

Based on annexation rules in Government Code section 57075, LAFCo can approve a resolution ordering the annexation if less than 25% of registered voters or if less than 25% of the landowners owning less than 25% of the assessed value of land in the annexation area protest the proceeding in writing.

If more than 25% — but less than 50% — of those same groups protest, LAFCo could order the annexation subject to an election.

Browne noted that the law governing protests is complex.

The area has been part of the city’s sphere of influence since the 1980s, and over the past 20 years the city has been moving toward annexing it.

When the city began to pursue the project in earnest about 10 years ago, a clash with the county ensued, with the highly lucrative commercial corridor at stake.

However, in January, at the end of a joint meeting, the Lakeport City Council and Board of Supervisors each voted unanimously to support a tax sharing agreement that resolves many of the outstanding disagreements and clears the way for the annexation to proceed.

“It is absolutely a different landscape from where we started,” Supervisor Bruno Sabatier, who also chairs LAFCo, said during Wednesday’s meeting.

Both city and county officials say that a key issue in the annexation moving forward is providing a reliable water source — through the option of municipal water hookups — to properties in the area. Part of that work will be addressing two dead-end loops in the water system.

Another step in the process is LAFCo approval, and Benoit on Wednesday recommended approval of the annexation, subject to the terms and conditions of the staff report, which also included a fiscal analysis which finds the annexation to be revenue neutral.

Lakeport City Manager Kevin Ingram said the annexation was one of the first things on his desk when he joined the city seven years ago. At that time, he was head of Community Development. In 2020 he became city manager.

Ingram thanked LAFCo for brokering and breaking through “some serious barriers that existed between the city and county for decades,” adding, “I think we’ve come out in a very different place.”

He said the tax agreement represents a fair tax share agreement and short and long term cooperation to serve the annexation area.

Noting the annexation area has been in the city’s sphere of influence for decades, Ingram said that in 2000, the county asked the city to hold off on pursuing it for a 10-year period to allow for a regional transportation project to move forward. That project, he said, is still underway.

LAFCo reaffirmed the area was in the city’s sphere of influence during a 2015 review, Ingram said.

He said there is no municipal public water serving the annexation area, and one of the key reasons to proceed is to coordinate that work with a road project that’s also to take place in the area under the auspices of the county.

That road work is on track to begin undergrounding in late 2023 or early 2024, and Ingram said the city wants to make sure water service is in effect before or at around the same time.

Ingram said the city is best positioned to provide the water services, explaining that the added area isn’t expected to create a significant additional draw on the city’s water supply, which consists both of wells and surface water from Clear Lake.

Bringing water service to that area helps alleviate a serious public health and safety concern, specifically, wildfire threat, Ingram said.

The annexation area is an “urban built up area” with several propane storage fields, a lumber yard and other uses with hazardous materials, he said.

Ingram said the city, working with the county, has worked to address the controversy that has built up around the issue for 30 years. He and Deputy County Administrative Officer Susan Parker have been visiting the area to talk to people, and they held a community forum at Lakeport Cinema 5 last week to answer questions and who they’re dedicated to providing the best available public service.

“The city remains committed to that effort,” Ingram said.

Community members speak on proposal

During the public hearing, the commission heard from several community members who had questions about the annexation, how it would affect them and their rights in objecting to it.

During the course of the meeting, the commission received two four objections to the annexation, including two from community members who don’t live in or own property in the area, and one who owned property in the area but didn’t submit hers until after the public hearing was over.

The fourth, which was considered the only valid protest that could trigger a protest hearing an election to determine if the annexation could go forward, came from Justin Ratcliffe, who along with his wife owns and operates Premier Flooring at 53 Soda Bay Road.

He said they bought the property because there was more development freedom and went on to build a new building, completed last year. Ratcliffe raised issues about water and the impending road work, which he suggested will impact his business.

Speaking in favor of annexation was Scott Lotter, who owns Lakeport Cinema Five and Lakeport Auto Movies, which is the biggest single property in the area.

For Lotter, water is a key issue. He said his facility is on a private water system so it’s state regulated.

“It’s expensive,” Lotter said. “We spend thousands of dollars a month keeping that system working and having good quality water,” which is needed for ice and drinks to go with the popcorn he sells at the theater.

He said it’s also important for fire protection. Lotter has his own hydrant and large water tank but because Lake County is known as a wildfire-prone area, water supply impacts insurance rates.

Lotter said he wasn’t concerned about an increase in the sales tax rate because it would help pay for better maintained roads and services.

He said he is putting a new roof on the cinema and noted that he’s having to pay fees he wouldn’t have to pay if it was in the city. He’s also agreed to sell a quarter mile of his property’s frontage for the road project.

Lotter said he has a six-acre property that will have more development options if it has water access.

Lakeport Fire Chief Jeff Thomas spoke to the need to have reliable water service for not just fire protection but for the safety of firefighting personnel.

Quoting Mr. Spock from Star Trek, Thomas said, “The good of the many outweigh the good of the one.”

He noted some of the major fires in the nation’s history and said, “Fire still remains the greatest threat to our community.”

Thomas said there are significant hazardous material issues along that corridor, and talked about trying to avoid a bleve, an explosion caused when a container with pressurized liquid ruptures. He said they can stop a bleve by having adequate water supply in a timely fashion.

“We have a great threat that’s present before us today,” said Thomas, who explained that having the water supply and a critical hydrant system will help protect the area.

During public comment, Commissioner Ed Robey pointed out that the objections to the annexation primarily appeared to be connected to the road project along South Main Street, which he and other commissioners said was a separate matter.

Ratcliffe asked for clarification on when to submit a formal objection. Benoit told him he could write one down and submit it then. Ratcliffe immediately handed him a piece of paper.

Ratcliffe then suggested that his civil rights were being violated. In annexations, protests can be filed both by registered voters and landowners. Ratcliffe said that while he can protest as a property owner, he can’t protest as a registered voter in the area because he can’t live on the property.

Browne said LAFCo is required to follow a certain law in its process. “You have no choice in that matter.”

Browne said there is substantial authority all the way to the United States Supreme Court that annexations and boundary changes are subject to very limited review by the courts and are not considered fundamental civil rights.

It leaves the state legislature with considerable latitude in providing procedure. “That’s the state of the law at this point,” said Browne.

Lakeport Mayor Stacey Mattina, who also is a LAFCo commissioner, asked about removing Ratcliffe’s property from the annexation area in order not to risk the entire project.

Lakeport City Council member Kenny Parlet, another commissioner, said the annexation has been a city priority for a long time.

“This is a big, big thing we’ve all worked so hard on, for so long,” and he said it was ludicrous to let one person stand in the way due to a road project.

“There’s more to it,” Ratcliffe shouted from the back of the room.

After a brief break, the commission returned to continue its discussion.

Mattina suggested removing Ratcliffe’s property but emphasizing that he needed to be made aware that this was the last chance to be added to city water service.

“The complaints are based on the road and not the entire annexation and the delivery of services,” she said.

She was also OK with removing a property owned by Kathleen Miller, who also protested but did not submit it during the public hearing. Mattina said not having those two properties included wouldn’t create an island.

Mattina suggested not having the water connection also could impact the future value and development potential of the properties.

“Their complaints are really disconnected from what we’re doing here,” she said. “We’ve gone to a great expense to get to this point.”

Mattina added, “I think that we should just move it forward and they can be eliminated.”

Browne said he had never heard of excluding a property to avoid a protest, a process that usually happens before a hearing.

“We’re trying to unring a bell,” Brown said. “I would have to research it to determine if excluding it at this point invalidates the objection.”

Commissioner and county supervisor Moke Simon asked if the removal of Ratcliffe’s property would change the financial analysis. Lakeport Assistant City Manager Nick Walker, also the city’s finance director, said the fiscal study was completed before the new Premier Flooring building was developed.

At Browne’s suggestion, the commission took a straw poll and found that all but Sabatier wanted to move forward and exclude the properties.

The commission decided to ask Browne to research if it can move forward with approving the annexation by removing the properties and come back on March 30. City officials had asked not to put it off any longer than that, as originally it had been suggested to bring it back at LAFCo’s next meeting in two months.

Sabatier agreed it was too important to wait that long.

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.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Efforts by state and local leaders resulted this month in an award of millions of dollars for water system improvements in the Clearlake area.

Senate Majority Leader Mike McGuire has been working with the city of Clearlake, Lake County supervisors Bruno Sabatier and Moke Simon and local water districts to secure state funding that will once and for all establish an intertie between a few water districts near the city of Clearlake.

After the Cache fire tore through Clearlake in late summer of 2021, city and county officials met with Sen. McGuire to highlight the need for the Lake County Intertie Project that will build resiliency in the system by upgrading the infrastructure and providing the capacity to share emergency water supply to three neighboring water districts.

The three-way intertie project involves the Lower Lake County Waterworks District, the Highlands Mutual Water Co. and the Konocti County Water District.

The $4.3 million will tie each of these districts together which will help create long planned regional resiliency during wildfires and droughts

“Lake County has experienced some of the worst wildfire disasters in our state over the past seven years, and upgrading and building resiliency within local water systems is an absolute must,” McGuire said. “With climate change making the western United States hotter and drier, this is the type of coordination we need to keep our communities safe. We’re grateful to the team from the Department of Water Resources and Lake County leaders working with us to get these critical projects done.

McGuire worked closely with Sabatier and Simon on this critical project.

“After the Cache fire, a temporary fix was required to allow still standing mobile homes to have access to water. This funding allows for permanent and more appropriate infrastructure for water access for not only those homes who survived the fire, but also to allow the rebuild efforts to continue in the areas that did burn,” Sabatier said. “Sen. McGuire’s support for the Cache fire clean up and rebuild was immediate. We are grateful for his support and for the state stepping in to help fund this important project.”

“Providing resiliency to our water systems in Lake County is incredibly important, especially as we’re still in a drought, and are preparing for another wildfire season,” Simon said. “Thanks to Sen. McGuire and the state for standing strong with Lake County.”

The Cache Creek Mobile Home community is being supplied water by Konocti County Water District through a temporary intertie.

The project will replace existing leaky pipelines and expand the distribution system to consolidate the Cache Creek Mobile Home Estates and Creekside Mobile Home Park to help these communities thrive during this and future droughts.

It also includes construction of interties between the Konocti County Water District, Lower Lake County Water District, and Highlands Mutual Water Co. This will allow water transfers between the three water systems resulting in guaranteed water during wildfires and drought.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — St. Patrick’s Day has become a popular time for parties and celebrations.

This St. Patrick’s Day the California Highway Patrol reminds drivers to avoid taking chances and make the right decision to have a sober ride home if their plans include alcohol.

Unfortunately, the party often ends with risky drunk drivers taking to the streets and endangering countless lives.

“If you plan on drinking alcohol on St. Patrick’s Day, do not rely on luck and designate a sober driver, use a rideshare service, public transit or a taxi to ensure you reach your destination safely,” CHP Commissioner Amanda Ray said. “Not having a plan in place if your celebration includes the use of alcohol can result in a crash, jail time, injuries, or even death.”

Last year on St. Patrick’s Day, CHP officers made 211 arrests for driving under the influence, or DUI.

Tragically, that same day, three people died, and 76 people were injured statewide as a result of DUI crashes.

Always remember to buckle up, avoid distractions while driving, and designate a sober driver if your St. Patrick’s Day celebration includes alcohol.

The financial impact of a DUI can be sobering as attorney fees, fines, court costs, lost time at work, higher insurance rates, and car repairs can reach $15,000 or more in California.

The CHP joins with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in reminding motorists that “Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving.”

To help keep the roads safe, the CHP encourages the public to report impaired drivers by calling 9-1-1. Be prepared to provide the public safety dispatcher with a description of the vehicle, location, and the direction the vehicle is traveling.