LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council this week will get a report on policing in the city for the first half of this year and discuss a resolution regarding a grant for the city’s new community center.
The meeting will take place via webinar beginning at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 1.
To speak on an agenda item, access the meeting remotely here or join by phone by calling toll-free 877-309-2074 or 213-929-4221. The access code is 596-105-550; 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 prior to 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 1.
Indicate in the email subject line "for public comment" and list the item number of the agenda item that is the topic of the comment. Comments that read to the council will be subject to the three minute time limitation (approximately 350 words). Written comments that are only to be provided to the council and not read at the meeting will be distributed to the council prior to the meeting.
On Tuesday, Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen will present a citizen commendation to Anthony Gladstein and will give the council the police statistics file for the first and second quarters of 2020.
City Manager Kevin Ingram will present the council with the resolutions packet for the League of California Cities Annual Conference, which the council’s voting delegate will be directed to support.
Also on Tuesday, the council will consider adopting a proposed resolution authorizing the city manager to sign the statement of assurances and submit an application for State Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CDBG-CV) and, if awarded, enter into contract with Bridges Construction, authorize the purchase of kitchen equipment from Sysco and to enter into a facilities use agreement for use of the kitchen at the Silveira Community Center.
On the consent agenda – items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote – are ordinances; minutes of the regular council meeting on Aug. 18; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency for the Mendocino Complex fire; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency for the February 2019 storms; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency for the October 2019 public safety power shutoff; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency for the COVID-19 public health emergency; adoption of the proposed resolution approving and adopting a records management program policy; adoption of a resolution of the City Council of the City of Lakeport rescinding Resolutions 2340 (2008), 2525 (2015), and 2596 (2016) and Adopting Revised Personnel Rules, Specifically Article IX Section 4 Entitled Drug and Alcohol-Free Workplace Policy; and introduction of the proposed ordinance to the Lakeport Municipal Code and schedule a public hearing for October 6, 2020.
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.
The August Complex lightning fires in the Mendocino National Forest on Sunday, August 30, 2020, as mapped by the US Forest Service. LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The August Complex of lightning fires burned several thousand more acres of land in the Mendocino National Forest, forest officials reported on Sunday.
The fire’s size increased by 5,696 acres on Saturday to a total of 221,284 acres, with containment remaining at 18 percent, according to a Sunday report.
The largest of the fires include the Doe, 172,526 acres; the Glade, 20,633 acres; and the Hull, 10,198 acres.
The US Forest Service said that 607 firefighters are assigned to the incident.
During a virtual community meeting on Saturday evening, officials reported that military personnel are set to arrive this week to join the firefighting effort.
The fires that make up the complex started two weeks ago following thunderstorms that passed over the region.
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.
The LNU Lightning Complex in Northern California as mapped by Cal Fire on Saturday, August 29, 2020. LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On Saturday firefighters made the biggest containment gain on the LNU Lightning Complex in its nearly two weeks of burning, also holding down the fire to its smallest daily acreage gain.
The fire on Saturday night reached 373,920 acres, up approximately 596 acres during the course of the day, Cal Fire said.
Most significantly, Cal Fire said containment had jumped from 41 percent to 55 percent on Saturday.
The portion of the complex where fire growth is continuing is on the Hennessey fire, burning in Lake, Colusa, Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties. On Saturday the Hennessey fire grew to 316,207 acres, with containment up to 54 percent, based on Cal Fire’s report.
Cal Fire mapping showed the fire on Saturday had pushed further into the southwest corner of Colusa County, where the fire first appeared on maps on Friday.
On the Sonoma County side of the complex, firefighters have halted the growth of the Walbridge fire west of Healdsburg and the Meyers fire north of Jenner. On Saturday evening, Cal Fire said the Walbridge remained at 55,353 acres, with containment up to 49 percent, while the Meyers fire is still at 2,360 acres, with 99-percent containment.
Cal Fire said 2,819 personnel are assigned to the complex, along with 300 engines, 65 water tenders, 17 helicopters, 41 hand crews and 75 dozers.
Ongoing damage assessments raised the number of destroyed structures to 1,210, with those damaged reduced to 192, Cal Fire reported.
Cal Fire said the updated assessments have confirmed eight homes and one other unspecified structure have been destroyed in Lake County, with no structures reported as damaged.
In Napa County and Solano counties, the complex has done the most damage.
In Solano, 622 structures have been destroyed, including 266 homes and 346 minor buildings, and 117 damaged, including 55 homes, according to the assessment damage report.
In Napa, the complex has destroyed 355 structures – including 250 homes – and damaged 53 others, including 35 homes, Cal Fire said.
The following totals are reported for the other counties impacted by the fire:
– Colusa County: No structures damaged or destroyed. – Sonoma County: 212 destroyed (118 homes); 16 damaged (seven homes). – Yolo County: 13 destroyed (four homes), six damaged (three homes).
The counts for structures within the fire perimeter that have been validated as undamaged are as follows:
As containment has risen on the complex, Cal Fire said the number of structures threatened dropped by about two-thirds on Saturday, from 30,500 to 10,350.
That led to evacuation orders for some parts of Sonoma County being reduced to warnings on Saturday.
In Lake County, however, there were no changes to existing evacuation orders and warnings on Saturday.
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. – Forest and fire management officials on Saturday updated community members on the continuing work to contain the complex of lighting fires that has burned well over 200,000 acres in the Mendocino National Forest.
As of Saturday night, the August Complex – sparked by thunderstorms two weeks ago – had burned 215,588 acres and was 18 percent contained, Forest Service officials reported.
Forest Supervisor Ann Carlson said during the hour-long virtual meeting on Saturday evening that firefighters have done “an enormous amount of work out there” to get to the current level of containment.
From day one, Carlson said the focus has been on the life and safety of the public and firefighters.
“We’ve done everything we can to date to suppress these fires and provide structure protection where it’s safe to do so,” she said.
Carlson said structure protection has been taking place in parts of the forest, with firefighters going in around cabins to remove vegetation and other materials that could make them susceptible to fire.
The complex’s largest fires include the Doe, 168,360 acres, 52 percent contained; the Glade fire, 20,633 acres, zero percent contained; the Tatham, 10,679 acres, 9 percent contained; and the Hull, 9,303 acres, 5 percent contained.
Officials said the Doe and Hull fires have joined in the area of Rattlesnake Creek.
The Elkhorn fire, also burning in Tehama County, is being managed as a separate incident. It has burned 38,795 acres and is 35-percent contained.
Fire mapping shows the Hull fire in the complex is burning in the Upper Lake Ranger District in the northern portion of Lake County, north of Lake Pillsbury, and into a corner of Mendocino County.
The largest portion of the complex is located on the Grindstone Ranger District in Glenn County and into the southwest corner of Tehama County.
Chuck Redmond, the incident meteorologist, said during Saturday’s meeting that the high pressure over the western United States is leading to a forecast of above-normal temperatures for the next week to 10 days, with humidity down to the mid teens to early 20s.
He said air quality is so poor that they haven’t been able to use aircraft. The light winds also are not moving smoke out of the area.
Team discusses operations
During the meeting – which can be seen in the video above – Forest Service officials including Carlson, Redmond and incident managers discussed the efforts to contain the massive complex.
Since Wednesday, Southern Area Blue Team Incident Team has overseen the complex, said Commander Mark Morales.
Morales said the federally sponsored Type 1 incident management team has been in existence since 1983, and includes federal, state, tribal and local government members who get pulled together and sent out when need arises. “That is how we got here.”
Operations Section Chief Jon Wallace discussed the nuts and bolts of the suppression effort, explaining that firefighters are working around a series of fire lines which were picked because they’re believed to be the places with the highest probability of stopping the fire.
He said the eastern side of the fire is looking good, with very little heat, and on Saturday evening, crews were very close to buttoning up the southern line.
Wallace said firefighters are slowing down the fire, which is in very difficult terrain.
He said they are not aware of structural loss on the Hull fire, and have not yet been able to confirm 10 destroyed structures reported by the previous management team.
As other incidents around the state are brought under control, Wallace said resources are being shifted to the complex.
He also reported during the meeting that this week active military personnel are to arrive to help with building contingency lines on the fire.
Wallace said Forest Road M1 is being used as a contingency line.
The M1 Road separates the Yuki Wilderness and the Mendocino National Forest proper, Wallace said. It starts at the Eel River and moves south, ending near Lake Pillsbury.
Wallace said it’s the primary route of travel firefighters have been using and on Saturday he ordered some road material to trial to improve the road for firefighters.
He called the road “a strong fallback line,” with crews doing prep work in that area because they have a high probability of succeeding in stopping the fire’s spread there.
“We don’t want to give up any acres that we don’t have to,” he said.
On Sunday, firefighters will try to bring the fire down into the Black Butte drainage, but if they can’t succeed in stopping the fire there, they’ll fall back to the M1 Road, Wallace said.
On the western border of the Doe fire, Wallacer said there is “really nasty, steep terrain” with a drainage that’s so steep and deep that hotshot crews said they can’t get into it. He said the area doesn’t have a lot probability of success for stopping the fire but it does have a high probability of getting someone hurt.
Regarding specific areas of the forest, Wallace said crews are posted south of Plaskett Meadows, Wells Cabin is protected as firefighters are camping there, the fire remains about two miles west of Jenks Place, the Bollinger Place on Rock Springs Road is still threatened but the fire is about two miles from there, and firefighters are working to protect Lee Logan Camp. The complex is not expected to affect the Anthony Peak area.
Air support on such incidents is important, said Wallace. With the limitations for aircraft, he said they’ve been using more drones on the August Complex not only to help in the fire fight but to search for burned structures.
He said the drones have infrared cameras and can fly at night. “The drones are a powerful new tool that firefighters have been able to start using.”
However, he said they are limited to 30 minutes or less of flight time due to battery capacity.
Carlson reported that they are trying to use drones to access areas like the Sky High Cabins to get an idea of what is happening there.
She said she understands that people want to see their property. “Right now it is not safe,” she said, noting that in addition to the fire activity the roads are not in great conditions.
In response to a question about wild animals being injured in the incident, Carlson said, “We haven’t had any animals come in yet.”
She said many wildlife species sense the fire and are able to get away, some of them burrowing down in the ground.
“They know how to escape this natural disturbance process,” she said, adding that some don’t make it.
In other developments on Saturday, the forest issued a new closure order effective on Sunday that changed the southern boundary of the previous closure; forest visitors are now allowed to recreate in the Fouts Springs area.
The new order, which will remain in place through Sept. 30, is intended to provide for firefighter and public safety due to extreme fire behavior and hazards associated with the complex, officials said.
Carlson said some camping is still being allowed in the forest but she cautioned that conditions are very smoky, and noted recent studies that have shown that wildland fire smoke can make people more susceptible to COVID-19.
Information resources
For those wishing to visit their property, Carlson said that when conditions improve on the incident people can call the Mendocino National Forest Office in Willows at 530-934-3316 to ask about getting a permission slip for access.
For general questions about the August Complex, people are invited to email the incident management team at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 530-487-4602.
Forest orders and information are available on the forest website.
Information about the fire also is posted on Inciweb.
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. – Lake County Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace has offered additional information for county residents about what the governor’s new four-tier “Blueprint for a Safer Economy” in response to COVID-19 means for Lake County.
The changes go into effect on Monday, Aug. 31, according to Dr. Gary Pace, Lake County’s Public Health officer.
Pace said the blueprint replaces the state’s County Monitoring List – or “watch list” – and has four color-coded tiers based on county risk level.
The levels are shown in the graphic below.
Daily case rates and test positivity rates determine tier placement. Businesses in counties in less-restrictive tiers can provide services in more ways.
Pace said Lake County will align with state guidance. Counties cannot take restrictions away.
Which tier is Lake County in, and what does this mean for local businesses?
Pace said Lake County will be initially placed in Tier 2 (Red, “Substantial” viral spread).
As of Monday, these are some changes:
• Indoor movie theaters, previously closed, can open at 25 percent of capacity • Restaurants will be permitted to reopen for indoor dining at 25 percent of capacity. • Gyms were limited by the ability to socially distance; now there is a hard capacity limit – not to exceed 10 percent.
Local businesses are encouraged to visit https://covid19.ca.gov/safer-economy/ , select Lake County and your business sector, and see what is allowed. Answers to frequently asked questions are also posted.
If Lake County progresses to the purple tier, newly-enabled indoor activities will again be prohibited.
“Our case positivity rate and hospitalizations have recently been increasing,” said Pace.
He reported that on Friday Lake County recorded its first cases in a congregate living facility; outbreaks and deaths in such environments have led multiple neighboring counties to restrict activities.
What about schools?
There are no significant changes for schools, Pace said, noting that in the state’s July 17 guidance, the purple tier can be substituted for “County Monitoring List.
“This is a critical time. Business leaders, if you are considering adding indoor activities on Monday, precautions must be in place. Residents, please do your part to keep local businesses open. If we all wear face coverings, practice social distancing and good hygiene, and avoid social gatherings, we can turn things around,” said Pace.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has a group of little dogs needing homes this week.
Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of Chihuahua, Labrador Retriever, shepherd and Shih Tzu.
Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.
The following dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (additional dogs on the animal control Web site not listed are still “on hold”).
This female Chihuahua-terrier is in kennel No. 15a, ID No. 13953. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Female Chihuahua-terrier
This female Chihuahua-terrier has a short tan and white coat.
She is in kennel No. 15a, ID No. 13953.
This male Chihuahua is in kennel No. 15b, ID No. 13954. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male Chihuahua
This male Chihuahua has a short tan coat.
He is in kennel No. 15b, ID No. 13954.
This male shepherd mix is in kennel No. 17, ID No. 13924. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male shepherd mix
This male shepherd mix a medium-length brindle coat.
He is in kennel No. 17, ID No. 13924.
This male terrier is in kennel No. 25, ID No. 13925. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male terrier
This male terrier has a coarse tricolor coat.
He has been neutered.
He is in kennel No. 25, ID No. 13925.
“Hunter” is a male yellow Labrador Retriever in kennel No. 30, ID No. 13896. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. ‘Hunter’
“Hunter” is a male yellow Labrador Retriever.
He has been neutered.
He’s in kennel No. 30, ID No. 13896.
“Mary” is a Shih Tzu in kennel No. 32, ID No. 7845. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. ‘Mary’
“Mary” is a Shih Tzu with a long white coat.
She has been spayed.
She’s in kennel No. 32, ID No. 7845.
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.
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