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- Written by: Lake County News reports
LAKEPORT, Calif. — The Lake County Chamber of Commerce announced the appointment of Greg Folsom as its new interim administrator.
Folsom brings a wealth of experience and a strong commitment to community service to his new role with the Chamber.
He served as the city manager for Clearlake from 2015 through 2019, where he played a pivotal role in numerous development projects and community initiatives that significantly enhanced the city's growth and prosperity.
Following his tenure in Clearlake, Folsom took on the role of city manager for Suisun City, serving from 2019 until 2023.
During his time in Suisun City, he continued to demonstrate his expertise in municipal management and community engagement.
Folsom has recently relocated back to his home in Clearlake, where he is excited to bring his extensive experience and passion for community development to the Lake County Chamber of Commerce.
As interim administrator, Folsom will work closely with local businesses, community leaders, and stakeholders to support and enhance the economic vitality of Lake County.
“I am thrilled to be back in Clearlake and to have the opportunity to work with the Lake County Chamber of Commerce,” Folsom said. “I look forward to collaborating with the Chamber's board, members, and the entire community to promote business growth and foster a thriving economic environment in Lake County.”
The Lake County Chamber of Commerce is confident that Folsom’s leadership and vision will be instrumental in advancing the chamber's mission and goals during this transitional period.
His proven track record of effective leadership and dedication to community service makes him an excellent fit for this role, the chamber said.
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- Written by: Georgina Marie Guardado
Among the grantees is the Lake County Library, a recipient of an $8,000 grant to host the NEA Big Read countywide with dynamic community reading programs.
The Lake County Library has selected “The Bear” by Andrew Krivak for programming in September and October of 2024.
In total, the NEA is investing $1,075,000 to support programming around a book from the NEA Big Read Library, with the goal of inspiring meaningful conversations, celebrating local creativity, elevating a wide variety of voices and perspectives, and building stronger connections in each community.
The NEA Big Read showcases a diverse range of contemporary titles that reflect many different voices and perspectives, aiming to inspire conversation and discovery. Community programming during this cycle is focused on the theme “Where We Live.”
Grantees chose their NEA Big Read book based on how its themes, characters, and setting relate to the unique aspects of their community.
Inspired by “The Bear” with its homage to earth, wilderness, and survival, the Lake County NEA Big Read project will explore the theme of “Where we live” with programming that will honor the homeland of Lake County, California, exploring local resources, landscapes, and survival skills while turning to “The Bear” for meaningful discussions.
With this year’s NEA Big Read, free paperback books will be provided to library patrons and e-books and audiobooks will also be available for more inclusive literacy accessibility.
Author Andrew Krivak is an award-winning writer whose books include “The Bear,” a Banff Mountain Book Competition winner, Massachusetts Book Awards winner, and National Endowment for the Arts Big Read selection, as well as the freestanding novels of the “Dardan Trilogy: The Sojourn,” a National Book Award finalist and winner of both the Chautauqua Prize and Dayton Literary Peace Prize; “The Signal Flame,” a Chautauqua Prize finalist; and “Like the Appearance of Horses,” a Library Journal “Best Book of the Year” and Indie Next List for Reading Groups selection.
He lives with his wife and three children in Somerville, Massachusetts, and Jaffrey, New Hampshire, in the shadow of Mount Monadnock, which inspired much of the landscape in The Bear.
The Lake County Library is currently planning the Big Read calendar of events as they confirm partnerships.
Follow the Lake County Library on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, or sign up for their online newsletter for updates. Visit the Lake County Library’s website at http://library.lakecountyca.gov.
Residents can also visit the local Big Read website at http://www.lakecountybigread.com/ to sign up for the Lake County Big Read newsletter and stay tuned for a calendar of events, or follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LakeCountyBigRead/.
Georgina Marie Guardado is the coordinator for the Lake County literacy Program.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
The goal of the CHP is to ensure the safe passage of each and every motorist by targeting roads where there is a high frequency of intoxicated or unlicensed drivers.
A sobriety/driver license checkpoint is a proven effective tool for achieving this goal and is designed to augment existing patrol operations.
Vehicles will be checked for drivers who are under the influence of alcohol or drugs or driving unlicensed.
The objective is to send a clear message to those individuals that consider driving and mixing alcohol or drugs, or driving when unlicensed, that you will be caught and your vehicle will be towed away.
Funding for this program was provided from a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Last week, the county of Lake released the notice of availability for the new draft partially revised environmental impact report, or DPREIR, for the Guenoc Valley Mixed-Use Development Project, which also is known as Maha Guenoc Valley.
The document includes the project’s improvements to address wildfire, prevention safety and emergency response measures as well as additional measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect local water supplies, which have been concerns since the project got off the ground about eight years ago.
“The release of the DPREIR is an important milestone for the Guenoc Valley Project, which has undergone extensive environmental review by state and local officials. Proposed modifications to the project outlined in the DPREIR include enhancements to emergency evacuation and response and wildfire prevention, and additional measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect local water supplies. These revisions build on our mission of protecting the community and environment and will make this master planned community the benchmark for wildfire and climate resiliency in California,” said the Guenoc Valley Project team in a statement released to Lake County News.
The Board of Supervisors approved the first phase of the project in July 2020.
At that point, the plan included 385 residential villas in five subdivisions; five boutique hotels with 127 hotel units and 141 resort residential cottages; 20 campsites; up to 100 workforce housing cohousing units; an outdoor entertainment area, spa and wellness amenities, sports fields, equestrian areas, a new golf course and practice facility, camping area and commercial and retail facilities; agricultural production and support facilities; essential accessory facilities, including back of house facilities; 50 temporary workforce hotel units; emergency response and fire center; a float plane dock; and helipads.
Two months after that approval, the Center for Biological Diversity and the California Native Plant Society, with the California Attorney General’s Office intervening in support of them, sued the county over the project.
Judge J. David Markham presided over the trial in the case in the fall of 2021, and in January of 2022 handed down a ruling that found that the county had based its conclusions about the impact on community fire evacuation routes being less than significant on the opinions of traffic engineers, law enforcement and fire personnel.
Markham found that those opinions “were not based on any identifiable facts,” and therefore were not legally insufficient to be considered as “substantial evidence” under the California Environmental Quality Act.
He ruled the county’s environmental impact report, or EIR, was insufficient due to its conclusions on wildfire evacuation routes matter and ordered the county to set its final EIR certification aside, along with findings regarding the emergency evacuation plan and the project’s approval.
As a result, the document had to be revamped.
A reworked plan
Asked about the specific changes to the plan, the Guenoc Valley Project team told Lake County News that the new DPREIR’s amendments would allow for the development of up to 400 hotel rooms, 450 resort residential units, 1,400 residential estates, and 500 workforce co-housing units within the zoning district.
That’s not much different in size from the original plan that the county approved. However, the Markham ruling addressed evacuation routes, not density.
The team said the project modifications revise the original project analyzed in the 2020 EIR such that 25 building sites within the equestrian center area and 39 building sites within the northeastern portion of the project site would be relocated further from the wildland/urban interface, and various connector roads and road buffers would be added.
The project modifications include voluntary measures and some contained within a January 2023 settlement agreement with the state of California, and which are intended to further reduce the wildfire risks and greenhouse gas emissions associated with the proposed project, the team reported.
The team listed the following project modifications of note:
• A new proposed emergency route called the Grange Road Connector will connect the Guenoc Valley Site with the county-maintained Grange Road to the north. The Grange Road Connector will be approximately 3.9 miles, with 2.2 miles occurring on the Guenoc Valley Site and 1.7 miles sited on the off-site property to the north.
• Relocating 25 residential building sites that the 2020 Project would have located on a hilltop near the proposed equestrian center and 39 residential building sites that the 2020 project would have located within the northeastern portion of the project site such that they would be located further from the wildland/urban interface.
• Reconfiguring the roadway plan so that there are no dead-end, non-looped road segments that exceed 1-mile in length;
• Improving an area of approximately 10 feet on each side of roadways with hardscape, to the extent topography permits;
• Removal of the camping area in the northern portion of the property;
• Funding and staffing commitments for the onsite Emergency Response Center; and
• Various renewable energy commitments and greenhouse gas reduction measures that will not change the development footprint.
“We remain focused on working with county officials, community members and fire safety experts so that this first-of-its kind project can continue to move forward and bring increased fire safety and economic opportunity to the region,” the Guenoc Valley Project team said in its statement.
More information about proposed modifications included in the DPREIR can be found at guenocvalley.com/dpreir-summary/.
Email Elizabeth Larson at