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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The city of Clearlake’s contractor, Fedco Construction, will start construction work on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Collector Street Rehabilitation Project on Tuesday, Sept. 22, officials reported this week.
Burns Valley Road between Rumsey Road and Woodland Drive, Division Avenue between Lakeshore Drive and Pine Street and Austin Drive between Pine Street and Old Highway 53 will be under reconstruction from Sept. 22 through Oct. 15, the city reported.
Work will start first on Burns Valley Road and continue to Austin Drive. The road project will involve the excavation and removal – or grinding – of the existing asphalt surfacing, the old road base, placement of new asphalt pavement and minor underground utility repair.
Officials reported the new asphalt pavement will be placed in two lifts, a base course, and finished course.
Electronic message boards will advise motorists of the work schedule and road closures, and there may be delays. Work hours will be Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The city reported that portions of Burns Valley Road and Austin Avenue will be subject to closure, but access to local residents will be made available at all times during construction.
Because the schedule is weather dependent, cooler or rainy weather could delay the work schedule.
City Administrator Dale Neiman said the base bid for the work awarded to Fedco was for $647,536. About two-thirds of a mile will be paved.
In all, the city has approximately $1,628,717 in funds set aside for this and other projects, with $813,600 coming from federal stimulus funds and $815,000 of local funds from a combination of sources, Neiman said.
In an effort to have road work ready for funding, Neiman said the city began design on the project last summer.
Thanks to the work of City Engineer Bob Galusha, Clearlake was the first agency in Caltrans' District 1 to receive permission to bid and award a project for stimulus funds.
“Our design was done and we were expecting to get authorization to bid in April,” said Neiman.
When the state received the stimulus funds from the federal government earlier this year, it released funds directly to agencies in larger urban areas but in smaller areas like Lake County the funds were divided up by the area planning council.
Dealing with state and federal rules made things “a lot more complicated and time consuming,” Neiman said.
After getting Caltrans District 1's approval on the project, they had to get approval from Caltrans' Sacramento office, then from federal highway officials both in Washington and California, a process that took about two months, Neiman said.
Clearlake's road project finally went to bid in June and the city opened bids in July. However, all of them had problems and were rejected, so Neiman said they went out to bid again in August. The next round of bids included Fedco's.
At the council's next meeting they'll consider several additional road work projects on Modoc, Arrowhead and Pomo, Neiman said. The staff will recommend approving the road improvement project on Pomo, from the school down to Lakeshore Drive. The lowest bid on that is $118,000.
That will use up the federal funds and, with it, exhaust the federal rules that the city has to follow. Neiman said the city will be left with about $800,000 and will go out to bid next January on three other road projects.
Based on past experience, January is the best time of year to get bids, said Neiman, because contractors are lining up work for the spring.
With the state planning to withhold five months' worth of the city's gas tax revenue – which they're supposed to pay back eventually – Neiman said, “We're not in real good financial shape by any means.”
He said the city may need to use some of that leftover $800,000 to fund the Public Works Department – which normally is supported by the gas tax funds – before it bids out its other projects early next year.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The operation began around 7 a.m. Wednesday, according to Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Bauman said sheriff's deputies, along with agents from the state's Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP), were involved in the operation.
He said it took place along a five mile stretch in the area of Dry Creek Road and the Dry Creek Cutoff near Middletown.
In all, about 5,800 marijuana plants were eradicated, said Bauman, who didn't have a season eradication total immediately available.
Area residents reported seeing numerous trucks, cars and agents as part of the operation, along with a helicopter.
Bauman estimated that there is at least another month of eradication work ahead for officials before the marijuana growing season ends for the year.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
Barton West, 56, was arrested after being transported to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital for medical care following the crash, which occurred at around 12:55 p.m. Tuesday, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Steve Tanguay.
The collision occurred on the Nice-Lucerne Cutoff east of Lakeshore Boulevard, Tanguay said.
Salvador Velazquez, 40, of Nice was driving his 2000 Dodge Caravan eastbound, with 84-year-old Jack Green of Nice driving eastbound behind Velazquez in his 2003 Ford Focus, according to Tanguay's report.
West, who was driving his 1985 Toyota Tercel westbound approaching Velazquez and Green, is alleged to have allowed his vehicle to cross over the double yellow lines and enter the eastbound lane of traffic ahead of Velazquez, Tanguay said.
Tanguay said the left side of West's Tercel swiped the left side of Velazqeuz's Caravan before West continued to travel westbound, with the left front of his vehicle hitting the left front of Green's Ford Focus.
Following the collision, the Toyota Tercel and the Ford Focus each came to a stop in the traffic lanes, partially blocking the roadway, Tanguay said.
Emergency personnel from Lakeport, Northshore and Lake County Fire responded to the collision scene and it was necessary to extricate West and Green from their vehicles, he said.
Tanguay said West and Green were transported by air ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital for their injuries.
West was subsequently arrested for felony driving under the influence charges, said Tanguay.
The collision is being investigated by Officer Erich Paarsch.
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
The Lake County Wine Alliance will hold its 10th annual Lake County Wine Auction, a benefit for the arts, health, and community of Lake County, on Saturday, Sept. 19, at the National Guard
Armory, located at 1431 Hoyt Ave. in Lakeport.
This annual gala is a must-attend event with live and silent auctions, wine and gourmet foods from local purveyors and music. Twenty-five Lake County wineries will participate.
The Lake County Wine Alliance is a nonprofit organization of Lake County wineries, winegrape growers, and community supporters whose mission is to foster the arts, benefit health services, and support the community.
Since its first event in 2000, the Lake County Wine Auction has contributed more than $714,000 to local programs.
This year’s event is chaired by Andy Beckstoffer, chairman and CEO of Beckstoffer Vineyards; the evening’s auctioneer will be Tom DiNardo, founder of DiNardo & Lord Auctioneers.
“The Wine Alliance board is looking forward to an exciting evening of raising funds to support many worthy programs in Lake County,” said Beckstoffer.
Rob Roumiguiere, partner in Roumiguiere Vineyards and treasurer for the Lake County Wine Alliance, is this year’s master of ceremonies. The Lake County Diamonds will provide the event's music.
Black-tie is encouraged.
The Wine Auction begins at 5 p.m.; tickets are $100 per person.
Organizers said this week a limited number of tickets for the event are still available.
Once again this year, acclaimed local watercolor artist John Clarke created a watercolor-on-silk painting and donated it to the Wine Alliance both to be reproduced as a fine art poster and to be auctioned off as original artwork. This year’s piece is titled, “Sunset Waltz.”
Other auction items include weekend and weeklong getaways, wine packages, wine tasting events, and a variety of goods and services like massages and other luxuries.
The Wine Auction committee has added a special attraction to this year's auction – a Vintage Vault where seven wineries will pour special library wines and do vertical tastings of limited vintages.
Participating will be Brassfield Estate Winery, Dusinberre Cellars, Langtry Estate & Vineyards, Shannon Ridge Vineyards & Winery, Steele Wines, Tulip Hill Winery and Wildhurst Vineyards. The unique opportunity to taste remarkable wines from these exceptional Lake County wineries will be available for an additional charge of $25 per person, payable at the event.
The Wine Alliance board of directors annually selects the recipients to benefit from the auction proceeds. A record number of applicants submitted their funding requests to the Lake County Wine Alliance this year, demonstrating the number of programs seeking financial assistance.
Seven nonprofit organizations, five high schools, senior centers, and health programs have been selected as beneficiaries of this year’s event, announced Margaret Walker-Stimmel, president of the sponsoring Lake County Wine Alliance.
This year's beneficiaries include:
The Arts: The Allegro Scholarship Program assists exceptional music students with financial needs and will receive $2,000. The fine arts programs at each of the five high schools in Lake County (Clear Lake
High, Kelseyville High, Lower Lake High, Middletown High, and Upper Lake High) will share the balance of funds in this category.
Health: The Lake County Hunger Task Force will receive $2,500 to assist senior centers and food banks with produce from its community gardens. The balance of funds will be shared equally by the five senior centers that provide “meals on wheels” or nutrition programs and the St. Helena Hospital Clearlake Medical Imaging department for its no-cost mammograms to low or no-income women.
Community: The Stitch and Give Knitters will receive $1,000 to help them provide knitted items to the women’s shelter, pregnant teen program, Head Start program, and newborn hats to area hospitals. The
Lake County Chapter of Vietnam Veterans of America will receive $5,000 for its advocacy and outreach programs, including the Avenue of Flags at local cemeteries, and providing gifts to patients at extended-care facilities. Remaining funds in this category will be shared between People Services Inc., and Senior Law Project, Inc. People Services has been meeting the needs of the developmentally disabled in Lake County for 35 years. The Senior Law Project provides legal help to elder clients in Lake County.
The Ely Stage Stop & Country Museum project of the Lake County Historical Society will receive special attention through a “fund a need” live auction lot. The recently re-located structure is considered to be Lake County’s oldest “stick-built” building, dating to the late 1850s. It will be the centerpiece of a new interpretive museum for Lake County’s agrarian past.
Corporate and major sponsors this year include Pacific Gas and Electric Co., Beckstoffer Vineyards, Bella Vista Farming, Buckingham Golf & Country Club, Enchantic Art, Kelseyville Lumber, McDermaid Family Vineyards, Mendo Lake Credit Union, Kelseyville Wine Company, Lake County Winegrape Commission, St. Helena Hospital Clearlake, Umpqua Bank, WestAmerica Bank and Wildhurst Vineyards.
For tickets to the Lake County Wine Auction and information on the Friday evening dinners, contact 866-279-WINE, www.winealliance.org .