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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
On Tuesday, Public Works Director Scott De Leon requested, and received, the approval from the Board of Supervisors to establish just compensation for properties to be purchased for the Hill Road Slide Repair and Restoration Project.
Early in 2013, a landslide developed at the 29-home Lakeside Heights subdivision, which sits above Hill Road and across from the Sutter Lakeside Hospital campus.
Ultimately, the slide would destroy six homes and lead to repeated wintertime closures of Hill Road when rain would cause the slide to move across the roadway.
Those closures of Hill Road have been a particular concern. “Hill Road is our primary route to Sutter Hospital from the Northshore communities so it's a very important road for us to keep open,” De Leon said.
In 2014, the homeowners filed suit against the county, alleging that its water system was to blame. The county settled with the homeowners for $4.5 million in 2017.
The work to plan and design the project has been underway for years. De Leon said numerous issues led to the project delays, including the lawsuit.
However, now the repair project has finally been designed and De Leon said his staff is in the process of acquiring the right of way necessary to complete the project.
De Leon said the item he took to the board on Tuesday was meant to accomplish a few things, including meeting the requirements of federal and state codes.
Because federal funds are being used for the project, De Leon said the board needed to establish just compensation for the properties that the county wants to acquire in order to be in accordance with federal code requirements. That compensation cannot be less than the approved appraisal of the fair market value of the property.
De Leon’s report included a document that listed nine properties that the county wants to purchase for the project, as well as the fair market value of each, determined by an appraisal by the county’s consultant, Bender Rosenthal Inc., and formally reviewed and certified by Sierra West Valuation in accordance with federal code requirements.
A review of a Lake County GIS map shows that the properties in question are vacant lots, primarily located at the edge of the Lakeside Heights subdivision and overlooking Hill Road.
The properties proposed for purchase and their base market value are as follows:
• 5417 Lancaster Road, $9,200.
• 5406 Lancaster Road, $9,200.
• 5432 Lancaster Road, $9,200.
• 5377 Hill Road, $10,700.
• 5396 Lancaster Road, $9,200.
• 5436 Lancaster Road, $9,200.
• 5392 Lancaster Road, $9,200.
• 5412, 5416, 5422, 5427 and 5433 Lancaster Road, $43,600.
• 1025 Downing Drive, $2,200.
De Leon said state code says that a legislative body of a local agency has to grant authority to a negotiator regarding the price and terms of payment before a purchase, sale or exchange, and also has to identify its negotiators, the people with whom they can negotiate and the real property that is the subject of the negotiations.
He said he and Bender Rosenthal representatives will be negotiators on behalf of the county with the property owners.
Any subsequent negotiations will be held in closed session with proper notice, said De Leon.
He said he staff recommended that the board determine that the just compensation for the properties listed is not less than the fair market values.
Supervisor Bruno Sabatier asked about the timeline for the project’s completion, explaining that he had issues with liability with property that may be sliding onto vehicles and pedestrians. “We do continue to see that each winter.”
Sabatier said the process was done correctly and he agreed with the quotes and appraisals presented. “What liability are we taking on if this is a 10-year project versus if it’s going to happen within the next foreseeable future?”
“We have some funding deadlines for construction. We need to get this project built,” said De Leon.
He said there won’t be a 10-year delay between acquisition of properties and construction.
While he doesn’t think it will be built this year, if the process goes smoothly, at the latest it would be constructed by next summer.
Sabatier said he felt that timeline was doable.
De Leon said all of the property acquisitions are going to be incorporated into the repair project’s design.
Supervisor Michael Green, in whose district the project is located, questioned what the board would be negotiating in closed session if they can’t go below the minimum prices or above fair market value.
He said he wasn’t going to ask De Leon for the reasoning behind the item, but added, “It’s going to box us in during the closed session.”
“Let’s just wait and have that conversation,” said Board Chair Jessica Pyska.
Green moved to approve the item, with Sabatier seconding and the board voting 4-0. Supervisor Moke Simon was absent for the discussion.
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“Fire weather” is a term used when hot temperatures combine with low relative humidity and gusty winds to increase the risk of fire starts and rapid spread, OES said.
The National Weather Service also has issued a heat advisory from 11 a.m. Friday to 11 p.m. Saturday due to high temperatures up to 107 degrees throughout Lake County.
OES and fire officials are asking people to follow simple tips to avoid starting a fire.
Those tips include:
• Do not drive onto tall vegetation;
• Do not participate in any spark producing activities including, but not limited to, outdoor welding or grinding and mowing.
• When towing, ensure chains are not dragging.
• Do not conduct outdoor cooking, such as barbecues, near dry vegetation. Always have a fire extinguisher nearby.
Beyond Friday, daytime temperatures also are expected to top the century mark on Saturday before dropping into the high 90s on Sunday and the lower 90s early next week. Conditions at night are anticipated to be in the low to mid 60s.
While the temperatures remain high, officials remind community members to drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room and out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors.
Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside, rescheduling strenuous activities to early morning or evening.
Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke, and wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when possible.
Lake County OES’ website has additional preparedness information including how-to pack a go-bag on a reduced budget video, children’s activities and links to other agency websites.
Follow Lake County OES, Lake County Sheriff and fire districts on social media for ongoing information.
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CLEARLAKE, Calif. — Clearlake Animal Control has nearly three dozen dogs waiting to be adopted into new families.
The Clearlake Animal Control website continues to list 34 dogs for adoption.
This week’s dogs include “Emma,” a female Rottweiler mix with a black and tan coat.
“Henry” is a male pit bull terrier mix with a red and white coat.
“Clyde” is a male Great Pyrenees mix with a fluffy black and white coat.
The shelter is located at 6820 Old Highway 53. It’s open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
For more information, call the shelter at 707-762-6227, email
This week’s adoptable dogs are featured below.
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- Written by: Jason Miller, Michigan State University
Talks between the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and UPS over a new contract fell apart on July 5, 2023. The union and the shipping and logistics company are blaming each other for the collapse, which occurred a few weeks after 97% of UPS’s Teamsters voted to strike if the Teamsters and UPS don’t reach an agreement by midnight on July 31.
Without a deal in place, more than 300,000 Teamsters will stop working on Aug. 1. It would mark the delivery service’s first strike since 1997.
The Conversation asked Jason Miller, a supply chain scholar at Michigan State University, to explain how likely it is that this will happen and what to expect if it does.
What are the reasons for this impending strike?
Before the talks collapsed, both sides had been negotiating extensively on a new five-year agreement that would cover about 340,000 unionized UPS workers.
The delivery company has agreed to some of the Teamsters’ demands, pledging to:
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End a two-tiered wage system in which part-time workers earn an average of about US$5 per hour less than full-time workers;
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Make Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the third Monday of January, a paid holiday;
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Stop requiring UPS employees to work overtime hours on their days off;
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Add fans and install air conditioning in many trucks to improve cooling.
The primary remaining sticking points concern part-time workers. The Teamsters dispute UPS’s claim that part-time workers earn an average of $20 per hour. Teamsters President Sean O’Brien instead says they’re paid “poverty wages.”
The Teamsters further want part-time workers to have earlier access to health insurance coverage and pension plans and a clearer pathway to full-time employment. The union also seeks to resolve safety and health concerns and “better pay for all workers,” as well as obtaining “stronger protections against managerial harassment.”
The impasse comes after two years in which UPS posted record profits. The company cleared $12.9 billion and $11.5 billion, respectively, in 2021 and 2022. The company nearly tripled its net income from the levels seen in 2018 and 2019 of $4.8 billion and $4.4 billion.
The Teamsters argue that these record profits mean UPS can afford to pay higher wages.
What should consumers expect?
If unionized UPS workers do go on strike, many U.S. consumers will surely fear delays in the delivery of their online purchases. In my view, that’s a reasonable concern, given that UPS handles roughly 25% of all U.S. package deliveries.
The 1997 strike, which lasted 16 days, took place when e-commerce was in its infancy. The Census Bureau only began to track that slice of the economy in 1999, when online shopping amounted to about 0.6% of all retail sales. Today, consumers spend about 15% of their shopping dollars on e-commerce purchases.
If a strike were to happen, UPS competitors, including FexEx Ground and the United States Postal Service, would likely be able to handle about 20% of UPS’s deliveries because the industry currently has some excess capacity.
That’s due to delivery workers clocking fewer hours per week today compared to the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Parcel delivery demand peaked in 2021, when millions of Americans were still social distancing.
If a prolonged strike happens, UPS could lose up to 30% of its business, experts warn, as customers switch to rival services.
The risk of losing market share is leading many industry experts to believe that if a strike were to occur, it wouldn’t last long.
What about businesses?
Roughly 57.3% of the packages UPS delivers are shipped straight to consumers. The rest go to retailers and other businesses.
Based on my years of researching transportation operations and supply chain disruptions, I believe Americans should recognize that the impact of a UPS strike would stretch far beyond delayed delivery of everything from pet food to tennis rackets that they buy online.
A UPS strike could disrupt the availability of spare parts for cars and wholesale medical supplies, just to name a few essentials. Consumers will also find it harder to get clothing and shoes in stores, as retail locations are typically replenished by parcel carriers.
The supply chain for manufacturing computer and electronics products would probably be disrupted too, according to my analysis of data from the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics that tracks how different industries transport products to their customers. Farmers and construction companies trying to get spare parts for heavy equipment would see delays in those shipments, which might result in downtime that costs tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Consequently, a strike would leave many businesses scrambling to fulfill customers’ orders, which may force them to spend more money on higher-priced air freight shipping.
Even a 10-day strike could cost the U.S. economy an estimated $7.1 billion , according to Anderson Economic Group – a research firm – making it potentially the costliest strike in U.S. history. These costs stem from the 340,000 striking workers losing an estimated $1.1 billion in wages and UPS losing $816 million in earnings. The balance of this estimate would result from the disruptions incurred by UPS customers.
What do you think will happen?
Unlike the threatened railroad strikes of 2022, there is no system in place for the federal government to prevent a UPS strike. On that occasion, Congress had the option of intervening, but a deal was reached before the government had to step in.
However, it seems likely that there will be calls for the White House to get both parties back to the negotiating table.
Given that both the Teamsters and UPS have an incentive to not see the company lose customers to rival shipping operations, I believe that they may reach a deal soon enough to avoid a costly and disruptive strike. Consistent with this, UPS announced on July 19, 2023, that it and the Teamsters will return to the negotiating table before their July 31 deadline.
Jason Miller, Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management, Michigan State University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.