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- Written by: Lake County News reports
Cal Water’s Lucerne system obtains water for its customers from Clear Lake.
“Our Lucerne customers have done a tremendous job with their conservation efforts, and we look forward to partnering with them again as we again face drought conditions,” said Cal Water District Manager Evan Markey.
According to Markey, Cal Water has been preparing to meet customers’ needs in preparation for drought conditions. These efforts include:
— Replacing, repairing, and upgrading infrastructure to minimize water loss;
— Identifying and repairing leaks through a Water Loss Auditing and Control Program;
— Developing 30-year water supply and facilities master plans, which enable the utility to identify and address potential gaps in supplies; and
— Updating its conservation master plan to help determine programs that would most benefit local customers and reduce water use.
“Although these efforts are critically important, they can’t take the place of customer conservation efforts,” Markey said.
Cal Water encourages customers to utilize its industry-leading conservation program to help save water.
The utility offers rebates on high-efficiency appliances and devices; a free conservation kit that includes a garden hose nozzle with shut-off valve, high-efficiency shower heads, faucet aerators, and more; educational resources; and a smart landscape tuneup program that includes an irrigation system evaluation along with installation of efficient devices and repair of irrigation leaks at no cost to customers.
Residents and businesses should also continue observing the prohibited uses of water that have been in effect.
Water-wasting activities include, in part, using water on outdoor landscaping that causes runoff onto adjacent properties or paved areas; using water during or within 48 hours after measurable rainfall; using a hose to wash vehicles unless the hose has a shut-off nozzle or similar device; and using water in a fountain or other decorative water feature, except where part of a recirculating system
Cal Water customers can visit www.calwater.com/conservation or contact the Redwood Valley Customer Center at 707-274-6624 for information on conservation programs along with a full list of prohibited uses of water.
Cal Water serves about 3,600 people through 1,900 service connections in Lucerne and parts of Duncans Mills, Guerneville, Dillon Beach, Noel Heights and Santa Rosa. The company has provided water service in the area since 2000.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
CLEARLAKE, Calif. — The city of Clearlake is poised to begin a record-breaking year of roadwork and paving.
On Thursday the Clearlake City Council unanimously approved a $335,048 contract for the city’s 2021 Chip Seal Project with Pavement Coatings, a company that did a similar chip seal test project with the city last year.
Public Works Director Dale Goodman said the new project will be for 5.6 miles of chip seal work in the Avenues area.
The discussion on the topic begins at the 1:50:00 mark in the video above.
Goodman congratulated the city council, City Manager Alan Flora and staff for the “amazing” amount of road work that is going to be done this year.
“I have never had this many balls in the year at one time. It’s incredible. We keep adding more,” said Goodman, who has spent 18 years working in the public works sector, not just in Clearlake but in larger cities of up to 100,000 residents.
The city of Clearlake has more than 100 miles of roads, with about 40 miles being unpaved. “That’s the result of just how the city has grown up. This wasn’t a master plan community,” said Goodman.
Clearlake, he added, “grew up like most cities grew up. So, as a result, we have unpaved roads.”
As a result of limited funds, paved roads have received limited maintenance mostly consisting of filling potholes and doing crackseal work. Goodman said additional work would be done occasionally if enough money could be scraped together.
Grading of unpaved roads, filling potholes and sealing cracks on paved roads is “not a great maintenance program if you want to keep your asphalt in good shape,” Goodman said.
Thanks to city voters passing the Measure V sales tax in 2017, Goodman said the city has had the funding to start to develop a pavement management program.
“The city has come a long way in a short period of time,” he said.
Last year, city staff put together a test project of one mile of unpaved road, Goodman said. They graded and rolled it, preparing it to put down a double chip seal layer.
He said the process consisted of putting down a layer of emulsion on the dirt, followed by a layer of chips, another layer of emulsion, more chips, then a fog seal.
“We didn't know for sure how that was going to work out in the long run,” Goodman said.
That project was completed eight months ago, and Goodman said it came through the winter and has held up well.
With that first project appearing to have worked, he said staff decided to bring forward this larger project, also in an area of the Avenues with good drainage.
He said staff has been out grading the roads where the chip seal work will be done, and as of Thursday they were about two-thirds of the way through it.
The project was put out to bid in March and Goodman said five companies sent in bids. Those bids were opened on April 22.
The low bidder was Pavement Coatings, the company that did last year’s chip seal test project. It bid $335,048. The highest bidder was American Pavement Systems, which bid $408,542.50, according to the staff report for the discussion.
Goodman said $400,000 was budgeted for the project, with an expectation that it could go as high as $500,000, so they were very pleased with Pavement Coatings’ lower bid.
The project will be paid for with Measure V funds, he added.
Councilman David Claffey asked if the work would account for 15 percent of the city’s unpaved roads, with Goodman confirming that was the case.
Claffey asked how many other roads Goodman’s team would be resurfacing in 2021.
Altogether, between three paving projects, Goodman said they will be doing about 15 miles of road. “Which is extraordinary,” he said, noting that at the cities he’s worked at, he’s never seen more than two or three miles of road work completed a year.
“This is just staggering the number of miles we’re going to be treating this year,” said Goodman.
Claffey asked about the last time the city has done so much road work, adding “maybe never.”
Goodman echoed that, adding that there may have been that much road work done in the city when the new Highway 53 was put in, but that project was done by Caltrans.
“This is a very big project,” said Claffey, thanking Goodman for his leadership.
“This is amazing that we’re getting this done,” said Councilmember Joyce Overton.
Since the city saved money on the bid, Councilwoman Russ Perdock asked Goodman if they are looking at adding more roadwork.
Goodman said, “Maybe.”
Flora, who indicated he had spoken to Perdock about the idea previously, noted, “It is extremely tempting to want to add on” to the work they’re already doing.
However, as tempting as it is, Flora cautioned that the city hasn’t yet gotten back the bids for its other Measure V projects, which include surface treatments on arterial streets.
His recommendation was to move forward with the enormous number of projects the city already has. “Maybe we go even bigger next year.”
Councilman Russ Cremer moved to approve the contract, with Perdock seconding and the council voting 5-0.
In other business on Thursday, the council heard a presentation by Dr. Cirilo Cortez, dean of the Lake County Campus of Woodland College, and interim Chancellor Dr. Art Pimentel regarding a promise program for Clearlake students, with council giving staff direction to work with the college on a plan.
The council also held a swearing-in of new police department employees and the presentation of police department employee awards, and presented proclamations declaring May 9 to 15 as Police Week and May 2 to 8 as Public Employee Appreciation Week, and May as Military Appreciation Month and Older Americans Month.
Also on Thursday, Mayor Dirk Slooten said he would appoint himself to serve on the county’s Visioning Forum Planning Committee, formed in February. The vote for the appointment was 5-0.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
MATH will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 13, via Zoom. The meeting is open to the public.
To join the Zoom meeting click on this link; the meeting ID is 935 1671 5770. Call in at 888-788-0099.
Thompson is scheduled to give his presentation beginning at 7:10 p.m. He also will be available for questions afterward.
Community members are asked to email questions for Thompson to MATH at
Also on Thursday, there will be public input at 8:15 p.m. and an update from Supervisor Moke Simon at 8:30 p.m.
At 8:45 p.m., the group is set to discuss moving back to the in-person meeting format.
The MATH Board includes Co-Chairs Rosemary Córdova and Monica Rosenthal, Secretary Lisa Kaplan, and Ken Gonzales and Paul baker.
MATH — established by resolution of the Lake County Board of Supervisors on Dec. 12, 2006 — is a municipal advisory council serving the residents of Anderson Springs, Cobb, Coyote Valley (including Hidden Valley Lake), Long Valley and Middletown.
For more information email
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Tama Prokopowich
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Looking at the real estate market for March of 2021 versus March of 2020 is revealing as last year in March the pandemic was just beginning to affect the community.
The market continues to be fantastic for sellers, which can be frustrating for buyers. Spring is traditionally the time when more homes come on the market. As we enter spring, we will see if
inventory goes up.
There are some interesting statistics that offer us a snapshot of the Lake County real estate market in March 2020 versus March 2021.
First, let’s look at active listings.
Active listings throughout the county were 128 for March 2021 which is down 52.8% over March 2020.
The breakdown of active listings by community in March, compared to last year, is as follows:
— Lakeport: 23 active listings, up 27.8% over the previous year.
— Kelseyville: 22 active listings, down 62.1%.
— Hidden Valley Lake: 9 active listings, down 82.7% from March 2020.
— Clearlake: 25 active listings, down 50%.
Existing home sales throughout the county totaled 73 homes for March 2021, up 4.3% from March 2020. That breaks down as follows:
— Lakeport: 12 existing home sales, up 9.1% over the previous year.
— Kelseyville: 16 home sales, down 20%;
— Hidden Valley Lake: 13 home sales, up 30%.
— Clearlake: 12 home sales, no change from March 2020.
The existing home median price throughout Lake County for March 2021 was $333,000, up 20.9% over March 2020. Those prices by community compared to the previous year are:
— Lakeport: $353,000, down 15.2% from March 2020; it’s important to remember inventory was up for March 2021.
— Kelseyville: $385,000, up 36.3%.
— Hidden Valley Lake: $362,000, up 25.9%.
— Clearlake: $204,000, up 6.3%.
The median number days on market in March 2021 across Lake County totaled 19, showing homes are selling quickly throughout the county.
In Clearlake, median days on the market totaled 34; followed by Hidden Valley Lake, 16; Lakeport, 13; and Kelseyville, eight.
The sales list to price in the county in March 2021 was 98.5%, indicating that homes are selling very close to list price throughout the county.
In Hidden Valley Lake, 100% of homes are selling at sales list to price, followed by 99.3% in Clearlake, 98.8% in Kelseyville and 98.6% in Lakeport.
As for active listings that had price reductions across Lake County in March, 27.3% were reduced, showing that even with quick sales and homes selling close to asking price, if priced too high, price reductions are needed.
In Lakeport for March 2021, 39.1% of active listings had price reductions, while Kelseyville had 31.8%, Clearlake had 16% and Hidden Valley Lake had 11.1%.
It will be interesting to see what the market brings us in the months ahead.
Tama Prokopowich is president-elect of the Lake County Association of Realtors.