LAKEPORT The question of which groups will be represented on the committee to help decide the future of agricultural lands in Lake County has been settled.
The Board of Supervisors voted in May to add an agricultural element to the county”s new General Plan, which is slated to be completed later this year.
At Tuesday”s board meeting, Community Development Depart-ment (CDD) staff brought their recommendations to the board for approval, which they gave unanimously.
The group will be a diverse one. Community Development Director Mary Jane Fagalde told the board that agricultural interests in the county cover a “myriad of things,” from land uses, parcel size, animal density, agritourism, farm stays and animal density, among others.
“We”ll need diverse input on this,” she said. “We want the committee well-rounded and suited to all members of the county, not just agriculture.”
Fagalde recommended one member each from the pear industry, grape industry, livestock industry or a cattleman”s association member, farmers” finest or a specialty grower, walnut industry and one Chamber of Commerce member or a business owner.
She also recommended that the California Women for Agricultural organization, the Farm Bureau and the Sierra Club each have one member sit on the committee.
To round out the committee, Fagalde recommended that two public members serve at-large for a total of 11 members.
“We thought it would be advisable that this committee not exceed 11 members,” Fagalde told the board. “Large, unwieldy groups make our staff go gray before their time.”
The board will review applications for the committee and appoint members from the applications received.
Lake County Farm Bureau Executive Director Chuck March requested that, if applications from each sector identified were not received, the board have the ability to appoint someone else who had applied. The board agreed to March”s suggestion.
District 1 Supervisor Ed Robey said that he received a fax from Rick Gunier, a member of the Lake County Winegrape Commission, requesting that the committee be appointed based on crop percentages.
“Since the grape industry has 55 percent of the production in the county,” Robey said, “he feels that they should have 55 percent of the members on the committee.”
However, Robey and the rest of the board didn”t agree with that idea.
Asked what the next steps would be, assistant CDD Director Rick Coel said Wednesday that CDD staff is working on the applications, which will soon be available in the CDD and the board offices.
Coel estimates that there will be two meetings per month for six to eight months. “I suspect they will be evening meetings, but once we have a group of folks who are interested and the board appoints them we”ll contact everyone for their best day and time to meet.”
He added, “We”re looking for prospective members on this committee that are representative of all facets of agriculture in Lake county.”
For more information, contact Coel, 263-2221.
Contact Terre Logsdon at tlogsdon@record-bee.com.
