LAKE COUNTY ? The three-month-old Clear Lake Foundation (CLF), a group of prominent citizens, city officials and tribal leaders with a mission to protect Clear Lake, voted at its Wednesday meeting to hire a person tasked with quagga mussel prevention, predicated on the Board of Supervisor”s approval and financial support.
The executive committee of CLF”s board met with County Supervisor Anthony Farrington at Lakeport”s city hall prior to its 1 p.m. board meeting. There they decided it would be mutually beneficial for the county and the foundation for CLF to hire an individual tasked exclusively with managing quagga mussel prevention strategies. That individual is yet to be determined as CLF forms its list of potential candidates and volunteers.
“What a great way to introduce the Clear Lake Foundation,” Lakeport City Manager Jerry Gillham said during the meeting. “What better way to do it then take Tony”s money and hire the staff and provide support. It brings instant credibility to us.”
Board members and executive committee members plan to make a pitch of the idea to the Board of Supervisor”s special meeting about the quagga mussel today at 1:30 p.m. at the Courthouse Museum in Lakeport.
The mussel is an invasive species spread two ways: by its larvae traveling downstream or by human transportation via watercraft. The Board of Supervisors made a motion Tuesday to implement 13 strategies to prevent the mussel from being transported by watercraft from the 18 bodies of infected water in Southern California. They set a deadline for those strategies to be in place in 30 to 60 days.
The strategies include a plan to purchase four wash stations for watercraft that spray high-pressure, 140-degree water to kill the mussel and its larvae. The Board of Supervisors decided Tuesday to make it mandatory for all watercraft entering the county to use a wash station. To regulate the process, Caltrans digital signage will be implemented to notify motorists of the new regulations. After decontamination at a wash station, a short-term sticker will be slapped on watercraft certifying it is clean.
Over the ensuing three months, county staffers ? and/or CLF as the case may be ? are asked to chew on the following topics in order to implement the 13 strategies: coordinate between businesses, law enforcement, Caltrans and other entities and make sure efforts are not duplicated, order wash stations, find sites for wash stations and expand quagga mussel education efforts.
Farrington said after more than four hours of discussion at the Board of Supervisor”s meeting that included a staff presentation by Deputy Director of Water Resources Pam Francis ? there was what he viewed as “hesitancy” from Francis and staffers to move forward with the 13 items on a 60-day deadline.
“Seeing her reaction when the board moved forward, I think this is the right thing [getting the CLF involved], I think she”s overwhelmed?.staff said, ?I don”t know if we can do this.” That”s why I say lets get it out of the auspices of the government and being tied up in government bureaucracies,” Farrington said.
But Francis said in an interview Wednesday night that her reaction has been misinterpreted by some, including in a local news blog.
“I was hoping that in addition to local action, the Board of Supervisors would have approved our staff recommendations for state action,” Francis said.
While the CLF board approved its executive committee”s recommendations that the foundation take a lead in addressing the quagga mussel, some members had reason to pause.
“How do you do something this fast? It”s taken us three months to get together and we”re about half the size of when we started out,” Board Member Nancy Ruzika said. “Sometimes things are so much talk and things never get done.”
But after a discussion of more than an hour, the CLF board decided it has the wherewithal to take on the quagga mussel challenge. “We”ve got so much talent in this room, I think we can get this done,” Board Member Bill Brunetti said.
Contact Elizabeth Wilson at ewilson@record-bee.com