LAKEPORT — Boat inspection sticker fees, a horse riding academy and senior citizens were discussed at the Tuesday Lake County Board of Supervisors meeting.
After two hours of debate and public input, the board unanimously passed a fee schedule for boat inspections to prevent the spread of quagga and zebra mussels to Clear Lake.
The board approved a free inspection sticker program in March that expires June 30. The board directed the Mussel Task Force and the county Public Works Department”s Division of Water Resources to draft an ordinance outlining a permanent program by the expiration date.
“I have not seen the stickers [on boats], so I”m uncomfortable passing a fee schedule when we still don”t have a way to implement the program that is in place,” Supervisor Anthony Farrington said.
Supervisor Rob Brown, who sits on the Mussel Task Force, said staffing four “choke points” at main road access points to the county would cost approximately $1 million per year.
“That”s an enormous amount of money. I don”t know how we would maintain that,” County Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Cox said.
Deputy Director of Water Resources Pam Francis said businesses along the Clear Lake shoreline were contacted and made aware of the issue in a letter asking them to tell patrons to have boats inspected before launching. She said a fluctuating list of approximately 40 locations around Lake County where inspections can be done is available online at www.co.lake.ca.us.
Francis said the ordinance will be refined in the future.
“We did not draft a perfect ordinance. We are the lead county on this in the state so we”re going up the learning curve,” Francis said.
The board tabled a neighbor”s appeal of a planning commission decision to allow a horse riding academy on Steelhead Drive in Kelseyville. Three people out of approximately 40 spoke in favor of the project, which would provide an equine therapy center for disabled children.
“This will attract the kind of wholesome tourism Lake County needs,” Executive Director of Hospice Services of Lake County Marlene Kurowski said.
Kelseyville resident James Clement is appealing the Lake County Planning Commission”s approval of nine commercial horse stables, a riding academy for an estimated 15 students per week and construction of a carriage house. He said the clubhouse is planned 248 feet from his house, and 250 feet from Cole Creek.
The discussion was continued to June 17 at 1:30 p.m., when the board will visit the site.
May is Older Californians Month in Lake County, as stated in a proclamation the board issued during its meeting. Area Agency on Aging Director Susan Era told the board that a recent survey indicated transportation needs and falls in the home were in the top 10 issues facing senior citizens in Lake and Mendocino counties. She said an approximately 25-member committee was working to develop a strategic plan to address the issues.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
