LAKE COUNTY — A 36-page response to the 2007-08 Grand Jury report underwent changes Tuesday by the Lake County Board of Supervisors. The report responded to recommendations the jury made for county departments and facilities, and responded to complaints the Grand Jury investigated.
The board added a response to the Grand Jury”s recommendation that the county Public Works Department consider moving Lampson Field. The Grand Jury found the current location will not allow increased air traffic that is expected as the county grows.
“The board of supervisors acknowledges that it may need to develop a second airport in the future, but it does not see relocating Lampson Airport as being feasible right now,” Supervisor Denise Rushing said, suggesting the wording that was added to the response.
The Grand Jury also recommended that the county Mental Health Department provide transportation for patients to remote mental health facilities or offer travel compensation.
Mental Health Director Christy Kelly said while her department isn”t legally responsible for patient transportation, she is working with the state mental health board on the possibility of providing transportation as an extra service.
The jury recommended that the county re-evaluate the procedure for routing Lake County 9-1-1 cell phone calls, which are currently routed to California Highway Patrol outside Lake County.
“Some 9-1-1 cell phone calls are not being reported to the (Lake County Fire Protection) district in a timely manner. Fifteen-minute delays have been documented between the time of the call and the dispatch time,” according to the Grand Jury report.
Lake County Sheriff Rodney Mitchell told the board he received a note from the Grand Jury foreman saying that concern was not in the county”s jurisdiction, so the board did not need to respond.
Mitchell said he would include that and a statistical error in reporting the numbers of threatened suicides in his report.
In other news, the board continued a discussion about whether to grant a time extension to developer Mohammed Hussain to pay sewer fees that will be required before he opens a travel plaza he is building at the junction of Highway 20 and Highway 29.
Sitting as the Board of Directors for the Lake County Sanitation District, the board directed County Counsel Anita Grant to write an ordinance the board will consider in two weeks. The ordinance will include special circumstances that apply to Hussain”s development, according to Supervisor Anthony Farrington. The circumstances including the 35 jobs the gas station, car wash, restaurant and convenience store is expected to create, and extra cost Hussain paid to extend a sewer line under the Rodman Slough Bridge.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
