LAKEPORT — The Lake County Board of Supervisors (BOS) voted on Tuesday to establish a redistricting committee for electing county supervisors.
Diane Fridley, the Lake County Registrar of Voters, submitted a draft resolution to the BOS that would establish a three-person committee to examine data from the 2010 Census to draft and adopt new supervisorial district boundaries and hear input from the public.
Fridley suggested the committee consist of herself, Deputy Redevelopment Director Eric Seely and Assessor-Recorder Doug Wacker.
Fridley said the committee must present recommendations to the BOS and hold a public meeting by July 26. More public hearings may be necessary if an agreement on the new boundaries is not reached.
Fridley said the BOS must have a final public hearing and approve the findings of the committee by mid-August. At that time, the BOS would direct staff to prepare an ordinance establishing the new supervisorial district boundaries.
The draft ordinance must include a legal description of the new boundaries by the surveyor and be presented to the BOS no later than Sept. 13, according to Fridley.
She said the deadline to complete the boundary adjustments is Nov. 1. If the BOS does not complete the boundary adjustments by then, a new committee would be established, with a legal requirement that it be made up of the district attorney, county assessor and county superintendent of schools, Fridley said.
District 2 Supervisor Jeff Smith said the last redistricting went “great” and it will be interesting to see what comes back after this next redistricting.
District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing said the proposed committee was “beyond reproach.”
The BOS unanimously approved the resolution, establishing and appointing the redistricting committee.
The BOS, sitting as the Board of Directors of the Lake County Sanitation District (LACOSAN), received an analysis of the capacity of the Geysers Effluent Conveyance System. Special Districts Administrator Mark Dellinger and Water Works Engineers Sami Kader gave a PowerPoint presentation to the board.
Kader said the system conveys treated wastewater from four wastewater treatment plants to the Geysers Geothermal Field for reuse in steam production. The system uses 85 percent of the county wastewater, he said.
Kader said the system is required to draw water from Clear Lake to augment the effluent supply. Dellinger said the maximum amount allowed to be drawn from the lake is 7,900 acre-feet, or approximately 1.8 inches of water off of the top of the lake. Kader said the amount drawn from the lake has decreased over time, and the system is currently operating within capacity.
He said the system draws 5,000 acre-feet of lake water per year, which makes up approximately half of the flow to the geysers. The system can double in effluent disposal capacity, but is limited by seasonal fluctuations and reservoir capacity, according to Kader.
Kader said if reservoir capacity was expanded by doubling the size of the Southeast Reservoir and adding 30 percent capacity to the Northeast Reservoir, the system could significantly expand and serve all the communities of the county.
The BOS voted unanimously to approve a resolution designating the Lucerne Hotel as a county historical building. With this approval, the hotel could qualify for use of the California Historic Building Code. The county heritage commission supported the hotel”s designation.
In a related matter, the BOS delayed a vote on changing the name of 13th Avenue in Lucerne to Castle Drive. Rushing asked to postpone a vote on the name change after receiving some requests. County Administrator Kelly Cox said 90 percent of people surveyed about the name change approved. The matter will be discussed at 9:15 a.m. on June 28.
Kevin N. Hume can be reached at kevin.n.hume@gmail.com or call directly 263-5636, ext. 14.
