LAKEPORT — The Lake County Board of Supervisors (BOS) Tuesday approved a settlement in the lawsuit between the Friends of Cobb Mountain and the county regarding Bottle Rock Power expansion.
The BOS discussed the settlement in closed session. When open session resumed, District 2 Supervisor Jeff Smith moved to approve the settlement, which was unanimously approved.
According to the minutes of Tuesday”s meeting, the settlement does not require any payment of monetary damages by the county.
The county agrees to commit to continue funding a resource planner/geothermal coordinator as long as AB 1905 geothermal funds continue and to take action to re-establish and reactivate the County Geothermal Advisory Committee, according to the minutes.
The settlement was reached Monday at a case management conference at the Lake County Courthouse.
Friends of Cobb Mountain petitioned the court last May to reverse decisions made by the BOS regarding a Bottle Rock Power expansion project. The company proposed to add new geothermal well pads, production and injection wells, pipelines on land near its already operating power plant and well pads in Cobb.
The petition listed the county of Lake and the BOS as respondents. Bottle Rock Power, LLC is a “real party in interest.”
Donald Mooney, an attorney representing Friends of Cobb Mountain, said the settlement is now finalized and a request for a dismissal form will be filed with the court to end the lawsuit.
Kevin N. Hume can be reached at kevin.n.hume@gmail.com or call directly 263-5636 ext. 14. Follow on Twitter: @KevinNHume.
