LAKEPORT — The Lake County supervisors formally signed off on allowing a Cobb power company to continue operations for another 30 years Tuesday.
In a 4-1 vote confirming its April 2 intended decision, the Board of Supervisors (BOS) denied the appeal of Friends of Cobb Mountain, a nonprofit group that challenged the county planning commission”s Feb. 28 approval of extending the use permit of Bottle Rock Power LLC until 2043.
The organization argued the permit renewal needed more environmental analysis and should have better addressed the costs associated with final decommissioning of the power operation.
District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing was the lone dissenting voice in Tuesday”s two Bottle Rock Power votes, which were to approve written findings of fact and officially deny the appeal.
Friends of Cobb Mountain does not plan to challenge the BOS decision in court, group chair Hamilton Hess said Thursday morning.
“We just don”t believe there is any advantage in legal action,” he added.
The nonprofit organization has taken the county to court in the past over Bottle Rock Power, suing in May 2011 over the county”s endorsement of the environmental impact report for the company”s expansion project. The lawsuit was settled almost a year later.
In other business at the Lake County Courthouse, the BOS held off on taking a position on a piece of state legislation aimed at increasing the amount of environmental review required for projects that could impact American Indian cultural resources.
Community Development Director Rick Coel asked the supervisors to oppose Assembly Bill 52, dubbed the Native Americans: California Environmental Quality Act, arguing in part that the proposed law is written poorly and subjectively and would create time-consuming and costly review processes for virtually all projects.
“I don”t want to be in this position, to oppose the concerns of the tribes over resources, but I think this is a bad piece of legislation,” Coel said.
A representative from the Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians asked the supervisors to wait on taking a formal position on the bill while the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake requested that the BOS support the legislation.
Rather than choose to support or oppose, the BOS directed county staff to bring back a letter outlining specific concerns about the bill.
With the summer fire season approaching, the BOS held a discussion about lessons learned and recommendations developed after the Wye Fire, an incident comprised of two wildland blazes that scorched nearly 8,000 acres east of Clearlake Oaks last August.
The conversation focused primarily on how agencies in Lake County plan to work together while responding to such large-scale wildfires.
“The post-incident collaboration has been extraordinary,” Rushing, referring to the Wye Fire aftermath, said to the three local fire chiefs and one sheriff”s captain attending the meeting.
Emergency-response agencies in the county are working to keep communication lines open, and the fire districts are working to update their interagency agreements, officials told the BOS.
Earlier, the supervisors passed a resolution updating the Lake County Capital Fire Facility and Equipment Plan.
The Office of Emergency Services is on its way from the sheriff”s office to the administrative office after the BOS approved the second reading of an ordinance formalizing the switch, which will take effect the final week of May.
The supervisors approved an agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Services to continue the federal trapper program in the county.
The BOS passed three proclamations, declaring May as Mental Health Month and designating this as Police Officers Week and Safe Boating Week.
Consideration of the notice of completion for the Middletown Library Community and Senior Center was delayed for two more weeks. The supervisors also postponed their discussion on a pass-through fee to benefit Channel 8 until June 18 at 9:45 a.m.
Jeremy Walsh is a staff reporter for Lake County Publishing. Reach him at 263-5636, ext. 37 or jwalsh@record-bee.com. Follow coverage on Twitter, @JeremyDWalsh or #LakeBOS.
