LAKEPORT—On Tuesday the county board of supervisors approved another 90 day extension for the Emergency Warming Shelter in Lakeport. The board also discussed the permitting of temporary hoop structures for cannabis cultivation.
Andrew Amelung, Community Development Cannabis Program Manager, returned to hold a public hearing for the consideration of a draft ordinance amending Chapter 5 of the Lake County Code relating to temporary Permitting for hoop structures.
The board expressed desire to further define terms and align the regulations for hoop structures with those of other industries like agriculture. District 2 Supervisor Bruno Sabatier continued the conversation from last week’s meeting, suggesting that the regulations for hoop structures in cannabis applications be in congruous with agricultural applications. Sabatier mentioned last week’s decision stating “If you can build a barn, ag. exempt, but you can’t put a hoop house we’re complicating things way too much.” Amelung noted “Ag exempt structures do not allow for human habitation or employment and in these structures there will be people working.”
A lot of public comments followed including Lake County Farm Bureau Director Rebecca Harper suggesting this matter return to the (Cannabis) Task Force noting, “When we were discussing these regulations on hoops we were not discussing them with the consideration that they would be applied to the food agriculture industry. I think that if these regulations were applied to that industry it would be detrimental if the county is interested in encouraging diversification in food production.” Harper said that there is limited use of hoop houses in the county but the ones that are most likely are not spaced according to the standards being discussed. Patty Lanier, owner of Noble Gardens, added, “In regulating everyone too heavily you are hurting the smallest of us the worst.”
District 4 Supervisor Michael Green noted his disagreements but said, “I think we should move this forward, our growers have been asking for clarity on this for some time.” Ultimately the board made a motion to continue the item to May 2 at 1:30 p.m.
The board also approved the 90 day extension of the Lakeport Emergency Warming Shelter located at 1111 Whalen Way with a maximim budget of $307,200. Once again District 3 Supervisor Eddie “E.J.” Crandell recused himself. “I am recusing myself because a local media source has made it a priority to consistently implement a character assignation campaign and my capacity as a county supervisor,” he said in reference to a series of recent articles posted in the Lake County News.
“They do this with projected conspiracies and skewed statements and their opinionated oppositional perspective. For me this comes along with the job however now it has spilled over into my family, most directly my wife,” Crandell added, “So I will not cast a vote on this agenda item as it gives more ammunition for this source to cast further character assignation directed at my wife who obtains her own community perspective which she accentuates in her capacity as a volunteer for the Lake County Continuum of Care.”
According to Sabatier, the original 90 days granted to Sunrise Special Services for operating the shelter expires on Tuesday but was obviously of great need over this harsh winter. Sabatier did raise the issue of employment at the center saying, “I believe for one month one employee was paid $30,000 and another month an employee was paid $18,000…” Sabatier added he had spoken with Sunrise (the local nonprofit who along with other agencies including the Continuum of Care staffs and oversees the grant to run the shelter) “I want to make sure we do an audit at the end of this to ensure all labor laws and other things have been done correctly.”
District 1 Supervisor Moke Simon shared his thoughts with “Ultimately (the board is) looking for a long-term decision after the 90 days that is talked about here because I know there will be challenges that come with that facility.” The board discussed the need for a request for proposal to continue the shelter past these next 90 days. Annie Barnes, Co-founder of Sunrise Special Services said, “It was a very difficult, but yet we’ve done it to this point and we could not have done it without community support and certainly assistance from our two board our supervisors.” She continued “We are looking so forward to tightening and improving our quality of services.”
During closed session the board approved several items including the payment of an additional $5,000 retainer to the Oppenheimer Investigations Group, a Berkeley based law firm that, according to their website, specializes in “impartial workplace and school investigations as well as trainings, executive coaching, expert testimony, and mediation services.” The board also approved a settlement agreement in the case of Citizens for Environmental Protection and Responsible Planning vs. County of Lake, although the terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
