CLEARLAKE OAKS >> East Region Town Hall eased slowly into the new year yet delved into issues of substance that may highlight insights to resolving perennial challenges during their January 3 meeting.
One of the first questions for presenter District 3 Supervisor Ed Crandell, probed into an assumption of a correlation, if any, between cannabis usage and opioid use by a district 3 resident and she couched her inquiry under the guise of an historic theory, which assumes cannabis is a gateway drug, and further inquired if it is actually the case or maybe not.
Crandell explained it is difficult to precisely trace various cannabis products, whether they go directly to retail dispensaries, CBG oils, edibles or other end product use. “According to the recent county Crop Report there was a certain amount grown, but nothing showing how much was earned of from it, you don’ actually have a number for it” said Crandell. “I could talk to Dr. (Noemi) Doohan, public health officer and see if she knows anything like that.”
Crandell went on to say that what he knows, with illegal grows, is that people are definitely patronizing that product. But precise numbers are not available. And there is a need to update ordinances. “But Lake County ordinances haven’t been reviewed for some time. Meanwhile Lower Lake’s ordinances haven’t been overhauled since the 1990s. The importance of Area Plans were also discussed by Chair (ERTH Board) Denise Loustalot,” he said. She brought up amounts of recommended time (between redrafting) ordinances. Usually, its five to 10 years. “But South Lake has been put on the back burner (since early 90s),” he said. “But I know Dr. (Mireya) Turner is really motivated to work on this. One of our thoughts was to comply with the Area Plan, but a lot of folks didn’t even want one.”
He also discussed the idea of having two Municipal Area Council (MAC) meetings per month. “As well as having our own little workshops, to get ready, so we have everything lined out, or have a special meeting,” he said. “You all want to make sure you make sure you get your comments in and put it out there, because if it’s not out there, and it (project) gets done, everyone is upset, and for good reason.”
He also noted having a separate budget for each of the town halls. “There’s six town halls and PG & E gave us a grant. So, I thought to allocate $10,000 among each Town Hall and that way you have funding to announce, whatever the case you decide. The policy for PG&E is pretty explanatory. So, were going to craft that into what you can use it for. That way you can have a little more to work with rather than just having a meeting and talking.”
Crandell also reviewed the LG Sonic project, that originated through the Blue Ribbon Committee; a proposal to reduce algae throughout Clear Lake. What it is, sonar affixed to buoys to help control the overgrow of weeds. District 2 Supervisor Buno Sabatier ad District 3 Supervisor Ed Crandell headed up a committee to report back to the board. Initially, there was going to be 28 buoys on both sides of the Lake.
In addition to the sonar they also consider exploring use of hypoinetic oxygenation used to combat algae growth and low-oxygen levels in aquaculture water. Hypoinetic oxygenation is a process that involves injecting oxygen gas into the water to increase the oxygen level and make more oxygen available to the fish. This can mitigate phytoplankton blooms and low-oxygen events in rivers and lakes. Another project to get underway is the EPA Superfund Site for the restoration of Middle Creek and its successful mitigation can improve water quality by an estimated 30 percent. UC Davis faculty are collaborating for this initiative.
In other business, Holly Harris is a water quality advocate from Clearlake Oaks, California. She has been working to understand the causes of algae blooms in Clear Lake. The Lake County Water Resources Department has been monitoring the water quality of Clear Lake and its tributaries, and Harris has been working with them to understand the causes of algae blooms. She discussed the EPA Superfund site at the Sulfur Bank Mercury Mine. “EPA will move an estimated million cubic yards of soil. With 250,000 cubic yards of clean oil imported. The means it’s going to be a total of 120,000 truck trips., averaging 50 trips per day.
ERTH sent EPA a letter. The proposed plan is expected to cost $65 to $135 million. The letter emphasized EPA source local contractor, goods and services as much as possible. Plans call for cleanup to begin in fall 2024 and early 2025 on residential soils. In the interim, they will prepare for design plans and transportation road management.
