KELSEYVILLE
Join us for the annual member’s Picnic on Sunday, May 19
The public is invited to the Ely Stage Stop for our annual picnic, taking place on Sunday, May 19, in the grove. This year, the picnic will feature the opening of the Museum’s blacksmith shop, with demonstrations in the time-honored tradition of blacksmithing.
We’re serving hamburgers, hot dogs, iced tea, coffee, and water (but not soda). Please bring a dish to share. We will have beer and wine for sale.
Bring your friends and family for an afternoon of fun and relaxation from 12 pm to 3 pm. We’re at 9921 Soda Bay Rd in Kelseyville.
Members are free, and a $10 donation is requested for guests over 18 years old, which can be applied to an LCHS membership on the day of the picnic.
Our Volunteers will be happy to assist with your new membership. Gates open at 11 AM. See you soon
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MIDDLETOWN
Luncheon Club, Wednesday at noon at the Middletown Senior Center
Our May speaker is a representative from Harbin Hot Springs, that mysterious resort at the end of Big Canyon Road that was almost completely obliterated by the Valley Fire nine years ago. But Harbin Hot Springs survived and re-opened, against the odds, making it the only hot spring resort still in operation in Lake County from the heyday of such resorts in the 1940s and 50s. Let’s find out how things are going for our neighbors.
Lunch will be served by the Middletown Lions Club on Wednesday, May 15, at noon, at the Middletown Senior Center, 21256 Washington Street. The program will end by 1 p.m. For only $5 per person, enjoy tacos, fruit, salsa salad, and dessert. Everyone is welcome.
Reservations are required for lunch. Call the Senior Center at 987-3113 to make your reservation. You may come and listen to the speaker for free without lunch; no reservation is needed in that case.
Our programs occur 11 months of the year (no meetings in December) and always take place on the third Wednesday of the month. You might want to add a repeating date to your calendar along with the Senior Center phone number, 987-3113 — just in case you don’t see the monthly email reminder.
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CLEARLAKE
City Concerned about Water Service
City leadership is strongly committed to the people living and working in the City of Clearlake and take our role as a municipal agency and land use authority seriously. It’s essential our community has consistently reliable, high-quality drinking water and well-maintained fire flow infrastructure at a reasonable price.
The City of Clearlake is served by three water agencies—one private, one mutual and one public. At times, residents, business owners and investors have are impacted by the effects of aging, sometimes unreliable infrastructure and a lack of publicly available information to find out more about it. From what we have been able to discover, issues facing customers, the City and the water agencies which serve them range from:
• water quality problems
• inadequate fire flow
• affordability
• infrastructure at risk of failure
• lack of transparency
• inadequate supply to support general plan growth
“We are concerned about the state of water infrastructure, relatively high rates and the financial ability to upgrade aging pipelines and treatment plants. One agency has not provided background reports, has not provided plans or rate analysis despite repeated requests which makes us wonder why they won’t share it with us,” said Mayor David Claffey. “The laws governing private and mutual agencies do not require the same public reporting as a public agency or need to hold open meetings to discuss and decide on important topics like rate increases or governance. That basically leaves all of us in the dark about the water system that serves us.”
Over the last several years, City planning and building staff have had difficulties securing water for economic opportunities that are part of our general plan. It’s critical the investors, developers and business owners considering Clearlake as their next investment opportunity receive access to reliable water service. We also have a vested interest in making sure the buildings and investments owned by the City, and our existing small business community are protected from wildfire and the effects of aging infrastructure.
We feel strongly we can provide better water service to the 17,000 people living in Clearlake if the three water agencies serving the City are joined into one public agency under the City’s umbrella. If we managed the water functions, we would immediately have access to State funding to offset customer costs and post reports, master plans and rate studies on a robust website. We would also ensure we can meet our legal obligation to provide development and redevelopment services according to our general plan.
We are committed to keeping you informed during the process and hope you’ll visit our water page at https://www.clearlake.ca.us/478/Clearlake-Water-Providers for updates. We’ve included FAQs, which we will continue to update as we learn more. There will be a number of ways for the community to learn more, engage, and ask questions.
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