LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County Health Services has issued a boil water advisory for all residents drawing water directly from the southern half of Clear Lake using private intakes due to a sewage overflow incident on Burns Valley Road in Clearlake.
The boil water advisory is in effect until further notice.
Residents should:
• Fill a pot with water. • Heat the water until bubbles come quickly from the bottom of the pot to the top. • Keep heating the water for one more minute. • Turn off the heat source and let the water cool. • Pour water into a clean, sanitized container for storage.
Use bottled water or boiled water that has cooled for:
• Drinking. • Brushing teeth. • Washing fruits and vegetables. • Preparing food and baby formula. • Making ice. • Giving to pets.
The advisory is in effect until Lake County Health Services and assisting agencies are confident there is no longer a public health concern.
The agency will provide an update after ongoing assessments are completed. Residents will be notified immediately when the advisory is lifted.
Test results are pending and may indicate the presence of raw sewage in the water around the city of Clearlake.
At this time it is advised not to recreate in the areas of Clear Lake around the city of Clearlake.
Lake County Health Services is working with assisting local agencies to further contain this incident. To correct the problem, multiple containment experts and large sewer pump trucks are being utilized.
The duration of this advisory cannot be estimated at this time, officials said.
No illnesses related to the community’s drinking water have been reported.
If you are concerned about your health or your family, call your health care provider or the Lake County Services Public Health Division at 707-263-1090 or the Environmental Health Division at 707-263-1164.
Fecal coliforms and E. coli are bacteria whose presence indicates that the water may be contaminated with human or animal wastes.
Microbes in these wastes can cause short-term effects, such as diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headaches, or other symptoms.
They may pose a special health risk to infants, young children, some of the elderly, and people with severely compromised immune systems. These symptoms are caused by many illnesses unrelated to drinking water.
Residents at increased risk should seek advice about drinking water from their health care provider.
Please share this information with all the other people who draw their water directly from Clear Lake by private intake, especially those who may not have received this notice directly.
For more information, call Lake County Health Services at 707-263-1090 or 707-263-1164.
General guidelines on ways to lessen the risk of infection by microbes are available from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.
SACRAMENTO – Legislation from Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, that would place limits on the amount of money that can be donated to candidates for school boards and special district offices, ensuring fairness in local elections, was approved Tuesday by a Senate committee.
“Getting big money out of elections for smaller community offices is essential,” Sen. Dodd said. “These well-financed campaigns favor the wealthy at the exclusion of grassroots candidates and people of color. My bill puts a cap on donations to ensure fairness while encouraging a more diverse field that is more reflective of the population.”
California has thousands of publicly elected governing boards managing an assortment of agencies including schools, community colleges and special districts.
Elections often receive little media coverage and even less scrutiny of campaign donations, which are not limited by state law and can exceed money given to candidates for higher office.
Currently the default is to allow unlimited contributions, and only three special districts statewide have adopted voluntary limits.
In response, Sen. Dodd introduced Senate Bill 328, which sets an individual donation limit of $5,500 by a person, business or committee to a candidate for school board, community college board or special district board. The contribution limits are equal to those set for the state Legislature.
The bill would allow local governments to vote to adjust the limits, but the default would no longer be unlimited.
The bill uses the framework of then-Assemblymember Kevin Mullin’s Assembly Bill 571 that set the same limits for city and county offices in 2019.
SB 328 was approved in the Senate elections committee on a 6-0 vote.
“This is a good governance measure that will help maintain the public trust in our local elections,” said U.S. Rep. Mullin, who was elected to Congress last year. “I appreciate Sen. Dodd carrying on that legacy and I’m proud to support this important reform.”
A second bill written by Sen. Dodd in partnership with Secretary of State Shirley Weber also was approved by the committee.
SB 437 would increase transparency in presidential elections by establishing a statutory deadline for political parties to supply the names of party nominees.
Gov. Gavin Newsom joins members of the California National Guard to highlight the master plan for tackling the fentanyl and opioid crisis on Monday, March 20, 2023. Photo courtesy of the Governor’s Office. On Monday, following a visit to the San Ysidro Port of Entry, Gov. Gavin Newsom released his administration’s master plan for tackling the fentanyl and opioid crisis.
Recognizing the opioid and fentanyl crisis as a multifaceted public health and public safety issue, the master plan provides a comprehensive approach to save lives, Newsom’s office said.
The master plan builds on the governor's $1 billion investment to tackle this crisis — including an expansion of California National Guard-supported operations that last year led to a 594% increase in seized fentanyl.
The plan outlines aggressive steps to support overdose prevention efforts, hold the opioid pharmaceutical industry accountable, crack down on drug trafficking, and raise awareness about the dangers of opioids, including fentanyl.
“Over 150 people die every day in our nation from overdoses and poisonings related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Enough,” said Newsom. “With this master olan, California is doubling down to combat this crisis and save lives. Our comprehensive approach will expand enforcement efforts to crack down on transnational criminal organizations trafficking this poison into our communities — while prioritizing harm reduction strategies to reduce overdoses and compassionately help those struggling with substance use and addiction.”
Newsom has invested over $1 billion to crack down on opioid trafficking and enforce the law, combat overdoses, support those with opioid use disorder, and raise awareness about the dangers of opioids.
The master plan provides a comprehensive framework to deepen the impact of these investments — including through a new CalRx effort where California will seek to manufacture its own opioid overdose reversal drug Naloxone.
California will further save lives through an additional $96 million in funding in the Governor’s 2023-24 proposed budget:
• $79 million for the Naloxone Distribution Project to meet increased demand and provide more Naloxone to communities than ever before; • $10 million for grants for education, testing, recovery, and support services; • $4 million to make fentanyl test strips more widely available; and • $3.5 million in Prop 98 funding to provide overdose medication to all middle and high schools.
These new investments, coupled with the extensive abatement, enforcement, and treatment efforts outlined in the master plan will save lives and make California safer, Newsom’s office said.
The U.S. has faced an evolving crisis of opioid addiction, overdose and death for over two decades, driven by Big Pharma’s irresponsible marketing of prescription opioids – bringing us to today’s fentanyl crisis.
Millions of Americans suffer from opioid use disorder and more than 71,000 Americans died in 2022 alone from fentanyl-linked overdoses and drug poisonings.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, a vast majority of fentanyl in the U.S. comes via ports of entry at the border – through trafficking by organized crime rings, not by migrants.
Under Newsom’s leadership, and through the state’s efforts to hold Big Pharma accountable, California has worked aggressively to tackle the opioid crisis.
In the current fiscal year alone, the California Health and Human Services agency is investing $450 million in treatment, abatement and prevention efforts.
The 2022 Budget Act Governor Newsom signed into law included $30 million to expand the California Military Department’s existing drug interdiction efforts to thwart drug-trafficking transnational criminal organizations throughout the state, with a particular focus on assisting federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies in combatting fentanyl.
To support the governor’s initiative to reduce deadly fentanyl in communities, the California National Guard has hired, trained, and embedded 144 new members.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — As the Lake County Library’s 2023 NEA Big Read comes to a close, a poets laureate reading will be offered as the final event to conclude this year’s programming.
The Lakeport Library, located at 1425 N. High St. in Lakeport, invites the public to attend the closing event on Saturday, March 25, from 1 to 2 p.m.
The reading will feature Lake County’s poet laureate for 2020-2024, and Literacy Program coordinator for the Lake County Library, Georgina Marie Guardado, and special guest Lee Herrick, California’s new state poet laureate.
A curated lineup of poets laureate will join Guardado and Herrick, including Ukiah Poets Laureate Emeriti Linda Noel and Jabez Churchill, Alameda Poet Laureate Kimi Sugioka and Kansas State Poet Laureate Emerita Denise Low.
Each poet laureate will share original work and select poems by Natalie Diaz.
This event is hosted by the Lake County Library, and supported by the Friends of the Lake County Library and Lake County Literacy Coalition.
The 2023 NEA Big Read is supported by a number of community and business partners, and supporters, who are also invited to attend to celebrate the program’s successful return for the first time since before the Coronavirus pandemic.
The National Endowment for the Arts Big Read, a partnership with Arts Midwest, broadens our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book.
Since 2006, the National Endowment for the Arts has funded more than 1,700 NEA Big Read programs, providing more than $24 million to organizations nationwide.
In addition, NEA Big Read activities have reached every Congressional district in the country.
According to the National Endowment for the Arts’ 2017 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, poetry readership is the highest on record since 2002, with the poetry-reading rate among young adults more than doubling in the last five years.
The latest reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, including the synthesis report released March 20, 2023, discuss changes ahead, but they also describe how existing solutions can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help people adjust to impacts of climate change that can’t be avoided.
The problem is that these solutions aren’t being deployed fast enough. In addition to pushback from industries, people’s fear of change has helped maintain the status quo.
To slow climate change and adapt to the damage already underway, the world will have to shift how it generates and uses energy, transports people and goods, designs buildings and grows food. That starts with embracing innovation and change.
Fear of change can lead to worsening change
From the industrial revolution to the rise of social media, societies have undergone fundamental changes in how people live and understand their place in the world.
Residents of the Pacific island nation of Kiribati describe the changes they’re experiencing as sea level rises.
Other transformations have had both good and bad effects. The industrial revolution vastly raised standards of living for many people, but it spawned inequality, social disruption and environmental destruction.
People often resist transformation because their fear of losing what they have is more powerful than knowing they might gain something better. Wanting to retain things as they are – known as status quo bias – explains all sorts of individual decisions, from sticking with incumbent politicians to not enrolling in retirement or health plans even when the alternatives may be rationally better.
This effect may be even more pronounced for larger changes. In the past, delaying inevitable change has led to transformations that are unnecessarily harsh, such as the collapse of some 13th-century civilizations in what is now the U.S. Southwest. As more people experience the harms of climate change firsthand, they may begin to realize that transformation is inevitable and embrace new solutions.
A mix of good and bad
The IPCC reports make clear that the future inevitably involves more and larger climate-related transformations. The question is what the mix of good and bad will be in those transformations.
If countries allow greenhouse gas emissions to continue at a high rate and communities adapt only incrementally to the resulting climate change, the transformations will be mostly forced and mostly bad.
For example, a riverside town might raise its levees as spring flooding worsens. At some point, as the scale of flooding increases, such adaptation hits its limits. The levees necessary to hold back the water may become too expensive or so intrusive that they undermine any benefit of living near the river. The community may wither away.
Riverside communities often scramble to raise levees during floods, like this one in Louisiana.Scott Olson/Getty Images
The riverside community could also take a more deliberate and anticipatory approach to transformation. It might shift to higher ground, turn its riverfront into parkland while developing affordable housing for people who are displaced by the project, and collaborate with upstream communities to expand landscapes that capture floodwaters. Simultaneously, the community can shift to renewable energy and electrified transportation to help slow global warming.
Optimism resides in deliberate action
The IPCC reports include numerous examples that can help steer such positive transformation.
For example, renewable energy is now generally less expensive than fossil fuels, so a shift to clean energy can often save money. Communities can also be redesigned to better survive natural hazards through steps such as maintaining natural wildfire breaks and building homes to be less susceptible to burning.
No one group can enact these changes alone. Everyone must be involved, including governments that can mandate and incentivize changes, businesses that often control decisions about greenhouse gas emissions, and citizens who can turn up the pressure on both.
As anyone who has enrolled in it can tell you, the program itself is rather complicated. It’s divided into three parts, known as A, B and D, each of which relies on revenue from a different mix of sources.
Medicare Part A covers care delivered at hospitals and nursing homes, as well as home health care. Part B pays for doctor’s visits and outpatient procedures, and Part D pays for prescription drugs. There’s also Part C, a private insurance option, known as Medicare Advantage. However, its costs are included in the accounting for Parts A and B.
Part A is primarily funded by a 1.45% Medicare payroll tax on both employees and employers. When that tax and the program’s other tax revenues don’t raise enough money to cover Part A’s costs, the program dips into the Medicare Hospital Insurance trust fund to make up the difference. The trust fund, amassed from past surplus payroll taxes, currently stands at around $143 billion.
Without spending cuts, funding increases or a combination of the two, the Medicare program’s trustees have predicted in their annual report that the Medicare trust fund will be exhausted by 2028. The trustees are the secretaries of the Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Services departments, plus the Social Security commissioner. There can be up to two additional trustees, but those seats are vacant.
Should the trust fund be emptied out, the trustees predict that hospital benefits would have to be cut by 10%. But those cuts are widely considered to be politically unacceptable, as illustrated by statements from Biden and his predecessor, former President Donald Trump.
Unlike Medicare Part A, Parts B and D are funded largely by general federal revenue and by premiums paid by retirees.
Because the government is allowed to use general revenue to pay for them, the funding of Parts B and D isn’t jeopardized by the depletion of their trust fund – no matter how fast those costs rise.
Even without Biden’s proposed changes, official Medicare spending projections rise rapidly through the mid-2030s and then plateau as a percentage of gross domestic product.
Unfortunately, history provides little assurance that lawmakers will maintain all of these requirements to restrain future payments to health care providers.
We say this because of what happened after 1997, when Congress approved the sustainable growth rate system, which was intended to limit the annual increase in cost per Medicare beneficiary to the rate of economic growth. Starting in 2002, Congress passed legislation year after year to override it – and only stopped doing that once it did away with the system altogether in 2015.
Reflecting this uncertainty, the annual trustees report features an alternative projection that is arguably more credible and more scary. It indicates that Medicare costs will grow much faster than the economy starting in 2036.
Competing demands
The Social Security program, a national pension program that primarily supports older Americans, faces similar funding shortfalls.
Medicare and Social Security are the nation’s largest entitlement programs. Almost all Americans, if they live long enough, will eventually be eligible to obtain these benefits – regardless of their income or wealth.
While Americans do not yet agree on how to put these programs on a steadier fiscal footing, the math is clear.
Our elected representatives cannot avoid making hard decisions that involve increasing taxes, reducing benefits or both.
A slide on Elk Mountain Road near Upper Lake, California, photographed in early March 2023. Lake County Public Works Director Scott De Leon said the slide has dropped quite a bit more since then. Photo courtesy of the Lake County Public Works Department. LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The snowstorms in late February and early March caused road damage all around Lake County and have led to a long-term closure of Elk Mountain Road in Upper Lake.
The Mendocino National Forest reported that the road, also known as Forest Road M1 above Upper Lake, was severely impacted by the storms.
As a result, Elk Mountain Road was closed on March 1, leaving only one access point to Lake Pillsbury from Potter Valley.
The Lake County Public Works Department reported on its Facebook page on March 1 that the United States Forest Service closed the road at the conservation camp, while the Mendocino National Forest reported that the county had closed the road above the Middle Creek Campground.
The day after it was closed, Public Works crews began the work to open access from the Potter Valley side to Soda Creek Store.
On March 12, the agency’s Facebook page reported that Elk Mountain Road remained closed from the conservation camp to Lower Deer Valley, and that the roadway wasn’t safe.
A section of the road with a large area of dirt and rock was described as “quickly turning to the consistency of chocolate pudding. With all this moisture it's not a matter of if it will slide, but when. Please, do not tempt fate. You can access the Lake Pillsbury area on the Potter Valley side,” wrote Lori Price, the page’s administrator.
Crews were able to clear a path from the Lake County line on the Potter Valley side to the Soda Creek store, with four-wheel-drive and chains required, Public Works reported.
However, Price wrote that the closure will be long term on the Upper Lake side due to a large slide and roadway slipout.
Public Works Director Scott De Leon told Lake County News on Tuesday that the effort to get the road repaired and reopened is underway, but will take time.
He said the project will be submitted to Caltrans for Emergency Relief Funds, with initial estimates of $3 million to complete the repairs.
“We’re looking at construction this summer at the earliest, as we’ll need to bring in geotechnical engineers to perform investigations of the slide to determine the most appropriate repair strategy and an engineering consulting firm to prepare plans and specifications for construction,” De Leon said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service will fund millions of dollars in wildfire risk reduction efforts across California, including a major project in Lake County, with a newly allocated round of grant funding.
The CWDG program is designed to assist communities — including tribal communities, nonprofit organizations, state forestry agencies, and Alaska Native corporations — with planning for and mitigating wildfire risks on tribal, state, and privately managed land.
In California, almost $78 million will fund 29 projects across the state with first-round grants.
Among the selected proposals is the Clear Lake Environmental Research Center’s Lake County Wildfire Risk Reduction Project Phase 1.
That project received $9,805,642, the third largest award in California.
The project will reduce fuels and restore fire-adapted ecosystems on private lands and roadways to lessen wildfire risk of damage to property while improving firefighter safety. It will be accomplished in part by funding a fuels team employed by the Northshore Fire Protection District.
Other projects around the North Coast received funding, including $959,648 allocated to the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians for the Coyote Valley Community Fire Defense Project.
The project will restore and maintain landscapes making them resilient to fire-related disturbances, to create a fire adapted community to withstand a wildfire without loss of life and property, and to responsibly make and implement safe, effective, efficient risk-based wildfire management decisions. A fire mitigation specialist will be hired by the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians to lead and coordinate the project, as well as develop a tribal evacuation plan and conduct outreach and education.
The city of Ukiah also received $7,214,766 for the Ukiah Valley and Mendocino Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project on 200 acres.
That project will conduct 200 defensible space inspections; maintain seven current fuel breaks in shaded and non-shaded areas; perform 125 defensible space projects; conduct prescribed burns in appropriate areas to restore fire adapted ecosystems; conduct five project assessments; engage the relevant impacted communities to maximize project effectiveness; and increase community fire resiliency in the Ukiah Valley area and throughout Mendocino County, California, over the next five years.
Proposals underwent a competitive selection process that included review panels made up of tribal representatives and state forestry agencies.
Guidelines within the law prioritized at-risk communities that have been impacted by a severe disaster, are at a high or very high potential for wildfire hazard and classified as low income.
“Projects were selected using a collaborative, inclusive process that engaged Tribes and state forestry agencies,” said Forest Service Chief Randy Moore. “All projects include at least two of the primary selection criteria mandated in the legislation. And in all cases, these projects are taking critical steps to protect homes, property, businesses and people’s lives from catastrophic wildfires.”
This initial round of investments will assist communities in developing Community Wildfire Protection Plans — key roadmaps for addressing wildfire risks locally — as well as fund immediate actions to lower the risk of wildfire on non-federal land for communities where a Community Wildfire Protection Plan is already in place.
“With programs like the Community Wildfire Defense Grant, we continue our work throughout California to restore natural forest health and diversity with thoughtful, science-based fuels treatments,” said Jennifer Eberlien, regional forester for the Pacific Southwest Region. “With our partners, we are doing this work in the right place, at the right time and right scale — to reduce risk to communities, critical infrastructure, and natural resources from wildfires across the state.”
The Forest Service will announce another round of funding later in 2023, and additional communities can apply. The number of selected proposals in future rounds will depend on available funding.
Along with establishing the CWDG program, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides an historic $3.5 billion investment in wildfire management through a suite of programs aimed at reducing wildfire risks, detecting wildfires, instituting firefighter workforce reforms, and increasing pay for federal wildland firefighters.
This announcement also comes on the heels of the president’s fiscal year 2024 budget, which proposes a permanent pay solution for wildland firefighters, increased capacity for mental and physical health services, and funds for housing repair, renovation, and construction.
Congressman Mike Thompson and Habematolel Pomo Tribal Chair Sherry Treppa, who Thompson has named Lake County Woman of the Year for 2023. Photo courtesy of Thompson’s office. LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — On Sunday, Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-04) named his selection for the 2023 Lake County Woman of the Year.
Thompson has chosen for the honor Sherry Treppa, the tribal chair of the Habematolel Pomo, based in Upper Lake.
Every year, Thompson selects inspiring women from California’s Fourth District to recognize their contributions and efforts over the last year.
“Sherry Treppa has dedicated her life to serving and protecting the Pomo tribe in California,” said Thompson. “As the chairperson for the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake, she continues to focus on restoring the Pomo tribe land, while aiming to achieve economic self-sufficiency and preserving their culture and right of sovereignty.”
Thompson added, “Through Sherry’s tireless advocacy, she has been able to represent Native Americans and her tribe, while pursuing economic stability and keeping Native American and the Pomo tribe culture alive for many more generations to come.”
The Woman of the Year Recognition Ceremony was started in honor of Women’s History Month to recognize the service of women in our community.
A complete list of 2023 winners include:
• Sherry Treppa — Lake County. • Fran Lemos — Napa County. • Alexis Koefoed — Solano County. • Jasmine Palmer — Sonoma County. • Brooke Ingleheart Ross — Sonoma County. • Mary Kimball — Yolo County.
Thompson represents California’s Fourth Congressional District, which includes all or part of Lake, Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Following a night of steady rain, Lake County is forecast to receive still more rain through the rest of this week.
The National Weather Service said that, following the storm systems moving through the region this week, a colder storm will likely impact Lake County and the North Coast with more beneficial rain and mountain snow early next week.
National Weather Service observation stations showed that the most rain fell in the southern part of the county on Tuesday, recording nearly 2 inches of rain on Boggs Mountain on Tuesday.
Snowfall on Cobb also was reported on Tuesday night.
The rainfall was causing road issues on Tuesday evening, when the California Highway Patrol said a vehicle was reported to have hit a boulder on Highway 29 at Hofacker Lane near Middletown.
Lighter rainfall amounts are expected through the weekend, based on the forecast.
The forecast also calls for light winds through Wednesday, with winds picking up on Thursday, with gusts of more than 30 miles per hour, and Friday, with gusts of more than 20 miles per hour.
Daytime temperatures will be in the low 50s this week, dropping into the high 40s on Monday.
During the nighttime hours, temperatures will drop into the low 30s through early next week.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The latest report on home sales from the Lake County Association of Realtors shows a continued slowing in sales and lower sale prices.
The association said a total of 51 homes were sold through the multiple listing service, or MLS, in February, compared to 55 in January and 86 in February 2022.
Those sales include traditionally built “stick-built” houses as well as manufactured homes on land.
There were five sales of mobile homes in parks, compared to seven in January and one sold during the same time period last year.
The association said there also were 18 sales of bare land (lots and acreage) last month, compared to 21 in January and 50 in February 2022.
Currently, the association said there are 269 stick built and manufactured homes on the market, compared to 285 in January.
If the rate of sales stays the same at 51 homes sold per month, there are currently 5.2 months of inventory on the market at the moment compared to 5.1 months of inventory a month ago in January, and 4.26 months of inventory in December.
That means that if no new homes are brought to the market for sale, in 5.2 months all of these homes would be sold and there would be none available.
Less than six months of inventory is generally considered to be a “sellers’ market” while more than six months of inventory is often called a “buyers’ market, the association said.
The association said the interest rate hikes and inflation have played a major role in reducing the number of active buyers.
In February, 47% of all home sales were for cash, compared to 16% for January and 36% for this same time last year.
Of those total sales, 24% were financed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac — which are considered “conventional loans” — compared to 36% in January and 38% in a year-over comparison.
Sixteen percent of the homes sold in February were financed by the Federal Housing Administration, or FHA, compared to 20% in January and 20% in February 2022, and 15% were financed by the Department of Veterans Affairs of or CalVet, compared to 4% for December and 6% for this time last year.
Another 6 percent had other financing such as private loans, US Department of Agriculture or seller-financed notes, compared to 11% in January. No such financing was used in February 2022, the association said.
The association reported that the homes in February sold at an average of 96% of the asking price at the time the property went under contract, but an average of 91% when compared to the original asking price when the property first came on the market.
In January, homes sold at an average of 95% of the asking price at the time the property went under contract, but an average of 88% when compared to the original asking price when the property first came on the market, according to the report.
And a year ago during February, homes were selling at 100% of the asking price at the time the properties went under contract, and 95% of the original list price when the properties first came on the market, the association reported.
The median time on the market in February was 99 days, compared to 57 days for January and also 57 days for this time last year.
The median sale price of a single family home in Lake County in February was $235,000, lower than the $292,000 for January and lower than the median sale price of $324,950 during this time period last year.
The association said this indicates that the lower priced homes are selling in greater numbers than the higher priced homes.
In February, 30% of homes sold had seller concessions for an average of $10,085. That’s compared to 47% of homes in January that had seller concessions for an average concession of $9,100 and a year ago 16% of homes sold had an average seller concession of $8,225.
NICE, Calif. — A community meeting will be held this week about a new affordable housing project to be built starting this spring in Nice that will serve Behavioral Health clients and low-income families.
The Rural Communities Housing Development Corp., or RCHDC, will hold the meeting from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 22, at the Nice Event Center, 2817 E. Highway 20.
There will be one unit for an on-site manager, with half of the other 39 units to set aside for Lake County Behavioral Health clients who meet the definition of mental disorder — which includes, under state code, bipolar, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, major affective disorders or other severely disabling mental disorders — as well as substance use disorder or those at risk of homelessness.
The remaining units will be split between Redwood Coast Regional Center clients and low income or very low income households.
The Board of Supervisors, as the Lake County Housing Commission, took key votes in January to give financial approvals to clear the way for the project.
The board also took up a special item at its March 7 meeting at the request of Behavioral Health Services staff in order to approve additional loan documents for the project.
The process involving the project has been confusing, and the former county planning department head made a determination to waive state environmental quality act rules that would have ensured more public input.
RCHDC told Lake County News last year that it would hold more community outreach over the summer, but that didn’t happen.
The meeting this week — although very late in the process — is meant to offer the community the chance to find out more about the project.
The flier for the meeting has not been widely publicized and was reportedly only sent to neighbors within half a mile of the project site. It also has not been posted on RCHDC’s website or Facebook page.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
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