- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Supervisors approve property sale to Lake Transit for transit hub
In January, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution declaring the property at 7175 South Center Drive as surplus and authorizing the sale of a portion of the land to Lake Transit.
That resolution, and a letter the board approved sending at the same meeting, were meant to help Lake Transit with a grant application Lake Transit made that same week to California’s Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program, or TIRCP.
In April, Lake Transit received notification from TIRCP that it was receiving the $13 million grant it had sought, which will fund the transit hub and four hydrogen buses.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Deputy County Administrative Officer Susan Parker said the board had tasked staff with negotiating the property sale and determining the in-kind value of the direct public benefit from Lake Transit’s services.
Parker said the direct public benefit was determined to be $769,510. The appraised value of the property was $300,000 and the county agreed to sell the property to the agency for $200,000.
Supervisor Bruno Sabatier, whose district includes Clearlake, said he was very pleased the matter was before them.
He said the project won’t be just a transit hub for Lake County but an interregional hub connecting the county to Shasta County, Interstate 5 and the Bay Area. Sabatier added that he believes the hub will help move other projects along.
James Sookne, program manager for Lake Transit, said he was happy that the county and Lake Transit had come to the agreement, and he added that, like Sabatier, he believes it will be a huge project for Lake County.
In explaining the direct public benefit, Sabatier said Lake Transit gave emergency rides during the county’s wildland fires, provides rides for college students and a summer transportation program for youth, and also works with Social Services and Behavioral Health.
Board Chair Moke Simon, who also sits on the Lake Transit Authority Board of Directors, said the county’s low income residents really rely on the services.
“During the fires they were critical,” Simon said, adding they continued to give free rides to those in need following the fires.
Simon said Lake Transit offers great community benefit, and the transit hub will enhance the opportunity for growth throughout the entire county.
Lake Transit Executive Director Lisa Davey-Bates thanked the board and staff. “It’s a great project and we couldn't have done it without your support.”
Referring to the $13 million grant, Davey-Bates said Lake was the only rural county to receive so much funding for a transit project.
“We have a great project ahead of us,” she said explaining that it will build the transit hub and buy the new buses, adding there isn’t another rural county slated to get hydrogen buses.
She said they will work with community colleges on workforce development.
“It is a big project with a lot of opportunity,” Davey-Bates said.
Davey-Bates said the hub will connect as far north as Shasta County and down to Sacramento, with buses also to provide service to Mendocino County and down Highway 101 to Santa Rosa, connecting to other transit systems that go to the Bay Area. Two hydrogen buses also will travel Highway 29 to Napa County.
She said Lake Transit will hold a kickoff meeting with representatives of the grant program in the next couple of months, with hopes of getting the first allocation from the grant either later this year or early in 2021.
County Counsel Anita Grant pointed out that the resolution approving the sale also resolves outstanding issues with the remaining portions of the property.
The resolution explains that in 2019 the county hired a private survey firm to split Assessor’s Parcel No. 010-043-052 into three separate parcels “and by doing so, will, in cooperation with other public entities, advance multiple benefits to the public.”
The resolution does not give a size for the property, but the county GIS shows the total assessor’s parcel totals nearly seven acres.
A map – attached to the resolution – of the land designated for the transit hub appears to show it is approximately 2.88 acres.
The resolution said that of the two remaining parcels created by the parcel split the county began last year, one that runs along Highway 53 will be sold to the city of Clearlake to be used to develop future transportation routes and the other, which is where the Lake County Public Health Center is located, will be maintained by the county.
No public input was given and Sabatier moved to approve the resolution declaring the property as surplus and made a separate motion to authorize County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson to execute the land purchase agreement with Lake Transit. Both motions passed with full board approval.
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