Lake County approves $893,950.81 contract with RCD to remove hazard trees along county roads

The Lake County board of supervisors voted to approve a contract with the Lake County Resource Conservation District (RCD) for hazard tree removal in the amount of $893,950.81, authorizing the chair to sign after amending contract language to prioritize areas identified in the county’s California Disaster Assistance Act (CDAA) survey.

Julia Sullivan, executive director of the Lake County Resource Conservation District, told the board the RCD and partners have secured a $7,000,000 Community Wildfire Defense Grant, with roughly $1.5 million earmarked for hazard tree removal in Lake County, and that county and RCD funds can be coordinated to stretch implementation. “We convened this coordination meeting earlier this year to make sure that we were aligning with our partners,” Sullivan said, adding that contractors will be procured through an RFQ/RFP and work could begin within weeks.

The funding and work plan matter because the county declared a local state of emergency in 2022 after decades of drought and widespread tree mortality. County staff reminded the board that Cal OES funding under the CDAA carries a spending deadline of March 1, 2027, which shaped the proposed schedule and reporting checkpoints.

Board members and public commenters pressed several operational questions. The vice chair said she had been “ringing the alarm bells in 2021” and urged that the Cobb-area hot spot — including Bottle Rock and Loch Lomond Roads — remain eligible for the county-funded work; Sullivan said the county contract could be used to address Cobb priorities while RCD CWDG funds could cover other roads. Sullivan warned, however, that treating Bottle Rock and Loch Lomond alone might consume the county contract: “Between Bottle Rock and Loch Lomond alone… that might soak up all of the county contract available.”

Supervisors also sought clarity on how far clearing could extend off the road and whether work on private property would be treated as a public expenditure. County staff said most county rights-of-way are prescriptive and commonly allow about 3 feet from the fog line; the CDAA application had requested a 200-foot setback from center line but that request was not accepted by the funding agency. The RCD said it will seek property-owner permissions where needed and that the threshold for when work on private property would become a gift of public funds will be determined case by case; staff agreed to include distance and rights-of-entry details in a final presentation to the board.

Public commenters highlighted CEQA and seasonal constraints. Roberta McIntyre, a Hidden Valley Lake resident, said roadside hazard reduction can qualify for a categorical CEQA exemption up to 30 feet from the roadway — and up to 100 feet with fire-department support — and warned that bird-nesting season begins in March, limiting when some work can occur: “March is probably the end point for the project because March is beginning to bird nesting season,” McIntyre said. Another online commenter, Sterling, urged that the county not concentrate work in one area and said major corridors such as Highway 29 deserve attention.

County counsel proposed amended contract language to make priority areas those “severely impacted by tree mortality identified in the CDAA application,” a formulation the board adopted before the vote. The vice chair moved to approve the contract as amended for $893,950.81 and authorize the chair to sign; the motion was seconded and carried on a 4-0 vote.

Next steps: staff and RCD will proceed with contractor procurement and begin implementation subject to rights-of-entry and permitting constraints, provide the board with a comprehensive report in February before the March deadline, and include in that final presentation more detail on clearing distances and the handling of biomass.