LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday began considering options for keeping the ground stable during the upcoming winter months at a north Lakeport subdivision plagued by a landslide.
Since March, the landslide in the Lakeside Heights Subdivision off of Hill Road has destroyed several homes, damaged others and caused about half of the 29-home subdivision to empty out.
The cause of this landslide so far hasn't been determined – 45 property owners have filed tort claims against the county, alleging that the county's water and sewer utilities are to blame – but the order of business on Tuesday was how to go about keeping the ground stable as the winter rains approach.
County Public Works Director Scott De Leon told the board the slide is on private property and common property Owned by the Lakeside Heights Homeowners Association.
It is the opinion of De Leon and his staff that when it starts raining later this year, if the slide is not protected and kept dry, that the slide will begin to move again and could end up down on Hill Road, which is the main access road for Sutter Lakeside Hospital.
“If the whole mass came down on Hill Road, that's going to be a fairly significant event,” said De Leon
The question, he said, is how the potential for a slide can be mitigated.
De Leon suggested getting ahead of the situation, but he wanted the board's input on how preemptive and proactive its members wanted to be.
Ideally, De Leon said, the homeowners association would do something to weatherproof the slide. “Then we would not need to do and embankment action.”
Community Development Director Rick Coel said the county has sent out notices regarding the several red-tagged homes in the subdivision. They hadn't yet sent out a notice on the commonly owned homeowners association property.
If there was no compliance with the county's notices, Coel said the county would hire a contractor it prevailing wage to do the abatements. He said the county's authority in the matter would come from the grading and stormwater ordinance. In order to cover costs it could do a lien against the homeowners association.
Supervisor Anthony Farrington asked how much it would cost to cover the landslide area with tarps. Coel replied that he had no idea.
With homeowners facing the loss of their residences, Farrington said that the abatement process puts the county “somewhat in an adversarial posture with the residents.” He said the board needs to figure out how much to invest in the area, and cost estimates are needed to make an informed decision. He suggested there could be partnership opportunities.
Coel said the abatement of homes hasn't started. “I've been reluctant to do that,” he said.
Part of the concern relates to ground stability. Coel said a local contractor who looked at the red-tagged properties was reluctant to touch the project because of stability issues.
Randall Fitzgerald, president of the homeowners association, said he'd spoken briefly with De Leon regarding the association's proactive effort to mitigate the landslide. He said they've had a contractor look at the storm water water system.
“We are aware of the concerns. We have our own concerns,” said Fitzgerald.
He said he would speak with De Leon over the next few weeks regarding tarping the slide area to prevent issues with Hill Road.
Fitzgerald said the association is in the awkward situation of having limited resources, noting that it has lost about half of the residents, who are no longer paying dues.
De Leon said the design of the winterization “is going to be relatively straightforward,” explaining that it will need to protect the slide from a large intrusion of water.
He said he doesn't know if they need to cover the entire slide but certainly they need to attend to areas that are prone to runoff in the largest slide area. He said he was willing to help provide recommendations to the homeowners.
De Leon said he doesn't want water to get into the cracks caused by the landslide, which he said would will further lubricate the slide.
Farrington asked what would happen if the county took no action and the slide threatened Hill Road. De Leon said county workers would remove any materials that reached the road and try to maintain the roadway.
Farrington said he wanted to see a cost analysis for providing minimum tarping of the landslide area.
De Leon said he'd gone to Tuesday's meeting merely to get direction from the board, and with that now clear he said he would come back with a cost for tarping the area on Sept. 17, the day the board is to receive its next staff update on Lakeside Heights.
Fitzgerald said the homeowners association is willing to do what winterizing it can within its budget.
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