LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to send a letter to the Bureau of Land Management in support of locating a field office in Lake County.
County Administrative Office staff recommended support for the proposal, which is being submitted to the federal government by engineer Cliff Ruzicka, owner of Ruzicka Associates.
County Deputy Administrative Officer Alan Flora told the board that the BLM's current field office for its Central California District is located in Ukiah.
“They’re looking for other alternatives within the district,” Flora said.
Portions of Lake County – including Lakeport and Upper Lake – fall within the boundaries of the district and so would fit into the proposal, according to Flora.
He said Ruzicka Associates plans to submit a proposal to build and lease a property to the BLM.
The majority of recreation areas BLM manages in the Central California District are located either partially or completely within Lake County, Flora said.
Flora also noted during the discussion that 35 to 40 jobs would be associated with the field office.
“Staff strongly supports this idea,” he said.
Flora said the application deadline for the proposal is Dec. 1.
Rob Brown said the support letter – which staff had forwarded to the board for consideration – is general in nature, and he suggested it shouldn't be specific to Lakeport, as there is property in Kelseyville that could work.
Flora replied that he didn't believe Kelseyville was in the boundary area included in the request. He said county staff is willing to support anyone willing to make an application.
Ruzicka looked at a number of locations and was planning to further develop his property on Parallel Drive in Lakeport where his offices are located, Flora said, adding that the proposal was going to be taken to the Lakeport City Council in the near future.
There was no public comment on the proposal. Supervisor Jim Comstock moved to approve it, with the board voting 4-0. Supervisor Anthony Farrington was absent for the discussion.
The letter the board approved sending in support of the proposal is addressed to federal lease contracting officer Merlin E. Nygren of the General Services Administration's San Francisco office and signed by Board Chair Denise Rushing.
“The proposed state-of-the-art facility in a strategic location, would offer easy access for BLM to manage and maintain their property holdings in Lake, Napa, Yolo, Colusa, Glenn, Marina, Solano, Sonoma and Mendocino (South of Willits) Counties. There are seven recreational areas within this BLM region of which four of them are located in Lake County (Cow Mountain, Cache Creek, Indian Valley, and Knoxville),” the letter states.
The letter also points out that a Lakeport BLM field office would be centrally located to the agency's holdings of 270,000 acres in Northern California.
In addition, the letter notes that nearby Lampson Field has 320 flying days per year for small aircraft, “more than any other location in California.”
Lake County and Lakeport also are in a Historically Underutilized Business Zone – or HUBZone – a program that provides federally contracting opportunities for qualified small businesses located in distressed areas, the letter explains.
“Lake County is a friendly recreational, agricultural, and retirement community with the cleanest air in the United States, which is in need of investment and jobs, especially since the recent recession,” the letter adds. “We would welcome your presence in our community with great enthusiasm and appreciation.”
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Supervisors vote to send letter of support for BLM field office proposal
- Elizabeth Larson
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