BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

JULY 9, 2002

The Lassen County Board of Supervisors convenes in Regular Session on Tuesday, July 9, 2002, at 9:30 a.m. Present: Supervisors Robert Pyle, Jim Chapman, Lloyd Keefer, and Everd McCain; County Counsel John Ketelsen, County Administrative Officer (CAO) Andy Whiteman and County Clerk Theresa Nagel. Supervisor Dahle is not present at the beginning of the meeting. Following the flag salute, the invocation is offered by Supervisor Chapman.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF ITEMS DISCUSSED IN CLOSED SESSION

Vice-Chairman Chapman announces that no closed session was held.

AGENDA APPROVAL, ADDITIONS AND/OR DELETIONS

It is moved by Supervisor Pyle, seconded by Supervisor McCain and carried, with Supervisor Dahle absent, to approve the agenda as posted.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Sheriff Bill Freitas announces the jail was audited by the Department of Corrections Fiscal Audit & Accounting Branch and received a 95% rating which is the highest in the State. He states the jail staff is responsible for this high rating.

Supervisor Chapman wants the record to show the board members congratulate staff and encourage them to keep up the good work.

UNAGENDIZED BOARD REPORTS

1. Supervisor Keefer discusses a request from Lassen Speedway to extend their interim agreement through 2005. This will appear on the next agenda. Supervisor McCain feels the Fair Advisory Board should consider this request before the Board takes any action. Supervisor Chapman agrees the Advisory Board should consider it first. Supervisor Keefer responds that Fair Manager Neely will bring it up at the Advisory Board meeting tonight.

2. Supervisor Keefer reports the Lassen County Fire Safe Council received a BLM Grant in the amount of $125,000 for fuel treatment along Highway 36 from Whispering Pines Stables to the CDF Facility. Another grant for $93,000 was received by the Janesville Fire Safe Council for fuel treatment around the homes of elderly and handicapped. There are Forest Service grants that have also been applied for, but no word has been received.

3. Supervisor Pyle asks the CAO if he has any information about the FERC licensing on Walker Lake. CAO Whiteman responds that he and County Counsel Ketelsen met with PG&E on the matter of franchise agreements. The agreement will be renegotiated following the resolution of the PG&E bankruptcy. The person they met with had no information on the FERC licensing.

LASSEN COUNTY CHILDREN AND FAMILIES COMMISSION

It is moved by Supervisor McCain, seconded by Supervisor Keefer and carried, with Supervisor Dahle absent, to accept the letter from Childrens and Families Commission Executive Director Laura Roberts submitting the resignation of Kathryn Fox; and direct the County Clerk to advertise the vacancy.

STONES-BENGARD COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT

It is moved by Supervisor Keefer, seconded by Supervisor Pyle and carried, with Supervisor Dahle absent, to accept the letter from Donna Perez submitting her resignation from the Stones-Bengard Community Services District; and direct the County Clerk to advertise vacancy.

CONSENT CALENDAR

Supervisor McCain requests that Item G-2, Animal Control Hearing Officer resignation, be removed from the Consent Calendar for separate consideration.

It is moved by Supervisor McCain, seconded by Supervisor Pyle and carried, with Supervisor Dahle absent, to take the noted action on the following Consent Calendar items:

COUNTY CLERK ITEM

Approve minutes of June 25, 2002.

OFFICE OF EMERGENCY SERVICES ITEM

Ratify continuation of Declaration of State of Disaster / Emergency in Lassen County.

PRISON TRIALS COST REIMBURSEMENT PROGRAM ITEMS

Receive and file recap of CCC Prison Trials Cost Reimbursement Billing for the month of May, 2002; and High Desert State Prison Trials Cost Reimbursement Billing for the month of May, 2002.

ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES - PURCHASING ITEM

Award bid to Les Schwab Tire, Susanville, the lowest bidder meeting overall specifications for tires for FY 2002-2003.

MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE ITEMS

Receive and file the following correspondence:

a. Lassen County Technical Advisory Committee meeting revised agenda for July 2, 2002.

COUNTY CLERK - ANIMAL CONTROL POSITION

Following discussion it is moved by Supervisor McCain, seconded by Supervisor Pyle and carried, with Supervisor Dahle absent, to accept the letter from Dawson Arnold resigning as Animal Control Hearing Officer, and direct staff to solicit for a replacement.

ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES

Lease agreement:

Supervisor Chapman notes the agreement with Banner Health Systems is for 18 months and he makes it clear that he wants a permanent home for the health/mental health services and does not want these services shuffled from place to place. Assistant to the CAO Chris Beard responds the goal is to bring all the departments together in one location.

It is moved by Supervisor Pyle, seconded by Supervisor McCain and carried, with Supervisor Dahle absent, to approve the agreement with Banner Health System, dba Lassen Community Hospital, for sublease of space at 1445 "B" Paul Bunyan Road from August 15, 2002, through February 15, 2004; and authorize the Chairman to sign the agreement.

Tax sharing agreement:

CAO Whiteman presents a tax sharing agreement for an approximate 1100 acre annexation which the City of Susanville submitted.

Supervisor Dahle enters at 10:04 a.m. and Vice-Chairman Chapman returns the gavel to the Chairman.

Community Development Director Robert Sorvaag reviews the proposed annexation and the proposed land uses, most of which are low density.

Supervisor McCain and Supervisor Chapman would like to have County Counsel work with the rest of staff to investigate all aspects of the agreement and make a report to the Board.

Emergency Services Officer:

It is moved by Supervisor Chapman, seconded by Supervisor Keefer and carried to appoint Sheriff Bill Freitas as Emergency Services Officer.

SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT

It is moved by Supervisor Chapman, seconded by Supervisor Pyle and carried to

accept the construction documents for the Sheriff's Administration Building from TRG/LRS and authorize going to bid.

UNAGENDIZED BOARD REPORTS CONT.

4. Supervisor Dahle reports on his trip to Washington, D.C. The President's proposal was to decrease the PILT (Payment-In-Lieu-Taxes) funding to $160,000,000 and their lobbying effort brought it up to $220,000,000 which is $20,000,000 more than last year. They also lobbied for fuels treatment and forest fire issues.

INFORMATION FOR THE BOARD

CAO Whiteman announces the board members have been invited to the change of command at Sierra Army Depot to be held on July 18, 2002 at 9:00 a.m.

Recess 10:18 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

PUBLIC HEARING - APPEAL LARRY AND LISE WOSICK

The Board of Supervisors reconvene at the Masonic Temple, 84 North Lassen Street, Susanville.

Present: Supervisors Robert Pyle, Jim Chapman, Lloyd Keefer, Brian Dahle and Everd McCain; County Counsel John Ketelsen, Deputy County Counsel Craig Settlemire, County Administrative Officer (CAO) Andy Whiteman and County Clerk Theresa Nagel.

The public hearing is opened at 1:30 p.m. to consider an appeal of the Planning Commission's May 1, 2002 decision to adopt a Mitigated Negative Declaration and approve Use Permit #2002-17, Larry and Lise Wosick. The use permit would allow expansion of the existing commercial motocross park near Milford, subject to conditions. The appeal was filed by Richard and Mary Morgan, adjoining property owners to the west.

Community Development Director Robert Sorvaag and Planner Rick Simon present the staff report. Simon lists the additional documents and letters that have been submitted (Board members have received all information submitted).

Fred Wemple has a farming/ranching operation in Milford, and states this is basically an agriculture area. He sees the motocross track as very compatible with the agriculture area and also supports it because it is providing a real good recreational facility. It is also providing a financial business benefit for the County.

Young Matthew Wemple states that he is a Milford 4-H member and motocross racer. He reads a statement about the money raised by Milford 4-H from concessions at the racetrack. As a motocross rider he states this is a sport that he loves and the only sport that he participates in.

Rita Retterath, from Doyle Payless Store, states the racetrack has increased their business and is a real good activity for kids.

Bill Kiar, an adjacent landowner, has concerns relating to traffic and feels there should be two ingress/egress sites. He also has fire danger as another concern.

Robert Smith, a past motocross racer and current volunteer fireman, sees no problems relating to fire because there is 35,000 gallons of water storage on site. He states at the last race 120,000 gallons of water was pumped onto the track areas. He also discussed the issue of noise with his wife who worked at the entry booth which was about 200 yards from the start line, and a CHP Officer hired to help with traffic. Neither felt the noise was a problem. He also asked the CHP Officer what his thoughts were relating to traffic and was told that no real traffic problem was seen. He states this racetrack has brought families together and provided great opportunities for youth.

Michael Clark states this racetrack should not be where it is. He addresses how he feels this facility affects nearby homeowners in the area. He feels there should be some compromise such as a two year limit on the use permit to allow the owner to find another location, and a limit on attendance.

Tim Nobles, motocross racer, taxpayer, and life-long resident of Lassen County, notes that cars race at the Lassen County Fairgrounds into the evening and their noise impacts lots of people. He sees most tax dollars going for recreational facilities in the city area. He asks just where else a track could go that would impact such a few number of people.

Chuck MacKay notes he has a sound meter and the decibel (db) level of speech in this room is 62 and has been as loud as 72 db. He also notes the car racetrack has a 95 db limit and a machine cutting grass next to a highway would register 110 db.

Tom Baumgartner owns a new cycle shop in town. He lives across the highway from a farm and during haying season the cutting starts at 2:30 a.m. He does not really like that but recognizes this is what occurs in an agriculture area.

Mary Handel, attorney for the Morgans, asks if her letter of July 8th (received via FAX after 11:00 p.m. last night) was provided to the board members. Supervisor Chapman confirms the board members received it this morning and expresses his frustration with the late submittal. He discusses the difficulty this places on board members and the public when large volumes of information are presented at the last minute, as Ms. Handel has done.

Mary Morgan states the racetrack project has developed way beyond what was originally proposed by Wosick. She reads a lengthy statement (submitted into evidence). She requests the board members require an EIR for the significant impacts or deny the use permit.

Steve Pettyjohn, principal with Acoustics and Vibration Group, describes noise/sound levels and background sound levels. He took sound readings at last Sunday's race with background levels (no racing periods) of 45 db. He states the noise element is deficient since it does not state how to deal with background noise. He states that Consultant Ragland's data is not valid as it was taken when no cycles were on the big hill. He states that he has taken readings at two different races. He discusses his opinion of the deficiencies contained in the Brown-Buttin noise study report. He says Brown-Buttin did not test during a race, they tested only background noise (not bad data), and they did not consider the public address system. He talks about bikes racing around the area such as on the alfalfa fields, access roads and trails. He states that off-track races have been held and are planned. He discusses the length of practices and the testing of motorcycles which expands the time noise is created beyond the actual races. He did not evaluate highway traffic at all. He states from his studies he feels there is significant noise. Has concerns over the mitigation measures that have been placed on the project. He states if the big hill were eliminated the sound level on the lower hill would be within noise element limits. He also discusses traffic and fire issues.

Supervisor McCain asks questions about redesigning the track and use of mufflers. Supervisor Keefer asks questions about the level of background noise caused by the highway. Supervisor McCain states the question before the Board is - "has there been evidence presented that a significant noise impact may exist". Supervisor Chapman asks Pettyjohn to explain what difference there is in the data presented to the Planning Commission and that presented today.

Mr. Pettijohn responds the data provides the same result.

Recess 3:25 - 3:34 p.m.

Mary Handel addresses CEQA laws and states the County is not in compliance with CEQA on this project. She states the County should have revoked the current use permit as the project is in violation of that permit. Believes the initial study is sorely flawed and she addresses various reasons why. She states if there is any substantial evidence presented that a significant impact exists an EIR is required. She tells the Board that the Morgans do not want to kill the project but want relief from the impacts via mitigations, and will take the matter to court if necessary. She asks the Board to review the Planning Commission action, hire a consultant and do an EIR and look at mitigation measures. She states the Morgans can take this to civil court under a nuisance claim.

Diane Gangloff speaks in opposition to the project and talks about hazards on the highway, fire hazards, noise and other things. She speaks very emotionally about how this is impacting her life and home.

Mark Soloman, local businessman and dirt bike rider, states this facility gives him the opportunity to ride with his son. He addresses the data presented by Mr. Pettyjohn and notes the tests conducted the first day were under a cloud cover which impacts noise. He notes there have been no complaints from the CHP or CalTrans in regard to traffic. He states there are fire extinguisher and fire hoses completely around the track. He feels the threats of lawsuits should not be a consideration. He asks the board members to adopt the Planning Commission and Planning Department's recommendation and he speaks about the good economic impact this facility provides.

District Attorney Bob Burns speaks about the positive impact this track has on young people.

A representative from Sierra Life Support states he has not seen any traffic issues. He notes there is a lot of dust in the area but it is blowing from the dry portions of Honey Lake. He feels all sources of noise should be considered and wonders why the explosions at Herlong never bothered the appellants.

Gloria O'Roark feels maybe the County noise standards should be raised because this facility is a great benefit to kids and parents.

Erin O'Roark speaks in favor of the track because more activities are needed in the county. She suggests moving the loud speakers into the stands to lessen the noise. She drove by the track last Sunday (race day) and there were no noise impacts from the track on the highway. There were also traffic signs out.

Laura Tew states this facility is bringing a national event to the county, and it is a positive impact on the county. She states that tourist dollars are needed and points out several business improvements that have occurred, such as the refurbishing of the Knights Inn just prior to the race and the painting of Walker's Cafe. She lives in Susanville and talks about all the noise, traffic and other impacts that are placed on residents of the City by people coming to town to shop and attend events (i.e. races at fairgrounds, fireworks displays, parades, etc.). She asks why it is alright for Susanville residents to endure these impacts but not alright for persons in the agricultural area to put up with a few impacts from this recreational facility. She speaks of the need for things to do for youth. She can't believe we would want to turn away the celebrities that are coming to race here, and are good role models for youth, while accepting prisons and other things that are not positive influences.

Mike Robik, business owner and track user, feels this facility is great for Susanville. He notes there are only four classes of motorcycles that use the big hill.

Larry Wosick states it has been hard to listen to the untruths stated by some persons speaking today. The hardest untruth was that they do not care about the kids, only money, because this is the major reason for developing the track as motocross racing is how he spent his youth and it was a very positive experience. He has spent $200,000 to bring this facility to Lassen County and he states it will also be several years of very hard work. He states the race held last Sunday was a great success with ESPN filming and 2000 in attendance. They fell short of their goal of 3000 but notes the average attendance for a world class event is 1700. He hired a CHP officer for traffic control and there was a representative from CalTrans at the race. Neither saw any traffic problems. He addresses (in layman's terms) what the various db levels really mean using page 148 of the packet. The rate of 70 db is the same as the interior of a commercial jet in flight. He notes Mr. Pettyjohn's data showed racing on the big hill only resulted in a few spikes at or just over 70 db - this is not really noisy. He notes the tests performed by Jim Buntin show the ambient noise without races exceeded county levels on three occasions during his measurement period, due to traffic on the highway. He states this is a noisy area and the track is not creating a significant noise level. The tests by Pettyjohn show this - the noise from the highway is a big contributor. Mr. Wosick passes out a document from the county's noise element that shows acceptable db levels for golf courses, riding stables, water recreation and cemeteries is 75 db. A document from the Department of Food and Agriculture sets the db level for motorized racing on fairgrounds as "per vehicle not to exceed 95 db at 100 foot radius until 11:00 p.m.". He states the low level of noise from this facility cannot and should not be considered significant in any way. He wants to set the record straight regarding the number of persons at an event as set forth on the original use permit. He originally said in the beginning the races would only draw around 100 people and this was placed on the use permit, but before a decision was made he told the Planning Commission there was a problem with this figure because that was based on start-up figures. He also notes that he got a green light from the neighbors and the county. He thinks that Pettyjohn's tests have proven that sound is not a significant issue. States the track area represents 2% of the property that he owns. He has consulted with the Natural Resource Conservation Service and they have prepared a plan for him to plant a large number of trees and bushes between the track and his neighbors (he distributes the plan). He also distributes a letter from Jim Buntin relating to sound measurements which notes if the ambient noise in an area exceeds the requirements of the noise element the level should be raised. He submits petitions with signatures of 1649 persons supporting the facility which were gathered in less than a week.

Counsel Craig Settlemire asks Mr. Wosick if the motorcycles at last Sunday's race were equipped with silencers.

Mr. Wosick responds the equipment was checked by representatives of the American Motorcylist Association who were present at the sanctioned event.

Lise Wosick wants it noted that several things Mary Morgan stated earlier were lies. She was insulted by them and addresses several of them.

Mary Handel reads a footnote in her July 8th letter and again states that an EIR is needed and they want mitigation measures.

Steve Pettyjohn responds to statements made by Larry Wosick and comments on traffic and fire issues. He also comments on an article relating to off-road racing which he feels demonstrates the intent to expand racing beyond the track area.

Deputy County Counsel Craig Settlemire asks Mr. Pettyjohn if he took background noise db levels. Pettyjohn replies "yes and no" - he has samples but they are not complete.

The hearing is closed at 6:00 p.m.

Supervisor Keefer expresses his frustration with the last minute large documents that were submitted by the appellants. States that he is not impressed with the experts since one says noise is significant and the other is not here to defend his opinion that noise is not significant. He is not comfortable with the information received on background noise noting the busy time for the highway is summertime and the tests were taken in January. He feels the highway has a significant noise impact on the area. He is ready to deny the appeal and accept the staff recommendation to remove the reference to the right-to-farm ordinance and to tie the use permit noise limits to the county noise element.

Supervisor Chapman is convinced the information needed to make a decision has been presented and no EIR is needed to make a fair and accurate decision. He notes the experts did not disagree as to the data gathered - only if it has significant impact. He finds it offensive to be put in a position to make a decision based on threat of lawsuit. He feels they have enough information to deny the appeal and support the Planning Commission decision with the modifications recommended by staff.

Supervisor Pyle has not heard anything to support the need for an EIR.

Supervisor McCain agrees that recreation is the salvation for the county and feels, after attending a race, that the motocross event was handled very well this past weekend, but he states the board members are here to follow state law. He feels if a mitigated negative declaration is sustained it will lead to a lawsuit which the county would lose. He states if an EIR were prepared the mitigations could still allow operation of the track. He feels it will be doing a disservice to the Wosicks to not require an EIR. States it is not the Board of Supervisor's place to decide if there is significant impact, only if evidence has been presented that there may be. He feels it is required by law to do an EIR. Maybe the Board should not take action but refer it to County Counsel to analyze where we stand under the law.

Supervisor Dahle states the Board needs to make sure they are getting good information and asks for comments from County Counsel on the ability to postpone the decision.

Deputy County Counsel Craig Settlemire would like to provide additional legal advice, but notes this is the 60th day (final day to make a decision) and the appellant and applicant would have to agree to a postponement. Things to consider in determining if there is no significant impact to the environment: has there been a standard set for noise; have two experts findings disagreed; has there be substantial evidence supported by facts presented.

Further discussion is held between board members and counsel.

It is moved by Supervisor Chapman, seconded by Supervisor Pyle and carried to deny the appeal, uphold the planning commission decision and issue the use permit with direction to staff to bring back the formal findings provided in the staff recommendation and the board member's statements.

The motion carries on the following roll call vote:

Supervisor Chapman - YES, Supervisor Pyle - YES, Supervisor Keefer - YES, Supervisor McCain - NO, Supervisor Dahle - NO.

Supervisor Dahle states that his no vote is only because he does not feel there is enough information, and is not an indication of non-support for the project.

There being no further business, the meeting is adjourned at 6:45 p.m.

__________________________________________

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

ATTEST:

_______________________________________

THERESA NAGEL, CLERK OF THE BOARD