Napa Valley Register - Officials, Residents Hash Out Future Of Lake Berryessa
October 26, 2012
By Peter Jensen
Thompson promises federal safeguards
LAKE BERRYESSA â€" A community meeting that was at times contentious, bordering on unruly, fostered a dialogue Thursday night on what the future might hold for communities and recreation at the lake.
The meeting focused on the fate of the contractor in charge of six of the seven resorts at Lake Berryessa, and a proposal by U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, for a national conservation area (NCA) whose boundaries would include the lake.
At meeting's end, Thompson said he would listen to critics and amend the NCA legislation to expressly protect private property and prohibit a ban on power boats at Lake Berryessa.
About 150 residents attended the standing-room-only meeting, which featured Thompson; Don Glaser, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's director for the mid-Pacific region; Rich Burns, a field manager for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management; Napa County Supervisors Diane Dillon and Keith Caldwell; Sara Husby, executive director of Tuleyome; and Ken Wysocki, a representative for the U.S. Forest Service.
Glaser, whose office is in Sacramento, offered a mea culpa to residents over the status of Reclamation's contractor, the Pensus Group.
To residents who've been waiting years for the resorts to resume full operation, Glaser apologized for Pensus' failure to perform since being awarded a bureau contract in 2010.
Charging that Pensus has failed to make progress on redeveloping the resorts, Reclamation moved this year to pursue terminating the contract.
Following a mediation period between Reclamation and Pensus this summer, Glaser will decide whether to terminate the contract, continue it, or amend it so that Pensus could lose control of some â€" but not all â€" of its six resorts.
Glaser committed to making that decision by the end of October, and pledged to have a series of public meetings in Winters, Napa and out at the lake following his decision.
“I'm not here for a vote tonight, but I'm here to discuss where I am at in the process,” Glaser said. “These are real issues that affect real people. We have a clean slate on which to build our path forward.”
The audience applauded Glaser's candor.
The meeting at the Capell Valley fire station shifted back to Thompson's proposal to designate 319,000 acres of federally owned land stretching from Lake Berryessa to Mendocino County. It would include land within Napa, Lake, Mendocino and Yolo counties.
When residents questioned why the map of the NCA included private property surrounding Berryessa, Thompson said the bill's language ensures that the designation would only apply to federal land. Only private land sold to the federal government in the future would be affected by the NCA, he said.
That wasn't enough to assuage the audience's doubts, so Thompson pledged to redraft the map, and add language specifying that private property wouldn't be included in the NCA.
Some residents also expressed concerns that the NCA would lead to motorized boats being banned at Lake Berryessa. Thompson said his bill wouldn't do that.
Again, it wasn't enough to comfort residents' fears, so Thompson promised to include language in the bill that would bar any prohibition of motorized boats on the lake. The audience applauded Thompson's willingness to amend the bill.
Thompson said the NCA would save taxpayers money because it would allow for more coordination between the federal agencies that manage those 319,000 acres â€" BLM, Reclamation and the Forest Service. It would also benefit the lands by creating an advisory council of citizens who could make recommendations on the management plans, he said.
Dillon said creating the NCA makes it a line item in the federal budget, which could free up more money for preserving and protecting that land while enhancing its recreational opportunities. That could benefit eastern Napa County and Lake Berryessa, she said.
Thompson said he doesn't expect any money to become available soon, given the federal government's fiscal turmoil, but that could happen in the future.
“In the short term, no, there's no money,” Thompson said. But “this puts it higher on the pecking order.”
Stu Williams, who helped organize the meeting with Thompson and the Lake Berryessa Chamber of Commerce, said the meeting produced a needed dialogue between residents and the federal government officials who will influence Lake Berryessa's future.
“I think that was a real milestone,” Williams said. “People were receptive. I think that was something that was really needed up here.”
Thompson and U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., introduced bills this year that would create the NCA. Thompson said neither proposal would likely be taken up until next year.
LAKE BERRYESSA â€" A community meeting that was at times contentious, bordering on unruly, fostered a dialogue Thursday night on what the future might hold for communities and recreation at the lake.
The meeting focused on the fate of the contractor in charge of six of the seven resorts at Lake Berryessa, and a proposal by U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, for a national conservation area (NCA) whose boundaries would include the lake.
At meeting's end, Thompson said he would listen to critics and amend the NCA legislation to expressly protect private property and prohibit a ban on power boats at Lake Berryessa.
About 150 residents attended the standing-room-only meeting, which featured Thompson; Don Glaser, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's director for the mid-Pacific region; Rich Burns, a field manager for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management; Napa County Supervisors Diane Dillon and Keith Caldwell; Sara Husby, executive director of Tuleyome; and Ken Wysocki, a representative for the U.S. Forest Service.
Glaser, whose office is in Sacramento, offered a mea culpa to residents over the status of Reclamation's contractor, the Pensus Group.
To residents who've been waiting years for the resorts to resume full operation, Glaser apologized for Pensus' failure to perform since being awarded a bureau contract in 2010.
Charging that Pensus has failed to make progress on redeveloping the resorts, Reclamation moved this year to pursue terminating the contract.
Following a mediation period between Reclamation and Pensus this summer, Glaser will decide whether to terminate the contract, continue it, or amend it so that Pensus could lose control of some â€" but not all â€" of its six resorts.
Glaser committed to making that decision by the end of October, and pledged to have a series of public meetings in Winters, Napa and out at the lake following his decision.
“I'm not here for a vote tonight, but I'm here to discuss where I am at in the process,” Glaser said. “These are real issues that affect real people. We have a clean slate on which to build our path forward.”
The audience applauded Glaser's candor.
The meeting at the Capell Valley fire station shifted back to Thompson's proposal to designate 319,000 acres of federally owned land stretching from Lake Berryessa to Mendocino County. It would include land within Napa, Lake, Mendocino and Yolo counties.
When residents questioned why the map of the NCA included private property surrounding Berryessa, Thompson said the bill's language ensures that the designation would only apply to federal land. Only private land sold to the federal government in the future would be affected by the NCA, he said.
That wasn't enough to assuage the audience's doubts, so Thompson pledged to redraft the map, and add language specifying that private property wouldn't be included in the NCA.
Some residents also expressed concerns that the NCA would lead to motorized boats being banned at Lake Berryessa. Thompson said his bill wouldn't do that.
Again, it wasn't enough to comfort residents' fears, so Thompson promised to include language in the bill that would bar any prohibition of motorized boats on the lake. The audience applauded Thompson's willingness to amend the bill.
Thompson said the NCA would save taxpayers money because it would allow for more coordination between the federal agencies that manage those 319,000 acres â€" BLM, Reclamation and the Forest Service. It would also benefit the lands by creating an advisory council of citizens who could make recommendations on the management plans, he said.
Dillon said creating the NCA makes it a line item in the federal budget, which could free up more money for preserving and protecting that land while enhancing its recreational opportunities. That could benefit eastern Napa County and Lake Berryessa, she said.
Thompson said he doesn't expect any money to become available soon, given the federal government's fiscal turmoil, but that could happen in the future.
“In the short term, no, there's no money,” Thompson said. But “this puts it higher on the pecking order.”
Stu Williams, who helped organize the meeting with Thompson and the Lake Berryessa Chamber of Commerce, said the meeting produced a needed dialogue between residents and the federal government officials who will influence Lake Berryessa's future.
“I think that was a real milestone,” Williams said. “People were receptive. I think that was something that was really needed up here.”
Thompson and U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., introduced bills this year that would create the NCA. Thompson said neither proposal would likely be taken up until next year.