LAKE COUNTY — The Lake County Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 to approve Amendment 8 to the county’s agreement with Consor (formerly Quincy Engineering) for final design and right-of-way services on the South Main Street and Soda Bay Road corridor improvement project, authorizing an amount not to exceed $4,070,813.31, an increase of $549,600.

Interim Public Works Director Lars Ewing told the board the amendment adds final design, additional project management, utility coordination and pre-construction environmental services to Consor’s broad contract for the corridor. "If your board chooses to not move ahead with this amendment, we would not be able to complete the design portion of the project, which ... would mean we ... couldn't access the STIP funding," Ewing said during the meeting.

Ewing said the project team is working to meet deadlines required to secure State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) funding at the California Transportation Commission (CTC). He told supervisors the county currently has roughly $5.2 million programmed in the STIP for the corridor and that another roughly $5 million is available, putting about $10.5 million of potential STIP funding at risk if design is not completed on schedule. The county’s application deadline for the CTC allocation was described as December 1 for the next available CTC meeting cycle.

Project scope and status

Ewing said the contract amendment covers the full corridor for pre-construction phases — design, environmental and right of way — while construction will be phased, with South Main Street proposed as the first construction phase. He said the construction timeline currently targets 2027 for work on South Main Street.

On environmental and permitting, Ewing said NEPA clearance has been completed and revalidated because of timing, and a CEQA document is approved; staff plan to return to the board next month with a CEQA addendum to incorporate planned night work. Two regulatory permits are in hand: a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit and a Regional Water Quality Control Board permit. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife permit was said to be in draft and expected within one to two weeks.

Right of way and design

Ewing told the board the corridor requires approximately 40 acquisitions, including temporary construction easements and permanent right-of-way acquisitions; he said the bulk are complete and about four or five remain, and that the county has willing sellers for the outstanding parcels. He described the design portion as the main item in Amendment 8, whereas the previous Amendment 7 focused on right of way, permits and related work.

City coordination and utilities

A public commenter identified as Betsy asked whether the amendment would allow the City of Lakeport to install a water line to support fire suppression and hydrants. Ewing said county and city staff are coordinating and that the environmental document includes provisions for installing water lines. He added the city has near-final preliminary design plans for a looped water line and that internal city-county staff meetings were scheduled to continue coordination.

Board action and funding

A supervisor moved to approve Amendment 8 authorizing the county to execute the amendment for the listed not-to-exceed amount; another participant seconded. The board voted 4-0 to carry the motion.

The motion, staff comments and vote record indicate the county will use a combination of funding sources, with portions identified as coming from STIP-related sources and other county or grant funding streams (a line item described in the meeting as "STEP" for this portion). The motion authorizes the chair to execute the amendment and directs staff to proceed with the work described in the amendment.

What remains

Next steps identified in the meeting include returning to the board with the CEQA addendum for night work, finalizing the remaining right-of-way acquisitions, completing the California Department of Fish and Wildlife permit, and continuing coordination with the City of Lakeport on the potential water-line installation. Ewing said staff are pushing to complete outstanding items so the county can meet the CTC deadline to preserve the STIP funding allocation.