Board approves recording liens to recover CalRecycle abatement costs for Nice Hills dump sites

The Lake County Board of Supervisors authorized staff to record liens to recover abatement costs for four illegal‑dumping sites in the Nice Hills that were cleaned up under a CalRecycle grant.

Deputy Community Development Administrator Shannon Walker Smith and Code Enforcement Manager Marcus Belrammo detailed contractor invoices and administrative fees for the cleaned parcels and recommended lien recordation. Marcus Belrammo told the board the grant requires CalRecycle to be recorded in first lien position and the county to be recorded second to recover administrative costs: "the first lien position which will be the contractor's amount will be recorded in favor of CalRecycle… the county will be in second position on these liens."

Staff proposed recording liens in the following amounts: $1,519.37 for 7840 Hyde Street (APN 030‑233‑24), $1,229.18 for 2560 Fall Street (APN 030‑071‑06), $719.37 for 2826 Bush Street (APN 030‑142‑03), and $232.39 for 2830 Bush Street (APN 030‑142‑04). Marcus Belrammo explained that some parcels were pulled from today’s action to allow additional outreach to property owners after public comment.

Supervisors questioned task‑sheet hourly rates used in administrative cost calculations and asked staff to provide a written explanation and to add a single code‑enforcement hourly line to the master fee schedule. Supervisor Kandle expressed concern about impacts on elderly property owners and Belrammo described processes to coordinate with Adult Protective Services and other local programs to assist seniors.

The board moved, seconded and authorized staff to record the liens; the motion was recorded as approved by the board.