inyo_courthouse1.jpgWhen the Inyo Supervisors meet Tuesday, they will first meet in closed sessions, starting at 8:30 am, relating to labor negotiations. When they meet in open session at 10:00 am, the Board will consider approval of documents that lay out wages and benefits for employees, management and other County officers.

The County Administrator will report on the recently completed Independence Campus Solar Project. Two features of that project are parking areas that support solar panels at the courthouse and the Inyo Sheriff’s Department. The Supervisors will tour the new installations of solar at 11:45 am. The projects are generating 70,000 kilowatt hours.

At 2:00 pm, the County Administrator, Planning Director and County Counsel will ask the Supervisors to review a draft letter to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power on the Draft Environmental Impact Report on the proposed DWP Solar Ranch.

County staff raises several concerns – They say there has been no meaningful public scoping of the current project site south of Independence. The original site was south of Lone Pine or east of Lone Pine. There is no reclamation plan when the project no longer exists. Visual impacts on the viewsheds from the valley floor and from the mountains are concerns as is the likelihood that the project will make weeds and mosquitoes more of a problem. The County is “extremely concerned” that the lack of a reclamation plan will lead to dust pollution and that construction of the project will cause dust problems.

Inyo is also concerned that DWP’s project and two new groundwater wells do not consider the Long-Term Water Agreement. There are concerns that the project does not conform to the Inyo General Plan and that DWP says it is exempt from county zoning and general plans. The County has concerns about housing and DWP’s underestimation of impacts on communities and the potential for almost 700 more people in Southern Inyo. More on all of this Tuesday.

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