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The Old Firehouse
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Olympic Valley
Olympic Valley Public Utility District (formerly Squaw Valley Public Utility District)
305 Squaw Valley Road
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Kings Beach Library
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El Dorado County's Ad hoc Hemp committee will hold a meeting to discuss the Board of Supervisors request of 9/22/2020. (In motion below) The meeting is open to the public via ZOOM for comments and participation.
Meeting Information
Thursday, October 29, 2020
2:00 - 4:00 PM
ZOOM Information: https://zoom.us/j/96271045525?pwd=VmZMVFVpMDNhcWo0cTBoeDBSRVJMQT09
Meeting ID: 962 7104 5525
Passcode: 547080
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Meeting ID: 962 7104 5525
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Background
Following a presentation on industrial hemp by the Agriculture Department on June 23, 2020, the Board requested the formation of an Ad Hoc Hemp Committee to include two members of the Board. The members of the Committee are District I Supervisor John Hidahl and District IV Supervisor Lori Parlin. The Ad Hoc Hemp Committee held a planning meeting via ZOOM on August 19, 2020. County staff participants were Sheriff John D'Agostini, Sheriff Lieutenant Mike Cook, Deputy County Counsel Daniel Vandekoolwyk, and Agricultural Commissioner Charlene Carveth. Agricultural Commission members, Bill Draper and David Bolster, also participated. The Ad Hoc Committee discussed the scope of study for the Committee, and returned to the Board for further direction on 9/22/2020.
Motion
The Board of Supervisors made the following motion by Supervisor Frentzen, seconded by Supervisor Parlin to provide direction to staff on the scope of study for the Ad Hoc Hemp Committee to include the following:
1) Holding a meeting, or series of meetings, on whether to recommend to the Board a moratorium on all renewals or new registrations while the proposed Industrial Hemp Program Ordinance is developed using a similar model to the Cannabis Ad Hoc Committee with public outreach meetings but allow existing registrants to finish out this growing and harvest season.
2) Developing recommendations regarding testing of industrial hemp.
3) Developing recommendations on issues such as zoning, parcel size, setbacks, registration limits, crop size limits, maximum acreage within the County, signage, track and trace harvested crops, or other restrictions.
4) Develop recommendations on new ordinances, or updating existing ordinances, addressing industrial hemp cultivation, industrial hemp plant breeders, industrial hemp nurseries and processing/manufacturing.
5) Develop recommendations to create an administrative process for industrial hemp and provide best practices for the program by obtaining other counties best management practices and ordinances.
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Summary
This guidance outlines safer alternative ways to celebrate Halloween and Día de los Muertos during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 continues to pose a severe risk to communities and requires all Californians to follow necessary precautions in light of this ongoing risk.
Some of the traditional holiday activities promote congregating and mixing of households, which increase the risk of transmitting COVID-19. For this reason, CDPH recommends that you choose a safer alternative way to celebrate Halloween and Día de los Muertos, and strongly discourages trick-or-treating. It is important to plan early and identify safer options.
Your local health department may have additional restrictions; check with your local public health department for information about Halloween in your community.
This guidance may be modified based on the changing conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Safer Alternatives for Halloween
The safest way to celebrate Halloween is to spend time with people in the same household or to celebrate virtually. Some specific alternatives that are low risk but still capture the holiday fun include:
- Creating a haunted house or candy scavenger hunt in your home
- Having a scary movie night and Halloween-themed activities (pumpkin carving, face painting) at home
- Participating in online parties/contests (e.g. costume or pumpkin carvings)
- Attending car-based outings where people do not leave their car including drive-in events or contests or movies; driving through an area with Halloween displays
- Eating a Halloween-themed meal with your household (alone or with up to 2 other households, not including your own, for a meal outside following all other gathering guidelines)
- Enjoying a Halloween-themed art installation at an outdoor museum with your household
- Dressing up homes and yards with Halloween-themed decorations
- Giving treats at home only to those in your household.
- Send a curated playlist and/or themed treats (or tricks) to your friends ahead of time.
- Designing face masks that reflect your child/ren's Halloween costumes
- Prepare a Halloween basket for your children or Halloween hunt in your backyard
Safer Alternatives for Día de los Muertos
The safest way to celebrate Día de los Muertos is to spend time with people in the same household or to celebrate virtually. Some specific alternatives that are low risk but still capture the cultural celebration include:
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Altars: Consider placing and creating your altar in a front window or outside so others can view from a safe social distance.
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Virtual Altar: Create a virtual space to honor lost loved ones. Share with family and friends via email or social media.
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Cemetery Visits: If you visit the cemetery, only visit with those you live with, wear masks and maintain appropriate social distancing. Limit time spent to minimum necessary.
Trick-or-Treating
In general, the more people from different households with whom a person interacts, the closer the physical interaction is, and the longer the interaction lasts, the higher the risk that a person with COVID-19 infection –symptomatic or asymptomatic -- may spread it to others. Trick-or-treating without necessary modifications promotes congregating and mixing of many households, particularly on crowded doorsteps, which can increase the spread of COVID-19. That type of mixing is not currently permitted in California. Additionally, if there is a positive case discovered, it is very challenging to do appropriate contact tracing to identify all those who have been potentially exposed.
To protect yourself and your community, you should not go trick-or-treating or mix with others outside allowed private gatherings this Halloween season.
Personal Protection Measures:
Regardless of how you choose to celebrate Halloween or Día de los Muertos it is important to keep the following in mind:
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Face Coverings: Face coverings must be worn in accordance with the CDPH Guidance on the Use of Face Coverings, unless an exemption is applicable. Please note plastic, rubber, vinyl and other Halloween costume masks are not an acceptable substitute for cloth face-coverings for the prevention of COVID-19 spread.
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Practice Social Distancing: Avoid confined spaces, especially indoors. Stay least 6 feet away (3 or more adult steps) from all other people who are not part of your own household, especially while talking, eating, drinking, and singing.
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Good Hygiene: Wash or sanitize your hands often. Clean frequently touched items regularly.
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Minimize Mixing: Plan activities to limit mixing between different households. Currently gatherings of more than three households are prohibited in California. Californians are permitted to gather with a maximum of two other households. This means that on Halloween, if you are spending time with others, you must stick with a maximum of three households (including your own), and not mingle with others.
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Stay Home if You are Sick or You are in a High Risk Group: If you are sick, or you have been in contact with someone who is sick with COVID-19 or has symptoms of COVID-19 stay home, and away from others. People at higher risk of severe illness or death from COVID-19 (such as older adults, people with chronic medical conditions) are strongly urged to stay home.
If you are sick or in a high risk group, you should discourage trick-or-treaters from coming to your door by turning off your porch light and other Halloween decoration lights on Halloween night.
Please respect your neighbors and your community: Everyone is navigating the COVID-19 pandemic to the best of their abilities and has different comfort levels about what is safe to do. Your local community or your neighbors may be more restrictive than these CDPH guidelines, and we ask that you respect your neighbors' wishes and concerns.
 Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition and Tahoe Fund Collaborate to Install Over 100 Bike Racks in Town Centers
The nonprofits have teamed up to install nearly 450 bike racks in the Tahoe Basin over the last three years, offering secure parking for 900 bikes
With a grant from the Tahoe Fund and matching contributions from local businesses, the nonprofit Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition completed the third phase of its efforts to create secure bike parking within the Tahoe Basin. The Bike Coalition purchased and installed 100 bike racks in high-priority spots near Town Centers and one public bike repair station in Tahoe this summer, offering parking for 200 bikes. In total, the Bike Coalition and Tahoe Fund have teamed up to provide access to 450 bike racks at outdoor recreation locations, area businesses and community hotspots all around the lake since 2018, offering secure parking for up to 900 bikes.
“The Bike Coalition has consistently heard from members and supporters that the lack of bike racks is a barrier to getting people to make more trips by bike. Based on this need, we created the Bike Racks for Tahoe program in 2018,” said Chris Mertens, Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition board member. “Anecdotally, we regularly see bikes parked at the new racks, sometimes as they are being installed, and locations throughout the Basin have been very happy with the program.”
The Bike Coalition had the high-quality bike racks installed at 31 locations within one-quarter mile of Town Centers around the Lake including South Lake Tahoe, Kings Beach, Tahoe City and Incline Village. Each of the two styles of racks provided can park two bicycles.
Businesses, recreation spots and schools applied for racks by completing a short online survey. Along with the racks, the Bike Coalition also purchased five public “fix-it” stations over the last two years. The stations have been installed in convenient locations where people riding bikes can use tools and a pump to address minor bicycle repair issues for free. This year, a fix-it station and bike rack were sent to North Tahoe in memory of Pam Emmerich, a long-time resident, community advocate and champion of bicycling.
“The Tahoe Fund has continued to support the Bike Coalition’s efforts to install more bike racks because we recognize the value it offers to the community and the Tahoe environment,” said Allen Biaggi, Tahoe Fund board chair. “Increasing the amount of bicycle parking and access to free repair stations region-wide encourages residents and visitors to ride. This in turn helps reduce vehicle emissions and roadway sediment that can affect lake clarity.”
Along with ongoing advocacy, event bike parking, safety messaging and providing the Tahoe Region bike map, the Bike Coalition plans to continue to inventory bike racks. It also advocates for requiring bike parking with all new development and will continue to provide as many racks to existing locations as possible through partnerships like what has been established with the Tahoe Fund.
An interactive map of existing rack locations can be found online at tahoebike.org/bike-parking. Learn more about the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition at tahoebike.org.
Summary
This guidance provides an updated plan for Californians to gather outside their household and replaces the prior gatherings guidance issued on September 12, 2020 and March 16, 2020. It applies to private gatherings, and all other gatherings not covered by existing sector guidance are prohibited. Gatherings are defined as social situations that bring together people from different households at the same time in a single space or place. When people from different households mix, this increases the risk of transmission of COVID-19.
Mandatory Requirements for All Gatherings
All persons planning to host or participate in a private gathering, as defined above, must comply with the following requirements. Local health jurisdictions may be more restrictive than this guidance. Refer to your local guidance for what is allowed in your area.
1. Attendance
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Gatherings that include more than 3 households are prohibited. This includes everyone present, including hosts and guests. Remember, the smaller the number of people, the safer.
- Keep the households that you interact with stable over time. By spending time with the same people, risk of transmission is reduced. Participating in multiple gatherings with different households or groups is strongly discouraged.
- The host should collect names of all attendees and contact information in case contact tracing is needed later.
2. Gather Outdoors
- Gatherings that occur outdoors are significantly safer than indoor gatherings. All gatherings must be held outside. Attendees may go inside to use restrooms as long as the restrooms are frequently sanitized.
- Gatherings may occur in outdoor spaces that are covered by umbrellas, canopies, awnings, roofs, and other shade structures provided that at least three sides of the space (or 75%) are open to the outdoors.
- A gathering of no more than three households is permitted in a public park or other outdoor space, even if unrelated gatherings of other groups up to three households are also occurring in the same park or other outdoor space. If multiple such gatherings are occurring, mixing between group gatherings is not allowed. Additionally, multiple gatherings of three households cannot be jointly organized or coordinated to occur in the same public park or other outdoor space at the same time – this would constitute a gathering exceeding the permitted size.
3. Don't Attend Gatherings If You Feel Sick or You Are in a High-Risk Group
- Anyone with any COVID-19-like symptoms (fever, cough, shortness of breath, chills, night sweats, sore throat, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, tiredness, muscle or body aches, headaches, confusion, or loss of sense of taste/smell), must stay home and not come into contact with anyone outside their household.
- Anyone who develops COVID-19 within 48 hours after attending a gathering should notify the other attendees as soon as possible regarding the potential exposure.
- People at higher risk of severe illness or death from COVID-19 (such as older adults and people with chronic medical conditions) are strongly urged not to attend any gatherings.
4. Practice Physical Distancing and Hand Hygiene at Gatherings
- For any gatherings permitted under this guidance, the space must be large enough so that everyone at a gathering can maintain at least a 6-foot physical distance from others (not including their own household) at all times.
- Seating must provide at least 6 feet of distance (in all directions—front-to-back and side-to-side) between different households.
- Everyone at a gathering should frequently wash their hands with soap and water, or use hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available. A place to wash hands or hand sanitizer must be available for participants to use.
- Shared items should not be used during a gathering. As much as possible, any food or beverages at outdoor gatherings must be in single-serve disposable containers. If providing single-serve containers is not possible, food and beverages must be served by a person who washes or sanitizes their hands frequently, and wears a face covering. Self-serve items from communal containers should not be used.
5. Wear a Face Covering to Keep COVID-19 from Spreading
- When gathering, face coverings must be worn in accordance with the CDPH Guidance on the Use of Face Coverings (PDF), unless an exemption is applicable.
- People at gatherings may remove their face coverings briefly to eat or drink as long as they stay at least 6 feet away from everyone outside their own household, and put their face covering back on as soon as they are done with the activity.
- Face coverings can also be removed to meet urgent medical needs (for example, to use an asthma inhaler, take medication, or if feeling light-headed).
6. Keep it short
- Gatherings should be two hours or less. The longer the duration, the risk of transmission increases.
7. Rules for Singing, Chanting, and Shouting at Outdoor Gatherings
- Singing, chanting, shouting, and physical exertion significantly increases the risk of COVID-19 transmission because these activities increase the release of respiratory droplets and fine aerosols into the air. Because of this, singing, chanting, and shouting are strongly discouraged, but if they occur, the following rules and recommendations apply:
- All people who are singing or chanting should wear a face covering at all times while singing or chanting, including anyone who is leading a song or chant. Because these activities pose a very high risk of COVID-19 transmission, face coverings are essential to reduce the spread of respiratory droplets and fine aerosols;
- People who are singing, shouting, chanting, or exercising are strongly encouraged to maintain physical distancing beyond 6 feet to further reduce risk.
- People who are singing or chanting are strongly encouraged to do so quietly (at or below the volume of a normal speaking voice).
- Instrumental music is allowed as long as the musicians maintain at least 6-foot physical distancing. Musicians must be from one of the three households. Playing of wind instruments (any instrument played by the mouth, such as a trumpet or clarinet) is strongly discouraged.
Context
COVID-19 continues to pose a severe risk to communities and requires all people in California to follow necessary precautions and to adapt the way they live and function in light of this ongoing risk. The safest way to gather is to spend time with people in the same household or to gather virtually.
In general, the more people from different households a person interacts with at a gathering, the closer the physical interaction is, and the longer the interaction lasts, the higher the risk that a person with a COVID-19 infection, symptomatic or asymptomatic, may spread it to others. Public health studies have also shown that the risk of transmission is increased in indoor spaces, particularly when there isn't appropriate ventilation.[1] Unlike indoor spaces, wind and air in outdoor spaces can help reduce spread of the virus from one person to another.
Planning scenarios published by the CDC estimate that, on average, a person with COVID-19 goes on to infect between 2-4 people, with a best estimate of 2.5 when there are no preventive measures.[2] For example, if each infected person spreads the virus to two people, who in turn spread it to two others each; those four will spread the virus to eight others; those eight will spread the virus to 16; and so on. As a result, after 10 transmission cycles, one person could be responsible for 1,024 other people contracting the virus.[3] Additionally, there is broad agreement that people who are not experiencing symptoms can still spread COVID-19[4]. The fact that COVID-19 can be spread by people who don't have symptoms or aren't showing symptoms yet is one of the aspects of the COVID-19 that makes it difficult to control.
All gatherings pose a higher risk of transmission and spread of COVID-19 when people mix from different households and communities. The likelihood of transmission and spread increases with laughing, singing, loud talking and difficulty maintaining physical distance. Limiting attendance at gatherings is a way to reduce the risk of spread as it lowers the number of different people who are interacting. Additionally, by limiting attendance there is an improved ability to perform effective contact tracing if there is a positive case discovered, which can help to slow the spread of COVID-19[5]. People who do choose to attend gatherings should discuss and agree upon the specific group rules before convening together.
[1] See, e.g., Hiroshi Nishiura, et al., Closed environments facilitate secondary transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (PDF), (www.medrxiv.org/content/
10.1101/2020.02.28.20029272v2.full.pdf); Hu Qian, et al., "Indoor transmission of SARS-CoV-2" (www.medrxiv.org/
content/10.1101/2020.04.04.20053058v1) [pre-print] published in medRxiv on April 4, 2020.
[2] See the CDC COVID-19 Pandemic Planning Scenarios web page
[3] See, e.g., Report 3: Natsuko Imai et al, WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Modelling, MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, J-IDEA, "Imperial college London, UK. Transmissibility of 2019 -n-CoV)." See also Inglesby T B JAMA Public Health Measures and the Reproduction Number of SARS-CoV-2. JAMA Network.2020.7878 (May 1, 2020).
[4] World Health Organization (WHO) Transmission of SARS-CoV-2: implications for infection prevention precautions
[5] See Harvard Health Preventing the spread of the coronavirus Social distancing, hand washing, and other preventive measures
Update on COVID-19 in El Dorado County as of Friday, October 9, 2020.
-- 270 tests (32,515)
-- 4 cases; (1,275)
2 in EDH; 1 in Greater Placerville; 1 in Cameron Park/Shingle Springs/Rescue
0 aged 0-17, 3 aged 18-49, 1 aged 50-64, 0 aged 65+
-- 266 negative tests (31,240)
-- 14 assumed recoveries (1,170)
-- no hospitalizations and no ICU (0/0)
-- 1.7% positivity rate
-- no new deaths (4)
-- Orange Tier https://covid19.ca.gov/safer-economy/
http://ow.ly/3qSN50zhCuK
The aspen trees that you see in Tahoe are called Quaking Aspens. They get their name from the way their flat leaves and lengthy stalks tremble in the lightest of breezes. Aspen leaves turn vibrant yellow due to a decrease in photosynthetic activity as the days get shorter in the fall, causing the green hue to fade as chlorophyll production is stopped. Aspens are also the most massive organism on Earth.
 Another name for the Aspen is "nut-kie-e" (Native American Tribe), which means "noisy leaf" - both names fit it well.
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