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County bumps up Planning and Building fees Eric Jaramishian Staff writer El Dorado County Planning and Building Department divisions will increase fees in an effort to level cost recovery with revenue. A cost recovery evaluation by NBS Government Finance Group Inc., which conducted a fee and nexus study to analyze costs of Planning and Building services and the revenue brought in, determined the county is currently recovering approximately 68% of total annual costs of providing services across the divisions. “When we don’t charge 100% of any fee for service, then you need another funding source, wherever that may be, which could include the General Fund,” said Nicole Kissam, NBS director. According to the study, which was presented at the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors Aug. 15 meeting, the Planning and Building Department is recovering just over $9 million in fee revenue between Planning Services, Stormwater and VHRs, Building Services, Technology, General Plan Implementation, GIS Support, Code Enforcement, Airports and Cemetery division fee categories. ■ See PLANNING, page A3
County Code Enforcement getting more help
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El Dorado County’s Code Enforcement Division will have more boots on the ground in coming months. Last week the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors approved adding two additional code enforcement officers (bumping up the allocation from six to eight) and an additional code enforcement supervisor (bringing the total to two) to the division that has a hefty caseload and backlog. The personnel changes
were supported 5-0 following a presentation of the draft Code Enforcement Strategic Plan at the Aug. 22 Board of Supervisors meeting. Supervisors also asked staff to come back in six months with a more detailed work plan and update on Code Enforcement’s efforts. District 4 Supervisor Lori Parlin noted that at one time Code Enforcement had nearly 900 open cases. “What’s the strategy for attacking this backlog?” Parlin asked. “I know you have to prioritize and we keep adding more things because the (vacation home rentals) are kind of out of control.” Code Enforcement Supervisor Lynda Jorgensen told supervisors her officers prioritize the most egregious cases, “ones with imminent health and safety … issues, especially.” The county’s new noticing order process, she added, has helped get many property owners into compliance. This process starts ■ See CODE ENFORCEMENT,
page A3
On the hunt for the
TALLEST TREES
Odin Rasco Staff writer
P
ushing through spiderwebs and brush as they zig-zagged between trees on the way down a steep slope of loose dirt and pine needles, Michael Taylor and Chris Atkins moved in on their quarry — one of the tallest pine trees on the planet, which just happens to be growing in El Dorado County. After a short hike through a part of the Eldorado National Forest near Fresh Pond, the duo hits an unpaved road; this break in the canopy is exactly what they need, as they get their first glimpse of the towering ponderosa pine Taylor is looking for. “The first step is finding a good window,” Taylor said, pointing to a gap between trees that allowed for a clear view of the top of the sky-scraping Ponderosa. Taylor has crossed paths with the pine once before but a subterranean hornet’s nest at the base of the tree interrupted his attempts to get measurements — and left at least one companion on the trip with some stings as a souvenir. On his Aug. 11 revisit to the tree, now named Hornet, Taylor asked fellow renowned tree hunter Atkins to come along and help with collecting data. Atkins set up the measurement equipment — a TruPulse 200x, what he calls “the Cadillac of measurement lasers” — and waited as a breeze died down to collect the data. Hitting the highest point on the tree ensures the best measurement, but it’s a difficult test of accuracy that Taylor described as “finding the pine needle in a treestack.” After multiple measurements are taken from different points on the tree and at different elevations, the duo crunched the numbers; Hornet reaches a staggering 271.22 feet, with
Mountain Democrat photos by Odin Rasco
Michael Taylor, left, and Chris Atkins stand at the base of Hornet, the world’s second-tallest ponderosa pine, on Aug. 11. Taylor discovered Hornet in the Eldorado National Forest near Fresh Pond earlier this month.
Chris Atkins uses a laser device to capture a measurement at the tip of the tallest part of the tree. Atkins says laser measurements, when done accurately, are almost entirely on par with the much more involved process of climbing up and measuring the tree manually. a base 5.1 feet in diameter. This height means Hornet is not only the secondtallest ponderosa pine on record, but the third-tallest pine on the planet. Taylor explained that Hornet has a unique set of circumstances that allow for its height. “It’s super rare for a pine to hit over 260,”
1 DENTIST DENTIST!
Taylor said. “And this region doesn’t actually lend itself to ponderosas. A fire may have swept through here a long time ago and left room for ponderosas to move in. This one got so big because it’s not just competing with the other trees to reach the sunlight, but competing against the
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mountain itself and trying to break from its shadow. And with the small stream running nearby, it could tap into that and have virtually unlimited water to use.” Gargantuan finds such as Hornet are not a new experience for Atkins or Taylor, who have both garnered ■ See TREES, page A3
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