Hoberg’s resort ordered to stop sewage overflow

Hoberg’s Resort, a historic Lake County retreat that was destroyed by the Valley fire, is mired in yet another debacle following a string of troubles.

Most recently, Lake County officials have given the resort’s owners - Lake County Partners LLC - until Thursday evening to stop sewage in its water-logged septic tank from overflowing.

The county also expects the resort’s management in the near future to clear its fire rubble and finish removing the scorched trees it had stockpiled on the 55-acre property in hopes of establishing a temporary milling operation. The county has determined it is not an appropriate operation for the Cobb Mountain property.

Hoberg’s spokesman Rob Muelrath said the resort’s representatives assure him they’re working with the county to comply with its demands.

“They are doing everything they can to work with the county,” he said.

If the work doesn’t get done on time, the county could do the abatements and charge Hoberg’s for the costs, Lake County Supervisor Rob Brown said.

Hoberg’s most recent woes come on the heels of the devastating Valley fire. The September wildland blaze wiped out more than $2 million in renovations recently made to the historic resort, first established as a hotel in the 1880s. It is unclear how much of the damage will be covered by insurance, Muelrath said.

Hoberg’s officials told the county they expected the state to help with debris cleanup, but since have learned it will not, Brown said.

Cobb-area residents and water officials also are concerned about the toxic and septic runoff from the property. They say the property’s septic system has polluted area streams and wells for years. A video taken last week shows a stream of liquid overflowing from a septic lift tank and running down the hill following heavy rains.

“It’s a raw sewage tank,” said Benjamin Murphy, who works for several small water agencies in the area and filmed the septic runoff.

In 2012, a well that served the Adams Springs Water District was contaminated by E. coli bacteria and had to be shut down, he said. Murphy said he suspects the contamination originated from Hoberg’s, although the source was never proved. That district’s water now is supplied by the Cobb Mountain Water Co., for which he also works.

Murphy and others also worry that asbestos and lead from the old, crumbling and now burned buildings on the resort property are being washed by heavy rains into area creeks, which ultimately drain into Lake Berryessa.

Dan Nelson, the man who launched and managed the project to revive Hoberg’s, currently is serving a jail sentence for mishandling asbestos cleanup during renovations in 2011 and 2012.

You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or glenda.anderson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MendoReporter.