Rumors of this boycott had been brewing for some time, but apparently it’s official. In a poster that appeared in Old Town overnight, the Plumbers and Steamfitters Local No. 290 accuses Lost Coast Brewery of hiring out-of-town contractors to build its new brewery on south Broadway, undercutting local wages and eliminating training opportunities.
The subcontractor, Cone Plumbing out of Yreka, “does not pay AREA STANDARD wages and benefits to their plumber employees,” the flyer reads. “SUBSTANDARD wages contribute to the erosion of our local economy.”
Calls placed to representatives of the union were not returned. Lost Coast Brewery owner Barbara Groom was unavailable, and has not responded to an email.
This isn’t the first controversy surrounding the brewery’s new digs. Neighbors of the new building, which is being built across Highway 101 from the Comfort Inn, complained about the project’s impact on traffic, noise and views before the City of Eureka approved the project. This spring, neighbors were shocked when the brewery cut down a row of cypress trees two days before raptor mating season would have prevented the felling.
Here’s the text of the boycott flyer:
Lost Coast Brewery unfair to local contractors and construction workers
Lost Coast has contracted with Hansen-Rice, an Idaho based construction company to build their new brewery. Hansen-Rice has subcontracted work to Cone Plumbing from Yreka, Ca.
Cone Plumbing does not pay AREA STANDARD wages and benefits to their plumber employees. SUBSTANDARD wages contribute to the erosion of our local economy. Cone Plumbing does not participate in our local California State Apprenticeship Program. Not participating in local training programs deny training opportunities for local workers in this community. Contracting opportunities and local construction jobs are important to us. Qualified local contractors and workers desperately need jobs. Dollars earned here by local people circulate here.
Lost Coast Brewery, by hiring out of area contractors has demonstrated a lack of concern for this community.
Please do not patronize Lost Coast Brewery to show your support for local construction workers.
The UNITED ASSOCIATION of PLUMBERS & STEAMFITTERS Local NO. 290.
The Union is not asking any individual to cease performing any services, or to refuse to pick up, deliver or transport any goods.
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This article appears in Holiday Gift Guide 2013.
I’d like to hear LCB’s side of the story. Too bad they didn’t respond in time for this particular article. I’m inclined not to go there until they do.
It’s quite possible they had the most competitive bid to complete such a major project. Union vs non-union usually doesn’t become a factor in deciding in who to award the bid. Barbara has way too many supporters for such a “boycott” to even make a difference. Ordering my hot wings as I type this!
Were local contractors competitive?
Lost Coast Brewery employs close to 80 employees. Barbara pays a very good wage and is a fair employer. In order to expand her local business and continue to boost local economy Barbara has invested thousands of dollars into a new brewery that benefits OUR ECONOMY. Really? We are going to boycott a locally owned business that includes nation wide sales from our little neck of the woods because she took a competitive bid so she could afford to build the new brewery that supports OUR ECONOMY???
I truly don’t understand why anyone goes there anyway the food is substandard and the beer is boring .
A PRIVATE local business is trying to expand (creating jobs and additional tax revenue) as efficiently as possible and is having a powerful union attempt to impose onerous PUBLIC WORKS requirements. Seems like this would raise costs significantly …. approx. 30% to 50%. Anyone that goes along with this for philosophical reasons, should also be prepared to write a check to LCB, for philosophical reasons.
We’ve had way too much of this. I can’t remember the last time I heard of a major local project going to a local business.
Lost cause Brewery has outgrown Humboldt County. Their support of the Caltrans RIP(Richardson Grove Improvement Project) displayed this fact, in selling out the county to save a nickle a twelve pack on shipping up empty bottles. Now they wish to screw over local labor unions. They have “Lost” touch with the local community. I remember when their beer wasn’t so mass-produced that it actually tasted good. Now it tastes like your run of the mill pseudo microbrewers, such as Sam Adams. Sad to see a local business take that kind of stance on these local issues. But like I said, they have gotten too big…
The 22, cypress trees that were cut down along Sunset Road on February 27th and 28th, 2013, were boundary line trees located at the property line between the brewery property (previously owned by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Santa Rosa) and the 40 foot wide Sunset Road easement which is located on land owned by my wife and I. I never was asked if the trees could be cut down and have not seen any report stating that they were a hazard and just HAD to be removed. From watching construction of the brewery from our home up on the hill I can see where there is money being saved by the trees being removed.
The city did not give Table Bluff Brewing LLC explicit permission to cut down the trees and I question if the city ever had that right. When an easement is given for a public right of way does that also give away the ownership and rights to standing crops, timber, buildings and boundary line trees? I say NO. A dedication has to be explicit in what is being dedicated. The road dedication on Parcel Map No. 3189 says “easement for a public street, public utilities, and all purposes incidental thereto”. There is no mention of the old 70 to 100 year old trees that were 100 feet tall. By omission they were excluded from the dedication and ownership transferred to my wife and I upon purchase of the land.
My wife and I purchased the land in 1998 and we occupied the land in 1999. Our parcel is a flag lot, 2 acres in size. The pole of the flag lot is Sunset Road from Hwy 101 in the city up to my neighbors driveway on the hill, past the city / county line at Weiler Road, in Humboldt County. The flag of the flag lot is the residential parcel upon which is built our home. All roads past the city / county line are non county roads, privately maintained and subject to road maintenance agreements. No parcels of land within the City of Eureka city limits had permanent rights to use Sunset Road. Sunset Road was only an easement to get from Hwy 101 to the Humboldt County line where all the residential parcels are located. The red house on the corner of Hwy 101 (Broadway) and Sunset Road used their driveway on Hwy 101 as their access. The red house garage had an occasional access through an additional door on the back of the garage. The Roman Catholic Bishop of Santa Rosa had a seasonal gate on Sunset Road just before Weiler Road to cut and remove hay from the pasture land. Now, because of the dedication of Sunset Road to the City of Eureka, the city is illegally expanding their rights and are exceeding the original intent of the dedication by allowing construction of, and commercial use by a Heavy Industry Brewery.
I have found lawyers who are willing to pursue a case for the illegal removal of boundary line trees on a chargeable, per hour, fee basis but have been unable to find any who are willing to take on the case on a contingency basis and most of the local firms can claim conflict of interest.
The case could quickly expand to include the City of Eureka. How the city obtained the road dedication and now it has now allowed use of the right of way in ways never intended are possible side issues. Because most of the legal firms in town have at least one lawyer that has represented the city, or their employees, or the brewery or their associates, the search for qualified representation is very difficult. It could be described as being similar to the search by Diogenes of Sinope.
Dean Slone – NBN – New Brewery Neighbor
Honestly. LCB makes enough money out of shipments and everything (i know someone who worked there for years) they could afford to use local labor. Removing the trees without the express authorization of the property owner is a crock of poo poo. I would bet you a dollar, they sold those cypress trees and the property owners received nothing for it. Cypress is a hard to come by mold/pest/rot resistant tree that is in high demand. This beer is being boycotted from here to Kansas as far as I know, and hopefully will be brought to more peoples attention on how they are using deceptive practices to make more money. If you really want to make money, jsut go sell out to Budweiser, then people would not be so shocked to see who was supporting the cutting of our ancient redwoods.
[EDIT]
Well Ringmaster Willie,
If you are only going to bet on sure things, I can tell you are not a gambler. You said in your comment “I would bet you a dollar, they sold those cypress trees and the property owners received nothing for it.”, and you are correct, the trees were sold and none of the proceeds were offered to us.
Ms Groom, was probably ill advised concerning her rights concerning the row of Monterey Pine Cypress trees. Many people in California are probably under the impression that they can do whatever they want with trees that grow on their property and THAT would be a false impression, especially if the trees are not wholly on their property. In Kallis v Sones (Filed August 9, 2012, Ordered Published on August 29, 2012) 2012 WL 3156602, the California Second District Court of Appeal ruled that … a “line tree” – a tree whose trunk stands partly on the land of two or more coterminous owners, … belongs to each of them in common. … neither owner “is at liberty to cut the tree without the consent of the other, nor to cut away the part which extends into his land, if he thereby injures the common property in the tree.”
In Kallis v Sones, the cutting down (without permission) of a single 70 foot tall Aleppo Pine tree straddling the boundary line between the litigants properties cost the defendant (who caused the tree to be cut down) over $100,000 settlement to the Plaintiff. The award did not include attorney or court costs!
The location of the individual trees in the Monterey Cypress Row along Sunset Road was part of a survey in 1998. The locations are also well documented in pictures and markings by the city. At least 10 of the trees, and possibly as many as 18 of them, were unarguably line trees. The math is simple, 10 trees times $100,000 = $1,000,000. I had offered to sell all our rights and ownership in Sunset Road as it lay within the city limits of the City of Eureka to Ms. Groom for $100,000 if Ms. Groom agreed to pay the associated costs to do the lot line adjustments. I made the offer well before the trees were cut down and before any construction had begun. Ms. Groom never answered or accepted my offer and it was withdrawn.
I was out of town in Granite Bay when the trees were cut down and was given no warning that the trees were to be clear cut. Had I been warned I would have quickly applied for a TRO temporary restraining order to stop the loss of the commonly owned trees, prevent Ms. Groom from committing a possibly illegal act and to preserve the value of our property and our pastoral views.
With the trees gone we now have an unobstructed view of the sewerage treatment plant and when the redesigned brewery buildings are constructed we will lose our views (at that point) of the Elk river where it enters Humboldt Bay, the Humboldt Bay boat turning basin and possibly the Pacific Ocean
Is it better to do what ever you please, without regard of the harm you cause and without asking permission and after the fact contritely ask forgiveness? So far, in the case of the Monterey Cypress Tree Row it has not only been better for Ms. Groom but it may have even been more profitable.
So far …
To the general public … if you are interested in viewing the erection of the Table Bluff Brewing LLC (DBA) Lost Coast Brewing) brewing plant … I recommend the following.
Sunset Road is presently being used by not only the public but also by contractors and heavy equipment building the brewery on Sunset Road. Sunset Road is in a deplorable state. The city is not maintaining the road surface and it is being further degraded by the constant use by heavy equipment. There are no alternate exits from Sunset Road so you will not be able to get out except the way you came in. You may also damage your car steering and/or suspension.
So … Visit Sunset Memorial Park just south of Sunset Road and north of K Mart on south Broadway at the south end of Eureka. It is a beautiful cemetery and final resting place that is well maintained by the grounds crew. Located just across the highway from Lithia Motors and W&W Mobile Homes and is open to the public during the day until about 5PM in the evening.
Drive up into the cemetery, visit friends and relatives, walk the grounds and enjoy the views of the bay. Look to the north, across Sunset Road and view the construction activity for the brewery and try to envision the final complex. Affordable entertainment and educational fun for the whole family. Please be respectful of other visitors and funerals that may be in progress.