LAKE FOREST

Today marks the first meeting of the Lake Forest Sphere of Influence Task Force, which will advise county officials on the possible annexation of the residential areas of Foothill Ranch and Portola Hills. The 10 members will get acquainted today, lay out ground rules and discuss a mission statement, said Dan Schwarz of the Local Agency Formation Commission. They also will decide whether or not to hold future meetings in a public forum, Schwarz said. Task force member and Mayor Peter Herzog said the group’s purpose will be “to get input from the community [and] to work toward the annexation of those areas.” Mike Ross, a task force member from Foothill Ranch, said annexation is “certainly an option, but I wouldn’t say it’s complete at this point. We have some issues that we’d like to resolve.” The meeting will be held at 8 a.m. at City Hall.