Tuesday, 11 February 2025

Register

News

Posted On

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The state program that works to control the invasive aquatic plant hydrilla is planning a meeting in Lake County next week to take input on its eradication project.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture will hold an open house-style public scoping meeting regarding the statewide Hydrilla Eradication Project from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 29, at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.

Hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata) is a highly invasive aquatic plant that has the capacity, by forming dense mats that restrict dissolved oxygen levels, to disrupt many of the water-based activities that are synonymous with Lake County.

Statewide efforts to eradicate hydrilla have been generally successful, with the invasive plant fully eradicated in 15 California counties.

Lake County is one of three counties currently affected by hydrilla infestation, and the California Department of Food and Agriculture is asking for the community’s help to achieve the goal of getting Clear Lake and all California waters 100-percent hydrilla free.

Since 1994, CDFA has sought to keep Clear Lake healthy and bass fishing and other water-based industries vibrant by responsibly managing the spread of hydrilla.

Periodically, CDFA is called upon to prepare an environmental impact report, or EIR, for its entire Hydrilla Eradication Project, in accordance with the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act.

CDFA currently is receiving public comment toward a new draft EIR. The comment period ends at 5 p.m. Feb. 16.

At the public scoping meeting on Jan. 29, state officials and others will be present to address the comments, concerns and questions of community members as they work to develop the updated EIR.

CDFA’s Notice of Preparation is available at https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/ipc/hydrilla/pdfs/Hydrilla-NOP.pdf .

If you are unavailable to attend, written comments can be submitted to CDFA at the following mailing and email addresses: Attn: ATTN: Michelle Dennis, Branch Chief Integrated Pest Control, California Department of Food and Agriculture, 2800 Gateway Oaks Drive, Sacramento, CA 95832, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Please direct any questions regarding Aquatic Plant Management activities in Lake County to Invasive Species Program Coordinator Angela De Palma-Dow at the Lake County Water Resources Department at 707-263-2344, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

To stay up to date on activities and outreach, follow the Lake County Water Resources Department on Facebook, @lakecountywater.
Posted On

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council on Tuesday approved a grant application to the state that, if successful, would pay for replacing the two remaining bathroom units at Library Park.

Public Works Director Doug Grider asked the council to approve a proposed resolution to submit the grant application to the state Division of Boating and Waterways.

The $184,073 grant is to replace the restrooms at the First and Third street boat ramp facilities, Grider said.

Grider credited one of his staffers, Parks Foreman Ron Ladd, with finding the grant, which would fund the project 100-percent, with no requirement for a city match. Such grants, Grider noted, are rare.

In addition to tracking down the grant, Grider said Ladd compiled the necessary information for the application and also put together the grant application in the state’s grant portal.

Grider said the restrooms at Third and Fifth streets are the last two in Library Park that are in desperate need of being replaced.

He said the city hasn’t applied to the Division of Boating and Waterways for grants in some time, which will give the city extra points in this process.

“Ron put together a really good package,” Grider said.

Mayor George Spurr asked when the city could expect a response. Ladd said no timeline for a response is listed but it’s a highly competitive grant and the state is not sure how many applications it will get.

Councilman Kenny Parlet asked what kind of pool of money is available for the grant. Ladd said it’s $3 milion.

Early last year, the city received a $35,000 grant from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Office of Spill Prevention and Response, for oil spill response equipment, which Ladd also had found, as Lake County News has reported.

Ladd followed up by receiving an Emergency Management Specialist Training Certificate.

Councilwoman Stacey Mattina said Ladd went above and beyond in finding the grant.

“Work like that is what makes the city great,” she said.

Spurr jokingly asked Ladd if he would want his name above the bathroom door if they got the grant.

“Absolutely,” Ladd replied.

The council voted unanimously to pursue the grant.

Later, as council members were offering their final wrap up comments, Councilman Tim Barnes lauded Ladd’s efforts.

“Ron is a rock star. That is all,” said Barnes.

Parlet said he agreed with Barnes.

“All right,” Ladd said.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Posted On

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council will get an update on the Hope Center project and consider a request to assist it through city funding.

The council will meet beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 23, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.

Thursday’s meeting will include the presentation by Clearlake Animal Control regarding its January adoptable dogs.

On Thursday, the council will receive an update on the Hope Center project and provide direction on city funding support.

At the council’s Jan. 9 meeting, Councilman Russell Perdock had requested the item be placed on the next agenda, with a request for $500,000 in city funds to be given to it.

City Manager Alan Flora’s report to the council explained that in October 2018, the Clearlake Planning Commission approved a use permit for the conversion of an existing office building at 3400 Emerson Street to a medical support and residential care facility.

“The facility would provide medical respite care, intensive case management and support services to persons recovering from a physical illness or injury independently, but who are not ill enough to require hospitalization. This conversion would include dormitories for those receiving care,” he wrote.

Flora said that, since that time, “the team involved has been finalizing building plans and working to identify adequate funding to initiate the project. While some funding is available, there is still a significant shortfall.”

He said the city has issued the demolition permit and building permits necessary to start the project. “Additionally, the Hope Rising team has made a request to the City to provide some funding in support of the project.”

Flora said the council should receive an update on the project as well as other funding available and provide direction to staff on what city funding is to be made available in support of the Hope
Center.

Also on Thursday, the council will consider the first reading of an ordinance clarifying and correcting Ordinance No. 222-2019, which relates to the issuance, handling, appeals and penalties of administrative citations; amending the general penalty for violations; adjusting penalties for cannabis-related violations and providing for immediate imposition of fines in specified circumstances.

City Clerk Melissa Swanson’s report on the item explained that on Feb. 28 the council adopted an ordinance governing administrative penalties for general violations and cannabis-related violations.

Swanson said that while codifying the ordinance, a minor typo was discovered in a section that contained a reference to a subsection that does not exist. To correct this typo, it is necessary to adopt a new ordinance stating the correct subsection.

On the meeting's consent agenda – items that are not considered controversial and are usually adopted on a single vote – are warrant registers; a memo on the joint powers authorities pension obligations; the second reading and adoption of Ordinance No. 235-2020 to Amend Subsection 9-1.16 to Chapter 9, Section 9-1 of the Clearlake Municipal Code relating to electric and electronic access gates; consideration of disposal of surplus vehicles, Resolution No. 2020-05; minutes of the November and December council meetings; receive and file minutes of the Dec. 11 Lake County Vector Control District Board meeting; and approve the submittal of the ROPS FY 20-21 for both periods A (July to December) and B (January to June) to the Oversight Board.

The council is scheduled for a closed session with legal counsel to discuss an existing case of litigation against Pacific Gas and Electric Co. after the public portion of the meeting.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.m. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

012320 Clearlake City Council agenda packet by LakeCoNews on Scribd

Blog Left ad
Posted On

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Clearlake Animal Control has more new dogs waiting for new families this week.

The kennels also have many dogs that need to be reunited with their owners. To find the lost/found pet section, click here.

The following dogs are ready for adoption.

“Barkley.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control.

‘Barkley’

“Barkley” is a male American Pit Bull Terrier mix with a short red coat.

He is dog No. 3528.

“Blue.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control.

‘Blue’

“Blue” is a female Staffordshire Bull Terrier with a short blue and white coat.

He has been neutered.

He is dog No. 2420.

“Chevelle.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control.

‘Chevelle’

“Chevelle” is a female American Pit Bull Terrier with a short brindle and white coat.

She is dog No. 3527.

“Chris.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control.

‘Chris’

“Chris” is a male American Staffordshire Terrier mix with a short brindle and white coat.

He has been neutered.

Chris is dog No. 3319.

“Clarice.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control.

‘Clarice’

“Clarice” is a female German Shepherd mix puppy.

She has been spayed.

She is dog No. 3402.

“Eve.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control.

‘Eve’

“Eve” is a female American bully with a short brindle and white coat.

She is dog No. 3480.

“King.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control.

‘King’

“King” is a male purebred Staffordshire Bull Terrier with a short brindle coat.

He has been neutered.

He is dog No. 3034.

“Linus.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control.

‘Linus’

“Linus” is a male Staffordshire Bull Terrier mix with a short gray and white coat.

He is dog No. 3255.

“Lola.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control.

‘Lola’

“Lola” is a female pit bull terrier mix with a short red and white coat.

She has been spayed.

She is dog No. 3337.

“Naomi.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control.

‘Naomi’

“Naomi is a female American Pit Bull Terrier with a short red coat.

She has been spayed.

She is dog No. 1293.

“Nook.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control.

‘Nook’

“Nook” is a male American Staffordshire Terrier mix with a short brindle and white coat.

He is dog No. 3415.

“Phoebe.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control.

‘Phoebe’

“Phoebe” is a female American Pit Bull Terrier mix with a short black and white coat.

She is dog No. 3483.

“Spice.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control.

‘Spice’

“Spice” is a female pug mix with a short tan coat and black markings.

She has been spayed.

Spice is dog No. 3033.

“Woodrow.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control.

‘Woodrow’

“Woodrow” is a male Staffordshire Bull Terrier with a black and white coat.

He is dog No. 3281.

Clearlake Animal Control’s shelter is located at 6820 Old Highway 53, off Airport Road.

Hours of operation are noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The shelter is closed Sundays, Mondays and major holidays; the shelter offers appointments on the days it’s closed to accommodate people.

Call the Clearlake Animal Control shelter at 707-273-9440, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to inquire about adoptions.

Visit Clearlake Animal Control on Facebook or at the city’s Web site.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Posted On

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Residents and visitors to Lakeport on Wednesday may see Clearlake Police Department officers patrolling the streets of the city.

Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen said all of his staff will be taking part in a daylong mandatory training and so the Clearlake Police Department is sending units to make sure the city’s policing needs are met for the day.

Rasmussen said his staff usually isn’t required to do the training more than once a year. However, when they do, Clearlake Police has come in to help cover them.

Likewise, Rasmussen said Lakeport Police units have offered the same service to the sister agency when it has similar trainings.

Local policing agencies – police, sheriff and California Highway Patrol – offer mutual aid assistance and backup to each other on a regular basis.

In particular, they’ve offered each other much-needed help during the county’s wildland fire disasters.

In the summer of 2018, Clearlake Police Chief Andrew White spent his first day on the job helping in Lakeport, all of which was under mandatory evacuation due to the Mendocino Complex fire.

Lakeport Police officers also have helped patrol Clearlake during the fires there that required major evacuations.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Posted On

A semi truck with a load of milk went into Clear Lake near Lucerne, California, on Sunday, January 19, 2020. Photo courtesy of the Northshore Fire Protection District.

LUCERNE, Calif. – A semi carrying a load of milk went off Highway 20 and into Clear Lake on Sunday morning.

The crash was first reported just before 9 a.m. Sunday on Highway 20 at Cora Drive east of Lucerne.

Reports from the California Highway Patrol stated that a big rig had gone over the embankment and into the water.

One person was reported to be inside the cab but scene reports indicated they later safely got out of the truck.

The semi was reported to be fully loaded with milk, which was spilling into the lake.

Northshore Fire units and the Northshore Dive Team were dispatched, with the district reporting that crews were able to package and hoist the patient to safety.

The patient suffered minor injuries and was flown by a REACH air ambulance to a trauma center for further evaluation, Northshore Fire reported.

The CHP said Lake County Environmental Health, Lake County Water Resources and the Lake County Office of Emergency Services were contacted about the incident.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Posted On

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The search for the individual who will serve as the 11th poet laureate of Lake County is continuing.

The next poet laureate term is for 2020 to 2022.

The deadline to apply is Jan. 31.

The duty of the poet laureate is to promote poetry, writing and literacy in the community.

The poet laureate position began in 1998 with Jim Lyle.

To date, 10 poets have held the volunteer position in Lake County. They are:

1998: Jim Lyle.
2002: James BlueWolf.
2004: Carolyn Wing Greenlee.
2006: Sandra Wade.
2008: Mary McMillan.
2010: Russell Gonzaga.
2012: Elaine Watt.
2014: Casey Carney.
2016: Julie Adams.
2018: Richard Schmidt.

Those who wish to apply are asked to send four of their original poems – without their name on them and formatted to fit one page – along with a letter of recommendation from someone in the writing community and a page outlining literary involvement in the community, plans for the future, phone number and address to Lake County Poet Laureate Richard Schmidt, 495 N. Main St., PMB 117, Lakeport, CA 95453, by the end of day Jan. 31.

The person selected to fill the role will be honored at a proclamation ceremony at the Lake County Board of Supervisors’ meeting on April 7.
Posted On

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Two North Coast senators have written a bill to address the kinds of disaster insurance claims that their constituents have faced in recent wildland fires.

State Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa wrote Senate Bill 872 along with Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, who represents Lake County in the Senate.

On Tuesday, Dodd formally introduced the legislation, meant to streamline residential insurance claims for victims of disasters such as wildfires.

“When someone has lost their home or suffered serious damage in a disaster, they shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to get coverage they are entitled to,” Sen. Dodd said. “Insurance companies must act swiftly to advance living expenses for temporary housing and other costs and they shouldn’t bury homeowners in exhaustive inventory forms. People who pay their premiums deserve to be made whole without unnecessary delay.”

Senate Bill 872, sponsored by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, expands the definition of additional living expenses that must be paid to homeowners for losses incurred in a state of emergency.

Upon submission of a claim, it requires an advance payment of no less than four months for costs such as housing, furniture rental and transportation.

Also, it requires an advance payment of no less than 25 percent of a policy limit for lost contents without submission of an inventory form.

The bill requires insurers to give homeowners a 60-day grace period for payment of residential premiums after an emergency.

Insurance companies also will be barred from deducting the land value from payouts for those who build on new lots.

“When a disaster occurs, residents need immediate help, not red tape and unnecessary paperwork that adds to their problems,” Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said. “I am proud to sponsor this crucial legislation, enforcing actions that I have urged insurers to take after wildfires to protect policyholders. This proposal will help ensure residents have all the resources and time available to them to help ease the financial and emotional toll of a disaster.”

Dodd, who formerly represented Lake County in the State Assembly, now represents California’s Third Senate District, which includes all or portions of Solano, Napa, Sonoma, Yolo, Sacramento and Contra Costa counties.
Posted On

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The National Weather Service is reporting chances of widespread rain across Northern California over the next few days, with another storm system on the horizon this weekend.

The forecast issued for Northern California calls for light to moderate rain across the region beginning on Tuesday, with rainfall estimates for Lake County ranging up to an inch.

The National Weather Service said the heaviest rainfall will be to the north, over the southern Cascade Range.

The weather system passing over the region early this week will be warmer than last week’s storm, which dropped snow around the 2,000-foot elevation mark and, in some places in Lake County, lower.

This week, the snow level will generally be above 5,000 feet. In particular, the forecast calls for 3 to 5 inches of snow above the 5,000-foot mark over Interstate 80.

The National Weather Service’s extended forecast calls for more wet weather returning late Saturday and into Sunday, with more rainfall as well as snow in higher elevations.

Lake County’s specific forecast expects rain on Tuesday, with conditions forecast to clear on Wednesday and Thursday, before chances of rain return on Thursday night and continue through Monday.

Light winds are forecast on Tuesday and Wednesday, and conditions overall are expected to be warmer, with daytime temperatures into the high 50s and nighttime temperatures into the high 40s.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Posted On



CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The effort to create transportation solutions for those in need – in particular, those with medical issues – was the focus of a presentation to the Clearlake City Council earlier this month.

Karl Parker, Lake Links manager for Lake Transit Authority, updated the Clearlake City Council at its Jan. 9 meeting about the program, explaining that he wanted to raise awareness of the special transportation needs in Lake County.

Parker’s presentation begins at the 12:40 mark in the video above.

Lake County has a large vulnerable population, said Parker. He explained that, on the one hand, there are extraordinary needs, and on the other, there are extraordinary limitations.

Parker has been working on nonemergency medical transportation for vulnerable populations and he offered the council an overview of the services Lake Transit has offered.

He said 335,000 trips a year have been provided for people who need transportation. Of those, 8,800 are wheelchair boarding. Another 9,600 are Dial-A-Ride trips per year, over half of which are medical trips.

Parker said 1,300 trips per year are helping homeless people get to the warming center in Lakeport.

Since 2017, Lake Transit also has made 3,400 trips a year to Adventist Health to transport people with medical appointments, he said.

Lake Transit received an $800,000 federal grant to fund mobility services. Parker said Lake Transit has written a second grant application which it hopes will be funded later this year.

He said there are still special needs and challenges that the fixed-route transit system can't meet, and that includes medical referrals out of the county, which are challenging for people with no car.

Parker gave examples of two people who needed help to get to out-of-county medical appointments, both of them cancer patients – a 79-year-old woman who lives in Lower Lake and needs to get to Ukiah for treatments and a 48-year-old woman who also needed five trips a week to Ukiah from Lakeport for six weeks, totaling more than 3,000 miles.

Over the last four years, Parker said Lake Transit has developed a number of solutions to help such individuals in need.

The solutions include the “Pay-Your-Pal” ride assistance program, a low-cost transportation system for elderly, disabled and low-income community members who are unable to use public transit to get to medical appointments, Parker said.

Parker said people can enroll over the phone. They will receive a 200-mile-a-month allocation, and they must recruit their own driver.

For a bigger course of treatments requiring more mileage, Parker said they created a 12-month plan that will give them all of the miles for a year upfront. After that, they wouldn't be eligible for further reimbursement until the following year.

Parker said the constraint is the amount of funds available, adding it’s painful to tell people they can't help them for six months.

The program offers a $0.35 per-mile reimbursement. Parker said the program had 123 clients from October 2015 to November 2019, for a total of 11,000 trips and 242,000 miles at a total cost of $85,000. The average per-trip cost was $7.50 and there were 14,000 volunteer hours.

In November, Parker said the program had 47 clients who made 433 trips totaling more than 10,000 miles, with the reimbursement costs totaling $3,500. The trips for medical care that month might not have happened otherwise.

Parker said better access to health care leads to better outcomes and reduced costs. The best part of all is that the numbers represent actual lives and the program helps people and makes a difference.

Last year, Lake Transit announced that it has launched a new transportation service called Medi-Links to transport people between Lake County and Santa Rosa for medical appointments. Parker noted that Santa Rosa is one of the main places people are referred for medical care.

He said the Medi-Links service runs five days a week. People who use the service are asked to get appointments between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Reservations are required one week in advance, and the cost is $20 per round trip, Parker said.

“This work that we're doing is a partnership between Lake Transit and Lake Lakes,” Parker said.

In 2014, the Lake Area Planning Council initiated a mobility management program, Parker said. In 2019, Lake Links was established as a 501(c)3 nonprofit to expand fundraising opportunities, opening up a new office on Lakeshore Drive, across from Griffin's Furniture.

Parker said Lake Links and Lake Transit are making a difference one life at a time, one ride at a time.

For more information, visit https://lakelinks.org/.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Posted On



CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Lake Local Agency Formation Commission has approved the steps it will take in the process of considering the city of Lakeport’s application to annex a portion of South Main Street.

Lake LAFCo’s members made the decision at its meeting in Clearlake on Wednesday.

Lake LAFCo oversees orderly development and protects natural resources and agricultural lands. It does that by preserving prime agricultural and open-space lands, encouraging orderly growth and development, promoting orderly development and discouraging urban sprawl, balancing competing interests and promoting efficient service delivery, according to its website.

LAFCo includes representatives from the city councils and Board of Supervisors, special districts and members of the public.

The annexation discussion begins at the 10 minute mark in the video above.

In August, the Lakeport City Council held a special meeting during which it approved submitting an application to LAFCo for the 136-acre area, composed of 50 parcels, that runs along South Main Street south of the city limit. It is reported to be the most lucrative commercial corridor in the unincorporated county.

In December, LAFCo, currently chaired by Bruno Sabatier, also the District 2 representative for the Board of Supervisors, sent letters to the city of Lakeport and county of Lake to ask them to participate in a good faith process to resolve the ongoing dispute over the proposed annexation.

Key to the dispute between the city and county over the annexation area is that they disagree about the validity of a series of previously approved tax sharing agreements meant to address the county’s loss of revenue.

One agreement, reached in 1997, calls for the city to pay the county $210,000 in tax revenue over seven years to offset the loss of the sales tax.

While the city holds that the agreement remains valid, it is the county’s position that the 1997 tax sharing agreement, including the two subsequent amendments, are void and unenforceable.

The Lakeport City Council voted in December to participate in the good faith process and sent a letter to LAFCo agreeing to its proposal.

On Jan. 7, the Board of Supervisors also approved its participation, with LAFCo Executive Director John Benoit reporting that he had received an email from the county informing him of the board’s decision.

A key piece of the process LAFCo proposes is a separate financial analysis of the proposed annexation.

Both the county and city have completed their own separate financial analyses. Benoit said the two analyses need to be reconciled so that LAFCo has some direction going forward.

Once the two studies are reconciled, LAFCo would hire a facilitator to discuss with the city and county a new property tax sharing agreement. Then, Benoit said LAFCo can notice a hearing and move on with consideration of the annexation.

LAFCo is proposing to hire its own consultant, which will be paid for by the city of Lakeport. Benoit said he has contacted an economics consultant who comes highly recommended, noting that they want someone totally independent with extensive municipal background.

He said they don’t know if they will need to do a third study. Rather, they are planning to work with the two consultants who did the city and county analyses to reconcile them. That first stage is to get all of the numbers correct as to impact on the two governments and to understand their financial obligations. Then the facilitation can take place.

LAFCO legal counsel P. Scott Browne told the commission that the hope is that they will come up with a financial analysis that represents the most accurate assessment of the impacts.

However, if the city and county consultants can’t agree with the LAFCo consultant, Browne said LAFCo’s consultant will go forward with making his own neutral recommendation.

Browne said the city and county will have to authorize their consultants to work with LAFCo’s consultant, and that will take some time – he said he wouldn’t be surprised if it took four or five months. LAFCo would then ask the parties to participate in facilitated mediation to see if they can work out their differences.

“That seems like a reasonable way to move forward,” said Commissioner and District 1 Supervisor Moke Simon, adding fair and independent is the way to go.

Commissioner Stacey Mattina, who also sits on the Lakeport City Council, asked if the LAFCo consultant will review the old tax share agreement or what the city most recently offered. Browne said they will produce a fiscal impacts analysis on which an agreement can be based.

Questions about process, timing

During public comment, Assistant Lakeport City Manager Kevin Ingram told the commission, “I think this is a really good strategy for resolving this conflict. This has been going on for quite some time.”

Ingram said that the way the system is set up, it pits the two sides against each other. Whether or not the land is annexed, Ingram said there is a public health issue in the area, particularly with water.

He said regional water officials have held off on enforcement in the area because they assumed it would be annexed.

Ingram questioned the estimate of four to five months, suggesting it could be done quicker than that.

The important piece, regardless of the differences between the city and county, is to protect the public interest of people in the area, where there is a lack of water for fire protection. “There is an issue that needs to be resolved,” Ingram said.

Sabatier said part of the good faith effort is not to stall the process, noting they’re all at the table working for consensus and that the good faith effort should provide some sort of efficiency.

Ingram said they would like to shorten the time period, adding the city will have its consultant working with those with the city and county.

County Deputy Administrative Officer Susan Parker asked clarifying questions about who would pay for the various parts of the analysis. Benoit said the city of Lakeport will shoulder the costs of LAFCo’s economic consultant, but Browne confirmed that the county would pay its own consultant to work in the reconciliation process.

Lakeport City Manager Margaret Silveira told the commission that she appreciated the good faith negotiations.

She also raised concerns about timing, noting that it’s important for businesses in that area to get water service. She added that they would appreciate anything LAFCo could do to make the process go quicker.

Sabatier said that he liked the idea of going with a consultant, and questioned if it was better than going with a request for proposals, or RFP.

Benoit said that if they wanted to go with the RFP process, it would take six months.

Going forward, Benoit said he will work with Sabatier to get the consultant on board as quickly as possible.

Commissioner Ed Robey moved to direct staff to get a consultant in place, with Simon seconding and the commission approving the motion unanimously.

LAFCo is next scheduled to meet March 18 in Lakeport.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Posted On

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council this week will consider applying for state grant funds for park bathroom improvements.

The council will meet beginning at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21, in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.

On Tuesday, Public Works Director Doug Grider will ask the council to adopt a proposed resolution authorizing City Manager Margaret Silveira to sign and submit a grant application to the Division of Boating and Waterways.

The application will seek funds available in the amount of $184,073 to replace the restrooms at the First and Third street boat ramp facilities, according to Grider’s report.

Staff is asking the council to continue to its Feb. 4 meeting a public hearing the Community Development Block Grant program and consideration of giving staff direction to prepare for council consideration a CDBG application requesting up to $3,500,000.

On the consent agenda – items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote – are ordinances; minutes of the regular council meetings on Dec. 9 and Jan. 7; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency for the Mendocino Complex fire; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency for the February 2019 storms; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency for the October 2019 public safety power shutoff; adoption of Resolution 2741 (2020) approving the revised Administrative Policy – Utilities Billing effective Feb. 1, 2020; and adoption of Resolution 2742 (2020) approving the revised service deposits for new water accounts effective Feb. 1, 2020.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

012120 Lakeport City Council Agenda Packet by LakeCoNews on Scribd

LCNews

Responsible local journalism on the shores of Clear Lake.

 

Memberships:

 

Search