LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Tuesday night the Lakeport City Council continued an emergency declaration first made in February due to the flooding, took actions aimed at helping flood victims, voted to take the next steps in selecting members for a citizens oversight committee on the Measure Z sales tax and approved a contract for the installation of trees in the city’s downtown.
City Clerk Kelly Buendia presented to the council a proposal to form an ad hoc committee to select members for the citizens’ oversight committee for the city’s 1-percent Measure Z sales tax, passed by voters in November.
The city began advertising for committee members in February, and Buendia told the council that the city received a total of 12 applications, a number that’s higher than average for a city committee.
With so many people to choose from, Buendia said it can make it difficult for the council members in the setting of a council meeting to make the selections.
As a result, she said the recommendation was made that the council form an ad hoc committee made up of two council members and two staffers to make recommendations to the council regarding who should be selected.
Mayor Stacey Mattina said she was glad the city had so many applications, noting that the citizens’ oversight committee is an important one.
Mattina volunteered to be on the ad hoc selection committee, as did fellow Council members George Spurr and Tim Barnes. Spurr would defer to Barnes, who will be the second council member on the ad hoc committee.
Councilwoman Mireya Turner moved to approve the resolution to establish the ad hoc committee, with Councilman Kenny Parlet seconding and the council voting 5-0.
Buendia then presented a resolution allowing for extended stays at city hotels for individuals and families from the Will-O-Point Resort who have impacted by the recent floods.
The California Department of Housing and Community Development last month red-tagged all 41 trailers at Will-O-Point because of sewer, water and power infrastructure damage, as Lake County News has reported.
A written report to the council from city Community Development Director Kevin Ingram – who, along with City Manager Margaret Silveira, was absent from the meeting due to attending an economic development conference – said it’s likely to be weeks before city and state officials can fully analyze the conditions at the resort.
“It is possible that some or all residents of the Will-O-Point Resort may be permanently displaced from their residences,” Ingram said. “At a minimum residents are in need of temporary housing for the next several months. To reduce the imposition of additional hardship upon displaced survivors of the 2017 Flood Event, and most specifically those from the Will-O-Point Resort, City staff is recommending the temporary relaxation of certain regulations and fees required by the Lakeport Municipal Code.”
During the Valley fire, the council also had passed such an extended-stay resolution for fire survivors staying in local hotels, Buendia told the council.
Under the city’s current regulations, people can stay at a hotel or similar accommodation a total of 30 days. The resolution would lengthen that timeframe to 90 days.
Buendia’s presentation included a request that the council approve a waiver of sewer and water fee connections for those individuals needing to move to a new residence because of the flood.
Mattina noted that those special provisions for disaster victims had worked well the last time, with the Valley fire.
Spurr asked if people who want to take advantage of those provisions have to show identification. Buendia said she wasn’t sure of the nuts and bolts of how local businesses deal with confirming residency. However, they would definitely need to prove residency in seeking a utility deposit with the city, she added.
Parlet said the whole idea of the 30-day stay is not to turn hotels and accommodations into apartment complexes, adding it was a “common sense solution.”
The council approved the resolution unanimously.
Bids to be sought for Giselman Street project
In other business, Public Works Director Doug Grider asked the council for authorization to go out to bid on the water line replacement project on Giselman Street.
Grider said the project is intended to replace the aged and failing water main that extends from Lakeshore Boulevard to Lange Street that runs the length of Giselman Street, and is part of a bigger street overlay project.
His written report said the water line replacement includes installing approximately 1,356 feet of the main 8-inch water line, and will provide new service lines to the homes in the project limits at a total cost that’s estimated to range between $300,000 and to $400,000.
Grider’s report said that all of the construction is to take place during the summer school break, which is important due to the Lakeport Unified School District’s campus being located nearby.
“We've had issues with that water line ever since I've been here,” said Grider, who has been with the city for more than a decade.
He said it’s been constantly patched due to age. Grider said the goal is to avoid having to dig up the repaired street to fix the old pipe, but to move forward with replacing it.
At the same time, Grider said the project will upsize the services in that area to meet new state requirements for fire flows. “So we're accomplishing a number of things here,” he said.
Grider said he wasn’t asking for authorization for construction, just the OK to go out to bid. Once they have the bids, he said he will come back to the council.
Mattina called it the “first step towards a new Giselman.”
Spurr said he is glad that the project is being considered for a summer-time work window. At that point there also should not be rain, Mattina added.
Parlet asked about the proximity of water and sewer lines. Grider said Giselman has the required separation of 10 feet between those lines, which are on the opposite sides of the street.
Parlet moved to approve the bid authorization, which the council approved 5-0.
Street tree contract awarded
Grider also presented to the council a proposed contract totaling $128,900 with Neary Landscape Inc. of Santa Rosa for the installation of 34 trees along Main Street between First and Fourth streets, which is a final piece of the Downtown Improvement Project.
The project also will include the reinstallation of irrigation lines within memorial lampposts, mobilization, traffic and pedestrian control, and a six-month maintenance period for installed trees, according to Grider’s written report.
“The trees have been a huge component of this project,” Mattina said, explaining that, in the project’s planning stages, community members asked for big trees that would provide shade for walking around and hanging out but, at the same time, wouldn’t block the businesses’ facades and signs.
“It was always the intent of the downtown project to do a number of things,” said Grider.
One was to improve the condition of the roadway and pedestrian sidewalks. At the same time, he said a lot of thought was given to helping local businesses and making the downtown a more attractive and inviting place to visit and shop.
“Without the trees what we're going to have is the Sahara Desert,” he said, due to how hot it gets in the downtown during the summer.
The trees, he said, are a very critical part of making the downtown a more comfortable, welcoming place. The shade the trees will offer will allow for businesses like restaurants to have customers sit at sidewalk tables.
Parlet raised an issue that was discussed at earlier stages of the project of having city staff take on the tree installation.
Grider acknowledged that having the work done in-house was, at one time, a consideration. However, considering the complexity and score, and the workload his staff already has, it wasn’t considered feasible.
“If you look at what I have to do with six guys …,” Grider said.
“Say no more,” Parlet said.
Grider said Silveira is working with the Lakeport Main Street Association on the proposal for a fundraiser to help cover the cost of the trees.
Barnes said he’d received phone calls from community members questioning the cost of the project.
Grider explained that, in California, there is a law that requires public works projects of a certain magnitude – he said the threshold is $45,000 and over – to be put out to bid. In turn, the contractors on those projects have to pay prevailing wage.
Not only does prevailing wage in some cases triple wage and benefit costs, it also requires the payment of overtime if employees have to travel to and from a location that’s not their employer’s main site, according to Grider’s explanation.
“Pretty soon you start adding all of that up and the costs escalate pretty drastically, pretty quickly,” he said.
During the discussion, it was explained that the city can’t simply hire extra employees in the short-term to do the work or try to separate parts out of the project, which City Attorney David Ruderman said is called “project splitting” and is prohibited.
Mattina pointed out that the funds for the project – which came from the city’s former redevelopment agency – can’t be used for staffing.
The council voted unanimously to approve the project.
“We have trees coming!” said Mattina, asking when the trees would be planted.
Grider said he wasn’t sure, but that there is a window of time within the next few months that has the best survival rate for the trees. “They want to get them in before they bud out.”
Council continues city emergency
The council ended its main business of the meeting by unanimously approving the extension of the city’s emergency declaration in response to the flooding, first issued last month.
During that item’s discussion, city staff gave updates on various aspects of the response and recovery.
Grider said the area of Esplanade Street – which was flooded and closed for several weeks – had been cleaned up over the previous two days.
He said there was still some shallow flooding on part of K Street, where the city still has signs posted. However, the city streets in that area are open so people can get to their homes.
“We do have some road damage in that area,” he said.
Grider’s staff also is working on getting Library Park cleaned up and back in shape. The park, which was closed in February, also has sustained extensive damage.
Mattina asked about the park’s promenade. Grider responded, “That is going to be a longterm problem.”
He said city staff has to start with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s application process.
Library Park’s seawall from Third Street to First Street “is gone, it’s beyond repair,” he said, and the sidewalk in that area also will need to be replaced.
Buendia said she was able to offer some happier news regarding families impacted by the flood.
She said the city made contact with the 28 households staying at the evacuation shelter at the Lakeport Seventh-day Adventist Church. Of those, 25 households made contact with California Human Development to get offered assistance.
Buendia said Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa made units available for displaced Will-O-Point residents for short-term housing, and 14 families that were at the shelter have now moved to Konocti Harbor. Six other families are working with California Human Development on other options.
While she didn’t have an updated head count for the shelter population, she said there were fewer families remaining at the shelter on Monday, and that the Red Cross will soon be pulling out and letting the church take over.
The city of Lakeport also plans a community cleanup day on Saturday, where all city residents – not just those impacted by the flood – can participate and bring items for drop off, she said.
The Lakeport Police Department also has been working with Will-O-Point residents to access their homes in order to retrieve some of their belongings.
Lt. Jason Ferguson said the agency set up two days for people to visit Will-O-Point. “We had multiple families arrive and it all went really well.”
He said they gathered a lot of belongings, in some cases more than just essentials. “We permitted them a substantial amount of time to make that happen both times.”
Ferguson added that police also are continuing to patrol the resort, which remains closed and is considered an emergency area.
He said it’s being patrolled both from the standpoint of public safety as well as prohibiting would-be criminals from accessing it.
So far, he said the patrols have been effective, with no reports of thefts in the resort made to police.
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Lakeport City Council continues flood emergency, passes resolutions to help flood victims, approves street tree contract
- Elizabeth Larson
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