LAKEPORT, Calif. – The city of Lakeport is continuing the complex work of seeking federal assistance to repair city facilities damaged by the flooding earlier this year.
At the Lakeport City Council meeting last week, city staff updated the council on the efforts, which have been under way for much of this year.
Public Works Director Doug Grider explained the complexity of the lengthy process to apply to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for assistance, which requires in-depth applications and damage estimates, and the development of a detailed scope of work.
One of the main repair projects is Library Park’s 550-foot-long seawall. The damage to the seawall and its resulting failure have resulted in parts of the park being fenced off since February.
Grider said they don’t want to put a cinder block wall back in place, and instead are looking at a sheet pile wall, which will prevent wall failures in future flood events. He said they’ve sent in preliminary engineering designs for the new wall.
City Manager Margaret Silveira said the fence in the park will have to stay up until repairs can be completed, and those repairs will have to be done when the lake is low.
Mayor Stacey Mattina asked if they would have to look at the fence for another summer, and Grider said it is a possibility.
However, Grider said the city appears to be on track to receive funding from FEMA to replace the First Street boat ramp.
“Basically this is a ballet between FEMA and insurance,” he said.
Silveira said FEMA has been good in working with the city, noting the agency is working on big projects across the country. She added that Lakeport was the first entity to get all of its paperwork in after the floods.
She credited Grider’s work with the federal application process. “He's put a lot of time into this” and has worked a lot of late nights, she said.
Silveira added that the city is doing its best to get the process completed as quickly as possible; she said the city can’t afford to make the repairs on its own.
During the meeting, Silveira reported that the city has been working with the owner of Will-O-Point resort, which has been closed since evacuations were implemented in February.
Silveira said the California Department of Housing and Community Development is now allowing the resort to reopen on a limited basis.
Ten mobile homes are being moved back into the resort on the north side of the creek, with the owner planning to get the campground ready to reopen next summer and make improvements. Silveira said the part of the resort on the south side of the creek remains closed, with the sewer system capped off.
Last week’s meeting also included a public hearing to adopt a resolution approving the city’s 2017 Community Development Block Grant application. The council approved the application unanimously.
Community Development Director Kevin Ingram said the application includes $1.5 million for construction of offsite improvements – include sidewalk and sewer – for the Main Street apartments affordable housing project; $500,000 to continue the business assistance program; $100,000 for street, drainage and pedestrian improvements for the Forbes Creek neighborhood; and an unspecified amount for Americans with Disability Act-required improvements to the Carnegie Library and City Hall, including the council chambers.
In other business, the council approved an amendment to the city’s solid waste franchise agreement with Lakeport Disposal Inc. to allow the company to increase rates by 4.29 percent effective Jan 1, 2018, to replace the missed contractually available increase as of July 1, 2017.
Grider also presented the proposed resolution accepting the construction of the 20th Street Traffic Mitigation Striping Project by Striping Graphics Inc. The work was completed for $17,502.50.
Panette Talia of the Lakeport Main Street Association presented the Taste of Lake County’s People’s Choice Award for wineries to Cache Creek Winery and for best restaurant to the Boathouse Bar and Grill.
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110717 Lakeport City Council agenda packet by LakeCoNews on Scribd