CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council is set to discuss an agreement with a local tribe for preserving cultural resources and also will consider whether to change its current policy of not having prayer at meetings.
The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 28, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.
City Manager Joan Phillipe will take to the council a resolution adopting and authorizing her to sign a memorandum of agreement with the Koi Nation of Northern California. The MOA, Phillipe said, would establish programs for preserving cultural resources.
State law requires that local governments consult with tribes to aid in the protection of traditional tribal cultural places through local land use planning. As such, the city solicited requests for the opportunity to consult on the general plan update from local tribes, undertaking formal consultation with the Big Valley Rancheria and Koi Nation, Phillipe reported.
Based on meetings with the two tribes over the last few months, the city was able to identify and address the tribes' concerns. Phillipe said the tribes assisted city staff in revising the plan's cultural resources section, with new background information and policies and programs for adequate respect and consultation with area tribes added.
The MOA goes beyond the requirements of state law, Phillipe said. It formalizes a collaborative effort between the city and the tribe for consultation on development projects received by the city for processing, as well as for additional collaborative work, which Phillipe said includes development of a cultural resource management plan.
In other business, following the council's direction to place the issue of public prayer on the agenda – the mayor was approached by a community member asking that the council revisit its position on public prayer – the council will have a discussion on whether to change its current practice, which does not include prayer at meetings.
City Attorney Ryan Jones will give the council a report regarding a US Supreme Court decision, Town of Greece v. Galloway, which concluded that local governments may open meetings with prayer if there is a neutral prayer/invocation policy that allows all to participate.
Jones is recommending that the city maintain its current practice of not having public prayer at city council meetings, noting in his report that even with a constitutional prayer or invocation policy, the city will still have exposure to liability if a suit is brought under the California Constitution's preference and discrimination clauses.
Also on Thursday, the council will discuss street light selection on Lakeshore Drive, including light and pole options.
Items on the consent agenda – considered to be noncontroversial and accepted as a slate with one vote – include warrant registers, consideration of second reading and adoption of zoning ordinance ZOA 2014-01, an ordinance of the Clearlake City Council of the city of Clearlake amending Article 18 of the Clearlake Municipal Code Regarding Zoning (to bring into compliance with state of California housing law); minutes of the July 9 Lake County Vector Control District meeting; Clearlake Police Department quarterly report; engineering department quarterly report; finance department quarterly report; city clerk department quarterly report; public works department quarterly report; consideration of a memorandum of understanding with the Konocti Unified School District for a school resource officer; consideration of Resolution No. 2014-18, a resolution of the City Council of the city of Clearlake approving a temporary street closure, for Spirits on the Loch, steampunk event; notification of the resignation of Planning Commissioner Al Bernal.
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Agreement with Koi tribe and prayer at meetings on Clearlake City Council agenda
- Elizabeth Larson
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