LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council this week will once again discuss the appeal of a Verizon cell tower project and discuss ways to reorganize city staff to cover the city clerk's position.
The council will meet beginning at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 1, in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.
One of the agenda's key items is the continuance of an appeal of the Lakeport Planning Commission's decision in May to grant a permit for a Verizon Wireless cell phone tower – to be disguised to look like a 72-foot-tall pine tree – at 1875 N. High St.
Verizon is pursuing the tower to address a gap in its coverage that it says exists in the Lakeport area.
Nancy Ruzicka, who owns the High Street Village shopping center next door, appealed the decision, and rallied neighbors in the area to come out and speak against the tower proposal at previous meetings.
At its Sept. 1 meeting, the council granted Verizon Wireless a 90-day continuance to investigate the feasibility of placing the tower on top of the Lake County Courthouse at 255 N. Forbes St. in Lakeport, as Lake County News has reported.
Community Development Director Kevin Ingram's report to the council explains that Verizon returned with an analysis that found the courthouse site to be ineffective on its own, and also looked at three new alternatives that consisted of the courthouse and a secondary site in the north Lakeport area.
Verizon is set to meet with the Lakeport Unified School District in early December to discuss the feasibility of locating a wireless communications facility on district property at 2508 Howard Ave., according to Ingram.
“Combined with the locating of a wireless communication facility atop the Lake County Courthouse the alternatives site analysis did express some confidence that the two facilities would be capable of addressing the stated gap in coverage,” Ingram wrote.
He said city staff has reached out to the Lakeport Unified School District to gain a better understanding of their concerns with locating a tower at this site and will be able to provide further information to the council when it meets Tuesday.
Ingram's report includes three options for the council to consider on Tuesday, including adopting a resolution to overturn the planning commission's decision to grant the cell tower use permit, adopting a resolution upholding the commission's decision, or requesting modifications of the proposal or additional information.
In other business, City Manager Margaret Silveira will present a plan to reorganize certain positions within the Administrative Services Department.
Silveira is seeking the council's authorization to reclassify the Administrative Services director position to include the duties of city clerk and return with an ordinance reflecting the change from a council-appointed city clerk to a city manager hired city clerk.
She also is asking to reinstate the deputy city clerk position, disencumber funds for an administrative specialist or department secretary, and get the council's approval of the reclassification of the deputy city clerk position from a single class to a flex-class position.
Those actions to cover the city clerk positions are necessary since longtime City Clerk Janel Chapman retired in September.
On the meeting's consent agenda – items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote – are ordinances; minutes of the regular Lakeport City Council meeting on Nov. 17; and the Nov. 24 warrant register.
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120115 Lakeport City Council agenda packet