LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Tuesday evening the Lakeport City Council approved new software to improve the city's financial operations, accepted a plan to cover the former redevelopment agency's properties, discussed a new 20-minute parking zone and met two new city employees.
Among the council' s main items of business Tuesday night was consideration of a financial software upgrade for the city.
Finance Director Dan Buffalo took the proposal to the council. He said the city already uses a software program, Fund Balance, purchased in 1999 from the same company, Tyler Technologies. The upgrade is meant to unify all of the city's operations and offer real-time information to all departments.
The software, called InCode, will offer efficiency, including avoiding duplication of activity by allowing employees in the field to input data via devices like iPads rather than having to bring notes back to be input by other staff, he said.
The cloud-based software is to cost $66,400, which includes installation, data migration and implementation, and the first year of annual subscription and user fees, Buffalo reported.
The software is far more economically priced than other financial software for governments on the market. Buffalo said he called another company, which gave the city a quote of $500,000 as a starting point.
He said the software is included in this year's budget, with funds coming from the general fund, the water and sewer funds, and the redevelopment successor agency.
The council approved the purchase and upgrade unanimously, with Councilman Martin Scheel adding a clause that the amount is not to exceed $66,400.
Sitting jointly as the Lakeport Redevelopment Successor Agency, the council approved a long-range property management plan for properties that had been owned by the city's former redevelopment agency.
An oversight committee that monitors the disposition of those properties is set to meet on Wednesday, said Buffalo. “They're the boss,” and have the final say about the plan, he said.
With the exception of finalizing the plan, Buffalo noted, “We're through the looking glass on all of our dissolution activities.”
The plan identified a property on Bevins Court that the redevelopment agency had sold to the city. Buffalo said state law allows it to be used for its economic development activities.
Buffalo said the property is situated between the public health facility and county offices, and is best used for commercial purposes.
Mayor Tom Engstrom asked Buffalo if the property was one they had received in a trade with the Lakeport Fire Protection District. Buffalo said yes.
There was no public comment on the matter and the council approved it unanimously.
The council also gave conditional approval to a new 20-minute parking zone in front of Cheese's main Street Pizza in downtown Lakeport.
The business, located at 145 N. Main St., requested the parking space in order to give it short-term parking for its customers and for its delivery vehicles.
However, city officials had concerns that placing such a zone in the middle of the block, directly in front of the restaurant, would create issues, and wanted to place instead at the end of the block.
There was minor discussion about whether the matter need to be referred back to the Lakeport Traffic Safety Advisory Committee.
Interim City Attorney David Ruderman said the decision ultimately was up to the council, which he said could direct staff to come back with an updated resolution locating the parking zone at the end of the block.
The council did just that, with the updated document expected to come back at a future meeting.
In other matters on Tuesday, the council got a report on the Oct. 5 Konocti Challenge by race director Jennifer Strong of the Lakeport Rotary Club.
Strong said this year's ride had 765 participants, up from 395 in 2006 and 200 in 2001.
“Our goal is to get to 1,000,” said Strong, at which point they will cap it to keep it from growing too large.
She said 83 percent of the riders came from outside of Lake County – including nine states and all over California – with participants ranging in age from a 2-year-old to an 80-year-old man who has been a longtime participant and takes the century route.
Visitors gave great feedback and showed a lot of appreciation for the county, according to Strong's report.
Also on Tuesday, City Manager Margaret Silveira introduced two new city staffers, Linda Sobieraj, a secretary for the Community Development Department and Hilary Britton, an office specialist dividing time among administrative departments.
“We're very excited about having them on,” said Silveira, explaining that both were selected from a good pool of candidates.
“These are very talented ladies and we are so proud to have them with our city staff,” said Engstrom.
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