Clearlake City Council welcomes new employees, discusses park projects
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – At its meeting last week the Clearlake City Council welcomed new staff members, honored longtime employees, heard a report on the city’s Halloween event and discussed park projects.
The Nov. 8 meeting started off with Police Chief Andrew White swearing in new police Officer Britanya Shores and dispatcher Taylor Mackey.
Shores, a Clearlake native, initially was hired by the department in 2017 as a community services officer and attended the Basic Police Academy at the Santa Rosa Junior College Public Safety Training Center.
Mackey grew up in Middletown, graduating from Middletown High School, and taking college courses and working several jobs – including in a restaurant, as an instructional aid and a medical assistant – before her hire as a dispatcher.
“Welcome to the team,” Mayor Bruno Sabatier told them.
Several city staffers also received certificates of appreciation for service: Renee Crabbendam, payroll clerk; Police Officer Trevor Franklin; Sgt. Tim Hobbs; and Wendy England, police dispatcher.
White said one of the challenges his department is facing is recruitment and retention, which are priorities. He thanked the employees for their dedication and the work they do. “We all think about your safety all the time.”
Sabatier presented a proclamation declaring November as Native American Month proclamation to City Manager Greg Folsom, a member of the Choctaw tribe.
Folsom said he’s one of the few tribal members in California who is a city manager, and said Lake County is unique because of tribal membership in local governing bodies. He referred to the Board of Supervisors, which includes Moke Simon of Middletown Rancheria and, after the start of the year, EJ Crandall, of Robinson Rancheria.
Also on Thursday, City Clerk Melissa Swanson reported on the 10th annual City Hall-Oween, which hosted hundreds of community members.
This year’s theme was superheroes, and the all-donation event was organized by Tina Viramontes, Nicki Burrell and Vicki Leonard, Swanson said.
Swanson said they gave out “teal pumpkins” with small toys and pencils for children with allergies.
She said 336 slices of pizza were given out, and she followed up by estimating that Folsom ate a third of them (when Lake County News asked him later about his alleged pizza intake, Folsom denied it).
There also were 343 goodie bags given out during the three-hour event, Swanson said.
Keeping with the superhero theme, Swanson showed a picture of Assistant City Manager Alan Flora dressed as Folsom.
“We had a huge turnout this year, more I think than in any other year,” with the possible exception of a rainy year, according to Swanson.
In other business, on Thursday Folsom took to the council a discussion of potential programs for inclusion in the state Community Development Block Grant application.
The CDBG program authorizes the use of funds to assist low- and moderate-income families or aid in the prevention or elimination of slums and blight, according to Folsom’s written report.
Folsom told the council that the city held a hearing on Sept. 18 to discuss projects to apply for, with a second public hearing likely to take place in January.
He said the city is eligible to apply for one shovel-ready project, but the total cost can’t exceed $3 million. That project would need to be under construction within 12 months of the award.
Based on a study of the requirements, city staff’s top recommendations to the council were the Austin Park and Highlands Park rehabilitation projects, he said. The application is due in January with an award expected in the spring.
In response to questions from council members, Folsom estimated that the Austin Park project would be more than $2 million if the new pier is included, and about $1 million without it. Highlands Park would take more than $1 million for the park and $500,000 for road improvements.
Folsom recommended using the grant to pursue the Highlands Park work, explaining that other efforts are afoot to fund Austin Park.
He said the city’s grant consultant, Adams Ashby Group, which is completing the application, believes the city has a higher potential for success in securing the funds with Highlands Park.
Council members ultimately supported putting Highlands Park at the top of the list.
“I’m in favor of Highlands Park without forgetting Austin Park,” said Sabatier.
At the Thursday meeting Chief White also gave a demonstration of the new Animal Control Department’s kennel tracking software; the council approved an agreement with Tyler Technologies for provision of InCode 10 software and related services to upgrade the city’s finance, payroll and purchasing systems; a proposed agreement between the city and the county of Lake for collection of special taxes, assessments, fees, charges and abatements was approved; and held a public hearing for the second reading and adoption of building code amendments to the Clearlake Municipal Code; and the council held a first reading of an ordinance to amend Clearlake Municipal Code regarding sidewalk vendors and door-to-door sales in order to comply with new state law.
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