LAKEPORT, Calif. – A proposal for a walking path in downtown Lakeport has received unanimous support from the Lakeport City Council.
Public Works Director Mark Brannigan presented the Parks and Recreation Commission's plan at the council's Tuesday night meeting.
Brannigan said the plan's development began after the city received a $5,000 grant from the Sutter Lakeside Active Living Grant Program.
He said the Parks and Recreation Commission began looking at trail projects in and around Library Park or Westside Park, ultimately deciding on the former.
“The commission really felt strongly that it was something they wanted to see happen in the downtown area,” Brannigan said.
The first concept the commission came up with was a phased project beginning with a loop around Library Park and eventually stretching down Main Street in both directions, to the Soper Reese Theatre in the south and to 16th and High streets to the north, according to Brannigan's report.
A map of the proposed path is on page 21 of the staff report below.
Brannigan said all of the sidewalks will have to have curb cuts to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
He said there is a loop that follows North High Street and Clearlake Avenue that is the only area within the proposed plan that is not ADA-compliant, however, the city has funds to make the upgrades.
The commission proposed a priority list for the funding, which included four items, Brannigan said: medallion stamps – will will be set in concrete and possibly made of a material such as brass – to be placed on the sidewalk at quarter-mile intervals along the path; a downtown path informational sign to be placed near the northeast corner of Park and First streets; two park benches, one near the Lakeport Yacht Club at Fifth Street and one by Dutch Harbor, near the intersection of North Main and Ninth streets; and a stretch station near the yacht club.
Brannigan said they did not yet have all the costs but were seeking council authorization to move forward with the plan.
He credited commissioners Ann Blue and Suzanne Lyons for the time they've invested in walking the area and working on the plan.
Mayor Pro Tem Stacey Mattina asked about the benches. Blue said they didn't want concrete ones like those in Library Park, and Community Development Director Kevin Ingram said the goal is to match those benches with the new street furniture planned for the Downtown Improvement Plan.
Lyons told the council that the commission was trying to be as economical as possible and make everything work.
Blue said she has been working on the plan since July and feels really good about it. She added that the commissioners are calling it a path rather than a trail.
“We're hoping that you'll be happy with our plan,” Blue said.
Lyons added that she's spoken with businesses in the downtown area and they're excited about the path.
Councilman Martin Scheel moved to approve the walking path conceptual plan with Councilman Kenny Parlet seconding, and the council voting 5-0.
In other business, the council unanimously approved a $37,839.84 purchase order for a new patch truck to replace the 1975 Ford truck that the city currently uses.
“We use this truck a lot. It's well past its prime,” said Public Works Superintendent Doug Grider.
Also getting a unanimous vote of approval from the council was a request by the Parks and Recreation Commission to make the new Fifth Street bathroom at Library Park that is currently under construction a unisex facility, with signage denoting it as such.
Also on Tuesday, the council approved the appointment of George Spurr to the Lakeport Planning Commission to succeed Ross Kauper. Kauper was to have been honored at the meeting but could not attend, so those plans will be held over to the next meeting.
The council also appointed Spurr and Frank Dollosso to the Traffic Safety Advisory Committee.
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