LAKEPORT, Calif. — The Lakeport City Council last week gave final approval to a $1.1 million project meant to improve pavement and sidewalk conditions along a half-mile stretch of South Main Street.

At its Aug. 6 meeting, the council approved the South Main Street Pavement Maintenance Project’s plans, specifications and working details, and awarded the construction contract to Granite Construction Co.

Public Works Director Ron Ladd’s written report to the council said the project improves roadway conditions on South Main Street from Lakeport Boulevard to First Street.

He said the project’s components include pavement repairs and markings, surfacing, utility adjustments and rapid flashing beacons.

“The contract award will allow the City to proceed with the necessary pavement maintenance, enhancing road and pedestrian safety, improving traffic flow, and extending the lifespan of the roadway infrastructure,” Ladd wrote.

Ladd told the council on Aug. 6 that the seven bids the city received for the project were opened on July 8, with Granite Construction coming in with the lowest bid, $1,105,885.25. The city engineer had estimated the project at $1.2 million.

“They were really tight bids and we were happy to see that they were a little bit under our engineer’s estimate,” Ladd said.

“We are excited to move this project forward,” Ladd added.

He said it’s being funded with American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, funds that the City Council had previously approved for this project.

“We already have some of the improvements in progress that are separate from the ARPA funds,” said Ladd, explaining that all of the components will go together as one cohesive project when both projects are complete.

“This is a really big deal for us,” City Manager Kevin Ingram told the council.

Originally, the city had broken the project up into three pieces, but the ARPA funding is allowing them to address it altogether, which is much more cost effective, Ingram said. In context, it kickstarts other projects, and along with a large water and wastewater replacement project that’s in the works will provide noticeable improvement for the city’s roadway system.

He said the city is seeking the community’s forgiveness because they are going “to make a little bit of a mess” as the projects move forward, especially when they dig into the road to replace the water and sewer mains for the upcoming water and wastewater replacement project.

Connected to the South Main Street pavement project is a sidewalk improvement project, which Ingram said will put another half million dollars into pedestrian improvements and result in continuous sidewalks along that corridor.

Ingram said the city received public comment about not including a bike lane, and he said the issues with a bike lane and rehabilitation are not mutually exclusive. “I would argue that this project does put us closer to having that wider conversation.”

He said establishing a bike lane needs to be part of a larger kind of community outreach process, because “we only have a limited amount of real estate there on the road.”

Mayor Michael Froio asked Ladd if the city would have to remove the center turn lane on South Main Street if bike lanes were installed.

Ladd said there are several options. “Removing the center lane would be one of them.”

He said the city is in the middle of an active transportation plan that is going to give design alternatives not only on that segment of South Main but for the entire corridor.

“We're not going in and buying anything. We're stuck with what we have,” as far as the amount of space on the road, Froio said.

Ladd pointed out that the right of way acquisition for this project was incredibly small and yet took several months to complete.

“I'm confident we're gonna get there,” said Ingram. “And it's going to be better by having it looked at from a whole corridor perspective rather than just these ones.”

He added that if the city made any rash decisions on adding bike lanes, “and did anything crazy like limiting parking, this room would still be full.”

Ingram said there is a lot of money available now for bike and pedestrian improvements, and the city plans to capitalize on that.

Froio said that the project is not repaving but a pavement maintenance project, and he asked Ladd to explain the difference.

Ladd said a complete reconstruct would go several feet into the base throughout the entire span of the paving. This project is more of a “mill and fill” with specific dig outs that go deeper into the road base in specific areas.

He said it’s an almost identical project to one they did on North Main between Fourth Street and Clear Lake Avenue a couple of years ago.

Councilman Brandon Disney moved to approve the project, with Councilman Kenny Parlet seconding and the council approving the motion 5-0.

In other business at the Aug. 6 meeting, the council honored retiring Police Chief Brad Rasmussen, who then administered the oath of office to his successor, Dale Stoebe. The article on that event is here.

The council also approved an ordinance amending the municipal code to create a ministerial approval process for lot line adjustments, adopted the resolution to confirm and approve the utility billing delinquency list, also directing staff to submit the list to the County Auditor-Controller’s Office for inclusion on the property tax roll.

Froio was appointed the council’s delegate for the League of California Cities Annual Conference to be held Oct. 16 to 18, with Costa the first alternate and Disney the second.

Following council communications, in which Parlet gave a nearly 10-minute statement on COVID-19 being a hoax, the council went into closed session to discuss labor negotiations and an existing opioid lawsuit.

After they emerged, City Attorney David Ruderman announced that there was no reportable action on the labor negotiations. However, on the issue of the city’s existing litigation against Amerisourcebergen Drug Corp., staff was given direction to seek leave to amend the complaint to name an additional defendant, Indivior Inc., relating to the company’s involvement in marketing and distributing opioids.

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