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Lakeport Police logs: Saturday, Jan. 10
Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026
00:00 EXTRA PATROL 2601100001
Occurred at Lake County Law Library on 3D....
Supervisors approve final Kelseyville Skate Park plans, agreement with builder
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted unanimously to approve the final plans for the Kelseyville Skate Park and award the construction bid, putting the project on track to be under construction next month.
The concrete skate park is to be built at the three-acre Kelseyville County Park, located at 5270 State St.
It will be the first skate park in the unincorporated county and the second one in Lake County overall. Clearlake has had its own park for more than a decade.
In addition to approving the final plans, which can be seen below, the board approved awarding the construction contract to California Landscape and Design for $273,945.75, followed up by approving a deductive change order to reduce the cost by $8,051.75, and authorized the interim Public Services director to issue a notice to proceed once the Community Development Department reviews and approves the plans.
In December 2013, Supervisor Rob Brown had gone to the board to ask for support in reallocating the $377,475 that has been set aside for developing a park in the Clear Lake Riviera to the development of a skate park, as Lake County News has reported.
The Riviera park plan had stalled and had too many obstacles – specifically, “it was finally determined that the cost of water to the site was prohibitive and that it had some leach field challenges that were also going to be expensive to alleviate,” Deputy County Administrative Officer Jeff Rein told Lake County News this week.
Altogether, the board agreed to use $300,000 for the skate park, according to Rein.
In March 2014, the board approved a design and engineering agreement – not to exceed $45,100 – with California Skateparks of Upland for the facility.
The following month, the county invited skaters and BMX riders to meet with California Skateparks representatives to begin participating in the design process.
The design was completed in September 2014, according to the California Skateparks Web site.
“The design we created for the Kelseyville Skate and BMX Park in Lake County is intended to be a mix of both street and transition style elements, catering to riders of all different ability levels,” the company stated on its Web site. “The park features a variety of different transition features including bowl corners, hips, rolled edges and extensions as well as an abundance of street style stairs, ledges, and rails.”
Rein clarified that the conceptual design was done by September 2014, but the actual detailed drawings for the plan were not completed until June 2015.
Since, then, however, the project has lagged, which has frustrated Brown and community members.
Rein said a contributing factor to the delay was that, in the middle of the project, California Skateparks lost the services of the civil engineer that they had subcontracted with for the site drainage plans. That meant a new civil had to be brought on board and up to speed.
There also were other components that needed to be completed, including geotechnical evaluations, Rein said.
On Tuesday, Rein told the board, “It has taken far longer than we anticipated.” He added, “Staff is very excited to present the construction contract and the final plans for the Kelseyville Skate Park for your consideration.”
He said the low bid had come in higher than the project budget allowed, so county staff worked with the prospective contractor to reduce costs and improve the design, resulting in the change order to drop the costs.
Rein said the contractor was committed to the project and had reiterated that to him that morning before the meeting.
Construction is set to begin no later than May 9, Rein said.
“I know it has taken a long time,” said Brown, adding, “I'm looking forward to having this in the park there as originally planned.”
Rein explained during the meeting that the previous designer had been spread too thin and hadn't factored in Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, which had added to the delays.
“There were a lot of frustrations on our side, that's for sure,” said Brown.
Rein said it had taken time to get the budget within range, and that as a result some funds are still set aside and available.
Brown passed the gavel to Supervisor Jeff Smith to he could separately make the four motions to finalize the project – approval of the skate park plans, the construction bid, the deductive change order and authorization for the interim Public Service director to issue the notice to proceed once Community Development finalizes the plans.
Brown told Lake County News that the skate park will be located next to the BMX track that he and a number of young people worked together to build at the park several years ago.
He said the skate park will be about the same size as the BMX track, which he added is used all the time.
Brown said some community members had been upset because they hadn't heard anything for some time about the skate park's status and therefore assumed nothing was happening.
“The kids were getting impatient,” he said.
The skate park project is anticipated to be built by the end of summer, Brown said.
He said he's looking forward to having the new facility available in Kelseyville, saying he believes it will be a draw for the community.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
Middletown Rancheria chairman receives top tribal humanitarian award
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The National Indian Gaming Association's annual gathering wrapped up recently in Phoenix, and brought together some 4,700 gaming professionals and 326 exhibiting companies in a forum for progress, tribal sovereignty, education, and industry celebration.
The most prestigious event of the week, the Wendell Chino Humanitarian Awards Banquet, honored award recipients Chairman Jose "Moke" Simon III of Middletown Rancheria and Chairman John Berrey of Quapaw Tribe in Oklahoma.
Chairman since 1997, Simon was lauded for his leadership in some of the most challenging times for the tribe and Lake County.
Simon led his community through the Valley fire, the third-most destructive in California history, and its aftermath.
Among other things, he set up temporary housing for tribal members and employees, and provided 260 beds for people from the community displaced by the fire.
His ongoing leadership has brought the Middletown Rancheria even closer together with its non-Indian neighbors to weather one of the state's worst disasters.
Simon currently is among four candidates seeking the District 1 seat on the Lake County Board of Supervisors.
“I’m humbled to receive the association’s most prestigious award and am energized to accomplish even more for the rancheria and the community we’re a part of,” said Simon. “Working together, the people of Lake County remain positive and focused on recovering from the devastation caused by the Valley fire.”
“We applaud Chairman Simon and his community for their humanitarian efforts in such trying times. Despite the enormous devastation they were faced with, Chairman Simon provided the courage, leadership and strength needed to bring the community together,” said National Indian Gaming Association Chairman Ernie Stevens Jr.
Council approves agreement for lakefront revitalization plan preparation
LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Tuesday the Lakeport City Council unanimously approved an agreement with a Nevada firm to prepare the Lakeport Lakefront Revitalization Plan.
Design Workshop Inc. of Stateline was one of two firms that in January submitted proposals to the city, which had circulated 27 requests for proposal last year, according to city documents.
City Community Development Director Kevin Ingram reported that the city was awarded $95,342 by the California Department of Housing to complete the plan, with a $4,208 match required by the city.
The total cost of the agreement with Design Workshop is $98,420.
“I'm very excited to be bringing this agenda item before you this evening,” Ingram told the council, explaining that the plan is a key component to the city's overall economic development strategy.
The boundary of the project extends along the shoreline from C Street in the south to Clearlake Avenue to the north. Ingram said the plan proposes to focus on short-term and long-term goals that increase the economic viability for the shoreline and its relationship with the downtown business area.
Ingram said he was impressed with Design Workshop's plan to include the community in the planning process.
He said Design Workshop intended to begin work immediately if the agreement was approved, with a goal of having the plan ready to present to the council by the end of October.
Council members lauded the firm's proposal for its great ideas and its award-winning staff, which has experience in design projects across the Western United States. Notable projects include the South Shore District Plan in Lake Tahoe; the redevelopment plan for the harbor in Bellingham, Wash.; Union Park in Las Vegas; the Downtown Redding Transportation Plan; and the Front Street redevelopment in Crescent City.
The proposal can be seen in the agenda packet below, beginning on page 73.
The proposal's methodology calls for site reconnaissance, including reviewing current city documents and past plans; base mapping; preliminary site evaluation and market assessment; public outreach, including hosting meetings with stakeholder groups and the general public to describe the process and collect ideas; exploring alternative visions; drafting the preliminary and final plans; and project management.
Councilman Martin Scheel said the proposal document included great ideas.
Councilwoman Mireya Turner also pointed out that the firm had the proper number of staff assigned with the necessary expertise in the California Environmental Quality Act.
“This is one of the most exciting things we've gotten to do in the city,” said Mattina.
Councilman Kenny Parlet, referring to the different backgrounds of the firm's staff, said, “This just seems like a really exciting thing to me.”
Not everyone shared that feeling.
Local businesswoman Nancy Ruzicka and a small group of local citizens – some of them also members of the city's Parks and Recreation Committee – spoke against the agreement, even though it was to be paid for by grant funds.
Ruzicka, who didn't like the fact that the landscape architects with the firm got their certifications in other parts of the country, said the city should focus instead on Main Street. She asked why the city was going to do another plan when she said it had numerous others on the shelf that it had never pursued.
She said one plan from 1989 that she had helped work on called for an event center to be built on pilings over the lake. She suggested the city go back and pursue that plan.
Ingram noted that he was aware of such past proposals and that those plans had lacked a public outreach component.
He said the goal was not to start over, and that one of the first tasks in developing the new plan is to bring all of those previous documents together and provide them to Design Workshop, which can use them in its process.
Suzanne Lyons, a former city council member who now sits on the Parks and Recreation Committee, asked why the committee hadn't been informed of the proposal or that the process was under way. City staff and council members responded by saying that the plan was about economic development not parks, and that the process had not yet started.
Mattina said no plan had yet been done. “You haven't missed anything.”
Lyons followed up by accusing the city of failing to do community outreach, claiming that people don't come to meetings or support the city because they feel totally disenfranchised.
City Manager Margaret Silveira said that the process would officially start once the consultant was on board.
Parlet said that all the council was doing was picking a consultant, and that the city had followed public noticing procedures. “It's absurd to say, 'Wow, we're in the dark.'”
Lyons responded by saying, “We feel that we were left out of the loop.”
Silveira then took the step of apologizing to Lyons for not inviting the Parks and Recreation Committee to be part of the consultant selection process.
Ingram noted that he's spoken to numerous community groups about the goal of having the new lakefront revitalization plan.
Ruzicka then returned to the microphone to suggest that the plan be pieced out in phases. When the council said it couldn't be done that way, she suggested giving the grant money back to the state.
Suzanne Russell, who sits on the Lakeport Planning Commission, said she wanted Ingram to be instrumental in the specifics of the work.
Ingram assured her that his department would be heavily involved in the process, reviewing it on an ongoing basis and assisting with holding the community meetings. He said they would be in constant contact with the consultant.
Turner moved to approve the agreement, with Mattina seconding and the council approving it 5-0.
Also on Tuesday, the council voted to direct staff to issue requests for proposal for consultants to work on a possible revenue tax measure; introduced the first reading of an ordinance regarding the Traffic Safety Advisory Committee and set a public hearing for April 19; heard a presentation on volunteer hours at the Lakeport Police Department; and presented proclamations designating the month of April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Child Abuse Prevention Month.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
City of Clearlake abates nuisance properties
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The city of Clearlake reported that it has abated two nuisance properties.
On March 31 the city completed the abatement of the two properties, located at 14718 Emory Ave. and 14709 Palmer Ave.
City officials said the two properties had become egregious public nuisances and health and safety hazards to the surrounding community.
Over the past two years, the Clearlake Police Department, Lake County Fire Protection District and City of Clearlake Code Enforcement had responded to these locations several times for violations ranging from trespassers and illegal occupants to fires being started inside the structures.
Although declared unsafe for entry and occupancy, trespassers ignored these postings and continued to enter the property, officials said.
Abandoned for many years, these two properties had been unkempt by their property owners. Many attempts had been made by Code Enforcement to contact the legal owners in an effort to reach voluntary compliance.
Once it was determined there was a lack of voluntary compliance, staff made the determination that these two properties were two of the highest priority and would be a focus once funding became available for abatements.
In mid-2015, thanks to the hard work and determination of city of Clearlake Grants Technician Adeline Brown, the city was awarded funding through a Community Development Block Grant for the abatement of properties.
Upon receiving the go-ahead, Clearlake Code Enforcement Supervisor Lee Lambert and Brown worked hand-in-hand to move forward on these two projects and, on March 17, abatement warrants were issued for both properties by a Lake County Superior Court judge.
“These two demolitions are the first two visible examples of the city taking steps to eliminate blight where the property owners have not carried through with their responsibilities to the community,” said Mayor Russ Perdock.
Officials said the abatement costs for these two properties were far less than anticipated and, upon approval by the Department of Housing and Community Development, the city of Clearlake plans to move forward on several more abatements within the city.
Staff has comprised a list of properties in which the violations are so extensive that abatement is required. Many of these properties are fire damaged properties, burnouts or abandoned properties which have become places where illegal dumping occurs.
“While the grant funding will not pay for the abatement of all the properties needing to be abated, it will make a significant impact on the health of our community,” said City Manager Greg Folsom.
Officials said the city of Clearlake will continue to venture for funding for future abatements. In some cases, there may be no other option than abating a property, but the Code Enforcement Division will continue to make every attempt to reach full voluntary compliance.
Working alongside property owners is much more rewarding for both parties. For the property owner, it can create a bond with the city, knowing they are here to assist in bettering our communities.
From the city’s perspective, voluntary compliance has much less of an impact on the city’s budget and shows encouraging signs that the community wants to move forward in becoming a more desirable and respectable place to live and visit.
