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Clearlake skatepark reopens following completion of repair work
CLEARLAKE, Calif. –On Tuesday afternoon the Clearlake skatepark reopened following a nearly two-month-long closure for repairs.
The city of Clearlake had closed the skatepark on March 13 due to its damaged condition, which created safety and liability issues.
City Public Works Director Doug Herren attributed much of the damage to the bikes that have used the park. “It's not designed for bikes.”
On March 12, during its midyear budget review, the Clearlake City Council allocated a maximum of $10,000 to repair the facility – known officially as the Andy Johnson Memorial BMX/Skatepark and located in Austin Park, as Lake County News has reported.
Herren said Tuesday that his staff had to conduct major repairs, including rebuilding almost the entire understructure of the skatepark's ramps.
“That's what took so long,” he said.
They also ran out of decking during the project and had to order more of it, Herren said.
Public Works staffers Chuck Davis, Clay Van Housen, Javier Macias and Dean Lain made the repairs, said Councilman Bruno Sabatier.
“They did a lot of great work,” Sabatier said.
Sabatier said the city crew replaced support beams that had split in half or been knocked off their screws from the brute force of riders coming off of a big jump.
“They added additional support beams and joists to hopefully hold the support beams longer,” Sabatier said.
Altogether, it took 40 sheets of decking and almost four weeks of the closure time to repair the ramps and recover them with black smooth sheeting, Sabatier said.
“I spoke to many of the kids riding this afternoon after the park opened and they love it,” Sabatier said. “They missed their park and they can really feel a difference in how much better the ramps are.”
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Supervisors terminate storm emergency; county applies for grant funding for repairs
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Six months after a heavy December rainstorm caused widespread damage around Lake County, the Board of Supervisors terminated a local emergency declaration originally put into effect because of the storm.
Lake County Emergency Services Manager Marisa Chilafoe went to the board on Tuesday with the request to terminate the emergency due to the storm, which occurred on Dec. 10 and 11.
She also asked the board to send letters of appreciation to state leaders for their assistance in acquiring a state emergency proclamation that helped gain the county access to grant funding.
The heavy rains that began on the evening of Dec. 10 continued through into the next day, resulting in flooding and road closures throughout the county.
On Dec. 11 the Lake County Office of Emergency Services activated its emergency operations center and County Administrative Officer Matt Perry declared a local emergency, which the board ratified on Dec. 15. Since then, Chilafoe said the local emergency has been extended three times.
Separately, the cities of Clearlake and Lakeport also declared their own emergencies.
Chilafoe told Lake County News in an interview earlier this year that damage from the storm was estimated at $4.1 million countywide.
On March 2, Gov. Jerry Brown issued a proclamation of a state of emergency for Lake County due to the storm damage.
That proclamation included the authorization of immediate assistance through the Federal Highway Administration's Emergency Relief Program as well as funding through the California Disaster Assistance Act, according to Chilafoe.
That proclamation made available to the county and the cities of Clearlake and Lakeport a total of more than $900,000 in grant funding for emergency repairs.
In the days before the December storm, Lake County Public Works had closed a portion of Hill Road East in north Lakeport near the Lakeside Heights subdivision due to concerns that the coming rain might destabilize the hillside, which has been subject to movement over the last two years, destroying several homes in the subdivision.
The storms would, as predicted, result in the hillside coming down into the roadway.
On April 23, Public Works crews and contractors hired by the county completed the task of clearing away tons of soil in order to reopen the road, which is an access point to Sutter Lakeside Hospital.
Chilafoe told the board on Tuesday that reopening the road was the final piece of the county's emergency storm response phase.
The Public Works Department now is beginning the second phase of the project, which according to Chilafoe's written report will include permanent repairs to allow “permanent, safe access to the public when using Hill Road.”
All other county repair projects are either complete or in progress, and are awaiting approval and reimbursement of eligible costs under the grant application process, according to Chilafoe.
With the county now moving into the recovery phase, Chilafoe said it was appropriate to terminate the local emergency.
Chilafoe told the board that the Lake County Office of Emergency Services submitted a formal application on April 20 to the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services for the California Disaster Assistance Act funding.
She said those funds will provide financial relief for completing a number of projects.
The county, she added, also is seeking Federal Highway Administration funds for local roadway repairs.
Chilafoe said the process to get the California Disaster Assistance Act funds was “quite significant,” as the county hadn't been included in the governor's original state of emergency proclamation.
The county was added to the proclamation through the efforts of Assemblyman Bill Dodd, state Sen. Mark McGuire and the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, which sent representatives to Lake County a number of times to work on damage estimates, Chilafoe said.
Chilafoe asked the board to approve sending letters of appreciation to Gov. Brown, Dodd, McGuire and Mark Ghilarducci, director of the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services.
The board voted unanimously to end the emergency and to send the letters of thanks to the state leaders.
Chilafoe told Lake County News later on Tuesday that the total estimated amount of grant funding to cover damages and repair that the county of Lake has applied for is $652,000.
“This figure is a project estimate only, and is subject to change given the parameters of each project,” she said.
She said both cities and Lake County Special Districts have applied for some of the funding as well. Figures for those applications weren't immediately available on Tuesday.
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Animal Care and Control receives $10,000 spay-neuter grant
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has secured another grant to help with spaying and neutering the county's pets.
Director Bill Davidson told Lake County News that he was successful in receiving a $10,000 grant from the Petco Foundation for the spay-neuter program through the Animal Care and Control vet clinic, located at the shelter at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport.
He said it will be similar to a spay-neuter program targeting pit bulls that he began last year, only this new program will be open to all breeds and will target low-income residents.
Surgery costs normally are $80 for spaying female dogs below 60 pounds or $90 if they weigh more than 60 pounds, and $70 for neutering, with $10 off for male dogs having the Zeuterin chemical neutering procedure.
Davidson said the grant will allow Animal Care and Control to discount those costs for spaying and neutering by 50 percent.
Davidson said the program will be open to Lake County residents with the following income levels: household size of one – $30,650; two, $35,000; three, $39,400; four, $43,750; five, $47,250; six, $50,750; seven, $54,250; and eight, $57,750.
The program is tentatively set to start on July 1, said Davidson.
Thanks to the Board of Supervisors' approval on Tuesday of a temporary contract with Dr. Richard Bachman, DVM, the shelter's vet clinic will be able to offer the services.
The clinic's former vet left to take another job out of state and Bachman, the director of the Contra Costa County animal shelter's veterinary medical program, agreed to fill in temporarily.
Bachman has been a consultant to Lake County Animal Care and Control and also helped cover clinic services when it first opened in March 2012.
A study cited by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals notes that the numbers of dogs and cats entering shelters and being euthanized across the nation has declined for several decades, due primarily to the increase in spaying and neutering of pets. The study said such services are the best way of preventing euthanasia and pet overpopulation.
For more information about the services at Lake County Animal Care and Control, call 707-263-0278 or visit http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm .
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Supervisors to present proclamations, consider temporary vet contract
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors is set to offer a number of proclamations this week and to approve a contract with a temporary veterinarian for the county animal shelter's vet clinic.
The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, May 5, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.
The meeting can be watched live on Channel 8 with the video available online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Boards/Board_of_Supervisors/calendar.htm . Accompanying board documents and the agenda also are available at that link.
At 9:10 a.m., the board will present proclamations for Correctional Officers Week, Police Officers Week, Travel and Tourism Week, Perinatal Depression Awareness Month and Mental Health Matters Month.
On the board's consent agenda, it will consider approving a contract with Dr. Richard Bachman, DVM, for fiscal year 2015-16 for professional veterinary services. The contract amount is $100,000.
Bachman has agreed to take on the contract temporarily while the county works to find a permanent contract vet for the clinic at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, as Lake County News has reported.
The full agenda follows.
CONTRACT CHANGE ORDER
6.1: Consideration of Contract Change Order No. 1 for the HR3 Sign Replacement & Striping Project. Federal Project No. HRRRL-5914(086).
CONSENT AGENDA
7.1: Adopt resolution approving proposed revisions to the California Home Finance Authority (formal name change to Golden State Finance Authority pending) Joint Powers Agreement and authorize chair to sign the JPA.
7.2: Adopt proclamation designating the month of May 2015 as Mental Health Matters Month in Lake County, Calif.
7.3: Adopt proclamation designating the week of May 3 to 9, 2015, as Correctional Officers Week in Lake County, Calif.
7.4: Adopt proclamation designating the week of May 10 to 16, 2015, as Police Officers Week in Lake County, Calif.
7.5: Adopt proclamation designating the month of May 2015 as Perinatal Depression Awareness Month in Lake County, Calif.
7.6: Adopt proclamation designating the week of May 2 to 10, 2015, as Travel and Tourism Week in Lake County, Calif.
7.7: Adopt resolution supporting the Middletown Days Parade and events and temporary “no parking” and “road closure” on various roads June 19 to 21, 2015.
7.8: Approve agreement for Federal Apportionment Exchange Program and State Match Program for California Department of Transportation – Non MPO County, and authorize the chair to sign.
7.9: Approve Agreement #EW-2014-15 between the county of Lake and Regents of the University of California at Davis, for FY15-16 training services, in the amount of $149,310 and authorize the chair to sign.
7.10: Adopt resolution amending Resolution No. 2014-111 to amend the Adopted Budget For FY 2014-15 by Making Adjustments to the Victim-Witness Budget Unit 2113.
7.11: Approve advance step hiring of Behavioral Health Fiscal Manager, Step 4, for Manuel Orozco due to extraordinary qualifications.
7.12: (a) Waive the policy for review and selection of professional consultants and other contract service providers; and (b) approve agreement between the county of Lake and Oscar Larson & Associates for Department of Energy Grant Program Consulting Services, in the amount of $30,000 and authorize chair to sign. (This item was previously approved by the Board on April 28, 2015 but is being resubmitted for final approval due to the omission of “Attachment A” Scope of Work.)
7.13: (a) Approve agreement between the county of Lake and Richard Bachman DVM, for fiscal year 2015-16 professional veterinary services in the amount of $100,000 and authorize the chair to sign; and (b) approve agreement between the county of Lake and Emily Thomas RVT, for fiscal year 2015-16 registered veterinary technician service in the amount of $36,000 and authorize the chair to sign.
TIMED ITEMS
8.2, 9:10 a.m.: Presentation of (a) proclamation designating the week of May 3 to 9, 2015, as Correctional Officers Week in Lake County; (b) proclamation designating the week of May 10 to 16, 2015, as Police Officers Week in Lake County; (c) proclamation designating the week of May 2 to 10, 2015, as Travel and Tourism Week in Lake County; (d) proclamation designating the month of May 2015 as Perinatal Depression Awareness Month in Lake County; and (e) proclamation designating the month of May 2015 as Mental Health Matters Month in Lake County.
8.3, 9:15 a.m.: Hearing, nuisance abatement assessment confirmation and proposed recordation of notice of lien in the amount of $4,854.08, for 5900 East State Highway 20, Lucerne, CA (APN 034-422-20 – Paul E. Lodge and Glenda A. Lodge).
8.4, 9:20 a.m.: Sitting as the Lake County Housing Commission Board of Directors, consideration of recommendation to approve form HUD 50077-CR: Civil.
UNTIMED ITEMS
9.2: Sitting as the Lake County Air Quality Management District Board of Directors, consideration of request to transfer surplus equipment to Public Services a 2002 GMC Safari Van for current Blue Book value of $2,850.
9.3: Consideration of resolution opting to affirm an exemption from the requirements of mandatory commercial organics recycling.
9.4: (a) Consideration of resolution terminating the proclamation of a local emergency for 2014 Statewide December Winter Storms; and (b) consideration of letters of appreciation to state leadership for state of emergency proclamation and funding
9.5: (a) Consideration of proposed ordinance amending specified sections of Article I of Chapter 2 of the Lake County Code relating to meetings of the Board of Supervisors; and (b) discussion/consideration of possible adjournment of board meetings on May 12 and June 9, 2015.
9.6: Consideration of request for Board of Supervisors to approve and authorize the chair to sign a letter of support for the development of a multi-use trail in Middletown and approval of subsequent letter to Caltrans to provide ongoing maintenance of the trail.
9.7: Consideration of agreement between the county of Lake and O'Connor Environmental Inc. to provide hydrology report services for the South Main Street/Soda Bay Road Water System in the amount of $11,400.00 and authorize the chair to sign.
CLOSED SESSION
10.2: Conference with legal counsel: Existing litigation pursuant to Gov. Code Section 54956.9(d)(1) – Gamino and Cruz v. County of Lake, et al.
10.3: Conference with legal counsel: Existing litigation pursuant to Gov. Code Section 54956.9(d)(1) – Lakeside Heights HOA, et al. v. County of Lake, et al.
10.4: Conference with legal counsel: Existing litigation pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(1) – Fowler and Ford v. County of Lake, et al.
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