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Clearlake City Council to discuss program income reuse plan, ballot measure update
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council this week will discuss a city program income reuse plan and an update to a November ballot measure, and get a report from the city's senior center.
The council will meet at 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 11, for a closed session to discuss public employee discipline, dismissal and release before the open portion of the meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.
At the start of Thursday's meeting there will be a presentation of donations from the Lakeshore Lions Club to the Clearlake Police Department for body cameras along with the presentation of a proclamation declaring September Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
In council business, council members will consider updating the city's program income reuse plan and hold a public hearing on the matter.
The city has to hold the hearing and discussion in order to comply with federal and state rules for jurisdictions with Community Development Block Grant funds. Jurisdictions like Clearlake must have program reuse plans in place regarding how the funds are to be deposited.
The grant funds are commonly used for activities like housing and economic development.
The council also will consider a resolution adopting nonsubstantive changes to the previously approved ballot measure going before voters in November, Measure R. The half-percent sales tax would go toward citywide cleanup and improvement.
Council members also will get a biannual presentation from Highlands Senior Service Center Executive Director Linda Burton.
Items on the consent agenda – considered to be noncontroversial and accepted as a slate with one vote – include warrant registers, council members' request for information and a preliminary report of operations for fiscal year ending 2014.
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Lineage of laureates: Poet Laureate Reading Series begins with work of Jim Lyle
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Newly appointed Lake County Poet Laureate Casey Carney and Riviera Common Grounds Coffee House proprietor Andrea Williams will host a monthly Poet Laureate Reading Series beginning this Friday, Sept. 12.
The readings will take place at the Common Grounds Coffee House at 9736 Soda Bay Road in Kelseyville from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on the second Friday of each month, and will feature one of each of Lake County’s eight poet laureates in sequence, along with a guest poet and musician.
The poet laureate is an official appointment by a government or conferring institution for the purpose of promoting poetry in that jurisdiction.
The series opens with the work of Lake County’s original poet laureate, Jim Lyle.
Lyle currently resides at the Veteran’s Home in Yountville where he is supported in living with Alzheimer’s.
According to his daughter Gina, through the involvement of his family, Lyle is able to live contentedly, is aware that he is an artist and poet, and often shares his work with others.
“He had a long journey to where he is now,” his daughter said, “and thankfully his essence was preserved in the transition.”
“Things Seen in the Dessert,” Lyle’s book of poems and essays, was published by Earthen Vessel Productions in 2001.
Fellow laureate emeritus and longtime friend, James BlueWolf, will read Lyle’s work at the Sept. 12 event.
Described as a “maverick,” by Calder Lowe, the executive editor of The Montserrat Review, Jim Lyle is known for a gritty poetic voice resonant of his early upbringing in the Oklahoma Panhandle during the Dust Bowl and subsequent migration to California during the Great Depression.
As well as a dedicated poet, Lyle is known for his mentoring of poets and advocacy of poetry.
When the Lake County Board of Supervisors confirmed him as poet laureate in 1998, it was to be a prestigious lifetime position.
Lyle, however, believed that the office should be rotating, and resigned in 2000, effectively making it a two-year position.
As a result of his foresight, there is now a lineage of eight Lake County poet laureates, many who are currently active in the writing, teaching and publication of poetry and prose in Lake County.
Appointed during National Poetry Month this past April, Carney is developing several forums to promote and connect the poetry, writing, and performing and visual art communities of Lake County.
These include fostering collaboration between art disciplines, co-facilitating a poetry workshop for at-risk youth with emeritus laureate Elaine Watt, representing Lake County in public readings, and accessing social media as a way to centralize communication between poets, writers, and artists.
“In the role of poet laureate, I feel that getting to know and presenting the work of the lineage of Lake County poet laureates is a good place to begin, for both myself and the community,” Carney said.
At the Sept. 12 reading, poet/painter Julie Adams from Middletown will be the guest poet. Writer/singer Barbarajo Bloomquist from Clearlake will be the guest musician.
Those interested in being a guest artist during the series are encouraged to contact Carney at
Anyone interested in connecting through poetry, writing and art events can join the Facebook group, Lake County Poet Laureate.
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Lakeport City Council favors maintaining local vendor preference
LAKEPORT, Calif. – During a public hearing last week on a proposal to update the city's purchase system, the Lakeport City Council's members voiced their desire to see a local vendor preference continue at its current percentage, despite the potential for litigation.
City Attorney David Ruderman took to the council a proposed update to the city's purchasing system ordinance, which last was updated in 1979.
He told the council during the meeting that, at the very least, the ordinance needed to be updated to reflect inflation.
The current ordinance requires that any purchase over $500 must be informally bid, i.e., awarded to the lowest of three bids staff generates from the open market, while any purchase above $5,000 must be formally bid and approved by the council. That means the city manager's authority to enter into contracts for the purchase of supplies and equipment is limited to $5,000, Ruderman explained in his written report.
Ruderman also pointed out in his report that the city's current purchasing system does not address contracts for professional services, with the council's approval required for all professional services agreements. It also does not designate a city purchasing agent, address how to dispose of surplus city property or include a local vendor preference, which he said is governed by a separate policy.
Ruderman worked with City Manager Margaret Silveira and Finance Director Dan Buffalo to identify a “reasonable” purchasing system that ensures that the city and its departments will receive high quality goods and services at minimum cost to the taxpayer; exercises positive financial control over purchases; clearly defines the authority for all purchases; and limits the administrative demands imposed by the purchasing system to those reasonably necessary to achieve the other objectives of that system.
The ordinance Ruderman proposed to the council governs the purchase of supplies and equipment, as well as services; raises the threshold for bidding from $500 to $3,000; does not require competitive bidding for purchases of $3,000 or less; and allows supplies, equipment and services that cost between $3,000 and $50,000 to be purchased after the informal solicitation of bids.
The proposed ordinance also says that the purchase of supplies, equipment and services that cost more than $50,000 must be bid by the formal bid procedures.
The city is required to purchase from the lowest possible bidder, although it does not need to contract for professional services – such as architectural, engineering, environmental and land surveying services – with the lowest responsible bidder “if staff provides a rationale for deviating from the lowest bid, approved by the City Manager, such as the demonstrated competence and professional qualifications necessary for satisfactory performance of the services required,” Ruderman wrote.
Under the new proposed purchasing system ordinance, department heads must approve purchases of $3,000 or less; the department head and either the purchasing officer or city manager must sign off on purchases of between $3,000 and $25,000; and the department head, city manager and city council must give approval for purchases of over $25,000, Ruderman reported.
Ruderman said the new system also includes a local vendor preference of 5 percent of the bid price, similar to the policy the City Council adopted in 2010. However, that 2010 policy's vendor preference is for 10 percent.
He said local vendor preferences are permissible “when aimed at ameliorating disadvantages suffered by local firms because doing business within the city limits is more expensive than doing business outside the city,” adding that a local business preference is justified in this case, as the city is acting as a “market participant.”
Other aspects of the proposed ordinance include exemptions from the bidding requirements for purchases of $3,000 or less; sole source purchasing, such as in cases where only one vendor provides the goods the city is seeking, as well as special allowances for sole source vendors within the city; purchases during declared states of emergency; purchases from other governmental entities; purchases of professional services; and how to sell surplus city property.
The Sept. 2 hearing was the second public hearing the council held on the proposed ordinance.
Between the two hearings, Ruderman said city staff had reviewed purchasing contracts going back to 2010 to look at the local vendor preference, which he said didn't seem to be a driving factor for most of the agreements.
Councilman Tom Engstrom said he was OK with most of the aspects of the proposed ordinance, but he wanted to leave the city's local vendor preference at 10 percent.
He said that everyone who runs for city council says they want to do something for local business and then they don't, noting he recently counted 26 empty storefronts on a drive through the city.
“I want to leave it at 10 percent, not lower it down to 5,” Engstrom said.
Despite the possibility that the city could be sued over a higher vendor preference – which Ruderman informed the council of during the discussion – other council members agreed with Engstrom's stance.
Mayor Pro Tem Martin Scheel said many city residents would appreciate the risk the council is taking with the preference. “I think the positive far outweighs the negative on this,” he said.
“If we don't do all we can to support local businesses, this town is going to dry up and blow away,” Engstrom added.
No members of the public offered comment during the hearing, which ended with staff telling the council that they will bring back the proposed ordinance with council's revisions on the percentage of the local vendor preference at a future meeting.
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Supervisors to consider applications to state for invasive mussels prevention funds
LAKEPORT, Calif. – This week the Board of Supervisors will consider a staff request to consider potential applications for state invasive mussel prevention funds.
The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 9, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport. TV8 will broadcast the meeting live, with the archived video to be available online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Boards/Board_of_Supervisors/calendar.htm .
At 9:45 a.m., the board will discuss and consider potential project applications to the state for funding through the State Department of Boating and Waterways Quagga and Zebra Mussel Infestation Prevention Fee.
Water Resources Director Scott De Leon's report to the board explains that in September 2012, Assembly Bill 2443 was signed into law.
The bill created a special fund in the Department of Boating and Waterways to provide grants for local agencies to develop quagga and zebra mussel prevention programs.
He said that the special grant program is being funded through additional registration fees imposed by the Department of Motor Vehicles at the time of registration or registration renewal for vessels that operate in fresh water.
“Staff has been following the development of the program and we are of the understanding that the State will be soliciting grant applications in the near future,” he wrote.
“The purpose of this agenda item is to hear from the Board and the Public ideas on potential projects or programs,” De Leon continued. “It is staff's objective to receive consensus from the Board on project priorities or direction to pursue specific projects or program enhancements.”
The full agenda follows.
CONSENT AGENDA
7.1: Approve recommendation of Animal Control Director William Davidson to close appeal case of nuisance animal abatement at 2875 Bell Hill Road, Kelseyville, CA - male pit bull - owner: Toni Timpke, based on no new findings in six months, as directed by the Board of Supervisors Feb. 18, 2014.
7.2: Approve recommendation to appoint Emergency Services Manager Marisa Chilafoe to the Emergency Medical Care Committee.
7.3: Approve first amendment to agreement between the county of Lake and O’Connor Environmental Inc., for hydrological report services, for a total of $36,600 (additional amount of $16,100) and authorize the chair to sign.
7.4: Sitting as the Lake County Sanitation District (LACOSAN) Board of Directors, (a) waive the formal bidding process, per Ordinance #2406, Purchasing Code No. 38.2 making a determination that competitive bidding would produce no economic benefit to the County; and (b) authorize the Special Districts Administrator/Assistant Purchasing Agent to issue a Purchase order to Downtown Ford for procurement of a 2015 Ford F250 4X2 Supercab Pickup in the amount of $25,573.78 through the statewide bid contract.
TIMED ITEMS
8.2, 9:10 a.m.: Consideration of contracts between the county of Lake and the following organizations: (a) Lucerne Alpine Seniors, Inc., in the amount of $10,182 for FY 2014-15 Health-Related Senior Support Services; (b) Middletown Senior Citizens, Inc., in the amount of $8,148 for FY 2014-15 Health-Related Senior Support Services; (c) Highlands Senior Service Center, Inc., in the amount of $18,849 for FY 2014-15 Health-Related Senior Support Services; (d) Live Oak Senior Center, in the amount of $11,758 for FY 2014-15 Health-Related Senior Support Services; (e) Lakeport Senior Center, Inc., in the amount of $10,618 for FY 2014-15 Health-Related Senior Support Services; (f) Kelseyville Seniors Inc., in the amount of $2,000 for FY 2014-15 basic operating expenses; and (g) Senior Support Services, Inc., in the amount of $1,000 for FY 2014-15 basic operating expenses.
8.4, 9:30 a.m.: Hearing, nuisance abatement of 7055 South State Highway 29, Kelseyville, CA (APN 007-027-32 - Irma J. Brown).
8.5, 9:45 a.m.: Discussion and consideration of potential project applications to the state for funding through the State Department of Boating and Waterways Quagga and Zebra Mussel Infestation Prevention Fee.
8.6, 1 p.m.: Assessment appeal hearing, sitting as the Lake County Local Board of Equalization, Bellig Trust - Application No. 35-2012 - 2100 Eastlake Dr., Kelseyville, CA (APN 044-182-080).
UNTIMED ITEMS
9.2: Consideration of agreement between the county of Lake and Nacht & Lewis Architects for Architectural/Engineering Services for the Hill Road Correctional Facility Expansion, in the amount of $2,024,307.
9.3: Consideration of issuance of purchase order to Downtown Ford Sales of Sacramento for eleven Ford Fusion sedans, in the amount of $202,457.48 and authorize the Social Services director to sign the purchase order, and all related documents, for said purchase.
CONSENT AGENDA
10.2: Conference with Legal Counsel: Existing litigation pursuant to Gov. Code Sec. 54956.9(d) (1) - Fowler and Ford v. County of Lake.
10.3: Conference with real property negotiator pursuant to Gov. Code § 54956.8: (a) Property located at: 2617 S. Main Street, Lakeport (APN 005-053-22); (b) negotiating parties: For County/Air Quality Management District: Supervisor/Director, Anthony Farrington; Air Pollution Control Officer, Doug Gearhart; and Deputy County Administrative Officer, Alan Flora. For seller: Neslo Group, LLC representatives (c) Under Negotiation: Purchase terms.
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