How to resolve AdBlock issue? Lakeport City Council to discuss housing element, legislative policy, sales tax
LAKEPORT, Calif. – An update on a countywide sales tax, a public hearing on the housing element report and city legislative policy will be on the Lakeport City Council's agenda this week.
The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 6, in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.
At the beginning of the meeting, the council will observe a moment of silence for former council member and Mayor Arlin Pischke, who died at age 75 on April 27: http://bit.ly/S55iuP .
During public presentations, Lake County Public Works and Water Resources Director Scott De Leon will give the council an update on Measure L, the half-cent sales tax for lake and water quality projects that is to appear on the June 3 ballot, http://www.savethelake.info .
One of the council's main orders of business for Tuesday is a public hearing to approve the 2013 Housing Element Progress Report, and direct staff to submit the report to the Department of Housing and Community Development.
The council also will adopt resolutions declaring certain property surplus and approving its sale, and approving the city of Lakeport Legislative Policy.
On the meeting's consent agenda – items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote – are ordinances, minutes of the regular April 15 and April 29 meetings, the April 18 warrant register, and approval of Application No. 2014-008 for Community Care to hold the Lake County Aids Walk on Sept. 13 utilizing city sidewalks for the walk and Library Park and the gazebo area for presentations and booths.
After the public portion of the meeting, the council will hold a closed session for employee labor negotiations.
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VIDEO: District attorney candidates share views, answer questions at forum
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The two men seeking the office of district attorney had their first meeting in a candidates' forum on Thursday.
Incumbent Don Anderson and challenger Andre Ross answered questions from the community – and each other – during the forum, held in the Board of Supervisors chambers at the Lake County Courthouse in Lakeport.
Anderson is seeking a second term in office while Ross is looking to unseat him in the race. The primary is June 3.
The forum, which ran just over an hour, can be seen in its entirety in the video above, produced by McKenzie Paine of Velocity Video in partnership with the Lake County Chamber of Commerce and Lake County News, the forum's sponsors.
Anderson and Ross are next set to appear in a public forum at the Middletown Area Town Hall meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 8, at the Middletown Community Center, 21256 Washington St.
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Middletown Area Town Hall to host district attorney candidates forum May 8
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Middletown Area Town Hall, or MATH, invites the community to a forum for the candidates in the district attorney race on Thursday, May 8.
The forum will be held during the MATH regular meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. in the Middletown Community Center, 21256 Washington St.
Community members will be able to meet incumbent District Attorney Don Anderson and his challenger in the race, Andre Ross.
MATH meetings are subject to videotaping. Meeting proceedings may be available for viewing on public access television and/or the Internet.
MATH – established by resolution of the Lake County Board of Supervisors on Dec. 12, 2006 – is a municipal advisory council serving the residents of Anderson Springs, Cobb, Coyote Valley (including Hidden Valley Lake), Long Valley and Middletown.
The group’s current board of directors include Chairman Fletcher Thornton, Vice Chair Claude Brown, Secretary Ken Gonzales, and members Tom Darms and Laura Helton.
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City of Clearlake seeks services of new attorney; proposals requested
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – With the Clearlake City Council having received a resignation letter from its current attorney, the council now invites interested firms and attorneys to submit written proposals to provide city attorney services.
The council formally received the letter from City Attorney Malathy Subramanian, of the firm Best Best & Krieger LLP, last week, as Lake County News has reported.
Subramanian, who has been Clearlake's city attorney since January 2008, said the letter also served as notice of the firm's termination of its legal services agreement with the city.
She said she would continue on as city attorney for 60 days in order to allow the city to secure new legal counsel.
The city attorney is selected by and serves at the pleasure of the City Council and works closely with the council, city manager and other city staff.
As city attorney, the selected law firm or attorney will be expected to provide a wide range of legal services to the city. The city is considering a contract with a five-year term.
Firms or attorneys interested in submitting proposals for city attorney have complete application packets to the city by 5 p.m. Thursday, May 15.
Applicants must submit one original unbound proposal marked “original,” eight bound copies (marked “copy”), and one electronic version in PDF format on CD or flash/zip drive on or before the submittal deadline of the proposal, with a proposed contractual agreement, in a sealed envelope bearing the caption “City of Clearlake – City Attorney Proposal' and “DO NOT OPEN WITH REGULAR MAIL.”
The letter of transmittal portion of the proposal must bear original signatures.
The envelope must be addressed to City Manager Joan Phillipe, City of Clearlake, 14050 Olympic Drive, Clearlake, CA 95422.
For more information and the official request for proposals, visit the city of Clearlake’s Web site at www.clearlake.ca.us or call City Clerk Melissa Swanson at 707-994-8201, Extension 106.
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Dollar General plans two new 'small box' stores in Clearlake Oaks, Nice
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The nation's largest “small box” retailer has its sights set on opening two new stores on Lake County's Northshore.
Dollar General Corp., based in Goodlettsville, Tenn., is planning the stores in Clearlake Oaks and Nice,
company spokeswoman Jaclyn Dees confirmed to Lake County News.
Cross Development of Carrolton, Texas, has submitted the use permit applications for the two projects to the Lake County Community Development Department, according to county documents.
The projects will go before the Lake County Planning Commission next Thursday, May 8.
The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. in the Board of Supervisors chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.
At that meeting, the commission will consider approving mitigated negative declarations due to the projects not having significant environmental effects.
Michalyn DelValle, a planner with the Lake County Community Development Department, said both stores' plans call for square footage of larger than 9,100 but smaller than 10,000 square feet.
In Nice, the new store is proposed to be built on a 1.1-acre property at 3539 and 3577 E. State Highway 20, the location of the current Nice Frostie, DelValle said.
In Clearlake Oaks, the new store location will be 13090 E. State Highway 20, a currently undeveloped 4.7-acre property located next to Schindler Creek, she said.
The properties where the Nice store is to be located are owned by Judy Swenson Thompson, who has a Nice address, while Richard and Mary Kuehn of Clearlake Oaks are listed as trustees of the Clearlake Oaks property, according to the staff reports for the May 8 Planning Commission meeting.
DelValle said the building plans for both store projects already are in plan check and environmental studies have been performed. That means that, once the full permit conditions are fulfilled, the projects can move forward fairly quickly and construction can start.
In the case of the Clearlake Oaks store project, located next to Schindler Creek, the main environmental requirement is that the construction must maintain 20-foot setbacks from the top of the creek bank, DelValle said.
Dollar General Corp. reported that it has more than 11,000 stores in 40 states, more than 100,000 employees and had $17.5 billion in sales in fiscal year 2013. It's now actively expanding into California.
“We just entered the California market back in 2012,” Dees said.
Dees said various factors go into selecting new store locations, including demographic trends, competitive factors and traffic patterns.
However, the No. 1 factor is convenience for shoppers, said Dees, noting that they look to be located within a three- to five-mile radius or a 10-mile drive from customer populations.
Dollar General plans to open 700 new stores in 2014, many of which will be in California, Dees said.
As for the merchandise Dollar General offers, “We like to say we're a one-stop shop,” said Dees, explaining that the stores offer everything from food to health and beauty products, décor and more at competitive prices.
The company also has its own private brand that is comparable to the name brands it offers – Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark, Unilever, Kellogg’s, General Mills, Nabisco, Hanes, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola – with a 100-percent satisfaction guarantee, Dees said.
She could not give specific dates for when the Clearlake Oaks and Nice stores are expected to open.
Both stores remain in the due diligence process, with the Clearlake Oaks project's due diligence set to be completed in August and the Nice project's in September, Dees said.
Dees said more details about the stores – including their specifics sizes and the numbers of employees each will have – will be available closer to the completion of the projects.
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