How to resolve AdBlock issue? Officers receive commendations; council delays warming center donation, awards housing element contract
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Commendations honoring the heroic acts of several police officers began the Clearlake City Council's first meeting of the new year on Thursday.
A presentation and request for monetary support regarding the warming center and other city business was also addressed.
Clearlake Police Chief Craig Clausen recognized five of the department's officers for their actions above and beyond the call of duty.
“It's pretty unique we're going to have five commendations here tonight,” Clausen said after expressing his pride in having the opportunity to recognize a number of his officers.
The heroics of officers Elvis Cook and Travis Parsons were called into action in a life-threatening, winter lake rescue in December.
The officers responded to an area past Clearlake Park based on a report of distress calls being heard. They arrived to find a man in the water whose boat had capsized. Additional resources were dispatched; however, an extended time of arrival was expected on the marine units.
Clausen said at this point, the situation was raised to a life-saving level. He said the officers acted quickly and effectively to obtain a nearby row boat and were successful in retrieving the man amid the adverse winter conditions of the lake. He said their actions were brave and selfless.
“They saved this man's life. Without their actions, the result would have been different,” Clausen said.
In the heat of the moment in another incident, officers Chris Reagan and Michael Carpenter jumped into action using not their police skills, but rather their firefighting skills.
Clausen said in December a wildland fire ignited and was causing a threat to a nearby business. With the Lake County Fire Department stretched thin with the fire and other calls for service in the district, the officers took immediate action, fighting the blaze with garden hoses and the fire extinguishers in their patrol vehicles.
“They ruined a couple of uniforms but they saved some structures and possibly some lives with their actions,” Clausen said.
The chief became teary-eyed and emotional in presenting his final commendation of the evening.
He spoke of the expectations of a police officer and those the officer has for the job. He said it not uncommon for the quick actions of all emergency responders to be called upon and that he is continually impressed with their valor.
Officer Michael Dietrick was 35 days on the job when his training was called into action. The September incident involved the life-threatening assault of a fellow police officer.
Clausen commended the young officer in his ability to act quickly and efficiently in the situation. “His actions possibly saved our officer's life,” Clausen said. “He was able to communicate effectively the needs to get emergency medical responders and back up there.”
The council thanked the officers for their selfless actions with standing ovations.
Council discusses warming center, housing element
The council heard a presentation by Gloria Flaherty, executive director of Lake Family Resource Center, regarding the homeless warming center.
Flaherty was there to request a financial contribution of $1,000 from the city. Ultimately, the council directed staff to provide for consideration of the request when the mid-year budget review is discussed. Flaherty indicated that consideration at such time would not adversely effect the program.
The warming center provides overnight shelter for displaced residents of the area in a temporary location obtained through community contributor Dennis Darling, owner of Foods Etc.
The program relies on donations to operate including its staffing costs, which Flaherty said amount to about $15,000 for operation through Feb. 28.
Flaherty said the citizens in the entire Lake County community have been inspiring with donations from food to blankets and monetary contributions amounting to $7,800.
Councilwoman Jeri Spittler, who is involved in the project, added commendations for area grocery stores, which she said provided the majority of the food items. “This project is propelling the good in this community,” she said, adding that grocery stores from Clearlake to Middletown are contributing to the program.
An increase in calls for police services at the site of the shelter was addressed. Flaherty said she recognized and acknowledged the increase in calls and that measures have been taken to mitigate the problems.
“As the issues are being brought to our attention, we are doing our best to address them,” she said.
Spittler said she also recognized the increase in calls; however, she said it is likely those calls would still have occurred in another location occupied by the homeless.
All members of the council expressed support and appreciation for the program before providing direction to staff.
In other business, the council awarded a contract to Price Consulting Services, one of two bids received for updating the city housing element (2014 to 2019) as mandated by the state. The expense is not to exceed $25,455 and includes an expense of $4,940 for optional tasks.
City Manager Joan Phillipe said the additional expense is to address needed amendments to the city's zoning ordinance that were committed to in the last housing element update but not completed as well as some changes in state law.
Price Consulting Services' bid was $7,045 lower than its competitor's, which did not include expense for the optional task.
Phillipe said failure to comply can result in having to update the housing element more frequently than if a certified element is in place. Additionally, she said failure to have a state-certified element precludes the city from applying for Community Development Block Grant funds.
Also on Thursday, the council conducted a first reading of an ordinance amending the city's purchasing system ordinance to provide for local vendor preference. The amendment limits the maximum bid amount for consideration to $100,000.
“By supporting local business, we are giving our community the support it needs to sustain itself,” Vice Mayor Gina Fortino Dickson said, adding the city will see a return with taxes and wages remaining in the city.
The council also terminated a declaration of emergency previously enacted as a result of windstorms on Nov. 21 and 22.
Phillipe said Lake County Fire Protection District Chief Willie Sapeta is currently preparing a final report on the storm to be submitted to the Office of Emergency Services. She said the report will be provided to the council upon its completion.
Mayor Denise Loustalot made her committee appointments for the term, including representative to the League of California Cities Redwood Empire Division. Council member Joey Luiz will serve as the appointed representative while Loustalot will serve as the alternate.
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Lakeport City Council gets social media update, approves pursuing grant for park water supply
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council on Tuesday heard from city staff on social media outreach efforts to the community and a proposed grant application to provide a different water source to Westside Community Park.
Planning Services Manager Andrew Britton, who for nearly a year has headed up the city's social media efforts, updated the council on the progress of the city's Facebook and Twitter outreach.
Based on a strategic planning session last February, the council determined that enhancing its presence online through its Web site, www.cityoflakeport.com , and social media – particularly Facebook and Twitter – provided an opportunity for better outreach to the community, Britton said.
“Our social media efforts began in earnest in early July,” said Britton.
He credited Lake County News for helping the city's Facebook page get a boost when it shared one of those early posts.
Britton said the city of Lakeport's Facebook page shares historical pictures; community events like Grillin' on the Green, the National Night Out and Oktoberfest; city government news including the new medical marijuana cultivation ordinance passed last summer and community safety messages; missing pets; city projects like the Hartley Street rehabilitation; and employee accomplishments.
The posts also can be whimsical but always illustrate pride in the city, he said.
“We believe our efforts are paying off,” Britton said.
Since Britton began managing the city of Lakeport's Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/CityofLakeport , it has grown from 88 likes last July to 519 this week.
Posts often are seen by between 500 and 3,000 people, and he thanked the Lake County Record-Bee and Lake County News for sharing the city's posts, which he said “dramatically” increases the city's page reach.
The Lakeport Police Department Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lakeport-Police-Department/176101292414821 , which currently has 667 likes, also is very popular, Britton said.
A post on the page last fall about “Officer Ronnie” Dekeyser III, a young boy with a brain tumor who was made an honorary Lakeport Police officer in October, was viewed by more than 117,000 people and generated 5,200 likes, Britton said.
Britton said city staff believe they've established a winning formula on Facebook by promoting city events and activities, and said it has been an effective took for community outreach. He said he hopes the page will have 1,000 likes by this time next year.
The city also is active on Twitter – it has 106 followers – but Britton said Twitter doesn't seem to have as much traction in Lake County as it does in urban areas. “It's something we'll continue to do,” he said.
City Manager Margaret Silveira thanked Britton for his efforts. “He took this on himself,” she said.
Council members appeared pleased with Britton's efforts.
“Nicely done,” said Councilman Tom Engstrom.
“Keep up the good work,” said Councilman Marc Spillman.
Mayor Pro Tem Martin Scheel said the council has been getting positive feedback from the community thanks to the social media efforts.
Britton said the city's Web site is mostly all business, while Facebook allows them to post important information while trying to be more engaging. He said they're trying to show the human side of the city of Lakeport and its employees.
Mayor Kenny Parlet encouraged council members and other staffs also to pitch in and assist Britton, who has been spending a lot of his own time on the project.
“The beauty of social media, it's so instantaneous,” said Parlet.
Parlet added, “I think it's going a long way to promote a very positive picture of Lakeport.”
In other business, Silveira received the council's unanimous approval of a resolution allowing city staff to pursue a California Department of Housing and Community Development Housing Related Parks Grant.
The city is eligible for about $75,000 in noncompetitive grant funding based on affordable housing units created by the recently completed Bella Vista Senior Complex on Martin Street, she said.
Silveira's original report to the council advised that the city is eligible for $77,400 in funding, a number which she said was reduced down to the minimum grant amount of $75,000 due to one city affordable housing project that it's since been determined may not be eligible.
City staff is proposing to use the funds to pursue a preliminary engineering report on options for supplying Westside Park with different sources of water, Silveira explained.
Currently the park's irrigation needs are being supplied with treated, potable water, Silveira explained.
A pipeline to the park already exists, and one option to be explored is piping in water from Clear Lake, with a well being the second. The engineering study will look at those options, she said.
Spillman said he believed that dumping drinking water on the park's fields “is a huge waste of revenue,” and he wanted to see the other available options, which he believed would save the city money.
Scheel added that exploring alternative water supplies is going to be even more critical if no rain comes soon.
Spillman asked if the lake water would be filtered. Public Works Director Mark Brannigan replied that it would have some basic filtration but wouldn't be treated.
Scheel offered the resolution, with Council member Stacey Mattina seconding and the council unanimously approving it.
Also on Tuesday, Parlet made his commission and board appointments.
The council also approved a professional services agreement with Community Development Services. That agreement had been on the consent agenda but the council was advised by the interim city attorney to remove it and vote on it separately.
Parlet, who had a longstanding business relationship with the firm, recused himself from the discussion and vote.
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Drought conditions lead to actions at local, regional and state levels
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – County, regional and state officials are taking action in response to the lack of rain and resulting drought conditions California is seeing as 2014 begins.
On Tuesday, with Clear Lake at a very low winter level and a county official reporting drought conditions on par with the drought of 1976 and 1977, the Board of Supervisors directed staff to bring back a more comprehensive drought plan update.
On the same day, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors declared a local emergency due to the drought conditions.
Also this week the Sonoma County Water Agency reported that the Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership, a coalition of local water utilities, was kicking off a “new and unusual” wintertime public outreach effort that has a straightforward message: “The drought is on. Turn the water off.”
The agency reported that Lake Mendocino is at 38 percent of water supply capacity, with Lake Sonoma at 67 percent of capacity.
The Association of California Water Agencies reported that during a Tuesday California State Board of Food and Agriculture meeting in Sacramento, California Department of Water Resources Director Mark Cowin said a drought declaration by Gov. Jerry Brown could take place in February, after the next snow survey.
This week, Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, which holds the water rights to Clear Lake and Indian Valley Reservoir, reported that there was no water available for release for irrigation, whereas at this time last year there had been 68,463 acre feet available.
Clear Lake's level this week has hovered around 0.60 feet Rumsey, the special measure for the lake's depth, compared to 5.65 feet Rumsey at this time in 2013.
According to US Geological Survey data, this month so far has the lowest lake level of any January going back to January 1991, which had numbers slightly lower.
Indian Valley Reservoir's storage this week was at 13,961 acre feet compared to 108,756 acre feet at this time last year, the district reported.
Reviewing the current county drought plan
At Tuesday's Lake County Board of Supervisors meeting, a discussion on a county drought management plan created by Special Districts led the board to direct Scott De Leon, director both of the county's Public Works and Water Resources departments, to bring to the board his own drought plan pertaining to Clear Lake's conditions.
Special Districts Administrator Mark Dellinger – who also went before the board to get approval for a resolution to accept $215,000 in state funds to relocate the sewer system at the north Lakeport Lakeside Heights subdivision – gave the board an update on the current drought management plan.
His written report to the board explained, “Critically low water table levels and low lake levels are threatening the water systems managed by Special Districts and weather experts are predicting dry conditions continuing into the next year.”
He said the California Department of Water Resources is urging local water agencies to brace for a third dry year and acute water shortages in the coming summer.
Dellinger said lawmakers are asking Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a drought emergency and President Barack Obama for a federal disaster declaration.
“Water managers are comparing the impending drought conditions to those of 1976-1977, the most severe modern drought in the region,” Dellinger said in his written report.
“We're in what we would identify as a significant drought,” Dellinger said during the board meeting, explaining that 80 percent of the state is in what has been defined as a severe drought.
Dellinger said he first brought the drought management plan to the board four years ago, at which time the county and the state were seeing similar dry conditions.
Those conditions were alleviated thanks to rain in the spring of 2010, so the steps the plan outlines didn't need to be taken, he said.
“We don't know if that's going to happen this year,” he said.
The plan's steps and triggers
Dellinger said the plan is based on a series of triggers, which were laid out in his written report.
The four triggers include step one, voluntary conservation, which is implemented when a potential threat to capacity is seen. At that point, Special Districts mails out conservation notices to all customers, with a target of a 15 percent overall reduction in a month-to-month comparison.
The second stage, initiating phased mandatory conservation measures to prohibit nonessential water use, occurs when the 15 percent reduction expected from voluntary conservation doesn't materialize.
If conditions persist and conservation still isn't meeting the needed reduction, step three would take place. That includes implementation of an urgency ordinance with additional mandatory conservation measures and a revised rate structure to financially discourage nonessential water use.
Stage four includes a connection moratorium and surcharges for water consumption above a prescribed base usage.
“Public outreach and education is extremely important,” Dellinger told the board.
Last week, Special Districts went forward with mailing out voluntary conservation notices. “We believe we are in stage one now,” Dellinger said.
Dellinger added, “I think we may be not too far away from taking the next step; it's all based on what kind of rain we get.”
He said Special Districts now needs to be aggressive with internal monitoring and education and outreach.
The system that looks to be most at risk is Special Districts' smallest, Mt. Hannah on Cobb, which has 87 customers. Dellinger said Mt. Hannah – one of 10 water systems overseen by Special Districts – has seen the largest drop in pumping.
Supervisor Rob Brown said he wants the county to work with the Bureau of Land Management and Cal Fire on controlled burns, noting that brush takes up large amounts of water. He estimated that the water consumed by brush is well more than what is used by the county's residents.
“If we’re really going to get serious about it, now is the time to do it,” Brown said, adding that he believes the local streams will come back quickly if the brush is taken back.
Supervisor Jim Comstock agreed with Brown's comments about brush and water consumption. “Plus, in a drought situation, control burns provide fire breaks.”
County Administrative Officer Matt Perry – who pointed out that on Tuesday the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors was considering declaring a local emergency due to water conditions – also reported that the county of Lake has received a survey from the California Office of Emergency Services office on the county's level of preparedness for the dry water conditions.
Based on a suggestion by Board Chair Denise Rushing – who wanted to have De Leon bring back to the board a broader drought management plan that works with other agencies – the board reached consensus to have him return with his own plan at a future meeting.
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Lake County marks Wilderness Act's 50th anniversary
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lake County may have been the first in the United States to give official notice to a year of nationwide celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the landmark federal Wilderness Act.
After passage by an overwhelmingly nonpartisan Congressional vote, this legislation was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 3, 1964.
It created America’s National Wilderness Preservation System, federal lands to be preserved permanently for “the use and enjoyment of the American people in such manner as will ... provide for the protection of these areas and the preservation of their wilderness character.”
To commemorate the occasion, shortly after 9 a.m. on Tuesday, newly elected Board of Supervisors Chair Denise Rushing read a resolution proclaiming the significance of our National Wilderness Preservation System to “America’s cultural, scientific, historical, cultural and spiritual heritage,” reflecting on the “profound influence of the great outdoors on our lives and our national character” and committing to “preserving them for generations to come.”
All or part of four designated wilderness areas (Cache Creek, Sanhedrin, Snow Mountain, and Yuki) lie within the borders of Lake County.
Rushing presented the proclamation to Sierra Club Lake Group Chair Ed Robey, who thanked the members of the board for their resolution, and expressed his gratification at the county’s extremely prompt recognition of this significant anniversary.
He then informed them that the Redwood Chapter, Lake Group’s parent organization, has prepared a guidebook to the 21 state and federal wilderness areas in northwest California, and promised to return on the earliest possible occasion to offer a complimentary copy to each supervisor.
Victoria Brandon is chair of the Sierra Club Redwood Chapter. She lives in Lower Lake, Calif.
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Supervisors elect new leadership for 2014
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – There was a bit of chair switching on Tuesday as the Board of Supervisors established new leadership for 2014 at the first board meeting of the new year.
During the first order of business at the Tuesday meeting, Denise Rushing was elected chair for the new year, with Anthony Farrington to serve as her vice chair.
Outgoing Chair Jeff Smith told his colleagues, “I'm really proud of our board, the way we work together.”
Even when they disagree, the supervisors are able to come back together with no interruptions, he said, noting that some local boards and councils fight and don't get along.
“We’ve always gotten along and I really appreciate that,” he said.
The past year saw some controversial matters before the board, Smith noted. Yet, he felt the board members worked well and the vast majority of citizens were respectful.
Overall, he said it was a fairly easy term, and his colleagues congratulated him on his efforts.
He and Rushing then switched seats.
The board then continued with votes to place members on other boards and commissions.
Farrington was elected chair of the Lake County Board of Equalization, with Jim Comstock elected vice chair.
Farrington and Comstock also will be the representative and alternate, respectively, to the Rural County Representatives of California.
Rushing will chair the In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority, with Farrington as vice chair.
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