How to resolve AdBlock issue? Clearlake City Council appoints leadership, considers Lakeshore Drive Corridor Plan
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Mayoral appointments were made Thursday during the Clearlake City Council's final meeting of the year.
The appointments concluded an agenda packed with informational and visual presentations that contributed to a nearly four-hour-long meeting.
Denise Loustalot was appointed to serve as mayor in 2014 while Gina Fortino Dickson will serve as vice mayor.
Additionally, Loustalot and Councilwoman Jeri Spittler were presented with plaques commemorating their service this year as vice mayor and mayor, respectively.
The council received five presentations including the introductions of the city's new Web site and a “Today in America” segment showcasing the city of Clearlake. The segment, narrated by Terry Bradshaw, is to be aired nationally in the coming year.
The city's Web site is up and running at www.clearlake.ca.us . It features various kinds of information about the city, from how to contact council members and staff to highlights on the city's parks and facilities.
It includes information and links to other local resources, a community calendar and forum for ideas and conversation.
Among the site's other features is that which allows users to personalize their experience, City Clerk Melissa Swanson said.
She said it also includes a “Let Us Know” tab, which currently hosts an area for lost and found pets and can be expanded as needs are identified.
Technical difficulties prevented the council from hearing the “Today in America” segment. However, the video was nonetheless presented without sound.
Highlights of the video include interviews with business owners, residents and city government representatives. It also showcases area amenities, facilities and beaches.
City Manager Joan Phillipe said the production cost about $20,000 with use of economic development funds. She said the city rightfully owns the piece and can use it at its discretion.
The council received a presentation from Jim Steele as a member of the Clear Lake Satellite Imaging Project Advisory Committee. The committee is focused on identifying sources of nutrient releases into the lake, making seasonal comparisons and finding solutions for bettering lake health.
The committee is working with Blue Water Satellite to compile images for analysis of sediment trends impacting Clear Lake.
The project includes monitoring in areas such as phosphorus intake, which Steele said drives the cyanobacteria blooms that have plagued the lake in recent years. Steele said satellite imaging provides several advantages, including illustration of the summer bloom sequence event.
Josh Meyer of the Local Government Commission provided the council with a presentation of the final Lakeshore Drive Corridor Plan.
The council ultimately directed additional changes be made to the document, which will be brought back for later consideration.
The plan identifies seven prominent points of interest; seeks to manage speed on Lakeshore Drive; provide safe places to walk, bike, catch the bus and cross the street; fix problem intersections, organize parking; improved corridor look; develop points of interest; and enhance waterfront views and access.
It also includes conceptual drawings for city parks, business fronts, curb, gutter and sidewalk options; and recommendations for mitigating parking concerns and manage speed.
The council expressed continued concern for mitigating issues with traffic speed, with particular concern for the intersection at Mullen Avenue.
The council received and filed an “unqualified opinion” regarding audits for fiscal years 2010-11 and 2011-12 by Pun and McGeady.
The opinion asserts auditor's finding that the city's financial statements were presented fairly and in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S.
The filing includes recommendations addressing the timeliness of the audits, attributing their lengthy delay to numerous staff changes within the city's finance department.
In other news, the council was informed by Swanson of a new law that requires specific recording of council members' votes as well as other governmental bodies that make decisions by way of vote. The law takes effect in January.
The council also extended a declaration of local emergency as damage from the November windstorm continues to be assessed.
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Special Districts receives state grant for relocating Lakeside Heights sewer system
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lake County Special Districts has received a state grant to pay for permanently relocating the sewer system at the Lakeside Heights subdivision to more stable ground.
Special Districts was just notified that it will receive $215,300 in grant funds from the State Water Resource Control Board, according to Compliance Coordinator Jan Coppinger.
Earlier this year, Special Districts received $30,356 in grant funds from the State Water Resource Control Board for geotechnical and engineering costs for the project, bringing the actual total combined grant award to $245,656, Coppinger said.
Coppinger said the total cost to permanently relocate Lakeside Heights' sewer line is $264,320.
That difference between the project cost and the state grant will be covered by a grant of $49,020 that the Board of Supervisors approved as a local project match at its Oct. 22 meeting, Coppinger said.
“The grant award must be approved by the Board of Supervisors and we are working on getting it on the agenda as soon as we receive the official document,” Coppinger said.
A landslide that began in March damaged several homes in the 29-home subdivision, which is located off of Hill Road in north Lakeport.
About half of the homes would be emptied through red tags or voluntary evacuations. Most of the ground movement had stopped by late summer, according to officials.
Since the slide began, Special Districts has looked at options for protecting the subdivision's public water and sewer systems.
In April the Board of Supervisors declared a local emergency, and also authorized a $350,000 loan to Special Districts to address the subdivision's infrastructure.
The landslide threatened a sewage collection manhole, which the county said needed to be replaced to prevent a raw sewage spill and a subdivision evacuation.
Since then, work done on the sewer system includes installing two new manholes, pumps and temporary piping, officials reported.
Permanently relocating the entire sewer system has been a concern for county officials, as for some months the subdivision has been served by a temporary system, which has pipes that run above ground and a portable pumping station.
In October, two of the damaged homes were demolished by a contractor hired by the county as part of the effort to winterize and stabilize the slide area.
That same contractor also did tarping work on the slide area to keep it from getting wet, which could lead to it possibly becoming unstable again.
The county and the Lakeside Heights Homeowners Association both paid for the 1,200 sandbags and nearly five acres of tarping, according to association President Randall Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald said the tarping was damaged in the late November windstorm.
Earlier this fall, nearly four dozen property owners in the subdivision filed a lawsuit against the county, alleging that the county owned and operated infrastructure was to blame for destabilizing the hillside and resulting in the slide, as Lake County News has reported.
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Warming center marks first night; more donations, volunteers needed
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A newly opened warming center in the city of Clearlake kept several people out of the cold from Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, and will remain open during freezing nights into next week.
Lake Family Resource Center, with assistance from the county of Lake, opened the warming center on Tuesday at its Clearlake office, located at 15312 Lakeshore Drive, as Lake County News has reported.
It's open from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. each day, and is expected to follow those hours through next Monday, according to Lake Family Resource Center Executive Director Gloria Flaherty, who went to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to ask for county assistance.
Flaherty intends to go back to the board for a scheduled discussion next Tuesday on next steps in the effort to shelter the homeless during the freezing winter nights, “which is what my goal, honestly, is.”
Lake County has no homeless shelter, despite having a homeless count of approximately 188, based on a “point-in-time” count last January.
Lake Family Resource Center took the lead in opening the warming center “because it needed to happen,” Flaherty said, adding that no other group in the county has wanted to take responsibility for being the homeless agency.
The bitterly cold nights that the county has experienced in recent days caused Flaherty to take action.
“I couldn’t sleep last weekend and decided this is ridiculous, we're just going to do this,” she said.
So she went to the supervisors on Tuesday and received support to have Social Services Department staff be paid to volunteer at the center.
The call that went out to the community also was answered with an outpouring of support, she said.
“It is amazing how this community pulls together very quickly,” she said.
In addition to the help from Social Services staff, which is covering most of the overnight shifts, Flaherty said they received help from Clearlake City Councilwoman Jeri Spittler, who has lined up food, Lakeside Appliance donated a refrigerator for use when the center is open and St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake has used its van to transport people back and forth from a homeless camp.
Then there are the community members who stepped up. “Individuals in this county have just been amazing,” she said.
People who have hardly anything themselves have been bringing in what they can, she said. “It's heartwarming.”
On Wednesday, Flaherty was again tired, but this time it wasn't because of lack of sleep due to lying awake worrying, as she had last weekend; rather, it was from working at the shelter late Tuesday, which she called a “wonderful” experience.
Seven people used the center overnight, and she expects more to come on Wednesday and the rest of the nights this week as the word continues to get out in the community through fliers, the media, local agencies and word of mouth.
As she prepares to speak to the board next Tuesday, Flaherty is planning to talk to other agencies about who will be the lead going forward on the effort to help the homeless population. One of the key questions will be what it will take in the way of resources to continue to safeguard the homeless during cold winter nights.
“Nobody has any funding for it,” she said, so the donations of cash that Lake Family Resource Center has received – which totaled about $1,500 on Wednesday – will be crucial.
Flaherty said the people who she spoke to who used the warming center on Tuesday night have all lived in Lake County for decades. “They, too, are part of our community,” she said.
She added, “By opening a warming center we are not attracting the homeless population to Lake County. We are taking care of our own.”
Lake Family Resource Center is continuing to seek cash, food and clothing donations, she said.
Flaherty said they can never have too many socks or gloves, from sizes medium and up for both men and women.
While they have not yet had children at the center, she expects them to come, and so donations of children's clothing – particularly socks and jackets – also are requested.
Flaherty said they also would like to have food items on hand that don't require cooking, which people can take with them when leaving the center.
Cash donations also will help cover utilities and other needs, Flaherty said.
In addition to seeking donations of cash, clothing and food, Flaherty said Lake Family Resource Center is continuing to seek volunteers.
Anyone interested in working shifts at the warming center is encouraged to call Beth Berinti at Lake Family Resource Center, 707-279-0563.
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City of Lakeport urges residents to take measures against damage to pipes
LAKEPORT, Calif. – As the cold snap continues, Lakeport city officials are urging residents to take precautions to guard against the damage that freezing temperatures can do to water pipes.
Frozen and broken water pipes at homes and businesses are common with the sustained freezing temperatures, with the city offering several simple preventive measures that can be taken to prevent this from happening.
They include the following:
- Insulate exposed pipes.
- Use heat tape or a heat lamp on exposed pipes if power is available.
- Run water from a spigot no faster than a slow drip where you are worried that a pipe can freeze. Use a bucket to collect the water to keep an area from becoming a slip and fall hazard.
- Disconnect your water hose from an outdoor spigot. The water in the hose will freeze and the ice within the hose can accelerate the freezing of your pipes.
If a water pipe freezes – there will be no water – there is a possibility that when the pipe thaws that a leak will be found.
As the weather warms up please be aware of signs of water leaks around your house and your neighbors.
Know how to shut the water off to your home or business. If a water leak is discovered the water will need to be isolated so repairs can be made.
If you are unable to isolate the water you can call the city, 707-263-3578, to isolate the water to the property, Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Emergency calls can be made 24/7 at that number.
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Lakeshore Drive corridor plan, windstorm emergency update on Clearlake City Council agenda
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A final plan for the Lakeshore Drive corridor, an update on the local emergency designated in response to a windstorm late last month and selection of new council leadership are on the Clearlake City Council's agenda this week.
The council will meet in closed session at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 12, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive, to discuss a case of anticipated litigation before convening in open session at 6 p.m.
Among the items on the Thursday agenda, the council will hear a presentation on the final Lakeshore Downtown Corridor Plan by Josh Meyer of the Local Government Commission.
City Manager Joan Phillipe will update the council on the damage from the windstorm that occurred Nov. 21 and 22, and the council will consider her request not to terminate the local emergency declared on Nov. 23 and confirmed by the council on Nov. 25.
The council also will receive a presentation from Jim Steele of the Clear Lake Satellite Imaging Project Advisory Committee and hear about the city's new Web site.
In other business, the council will get a report on a new law requiring a public report on actions and votes of each council member in open session and hear a presentation by Kenneth Pun of Pun and McGeady on the basic financial statements and independent auditor's report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012.
The council also will appoint the mayor and vice mayor for 2014.
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