City of Lakeport receives national government budgeting award

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada announced that the city of Lakeport has received the association's Distinguished Budget Presentation Award.

The association said the award “represents a significant achievement” for the city.

The award reflects the commitment of the Lakeport City Council and city staff to meet the highest principals of governmental budgeting, the association said.

In order to receive the budget award, the city had to satisfy nationally recognized guidelines for effective budget presentation. The association said the guidelines are designed to assess how well an entity's budget serves as a policy document, a financial plan, an operations guide and a communications device.

Budget documents must be rated “proficient” in all four categories and 14 mandatory criteria within those capital quarries to receive the award, according to the association.

When the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award is granted to an entity, a certificate of recognition for budget presentation also is presented the individual or department designated as being primarily responsible for its having achieved the award.

That certificate was presented to city Finance Director Dan Buffalo at the Lakeport City Council's Nov. 19 meeting.

For budgets including fiscal period 2012, more than 1,340 entities are expected to receive the award. Award recipients have pioneered efforts to improve the quality of budgeting and provide an excellent example for other governments throughout North America.

The Government Finance Officers Association is a nonprofit professional association serving more than 17,800 government finance professionals throughout North America.

The association's Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards Program is the only national awards program in governmental budgeting.

Supervisors to discuss windstorm emergency, rent control initiative, lake sales tax

LAKEPORT, Calif. – This week the Board of Supervisors will get an update on the local emergency declared after last month's windstorm, discuss reports on a senior mobile home park rent control initiative and consider the final reading on a proposed lake sales tax proposal.

The board meeting will begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport. It will be broadcast live on TV8.

In an untimed event the board will get an update on the windstorm that hit the county Nov. 21 and 22, and consider terminating the local emergency declared in a special meeting last week.

At 9:15 a.m., the board will consider departmental reports regarding the senior mobile home park rent control initiative that has received enough signatures to go on the June 2014 ballot.

Last month the board directed several county departments to complete the reports on the initiative's potential impacts.

At 11 a.m., the board will consider the final reading of a draft ordinance – the “Lake County Clear Lake Programs Transactions and Use Tax Ordinance” – that would place a half-percent sales tax on next June's ballot.

The tax, which would collect an estimated $2.4 million annually, would be used for water quality programs, including efforts to improve the health of Clear Lake.

Also on Tuesday, at 10:30 a.m. the board will receive a presentation on the 2013 Lake County Community Health Needs Assessment.

The full agenda follows.

TIMED ITEMS

9 a.m., A-1 to A-4: Approval of consent agenda, which includes items that are expected to be routine and noncontroversial, and will be acted upon by the board at one time without discussion; presentation of animals available for adoption at Lake County Animal Care and Control; consideration of items not appearing on the posted agenda, and contract change orders for current construction projects.

9:05 a.m.: Citizen's input. Any person may speak for three minutes about any subject of concern, provided that it is within the jurisdiction of the Board of Supervisors and is not already on the agenda. Prior to this time, speakers must fill out a slip giving name, address and subject (available in the clerk of the board’s office, first floor, courthouse).

9:15 a.m., A-5: Consideration of departmental reports regarding proposed ordinance regarding senior rent control county initiative petition, as certified by the registrar of voters.

9:45 a.m., A-6: (a) Consideration of formation of Community Service Area (CSA) for the South Main Street/Soda Bay Road corridor for the provision of will sit concurrently as the water service to area businesses and residents; and (b) consideration of the of potential sources of water supply for service provision within the Kelseyville County Water CSA Works District No. 3.

10:15 a.m., A-7: Public hearing, consideration of proposed ordinance amending Building and Safety Chapter 5 of the Lake County Code and adopting by reference the 2013 California Building Standards Code, known as the California Code of Regulations, Title 24, Parts 1 through 6, 8 through 12, incorporating the 2013 Edition of the California Building Code; the 2013 Edition of the California Residential Code; the 2013 Edition of the California Electrical Code; the 2013 Edition of the California Plumbing Code; the 2013 Edition of the California Mechanical Code; the 2013 Edition of the California Green Building Code; the 2013 Edition of the California Energy Code; the 2013 Edition of the California Fire Code; the 2013 Edition of the California Administrative Code, the 2013 Edition of the California Historical Building Code, the 2013 Edition of the California Existing Building Code, the 2012 Edition of the International Property Maintenance Code and the 2012 Edition of the International Wildland-Urban Interface Code.

10:20 a.m., A-8: Presentation of 3rd Quarter Report Committee. Carried over from Oct. 15.

10:30 a.m., A-9: Presentation of the 2013 Lake County Community Health Needs Assessment.

10:45 a.m., A-10: Discussion regarding the mandated recordation of the Right to Farm Ordinance with all transfers of property within the county of Lake. Continued from Nov. 19.

11 a.m., A-11: Consideration of draft ordinance adding Article II to Chapter 18 of the Lake County Code imposing a transaction and use tax (proposed lake sales tax measure for lake-related programs draft).

11:15 a.m., A-12: Consideration of intake policy on accepting stray cats.

NONTIMED ITEMS

A-13: Supervisors’ weekly calendar, travel and reports.

A-14: (a) Update on wind storm event; (b) consideration of termination of local emergency and other related fiscal actions.

CLOSED SESSION

A-15: 1. Conference with labor negotiator: (a) county negotiators: A. Grant, L. Guintivano, S. Harry, M. Perry, A. Flora and C. Shaver; and (b) employee organization: Deputy District Attorney's Association, Lake County Deputy Sheriff's Association, Lake County Correctional Officers Association, Lake County Employees Association and Lake County Safety Employees Association.

A-15: 2. Conference with real property negotiator, (a) property located at: 3980 Gard St., Kelseyville (APN 024-081-01); (b) negotiating parties for county: Supervisor Rob Brown, Child Support Services Director Gail Woodworth, County Administrative Officer Matt Perry and Deputy County Administrative Officer Alan Flora; for seller, Kelseyville Unified School District representatives; (c) under negotiation, lease terms.

A-15: 3. Sitting as the Board of Directors of the Lake County IHSS Public Authority: Conference with Labor Negotiator: (a) Agency Negotiator: Carol Huchingson and F. Buchanan (b) Employee Organization: California United Homecare Workers Union AFSCME/SEIU Local 4034.

CONSENT AGENDA

C-1: Approve minutes of the Board of Supervisors meetings held on Nov. 19 and 26, 2013.

C-2: Adopt resolution expressing support for Lower Lake Parade and Barbecue (May 25, 2014).

C-3: Adopt resolution accepting conveyance of real property located in Nice and Lucerne (paper subdivision lots).

C-4: Approve first amendment to agreement between the county of Lake and Milhous Children’s Services for FY 2013-14 specialty mental health services, reducing the contract maximum from $120,000 to $5,000, and authorize the chair to sign.

C-5: Approve agreement between the county of Lake and St. Helena Hospital and Center for Behavioral Health (CBH) for FY 2013-14 acute hospital services, maximum amount $125,000, and authorize the chair to sign.

C-6: Approve certification of county elections official of result of the canvass of the general district election returns and result of the 1 percent manual tally of randomly selected voting precincts.

C-7: Waive 900 hour limit for extra help Facilities Maintenance Worker Terence O’Boyle.

C-8: Approve 13th Amendment to agreement between the county of Lake and MRO Engineers for engineering services for the Soda Bay Bridge Replacement over Cole Creek, an increase of $15,235, and authorize the chair to sign.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

Resources offered to help community in windstorm recovery process

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County residents continue to clean up in the aftermath of a powerful wind storm that ripped through Lake County on Thursday, Nov. 21, and Friday, Nov. 22.

Here is a list of some steps to take and available resources to help in the cleanup and recovery process.

If you are still having power outages, contact PG&E at 1-800-PGE-5000.

If your home or business is damaged and you have property insurance, please contact your insurance company.

If your home or business is damaged and you are uninsured, the Board of Supervisors has proclaimed a local state of emergency. The proclamation lays the groundwork for the possibility of receiving state or federal aid for damage.

There is no guarantee of funding and it may take several weeks to determine eligibility. The county will release more information as it becomes available.

Tenants should contact their landlords and notify them of any damage.

If you are a senior citizen who needs repairs done, Hammers of Hope may be able to help you. They can be reached at 707-349-2628.

If you’d like to offer your services as a volunteer, the Northshore Business Association is currently coordinating cleanup efforts in the Northshore communities. The group's Web site is http://northshorebusinessassociation.com/ and its disaster hotline is 707-739-6661.

If you are in need of volunteer help, you may request that through the Northshore Business Association’s Disaster Hotline at 707-739-6661.

The California Office of Emergency Services Web site, www.caloes.ca.gov , also has additional information.

Although county building inspectors are doing door-to-door damage surveys, self-reporting damage assessment forms are being made available to residents who wish to report damages to their property.

The locations of those forms are:

• Northshore Fire Department, 3708 Manzanita Drive, Nice;
• Lake County Visitor Information Center, 6110 E. Highway 20, Lucerne;
• Administrative Office, first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport;
• County Web site – from the home page click on “Departments” on the top banner, then click on the “Administration” link and from there you will find a link on the left hand side entitled “Resident Damage Reporting Form,” http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Assets/Administration/Docs/windstorm.pdf?method=1 . Please turn completed forms in to the Lucerne Visitor Center in Lucerne or the County Administrative Office in the Courthouse in Lakeport.

It is very important to note that green waste should not be put in the dumpsters that the county has provided at disposal sites for storm clean-up. Green waste, including branches and trees, should be stacked next to the dumpsters.

The locations of the disposal sites are:

• Upper Lake County Park, 575 East Highway 20;
• Lucerne Harbor Park, 6225 East Highway 20;
• Northshore Fire Department, 3708 Manzanita Dr., Nice.

An additional disposal site for green waste only has been set up near Keeling Park at 1000 Lakeshore Blvd.