The council convened at 5 p.m. for a special workshop that lasted just over an hour and looked at the study itself, which Utilities and Community Development Director Mark Brannigan said the council had previously directed be completed.
He said that the city received $66,000 in state grant funds for the study, which looked at recycling water.
The subject is important, Brannigan explained, because water is a limited natural resource – even in Lake County. That's because water from Clear Lake, a shallow and eutrophic lake, is expensive and complicated to treat, making water not as readily abundant as many people believe.
Clear Lake is one water source for the city, another source is four wells – two on the Green Ranch, two in Scotts Valley, according to the 196-page report.
Bruce Crom of PACE Civil Engineering, the company that completed the study, led the council through a PowerPoint presentation on the study.
Crom explained in his presentation that the existing Lakeport water system has four municipal wells with a maximum capacity of 2.8 million gallons a day; a water treatment plant with a daily capacity of 1.7 million gallons a day; firm production capacity of 2.7 million gallons a day; and a current maximum daily demand of 1.8 million gallons.
The city's water system is estimated to exceed its capacity in 2030, with future anticipated future improvements to the system including replacement of wells in Scotts Valley, a southern water storage reservoir to support anticipated growth and a water treatment plant expansion.
Recycled water could be sold to markets including farmers and vintners, Crom said.
Water that's treated for irrigation could also be used for an 18-hole golf course development that the city has talked about in recent years, as well as the Cristallago development north of Lakeport, Westside Park, development along Parallel Drive and highway landscaping, according to the report. It also can be used to recharge groundwater.
Expanding the city's current wastewater treatment to tertiary levels – which treats water to very high standards – would cost a projected $8.8 million, Crom said.
Crom told the council that there are government grants and loans to support water recycling programs.
“Every great journey begins with a single step,” Crom said. “This is the first step.”
Later, during the council meeting, Brannigan told the council that “a lot went into this report,” including stakeholder input. He said it gives the council options if it wants to look at water recycling options. The report is a foundation for the city to move forward if it's going to seek grant funding, he added.
Councilman Roy Parmentier asked if they could create wetlands to filter water. Brannigan said that's one of many options.
Council member Suzanne Lyons liked the idea of the report, but she had questions about who would pay for projects. She also wanted more time to read the report, which she said the council hadn't had long.
City Manager Margaret Silveira told Lyons that accepting the study didn't commit the council to any of the proposed recycling options. “There is going to be a lot more discussion and a lot more opportunity” to look at the report's proposals, Silveira said.
City staffer Dan Buffalo said the report cost a total of $112,000, and that the city had invoiced the state for part of that amount, and was waiting to send out the final invoice.
Councilman Ron Bertsch said he thought the report was being entirely funded by grant money, and that he wouldn't have supported it if he had known otherwise.
Brannigan pointed out to Bertsch that the council approved the study in 2006. It was at the end of that year that Bertsch took office.
Brannigan said the study is 99-percent completed, Bertsch replied that he didn't think so, and that it was going to cost them more money.
Silveira asked Brannigan for what possible additional costs there might be. Brannigan said there was no additional cost if the council adopted the report.
“They're not talking about anything else other than adopting the study,” said Parmentier, who asked Bertsch what the argument was about.
Councilman Bob Rumfelt said one of staff's proposed motions – to adopt the report and give direction to staff to explore specific projects that the council would identify, along with funding sources – was pretty clear, and that it didn't commit the city to anything.
Silveira said the next step would involve city staff going out and looking for grants. “If there would be any further spending it would need to come back to council,” she said, to which Brannigan added, “Absolutely.”
Bertsch said he didn't have a problem accepting the report if the council didn't offer further comment. He added that the report needed to be talked about more.
Parmentier didn't agree, saying that the council sits and talks about things too much.
“If we don't do something today there will be no tomorrow,” said Parmentier, pointing out that the city is down on revenues for water and sewer services because they can't get one vote for a rate study.
“We're stepping backwards, it's got to stop,” he said.
Bertsch said the reuse projects would be great for a city of 100,000 residents. Rumfelt replied that a city of that size wouldn't be eligible for the available grant funding, which is for cities under 10,000. Lakeport has about 5,000 residents.
Rumfelt added that, if the council wasn't interested now, putting the report off a few weeks wasn't going to help. He said the council has done that before and doesn't accomplish much as a result. “It's just kind of frustrating.”
Lyons said she was only asking for more time to read the report. “I've had it for, what, three days?”
Brannigan said that creating the report had been a lengthy process. “I don't want anyone to be pressured into making a decision,” he said, noting that the document can still be changed.
Rumfelt moved to accept the report and direct staff to look at options and funding, which Parmentier seconded. The motion failed when Lyons, Bertsch and Mayor Jim Irwin voted against it.
Bertsch said he would move to approve the report if the council gave no further directions. Buffalo said that, at this point, the report could be used as a door stop if that's all the council wanted to do with it.
Bertsch moved the report, Parmentier seconded, and the council approved it 4-1, with Lyons voting no.
In other business, the council approved a request from Mike Stevenson, the retired city engineer, and his wife Phyllis for a 23-foot-wide access along the north portion of a property the couple owns at 60 Fourth St., and also approved an application by Latinos United of Lake County for a May 2 event in Library Park.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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