County Deputy Administrative Officer Matt Perry presented the three items, which involve Community Development Block Grant – CDBG – Program funding, during the Tuesday morning public hearing.
The first item was the required annual grantee performance report for program income activities, including Housing Rehabilitation Revolving Loan Fund, Business Expansion and Retention Revolving Loan Fund and Public Works Facilities.
Perry said the Housing Rehabilitation Revolving Loan Fund is administered by Lake County Social Services. He later told Lake County News that the fund, as of June 30, had $46,507 in it.
He told the board that the Business Expansion and Retention Revolving Loan Fund had approximately $545,235. The capital projects fund has no funds remaining.
The business expansion fund, which Perry said was quite active in the 2008-09 fiscal year, primarily was used for sidewalk projects in Clearlake Oaks as well as that town's Plaza project. He told Lake County News that $33,403 from the fund was used in fiscal year 2009-10 for sidewalks in Lucerne.
He said the required reports must provide demographic information for those benefiting from the funds.
The board also considered two proposed resolutions regarding CDBG funding, specifically, a proposed resolution amending the CDBG Program Income Reuse Plan, which governs program income from CDBG-assisted activities, and a proposed resolution approving the transfer of CDBG Program Income in the amount of $545,000 from the Business Expansion and Retention Revolving Loan Fund to
the CDBG PI Capital Project Fund to help finance the Middletown.
Perry said those two items were probably the most important of the three.
He said the CDBG program has been restrictive. Perry said the reuse plan needed to be amended so the funds could be used for a nonrevolving activity, like the senior center.
Noting that the state doesn't want local governments to receive new grants if they have a large accumulation of unspent grant funds, Perry said he had been asking the state's Housing and Community Development Department for several years to loosen the CDBG restrictions, which the state finally did.
The business expansion funds, according to Perry, will be the source of the $545,000 transfer to the capital projects fund for the senior center.
“We're pleased that they've done this,” he told the board. “It allows us to use this money for the senior center.”
Middletown Senior Center Executive Director Jacque Spiker – who during the public comment earlier in the meeting had presented the board and staff with a petition containing 200 signatures from south county residents offering their thanks for efforts on the center – spoke in favor of the fund transfer.
“Seniors are probably feeling the impact of the economy as much as anyone,” Spiker said, adding that people on fixed incomes have a finite amount of resources.
Spiker said the senior center “provides a stopgap” for seniors, offering programs and resources not readily available locally.
She added that she was extremely grateful to the board for its actions to benefit the new center project.
George Clements, chair of the Middletown Senior Center Board of Directors, told the board that the center delivers more than 5,000 meals through its Meals on Wheels program and in its dining room.
Supervisor Rob Brown said the senior center was a good use of the money, and noted that the funds don't do anyone any good if they're just sitting somewhere.
Supervisor Jim Comstock then moved to offer both resolutions, which the board unanimously approved.
On Tuesday the board also heard an update from Lake County Sanitation District officials regarding work on the Southeast Regional Wastewater Collection System in Clearlake. Earlier this year the board took emergency actions on the system, which has need of upgrades and repairs.
John Thompson, the Special Districts compliance coordinator, reported that drawings for the improvements are 90 percent completed, and the third week of smoke testing is under way to explore problems with the system.
So far, 135 defects have been discovered, most of which having to do with cleanouts on private property, with the remainder involving defects in underground piping, Thompson said.
The smoke testing is expected to be completed in another three weeks, he added.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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