Community Development and Redevelopment Director Richard Knoll took the resolution to the council, which is facing the phaseout of redevelopment in the wake of a California Supreme Court decision last month.
In a special Jan. 10 meeting the council voted to be the successor agency to the redevelopment agency, making it responsible for overseeing the wind down of the agency’s operations.
Knoll’s report to the council said that legislation the state passed last summer allows the city to elect to retain the redevelopment agency’s housing assets and obligations. The city also can retain funds in the agency’s low- and moderate-income housing fund that are encumbered.
If the city didn’t choose to keep the assets, the responsibilities would be passed to a local housing authority or, if there isn’t one, to the California Department of Housing and Community Development, according to his report.
Knoll urged the council to accept the resolution, noting that there was about $600,000 in funds that the city could use for affordable housing.
Staff's recommendation he said, was to keep the funds in Lakeport and put them to use.
Mayor Stacey Mattina asked if that money could be used for a senior project the city has considered in the past. Knoll said yes.
In other business, Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen gave the council an update on his agency’s volunteer activities.
He said the Lakeport Police Department maintains an active volunteer program that follows police best practices and international standards.
Due to the department’s shrinking budget and fewer staff members, the department has continued to expand and develop its volunteer program to provide a higher level of support to paid staff and services to the community, he said.
Rasmussen said the Lakeport Police Department had 10 volunteers in 2011, which included one reserve officer, one chaplain and eight general duty volunteers who offered services including support for investigations, patrol, parking enforcement, dog licensing, office support and upkeep, and public relations.
He said volunteers wrote more than 800 parking citations, totaling potential revenue of up to $30,000.
Volunteers provided the department with 3,032 work hours, which he said equaled about $43,000 had they been paid.
He commended the volunteers for their support and offered them his appreciation. Rasmussen also thanked city staff for supporting and training the volunteers, some of whom were present for the meeting.
The council also voted unanimously to accept change orders for the High Street chip seal project, and accepted the completion of an overlay project on Lakeport Boulevard.
City Engineer Scott Harter said the city received a refund of $380.64 from the project’s contractor, Mendocino Construction Services Inc. of Willits.
Councilman Roy Parmentier said that’s the first time in his years on the council that the city has ever gotten money back on a project.
“You did good,” he told Harter.
Also on Tuesday, during the public comment period earlier in the meeting, members of the Lakeport Main Street Association asked for the council to find ways to continue funding the group in the wake of the state’s dismantling of redevelopment.
Association Executive Director Carol Hays told the council that the group provided 3,725 volunteer hours to the city last year.
An item to lift the city’s hiring freeze to allow for the hiring of a water system operator was removed from the agenda at staff’s request.
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