CLEARLAKE – Clearlake's City Council on Thursday approved an agreement with an engineering firm for a study on rehabilitating the city's badly deteriorated arterial roads.
On Thursday, interim City Administrator Dale Neiman presented the council with a report from interim City Engineer Bob Galusha regarding the contract with Coastland Civil Engineering, reported Mayor Judy Thein.
The council voted to approve the contract with the firm, which will prepare a project study report (PSR), which Neiman said last week is the first step in the process of rehabilitating sections of Lakeshore Drive, Olympic Drive and Old Highway 53.
Galusha's report explains that the city has $3,299,000 in funds for road improvement projects. That money, he said, comes from State Project Improvement Plan (STIP) monies held back from the state previously due to budget constraints, as well as recently passed infrastructure bonds.
Those funds, Galusha's report notes, can be used over the next five years for street capital improvement and rehabilitation/overlap projects.
With the city's recent completion of the Midtown Overlay and Rehabilitation project, Galusha recommends that the $3,299,000 in STIP funds be used to rehabilitate major arterial streets, such as sections of Lakeshore Drive, Olympic Drive and Old Highway 53.
Galusha also noted that street rehabilitation projects are easy to design and construct within the timelines required in the Caltrans STIP approval process.
“Lakeshore Drive, and Olympic Drive from State Route 53 to Old Highway 53 are literally falling apart and in need of rehabilitation,” Galusha wrote. “Both of these arterial streets serve as main entrances into the City of Clearlake. In addition the Section of Old Highway 53 between Lakeshore and Olympic Drive is also in need of major rehabilitation.”
If street rehabilitation projects can be developed, Galusha wrote, those funds could be used in fiscal year 2007-08.
To develop a project for STIP funding, Galusha's report explains that the city must prepare a PSR, which “develops preliminary engineering and costs associated with the desired project.”
Once completed, the PSRs for each of the suggested projects will be submitted to the Lake County Area Planning Council for adoption at its March meeting.
Coastland also designed the Midtown project, which was completed in November, Galusha reported, . He said the firm has indicated it can have the necessary project studies completed by the March 23 deadline.
The next step after the PSRs are completed, according to Galusha's report, will be for city staff to bring a list of specific projects to the council for consideration and approval.
Other items from Thursday's meeting:
– The council authorized a 30-day extension on an exclusive negotiation agreement with Income Property Specialists, a firm it's negotiating with about a possible hotel/retail/townhouse development at the Austin Resort site, Thein reported. The council also went into closed session with Neiman for a conference on the property.
- The council held an hour-and-a-half-long public hearing on an appeal by the Snyder minor subdivision regarding installation of sidewalks. Thein said the council voted to defer Snyder's installation of a sidewalk on Burns Valley Road until the city has made a formal request in the form of a written agreement to be prepared by the city attorney. Thein said that agreement will be binding on whomever owns or purchases the property in the future. The applicant will still be required to put in curbs, gutters and street and drainage improvements, she said.
– Neiman reported that he is considering opening city hall five days a week, up from the current four-day schedule, Thein said. The council and Neiman will need to meet in closed session with the city's employee association to work out the details, which must be included in a signed agreement between the city and the association.
– The council appointed Gino Fortino Dickson to fill the vacancy on the Planning Commission. Dickson's term will expire March 12, 2009.
– The council authorized Neiman to execute a contract with Bonnie Eckert to serve as Clearlake Police Department's interim records and communications supervisor.
– The council rejected a claim against the city filed by the heirs of William Edward Lowe, who had claimed the city failed to properly investigate and report suspected elder abuse, and failed to restrain an individual from committing elder abuse.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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