CLEARLAKE, Calif. – On Thursday evening the Clearlake City Council approved moving forward with updating studies needed in the planning process for a Wal-Mart expansion permit and also gave the go ahead for a new, longer-term agreement with Southshore Little League for city ballfields.
City Manager Joan Phillipe had asked the council for authorization to move forward on amending existing contracts with consultants ESA Community Development and Keyser Marston Associates for updated studies on the expansion of the Clearlake Wal-Mart, located at Highway 53 and Dam Road.
Phillipe also wanted to be able to execute future contract amendments on her own.
She said Wal-Mart's planning application had been on hold by mutual agreement of the city and the retail giant.
“They recently have come back and asked to reactivate the application, as they are entitled to do,” Phillipe said.
She said the reactivation requires updated planning studies, thus the proposed amendments to keep the application moving forward.
Her written report to the council explained that the amendments would cover study updates and result in additional costs of $44,878 and $17,500, to be paid to ESA and Keyser Marston, respectively. Wal-Mart is to cover those costs.
Phillipe told the council Thursday evening that the discussion was not on the project's merits, but merely the planning amendments.
The only public comment came from Dennis Darling, owner of Foods, Etc. in Clearlake, who gave informational handouts to the council.
Councilman Joey Luiz said the Wal-Mart expansion ultimately would be one of the biggest decisions the sitting council makes. He said he didn't support allowing amendments or any planning documents to go through without council approval.
He said he wanted to know that every piece of information on the project is legitimate, adding that he apologized for creating more work for city staff in making that request.
“The scope of this is just huge,” he said. “We need to make sure they're accountable every step of the way.”
Phillipe told Luiz that there is a very specific process that has to be followed in processing planning documents, with some of that process meant to preserve the council's ability to fairly make a decision. She said the council couldn't take action on planning issues before they followed the process to the Clearlake Planning Commission.
Luiz said he still wanted to see the information first.
Phillipe said the project is going to generate a “tremendous amount” of interest, and that what was before them was simply a processing request.
Councilmember Joyce Overton moved to give Phillipe authorization to execute amendments to the agreements to ESA and Keyser Marston along with permission to execute future amendments, but that motion died for lack of a second.
Luiz then moved to give Phillipe authorization only to update the currently proposed agreements, which the council passed.
Also on Thursday, the council unanimously approved an updated agreement with Southshore Little League, which allows the group a 10-year agreement for use of the ballfields at Redbud Park. Previously, the ballfields have been leased to the group on a year to year basis.
The league's new president, Helen Mitcham, appeared before the council to ask for the approval.
“We have a lot of things we want to do,” with opening day on March 23, Mitcham said.
Mitcham had sent Phillipe a letter dated Dec. 17, explaining that last year the league served 439 local children.
The letter also included what Mitcham said was an “ambitious” list of improvements they want to carry out, including painting, leveling the parking area, straightening fences, upgrading the electrical and sprinkler systems, and revamped bathrooms.
Councilmembers were supportive of the Little League and its offerings for young people, giving it a 5-0 vote.
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