CLEARLAKE – On its short Thursday agenda the Clearlake City Council will discuss extending a redevelopment land sale, look at the issues with a state grant for the city's youth center and consider an agreement for inspections on a street rehabilitation project.

The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.

Under City Council business, the council will consider amending a disposition and development agreement with Clearlake Redev 29 LLC to extend escrow on a 29-acre property in Burns Valley.

City Administrator Dale Neiman said Wednesday that staff is suggesting the council – sitting jointly as the Redevelopment Agency Board – extend escrow until July 2009 on the property, located at 2540 Old Highway 53.

The sales price, based on an appraisal, is $210,000, said Neiman.

Neiman said the agency in 2005 entered into an agreement to sell the property to a group including developer Robert Adelman, who also owns the Lake Glenn Subdivision.

Adelman also is a partner in the Clearlake Redevelopment Group with developer and redevelopment expert Jim Burns, who was involved with the formation of the Clear Lake Foundation, a group of officials and developers who say they have plans to improve and promote Clear Lake.

Plans for the Burns Valley property show it will be a residential subdivision, consisting of 22 large parcels.

The agreement establishes a schedule for moving through the sales process, said Neiman, with Adelman and his group having completed all their tasks on time. It also requires that escrow close by July 2008.

However, Neiman said the buyers are asking for a one-year extension due to the difficulty in getting financing right now. “That's going to stay that way until the market turns around.”

Neiman added, “It really makes sense for us to grant the extension.” If the redevelopment agency doesn't, it will have to start the process over, which could take between three to five years.

The council also will take another look at a state grant the city received in 2003, of which $45,000 was allocated to improve the Hot Spot Youth Center.

Neiman said the city has struggled to pin down just how $35,000 was spent, particularly during 2004. Of that, $10,000 in staff time was expensed, but time cards don't specify how staff time was spent, and no one who worked on the project is still with the city to explain it.

In 2005, the state inspected the facility and found numerous problems, said Neiman.

Another $10,000 worth of work on the center was done in 2006, and that has been properly recorded and invoiced, he said.

Nevertheless, when the city filed a reimbursement request the state refused to pay on the grant because of the problems it found in the 2005 inspection.

At the council's Jan. 24 meeting, they voted to repay $18,006 to the state Department of Parks and Recreation out of the city's general fund because of the accounting issues, as Lake County News has reported.

However, Neiman said he's suggesting that, before the council send back the money, the city should invite the state in to audit the grant. If the state discovers any money is left over, Neiman said the city can then decide how to spend it on the center.

The Hot Spot has to remain open and functioning as a youth center until October 2014, or the city has to repay all of the money based on the state's requirements, said Neiman.

The city also needs to establish a new lease agreement for the center that stipulates it will be run according to state rules, said Neiman.

The Lake County Community Action Agency is running the center, Neiman said.

In other business, Neiman is taking to the council Thursday a proposal to hire Coastland Engineering for construction management and inspection services of street rehabilitation work planned for parts of Olympic Drive, Old Highway 53 and Lakeshore Boulevard.

The $3 million project is currently out to bid, said Neiman, which he expects will be awarded at the council's March 13 meeting. Construction could begin in May or June.

Half of the money for the street work is coming from Caltrans' State Transportation Improvement Program, with the other half from Proposition 1B funds, said Neiman.

He credited interim City Engineer Bob Galusha with having an application prepared early, which resulted in the city being the first agency in the state to receive money from the bond.

Also helping push the project to the head of the line was the fact that the city already had completed the engineering on the project, using $80,000 in redevelopment funds. Neiman said the decision to do so had been a risk because the state had not given final approval to the project.

However, he had told the council last fall that he would not have proposed moving forward on the engineering had he not believed the funding would come through.

In a fourth item of business, the council will consider rejecting a claim against the city submitted Feb. 6 by Desiree Chantal Perez.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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