CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council will once again this week take up whether or not to propose a sales tax measure to fund city services and also will get a status report from city staff on the city's medical marijuana cultivation ordinance.
The council will meet in closed session beginning at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, May 22, to discuss labor negotiations, hold a performance evaluation for City Manager Joan Phillipe and discuss negotiations with the SPCA of Clear Lake for property acquisition before convening in open session at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.
Phillipe will go over a report with the council based on the results of a community town hall in which options for sales tax measures were discussed.
The majority of participants were in favor of a specific tax proposal – which would need an approval rate of 66 percent or more – on the November ballot.
Proposed uses for the tax revenue include code enforcement, roads and crime suppression, according to the town hall results.
As a result, Phillipe's written report states, “The discussion at this meeting is to determine whether to proceed with a ballot measure on the November 2014 ballot.”
The council also would need to discuss whether to pursue a specific or general tax, the uses for the funds, whether to create an oversight board and if there should be a sunset clause, among other considerations listed in her report.
Phillipe also will update the council on the city's marijuana cultivation ordinance, which went into effect this past Jan. 1.
The ordinance mirrors the urgency ordinance which the council has had in place since the summer of 2012, and which runs out this July. The Board of Supervisors passed a stricter ordinance which was challenged by referendum and so is going on the June ballot as Measure N.
Phillipe said there are concerns that a stricter county ordinance will attract larger grows into the city limits.
With limited city staff, the city is responding to grows that violate the city ordinance by issuing stop work orders on illegal fencing – particularly on empty lots where grows are prohibited – and responding to violations of the tree ordinance in cases where clear cutting is reported, according to Phillipe.
Also on the agenda is the presentation of Redbud Audubon Society's donation to Redbud Park, a presentation and report on the street light survey and receipt of the city attorney's opinion regarding the allowed uses of Austin Park.
The council also will present a proclamation declaring June as Homeless Youth Awareness Month.
Items on the consent agenda – considered to be noncontroversial and accepted as a slate with one vote – include warrant registers; minutes of the April 9 Lake County Vector Control District meeting; minutes of the council meetings on Feb. 18, March 27, April 10, April 12, April 24 and May 8; consideration of reviewing the conflict-of-interest code; receipt of the Local Area Formation Commission proposed budget for fiscal year 2014-15; and receipt of a notice of rate increase from Clearlake Waste Solutions, to be effective July 1, 2014.
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