LAKEPORT, Calif. – At its first meeting of 2015, the Lakeport City Council will consider approving the purchase of new docks for Library Park.

The council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 6, in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.

The new year's first big ticket item for the council is the purchase of the docks, which city staff have been researching over the past year.

Council members will consider giving Lakeport City Manager Margaret Silveira the go-ahead to sign a $226,336.43 purchase order for the new docks, for which the city had included $250,000 in its 2014-15 fiscal year budget.

Originally, the city had anticipated spending as much as $800,000 to replace the aging docks that now line Library Park.

Public Works Superintendent Doug Grider told Lake County News in a May interview that Lakeport's docks are about 30 years old, and his maintenance crews have rebuilt them twice during the decade he's been with the city.

The existing docks – which are attached to a piling system – have obsolete underside floats and are made of treated wood that has required continued patching and resurfacing, according to Grider.

In May and August, Grider provided council members the opportunity to inspect two dock systems, as Lake County News has reported.

Clearlake Oaks marine contractor Wayne Chatoff, a master distributor for Missouri-based EZ Docks, set up docks for the council to look at in May.

In August, Paul Racine and son, PJ, owners of the Lakeport-based The Dock Factory and Supply Co., and Dan Green of GatorDock presented their aluminum docks to the council.

Grider presented options for the two dock purchase options to the council at its Oct. 7 meeting.

The council voted to select the aluminum GatorDock system and directed Grider to put together a purchase contract to bring back.

Since that time, according to a report to the council from Grider and Public Works Director Mark Brannigan for the Jan. 6 meeting, Public Works staffers have researched the Library Park dock system's needs and how the GatorDocks might best meet them.

“It became evident during this process that our local business, The Dock Factory, was the only source capable of competently and efficiently providing the GatorDocks because they would provide a five-year warranty, would be more responsive to a warranty claim, and provide the GatorDock system at a reduced cost,” the report explained.

As such, Brannigan and Grider said staff also has drafted a waiver of bid to allow for sole-source purchasing from The Dock Factory.

The $226,336.43 covers the purchase of nearly 300 feet of dock, as well as decking, hinges, fascia board and bumperstrip, 24 feet of gangway, pile guides and a swim ladder, and a 34-foot trailer for hauling the docks in and out of the water, according to documents accompanying the dock report.

The Racines told Lake County News in an August interview that the docks have a 15-year warranty.

Dan Green of GatorDock said during the August tour that the aluminum docks will remain cooler than the air temperature even during the hot summer months.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.