LAKEPORT – Facing tight deadlines and a long to-do list from the state, the Lakeport City Council voted Tuesday night to move forward with projects aimed at expanding its municipal sewer system.

Last week, the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board formally imposed a cease and desist order on the city for a controlled release of between 3 and 6 million gallons of treated wastewater that ran off the sewer treatment site last spring, according to acting City Manager Richard Knoll.

However, the regional board also lifted a sewer connection ban that its staff had imposed on the city Jan. 18, Knoll said.

One of the regional board's stipulations in raising the connection ban is that the city must expand the City of Lakeport Municipal Sewer District (CLMSD) spray irrigation disposal area by 90 acres, Knoll told the council Tuesday. That project must be completed by Nov. 1, at which time connections to the city sewer system could resume.

Along with that project, there are a total of about 12 requirements and several deadlines the city must meet within the next seven months, Utilities Superintendent Mark Brannigan told the council. Three of the deadlines loom on July 1.

For the remainder of this month, Brannigan said city staff is trying to figure out timelines and how they're going to meet the requirements – which includes finding funds.

Grant funds take time, said Brannigan, which the city doesn't have.

Both Knoll and Brannigan made it clear to the council that if the regional board's stipulations aren't met by Nov. 1, the connection ban will be back in place.

Mayor Roy Parmentier suggested trying to appeal the regional board's decision, but Brannigan said, based on advice from the law firm assisting the city in the case, “I think it would be a tough case."

That doesn't mean city staff agrees with the regional board's evaluation of the sewer system capacity, which Knoll said is 60-percent less than city staff has calculated.

“That's how conservative their analysis is,” said Knoll.

He urged the council to take action in order to meet the deadlines.

“We don't have a lot of time, we do need to proceed," said Knoll, who earlier in the meeting had called the issues with the sewer hookup ban “a significant crisis” for the city.

The council did decide to follow staff recommendations and approve moving forward with the necessary projects, Brannigan reported Wednesday.

The council wanted some modifications made to a service contract with PACE Civil for construction and engineering services on the 90-acre irrigation facility, a magnetic flow meter and a diversion ditch bypass pipe, he said.

They also put off formally accepting the regional board's cease and desist order, the final draft of which the city hasn't yet received, said Brannigan, which will come back at a future meeting.

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

{mos_sb_discuss:3}