CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council is set to discuss a proposal to place a moratorium on car washes, a ballot measure to support code enforcement and the status of enforcement on the city's marijuana cultivation ordinance.

The council will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 10, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.

Among the council's first actions Thursday will be a presentation to Charlotte Griswold Tergis to thank her for her donation to the Clearlake Police K9 program.

Regarding the proposed car wash moratorium, City Manager Joan Phillipe's report to the council explains that at the council's June 26 meeting Councilwoman Joyce Overton had sought consensus to pursue the moratorium in the city limits due to the year's drought concerns.

If the council decides to implement such a moratorium, Phillipe said it would need to be done by enacting an emergency ordinance at the July 24 council meeting.

The council also will hold the first reading on an ordinance to place a sales tax initiative on the November ballot. The measure would benefit fund citywide cleanup and improvement efforts.

City staff also will present to the council a one-year status report on the implementation of the city's marijuana cultivation ordinance.

Phillipe notes in her report that the city is enforcing the ordinance, however it lacks an eradication provision, and she is proposing that the council needs to consider amending the ordinance to allow the eradication of plants not within the bounds of what is allowed.

Also on the agenda is an amendment to the agreement for animal control services between the city and the SPCA of Clear Lake, award of a bid for the Olympic Drive and Old Highway 53 street maintenance project and a request for consideration of concerns regarding the intersection of Moss and Davis streets.

Items on the consent agenda – considered to be noncontroversial and accepted as a slate with one vote – include warrant registers, consideration of Resolution No. 2014-14 supporting the designation of a recycling market development zone and authorization of the city manager to executive a professional engineering contract with Omni Means Engineer Planners to perform a feasibility study for construction of a roundabout at the Dam Road and Dam Road Extension intersection.

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.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council recently accepted its annual audit for fiscal year 2012-13.

The audit was performed by independent certified public accounting firm Terry Krieg, CPA.

Completion of the audit brings the city up-to-date in its auditing process.

“We are on top of where our finances are,” City Manager Joan Phillipe said. “We've made significant progress in identifying the health of the city's finances. We've been able to bring the audits up-to-date and combined with the establishment of financial management policies, along with economic development goals, the city is situating itself to become financially stable.”

City management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.

Those responsibilities include the design, implementation and maintenance of internal control relevant to the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

It is the auditor's responsibility to evaluate such statements to obtain reasonable assurance that they are free from material misstatement.

“Generally speaking, it's a clean audit, clean report,” Phillipe said. “The dissolution of the redevelopment agency is where the main impacts were seen.”

The audit involves the performance of procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements.

The auditor considers internal control relevant to the city's preparation and fair presentation of those financial statements in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate to the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the city's internal control.

The audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting procedures used and the reasonableness of significant accounting estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements.

Krieg said he believes the audit evidence he obtained was sufficient and appropriate to provide the basis for his audit opinions.

Krieg said, in his opinion, the city's financial statements “present fairly,” in all material respects, the respective financial position of the government activities, each major fund, and the aggregated remaining fund information of the city as of June 30, 2013, and the respective changes in its financial position for the year then ended in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.

Krieg's audit report identifies financial highlights in four areas including those that describe the general fund, the city's net position, overall revenues and other non-major governmental funds.

At the end of 2013, the general fund reported a fund balance of $499,171, which Krieg said is a 23.6-percent decrease over fiscal year 2011-12.

He said this is mainly because of the return of funds to the successor agency, which manages the dissolution of the Clearlake Redevelopment Agency.

According to Krieg, after conducting all operations and programs, the city's net position showed an increase of $557,156, or 2 percent, over 2011-12.

He said the net position totaled $31.1 million at year end; of that amount, $1.7 million is mostly a longterm receivable from the successor agency.

According to Krieg, the $1.7 million is unrestricted and may be used in the long term to meet the government's ongoing obligations to its citizens and creditors.

Phillipe said the receivable involves a loan from the city to the redevelopment agency. “We now have approval from the state allowing repayment of that loan. It will be repaid over a number of years,” she said.

Krieg said that, over time, increases and decreases in net position may serve as a useful indicator of whether the financial position of the city is improving or deteriorating.

Overall, citywide revenues from governmental activities, grants and taxes decreased $595,103 compared to the 2012 fiscal year, Krieg said.

“When you back out the redevelopment agency from 2012 revenues increased by $400,173. The increase is a result of higher revenues in sales taxes and capital grants,” he said.

The city's other nonmajor government funds ended 2013 with a fund balance of about $608,300.

Krieg said the increase of about $134,000 is primarily the result of bringing in more revenue than was spent.

The fiscal year 2012-13 audit report is available for public review at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive, during regular business hours.

Email Denise Rockenstein at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Planning Commission held a brief regular meeting on Wednesday evening to elect its officers for fiscal year 2014-15.

Planning Service Manager Andrew Britton, who is serving as the commission's secretary, explained that the commission is required to elect a new chair and vice chair each year.

Accordingly, the commission unanimously elected Tom Gayner – who has served this past year as vice chair – as the chair for the new year, with Commissioner Suzanne Russell to be the new vice chair.

In the discussion leading up to the vote, Britton pointed out that the terms of three of the commissioners are about to expire.

Russell's term expires in August – she was first appointed by the Lakeport City Council in August 2010 – with Ross Kauper's and Harold Taylor's terms expiring in October.

On Wednesday, Taylor – first appointed in January 2003 – indicated he intended to apply to the city council for reappointment.

Kauper, the commission's longest serving member who was first appointed in October 2002, said he is “on the fence” about seeking another term.

Gayner's second term is up in June 2016, a month after outgoing Chair Ken Wicks Jr.'s term ends. Wicks was first appointed to complete a partial term in July 2011.

Britton said the city is expected to follow past practice and invite applications from the public at large – as well as the sitting commissioners – for the seats when the terms expire.

Wicks thanked everyone for their support and for having made him chair for two years in a row. Taylor then made the motion appointing Gayner chair and Russell vice chair, with the commission voting 5-0.

The commission recently finished major projects including work on the updated housing element and the city's general plan update. The housing element update is to go to the Lakeport City Council in August, Britton said.

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.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will discuss the latest on the efforts to deal with the county's drought conditions and a local organization's wetland project, and consider placing on the November ballot another initiative put forward by marijuana proponents.

The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, July 8, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.

At 8:25 a.m., the board will discuss continuing a proclamation of a declaration of a local emergency and get a drought task force update.

The supervisors also will review county conservation efforts, hear from the Lake County Office of Emergency Services about its program and get an update on water systems under urgency ordinance for emergency water conservation restrictions in County Service Areas No. 16, Paradise Valley Water; No. 18, Starview Water; No. 7, Bonanza Springs Water; and No. 22, Mt Hannah.

At 10 a.m., the board will consider a resolution supporting the Big Valley Wetlands Project being undertaken by the Lake County Land Trust.

The organization is raising money to purchase a 31-acre lakeside parcel on the Big Valley shoreline near Kelseyville, as Lake County News has reported.

In an untimed item, the board will consider Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley's certificate on “An Initiative Measure to Restore the Natural Human Right to Grow and Use Plants for the Basic Necessities of Life.”

Ron and Conrad Kiczenski of Lucerne gathered enough signatures to place the act on the November ballot. It was circulated as “The Freedom to Garden Human Rights Restoration Act of 2014.”

Although it does not specifically mention marijuana, in the four-page initiative the Kiczenskis – known marijuana activists who sued the county over its interim marijuana cultivation ordinance – are attempting to exempt “an individual's home gardening efforts or abilities” from being limited by any county permits or ordinances.

The initiative would allow for unlimited numbers of any kinds of plant to be grown with no recourse for complaints outside of mediation unless complaints are “related to a specific medically verifiable toxic health risk.”

The measure is expected to appear on the November ballot along with the Medical Marijuana Control Act, put forward by the Emerald Unity Coalition.

Coalition representatives have said the Kiczenskis' initiative directly conflicts with the Medical Marijuana Control Act.

The full agenda follows.

CONSENT AGENDA

7.1: Approve Minutes from the Board of Supervisors meeting held June 17, 2014.

7.2: Adopt resolution amending Resolution No. 2013-95 to amend the adopted budget for FY 2013-14 to transfer money to Budget Unit 2711 - Spay-Neuter Programs to operate the animal control clinic and authorize the chair to sign.

7.3: Adopt resolution amending Resolution No. 2013-95 to amend the adopted budget for FY 2013-14 to appropriate unanticipated revenue to Budget Unit 2601, Agricultural Commissioner, to fund weed control programs.

7.4: Adopt resolution approving Agreement No.14-0156-SF with the State of California, Department of Food and Agriculture for compliance with the Pierce's Disease Contract Program and authorizing chair to sign.

7.5: Approve out-of-state travel for Animal Care and Control Officer Bailey Nolan to attend the Equine Investigators Academy Level I on a half scholarship, Aug. 25-30, 2014.

7.6: Approve amendment to the standard agreement between the county of Lake and the Department of Health Care Services for performance agreement for fiscal year 2013-14 and authorize the Behavioral Health director to sign.

7.7: Approve agreement between the county of Lake and California Health Facilities Financing Authority (CHFFA) for investment in Mental Health Wellness Grant Program for period between April 24, 2014, and Dec. 31, 2014, and authorize the Behavioral Health director to sign grant agreement.    

7.8: Approve agreement between the county of Lake and Hilltop Recovery Services for Lake County residents for fiscal year 2014-15, not to exceed $40,000, and authorize chair to sign.         

7.9: Approve amendment to the standard agreement between the county of Lake and Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) for the period of July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2014, an increase of $37,310, and authorize the chair to sign.

7.10: Approve advance step hiring of Substance Abuse Counselor II, Step 5, for Dr. Paul Hofacker due to extraordinary qualifications.

7.11: Approve out-of-state travel for Business Software Analyst Kelly Larson to attend Advanced WYSIWYG Training, July 31-Aug. 1, 2014.

7.12: Approve agreement between the county of Lake and Rebekah Children's Services for FY14-15 specialty mental health services, in the amount of $75,000 annually, and authorize the chair to sign.    

7.13: Approve agreement between the county of Lake and Breezy Bill Pay & Errands for janitorial services in Child Support offices, amount not to exceed $12,000 annually, and authorize chair to sign.     

7.14: Adopt resolution authorizing grant project - Victim-Witness Assistance Program, in the amount of $123,371, and authorize the chair to sign the Certification of Assurance of Compliance.    

7.15: Approve agreement between the county of Lake and Calserve Inc. for FY 14-15 process services, amount not to exceed $25,000, and authorize the chair to sign.    

7.16: Adopt revised agreement/deed restriction for Habitat Conservation Fund Grant for Mt. Konocti Park improvement and authorize the chair to sign.

7.17: Approve plans and specifications for HR3 Sign Replacement & Striping Project, Bid No. 13-35 and authorize Public Works director to advertise for bids.

TIMED ITEMS

8.2, 9:15 a.m.: Public hearing, consideration of resolution authorizing the sale of certain county owned properties located on Mt. Konocti.

8.3, 9:25 a.m.: Continuation of proclamation of a declaration of a local emergency, b) drought task force update, c) review of county conservation efforts, d) update on water systems under urgency ordinance for emergency water conservation restrictions: CSA #16 Paradise Valley Water, CSA#18 Starview Water, CSA #7 Bonanza Springs Water and CSA #22 Mt Hannah, and e) OES Program update.

8.4, 9:45 a.m.: Presentation by Pam Harpster of MPIC/Workforce Lake.

8.5, 10 a.m.: Consideration of resolution supporting the Big Valley Wetlands Project being undertaken by the Lake County Land Trust.

UNTIMED ITEMS

9.2: Consideration of appointment to the Spring Valley CSA #2 Advisory Board.

9.3: Consideration of approval to replace the existing county criteria for naming county parks and facilities with a revised park, recreational facility, county-owned building, and street naming policy.

9.4: Consideration of approval to implement the “Our System” Workers' Compensation Cost Control and Injury Management Program.

9.5: Consideration of elections official’s certificate, an initiative measure to restore the natural human right to grow and use plants for the basic necessities of life.

CLOSED SESSION

10.1. Conference with Labor Negotiator: (a) county negotiators: A. Grant, L. Guintivano, S. Harry, M. Perry, A. Flora and C. Shaver; and (b) employee organizations, Deputy District Attorney's Association, Lake County Deputy Sheriff's Association, Lake County Correctional Officers Association and Lake County Safety Employees Association.

10.2: Conference with legal counsel: Existing litigation pursuant to Gov. Code Section 54956.9(d)(1): Fowler and Ford v. County of Lake.

10.3: Conference with legal counsel: Existing litigation pursuant to Gov. Code Section 54956.9(d)(1): Lakeside Heights HOA, et al. v. County of Lake.

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.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The city of Lakeport will host its second annual National Night Out event on Tuesday, Aug. 5.

The festivities will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Natural High School property, located at 800 N. Main St. in Lakeport.

Special events will include a youth game area and a raffle for two bikes with helmets.

In order to eligible for the bike raffle, children will need to check in at the Lakeport Police Drug Education Booth.

This will be a great opportunity for the community to meet and greet city council members, city staff and local public safety personnel.  

Other visitors will include McGruff the Crime Dog and Chipper from the California Highway Patrol.

 Major sponsors for this event include Grocery Outlet, who will be providing hot dogs, buns and condiments, and Lake County News, who will be providing bottled water and event advertising.

The city of Lakeport will provide watermelon. The Lakeport Kiwanis Club will be grilling.  Please note that hot dogs will be available to the first 200 people to attend the event.

In 1984, the National Association of Town Watch, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the development and promotion of various crime prevention programs, introduced National Night Out, “America’s Night Out Against Crime.”  

This began an effort to promote involvement in crime prevention activities, police-community partnerships, neighborhood camaraderie, and to send a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.

The traditional “lights on” campaign and symbolic front porch vigils turned into a celebration across America with various events and activities including, but not limited to, block parties, cookouts, parades, visits from emergency personnel, rallies and marches, exhibits, youth events, safety demonstrations and seminars, in effort to heighten awareness and enhance community relations.

The city also is encouraging neighborhoods to get involved in putting on their own National Night Out event that evening by holding a block party.  

City staff will be happy to assist with the necessary street closures to facilitate such an event on that night.

If your neighborhood would like to participate in a National Night Out block party, please contact the City Clerk’s Office at 707-263-5615, Extension 12, to obtain an application.  

Applications will be received until 5 p.m. Thursday, July 24.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Tuesday evening the Lakeport City Council presented proclamations to the city's retiring fire chief and longtime police records supervisor in honor of their service to the city and community at large.

Ken Wells, who is retiring after serving as fire chief since 2007, and records supervisor Ellen Dills were given the public show of thanks by Lakeport Mayor Kenny Parlet.

Wells, who grew up in Lake County, has spent 44 years in the fire service.

He's been a volunteer firefighter, became a paramedic in 1980, worked for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection – now Cal Fire – as well as fire districts in Clearlake Oaks and Lucerne, was an EMT instructor for Mendocino College, and was a Kelseyville Fire Protection District captain and field training officer before taking over as Lakeport Fire's chief on Jan. 8, 2007.

The council's proclamation honored Wells for his numerous contributions to the Lakeport Fire  
Protection District during his years as chief.

He's been president of the Fire Chief’s Association, vice president of the successor agency board, changed ambulance billing companies which generated more revenue for the district, and pursued grants and additional funding sources for the district.

Wells, wearing not his old uniform but the new one for retirement – a Hawaiian shirt – received a standing ovation.

While he said he's not much of a speech giver, Wells, paused to note the many local changes he's seen during his career, thanked the city, and said it has been wonderful working with city staff.

“I'm going to miss you guys,” Wells said.

Parlet next presented a proclamation in honor of Dills, who began her career with the Lakeport Police Department on June 1, 1980, as a parking enforcement officer. On Jan. 1, 1985, she was promoted to records supervisor, a job she has held ever since.

During her tenure, Dills has worked with four police chiefs, seen numerous policy changes and received many commendations for her performance, which in one case resulted in her preventing a suicide when a man called in who wanted to kill himself.

“Due to her calm demeanor, gift for speaking and compassion, she stalled the subject until law enforcement could arrive,” the proclamation read.

Dills’ job has included some of the police department's most critical functions, including dealing with the integrity and security of police records, handling all records and audits of the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, or CLETS, and Criminal Offender Record Information, or CORI, through the California Department of Justice.

She also has been responsible for reviewing, approving and submitting reports for filing to the District Attorney's Office; has properly handled the agency's Public Records Act requests in order to protect the city against liability; and overseen the parking enforcement and warrants division.

Over the years Dills has been commended by the Department of Justice regarding her outstanding CLETS and CORI audits and has a records supervisor certificate from the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training.

When she was named 2003's employee of the year, then-Police Chief Tom Engstrom said in a report to the council, “Her years of experience with the police department are invaluable; we would be lost without her. I can’t begin to count how many crimes have been solved because Ellen has the ability to read a report and think that sounds like something so and so would do.”

The proclamation also noted, “Ellen never failed to do an outstanding job in any of the duties she performed.”

She was praised for being a friend and mentor to current and former Lakeport Police employees, and for her kindness, as she's often known to bake a pie or a cake for every member of the department on his or her birthday.

Dills has even filled in as a last-minute babysitter when staff couldn't find child care, welcoming in the children with the stash of coloring books and crayons she kept on hand just for that purpose.

Police Chief Brad Rasmussen joined with Parlet in thanking Dills for her work and wishing her a happy retirement.

In other news on Tuesday, Rasmussen took to the council plans for the city's second annual National Night Out event, to be held on Tuesday, Aug. 5.

The council approved staff's proposal to host the event at the Natural High School property on N. Main Street.

Parlet thanked staff for a thorough report, noting that each of the proposed locations had been carefully considered, mapped and presented.

The council on Tuesday also opted to gather more information regarding a five-year contract with Mediacom for dedicated Internet access and a fiber agreement, at a cost of $1,034 per month before making a decision; and accepted a budget amendment of $34,500 for contract services to prep Parallel Drive for chip sealing.

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.