CLEARLAKE – City Gate Church is doing an outreach at Redbud Park from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. Aug. 7.

They will give away free clothing (some brand new), free hot dogs, free soda and loads of entertainment.

The church will have children's activities throughout the afternoon, live music and will share the gospel of Jesus Christ with those who would be searching for a life-changing experience.

They also will offer a church service on Sunday from 10 a.m. to noon with a baptism for anyone who would like to participate.

There are several worship bands for Saturday, including Rebel United and Kings Court (both Christian Hip Hop), Y180 of Living Tabernacle Church, Praises of Zion Baptist Church of Clearlake Praise and Worship team, and a worship team from City Harvest Church in Vancouver, Wash.

Other ministries providing support, clothing, barbecue and prayer are Compassion2Help, Casa de Oracion and Living Tabernacle of Upper Lake.

If you would like to help or be a part, please contact Pastor Bert or Amy Galli at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 707-972-1789 or 707-701-4491.

The display started late before stopping a short time later, and then slowly progressed over about 45 minutes as a technician took the dangerous route of setting the fireworks off manually, according to statements made at the meeting Tuesday.

In the council's July 6 meeting, council members pulled the final $8,650 warrant to pay Pyro Spectaculars, the company that has done the displays for the city for about 30 years, until they heard what the company was going to offer for a display that some of them said was terrible.

Matthew Gilfillan of Pyro Spectaculars, the company that has done the displays for the city for about 30 years, was at the Tuesday council meeting to discuss the company's settlement offer.

He told the council that the problem with the fireworks was due to the implementation of the firing system.

That resulted in the operator setting the fireworks off manually, which wasn't something the company suggests doing, Gilfillan said. It also made the show appear slower.

Gilfillan offered the city a 25-percent discount on the 2010 display and an addition of fireworks to the 2011 display at no charge.

He said he knows the company can do better.

Councilman Bob Rumfelt, who acknowledged being the most upset of just about anybody, said he would have preferred the display was cut short after the glitches became apparent rather than stringing it out over 45 minutes, which was frustrating. He said many people kept coming and going, not know if the show was over or not.

Council member Suzanne Lyons said she thought that, once the show got going, it was pretty good.

“I didn't think the show was all that bad. It went off kind of funny,” but Lyons said she came away thinking it wasn't a terrible experience.

Gilfillan called it “a very forgiving opinion.”

Councilman Roy Parmentier wasn't as forgiving, telling Gilfillan he's received a lot of bad feedback over the display.

Parmentier asked Gilfillan if 25 percent was the best he could do. “We've got to take the brunt of this. You're heading out of here.”

Lake County Chamber Chief Executive Officer Melissa Fulton said she's been arranging city fireworks showed for about 20 years, and said she “respectfully disagreed” with opinions that it was a terrible show.

“It was unfortunate that it went the way it did,” but Fulton claimed it was the first time in 30 years that there had been a problem.

She said she felt extremely sorry for the operator, knowing how he was feeling. “There were no excuses. There was nothing but apologies,” she said, explaining that the man took responsibility for the error in the wiring system.

“It wasn't what we have experienced in the past, but we did get a show,” Fulton added.

She said she's gotten a lot of good feedback and not as much negativity as she expected, and said it's been wonderful working with the company.

Rumfelt said he felt they got half a show, and that's what he was willing to pay for now. He wasn't interested in considering next year's show.

Lyons moved to accept Gilfillan's offer of a 25-percent discount and an expanded 2011 display, but the motion died for lack of a second.

Rumfelt followed up by moving to give staff direction to continue negotiations with Pyro Spectaculars specifically for this year's display, which Parmentier seconded.

The council approved that motion 4-1, with Lyons voting no.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf .

Councilman Bob Rumfelt offered the motion to increase benefits from a 2 percent at age 50 retirement plan to a 3 percent at age 50 plan, as the council and the Lakeport Police Officer Association had agreed to do in 2006. However, no other council member would offer a second, and the motion died.

In 2006, as part of a memorandum of understanding, the council agreed to change the retirement plan in exchange for certain concessions from the police officers association, including having officers take 1 percent per year less for their cost of living increase as compared with other employees, and taking on greater costs for their own health insurance, officials reported Tuesday.

Lakeport City Council minutes show that the memorandum of understanding between the city and the Lakeport Police Officers Association was approved and accepted by a 4-0 vote on Feb. 7, 2006. The document covered the time period from 2006 to 2010.

The agreement was that the city would put the agreement into effect this July 1, according to city Finance Director Janet Tavernier, who took the matter to the council.

The proposed retirement formula calls for giving employees the option, starting at age 50, to retire with 3 percent of their total salary for every year of service, Tavernier's report explained. So an employee who served 20 years would receive 60 percent of their total pay while they were still an active employee.

The plan would increase the city's costs by $73,158.06 for the coming fiscal year, rising from a 28 percent contribution to 38 percent. In the second year, the employer's anticipated contribution will be 39 percent, explained Nick Franceschine, a Sebastopol actuary present to answer questions on the numbers which he said were compiled by a California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) employee.

City Manager Margaret Silveira said later in the meeting that the proposed 2010-11 fiscal year budget includes the increased retirement plan costs, and two open police officer positions are not being funded.

Rumfelt moved to adopt the resolution of intention, but when Mayor Jim Irwin called for a second, all of the other council members sat silent.

“I have a problem with allowing this city to be billed 38 percent,” said Councilman Ron Bertsch.

Bertsch, who was elected in late 2006, said the majority of the council members who made the decision no longer sit on the council.

Council minutes from the meeting during which the memorandum was approved on Feb. 7, 2006, showed that members at the time included Mayor Ted Mandrones, and Councilmen Bill Knoll, Buzz Bruns, Roy Parmentier and Rumfelt. Rumfelt wasn't present for the vote to approve the document.

“I know the police were promised this and I wish I could second the motion, but I'm up here looking out for the public,” Bertsch said.

Rumfelt, who himself has worked in law enforcement, said he didn't see how they could refuse to pass the resolution, noting the police officers association has held fast to its promises to the city.

City Attorney Steve Brookes said the retirement agreement was a contractual provision entered into after meeting and conferring in good faith with the association.

He suggested that the only rationale the city could use for not moving forward with the resolution is if it is in a fiscal emergency, such as bankruptcy, which is a highly expensive and contested route taken by the city of Vallejo.

With the initial cost to the city only $73,000, Brookes said it is something the city can afford but it may have to make some other trade-offs.

If the city doesn't honor the agreement, Brookes anticipated the police officers association would file a complaint to the Public Employment Relations Board citing unfair labor practice.

The retirement plan change is a concern because it increases costs, which only are easily predictable for two to three years out, he explained.

“So what you're saying is, you could be looking at a train wreck but you can't do anything about it until the train wreck is imminent?” asked Council member Suzanne Lyons.

Brookes told the council that he didn't think a court would say the increased retirement obligation would collapse the city.

Bertsch said they were talking about $73,000 more annually for the next 50 years, while Brookes said after 12 years the cost is supposed to go down.

Bertsch added that the city is spending more this year than it is bringing in and he doesn't want to end up seeing police services contracted out. He said he was hoping that they could work something out with the police officers association since no officers currently are ready to retire.

Brookes said city administration has made overtures to the association, which is standing firm in wanting what it was promised.

“We're bound to, I think, accept the bargain for benefit that they secured back in '05 unless they are willing to take a step back and negotiate something different,” said Brookes, suggesting the city also could declare a fiscal emergency to put it off.

Rumfelt suggested maybe the city should no longer negotiate longterm contracts.

“Hindsight is 20-20,” said Brookes, explaining that the retirement plan formula was thought by agencies across the state to be a good formula to help get good staff.

Councilman Roy Parmentier said he was hoping to put it out a few more years until the city's finances are in better shape, at which point Silveira told the council that the cost already was included in the budget, with the two open police officer positions unfunded.

Tavernier said the actuarial for the plan only is good until Aug. 1, after which the city will have to pay to do another one.

Rumfelt said he believed the council owed it to the association to do what it agreed to do, and to honor its commitments, otherwise the city's reputation would suffer.

He said the city didn't declare a fiscal emergency during the last three or four years, when it instead used furloughs and early retirements to handle its monetary challenges.

“We shouldn't be talking about whether we're going to honor our agreements,” but instead look for ways to pay for them, he said.

Silveira suggested the city can implement a two-tier system, with newer employees not receiving the 3 percent at 50 formula.

Irwin asked fellow council members for proposed motions or direction for staff.

“I don't know how to proceed,” said Bertsch.

He said he had a problem with a previous council agreeing to a contract when it had no idea what the cost would be to the city.

“That's where I stand,” he said.

“That's pretty much where I stand, too,” said Lyons.

Parmentier suggested the the city back off from the proposal and come back with a two-tier plan.

“These guys got to understand, we're not made of money,” he said. “We're in down times. We need some help.”

Based on consensus, Irwin directed staff to call for a special council meeting at 6 p.m. next Tuesday, July 27, and to make contact with the police officers association and ask them to meet.

Rumfelt said the city should be prepared for the association to say it's not willing to take another proposal.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf .

The Lake County Planning Commission meeting will begin at 9 a.m. this Thursday, July 22, in the Board of Supervisors chambers at the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.

At 9:15 a.m. the commission will hold a public hearing to consider a mitigated negative declaration for a rezone and general plan of development for a 30-unit subdivision on 105 acres at 10929 Point Lakeview Road, Kelseyville.

Plum Flat LLC is proposing to rezone the land from rural residential – the zoning the land received in the Rivieras Area Plan, which was approved three years ago – to planned development residential, and divide the acreage up into the 30 lots.

Scott Bennett, owner and principal of the Lakeport-based firm Bennett Engineering, along with local architect Vincent Price and a silent Bay Area partner make up Plum Flat LLC, Bennett said Tuesday.

Bennett said they've owned the land for several years and have been taking their time on the plan, working with county officials and the Riviera Advisory Committee and waiting for the economy to improve.

“We want it done correctly,” he said.

The project went before the commission in May of 2008, at which time it was being proposed for 105 residential lots, according to commission minutes. However, after about two hours of discussion and public comment, Bennett asked for a continuation and a list of commission concerns so he could address them.

He and his partners went back to the county and asked how many lots would be approved with only one access road, and the county told them they could have 30 lots.

Bennett said the access road they've secured would use an easement crossing a neighbor's property – acquired for a “pretty healthy fee” – that would travel through a walnut orchard and onto Point Lakeview Road.

The project is in a very early stage, according to Bennett, so they don't yet have a design theme or specifics on the lot sizes, although he suggested the lots likely will range in size between one and five acres.

“This is step one,” he said.

The goal is for a medium-density residential area, on a property that Bennett said is good for homes because it is virtually free of any earthquake faults.

“This is really one of the last pieces in the Riviera that's really developable,” said Bennett, noting that biological surveys have shown no sensitive plants in the area, and an archaeological survey also has been completed.

He said the county also asked the partners to investigate visibility on the encroachment on Point Lakeview Road.

Bennett said some of the plans for the subdivision – which he suggested will have a feel similar to the upscale Buckingham neighborhood at the base of the Black Forest – include bike and hiking trails, a wide roadway with no on street parking, an on site aerobic treatment septic system and an independent water system, and possibly a small park in the middle of the property.

The only concerns they've heard so far from neighbors, according to Bennett, relate to using Bel Air Drive East as an access road, which would only be done if higher project densities were pursued. Even then, he said, it would be used for emergency access only.

As for whether higher densities may be pursued, Bennett said, “not right now.”

So far, the commission has received several protest letters on the project from neighbors in the nearby homeowners association.

Bel Air Drive East residents Hildegard and Peter Krause and Gisela and Erich Ellerbrock stated in a letter to the commission that the plan, as proposed, “is not acceptable.”

They reported that when they purchased their Clear Lake Riviera properties in 1991, they were told that the Bel Air Drive East area was a green belt and wasn't available for new building developments, information which they said influenced their decision to buy.

They stated that their primary concerns included fire hazards, traffic impacts and safety for children and pets, noise and the unnecessary increase of suburban sprawl contrary to widely identified community concerns promoting smart growth and sustainable development.

Another Bel Air Drive East resident, Debi Freeland, said in a letter to the commission that she's a resident of “one of the more quiet neighborhoods” in the Clear Lake Riviera, and she's concerned about the area of Bel Air West and East turning into a thoroughfare for Plum Flat.

Citing concerns similar to those of the Krauses and Ellerbrocks, Freeland also suggested that the project isn't consistent with the general plan, the Rivieras Area Plan, the Lake County 2030 Blueprint and Area Planning Council preferred growth scenarios, which promote smart growth within existing community boundaries.

The Sierra Club Lake Group also has submitted several letters to Emily Minton, the project's planner, regarding the group's concerns over the subdivision.

The letters, written by Victoria Brandon, stretch back several years, and point to nonconforming densities, concerns about on site sewage disposal, lack of wildlife corridor in relation to the open space and destruction of oak woodland.

In the most recent letter from the group, dated this past June 16, Brandon also raises issues of open space, agricultural buffers, infrastructure, piecemealing – she points out that the developer wants the option of adding up to 74 additional lots – and the need for an environmental impact report.

In that same letter Brandon said the group recommended that the project not be considered until secondary access arrangements are complete, and that the application should include a map of the entire subdivision.

Other items on the Thursday Planning Commission agenda include the following:

9:05 a.m.: Public hearing on consideration of a mitigated negative declaration based on initial study for major use permit for Michael Mims' proposal to establish a small winery and a tasting room, approval of a free standing outdoor advertising sign adjacent to Highway 20, and approval to hold up to three winery-related events per year, in addition to participating in countywide wine tasting events. The project is located at 737 and 755 E. Highway 20, Upper Lake.

10 a.m.: Public hearing on consideration of an administrative appeal of Barry Shaffer regarding the zoning administrator’s approval of a minor use permit based on initial study for Eric Olof to allow a small winery and tasting room at 5615 Highland Springs Road.

11 a.m.: Public hearing on consideration of a previously approved mitigated negative declaration based on initial study for a major use permit. The project applicant is Lakeport Outlaw Karting proposing a motor sport go-cart race track. This hearing is to review the compliance with permit conditions and

to consider minor modifications to the permit conditions. The project is located at 2598 S. Main St., Lakeport.

Documents for the plans can be reviewed at the Community Development Department at the Lake County Courthouse in Lakeport. The department also can be reached by phone at 707-263-2221.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf .

County Deputy Administrative Officer Matt Perry presented the three items, which involve Community Development Block Grant – CDBG – Program funding, during the Tuesday morning public hearing.

The first item was the required annual grantee performance report for program income activities, including Housing Rehabilitation Revolving Loan Fund, Business Expansion and Retention Revolving Loan Fund and Public Works Facilities.

Perry said the Housing Rehabilitation Revolving Loan Fund is administered by Lake County Social Services. He later told Lake County News that the fund, as of June 30, had $46,507 in it.

He told the board that the Business Expansion and Retention Revolving Loan Fund had approximately $545,235. The capital projects fund has no funds remaining.

The business expansion fund, which Perry said was quite active in the 2008-09 fiscal year, primarily was used for sidewalk projects in Clearlake Oaks as well as that town's Plaza project. He told Lake County News that $33,403 from the fund was used in fiscal year 2009-10 for sidewalks in Lucerne.

He said the required reports must provide demographic information for those benefiting from the funds.

The board also considered two proposed resolutions regarding CDBG funding, specifically, a proposed resolution amending the CDBG Program Income Reuse Plan, which governs program income from CDBG-assisted activities, and a proposed resolution approving the transfer of CDBG Program Income in the amount of $545,000 from the Business Expansion and Retention Revolving Loan Fund to

the CDBG PI Capital Project Fund to help finance the Middletown.

Perry said those two items were probably the most important of the three.

He said the CDBG program has been restrictive. Perry said the reuse plan needed to be amended so the funds could be used for a nonrevolving activity, like the senior center.

Noting that the state doesn't want local governments to receive new grants if they have a large accumulation of unspent grant funds, Perry said he had been asking the state's Housing and Community Development Department for several years to loosen the CDBG restrictions, which the state finally did.

The business expansion funds, according to Perry, will be the source of the $545,000 transfer to the capital projects fund for the senior center.

“We're pleased that they've done this,” he told the board. “It allows us to use this money for the senior center.”

Middletown Senior Center Executive Director Jacque Spiker – who during the public comment earlier in the meeting had presented the board and staff with a petition containing 200 signatures from south county residents offering their thanks for efforts on the center – spoke in favor of the fund transfer.

“Seniors are probably feeling the impact of the economy as much as anyone,” Spiker said, adding that people on fixed incomes have a finite amount of resources.

Spiker said the senior center “provides a stopgap” for seniors, offering programs and resources not readily available locally.

She added that she was extremely grateful to the board for its actions to benefit the new center project.

George Clements, chair of the Middletown Senior Center Board of Directors, told the board that the center delivers more than 5,000 meals through its Meals on Wheels program and in its dining room.

Supervisor Rob Brown said the senior center was a good use of the money, and noted that the funds don't do anyone any good if they're just sitting somewhere.

Supervisor Jim Comstock then moved to offer both resolutions, which the board unanimously approved.

On Tuesday the board also heard an update from Lake County Sanitation District officials regarding work on the Southeast Regional Wastewater Collection System in Clearlake. Earlier this year the board took emergency actions on the system, which has need of upgrades and repairs.

John Thompson, the Special Districts compliance coordinator, reported that drawings for the improvements are 90 percent completed, and the third week of smoke testing is under way to explore problems with the system.

So far, 135 defects have been discovered, most of which having to do with cleanouts on private property, with the remainder involving defects in underground piping, Thompson said.

The smoke testing is expected to be completed in another three weeks, he added.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf .

The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. this Thursday, July 22, at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.

In recent meetings City Administrator Dale Neiman has suggested to the council that they may want to consider giving portions of the city back to the county government.

However, at the Thursday council meeting the proposal will make its first formal appearance before the council.

Neiman – whose job recently was reduced to 20 hours per week as a way of saving money for the cash-strapped city – could not be reached for comment on the proposal Monday.

However, his two-page staff report explained that the city receives substantially less revenue and pays more for services than cities of comparable size, a statement he has made to the council in previous meetings.

“In order for the city to remain viable we need to increase our revenues or give parts of the city back to the county to reduce our service costs,” Neiman wrote.

Neiman explained that the technical term for transferring parts of the city back to the county is “detachments.”

The city has only two revenue sources that it can influence – bed or transient occupancy taxes from local motels and resorts, and sales tax revenue, according to Neiman's report.

Since 2007, annual bed tax revenues have dropped from just over $248,000 to more than $175,000, due to a variety of economic and algae issues, Neiman stated in the document.

While the reopening of the former Lake Escape Resort is expected to raise those tax levels to as high as $225,000 in the next three to five years, no other significant increases in bed tax are anticipated within the next five to 10 years, he reported.

During the same three-year time frame, annual sales tax revenues have dropped from just over $1 million to slightly above $945,000, Neiman's report said.

“We have tried to increase the revenues for the city, but our efforts to date have not been successful,” Neiman wrote. “In conclusion, the city will not see any appreciable interest in revenues over the next 10 years based on the past trends and the efforts to date to increase the retail sales tax base of the city.”

Neiman suggested that the “only remaining option” are the detachments, which he said will reduce service costs.

The report does not specially suggest which areas might be given back to the county.

Instead, Neiman proposes the council and staff evaluate several items – the city's current street conditions, demand for police protection as the population increases, current condition of the city's drainage facilities and future trends, conceptual drawings of what areas to detach to reduce the city's costs, and an analysis of the loss of revenues and a reduction in service costs for those areas considered for detachment.

He said the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) would need to approve the detachment proposal.

Detachment would have an impact on the county, and County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox said Monday that he was having a hard time knowing how to respond since he didn't know exactly what was being proposed.

Cox said he had lunch with Neiman and Lakeport City Manager Margaret Silveira last week, and Neiman has mentioned that the discussion would be coming up.

Neiman didn't say the detachment proposal was set for this week's agenda, which the city didn't forward to Cox – he got it from a third party.

Cox said that if Neiman is proposing dropping areas with underperforming revenue that require expensive maintenance and services, “obviously we would have concern about that.”

In such a scenario, all that would would do is transfer the city's problems to the county, and Cox said that wouldn't accomplish anything.

He said that's what the state is doing to counties and small governments – transferring the problem.

Cox said he didn't think LAFCO would approve the idea of keeping portions of the city that generate revenue and require less service and cutting loose other areas.

He joked that he would gladly take the Walmart and the old airport property on Highway 53 if the city wanted to hand them over.

However, there was another option Cox didn't rule out.

“If they're talking about disincorporating and transferring everything to the county, that's another discussion,” said Cox.

“If there's been a determination made that the city's not financially viable to exist, I think they should be talking about disincorporation,” he said.

Noting that these are challenging times, Cox noted, “I have a lot of sympathy for the city of Clearlake and all of the local governments in California right now.”

He said the county is willing to work with the city and help in what ways it can.

“It's important to us that the city succeed and, even more importantly, that the residents receive the services that they need, but there's a limit to what the county can do to help,” said Cox. “We have our own responsibilities.”

In other items scheduled for Thursday's meeting, the council will consider a notice of violation appeal lodged by Dorothy J. Williams for property at 3945 Laddell Ave., and present a proclamation to Kathleen Francis and her dog, Princess Abby, congratulating them on the little dog's win of the 2010 World's Ugliest Dog Contest in Petaluma last month.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf .