How to resolve AdBlock issue? The board, which met on Tuesday evening, focused on issues including the upcoming Measure M fire tax vote, budget issues and personnel matters.
One of the main matters involving district staff is the retirement this month of Linda Buckner, the longtime administrative assistant who was described as a “rock” and integral to the district’s operations over the past 16 years.
On Tuesday, she administered the oath to her successor, Mandi Huff, who previously worked for South Lake County Fire Protection District. As she settles in, Huff will have the help of a job manual Buckner created, and Buckner has volunteered to assist her at any time.
Measure M, the all-mail ballot set for May 7, will determine if the district will have new revenue to help it reinstate firefighters laid off last year, purchase new equipment and stabilize its budget moving forward.
Board member Alan Flora said he has been checking with the county Registrar of Voters Office regularly to find out how the election will be handled in the wake of the agency losing its longtime registrar, Diane Fridley, to retirement and its deputy registrar who had been serving as the interim – Maria Valadez – to another job out of county, as Lake County News has reported.
Fridley is now volunteering to help the department and last week the Board of Supervisors appointed County Administrative Office staffer Marcy Harrison as interim deputy registrar.
Flora said he had spoken to Fridley. “She assures me that everything is under control,” he said, which he said made him feel good about the situation.
He said that most of the Measure M ballots had gone out on Monday.
Earlier on Tuesday, Flora spoke to Harrison, who reported that the Registrar of Voters Office will be sending out press releases later this week about the deadline to register to vote.
With the district unable to directly campaign for the fire tax measure, its volunteer and professional firefighters are taking the lead on that effort.
Volunteers are planning to go door-to-door to speak with Lakeport residents on Wednesday and Sunday, with a third day of visiting with voters expected in the near future. The union reported that 280 Measure M signs are placed, trifold campaign fliers are out and that they had information from the Registrar of Voters Office that ballots already are coming in.
District board looks at future of Finley station
As the board looks at how to address budget shortfalls in the current budget year, one of the possibilities it’s considered is the sale of its Finley station, which currently houses the Clear Lake Gleaners’ food bank.
Interim Chief Rick Bergem, directed at the last meeting to do further research and bring back information to the board, said the district purchased the property where the Finley station is located, at 1894 Big Valley Road, in 1972 for $4,000.
At the time, there was an existing blacksmith shop that the district’s volunteers demolished, replacing it with the current structure. Bergem said it housed various pieces of equipment, including a small brush rig and a water tender.
Around 1985, the district decided to close it for lack of volunteers, Bergem said. From then on, they used it to store equipment. The Gleaners began leasing it in 1999 for $200 a month. The rental amount has increased to $338 a month, for annual revenue totaling $3,689.
Bergem said he’s spoken to the Gleaners leadership about whether they are interested in purchasing the building and they indicated that they already are looking for a larger facility.
Another option is keeping it and reopening it, as there are now volunteers in the area. Bergem said his research showed there would be lower insurance rates for nearby businesses if that happened.
He also received from Konocti Realty a courtesy estimate of between $250,000 to $275,000 for the property’s value.
Board members expressed surprise at the estimate and guessed that at that price it would sit on the market for an extended time.
Bergem said that because of media attention about the building, community members have expressed interest in seeing the district keep the building.
A majority of district board members ultimately decided they didn’t want to pursue a sale of the building at this time, with Board President John Whitehead noting his opposition to selling it and its future potential uses. If it’s sold, he added, they can’t replace it, and it’s a source of some income. Board members Don Davidson and Gary Williams agreed.
Board moves on surplus equipment, tables meeting time change
In other business, the board decided to put off a decision about hiring NBS – the Temecula-based firm which has assisted it with Measure M – to conduct the necessary assessment to determine property values should the measure pass. That work has to be done by Aug. 9 and Bergem said it’s expected to be too much for the district to do on its own, but the board wanted to do more research on options.
Board members didn’t discuss, as agendized, the 2019-20 budget, which Bergem and his staff are now drafting, as Flora noted that it will be important to that discussion what happens with Measure M on May 7. The next board meeting will be about a week after that, and it’s expected to be back on the agenda then.
In the meantime, Flora said what’s keeping him up at night is the current fiscal year budget. He’s concerned that the district is going to need to make some adjustments to cover a shortfall of a few hundred thousand dollars.
Other actions the board took Tuesday included directing Bergem to move forward with a sale of surplus equipment and vehicles, as well as approving his benefits and job description, which Flora emphasized didn’t include a raise but only confirmed his salary and benefits.
The board praised Bergem for his strategic plan for the year. Bergem said he’s on track with April’s goals and objectives, including Huff’s hiring and Measure M-related work.
The board ended by indefinitely tabling a discussion item on changing the meeting time from 5 to 6 p.m., which Whitehead said had been brought up by an audience member at a past meeting, with that person not showing up since. He said the only member who they thought it would impact was Flora, Clearlake’s city manager, but he has another meeting in Lakeport on Tuesday afternoons that fits well with the current meeting time.
Whitehead said they would table the matter going forward, and asked that any community member with questions or issues about the meeting time contact the district at 707-263-4396.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
Lakeport Fire - Updated Measure M expenditure plan by LakeCoNews on Scribd
