How to resolve AdBlock issue? CLEARLAKE, Calif. – At its meeting on Thursday, the Clearlake City Council took the necessary action to accept a state grant to help the city prepare for public safety power shutoffs.
In the fall, Lake County felt the full effect of Pacific Gas and Electric’s shutoffs, meant to protect against wildland fire danger during the seasonal high winds and dry conditions.
The city of Clearlake submitted a Public Safety Power Shutoff Resiliency Allocation to Cities grant application to the California Office of Emergency Services and received $268,500, the full amount requested, according to City Manager Alan Flora.
The discussion about the grant at Thursday’s meeting begins at the 1:11:09 mark in the video above. The staff report is on page 65 of the report shown below.
The grants are meant for California incorporated cities to prepare for and respond to public safety power shutoff events, including purchasing electrical generation equipment, creating continuity plans and post-event reports, conducting risk assessments for critical infrastructure and public education materials, among other things, according to Cal OES documents.
Cal OES said up to $500,000 could be requested per applicant.
In the grant application, staff explained that the city of Clearlake had spent 185 hours without power in two separate public safety power shutoffs in October and November.
The city requested funds to purchase equipment, including additional gas-powered generators, $2,000; generator fuel, $8,000 to cover eight days at $1,000 per day; generator theft-prevention devices, $5,000; an additional fuel storage tank with a solar pump, $7,500; two green energy mobile messaging stations, $66,000; two light towers, $25,000; two mobile commercial generators with priority purchase toward hybrid fuel generators, $120,000; a three-year contract for redundant fiber-optic Internet connection to the community center, the only community resource center location in the city, with equipment, $25,000; and a redundant microwave link to the Lake County Fire Protection District, $10,000.
Flora went over the list, explaining that they were the items staff felt are important to expand the city’s resilience during power shutoff events.
He said the council needed to vote to amend the city budget in order to add the revenue into the appropriations, which would allow staff to move forward with procuring the equipment listed in the grant application.
Flora said city staff will actively work to acquire all of the equipment. He said there is a lot of demand for generators, so they want to get their spot in line as soon as possible.
During the discussion about communications connectivity, Flora mentioned the county-owned communications tower on Mount Konocti. He said he’s been in contact with Public Services Director Lars Ewing who is willing to work with the city to expand its reach.
“That’s what the county does for a number of facilities already,” said Flora, explaining that signal is bounced from Mount Konocti to the Lake County Courthouse and to other locations around Lake County.
Vice Mayor Dirk Slooten moved to approve the resolution to amend the budget, which the council approved 4-0. Councilwoman Joyce Overton was absent.
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030520 Clearlake City Council Agenda Packet by LakeCoNews on Scribd
