LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council is set to hold a reading of an ordinance that would raise council members’ salaries and also will consider potential changes to commercial cannabis rules, including considering offering more permits to operations.

The council will meet virtually at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 20.

Because of the county’s shelter in place order, Clearlake City Hall remains closed to the public, however, the virtual meeting will be broadcast live on the city's YouTube channel or the Lake County PEG TV YouTube Channel. Community members also can participate via Zoom.

The agenda can be found here.

Comments and questions can be submitted in writing for City Council consideration by sending them to Administrative Services Director/City Clerk Melissa Swanson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. You can also visit the city’s town hall site and submit written comments at https://www.opentownhall.com/portals/327/forum_home. Identify the subject you wish to comment on in your email’s subject line or in your town hall submission.

To give the council adequate time to review your questions and comments, please submit your written comments prior to 4 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 20.

Each public comment emailed to the city clerk will be read aloud by the mayor or a member of staff for up to three minutes or will be displayed on a screen. Public comment emails and town hall public comment submissions that are received after the beginning of the meeting will not be included in the record.

At the start of the meeting, the council will meet the month’s adoptable dogs and get a presentation on the 2020 Census.

Under council business, council members will consider the first reading of an ordinance to amend the municipal code in order to increase the salary of council members.

The council discussed the proposal at its meeting on Aug. 6 and directed staff to come back with a draft ordinance, as Lake County News has reported.

City Attorney Ryan Jones told the council that, by statute, council members’ salaries are set according to population, and the maximum for cities Clearlake’s size is $300. However, the city can still give council members a 5 percent annual raise.

The draft ordinance proposes to raise the salary for each council member from the current amount of $300 per month to $500 per month. Originally the council had considered raising it up to $765, which would include a 5 percent increase for each of the past 31 years, the length of time it’s been since the city council salary was set.

In a report Jones and City Manager Alan Flora authored for the meeting, they note that an automatic 5 percent annual increase is not permissible under state law. Government Code section 36516(a)(4) states that “no ordinance shall be enacted or amended to provide automatic future increases in salary.”

In other business, the council will discuss and give possible direction to staff regarding modifications to commercial cannabis regulations.

In his report on the item, Flora noted that the regulations the council approved several years ago allowed for a maximum of three retail dispensaries and 12 permits for other commercial cannabis uses such as manufacturing, distribution, cultivation, labs or delivery-only dispensaries.

He said the maximum number of permits have been issued and some of the permittees have begun operations.

“Based on the continued demand for space for cannabis activity, and the success of the existing cannabis businesses already operating, it may be appropriate for the Council to consider increasing the cap on maximum permits or another alternative to allow additional permits to be issued within the existing zones already approved for cannabis businesses,” Flora wrote.

Also on Thursday, the council will consider designating voting delegates and alternates for the League of California Cities’ annual conference in October and hold the first reading of an ordinance amending the Clearlake Municipal Code relating to universal garbage collection and authorizing administrative citations to collect unpaid debt.

On the meeting's consent agenda – items that are not considered controversial and are usually adopted on a single vote – are warrant registers; minutes of the July 8, 2020, Lake County Vector Control District Board meeting; disposal of surplus vehicles, Resolution No. 2020-34; authorization to purchase two trailer-mounted mobile traffic signals, with motion sensors and controllers, to replace flaggers in right-of-way work zones; adoption of the first amendment to the Fiscal Year 2020-21 Budget (Resolution 2020-27), appropriating funding for public safety communications equipment, Resolution No. 2020-35; and adoption of a resolution approving an allocation of funding and the execution of a grant agreement and any amendments
thereto from the CDBG-DR Program for $1,157,983 for the Multi-Family Housing Program, Resolution No. 2020-36.

The council also will hold a closed session to discuss two potential cases of litigation.

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.