How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
News
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
MATH will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 9, via Zoom. The meeting is open to the public.
To join the Zoom meeting click on this link; the meeting ID is 872 2935 2332 or call in at 888-788-0099.
Chair Tom Darms said the meetings will be held via Zoom until further notice.
On the agenda, scheduled for 7:30 p.m., is the update from District 1 Supervisor Moke Simon.
At 7:50 p.m., Kirsty Shelton of MAHA Developments will offer the latest on the Guenoc Project, a major resort and residential development set to go before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
At 8:25 p.m., the group will discuss August agenda items, including changing MATH to a town hall format, which would result in no county oversight.
The MATH Board includes Chair Tom Darms, Vice Chair Sally Peterson, Secretary Paul Baker, and at-large members Rosemary Cordova and Lisa Kaplan.
MATH – established by resolution of the Lake County Board of Supervisors on Dec. 12, 2006 – is a municipal advisory council serving the residents of Anderson Springs, Cobb, Coyote Valley (including Hidden Valley Lake), Long Valley and Middletown.
Meetings are subject to videotaping.
For more information email
Email Elizabeth Larson at
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The committee, or LEDAC, will meet telephonically from 7:30 to 9 a.m. Wednesday, July 8.
The meeting is open to the public.
If you would like to speak on an agenda item, you can access the meeting remotely by joining from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, or Android device. Please register here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.
If you prefer to use your phone, you must select "Use Telephone" after joining the webinar and call in using these numbers: United States (toll-free): 877-568-4108; United States: +1 (213) 929-4221; Access Code: 579-521-917.
On the agenda is an update on city projects and activities from city staff, including the new lakefront park, waterfront parking rehabilitation, Second Street rehabilitation and an update on the work of Retail Coach, the city’s retail recruitment consulting firm.
Dennis Rollins, chair of the Westside Community Park Committee, will present information about park development, current and future.
There also will be member reports from the Lakeport Main Street Association, Lake County Chamber of Commerce, CareerPoint Lake, Mendocino College/Lake Center and Lake Economic Development Corp./BARC, and citizen input.
The group’s next quarterly meeting will take place on Sept. 9, in a format that’s to be announced.
LEDAC advocates for a strong and positive Lakeport business community and acts as a conduit between the city and the community for communicating the goals, activities and progress of Lakeport’s economic and business programs.
Members are Chair Wilda Shock and Vice Chair Denise Combs, Secretary Terre Logsdon, Maureen Brasier, Candy De Los Santos, Bill Eaton, Melissa Fulton, Pam Harpster, Andy Lucas, Laura Sammel and Amanda Xu. City staff who are members include City Manager Margaret Silveira and Community Development Director Kevin Ingram.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Lake County’s COVID-19 cases totaled 96 on Monday morning, up from 87 reported on Saturday, according to Lake County Public Health.
Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace did not immediately respond to a request from Lake County News for more information about the newly reported cases.
Of Lake County’s 96 cases, 18 are active, of which four are hospitalized, Public Health reported.
Public Health said 77 local cases are recovered. The agency reported Lake County’s first death attributed to the virus last week.
To date, 5,184 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in Lake County, with the results of 491 of those cases pending, Public Health said.
On Monday, the California Department of Public Health reported that California has 271,684 confirmed cases to date, with 6,337 COVID-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
As of July 5, local health departments have reported 16,175 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 94 deaths statewide, the California Department of Public Health said.
The agency also said that California's positivity rate – a key indicator of community spread – is trending upward in the 14-day average, as are hospitalization rates.
In a Monday afternoon briefing, Gov. Gavin Newsom said California is seeing infection rates similar to those at the start of the pandemic.
While death rates appear to be lower, Newsom cautioned that hospitalizations, ICU numbers and mortality are lagging indicators.
The California Department of Public Health reported on Monday that more than 4,793,353 tests have been conducted statewide for the virus.
“As testing capacity continues to increase across the state, an increase in the number of positive cases has been expected – increasing the importance of positivity rates to find signs of community spread,” the state reported.
Over the weekend, California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly urged laboratories in California to prioritize testing turnaround for individuals who are most at risk of spreading the virus to others.
Ghaly said the state, working with public and private partners, has increased access to diagnostic testing over the past six months, with the capacity rising from 2,000 tests per day to 100,000 per day in a few months’ time.
However, Ghaly said that, as more states begin to scale their testing capabilities, new constraints are materializing within the supply chain. “Simultaneously laboratories are becoming overwhelmed with high numbers of specimens, slowing down processing timelines.”
Those delays, said Ghaley, will present “significant challenges” in the ability to care for people in the hospital where testing helps make appropriate treatment decisions and in the ability to appropriately isolate those who are sick in order to box in the virus and cut transmission rates.
Due to these new limitations, Ghaly said California is recommending that laboratories prioritize the processing of specimens of individuals who are COVID-19 symptomatic and those who are hospitalized or in long-term care facilities, including skilled nursing facilities such as veterans homes, assisted living facilities such as residential care facilities for the elderly, and for specimens of patients in institutional settings, including prisons and jails, in order to timely implement appropriate interventions to mitigate the spread of the virus within the facility.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The meeting will take place via webinar beginning at 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 7.
The agenda can be found here.
To speak on an agenda item, access the meeting remotely here or join by phone by calling 877-309-2071 or toll-free, 951-384-3421. The access code is 879-799-541; the audio pin will be shown after joining the webinar. Those phoning in without using the web link will be in “listen mode” only and will not be able to participate or comment.
Comments can be submitted by email to
Please indicate in the email subject line "for public comment" and list the item number of the agenda item that is the topic of the comment. Comments that read to the council will be subject to the three minute time limitation (approximately 350 words). Written comments that are only to be provided to the council and not read at the meeting will be distributed to the council prior to the meeting.
The agenda can be found here.
A closed session will be held at 5:30 p.m. to discuss labor negotiations regarding the city manager.
In open session, the council will consider approving the agreement for city manager services between the city and Kevin Ingram.
Ingram, formerly Lakeport’s Community Development director, was named assistant city manager in January as part of the city’s succession plan.
With the announcement last month that current City Manager Margaret Silveira intends to retire at the end of July, the city has been negotiating with Ingram for a final contract.
The report from City Attorney David Ruderman said the proposed contract with Ingram will be effective Aug. 1 and last for two years and eight months, through March 31, 2023. When the initial term ends, it will automatically renew in additional one-year increments unless the city council provides advanced notice of nonrenewal.
“The contract provides that the City Manager is an ‘at will,’ exempt employee with an initial base annual salary of $140,844. He is entitled to an annual performance bonus of up to $1,500 and to consideration of a cost of living adjustment when such is provided to other at-will management employees in the City,” Ruderman wrote.
Under the contract, Ingram will receive regular CalPERS retirement benefits, life insurance and long-term disability insurance equal to that provided to management employees, 20 days per year of vacation leave, sick leave of one day per month, administrative leave of 80 hours per year, a car allowance of $400 per month, a cell phone stipend and technology allowance. The contract requires Ingram to reside within a 30-minute drive from City Hall.
Additionally, the contract allows for the council to terminate the contract before the end of the term for cause. However, if the council terminates the contract without cause, Ingram would be entitled to severance equal to six months of his base salary, which increases by one month after each year of employment, capped at 12 months.
Also on Tuesday, the council will hold a hearing on the proposed resolution to adopt the housing element update of the general plan.
The council also will hold a protest hearing to allow recipients of a notice to abate dry vegetation creating fire hazard conditions on private property to express objections and be provided with due consideration as to why their property should not be abated.
Under council business, Silveira will ask the council to approve a resolution directing staff to begin the application process to change Westside Park Road to Charlie’s Way, in honor of the late Charlie Jolin, who was a driving force behind the park’s creation.
Finance Director Nick Walker will present the proposal to prepare a written report containing a description of each parcel of real property within the city and the City of Lakeport Municipal Sewer District to which delinquent water and sewer user charges, fees and penalties are applicable and the amount of the delinquent water and sewer user charge, fee, and penalty for
each such parcel the period of June 1, 2019, through May 31, 2020.
In other business, the council will consider approving an amendment to the franchise agreement with Lakeport Disposal Inc., adopt a resolution officially naming the building donated by the Bank of America at 500 N. Main St. in honor of Silveira, and award a construction contract to Team Ghilotti, Inc. for the Second Street Sidewalk Improvement Project.
On the consent agenda – items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote – are ordinances; minutes of the regular council meeting on June 16; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency for the Mendocino Complex fire; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency for the February 2019 storms; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency for the October 2019 public safety power shutoff; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency for the COVID-19 public health emergency; Introduction of the proposed safety assessment placard ordinance to the Lakeport Municipal Code and schedule a public hearing for Aug. 4; adoption of the resolution approving and adopting a policy authorizing the use and acceptance of electronic signatures (e-signatures) on city documents; and approval of the retirement incentive agreement between the city of lakeport and Margaret Silveira.
Email Elizabeth Larson at