By Elizabeth Wilson–Record-Bee staff
LAKEPORT — The Lakeport city council meeting saw a larger-than-usual crowd of more than 30 participants to discuss Lakeport”s goals for the future. The discussion lasted 90 minutes, as each of the five sections of goals?effective governance, infrastructure, livability, special projects and economic prosperity?were addressed.
The regular meeting began at 6:30 p.m. opening with a presentation by Lakeport resident Suzanne Lyons on behalf of Andrea Anderson. Anderson, a participant in the goal-setting workshop held last week, is in a wheelchair and had to leave the meeting early to catch Dial-A-Ride”s last ride at 6 p.m.
In response to citizen criticism of government transparency, Lyons, who met Anderson at the goal-setting meeting, presented the city council with a Web camera from Anderson so that video of the meetings could be made available on the city”s Web site.
The city accepted the Web camera and Mayor Roy Parmentier said the city would write a letter of thanks to Anderson.
The first item on the agenda involved an application of Silver Circle VW club to hold a car show on June 28 that would require the closure of Park Street. Councilman Jim Irwin asked how much it would cost. Public Works Superintendent Doug Grider said in cases where streets surrounding Library Park need to be shut-off, the cost is somewhere in the neighborhood of $200 to $400 in staff wages for set-up. However in this case, he said, it would not require staff because it is only one street. The motion carried to approve the application.
An ordinance revising the C-1 light retail zoning district to allow a single-family residence within the zone was approved by the council. Some citizens voiced concern about a home within a retail zone causing potential conflict between residents and business owners related to noise, holiday traffic and parking. Community Development Director Richard Knoll said some of the problems are addressed in the wording of the revision, including the premise that homes would be required to have separate accessibility and parking other than that used for retail.
A resolution approving Lakeport Fire Protection District mitigation fee hikes was accepted by the council, after city staff advised them to do so. City Attorney Steve Brookes said, “It”s a housekeeping issue. We had an agreement to equalize the fees (with that of the county”s fees). This is a funny kind of ordinance because the county set an enabling ordinance to implement the general plan in cities.”
The council adjourned and reconvened as the City of Lakeport Municipal Sewer District agreed to adopt a resolution establishing rates, fees and charges for the sewer district.
In response to a question from Lakeport resident Suzanne Lyons about the current status of a cease and desist order imposed by the Regional Water Quality Board, Utilities Superintendent Mark Brannigan said the city finished construction on the sewer system in November as required.
He said the system has capacity for the district”s customers. “We are complying with the cease and desist order and most likely in 2009 we will apply for a new permit. When people hear cease and desist they think moratorium, and it”s not, it”s a mechanism that the regional water board uses to make sure we”re up to their standards.”
The council reconvened and approved a contract change order for the South Main Street rehabilitation project that required additional work in the spring and summer and was not included in the first contract. At the end of the meeting, Grider reported the 2,874 feet (about a half mile) of street paving was finished this week. Drainage projects on the street will follow.
The council approved moving forward with a new ordinance that would allow police officers to cite minors in the possession of alcohol in a private place. In his address to the council, Chief of Police Kevin Burke said, “Currently, when confronted with a gathering on private property where minors are drinking, officers deal with the situation using a combination of Penal Code Section 272, which prohibits contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and 25658(a) of the Business and Professions Code, which prohibits any person, including a parent, from furnishing alcohol to a minor.”
He said the ordinance would give officials an “additional tool” to fight underage drinking in the city. Councilman Irwin asked how often he thought the ordinance would be used. “We haven”t run into this situation all that often,” Burke said. “I know of one event where we would be able to get a prosecution out of using it. Fortunately, we have a very aggressive District Attorney”s office, but I”m not sure we would get a filing out of each case without this ordinance?we may not use it quite frankly.”
An update was provided on two nuisance properties in Lakeport that were reported to the city at the last meeting. Both of the locations have had some clean-up, but will require additional work. Lastly, an appeal by councilman Ron Bertsch and his wife Barbara to do some work on their property was approved by the council, overturning an initial rejection of the appeal by the Planning Commission.
Contact Elizabeth Wilson at ewilson@record-bee.com. To comment on this story or others, please visit www.record-bee.com.
