LAKEPORT — The city council meeting Tuesday evening saw an attendance of five citizens. City government transparency was a topic of discussion as the council decided what to do with a Web camera donated to the city by Lakeport resident Andrea Anderson.
Anderson was a participant in a city goal-setting workshop recently who asked for more transparency, along with numerous other citizens. “It looks like I”ll be donating a Web cam pretty soon,” Anderson said to a Record-Bee reporter on her way home from the meeting. Anderson usually cannot attend council meetings because she is in a wheelchair and her main means of transportation, Dial-A-Ride, stops their service at 6:30 p.m. She donated a camera at the last council meeting, with Lakeport resident Suzanne Lyons, whom Anderson met at the goal-setting workshop, presenting on her behalf.
City Engineer Scott Harter gave his advice to the city council regarding the issue. “We have received donations of additional computers if needed, so there are no hard costs there. It would cost $100 to set-up and it runs about $130 per month, depending on how much we”re streaming,” Harter said. He said he spoke with the city”s Web master, who advised the city not use a free host. “The Web master said to avoid those because you don”t know how stable those will be.”
Mayor Roy Parmentier asked how long it would take to set up. “Half a day,” Harter replied. The cost per year at the most would total approximately $1,700. That figure would pay for four hours of streaming at the two council meetings per month plus planning commission meetings. “Why don”t we set this thing up and start it the first of July?” Parmentier asked. Councilman Jim Irwin said he didn”t think in July the city would be in a better financial situation than it is currently.
City Manager Jerry Gillham said there is money available for the city to use to fund Web streaming if they desired.
Councilman Ron Bertsch said, “I”d really like to get on the cable TV network before we do anything else. I think we”d reach more people than being on the internet.”
Gillham advised the council that a TV broadcast would be an unknown fiscal impact, which is why the city has not gone that route in the past. “The PEG channel is a different animal because the contract language pinned the city down to pay one third of the costs.” He added that he was “a little leery” about the city taking people”s donated items, and said it was his preference to ask city staff to do the research determining what a “real camera system would do for us.”
“Let”s make it something that will stand the test of time and be legitimately researched,” Gillham said.
Councilman Buzz Bruns said, “I think that our PA system itself is inadequate?I think we should address that for the people who are interested enough to be here, and go for the camera thing later. We always have complaints that people in the back can”t hear.”
Suzanne Lyons walked up to the podium to address the council. “It”s interesting the way this has evolved. You were given a Web camera, and I don”t understand turning down a free camera?We can hear you from the back when you want us to. There is a lot of talking that is done as asides?I think that”s not in the right spirit of government.”
Parmentier proposed returning to the subject at a later date, asking Harter to conduct additional research. “Yeah, I can find out if we”re looking at [needing] additional cameras. But I don”t anticipate the hardware cost being more than $500,” Harter said.
In other business on the agenda, an ordinance revising the C-1 retail zone to allow single-family residences was approved by the council.
Councilman Bertsch addressed an ordinance providing for reduced development standards in historic areas and subdivisions. He placed the item on the agenda, and said he wanted simply to inform the council about the issue, and that it would still be discussed with the planning commission. He was appointed to handle the ordinance last year.
“I think this ordinance was needed, there are homes built in the ?40s on lots without offsets, and they can”t put a porch in because they”re restricted by the offsets. This opens the door for these people to be able to do things,” Bruns said.
In miscellaneous business, Utilities Superintendent Mark Brannigan announced a workshop Wednesday, Nov. 21 from 2-4 p.m. at city hall on a sewer use and pretreatment ordinance that is in draft form. Among other things, the ordinance will require restaurants to use grease traps, preventing sewer pipes from clogging. Lakeport”s sewer system was issued a cease and desist order last March due to sewage overflows. He said this is the second workshop, and there may be a third due to the fact there may be low attendance today, the day before Thanksgiving. The ordinance will likely go before city council in January, Brannigan said.
Lakeport Police Chief Kevin Burke addressed the council regarding two articles written by Record-Bee reporter Elizabeth Wilson (self) about crime statistics in the unincorporated county and cities of Lakeport and Clearlake.
“I want to make it clear that Lakeport is not the rape capital. In 2006 we had zero rapes [within city limits], no rapes in 2007, two in 2005. The article talked about Lakeport referring to the entire zip code. The [Lake County Sheriff Department”s] statistics were outside the city limits in the unincorporated part of Lakeport. The article was not clear on that.”
Contact Elizabeth Wilson at ewilson@record-bee.com
Editor”s Note: The article referred to above, did in fact make a distinction between the city statistics and LCSD statistics, both in the article and in accompanying informational boxes. While Lakeport city limits may not have had reported rapes, the statistics from the LCSD did report seven rapes for unincorporated Lakeport?meaning those areas not within city limits and not covered by Lakeport Police Department”s jurisdiction.
