LAKEPORT ? The Lakeport City Council heard staff reports explaining plans for lake bed weed eradication, alternative funding for parks and pool maintenance, an update on the South Main Street road project and standby fees for water and wastewater at its meeting Tuesday night.
The latter issue raised some questions from councilmen about an expensive water rate study slated for completion in the next few months.
Utilities Superintendent Mark Brannigan said the study will address standby fees, and needs to be updated since the last one was conducted about three years ago. He said bonding agencies look favorably on a professional study when a city needs to finance a project.
He “believes $15,000 is budgeted” for a study, which would cost between $15,000 and $20,000.
City Manager Jerry Gillham said the study is important because it looks at the city”s master water plan. “We don”t have a good water master plan right now,” Councilman Jim Irwin said.
Gillham called the study a “necessary evil” that helps bring “legitimacy to the rate process?if we do need to bond or finance a project, we have that independent financial expert [opinion].”
Irwin asked if there were any water bonding projects the city is looking at in the near future. Gillham said there is “no specific need right now” for a bonding project.
“Theoretically, we could do our own right now and do one [professional water rate study] later,” Irwin said.
Councilman Ron Bertsch said a city the size of Lakeport spends half a million dollars per year on consulting fees.
“That”s good stuff. I don”t know why you”re using it this year?plus if something comes up in a few years, they”re going to require a current study, and they”ll have to do it again,” Bertsch said.
Brannigan said that would “depend on the bonding agency” but the council could decide to delay the study.
Mayor Buzz Bruns requested the issue be put on the agenda for discussion at the council”s next meeting April 1.
During citizen input, Lakeport resident Cheri Holden presented approximately 400 signatures and handed out copies of a petition advocating the Natural High School property be maintained as open space, rather than used for a hotel.
A hotel for the property is not on the table, according to city staff and the Lakeport Unified School District, which owns the property. But the idea of combining the property with city-owned Dutch Harbor with the intent of recruiting a hotel developer was discussed last year. The council had no comments or questions after Holden”s presentation.
Lakeport resident Peter MacRae addressed the council asking it support a railroad line extending from Ukiah to Eureka.
“There is no way a company is going to want to relocate to this area?[even with] the advantages of housing costs?when we”re looking at a minimum of three hours to get to a major transportation hub,” MacRae said.
But a north coast rail line extending possibly to Eureka ? an issue that has been discussed without resolution in Sonoma, Mendocino and Humboldt counties for many years ? could cut transportation time to forty minutes for Lakeport businesses, which would access the line in Ukiah.
Councilman Bob Rumfelt said the topic has come up at the League of Cities regional meeting.
“Eureka is one of the few deep-water ports. The Bay Area quite frankly is getting overpopulated with port stuff. If they could get that rail line to Eureka, which needs to be updated, they could use Eureka as a deep water port that would be beneficial to the whole north state?so there”s already been some folks from the North area who have shown and voiced support for that,” Rumfelt said.
Contact Elizabeth Wilson at ewilson@record-bee.com.
