LAKEPORT — The Lakeport City Council”s regular public meeting Tuesday lasted a brief 35 minutes, with the council approving a consent agenda and receiving an update on the Westside Community Park before entering into closed session.
The council approved the majority of its consent agenda with a 4-0 vote to begin the meeting. Mayor Pro Tem Robert Rumfelt arrived late to the meeting and did not participate in the first vote.
The council pulled two items from the consent agenda. The first item pulled was the warrant register dated back to Oct. 15. Councilman Roy Parmentier said he wanted more discussion on the register, which is a list of checks written by the city.
Parmentier said he wanted to know about a check that covered the purchase of a training pistol by the Lakeport Police Department.
Acting chief of police Brad Rasmussen was not at the meeting because of training, according to city manager Margaret Silveira. The council said it would discuss the pistol purchase with Rasmussen at a future meeting.
The council approved the warrant register, with the training pistol purchase having been removed.
The second item pulled for further discussion was a resolution supporting public discourse regarding the California Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA).
Mayor James Irwin requested the resolution be pulled from the consent agenda.
Rumfelt said during the discussion that he received a memo from a representative of the city of Fort Bragg, asking for the Lakeport City Council to approve a resolution urging the state and the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force to actively consider public input.
Rumfelt said the issue affected nearby cities and counties, those near the coast, and that the resolution supports those citizens, saying, “It wants their voice heard.”
The council approved the resolution with a 3-1-1 vote.
Mayor Irwin voted against approving the resolution, saying he was unclear about what the resolution sought to accomplish.
Parmentier abstained from voting on the resolution.
Dennis Rollins, chairperson of the Westside Community Park Committee, presented an update of the park”s construction to the council during the public presentation portion of the meeting.
Rollins told the council that work on the second phase of park construction had been completed for the season.
Rollins said construction work completed between April and October included filling in sediment ponds on the site and soil analysis.
Among the new facilities to be constructed during the second phase are a regulation baseball field, a Little League baseball field and additional soccer fields, Rollins said after the meeting.
Construction work can resume no earlier than April 15, 2011 and the committee thinks the project”s second phase will be completed by October 2011, according to Rollins.
The council concluded its public meeting around 6:35 p.m. and entered closed session, during which pending litigation was discussed.
The council addressed the case of The City of Lakeport v. Vincent, which concerns a dispute between the city and a private landowner over putting sidewalks, gutters and other roadside construction along the landowner”s property, according to city clerk Janel Chapman.
This council will meet again Nov. 2, the evening of Election Day. Mayor Irwin is seeking re-election but Councilman Ron Bertsch is not running for re-election.
Contact Jeremy Walsh at jwalsh@record-bee.com or call him directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
