LAKEPORT — The Lakeport City Council Tuesday approved the Public Works Director”s request to move forward with several changes to the fuel system at the city”s corporation yard on Martin Street.
Director Doug Grider told the council that system improvements would include upgrading the fuel pumps, adding anti-theft devices and a new card lock system. The current pumps are more than 20 years old and do not have updated electronic capabilities, such as digital gallon tracking, Grider said.
Each city employee who uses the fueling system would have a secure card issued specifically to them, and the card system would allow city staff to electronically track fuel consumption by individual or department, Grider said.
All city cars, other than Lakeport Police Department (LPD) vehicles, fuel up at the corporation yard, and the system upgrades could lead LPD to use the yard”s station, Grider said. LPD currently uses the fueling station on South Main Street, he said.
The city would enter into a contract with fuel provider West Gate Petroleum, the company would complete the upgrade work and the city would make payments based on increased per-gallon fuel costs, Grider said.
The work would cost the city around $20,000 and the payback rates would be either a three-year plan for 53 additional cents per gallon or a five-year plan for 32 cents more per gallon, Grider said.
The council voted 4-0 to approve the formulation of a contract, the final version of which Grider will present to the council at a future meeting. Councilman Roy Parmentier was absent from Tuesday”s meeting.
The council also authorized Grider to proceed with a request for quotes for installation of plumbing materials at Library Park restrooms. City staff would complete other interior rehabilitation work to the restrooms nearest to Lakeport”s Carnegie Library, Grider said.
The council approved a ninth contract change order (CCO) for the South Main Street Pedestrian Improvement Project. The CCO reflected additional contractor work to relocate a water meter box onto E Street, City Engineer Scott Harter said.
The latest CCO amount was $1,500, which was some $2,000 less than the contractor originally requested, Harter said. The nine CCOs brought the total project cost to around $50,000 more than the original contract price of $291,346.75, according to Harter. CCOs are not uncommon for construction projects because it can be difficult to account for project “unknowns,” Harter said.
Project work finished in December and included asphalt replacement, construction of curbs, gutters and sidewalks, pedestrian ramps, landscaping and pavement delineation to portions of South Main Street between E Street and Oak Knoll Avenue, according to Harter.
Harter also told the council that a recent city grant application had been approved. The city will receive $132,400 through the state”s Highway Safety Improvement Program for a traffic-calming project on Lakeshore Boulevard, Harter said. The Lakeport project was one of three approved, according to Harter: the other two were in Eureka and Del Norte County.
Sitting as the Board of Directors of the Lakeport Redevelopment Agency (RDA), council members voiced their support for a proposed RDA project but stopped short of reserving specific funding.
The Northern Circle Indian Housing Authority (NCIHA) has requested $120,000 in RDA Housing Set Aside funds to help with the construction of two affordable single-family manufactured homes in Lakeport.
Community Development Director Richard Knoll told the board that he saw no problem with “having another (RDA) project in the queue,” but that the RDA should wait and see how the NCIHA plan develops and whether other previously approved RDA projects come to fruition.
Board members and Knoll also addressed the possibility that funding may not be available for the NCIHA project in future fiscal years because of the uncertain status of statewide RDAs in the governor”s proposed budget.
