LAKEPORT — Lakeport City Council members heard during Tuesday”s regular meeting that the governor”s proposal to eliminate redevelopment agencies statewide remains on the table.
“This is on the table. We don”t know where it”s going to go,” Community Development Director Richard Knoll told the council, which also sits as the Lakeport Redevelopment Agency”s board of directors.
Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed to eliminate funding for redevelopment agencies (RDA) as part of his 2011-12 fiscal year budget proposal.
Knoll said state legislators seem torn between their support for redevelopment and their support for the governor.
The Lakeport RDA approved two owner participation agreements for the city”s Fa?ade Improvement Program earlier in Tuesday”s meeting.
The Nieto Family Trust has proposed a project to improve two storefronts on North Main Street. The family owns the property at which Main St. Bicycles and Main Street Gifts are located.
Improvement work would include new awnings, lighting and signage, Knoll said. The RDA will fund 50 percent of the project”s total budget, which is estimated at $12,000.
The other agreement involved a project proposed by the owners of Lakeport Auto and Tire on South Main Street. The improvements would include fencing, landscaping and awnings, according to Knoll.
The RDA will fund 50 percent of the final project budget, or a maximum of $25,000. Property owners estimate the project will cost less than $41,000.
The council unanimously approved an application for the Lake County Farmers” Finest Farmers” Market, which will occur near Library Park weekly on Wednesdays from 4 to 7 p.m., running from June 1 to Oct. 26.
Portions of Park Street will be closed while the market occurs as well as during setting up and taking down.
Public Works Director Doug Grider said the city is “really looking forward to putting on a nice event this year.”
Later in the meeting, Grider updated the council on Library Park”s condition after the recent high lake levels, saying the AquaDam did a good job and could remain in place until May.
The council also voted unanimously to direct staff to begin negotiating with the highest-ranking firm for design of the Parallel Drive Water Main Extension Project.
Local firm Ruzicka Associates finished second out of seven firms that submitted proposals, but Ruzicka”s proposal cost several thousand dollars less than the first-place proposal from out-of-area firm PACE Engineering.
The council spent nearly an hour discussing ways to allow staff to negotiate instead with Ruzicka, a Lakeport firm.
“I”d like to see the local people get the job and I”d like to see us pay $14,000 less,” Councilwoman Stacey Mattina said.
City Engineer Scott Harter told the council that PACE and Ruzicka finished close to each other in the selection process, but the council could not simply disqualify PACE”s proposal without valid reasons under the current qualification-based selection process.
Toward the end of the discussion, a PACE representative, after witnessing the council members” leanings, told the council that his company would withdraw its bid, thereby making Ruzicka the highest-ranked firm.
Contact Jeremy Walsh at jwalsh@record-bee.com or call him at 263-5636, ext. 37.
