LAKEPORT — The Lakeport City Council voted 4-1 to approve a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City of Lakeport and the California Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) Tuesday night during its regular meeting.
The approved MOU grants the AOC perpetual use of a piece of Lakeport Boulevard for the construction of Lakeport”s new courthouse.
The AOC will use the segment of road for construction, maintenance and access to the new courthouse
However, the city of Lakeport is also considering the construction of a new “collection street” south of the access site and the approved MOU does not obligate the AOC to assist in building it.
Councilman Roy Parmentier, who voted against the passage of the MOU, supported modifying its language so the AOC would be obligated to help construct the proposed street, complete with utilities such as storm drains and power lines.
“To be perfectly honest, I don”t trust the state anymore,” he said.
In other business the council unanimously approved $13,500 in construction costs for the enclosure of three small cubicles inside Lakeport City Hall, allowing Lakeport Redevelopment Agency (RDA) director Richard Knoll and city attorney Steven Brookes to move out of their current offices in Carnegie Library.
Moving the RDA out of the 93-year-old building will save the city approximately $1,000 in heating bills during the winter, city manager Margaret Silveira said.
The council also voted to grant exemptions from the citywide hiring freeze, allowing the Utilities and Public Works departments to fill vacant positions.
Utilities Director Mark Brannigan requested a part-time secretary for his department because the current staff is overworked and not suited to clerical work.
“Utility workers aren”t always the best suited to administrative support,” Brannigan said. “They”re used to being out in the dirt, working with machinery.”
The city will save $21,000 to $34,000 by employing a part-time department secretary to do the work currently being done by a full-time employee, according to a staff report compiled by human resources director Kelly Buendia.
The Public Works Department received council approval to hire a foreman to replace a maintenance worker currently occupying that position.
A supervisor will be hired from a temp agency to fill in for the interim foreman until a full-time worker is hired, Public Works Director Doug Grider said.
The Lakeport Police Department sought council”s approval to promote one of its three sergeants to the position of lieutenant to assist Police Chief Brad Rasmussen with administrative support, but the council tabled the request, asking the Human Resources Department to come back with data on the salary difference between the positions.
Councilman Tom Engstrom added that the promotion wouldn”t increase the number of police officers patroling the streets. “You”re not increasing personnel, but you”re increasing your budget,” he said to Rasmussen.
Earlier in the meeting, the council recognized city building official Tom Carlton for becoming a certified floodplain manager.
The distinction will allow Carlton to serve the city as an adviser when issues pertaining to floodplains are discussed, Knoll said. Carlton was not in attendance Tuesday night.
Council members also received staff input on how the $619,431 in Measure I revenue should be spent. A cost-projection compiled by finance manager Dan Buffalo recommended that $330,488 collected from Lakeport”s half-cent sales tax be spent on various street maintenance projects.
Council member Bob Rumfelt suggested that Lakeshore Drive in particular needed maintenance. “I thought I was going to lose my motorcycle in some of those holes,” he said.
