LAKEPORT — The Lakeport City Council heard an update on the new Mendocino College Lake Center construction project during its regular meeting Tuesday evening at City Hall.
Mike Adams, director of facilities planning for the college, gave a brief PowerPoint presentation, outlining project timelines and displaying photographs, building designs and site plans.
“I think we”ve got a beautiful site,” Adams said of the parcel at 2565 Parallel Drive in Lakeport on which the new Lake Center will sit.
The college awarded the construction bid of nearly $10.2 million in September and a groundbreaking ceremony is set for later this month. Adams said college staff is working with the contractor to adjust construction plans to reduce costs by about $750,000.
The total project cost, including land acquisition, is estimated at $14.5 million, according to Adams. The college hopes the new Lake Center will be completed and opened for classes by the spring 2013 semester, he said.
Wilda Shock, chairperson of the Lake County Friends of Mendocino College (LCFMC), also spoke to the council, introducing the recently-formed organization and describing its goals.
LCFMC, an affiliate of the nonprofit Mendocino College Foundation, Inc., has a stated mission “to establish partnerships with existing organizations in Lake County whose mission and activities are consistent with the goals and purposes of LCFMC.”
Earlier in the meeting, Dennis Rollins, chair of the Westside Community Park Committee, updated the council on 2011 construction work at the park.
The main work completed on Phase 2 involved irrigation, electricity and planting of grass seeds for future fields to be used for baseball, softball and soccer. Some grading work on the west access road of Phase 2 was also done, Rollins said.
Construction at the park has pretty much ended for the year, according to Rollins, who added that the Lakeport Rotary Club will be donating two dugouts and work may be done on those later this fall if the weather cooperates.
Rollins said the goal is to have the new ball fields completed by mid-summer 2012.
In one of its only voting actions, the council decided to take up an urgency item not appearing on the posted agenda.
The county recently asked the council for a letter of support in conjunction with a county grant application for funding related to the Middle Creek Restoration Project. The council voted 3-0 to approve the support letter, which needed to be completed by Monday.
Council members Tom Engstrom and Bob Rumfelt were out of town and absent from Tuesday”s meeting.
The council also had only three members present at its Sept. 20 meeting, the minutes of which Mayor Suzanne Lyons asked be pulled from Tuesday”s consent agenda.
Lyons dissented in a 2-1 vote on Sept. 20 to support a reduced focus of Phase 2 of the Downtown Improvement Project.
Lyons objected to the draft minutes for that meeting reflecting the motion carried by the 2-1 vote because she believed council procedures required at least three affirmative votes to carry any motion.
City staff said there are varying interpretations about the policy, indicating there may be some occasions when a majority vote of a three-member council would be acceptable. Staff acknowledged that the current policies and procedures aren”t clear on the issue.
The council decided to carry over the Sept. 20 minutes to a future meeting.
Staff plans to bring back the issue of a reduced improvement project focus during a November meeting when the entire council would be present. Staff may also introduce a clarified policy regarding three-member council votes at a future meeting.
Contact Jeremy Walsh at jwalsh@record-bee.com or call him at 263-5636, ext. 37.
