LAKEPORT — A meeting of the Lake County Local Area Formation Commission (LAFCO) served as the latest arena for arguments between county and City of Lakeport staff members.
LAFCO met Wednesday morning at Lakeport City Hall to discuss a Municipal Service Review (MSR) and sphere of influence (SOI) update for the city, but delayed deciding on the items after receiving comments from their staff, and county and city representatives.
John Benoit, executive officer of LAFCO, prepared reports on the MSR and SOI update, with the latter generating the most debate. He suggested LAFCO adopt an SOI for incorporated Lakeport that differed from the one described in the city”s 2009 General Plan update.
By removing certain parcels southwest and southeast of the current city limits, LAFCO could create “a sphere that gives the city some ability to grow and also protects agricultural land and wetlands,” Benoit said.
Land in the SOI would be beyond the city limits and remain in the county”s jurisdiction unless annexed, and the county offered choice words about the issue Wednesday.
County representative Alan Flora read aloud a memo from County Administrator Kelly Cox that questioned the validity of the update review process. “This application and proposal is rife with errors and omissions,” the letter stated.
Flora said the city and county should have met to discuss the SOI update but “no attempt has been made by the city.” He also argued Wednesday”s meeting might not have been properly noticed, a claim Benoit disputed.
The county asked LAFCO to either disapprove the SOI update or adopt a “coterminous” option that matched up the SOI with the current city limits.
Lakeport Community Development Director Richard Knoll told the commissioners that the county”s criticisms were “self-serving” and occasionally misleading. He pointed out LAFCO staff, not city applications, initiated the municipal service and SOI update reviews.
Knoll said city staff is troubled by the “last-minute, late missiles that are being delivered by the county.”
Flora had previously appeared at a Lakeport Planning Commission meeting in October to read a strongly worded memo on behalf of Cox regarding the city”s proposed annexation project.
The city wants to annex 197 acres of unincorporated land along the South Main Street and Soda Bay Road corridor south of its current borders.
Knoll said the relationship between the city and the county “has degraded severely” since the annexation proposal was introduced.
Benoit later added that he is concerned the SOI update is “getting muddled with annexation” despite the two topics being different issues.
After more than an hour of discussion, LAFCO voted unanimously to continue the conversation to its March meeting to allow commissioners and staff additional time to review the comments submitted by the county on Wednesday.
The commissioners also directed staff to facilitate a meeting between the city and the county regarding the SOI update and MSR.
Contact Jeremy Walsh at jwalsh@record-bee.com or call him at 263-5636, ext. 37.
