LAKEPORT — The Lakeport Main Street Association (LMSA) will receive city funds this fiscal year after the City Council voted to approve the move Tuesday night.
“The reinstitution of these funds is going to be very helpful,” LMSA executive director Carol Hays said during a phone interview Wednesday.
The LMSA previously received money from the Lakeport Redevelopment Agency (RDA), but the fate of the $20,000 it was set to get for the 2011-12 fiscal year remained up in the air once state lawmakers decided to eliminate local redevelopment.
During their regular meeting Tuesday at City Hall, council members discussed whether the city should keep on funding the LMSA in light of losing its RDA.
Councilman Bob Rumfelt said he thought it would be a “real loss to cut their funding.”
The RDA provided funds to the LMSA because of the group”s economic development and promotional work in downtown Lakeport, according to City Manager Margaret Silveira.
She said LMSA projects included hanging flower baskets, creating a downtown shopping guide, making displays for vacant store windows and developing an inventory of commercial properties for lease or sale in the city.
The council voted to approve providing $20,000 to LMSA for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.
Those funds represent about 35 percent of the organization”s operating budget, according to Hays. The remainder primarily comes from membership fees and fundraisers, she added.
The council addressed more RDA fallout during the meeting.
Council members voted to appoint Mayor Stacey Mattina and Community Development Director Richard Knoll to the Lakeport Redevelopment Successor Agency Oversight Board, which will oversee the winding down of the RDA”s activities.
The city elected to serve as the successor agency in January.
The council also approved a proposed administrative budget, outlining the predicted costs for the city as the successor agency.
The draft budget, which has to get oversight board approval, estimates $253,037 in administration costs for the current fiscal year.
The fourth RDA-related item resulted in the council approving an initial Recognized Obligation Payment Schedule (ROPS), which lists the type and source of all payments the successor agency will need to make this budget year as part of the winding down process.
In other business, the council discussed the future of the Westshore Pool day camp program, which would enter its third year this summer.
Public Works Director Doug Grider sought council members” input about how to proceed with the program in light of funding and staffing concerns.
He proposed several alternatives, including switching to a half-day camp, not offering a healthy snack or ending the program.
The council postponed decision-making until the March 6 meeting, asking Grider to contact the Lakeport Unified School District and other agencies about possibly coordinating meals and staffing for the summer camp.
Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen introduced a new department volunteer, Antonio Castellanos.
Rasmussen said Castellanos is a criminal justice student who completes various tasks for the department several days a week.
Before the regular meeting, the council held a 45-minute, midyear budget review workshop.
General fund revenues are up 2 percent compared to last fiscal year, according to Finance Director Dan Buffalo.
The receipts for sales tax and property tax have been better than expected whereas leases and transient occupancy taxes are down, Buffalo said.
Short-term cost-saving moves, such as implementing furloughs, have been effective, he added.
“We are pretty much on target for our budget for the year,” Silveira said.
City staff plans to begin preparing the 2012-13 budget in early March.
