LAKEPORT — The City Council narrowly gave support to a proposed affordable senior housing complex during a special meeting Tuesday night.
“When redevelopment went away, I figured we”d lose the whole project,” Mayor Stacey Mattina said. “So when they were still interested in finishing it, I thought it was such an excellent thing for us.”
The vote was 3-2 in favor of allowing the developer, Lakeport Pacific Associates, to defer paying roughly $496,000 in water and sewer expansion fees. Council members Suzanne Lyons and Roy Parmentier dissented.
The nearly 90-minute discussion at Lakeport City Hall developed into a debate about weighing an incentive to attract affordable housing against the council”s desire to promote local hiring.
The company aims to build the 48-unit Lakeport Senior Apartments at 1075 Martin St.
But the project faced financial challenges because of the loss of potential city redevelopment funds and increased costs associated with the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum building, according to developer representative Mike Kelley.
Construction costs are estimated at almost $5.4 million. LEED Platinum status is a requirement of federal funding the project received, Kelley added.
As a result, the company proposed a two-tiered deferral agreement for utility expansion fees, which the council approved.
About $346,000 will be deferred for as many as two years or until a request to occupy the building. The city will essentially loan the developer the remaining $150,000 in deferred expansion fees for 15 years at 3-percent interest compounded annually.
The developer agreed to use its best efforts to hire within Lake County in exchange for the deferrals.
The contractor is from Santa Rosa, but the project foreman lives in Lakeport, Kelley said. Several subcontractors are also from Lakeport, he added.
Lyons argued that having workers who reside in the city doesn”t have the same impact as hiring businesses based in Lakeport. She also criticized the company for recently advertising a request for proposal in Lake County three days before bids were due.
The approved agreement required Lakeport Pacific Associates to report to the council monthly about its efforts to hire locally and provide contact information for the person whom prospective subcontractors should contact about work available on the project.
In other business, council members voted unanimously to amend City Manager Margaret Silveira”s contract to provide her health benefits. The provision was unintentionally left out of the agreement approved Nov. 13, according to City Attorney Steve Brookes.
Silveira is entitled to health insurance at the single rate with 76 percent paid by the city and 24 percent paid by her. The city would cover all other insurance benefits such as life, dental and vision.
Jeremy Walsh is a staff reporter for Lake County Publishing. Reach him at 263-5636, ext. 37 or jwalsh@record-bee.com. Follow him on Twitter, @JeremyDWalsh.
