Police Chief Allan McClain will lead the brief ceremony, which will take place immediately after the council meeting begins at 6 p.m., said Lt. Mike Hermann of Clearlake Police.

Hermann said about 22 people will receive the new badges, which is the first step in working to bring a new image to the agency.

In the months ahead the department's cars also are expected to sport new designs, Hermann added.

“We've also created a new mission and vision statement for the department,” said Hermann, which McClain will present after the ceremony.

Street maintenance issues raised

The council also will consider a request by Clearlake residents Peter Velush and Carol Johnson that the city accept Fourth, Third and Sonoma streets into the city-maintained street system.

Velush and Johnson requested the city consider the move, in part, because they said the city did grading work in the past on those streets, located in the Clearlake Park area.

Neiman told Lake County News Wednesday that when he first joined the city earlier this year he asked for staff to provide him with a map of city maintained streets, and the streets in question weren't included in that map.

Most cities won't accept a street into a city-maintained system unless it's been built to current city standards and accepted by the council, said Neiman.

However, city staff did do some minor work on the streets in question, spreading and compacting gravel that residents had purchased, which clouds the issue. As such, Neiman plans to ask City Attorney Tom Gibson for a legal opinion on the matter.

Neiman said he has concluded that when the city incorporated in 1980 the county was only maintaining the area's paved streets, which he said amounts to about 65 miles.

Today the city is maintaining 49 miles of dirt roads, said Neiman.

The city currently receives $22 in gas tax revenues to maintain the street in front of a typical 50 foot by 100 foot residential lot, said Neiman. That's $28 short of the $50 needed on an annual basis to care for a new street. And that cost goes up – to as high as $90 a year – if the street is older and needs more maintenance, he said.

Many cities put a lot of general fund money towards street maintenance, a practice which Clearlake hasn't historically followed, said Neiman. This past year the city put $89,000 in general fund money towards city streets.

Based on current budget constraints and his belief that Fourth, Third and Sonoma haven't been maintained by the city, Neiman is advising the council against accepting the streets into the system.

Other agenda items for Thursday night's council meeting:

• The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's (NAACP) Lake County Branch will make a presentation to the council.

• Consideration of repayment of lot line adjustment and lot merger fees to applicants.

• A contract for limited legal services with Jackson Lewis LLP. Neiman reported that the separate legal services are needed due to an appeal of a decision he made on an employee disciplinary action. The city's legal firm has been representing Neiman in the appeal, and he believes that to have the same firm also represent the council could be a conflict of interest. Jackson Lewis reported that it will offer the city a discounted hourly rate of $240. The firm will be needed only for the appeal hearing, which Neiman said should take less than a day, possibly as little as three to four hours depending on how many witnesses are called.

• Authorization for Mayor Judy Thein to send a letter of support for the development of a discovery center/museum/educational center and campground at Anderson Marsh State Park.

The Clearlake City Council meets at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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