LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council held a special meeting Monday evening to consider three items of business that needed to be taken care of before month’s end.
During the half-hour meeting, the council approved granting a monthly stipend for an assistant city manager and a contract for thermoplastic striping on a portion of 20th Street, and rejected a bid on the accessibility upgrades to the Carnegie Library.
City Manager Margaret Silveira presented the request to approve the $500-per-month stipend, which she said is part of the city’s goal of establishing succession planning for the leadership in its departments.
She said this was to plan for the future of her own position, “Not that I'm planning on going anywhere soon.”
Silveira said the goal is to allow current staffers the opportunity to work outside of their areas of expertise, do more assignments in other departments and work closely with her.
The assignments would last from six months to a year, she said.
Councilman Kenny Parlet said succession planning is important, as the city has had trouble keeping staff. Those who do stay, he said, do so because they are vested in the community, not because of how much they are paid.
Silveira noted that when transitioning from one city manager to another, it’s an easier process if there is a qualified individual in the organization.
The indications were at Monday’s meeting was that no one has yet been selected. Councilman George Spurr asked what would happen if more than one person wanted the assignment; Silveira said she would use her best judgment, and may rotate people to give the opportunity to more than one person.
Spurr said he saw the assignment as a way of getting people to branch out and realize they could have another opportunity.
Mayor Stacey Mattina said it could also help staff develop a greater understanding of the job.
Silveira recalled that when she took her first city manager’s job, she called the city manager from the city where she had previously worked to say how much more she appreciated that person.
Parlet moved to approve the stipend, with Councilwoman Mireya Turner seconding and the council voting 4-0. Councilman Tim Barnes was absent for the meeting.
In other business, city Public Works Director Doug Grider presented to the council a proposed contract with the company Striping Graphics for thermoplastic striping on 20th Street from Hartley Street to Will O View Court as part of a traffic mitigation measure.
“Twentieth Street has been an issue for quite awhile,” said Grider.
In November, the council had to raise the speed limit from 25 to 30 miles per hour on 20th Street between Alden Avenue and Hartley Street due to the requirements of a speed survey, as Lake County News has reported.
That raised concerns for neighborhood residents, who said speeds already were too high in the neighborhood.
The city then began to consider striping as a less-expensive way to calm traffic and bring down speeds, with the council approving that plan in December.
Grider said it would be used to make the road appear more narrow.
Grider worked with City Engineer Paul Curren to complete the design and then went out to bid, noting that they were surprised by the responses.
Striping Graphics’ bid of $17,010 was the lowest of three, but still well over the $10,000 the city budgeted for the project, according to Grider.
“We're finding this coming back on all of our projects right now,” he said, noting that with the economy improving and repairs still under way due to the winter storms, getting available contractors is becoming an issue.
A memorandum for the meeting from Curren explained, “The high prices reflect the remote location of Lakeport with increased cost to mobilize for a limited scope of work and the large volume of available work due to the storm damage last year.”
Grider said they had expected half a dozen bids but only got three. “I really believe this is the best we're going to get,” he said, asking for the council to approve the Striping Graphics bid.
He said the work on 20th Street is meant to be a permanent traffic calming measure, with the goal of soon doing another speed survey to drop speeds in the area.
The striping was the least expensive way to get speeds lowered, he said, with other options being medians and bulbouts, which are much more expensive.
“I'm glad to hear that this is more of a permanent calming measure,” said Councilwoman Mireya Turner, adding she didn’t want to see the speeds be reduced only to rise again.
Silveira also suggested that city staff speak to residents about forming a Neighborhood Watch group to deal with speeding issues.
Community member Mary Ann Larrea asked about roadway condition and when the roadway where the striping is to be put would need to be replaced.
Grider said 20th Street isn’t on the 10-year list, so it’s at least 10 years out and that’s the expected lifetime of the striping.
Turner moved to approve the contract, with Parlet seconding and the council voting 4-0.
The third and final item on the council’s special Monday meeting agenda related to the accessibility upgrades at the city’s 99-year-old Carnegie Library.
The city had sought bids for a project including the installation of an interior lift to make the second floor accessible under Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines, as well as updating an exterior travel path to the lift, updating the bathrooms, and repairing the ceiling and replacing the lighting on the second floor.
Community Development Director Kevin Ingram said that with this project, the city experienced to a “dramatic degree” the same kinds of issues finding contractors as Grider had.
Curren’s estimate of the work’s cost was $320,920, Ingram said. The one bidder, Cupples and Sons, submitted a bid of one bidder, $607,901.
Ingram said that caused city staff to go back to the drawing board.
As a result, he said staff was asking the council to reject the bid and let them prepare another bid request that would separate the project out into pieces.
He said the restroom replacement aspect has run into some issues with the existing water and sewer infrastructure which is driving the cost up. Specifically, he said they found a broken water line that wasn’t on their radar until they got into the foundation.
At this point, Ingram said the lift, an ADA-accessible exterior travel path, repairs to the ceiling and replacement of the lighting are key to getting the building reopened to the community.
Ingram said they also found that contractors are too busy to do projects in rural areas like Lakeport.
He said they’ve started to research elevator companies and have found one that has the kind of lift the city needs for the building. The city is now looking at buying the lift directly from the manufacturer.
Time is of the essence, as Ingram said they have to spend the grant funds for the project by the end of October.
If the project is broken up into several pieces, Ingram said they believed they could engage local contractors.
Silveira said if the city purchased the lift directly, the elevator company can install it.
She said that a nearby city restroom which is ADA accessible can serve the Carnegie Library for events, although she noted that it’s probably not nicest choice for an elegant event.
The bigger issue, she said, remained the lift.
Spurr asked where the lift would be located. Silveira said it will be in an interior corner. It will require one corner window to be covered on the interior by the elevator shaft, although Ingram said the window will remain in place on the outside of the building.
Parlet moved to reject the lone bid, with Spurr seconding, and the council voting 4-0.
Silveira said they can bring back the issue regarding purchase of the lift at the council’s Aug. 8 meeting.
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072417 Lakeport City Council special meeting packet by LakeCoNews on Scribd