LAKEPORT, Calif. — The Lakeport City Council on Tuesday night voted unanimously to return to the Lakeport Fire Protection District a surplus ambulance that the district plans to refurbish.
Lakeport Fire donated the vehicle to the city in June 2021. City Manager Kevin Ingram said the city had planned to refurbish it for use as a police command vehicle, but they had not been able to secure the necessary grant funding and so had not done anything on that planned conversion.
Chief Patrick Reitz is moving forward the process of upgrading the district’s existing ambulances, which Ingram said is estimated to take 18 months.
The fire district wants to take the surplus ambulance and refurbish it for use as a backup ambulance while the others are being upgraded, Ingram said.
The ambulance has 141,000 miles on it and an estimated value of under $10,000, according to the staff report.
Councilman Brandon Disney moved to approve the return of the ambulance, with Councilmember Stacey Mattina seconding and the council approving it 5-0.
In other business on Tuesday, Community Development Director Joey Hejnowicz presented a resolution authorizing the submittal of an application to the California State Department of Housing and Community Development for funding under the HOME Investment Partnership Program.
Hejnowicz said the city is seeking $750,000 for the Bevins Street Senior Apartments project at 447 Bevins St.
The project will be a three-story building on an undeveloped parcel. Hejnowicz said it’s proposed to include 40 units, 32 of which will be one-bedroom units, with eight two-bedroom units. One unit will be reserved for a manager.
The income range will be 30 to 60% of the area’s annual median income, which he said is between $22,000 to $44,000 for a family of three.
The funding would actually be loaned to the Pacific Companies, which Ingram said owns another apartment complex at Martin and Bevins streets.
The council approved the resolution unanimously.
The council also approved a design immunity ordinance authorizing Ingram to sign written contracts and conveyances and have design approval authority, and accepted the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for Fiscal Year 2022-23 presented by Assistant City Manager/Finance Director Nick Walker.
Mayor Michael Froio called the audit an “amazing document” that he learns from every year. He added that he appreciated the work Walker put into it and that it was good to see an outside auditor give him high marks.
Ingram acknowledged a lot of work goes into the document and that he also learns a lot from it.
With that work completed, Walker said the budget cycle starts next week.
Froio recommended people read it, adding it’s a government transparency measure. The council approved it unanimously.
Toward the end of Tuesday’s hour-long meeting, during which staff gave updates, Public Works Director Ron Ladd reported on the work by his crews and utility workers to respond to the storms on Sunday night and into early Monday.
He said they called in some people on their day off. “They were here immediately.”
Ladd said every other person in Public Works and utilities also called to see if they were needed. He added that they have a great group of workers that responded to the situation.
“They were amazing. Good job,” said Mattina.
Froio said he was sad to lose the cypress tree in Library Park. That tree fell on Sunday, pushing up the sidewalk and resulting in an overnight closure of Park Street.
Overall, however, Froio said the city of Lakeport seemed to fare well in the storms.
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Lakeport City Council approves return of surplus ambulance to Lakeport Fire
- Elizabeth Larson
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