- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Lakeport City Council hears COVID-19 update from county Public Health officer
Pace said he wanted to talk about keeping cases low in an effort to stay off of the state’s monitoring list, which nearly 40 counties – including all of the counties that ring Lake – are on.
He said he thinks it’s a false dichotomy to choose between public health and a healthy economy.
Pace noted that California’s cases appear to have hit a peak and started to come down. He said new rules implemented by Gov. Gavin Newsom about a month ago may be contributing to the drop in cases following a surge attributed to Memorial Day and July 4.
While the rise in case numbers has backed off, Pace said deaths are rising and he pointed to a lag time between overall case and death numbers.
In discussing the connection between infection and economic impacts, Pace said he can’t sort out which impacts are due to closures and which are due to the virus coming on. “They’re very intertwined.”
Pace said the economy will do better if the virus can be kept under control.
He showed a graph that illustrated the continued high case numbers in the United States compared to the situation in the European Union, where cases comparatively are far lower. He said the difference has been explained by experts who have pointed to the ability in Europe to stick with preventive measures.
Pace said a key issue is how to navigate having more social and economic activity while not overwhelming the health care system and getting high preventable mortality.
“This is probably with us for an extended period going forward,” he said of the virus.
Pace promoted an approach that encourages interventions like masking, addressing sectors connected to increased spread and continued public health intervention.
He said a superspreader event site hasn’t been seen in Lake County, although some local cases have been tracked back to bars. A large amount of spread has been seen in large social gatherings.
“The schools are a very big deal that we’re struggling with right now,” he said, explaining that four districts are going to go with distance learning and two – Lucerne and Upper Lake – plan to do some on-site learning.
He said the data is very unclear on how contagious children are. However, with Lake County not being on the watch list, Pace said it can go forward with reopening schools.
Turning to masks, which he has required in his public health order, Pace explained, “The evidence is getting clearer and clearer that if people wear masks the transmission is less.”
He also emphasized the importance of social distancing and said there is no compliance mechanism related to health orders in Lake County.
City Manager Kevin Ingram told the council later in the meeting that the city does have compliance power through issuing administrative citations thanks to an order issued in March by newly retired City Manager Margaret Silveira.
“That’s not our first go-to,” said Ingram, noting that the city prefers to use education first.
Councilwoman Stacey Mattina asked Pace how close Lake County is to being on the watch list.
“We are kind of staying below the threshold,” he said, but added that with a few bad turns, “it could quickly change.”
Councilman Tim Barnes raised issues with the different rules for places like movie theaters compared to efforts to open up schools.
Pace acknowledged, “This all doesn’t fit together very well.”
He said he deals with such inconsistencies all day long, and it had been incredibly confusing, with a lot of mixed messages. “I really understand the frustration.”
Pace was concerned about a “generational loss” for the children who are now out of school, questioning how many may go back if, in two years, we’re still dealing with COVID-19.
He said we’re entering into a phase of how to get creative and think about what school will now look like, such as less in-person time and more time outdoors.
He suggested COVID-19 needs to be expected to go on for a year or more.
Council approves safety assessment placard ordinance, utility delinquency list, site improvement contract
In other business on Tuesday, Ingram presented to the council a safety assessment placard ordinance, which he said is recommended by the California Office of Emergency Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
He said the simple, three-tiered system uses colored placards after disasters to indicate the structural conditions of buildings. Green indicates no apparent problems, yellow is for restricted use and red indicates unsafe structures with serious damage.
Ingram said it was one of the last things Tom Carlton wanted to put in place before he retired as the city’s building inspector in June.
The council approved the ordinance 4-0. Councilwoman Mireya Turner was absent from the meeting.
Councilmembers also approved the utility billing delinquency list and directed staff to submit the list to the County Auditor-Controller’s Office for inclusion on the property tax roll.
Lakeport Police Lt. Dale Stoebe presented the police department’s after action report on its July 4 fireworks operations.
There were far fewer people in Lakeport for July 4 this year due to COVID-19 and the cancellation of the city’s fireworks display. Still, Stoebe said there were large groups of safe and sane fireworks uses in the city and an uptick in illegal firework use.
Also on Tuesday, Ingram asked for and received authorization from the council to enter into a construction contract with Pacific West Builders in the amount of $650,000 for the completion of the Martin Street Apartments Off-site Improvement Project.
He said the developer is completing phase two of the project, with off-site improvements including, curb, sidewalk and gutter and road improvements a requirement of the $4.5 million grant that funded the apartments. Any costs over and above the $650,000 will be covered by the developer.
Ingram said the city is very thankful to Pacific West Builders, which also built the Bella Vista Senior Apartments on Martin Street, because their work has helped the city achieve its goals and the requirements of its housing element.
He said the projects, which have been complicated, are serving very low and low-income residents – those who make 80 percent of the median income and below.
Phase one of the project originally had been slated to be a 32-unit senior apartment complex. However, it was during the 2017 floods – which displaced many low-income families – that the city realized there was a higher need for multifamily housing.
As a result, the city was able to switch its grant funding to instead cover a 24-unit multifamily housing development, which includes two- and three-bedroom units, which Ingram said are hard to find.
Mayor George Spurr asked if more senior housing projects are still planned.
Ingram said yes, that Pacific West Builders is looking at a number of different sites, with the developer and city officials set to have a preapplication meeting on a site where such a senior housing project is being considered.
The council approved the contract 4-0.
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