CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council received an update this week on the progress being made on an extensive set of goals meant to improve city operations and quality of life for residents.
City Manager Greg Folsom presented the council with the midyear progress report on the goals during a special meeting held Thursday evening.
“It's my opportunity to brag about what my staff has been doing for the last six months,” he said.
Folsom reviewed with the council and staff a list of 36 goals in key areas such as economic development, finance, code enforcement and public safety, plus other priority projects.
The goals in the economic development category include the Lakeshore Drive plan implementation; the Highway 53 corridor/shopping center; the complete general plan update and environmental impact report; master plans for Highlands, Austin and Redbud parks; development of impact fees; establishing planning/economic development staff; and continuing to support health city programs and projects.
Those items are largely in process or completed, with the exception of the zoning code and design guidelines and the zoning map, and development of impact fees, which Folsom said are contingent upon the completion of the general plan update.
Folsom is also having Finance Director Chris Becnel – who has experience with the medical field – attend meetings related to healthy city programs in his stead due to time constraints.
Folsom said the city is working to get everything in order to demolish the building across from City Hall on the former Austin Resort property, noting that Public Works Director Doug Herren has secured permission to burn down the dilapidated building.
“I'm going to be very proud to have that thing out of there,” said Folsom.
“I think we have consensus on that,” replied Mayor Russell Perdock.
Regarding the former airport property on Highway 53 which the city has marketed as a shopping center location, Folsom said the city has a tentative purchase and sale agreement with a developer.
Because the property had been owned by the former redevelopment agency, the city has to follow a number of steps to finalize a sale, including taking it to the successor agency oversight board, which unanimously approved that tentative agreement, Folsom said.
Next, the city needs to meet with the boards of taxing entities – such as schools and fire districts – to secure their approval. Once that's done, Folsom said he will return to the council in open session to ask for approval of the agreement. The final step will be asking for confirming votes from the taxing entity boards in open sessions.
Folsom said consultant Gary Price is working on the general plan update and its environmental impact report, which has been reviewed during two planning commission meetings. It's on track to come before the council in August for a public hearing.
As to the park master plans, the Highlands plan is expected to come before the council in a few weeks for approval, the council just accepted the contract for the Austin Park plan and Folsom is holding off on the Redbud Park plan until he can get a better idea of the area of study.
Regarding increasing planning and community development staff, Folsom said Price has been hired to assist, but Folsom himself currently also has the responsibility to oversee community development, as the city has no money to hire a director for that function separately.
Under finance goals, the council wanted to continue to develop the budget format, review grant opportunities and foundation funding, have a 10-year capital improvement plan, update the fee schedule and determine cost recovery opportunities, and conduct an audit of the transient occupancy tax income, according to Folsom's report.
Folsom said the capital improvement program is awaiting the general plan completion, and the TOT audit plans is on hold until it can be justified, as it will cost several thousand dollars.
He said all priority goals under code enforcement are in process: health and safety, abandoned vehicles, animal control, weed abatement, refuse collection, park signage, and business and residential address visibility.
The city is working on the health and safety priority, with a focus on code enforcement. He said the city also has a small amount budgeted for significant problems with abandoned vehicles.
A key item in code enforcement is animal control. Folsom said the city has made improvements to its interim kennel facility, added additional staffing and is in negotiations to purchase property to build a new animal control facility.
He said staff is working with Clearlake Waste Solutions to craft a universal waste collection ordinance to bring to the council this spring.
Public safety's key priorities are an emergency preparedness plan update, law enforcement enhancement, phone system, citation authority and administrative penalties and road maintenance, all of which also are in process, Folsom said.
The city's law enforcement resources are actively being improved, with sworn officers nearly at full staff, community policing enacted, a dedicated traffic officer appointed, and appointments of a homeless liaison and marijuana specialist, according to Folsom. A dispatch console upgrade was included in the midyear budget amendment that the council would approve later in the meeting.
Public Works has been active in fulfilling the road maintenance goals under the public safety category, Folsom reported.
Projects completed included replacement of 60 feet of drain pipe in Lakeshore Drive and another 60 feet in Meadow Brook Road, replacement of a collapsed culvert in Ogulin Canyon Road, numerous other culverts being fixed and thousands of potholes patched with 93 tons of patch, he said.
Under the catchall “other priority projects” category, Folsom said city staff is working through the municipal code update and rewrite, has had the council chamber sound system replaced and is considering a video system upgrade, completed a shopping cart ordinance, has an ordinance related to noncamping in nondesignated areas to go before the council at its next meeting, is working on the dog park ordinance and reevaluating the ordinance that allows dogs in city parks, has new personnel rules in process, is working on issues related to maintenance districts and senior center operating costs, and will bring to the council later this month a discussion on whether the city treasurer and clerk jobs should be elected or appointed.
City staff likely will wait until the next fiscal year to take on the city strategic plan and needs more direction from the council regarding unfinished projects at the senior center, Folsom said.
Folsom also outlined other significant achievements citywide, including making it through the most devastating fire season in Lake County history with no direct impact on the city.
He said staff went “above and beyond,” working to help the county not just with the Rocky fire but also with the Valley fire, with police and Public Works staff assisting with evacuations and other needs.
“Our entire staff was helpful in one way or another in these fires,” he said.
The city also has passed new ordinances relating to shopping carts, responsible dog ownership, wireless towers and conduct in public parks, with an updated medical marijuana cultivation ordinance to return for a final vote next week, he said.
Folsom said the city is now posting all council agenda and reports on its Web site, www.clearlake.ca.us ; has implemented paperless agenda distribution; installed a projector screen in the council chambers and increased the number of PowerPoint presentations; has updated the council norms and procedures policy; and expanded the employee safety and training program, including identifying and correcting a very serious building exiting issue.
Rental rates at the senior center have been reduced, the SmartGov software update has been implemented, the midyear budget review presented one month earlier than last year and the financial audit came in two months earlier, the city made three first-time homebuyer loans for $40,000 each and one home rehabilitation loan for $5,187, done out-of-area travel advertising and procured additional staffing through grant sources, Folsom said.
Code enforcement has been busy, opening 1,191 new cases and closing 718, he said, with administrative penalties totaling $105,000 and 3,973 marijuana plants abated.
An illegal parking lot demolition at the former Silk's bar was abated, Citizens Caring For Clearlake worked with the city to abate an illegal dump site on 36th Avenue, the city worked with the Konocti Unified School District on the “Mapping the Aves” project and demolished the former chamber building on Golf Avenue, according to Folsom's report.
Folsom said the Clearlake Police Department has been very busy. In a one-year period the department had 21,508 incidents, 3,543 reports, 2,288 traffic enforcement stops, 1,989 arrests and 1,311 citations while starting the year short-staffed in sworn personnel and very short-staffed in dispatch.
The staffing picture has improved for the Clearlake Police Department, with the agency hiring six new officers, including two from Calistoga, Folsom said. In addition, the agency now has two new patrol cars, uses body cameras, and has received grants to fund officers and an evidence room upgrade.
Public Works received a $160,645 remediation grant from CalRecycle to be used to demolish various red-tagged properties, and also received a $5,000 CalRecycle grant that funded the purchase of trash pickers, bags and safety vests, he said.
Priorities going forward
Folsom said as the city looks at the priorities for the second half of 2016, they want to go back to basics.
“I would like to focus on us becoming known as a clean, safe and well-managed city,” he said.
As part of the “clean” aspect of that goal, staff is working on universal garbage ordinance, code enforcement, weed abatement, demolitions and also is going to bring forward on a rental inspection ordinance, he said.
In order to make Clearlake safe, Folsom said the city is finalizing its new marijuana cultivation ordinance, which includes a joint partnership between code enforcement and the police department. The police department is now nearly fully staffed with sworn officers, with an offer made to fill the remaining officer slot.
In order to create a well-managed city, Folsom said they are improving customer service, developing new revenues through franchise fees and marijuana cultivation permits, an updated fee schedule and grants.
Improving roads, building a new animal control facility and improving city parks and city-owned properties also are part of being well managed, he said.
Folsom added that with the city telling people that they need to improve the condition of their properties, it's hypocritical for the city not to do so as well. So it is moving forward on projects that include finishing the new visitor center and making improvements to City Hall.
In order to be more transparent for citizens, the city is going to implement the Nixle alert system, use its Web site and Facebook page more, and institute a city newsletter, Folsom said.
Folsom finished by lauding his staff for all of their work to accomplish the list of goals, with the council giving staff a round of applause.
“Holy cow, the things that you're capable of accomplishing with the minimal amount of resources that we have to allocate to you, it's amazing and I'm in awe of all of you,” Vice Mayor Gina Fortino Dickson said of the review.
Folsom said he wants to do the reviews twice a year in order to let the council see what's being accomplished.
Councilman Bruno Sabatier said the city is doing a lot more with the resources it has been given. “Thank you for pushing and pushing and getting us what we need to make us move forward.”
Perdock challenged his colleagues on the council to come back with an even bigger vision for the city in the upcoming spring goal setting process.
County Supervisor Jeff Smith lauded the council for how it has worked together. “Everybody's done a great job this year,” he said, also thanking Folsom for his leadership and city staff for their efforts.
Chuck Leonard, a retired city councilman, shared those sentiments. “I know this is hard to believe but I'm actually going to agree with Jeff.”
Councilwoman Denise Loustalot thanked the community and noted how everyone is working together.
Perdock said that, moving forward, he wanted to continue the city's momentum.
The council then went on to approve a proposed amendment to the current fiscal year budget that included adjustments in a number of key areas including animal control, community development, legal fees, engineering and the Clearlake Police Department.
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Clearlake City Council reviews staff progress on city goals
- Elizabeth Larson
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