CLEARLAKE, Calif. – On Thursday night the Clearlake City Council gave final approval to the proposed budget document for the 2017-18 fiscal year.
The council’s regular meeting started a half-hour early, following a joint meeting with the Measure V Citizen Oversight Committee and a closed session.
Finance Director Chris Becnel said this year he broke up the city’s budget into operational and capital budgets.
The city’s budgeting process started in late February, he said. The council held a budget workshop on May 25.
In going over budget highlights, Becnel noted, “It’s balanced and provides a contribution to the reserves, again, this year.”
The document further refines and focuses the efforts to improve the city. Becnel said it’s a transitional budget in the sense that the city has been overcoming its inertia and generating a lot of momentum to address the problems it has had.
Becnel said the total operational budget is $8.65 million, of which $5.97 million – or 69 percent – is personnel costs, with the remaining 31 percent, or $2.68 million, nonpersonnel costs such as materials and supplies, capital outlay and debt service. Capital projects for the new fiscal year total $6.17 million.
He said the November passage of the Measure V roads sales tax is increasing the nonpersonnel costs, which makes it look like personnel costs have dropped, when in fact they haven’t.
In fact, the budget increases the city’s total number of employees by the equivalent of six full-time jobs, for a total of 66.76 full-time job equivalents, he said.
The six new positions include five staffers to do Measure V projects, with the city concluding it would be less expensive to hire staff than to contract out, Becnel explained. The sixth position is a second animal control officer.
Department staffing highlights include a total of 4.7 full-time job equivalents in Code Enforcement; 31 police staffers, of which 23.5 are sworn, about eight short of the ideal number under Measure P, which calls for one officer for every 500 city residents; 14.11 Public Works staffers; 3.5 Animal Control staffers, including two officers and a kennel technician; 1.95 Community Develop positions; and 5.5 positions in administration, Becnel reported.
Vice Mayor Bruno Sabatier said he appreciated that the new budget includes funds to purchase solar panels. He said the panels will help reduce energy costs, allowing the council to put the money it saves toward solving other problems.
Becnel also presented the Gann limit, which is a limitation on government spending, allowing growth based on a combination of the cost of living and a percentage increase of the local population.
The calculation puts the city’s appropriations limit at $8,356,522, with an excess spending capacity of $1,769,281. Unlike other cities, Clearlake hasn’t butted up against its limit, Becnel said.
The council approved the city’s Gann limit unanimously.
In other business, the council approved a quitclaim deed from Ed Robey for Austin Beach, which arose from a 1973 legal decision that called for the beach to revert to Robey’s family if it is no longer a public beach.
City Manager Greg Folsom said there was a long legal history that went with the matter. He said there also has been a lot of controversy about what uses are allowed.
With Robey being the last heir to the reverter clause, he was offering the quitclaim with the requirement that Austin Beach be used as a public beach for 100 years, Folsom said.
The agreement also allows for both for-profit and nonprofit use of the beach; up until that point, for-profit uses were not allowed under council policy, according to Folsom.
Council members praised Robey, a former councilman and county supervisor, for clearing the matter up.
“We have the best beach on the lake because of the Robey family,” said Mayor Russ Perdock.
Robey said the item had been on his bucket list. “I’m just very happy to do this,” he said, adding that he is happy it will remain a public facility and that he’d never had a problem with either for-profit or nonprofit uses.
He explained that the legal suit – a “taking” case – had arisen when his father had built a building with snow cone machines and other equipment inside of it on the beach and was taken to court.
The court ruled that it was a public beach and returned it to the community, but included a reverter clause that if it wasn’t used as a public beach it would return to his family, Robey said.
The council first voted unanimously to accept the quitclaim deed and then amended the city’s Austin Beach policy.
Once the quitclaim deed and council policy change were approved, Folsom presented a proposed license agreement with Pedal & Paddle Rental Enterprises, which this summer will rent nonmotorized watercraft such as kayaks, paddleboards and hydrocycles at Austin Beach. The business will pay the city $250 and will operate from a temporary pop up structure at the beach.
City Clerk Melissa Swanson also presented amendments to the city’s email use and retention policy and the council’s norms and procedures to reflect changes in the Public Records Act, which received a unanimous vote.
Other items on the Thursday agenda included the presentation of certificates of recognition honoring salutatorians and valedictorians of Lower Lake High School and Konocti Education Center.
Students honored, not all of whom were able to attend, included Eric Graves, salutatorian, and Brie Moran, valedictorian, Lower Lake High School; Jose Martinez, salutatorian, and Gleb Kondratiev, valedictorian, Konocti Education Center. Also honored was Rachel Black, recipient of the Yuba Medal of the Lake County Campus of Woodland Community College.
A proclamation also was prepared declaring June 2017 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month.
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