CLEARLAKE, Calif. — The Clearlake City Council will discuss this week the latest developments on the Cache fire recovery, and consider a proposed property purchase and new state rules for virtual meetings.
The council will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 7, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.
The meeting will be broadcast live on the city's YouTube channel or the Lake County PEGTV YouTube Channel. Community members also can participate via Zoom or can attend in person.
The agenda can be found here.
Comments and questions can be submitted in writing for City Council consideration by sending them to City Clerk Melissa Swanson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
To give the council adequate time to review your questions and comments, please submit your written comments before 4 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 7.
Each public comment emailed to the city clerk will be read aloud by the mayor or a member of staff for up to three minutes or will be displayed on a screen. Public comment emails and town hall public comment submissions that are received after the beginning of the meeting will not be included in the record.
At the beginning of the meeting, Police Chief Andrew White will hold a swearing-in for new and promoted employees, and the council will present proclamations declaring October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Under council business, City Manager Alan Flora will give an update on the Cache fire, which destroyed 57 homes and 81 outbuildings on Aug. 18.
The city received a state of emergency proclamation from Gov. Gavin Newsom last month for the fire and is now working on housing for displaced families and the recovery process.
Also on Thursday, the council will consider a purchase agreement for 6388 Vallejo Ave. which is to be included as part of the future development of the retail center at the former Pearce Field.
The Vallejo Avenue property is located north of Pearce Field and is surrounded on three sides by other land the city owns, Flora said in his report.
“The current owners of the property inherited the parcel from their parents, live out of the area, and have no interest in developing the site. They contacted staff several weeks back inquiring about options for sale so they did not need to maintain the property into the future. Due to the surrounding property being already owned by the city, the acquisition would provide a more complete development footprint,” Flora wrote.
He said staff negotiated a $15,000 purchase price, with the city also to cover the $5,000 in closing costs.
In other business, staff will ask the council to authorize the implementation and use of teleconference accessibility to conduct public meetings pursuant to Assembly Bill 361.
Gov. Newsom signed the bill on Sept. 17. It allows local agencies to continue to conduct remote meetings during a declared state of emergency, provided local agencies comply with specified requirements. Without the legislation, local agencies would have had to return to traditional meetings beginning on Oct. 1, City Clerk/Administrative Services Director Melissa Swanson explained in her written report.
Starting Oct. 1, and running through the end of 2023, to participate in remote meetings, public agencies must comply with the requirements of new subsection (e) of Government Code section 54953, Swanson said.
To hold meetings remotely, Swanson said at least one of the following must be true: state or local officials have imposed or recommended measures to promote social distancing; the legislative body is holding a meeting for the purpose of determining whether as a result of the emergency, meeting in person would present imminent risks to the health or safety of attendees; and by majority vote, the legislative body determined that as a result of the emergency, meeting in person would present imminent risks to the health or safety of attendees.
On the meeting's consent agenda — items that are not considered controversial and are usually adopted on a single vote — are warrants; minutes of the August and September meetings; continuation of declaration of local emergency issued on Oct. 9, 2017, and ratified by council action on Oct. 12, 2017; and continuation of declaration of local emergency issued on March 14, 2020, and ratified by council action on March 19, 2020; accept the donation of property located at 16502 Fifth Ave; ratification of director of emergency services/city manager order (Directive #CACHE-01) restricting access to specified areas as a result of Cache fire; authorization of a senior account clerk position, Resolution No. 2021-50; and adoption of the second amendment to the FY 2021-22 Budget (Resolution No. 2021-33).
The council will hold a closed session after the public portion of the meeting to discuss negotiations with Cache Creek Partners regarding property at 16080 Dam Road.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Clearlake City Council to discuss Cache fire, property purchase and new virtual meeting rules
- Elizabeth Larson