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In the 4-0 vote, with Councilwoman Mireya Turner being absent, the council approved the acquisition of 810 N. Main St. from the Hotaling family for $50,000.
The property, which is one and a half acres in size, is landlocked. It is located on the lakeshore next to the former Natural High School property, located at 800 N. Main St. and owned by the Lakeport Unified School District.
During the 20-minute Wednesday meeting, Assistant City Manager Kevin Ingram explained that the property is part of the lakefront park plan.
In February, the city of Lakeport was awarded a $5.9 million grant from the state in order to develop the new lakefront park, as Lake County News has reported. That grant covers not only the purchase price of the property but the full cost of the park development.
Ingram said the city and the property owners have been in negotiations for about a year and it had been in escrow for some time.
The resolution for acceptance of the purchase said the city agreed to purchase the property for $50,000 in April of 2019.
Ingram said the purchase has been “a bit of a puzzle” due to so many people being involved. The grant deed lists approximately 11 Hotaling family members.
Some of the family members have recently passed away. Ingram said one of those included the family member who had been doing the negotiations with the city.
“We’ve very excited to get this done. It’s an important piece of the lakefront park plan,” said Ingram, explaining that the lakefront promenade that’s part of the proposed park – which also was included in a larger plan to develop the city’s lakeshore – will stretch across the Hotaling property.
During the discussion, Councilman Kenny Parlet was critical of the sellers.
While the purchase price is now $50,000, Parlet said at one point the family had agreed to donate the property to the city.
He said the sellers are taking advantage of the people of Lakeport. “I wonder how they can sleep at night.”
Councilman Tim Barnes said that while he understood Parlet’s comments and echoed them to a degree, the property is still a very integral piece for the lakefront park project. “We need this to complete the long-term deal.”
When Mayor George Spurr called for a motion, Barnes, Parlet and Councilwoman Stacey Mattina all offered to make the motion, with Parlet seconding and the council voting 4-0.
After the meeting, Ingram told Lake County News that approval of the purchase is “a huge step forward,” for the park project.
Hotaling property the focus of ongoing negotiations
City documents show that the city had been in negotiations with George Hotaling most recently going back to the fall of 2017.
However, the city has previously negotiated with the family over the property, with city documents showing closed session discussions stretching back as far as April of 2008. It was at about that time that the city had wanted to bundle the former Natural High site and the city owned-Dutch Harbor property for a massive lakefront hotel project.
In an interview with Lake County News following Wednesday’s special meeting, Ingram described aspects of the complex negotiations over the small property.
“Originally we were working on a donation and then they got an offer,” he said, adding that he didn't know who made the offer for the land.
After that offer fell through, the city returned to negotiations, once again seeking the donation of the property, Ingram said. However, at that point, the Hotaling family wanted to sell and not donate the land, believing that the offer Illustrated that the property had value.
Complicating the matter further was the death of two of the family members during recent negotiations. “That didn’t help the process,” Ingram said.
Former Natural High property purchase soon to be settled
With the city receiving the state grant earlier this year, it is under a tight timeline to get the project developed. The state requires that the park must be developed and open to the public in 2022.
The next step is just around the corner. At its meeting on Tuesday, June 2, the council will consider adopting a resolution accepting acquisition of 800 N. Main St. and authorize City Manager Marget Silveira to execute the necessary documents. Ingram said that property already is in escrow.
Because that property is owned by the Lakeport Unified School District, it was required to go through certain state-mandated processes in order to be sold, including the required step of declaring the property surplus.
“Both of these sites came with their own complications,” said Ingram, adding that they are now coming together cleanly and they shouldn't hold up the grant in any way.
In a closed session held during a special council meeting on April 13, the former Natural High property purchase was discussed. Ingram said the council came out of the closed session with no reportable action.
Lakeport Unified Superintendent Jill Falconer told Lake County News that the school board held a closed session at its April 15 meeting, during which it accepted the city's purchase offer for the property.
“We sold the property for $660,000 with a second agreement to allow us to use the buildings as storage for up to a year. Additionally, the city contributed to the cost of our attorney fees for advising us on the process to sell surplus public property and drawing up the documents,” Falconer said.
With the complicated purchase aspects of the park development now nearly complete, Ingram said the city is moving forward on other key work. “It’s going really well.”
He said Wednesday was the deadline for design firms to submit proposals to convert the conceptual plan for the lakefront park, developed following a series of public meetings held last year ahead of the city’s grant application, into a fully engineered plan that can be put out for construction bids.
“We have 13 proposals from design firms to review,” Ingram said, adding that it was "pretty exciting.”
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While Pace continues to urge people to wear masks, his health order addendum removes a requirement that those who cannot wear them provide a doctor’s note as proof.
On May 21, Public Health Order C20-06 took effect mandating face coverings when entering Lake County businesses.
Since then, Lake County’s caseload has nearly doubled, rising to 23 cases.
Pace said masking “has been demonstrated to minimize the risk of people that are not showing symptoms spreading COVID-19 to others, and this is a key element of our strategy to reopen local businesses as quickly as we responsibly can, and keep them open.”
“If you are able to wear a face covering, please wear one – it can help keep others safe,” he said.
He acknowledged that some people truly cannot wear a mask, due to breathing difficulty or other negative physical or emotional consequences.
“In last week’s order, I encouraged people with such concerns to get a doctor’s note, in case they may otherwise receive push-back when trying to access local businesses,” said Pace.
His latest addendum clarifies that individuals are not required to provide written documentation of their medical exemption.
“If you are unable to wear a mask, you can and must help keep others safe in different ways, including by maintaining a minimum physical distance of 6 feet between yourself and anyone that is not a member of your immediate household at all times, unless protective shielding is in place,” said Pace.
He said business owners have a legal obligation to keep their employees and customers safe, and may lawfully refuse service if providing in-person service would threaten the well-being of others.
“Navigating these dynamics can be challenging at times, and I would encourage residents and business owners, alike, to exercise grace with one another and resolve to be as safe as we possibly can,” he said.
Pace said the goal is limiting the preventable spread of COVID-19 in order to keep the rate of infections manageable and minimize the chance of severe complications and deaths.
“That threat may seem abstract, since we haven’t had severe peaks in cases that have flooded our hospitals here; I certainly hope we never do,” he said.
“We will all be safer if we are each vigilant in managing our own risk of unknowingly spreading the virus to others,” Pace said. “For most of us, even though they can be uncomfortable, that will include wearing a face covering.”
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052820 New Lake County Heal... by LakeCoNews on Scribd
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Forest Order No. 08-20-06 prohibits igniting, building, maintaining or using a fire except in developed recreation sites and wilderness within the Mendocino National Forest.
Forest Service officials are taking this necessary step to ensure that firefighters are available to safely respond and manage incidents.
In California, 95 percent of all wildfires are human-caused.
“With the above-normal fire season projected in much of California and the combined potential for wildfires and smoke to impact communities and firefighters, we need to reduce or eliminate human-caused wildfires and protect our firefighting resources. It is everyone’s responsibility to be fire safe at all times while visiting the forest,” said Forest Supervisor Ann Carlson.
Forest visitors will still be able to use pressurized liquid or gas devices – stoves, grills or lanterns – with shut-off valves, in an area at least 3 feet from any flammable materials.
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“This decision is made with the health, safety, and well-being of our students, faculty, staff, and community in mind,” said Cichocki.
“This was a very difficult decision, but after speaking with faculty leadership, deans, the vice president of academic affairs and others, it became clear that it was best to make the decision as soon as possible to allow time for thoughtful planning for the fall schedule to take place,” said Cichocki.
Cichocki is using the phrase, "primarily online" because there will be some courses that must have some limited in-person activities.
Any in-person activities will take place with appropriate safety precautions such as physical distance and sanitation measures, and will be held in small, stable groups.
Having most classes online will allow the physical space for these few classes to meet for limited times in-person.
The college has already announced all summer classes will be held online and all student services continue to be offered remotely.
For a list of online resources currently available for students please visit https://www.mendocino.edu/schedule .
Registration for both summer and fall are now open. The summer semester begins June 8 and fall semester begins Aug. 17. A full class listing can be found by visiting www.mendocino.edu .
When the time comes, college officials said the staff and faculty “look forward to beginning a thoughtful and deliberate transition back to on-campus instruction and services.”