LIVE OAK, CA (MPG) - With a total of four items on the consent agenda, Live Oak City Council addressed 2 specific topics before moving on to business items.

The item of most discussion, or questioning, was that of the AB 1600 development fees and the annual report regarding them. The AB 1600 funds are generated from each new home and the monies are to be used for specified city buildings such as public works, public safety, community centers, etc. 

City Finance Director, Joe Aguilar explained the item in question, which was to accept and file the required annual report with existing funds rolled over. He says, “Some of the funds have been sitting idle for more than five years. A small city like this, a lot of the money can’t be used to build anything,” due to the fact that total funds in the accounts would not be sufficient to complete any eligible projects. Thus, the motion.

Moving on to the main item of business, the City Council considered leasing the historic railroad depot building on Hwy 99 to the Live Oak Lions Club.

The Live Oak Lions have recently been given notice to find a new clubhouse from property owners of their current location – the Lions home since 1960. The depot building is ideal for their needs.

The proposed lease agreement with the City of Live Oak would be a 3-year agreement, terminating at the end of 2023. Lion Noel Grove addressed city council, hoping to extend the lease agreement until the year 2035. Grover cited that the building has remained empty for numerous years and that the Lions would be willing to make necessary repairs to the building, in return for rent-free occupancy. The City of Live Oak currently maintains the building, the landscaping and few utility costs. The Lions would take over those responsibilities as well and have offered to repair the deck if the city would absorb the cost of supplies.

The Lions and council compromised with an agreement to lease the building for a 5-year initial contract with options for a 5-year extension, for a 10-year total. Council agreed that the initial 30-day notice termination of the lease agreement held by the City was too short and extended it to a 90-day notice in the event that a business with a beneficial economic proposal sought to make their home in the building.

With that, the Lions found their new home.  Grove thanked the council saying, “You’ve been more than generous, and I just really appreciate everything that you guys are doing. Because we do absolute tons of work for this community and we really do need a nice comfortable place we can sit down and call home to have our meetings.”