1 CITY OF BLUE LAKE
CALIFORNIA
111 Greenwood Road
P.O. Box 458
Blue Lake, CA 95525
(707) 668-5655
Fax: (707) 668-5916
www.bluelake.ca.gov
Blue Lake City Council Action Minutes
Tuesday, July 28, 2026 ~ 6:30pm ~ Regular Council Meeting Skinner Store Building ~ 111 Greenwood Rd., Blue Lake ~ Behind City Hall 1 1. Call to Order: Mayor Sawatzky Called the Meeting to Order At 6:30 p.m. 2 2. Pledge of Allegiance
3 3. Roll Call and Establish a Quorum of the Council
4 5 Councilmembers’ Present: City Clerk Green Established a Quorum 6 Present: Mayor John Sawatzky, Mayor Pro Tem Elise Scafani, Council Member Kat Napier, 7 Council Member Terri Bayles, Council Member Michelle Lewis-Lusso 8 Councilmembers Absent: None
9 Staff Present: City Manager Jennie Short, City Clerk Samantha Green, Park and 10 Recreation Director Emily Wood, and Videographer Justin Goad. 11 12 4. Approval of the Agenda – City Manager Short requested item #16 be moved before 13 item #11 and Councilmember Napier requested that item #12 be moved before item #9. 14 15 Motion by Mayor Pro Tem Scafani to approve modifications to the agenda. Second by 16 Councilmember Lewis-Lusso.
17 Voice vote: Motion passed unanimously.
18 19 5. Public Comment on Non-Agenda Items: Kent Sawatzky, Stephanie Dickinson, 20 Tamara Tafoya, Levi Seda, Laura Chapman, Julie Christie, and David Seda. 21 22 6. Consent Agenda
23 a. Approval of June 23, 2026 City Council Meeting Minutes 24 b. Approval of July 14, 2026 City Council Meeting Action Minutes 25 c. Contract with Bender Rosenthal
26 d. Contract with Deltex Diving
27 28 Public Comment on Consent Agenda: Kent Sawatzky, Heather, and Julie Christie. 29 30 Motion by Mayor Pro Tem Scafani to approve the consent agenda. Second by 31 Councilmember Lewis-Lusso.
32 Voice vote: Motion passed 4:1 with Mayor Sawatzky dissenting. 33 34 ITEMS FOR COUNCIL DISCUSSION OR ACTION
35 7. Humboldt Skate Collective MOU [Resolution 1268]
36 City Staff proposed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Humboldt Skate 37 Collective to support fundraising, volunteer coordination, and community outreach for the 38 Blue Lake Bike & Skate Park, in coordination with existing partner organizations. The 39 agreement would operate alongside existing MOUs with the Redwood Coast Mountain Bike 40 Association and the Mountain Bike Tribal Trail Alliance to support a collaborative approach 41 to the project.
2 CITY OF BLUE LAKE
CALIFORNIA
111 Greenwood Road
P.O. Box 458
Blue Lake, CA 95525
(707) 668-5655
Fax: (707) 668-5916
www.bluelake.ca.gov
Blue Lake City Council Action Minutes
Tuesday, July 28, 2026 ~ 6:30pm ~ Regular Council Meeting Skinner Store Building ~ 111 Greenwood Rd., Blue Lake ~ Behind City Hall 42 Public Comment: Kent Sawatzky, Rebecca Collins, Julie Christie, Shaun Fyfe, Charlie 43 Caldwell.
44 45 Motion by Councilmember Napier to approve Resolution 1268 and Direct the City Manager to 46 sign the MOU. Second by Mayor Pro Tem Scafani.
47 Voice vote: Motion passed unanimously.
48 49 8. Brunson Family Fund Donation Acceptance
50 The City Council considered formal acceptance of a $402,000 donation from the Brunson 51 Family Trust, previously announced at the June 23 meeting, in support of the Parks and 52 Recreation Department. The Brunson Family were recognized for their longstanding 53 contributions to the City’s park and recreation programs. The Humboldt Area Foundation will 54 administer the grant funds, including a one-year term and required financial and narrative 55 reporting.
56 57 Public Comment: None.
58 59 Motion by Councilmember Napier to accept the donation from the Brunson Family Trust 60 designated for the Bike Park in the amount of $150,000 and Prasch Hall in the amount of 61 $50,000, accept the $202,000 donation from the Brunson Family Trust into an endowment held 62 by the Humboldt Area Foundation for use in the parks and recreation department in perpetuity, 63 and authorize the City Manager to execute any agreements necessary for acceptance and 64 distribution of the donations to the City. Second by Councilmember Lewis-Lusso. 65 Voice vote: Motion passed 3:2 with Mayor Sawatzky and Councilmember Bayles 66 dissenting.
67 68 9. Fee Waiver Policy Concept – Discussion *Previously Item 12* 69 The City Council considered a request from Councilmember Napier to discuss the 70 development of a fee waiver policy. The proposed policy would establish objective criteria 71 for evaluating requests from events and organizations seeking fee waivers from the City. 72 73 Public Comment: Rebecca Collins and Julie Christie. 74 75 No action was taken, but Councilmember Napier will continue her research on the matter 76 and provide a status update at the August 25, 2026, Regular Council Meeting 77 78 10. Fee Waiver Request: RCMBA Enduro *Previously Item 9* 79 The City Council considered a request from the Redwood Coast Mountain Bike Association 80 (RCMBA) to waive a portion of camping rental fees along Taylor Way following adoption of 81 the new Parks and Recreation Fee Schedule.
82 3
CITY OF BLUE LAKE
CALIFORNIA
111 Greenwood Road
P.O. Box 458
Blue Lake, CA 95525
(707) 668-5655
Fax: (707) 668-5916
www.bluelake.ca.gov
Blue Lake City Council Action Minutes
Tuesday, July 28, 2026 ~ 6:30pm ~ Regular Council Meeting Skinner Store Building ~ 111 Greenwood Rd., Blue Lake ~ Behind City Hall 83 Public Comment: Tim Daniels, Kent Sawatzky, Lin Glen, Adelene Jones, Julie Christie, 84 Linda Cooley, and Lorraine Ponte.
85 86 Motion by Councilmember Lewis-Lusso to authorize a $400 discount on facility rental fees 87 for Taylor Way usage for the Mad River Enduro Event, equating to a total fee of $580.00. 88 Second by Councilmember Napier.
89 Voice vote: Motion passed unanimously.
90 91 11. Fee Waiver Request: Annie and Mary Day *Previously Item 10* 92 The City Council considered a request from the Blue Lake Chamber of Commerce to waive 93 a portion of rental fees for the 57th Annual Annie & Mary Day following adoption of the new 94 Parks and Recreation Fee Schedule. The request reflects that the event has historically not 95 been charged rental fees by the City.
96 97 Public Comment: Kent Sawatzky, Julie Christie, Linda Cooley, and Lorraine Ponte. 98 99 Motion by Councilmember Napier to waive all fees except staff costs/cost recovery. Second 100 by Councilmember Lewis-Lusso.
101 Voice vote: Motion passed 4:1 with Mayor Sawatzky dissenting. 102
103 12. Blue Lake Rancheria Water and Sewer Applications *Previously Item 16* 104 The City Council received an update regarding water and sewer service applications 105 submitted by the Blue Lake Rancheria for existing residences and new commercial facilities 106 on various parcels. City Staff has been coordinating with Rancheria representatives to 107 review and process the applications, with a focus on addressing straightforward requests as 108 information becomes available while continuing to resolve more complex applications. 109
110 Public Comment: Kent Sawatzky and Julie Christie.
111
112 Motion by Councilmember Napier to approve the transfer of the water connection to the 113 residences on APNs 312-111-006 and 312-101-014 to the new commercial facilities (HULA114 Claudia Brundin Health Center and TOMA-T’am Campus). Second by Councilmember 115 Bayles.
116 Voice vote: Motion passed unanimously.
117
13. 7 118 th Cycle Housing Element Update *Previously Item 11* 119 The City Council received an update regarding the publication of the initial Draft 7th Cycle 120 Housing Element for public review, as required by the Memorandum of Understanding with 121 the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). Staff also 122 provided information regarding the upcoming Public Workshop–City Council Study Session 4 CITY OF BLUE LAKE
CALIFORNIA
111 Greenwood Road
P.O. Box 458
Blue Lake, CA 95525
(707) 668-5655
Fax: (707) 668-5916
www.bluelake.ca.gov
Blue Lake City Council Action Minutes
Tuesday, July 28, 2026 ~ 6:30pm ~ Regular Council Meeting Skinner Store Building ~ 111 Greenwood Rd., Blue Lake ~ Behind City Hall 123 scheduled for August 1, 2026, to review the draft document and receive community 124 feedback.
125
126 No action was taken.
127
128 14. Building Department Fee Schedule Update [Resolution 1269] *Previously Item 13* 129 The City Council considered updates to the Building Department Schedule of Fees as part 130 of the City’s ongoing efforts to revise outdated fee schedules across departments. The 131 proposed updates were developed by the Building Official in collaboration with City Staff and 132 replace the schedule previously adopted in 2011 through Ordinance No. 501 133
134 Public Comment: Kent Sawatzky and Julie Christie.
135
136 Motion by Mayor Pro Tem Scafani to adopt Resolution 1269: A Resolution of the City Council 137 of Blue Lake Replacing the Building Department Schedule of Fees and Establishing other 138 Miscellaneous Building Related Charges from Ordinance No. 501 with an effective date of 139 August 1 2026. Second by Councilmember Lewis-Lusso. 140
141 15. City Manager and City Clerk Performance Evaluation Methodology – Discussion 142 *Previously Item 14*
143 The City Council held a discussion regarding potential evaluation tools for the City Manager 144 and City Clerk, as presented by the Evaluation Ad Hoc Committee consisting of 145 Councilmembers Lewis-Lusso and Bayles. The discussion focused on possible evaluation 146 processes and tools for Council consideration and future implementation. 147
148 No action was taken, however the Ad Hoc Committee requested evaluations for the City Manager to be submitted by August 14th 149 and for staff to provide input on the evaluation 150 tool for City Clerk with recommended edits.
151
152 16. Town Square Project Financial Update *Previously Item 15 153 The City Council received an update regarding the completion and closeout of the State 154 Parks Per Capita-funded park project on APN 025-073-007. Staff provided an overview of 155 the project timeline, including property acquisition, design and construction, and the 156 remaining grant closeout items consisting of the pergola, art feature, and project sign. The 157 remaining items are expected to be completed within the next 60 days. 158
159 Public Comment: Kent Sawatzky.
160
161 No action was taken
162
163
5 CITY OF BLUE LAKE
CALIFORNIA
111 Greenwood Road
P.O. Box 458
Blue Lake, CA 95525
(707) 668-5655
Fax: (707) 668-5916
www.bluelake.ca.gov
Blue Lake City Council Action Minutes
Tuesday, July 28, 2026 ~ 6:30pm ~ Regular Council Meeting Skinner Store Building ~ 111 Greenwood Rd., Blue Lake ~ Behind City Hall 164 17. Council Correspondence
a) Green Waste Day: August 22nd 165
166 b) Letter: David Groe
167 c) Post Cards: Regional Climate Action Plan supporters 168
169 18. Reports Of Council and Staff
170 a. Ad hoc Committee Reports
Bike Park: Has a meeting scheduled for July 29 171 th with Dana Creech. 172 Powerplant: Waiting to meet.
173 b. Commission Updates
174 Public Safety: Safety Fair on September 12 2026.
175
176 19.Future Agenda Items Requested by Council
Fee Waiver Policy Expanded Framework – August 25th 177 178
179 Adjourn at 11:03 p.m.
180
181 Prepared by: Samantha, City Clerk