By Deb Murphy

BISHOP CITY COUNCIL HIGHLIGHTS

Bishop’s City Council approved a letter to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Commissioners offering strong recommendations on the department’s lease policies.

Those recommendations closely mirror those in correspondence sent last month by Inyo’s Board of Supervisors, pointing out the discretion proprietary departments have in the City Charter’s requirement for a competitive bidding process, the cornerstone of LADWP’s argument to revise lease policies that have been in practice for more than 80 years.

Similar to the County’s letter, the City asked for the following: family transfers be expanded beyond the immediate blood lines; current lessees be given an option to purchase the land; a streamlined sales process should be based on reasonable market value; longer term leases; reliable source of water for leased land and Los Angeles should either maintain or sell structures on abandoned commercial leases.

The Council got a reprieve from discussions of the implications of Prop. 64, legalizing recreational marijuana. The City Attorney Ryan Jones’ trip to Bishop was curtailed by the weather. The agenda item was forwarded to the January 23rd meeting.

Elaine Kabala, the City’s associate planner and economic development coordinator discussed Bishop’s Environmental Protection Agency Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities grant in the form of technical assistance to help the city meet some of its goals.

Kabala said EPA staff would conduct public workshops sometime in the spring and a steering committee would be set up six weeks prior to the workshop.

The list of goals to be prioritized include review and update of Municipal Codes, possible re use of vacant or underused properties, promote infill, parking issues, property improvements and the walkability of the downtown area.

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