October 3rd, 2006

Just Under 2 Hours

City Council of Rio Dell

Meeting notes from 10-3-06

The meeting began on schedule with the Council in attendance minus Marc Barsanti.  Acting City Manager/Chief of Police Graham Hill was present tonight in addition to Jim Hale of Public Works and City Planner John Miller.  Council candidates Susan Davis and Debra Garnes were also in attendance.

The agenda started off with the consent calendar items.  One item on the check register was clarified after Council Member Mike Dunker inquired about it.  Hill explained that the check was for the purchase of some office furniture from the recent Eel River Sawmill auction and that the City was very pleased with the purchase price for the needed items.  The consent calendar was then passed unanimously.

The only resolution on tonight's agenda was in regards to the Dinsmore plateau water tank.  The planned 27,000 gallon tank is being changed to a 100,000 gallon tank in a partnership with developer Jordan Pyhtila.  The $205,000 cost increase will be paid for by Pyhtila.  Miller stressed the point that no plans for a development have been submitted and the agreement does not guarantee any approval of future development plans, however a developer would not invest in the water tank without some plans for the future.  Any future development by Pyhtila would then have 73,000 gallons of water storage guaranteed with the maintenance costs paid for by the city.  It was noted that in the case of emergency, any and all water needed from that tank would be used.  A number of questions came from audience members concerned about the water rights, etc.  One question revolved around any future developments by someone other than Pyhtila and their access to water.  Any other development would be dependent on the 27,000 gallons that the city controls.  It was also noted that this tank only serves residences outside of the city limits, where residents already pay a higher water rate than those within the city limits.  It was not mentioned if the larger tank requires any more expenses to the city, such as for insurance or maintenance.  The resolution on the table authorized the Mayor to amend the grant contract to reflect the larger tank and increase in expenses.  The resolution passed unanimously.  (see the video for more of the discussion and questions by citizens)

Special call items were next with discussion on the agreement between the city and SHN surrounding work done after the New Years Eve flood.  The work has already been done for the most part with 90% completed so far.  The remaining work revolves around the re-vegetation of the rock slope.  The agenda item allows SHN to bill the city for the work already done.  *You could inquire at City Hall if you want any clarification on this one (or any other items).

The meeting then adjourned for a few minutes while a presentation on the Scotia annexation was set up.  The meeting then became a joint study session of the Council and Planning Commission focused on the General Plan related items.  Planning Commission members Jack Thompson and Alice Millington joined the Council Members for this study session.  Miller began the presentation by reviewing what general plan items would need to be addressed to allow for the annexation.  For the purposes of planning, the proposed annexed area of Scotia would be divided up into 6 neighborhoods (Rio Dell has 11 such neighborhoods).  These neighborhoods would be; North Scotia (the retail area), River Park, Central Scotia (the school area), Mill, Upper Scotia (the water treatment area) and Tree Farm.  The housing element of the general plan will be addressed in updates coming in 2009, just about every other item in the general plan will need to be addressed with this annexation. The general plan updates will need to be in place prior to the annexation if I am understanding the timeline correctly.  This puts the city on a very fast track for the extensive updates needed as the target date for presenting the annexation to LAFCO is February 2007.

There were more people present in the audience than usual and many of them had some very good questions regarding the process (see video).  Many of the concerns revolved around the environmental impact study (EIS) and what it would examine.  A former 30+ year employee of Palco asked about the asbestos that was dumped there (I am assuming he means on the Mill site itself) and if that is going to be a part of the EIS.  He stated that he was a driver for Palco and knows for a fact that the asbestos was dumped there and then covered up.  *the fact that these hazardous materials were dumped at the site is common knowledge among the older and retired workers that I have spoken to.  Remember that this was done many years ago when it was not regulated like it is today.  It is impossible to judge the actions done in the past by today's standard.  That being said, it is something that has to be dealt with today.  In a past meeting Dennis Woods of Palco had stated that the mill site had been tested and no hazardous materials were detected.  He said that the long told of stories by the older employees of dumping hazardous materials were just stories and no evidence has been found.  Back to the meeting...Miller responded to the former employee that the phase I EIS would include a public records search for any environmental issues (I doubt they will find any records showing the dumping of materials).  The testing of the soil and such will be in phase II.  Since I have been present for every meeting concerning this annexation I clarified that the areas to be examined are only going to include the areas to be controlled by the city, such as roadways and public right of ways.  The mill site will not be included in the environmental analysis.  Miller agreed that Winzler and Kelly will only be looking at some of the Scotia property but he pointed out that if they find any signs of contamination then the study may be expanded to trace any contaminants to their source and that may include the mill site.  This would be to address any leaching that may have occurred from the mill site to other areas of Scotia.  Miller stated that the draft EIS should be available towards the end of this month and then there will be a 45 day public comment period. 

*There will be a meeting on Tuesday October 10th at 6:30pm regarding the fiscal analysis of the annexation.  Please plan on attending if you are able to.  The questions you may have need to be asked now rather than later when it is too late. 

There were audience questions on the planned sale of the homes.  The company is not allowed to talk about any price range for the homes or anything else that may be construed as pre-marketing the homes.  I asked if there was any timeline for when the public might be told price ranges so that people can begin to look at whether they can buy their home or need to make other plans.  There was no time frame given.  An audience member asked if the First Time Homebuyers program might be available to those that qualify.  Hill stated that the city was looking into that and they were not sure at this point.  *The government program has a number of stipulations including the family qualifying as low-income.  The home price will be a major determining factor on whether or not it qualifies for the program.  If the homes are at or above the median home price than they will not qualify.  There is a lot of information that can not be evaluated until the home prices are able to be discussed. 

Council member Julie Woodall asked how the city can encourage more involvement from the residents of Scotia.  She noted that there were no Scotia residents present *I attended the meeting held in Scotia's Winema Theatre and was astounded by the fact that the facility was virtually empty.  I have to wonder if the total lack of participation is due to people feeling that the annexation is inevitable so why stick their necks out and possibly face trouble by their employer or what.  It is curious that the current Scotia residents are staying away from the public meetings since this is the most significant event to affect Scotia since who knows when.  If you are a resident of Scotia, we would be very interested in your opinion or comments about the annexation.  We won't post anything without your approval, we just want to hear what's on your mind and what your concerns are.  You could also contact one of the Council members directly and talk to them about any concerns.  Speak up now or forever hold your peace.  Back to the meeting...Miller said that the city could look at how the meeting notices are posted and possibly post the notices in Scotia. 

The meeting then reconvened into the regular Council meeting.  Public presentations were next and began with Louie Barsanti.  He spoke highly of a local resident who has worked hard for many years for the betterment of our community.  I am afraid I wasn't fast enough with the notes to record the name, listen to the video for his kind words and his encouragement that the City make this resident an honorary Citizen of the Year.  *Rio Dell has many wonderful citizens that give their time and efforts for the community.  It was very nice to hear about one of the citizens that make Rio Dell a nicer place to live. 

I spoke next and asked about the "water emergency."  In a meeting quite awhile ago, Jim Hale had mentioned that he was hopeful the "emergency" status could be ended soon.  Long ago, I had talked with a person about the "emergency" and the high water rates.  I can't remember exactly who it was but they had told me the triple rate that we are paying when we go over the tiny water allotment was related to the "emergency."  It would make sense to have higher rates in an emergency in order to discourage excessive water usage.  I asked if the rates would be going down at all when the "emergency" ended.  The response was that the "emergency" declaration is for the grant money only.  It has nothing to do with the triple rates.  *This means, of course, the triple rates will never go down.  The only way to address the tremendous burden on families (who don't want their children to be filthy) is to restructure the water allotment similar to how every other town I have ever known does it.  The water allotment is based on how many residents live in the home.  At the time you sign up for the water service you declare how many people reside in the home.  If you go over the allotment then you pay a much higher rate for the overage.  In addition to having a reasonable water allotment, the city would have a declaration by the homeowner on how many people live in their home.  This might come in handy when there is a residence with 20 people "living" there.  The police might benefit from knowing how many people are supposed to be there, etc.  There are a number of ways the city could benefit from knowing how many people reside at the address.  Back to the meeting...Chief Hill said the new water system should be online soon.  John Lane spoke about his neighborhood and the fact that while the water main is new, the lateral lines to the homes are not and are still the old, sometimes nasty, pipes.  He has not, as of yet, noticed any improvement in his water despite the new water main.  Hill disagreed with him over whether the water is noticeable better as he said his homes water is better already (the four new water filters are not online yet).  *I will have to agree with Lane on this one.  We have the new main line down Painter St. but the water is still pretty nasty tasting, it is still turning our laundry a dingy brown and it is still staining the sink.  Some time soon we hope to be able to drink the water we pay triple the rates for.  We are looking forward to the new filtration being up and running.

Staff updates were next and began with Chief Hill.  He stated that the auditors will be up in the area the following Tuesday.  He reiterated that the four new water filters would be coming online soon.  Hill stated that City Attorney David Martinek was on vacation so he had been unable to consult with him on issues such as the river access, etc.  Hill announced that on Oct. 20th, there will be a media event for the Brownfields project.  Details are to follow.  Hill also stated that there was going to be a preliminary meeting on how the city could use the parks grant money that they were awarded a few years ago but don't have any projects in mind.  He did not say who was going to be at this preliminary meeting but it was not the Parks & Recreation Committee yet.  *There haven't been any meetings of the Parks & Recreation Committee for a very long time, which is curious since there is a large pool of grant money waiting to be used that will expire and disappear soon. 

Public Works Director Jim Hale had left the meeting earlier so there were no updates from that department. 

Mayor Bud Leonard read the items to be discussed in the closed door session and the meeting adjourned.

Thank you for reading.  See you at the next meeting!

Sharon