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Rio Dell City Council Meeting March 6th, 2007 6:30 pm Tonights meeting began with the council minus Marc Barsanti, City Manager Nancy Flemming, Public Works Director Jim Hale, Accounting Supervisor Stephanie Beauchaine in attendance. The local news crew was there to cover the beginning of the meeting where new City Manager Nancy Flemming was welcomed to the community. Flemming thanked outgoing acting City Manager John Miller who received an ovation from the room. That was followed by the ceremonial matter of a proclamation in support of the Scotia Band. The band will be celebrating their 75th Anniversary in 2010. The proclamation was received by a member of the band who thanked everyone for their support over the years. The business of the night then began with the consent calendar. *see the agenda for the routine items listed on the consent calendar, such as the check register (available for public review) which cites items such as the $275 paid for the "annual Chamber of Commerce dinner." The items were passed unanimously. Ordinances/Special Resolutions followed with the first item pulled off the agenda. The matter was regarding changing the structure of the city loan committee to consist of city staff rather than the city council, as it is currently. This has come up a few times in the recent past and will likely be brought up again soon. The current loan committee is subject to the provisions of the Brown Act since it is the council. If this is changed to city staff, there would be less delay in moving along projects, as per Beauchaine. The loan committee would report regularly to the council. The next resolution authorized the investment of city money in the local agency investment fund (LAIF). The current structure of the provision lists the city staff by name and needed to be updated to reflect the new manager, Flemming. Last was a resolution adjusting the budgeted amounts for the transportation development account (TDA). When the city submitted their plan, which was approved, they had cited $30,091 to be paid to the Humboldt Transit Authority and the Senior Resource Center. This money wasn't accounted for in the city budget and that necessitated the adjustment. Public presentations were next with John Lane, of Rio Dell, addressing the council about the problems with the audio in the chamber. This has been brought up before by John Miller who had spoken with an elderly citizen who had a great deal of difficulty hearing the council proceedings. *when the video is being prepared to go online, the audio has to be adjusted up a great deal in order to hear all of the council members. Even with that adjustment, it is very difficult sometimes to hear everything. Lane has been looking at the speaker placement as one possible way of improving the sound but a new amplifier is going to be needed. The new amp. should have the ability to adjust the individual microphones separately as some council members are better at enunciation and speaking up than others. Long time resident, Louie Barsanti, welcomed the new city manager to Rio Dell and thanked the city for the work done to the Memorial Park sign across from city hall. The sign has been expanded to allow for the addition of several names deserving of recognition. *we really like this memorial as it includes a number of our old family names. The new sign looks terrific and is a great addition to the city. Staff reports were next and began with Flemming. She thanked everyone for welcoming her to the city and helping her get to know everyone. Flemming reported the Wildwood paving project was moving forward. The Redwood Coast Rural Action group (RCRA) was meeting soon and the city would be actively participating in this group as Flemming has worked with them in the past. They focus of many of the issues faced by small rural communities. Public Works Director Jim Hale followed with his staff report. He had a summary of 15 current projects the city is working on with Winzler & Kelly (there are 3 other projects with SHN). The projects include things such as the wastewater system. Hale mentioned that sewer rates will have to be re-examined at a later date. The city was not awarded a CDBG sewer grant, as they had hoped. Public Works will be working with Patrick Talbott of Housing and Community Development for a future grant application. There is one water tank left to be built, there are some details still being worked out. Hale stated that the previously discussed major subdivision project proposed for the property at Wildwood and Painter St. will be submitted to the planning commission in the near future. The public can examine and comment on the project at that time. *we were recently told a little bit of local history regarding that property by a pretty reliable source. Years ago a local landowner and developer wanted to complete a project on that same lot that would have included 3 large well designed, well built homes along Painter St. and a commercial development along Wildwood. The people wanting to do the project were certainly no friends of city hall and therefore did not receive any support for this project. (Northcoast Journal article about some history of development in Rio Dell) They were told they would need to lay in all new water lines, sewer lines, roads all around, etc. until the project became unfeasible. The property then sold to the current owners. The new proposal includes changing the zoning along Wildwood Ave., at the new Welcome to Rio Dell sign, to residential and squeeze in as many houses as possible. The developer mentioned as many as 14 on the Wildwood side of the property. The development would be done by the same people that have recently built the eight identical houses on the Painter/May St. side of the large lot. The identical houses were approved by the city (the city building department I would imagine) as individual houses with absolutely no requirements for any infrastructure improvements. It doesn't look like the planning commission ever got to take a look at this project or have any public comment as it was "individual" homes. I wonder what kind of tax revenue the city would have been able to receive if this was done as the subdivision it is. Instead, there are new houses going in on muddy, gravel roads that the city will have to maintain. The article cited above refers to the fight over the Dinsmore plateau and the proposed development at that time. There is a major subdivision going in up on Dinsmore that will require a new fire substation among other things. While the city hasn't discussed the plans openly, the fire district has been looking into the new substation, along with their continuing evaluation of the merger with the Scotia FD. Should the newly improved gateway to the city be commercial or residential? Attend the planning commission meetings as well as the city council meetings and express your views. Next planning commission meeting is scheduled for March 28th at 6:30pm. We will post the agenda as soon as it is released. The accounting department report was given by the auditor, Justin Williams, of Mann, Urrutia, Nelson & Associates of Sacramento. The 2002-2006 audits are pretty much concluded. Williams mentioned that the audits were delayed in part due to difficulty in getting any information from the city staff until Beauchaine took over as their contact and the project got back on track. The final draft of the 2006 audit should be ready in the next week or two. Overall, Williams reported there were no major deficiencies and the city as a whole is "sound fiscally." There were some funds that were overspent, seven funds that had been operating in a deficit, such as the sewer department. The shortages can be addressed later and the accountants will work with the city to recommend courses of action. *be prepared for significant increases in sewer rates in the near future. They have been alluded to numerous times and it is clear the sewer department can not continue to operate in a deficit. There will be a final presentation by the auditors as there work is finalized. Items to be discussed in closed session were last with only two items; potential litigation-infrastructure and potential litigation-CDBG. The council then recessed into closed session. Later it was stated that there were no actions taken by the council that required noticing.
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