Meeting Notes
Tuesday, March 7, 2006
Regular Council Meeting
The meeting began on schedule with all Council Members present, along with City Manager Jay Parrish, Public Works Director Jim Hale, Chief of Police Graham Hill, Accounting Supervisor Gordon Eton and City Attorney David Martinek. The consent calendar was first on the agenda for action items and Council Member Melissa Marks had questions regarding two particular checks on the check register. There was a payment for the Ghilarducci project that she wanted clarification on. Parrish replied that the payment was for work done that wasn't paid for with 100% grant but with matching funds from the city that wasn't known about previously. During the approval process for this project it appears that the Council did not know what the funding details were. There was also a question by Marks on a check for $500 to the Chamber of Commerce. Parrish stated that this was for a year's worth of advertising in the monthly newsletter. The consent calendar was then passed as a block unanimously.
The Ordinances/Special Resolutions were next on the agenda. The first item wasn't clearly written on the agenda but it was explained that the CDBG grant money regulations require that the City has a designated recipient of Fair Housing complaints. This is so that a person would have a specific person that they could go to who would be familiar with the process. The requirement was pointed out during the recent 3 day visit from Patrick Talbott, he works for Housing and Community Development out of Sacramento and does grant monitoring. This person will be the Administrative Assistant in City Hall so any fair housing complaints should be directed toward them.
The first item on the Special Call Items/Community Affairs section concerned the contract that the city has with Eel River Disposal (ERD) for garbage and recycling services. The 8 year contract the city has had expires at the end of this month. There is a 10 year extension clause and each side is able to change or add two items to the contract. ERD wants to add another 5 years to the contract (making this a 15 year contract) and increase the rates for the recycling service. Currently there is a $1.40 surcharge for the service and this would increase by almost double. The city does not know what two items they would alter or add. Parrish was requesting the extension so that the contract could be evaluated and the public would have a chance to have input. ERD does not have to go along with this extension and if they don't then a decision will have to be made by the next Council meeting. There is a possible Study Session that might be scheduled to go over the contract, if they schedule it they will post a notice in the front window of City Hall. (I try to check the window frequently for notifications but a citizen should look there themselves as often as possible) There was a unanimous Yes vote for asking ERD for the one year extension. The final item in this area was a routine pay request for John N. Petersen in the amount of $72,960.39 for the raw water intake project. This was also approved.
Public Presentations were next with Art Castle, a 20 year resident of Rio Dell, first. He spoke about the history of Rio Dell and the improvements he has seen in his time here. He remarked that previously City Council members were hard to come by and had to be recruited and he praised the current City Council. He stated that people who have problems with the grant process for projects should address the issues during the planning session, not after the fact. He praised the work of the Rio Dell Police as well as Public Works. He remarked that he was happy that the current City Manager came from the Council as they would have good prior knowledge for the job. Next for public presentations was a resident of the Belleview area, Paul Hoffman, who has addressed the Council repeatedly for many years about the flooding problem at his residence. He agreed with the first speaker on most of the improvements within the City, however he has been asking for assistance for a long time. (I have listened to a tape recording of a City Council meeting from two years ago where this same resident was asking for help with the exact same problem. He received a response from the City Manager at that time that his area was being addressed on a recent study of the drainage issues) Mr. Hoffman remarked that he sees work being done in other areas but nothing that would address the flooding his neighborhood experiences every time there is significant rain. He requested a copy of the drainage study done by Winzler and Kelly. The third speaker's name was John but I missed getting his last name. He also praised the City Council and the work they do. He spoke of the Drug Free School Zone rules and put forward the idea of a city wide designation. He stated that the police are doing a good job but could be assisted more by penalties that "have more teeth." The final speaker was Alice Millington, a local Real Estate Broker. She remarked on the improvements to the city and the increased attention Rio Dell has been receiving. She stated that in the last 1 1/2 years, six more Realtors have come into the area and more buyers are looking at Rio Dell.
Staff reports were next and began with the City Manager. Parrish stated that FEMA representatives were in the City last week where they were given a list of storm related items that needed reimbursement. FEMA would then examine the listed items and assess the reimbursements. He mentioned the recent inspection from Patrick Talbott of Housing and Community Development regarding CDBG grants. Public works was next with Jim Hale updating the Council on the clean up work continuing from the recent storms as well as work this last Sunday to repair items again in the Belleview/Ogle Ave area. Sunday, when the weather was so nasty, damage occurred to the area already worked on. Parrish remarked that during that storm, when the power went out, the water infiltration system was down. No wells' were operational as they required electricity for the pumps. Palco responded by bringing over a generator that would run the needed equipment but that the power came back on just before that was to be installed. He commended Palco for their assistance. The Chief of Police was next and Hill stated that there was an accident in the Police Station parking lot recently between a citizen and one of the police cars. There used to be a sign at the driveway the police use designating it for Official Use but it had become very worn and it was removed. This sign will be replaced right away. Hill stated that City received a grant from the Department of Homeland Security which will be used for the purchase of an ATV for patrolling areas such as the river bar in the warmer months. The department will be replacing some of their safety equipment soon with a grant specifically for that purpose. Hill commented that the Traffic Committee would be meeting this Thursday at 2:00pm for a discussion of what the committee should focus on. Accounting Supervisor Eton spoke about the recent inspection by HCD. The accounting software used by the City was purchased with CDBG grant money and Talbott was pleased with how it was being utilized. Eton stated that there were areas of improvement for the City to work on but that overall he felt that Talbott was pleased with the improvement so far. The current accounting assistant will be taking a leave of absence soon and there will be a temporary position available. The department is still working on the audit. They had been delayed due to the recent work with FEMA, the weather emergency and such.
Council Member Mike Dunker updated the Council on his recently attended meeting of the League of Cities held in Fort Bragg. They discussed a number of items including the Prop. 42 Transportation measure passed in 2002. The group is recommending a Resolution for member Cities to look at and possibly approve. A presentation about the Resolution will be given at either the next Council meeting or one soon after. Check back on the posted Agenda's for scheduling. Dunker encouraged the Citizens to attend that presentation and participate.
Council Member Marks asked Parrish about a recent article that spoke about the possibility of Scotia annexing into Rio Dell. Parrish stated that Scotia is required to examine all possibilities in their decision to become separate from Palco, such as annexation to a neighboring city versus creating their own service district. LAFCO is in charge of the process. There are no plans currently and the process for Scotia is in it's earliest stages.
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