Meeting Notes
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Regular Council Meeting
By Marylynn
*Note: I'll be writing up this set of notes due to the busy schedule of the usual author. Thanks.
This city council meeting began on schedule at 6:30 PM. Marks was absent due to a death in the family and Carla Ralston was filling in as City Clerk, because Karen Dunham wasn't present. Acting city manager Graham Hill was present, along with John Miller of PlanWest, Jim Hale of Public Works, Gordon Eton ( the accounting supervisor ) and David Martinek, the city's attorney. The city council chamber had unusually high attendance, with a lot of new faces. The meeting began with Ceremonial Matters, and with it, the Proclamation in Recognition and Support of The Wildwood Fun Run & Walk. Wildwood Days starts on August 5th, for the record. The proclamation was passed in support of a two mile run and walk, supported by the Six Rivers Running Group.
The Consent Calendar was next. Mayor Leonard asked if anyone would like to speak about the consent calendar. This is surprising, because of all the meetings that my family has been to, we have never heard that question asked by him or by anyone else. The public did not have any questions, at which point Councilmember Mike Dunker asked for clarification on a check. On the Consent Calendar, the minutes of the May 16, 2006 meeting, the check register and Proclamation No. 779.129 Extending Local Water Emergency through July 5, 2006 were all approved unanimously.
The only Ordinance/Special Resolution that was on the agenda was Resolution No. 926-2006 - Authorizing Acting City Manager to Execute Agreement with Fiscal Analysis Consultant for Scotia Annexation. John Miller of PlanWest spoke, saying that the city had received one response to their request for companies qualified to make the fiscal analysis of the Scotia Annexation. The deadline for responses was extended, and the city received one more response. The two companies were interviewed by phone on June 6, and it was decided that MuniFinancial would work better. The estimated costs for this fiscal analysis is $25-35,000, and the Rio Dell Fire Protection District will be included. Palco would submit a deposit in full to the city for the cost. Councilmember Julie Woodall had some questions with the wording, and it was established that MuniFinancial would come up with a wide range of possible scenarios, like Palco leaving, home sale prices, and so forth. Councilmember Dunker asked how many annexations MuniFinancial had been involved with. John Miller said that they had spoken of one, a difficult project down south that was similar. Dunker and Miller agreed that the Scotia annexation was a unique one, and Hale commented that an annexation was like an adoption, and that every one is different. Gordon Eton commented that he was impressed with the questions brought up by the company, saying that they have good experience and know what questions to ask. Councilmember Barsanti asked if the staff had checked on their references, and Miller said that the City of Roseville recommended them. The public had no comment, so Dunker made the movement, Woodall seconded and it was passed unanimously.
Special Call Items/Community Affairs was next on the agenda. It started off with Funding to Rio Dell Volunteer Department to Support Communitywide Wildwood Days Events not to Exceed $3,500. Acting City Manager Graham Hill said that since the last meeting, citizens had come forward to express a possible lawsuit about the issues surrounding the construction project. He recommended against funding the money. Mayor Leonard said that a volunteer campaign had started up to help fund the bocce ball courts, and that $2,000 had been donated to that so far. Checks could be made out to the Rio Dell Fire Department. Anthony Michele was the man who had spoken before about the bocce ball court, and he got up to the podium to speak again. He said that he had received a phone call from a fellow named Steve Harris, a union representative of the Operators Union, who stated that if the building of the bocce ball court exceeded $1,000, he would sue because it would have to go out to bid. The Chamber of Commerce had raised $3,700 so far ( in two days ) towards the campaign. Michele said that the project would go forward on the 23rd privately, and that it should be done by Monday. Costs would be covered by donations; Wendt would donate labor and Pacific Lumber would donate materials. Dunker thanked Michele for his time and effort. Debbie Scheffler, the president of the Rio Dell-Scotia Chamber of Commerce, said that the chamber members had pulled in $1,600 during their two-hour meeting. Shane Wilson of the RDVFD also thanked everyone for their efforts. The pioneer village and the log show will be moved to make way for the new courts, but they will still be running.
"Approve Co-operative Agreement Between the City of Rio Dell and Cal-Trans for Drainage Project and Approve Budget Amendment for Said Project" was next on the agenda. Hill said that there was a sinkhole under the 101 overpass, where the metal plate is located. CalTrans would do most of the repairs, but the City would need to contribute between $20-25,000 for the project. Eton pointed out that the city could use the miscellaneous money from CDBG to fund the paybacks, and that there was more than enough to fund this project. Barsanti wanted to know if there were any problems with putting it out to bid, if the project went over estimations and so forth. Hale said that CalTrans would be taking care of all of that so there wouldn't be any problem. Dunker made the movement, Barsanti seconded it and it passed unanimously.
Next on the Special Call Items/Community Affairs was FY 2006-07 Preliminary Draft Budget/Financial Reports. Eton told the council that it was a preliminary budget that needed some work. He spoke of some specifics in budget, like the Park bond fund that has $200,000 in revenue but has to have $200,000 in expenses. Code enforcement salaries had been paid by a grant but now that grant is gone, now they're under the building and police department budgets. Eton wants to take it out of the police department budget, which would reduce it. No payments at all for legal fees of the city were included in the budget. No step increases for the staff were included in the budget (a step increase is automatic and non-negotiable). The continuation of capital works projects were not included in this budget ( like the water system and other ongoing projects ). Eton has established that there is not enough revenue to cover all of the expenses, and the council needs to look at where it'll be able to reduce spending. Due to the haste that this budget was made, the Public Works Department and the Rio Dell Police Department have had barely any input at all. The council was given one day to look over the budget before the June 20th city council meeting. Woodall and Hale had spent time earlier that day going over the budget, and Hale asked if there was any way that a day could be scheduled to review the budget after a week of examination. The new budget would need to be adopted before July 1st, which is the start of the fiscal year. Tuesday, June 27 was decided to be the date of the budget study session and possibility of adoption, and the meeting could be continued to the following Wednesday if needed. At 5:30 PM this Tuesday, June 27, a public meeting will take place.
Public Presentations were next. Jack Snell of Rio Dell got up to the podium, and talked about how much he loved Rio Dell and loved living here. He said that he was sorry to hear that Dolly Ambrosini had passed away, and that she was a really wonderful lady. He spoke of his concerns on the Scotia Annexation, and the environmental nightmare that Rio Dell would gain, which is now Hurowitz's nightmare, if we proceeded. The pond, the auto shop, the roundhouse for the train, and the stuff that has been dumped for a hundred years would all become Rio Dell's responsibility. He also commended Michele on his bocce ball plan, and he said that the people who were threatening litigation should, "Get a life and quit trying to destroy this city." Mr. Barsanti then got up to the podium and asked who would take care of the work in Scotia after the annexation, since the company does it now. He also asked if there were any money for road repairs in the budget. Mayor Leonard said that no, there was not. John Miller then addressed some of Snell's concerns of the environmental cleanup, saying that PlanWest would prepare a report on those sites, and that they were reviewing environmental concerns. Hale said that meeting with Snell to address the concerns would be possible, and that Rio Dell was still only accepting information; no decisions have been made. Snell said that he only hoped that Rio Dell is being told the truth about the environmental concerns, and he pointed out that Rio Dell should have some clause to get out of environmental cleanups so that we aren't left with that.
The Police Department was the first to give their staff reports. They have picked up the Rhino ATV, and it was being customized. Their staff who was out on maternity leave would be back on the day following this June 20 meeting, and they would be back to full staff. John Miller said that they would be meeting with Palco on Thursday to go over the cost projections. Hale said that there was some kind of damage that occurred to the infiltration galleries during the latest storms, and they're looking at financing options for repairs. In the third week of July, the pumps will be up for testing. There will be no hydrant in the cul-de-sac on Riverside. The Fire Department doesn't want it to be there, because they want to be able to keep their equipment and men away from harm. The filters have been shipped, and the wet well has been completed.
Barsanti asked when the next public meeting on the annexation would be. John said somewhere around two months from the last meeting, due to some meetings with Palco being delayed. Dunker mentioned that he would be going to the League of Cities meeting in Sacramento. Woodall thanked Carla for getting CalTrans to mow the right-of-ways so early in the season.
The Closed Session was as follows:
1. Potential Litigation - Roberts vs. Rio Dell
2. Potential Litigation - Nuisance Abatement Issues
3. Personnel Matter - Police Department
4. Personnel Matter - Acting City Manager
5. Litigation - Concerned Citizens vs. Rio Dell
City Council Rio Dell California