Alturas City Council
Regular Meeting
City Hall Council Chambers
November 21, 2023 at 2:00 p.m.
The Alturas City Council Mayor Cox called the regular meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. at the City Council Chambers. Councilmembers present: Kelly Crosby, Cheryl Nelson, Paul Minchella and Brian Cox.
Councilmembers absent: Samantha Wood. Staff present: City Treasurer Dorothy Long, Public Works Director Warren Farnam, City Clerk Tacie Wheeler, Acting Chief of Police Marc Muller and Fire Marshal Eric Hunter, Fire Chief Jimmy Lloyd. Public attending: 11. All present joined together in Pledge of Allegiance.
Public Forum: Bill Engel informed Council of Shop with a Cop happening on December 16th at the Modoc Middle School Gym, and invited any of them to come by or donate to the cause.
Jake Luba of the Boy Scout Council explained that he wants to get Boy Scouts started again in our area and would like to put up signs on Main St and 12th St. Council commended him and referred him to Warren Farnam and Planning Commission.
Mayor Brian Cox would like to delete item #6 on the agenda. Jim Cavasso said he already got funds to get the sign replaced and would no longer be attending today’s meeting for that.
MOTION by Councilmember Crosby, SECONDED by Councilmember Nelson, to approve the deletion of item #6 on the agenda. ALL AYES.
Treasurer Long would like to add to the agenda for Council to approve canceling the December City Council meeting, as both the Treasurer and Clerk will be away at a training the week before, which would make it hard to get an agenda together. Also, the Mayor will be gone and there is nothing as of now that would not be able to wait until the January meeting. Anything that may come up that is pressing, we can call a special meeting. Suggested to move this to item #6.
MOTION by Councilmember Crosby, SECONDED by Councilmember Nelson to approve adding potentially canceling the December council meeting to item #6 on the agenda. ALL AYES.
MOTION by Councilmember Crosby, SECONDED by Councilmember Minchella to approve agenda.
ALL AYES.
MOTION by Councilmember Minchella, SECONDED by Councilmember Crosby to adopt the consent agenda as follows: a.) Approve minutes of October 17, 2023 meeting; b.) Approve City Warrants for October 2023 in the amount of $201,210.30; c.) Approve ACH reconciliation report for October 2023 in the amount of $134,271.70; Adopt Resolution #2023-58 removing inactive water & sewer accounts in the amount of $1,281.86. ALL AYES.
Community project fund was missed at the work session that was held. Public Works Director Farnam states that the current funds are about $3500/year, and are supported by the General Fund. Current and
past donations include Fandango Days and Outdoor Expos. Wants to look to potentially get high school interns on some of these projects. Farnam just wanted to keep public and Council apprised of this fund.
City Treasurer Long proposes to have the December Council meeting canceled. Treasurer Long and City Clerk Wheeler will be at a training all week prior, Mayor Cox will also be gone, and at this time there is nothing in the pike that couldn’t wait until January. If something pressing comes up, a special meeting could be called.
MOTION by Councilmember Minchella, SECONDED by Councilmember Nelson to cancel the December 2023 City Council meeting. ALL AYES.
Mayor Cox would like to attend a City Leaders Summit in Sacramento April 17th – 19th 2024.
Councilmember Crosby inquires about the cost of the event. Mayor Cox stated he did not have the numbers yet, but that last year’s came in around $1,000. He states that this is a great training in which there are many benefits in attending, and it is an important one to go to. Councilmember Crosby proposes that in the future, when a member would like travel/training approved, a cost estimate should be provided to council.
MOTION by Councilmember Crosby, SECONDED by Councilmember Minchella for Mayor Cox to attend the CA League of Cities – City Leaders Summit in April 2024. ALL AYES.
City Attorney Jeff Hedlund informs Council that the City adopts new codes automatically, per section
5.23 of the Building Code, so we do not need to approve the newest version of California Fire Code, as it is auto accepted. Fire Marshal Hunter was unaware of that, and just wanted to be sure we would be up to date.
MOTION by Councilmember Minchella, SECONDED by Councilmember Nelson to adopt Resolution #2023-59 adopting the 2023-2024 Fiscal Year Appropriation Limit.
Director of Public Works Farnam explains that this is the result of our work session. He further explains that these fees do not completely cover the City’s costs, but it helps.
Mayor Cox states that he wants to strike the phrase “excepting other government agencies” and keep this fee schedule uniform across the board, which would include the schools.
DPW Farnam says this resolution is specific to non-profit and for profit, and wants to get to schools and other government entities separately.
City Attorney Hedlund suggests to add to the agreement “which shall be set at a separate fee schedule” at the end of that sentence.”
MOTION by Councilmember Crosby, SECONDED by Councilmember Minchella to adopt Resolution #2023-60 adopting a uniform fee schedule for use of Municipal Recreational Facilities. ALL AYES Director of Public Works Farnam explains that the SB2 grant is expiring at the end of this year, that is about $120,000. The project scope we came up with is this vehicle, along with computers and equipment for the GIS. We need this all done by December 1st. GIS and housing were all part of a project that didn’t happen. The State did approve for the changes to this project.
Mayor Cox states that they were not aware that the project had not been completed. He says he appreciates Farnam for finding this and finding a solution for it. Asks if this will cost the City money down the road or what strings would be attached.
DPW Farnam states that this is a use it or lose it grant. If we don’t use the funds, we give them back.
MOTION by Councilmember Minchella, SECONDED by Councilmember Crosby to award the bid for the purchase of a ‘Dedicated City Planning and GIS Vehicle’ to Wild West Chevrolet, Stock no. NT2731 for $46,696.51, with funds to be reimbursed by SB2 Planning Grant Contract No. 19-PGP-14306. ALL AYES
Director of Public Works Farnam explains that the gentleman leasing the mill is applying for more funding and is asking for a letter of support from the City. This will help him get the money needed to do the necessary updates and repairs required for him to get the mill up and going.
City Attorney Hedlund suggests to strike “renewable” lease in the letter, and add dates.
MOTION by Councilmember Crosby, SECONDED by Councilmember Minchella to approve the letter of support for High Desert Lumber, LLC application for USDA grant funding. ALL AYES General Unit Representative Garcia states that the general unit is wanting an alternate council representative so that if the circumstance arises, we can move forward with negotiations while the Mayor is gone.
Mayor Cox explains that they entered negotiations on August 4th, and were hoping to be done with them in October when the MOU expired. There was a counter offer made by the City, and there has been no response from the General Unit on that offer. UPEC is not getting an alternate. He further explains that he and councilmember Minchella are on this, and if there is an alternate added now, there would be a 3rd councilmember and it would violate the Brown Act. He says it would also restart negotiations completely, and that councilmember Minchella or alternate could not attend together and would have to negotiate separately. Mayor Cox believes this would cause undue hardship on the City to appoint an alternate.
General Unit Representative Garcia states that Ron is able to travel now and wants to meet.
General Unit Representative Chainey asks if it would be possible to set up a phone meeting with Mayor Cox if they are able to get UPEC here to further negotiate.
Mayor Cox says that he would be willing to do that, but during his travel it will be hard to get a set time as his service will be in and out.
Councilmember Crosby states that Mayor Cox has been involved with the negotiations since the beginning, but that staff should not be penalized due to UPEC’s shortfall and Mayor Cox’s travel.
Councilmember Minchella says that so much has transpired since the start of negotiations already, that he thinks Mayor Cox should stay on instead of appointing an alternate.
General Unit Representative Garcia says that she has spoken to the members of the general unit and they would like this to move forward. The holidays are coming up, and the funds that these proposals include would really help.
General Unit Member Banks spoke up and said UPEC has kept us waiting this long, and if we have a chance to move forward, we should be able to do that. We shouldn’t have to keep waiting.
Councilmember Crosby adds that she is hopeful Mayor Cox will be able to find time to do this by phone, but if it’s not able to happen, she would like to have a special meeting to appoint an alternate.
MOTION by Councilmember Crosby, SECONDED by Councilmember Nelson to table the proposal to add an alternate council representative to General Unit Labor Negotiations Ad-Hoc Committee to avoid postponement of current labor negotiations. ALL AYES
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Councilmember Nelson nothing to report.
Councilmember Crosby has a SCEDD meeting December 7th.USDA processing facility is wrapping up.
Paying for the travel to the SCEDD meetings out of her own pocket.
Councilmember Minchella attended the LAFCO meeting in Monterey. States that John Benoit is retiring and LAFCO will be looking for a replacement.
Mayor Cox speaks about the Pers Unfunded Liability. The rating for funding the liability has dropped.
States that the Council will have to address this.
Treasurer Long states that Pepra is at 109% right now, and there are options about how to pay this.
Mayor Cox adds that the sooner we get this paid, the less interest we will accrue.
Fire Chief Lloyd says that the Fire Department has a full roster and eight new recruits. The department has had five fire and 35 medical calls this month, and 23 fire and 362 medical calls this year, totaling 385 calls.
Mayor Cox states that he is very impressed with the ISA rating, and says it deserves recognition.
Acting Chief Muller says they have one academy candidate, two FTO, one completed. The new clerk is attending dispatch training in January. They are looking at new equipment (specifically radios). They have also ordered a new Tahoe.
Mayor Cox adds the importance of getting new police radios, and faulty equipment potentially being a life or death situation.
Muller says he is looking into a grant for multi-agency radios to solve this problem.
COUNCIL/STAFF REPORTS:
Treasurer Long has nothing to report.
Director of Public Works Farnam reports that they have hired a new maintenance worker, but have lost their chief plant operator, so we are currently looking for a new operator. The Millsite needs to get up to code before he brings a request to Council. They are keeping up on the lease payment, but falling behind on other things. The new sewer treatment project is still on track. For Roads, they are gearing up for winter. Bid for 4th and 8th streets happening, working through some issues. Pool project, fiber glass and concrete is done, figuring out water leak. Planning is working on the SB2 grant. CIP draft will come next meeting for the capital improvement plan. RCAC has reduced funding, they were on F, now on A-D. And he is still looking for a new generator.
City Attorney Hedlund has nothing to report.
City Clerk Wheeler has nothing to report.
Break at 3:50 p.m.
Resumed at 3:54 pm and called for Closed session by Mayor Cox under GC Section 54957 – Employee Performance Evaluation – Title: Finance Director.
Reconvened back to open session at 3:59 pm. No action was taken.
With no further business to come before City Council. MOTION by Councilmember Crosby to adjourn the meeting at 4:00 p.m. and to return in regular session on Tuesday, January 16, 2024 at 2:00 p.m., City Hall. SECONDED by Councilmember Nelson. ALL AYES.
Respectfully,
Tacie Wheeler
City Clerk