Alturas City Council
City Hall Council Chambers
August 19, 2025 at 2:00 p.m.
City Council Mayor Paul Minchella called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. at the City Council Chambers.
Councilmembers present: Paul Minchella, Duanna Knighton, Jennifer Engel, Brian Cox and Jodie Larranaga. Councilmembers absent: None. Staff present: City Clerk Tacie Wheeler, City Treasurer Dorothy Long, Director of Public Works Warren Farnam, Police Chief Muller, Fire Chief Lloyd. Public attending: 2. All present joined together in the Pledge of Allegiance.
2. Public Forum
Becky Barry stands to inform Council that she has submitted several complaints to the City. There is a lot across from her that has tall grass, dead branches, old vehicles, and is a major fire hazard and she feels no one is doing anything about it.
Fire Chief Lloyd informs them that letters have been sent to the address and they are working on it, it is just a process, not something they can get taken care of immediately.
3. Approval or Additions/Deletions to Agenda
MOTION by Councilmember Engel, SECONDED by Councilmember Larranaga to approve agenda as written. ALL AYES.
4. Consent Agenda
MOTION by Councilmember Engel, SECONDED by Councilmember Knighton to approve Consent Agenda as follows: a.) Approve minutes of July 15, 2025 meeting, amending the spelling of Aubrey to Aubree; b.) Approve City Warrants for July 2025 in the amount of $158,612.57; c.) Adopt Resolution #2025-21 removing inactive water & sewer accounts from June from the amount of $611.14. ALL AYES.
5. Discussion/Action Item
Director of Public Works Farnam explains that this is a yearly thing, that the school needs this support letter to send to Caltrans for approval of the Homecoming Parade.
MOTION by Councilmember Larranaga, SECONDED by Councilmember Cox to approve the Mayor to sign a letter of support for the Modoc High School Homecoming Parade on Friday, October 17, 2025 from 1:30-2:15 p.m. ALL AYES.
6. Discussion/action Item
Councilmember Knighton traveled to the SCED meeting in Redding and is requesting the mileage reimbursement.
MOTION by Councilmember Engel, SECONDED by Councilmember Larranaga to approve mileage for SCED meeting August 215, 2025 in Redding, CA. 4 AYES, 1 NO.
7. Discussion Item
Treasurer Long states that this is an annual resolution to roll the prior fiscal year's budget to the new year until we have adopted a new budget. She will be asking Council about availability for a budget workshop in the first couple weeks of Septemeber.
MOTION by Councilmember Larranaga, SECONDED by Councilmember Engel to adopt Resolution #2025-22 approving Fiscal Year 2024/2025 budget to roll over to Fiscal Year 2025/2026, until adoption of the new budget. ALL AYES.
8. Discussion/Action Item
Director of Public Works Farnam explains that this is a standard resolution for the STIP projects. He says there should be a correction the part after "Now therefore be it resolved," as it should include the City Treasurer as an authorized signer.
MOTION by Councilmember Engel, SECONDED by Councilmember Larranaga adopting Resolution #2025-23 for the East 4" Street STIP, with the correction to add Treasurer Long to have authority under "Now therefore be it resolved." ALL AYES.
9. Discussion/Action Item
Director of Public Works Farnam says he is bringing this to Council to decide whether to pay this claim or submit it to insurance. This incident was regarding a car being damaged by a manhole. DPW Farnam reads the police report. He does not recommend submitting this to insurance for this amount.
MOTION by Councilmember Cox, SECONDED by Councilmember Larranaga to approve the payment of this vehicle damage claim from Kathileen Souza in the amount of $3,165.76. ALL AYES.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Councilmember Knighton reports that she went to the SCED meeting and the hospitality grant is still pending. She also attended the MEDC meeting.
Councilmember Engel reports that they had a LAFCO meeting that included the initial draft for the Surprise Valley Healthcare District MSR. There were some concerns, such as the lack of a budget. They also voted a new chair, it is now Laurie Pearce Price. She also attended the CHIP meeting via Zoom. She states that Duanna also attends CHIP on behalf of RISE, and Paul was attending as the second Councilmember who volunteered, which is technically a quorum of the Council. She suggests that only one of the Council attends (either her or Paul) in the future, since Duanna is attending for RISE, to avoid any violations. She also says she reached out to Mr. Ingraham and discussed the issues he'd been having getting grants and partnering with the County. She suggests that may the City could look into something with him. He has since opened up again for recycling, so she is hopeful he has found something to sustain it.
Councilmember Larranaga reports that she went to the MTA meeting but missed it as they started the meeting early. She also met with Councilmember Engel and Clerk Wheeler to check in on the clerk committee.
COUNCIL/STAFF REPORTS
Fire Chief Lloyd states that they had four fire calls and 21 medical calls in July. It was mostly mutual aid with Calfire in the Estates, and a human caused fire on West C and 4" street that is still under investigation.
They have 41 members now and have a full roster. There are also five new recruits. On the code enforcement side, they have sent out over 200 letters and seem to be getting a better response this year. There are 7-13 properties that will be fined. This year they decided to make it a year round thing, so they can stay on top of it instead of just during fire season. This is the first time they have actually sent out fines.
Police Chief Muller reports that they had 49 cases and 31 arrests - 9 felonies and 22 misdemeanors. They also executed a search warrant and recovered 12 stolen firearms and ammo from a convicted felon.
Treasurer Long reminds Council that General Unit Negotiations are approaching. She reports that she has been busy with fiscal year end procedures. She has been working with department heads for the draft budget.
They recently caught that not all Airbnb's in town are paying their transient occupancy tax, so they are working on collecting that. Also, Skylar from Public Health is looking for two council members for a tobacco policy interview.
Councilmember Cox and Councilmember Larranaga volunteer for the interview.
Director of Public Works Farnam reports that they are working on the Mill site lease so they can bring it to the Council. The STIP for West C and Nagle are pretty much done now. They are working with the County on a cost estimate for East 6" Street now. The roof at the city building will start being replaced soon. At the old wastewater treatment plant, they are still plugging along and making it work. They are spraying for mosquitos twice a week, almost every week, since June 3, 2025, weather dependent. The wind must be less than 10 mph, during the night so there is no UV, etc. He says we will never be completely mosquito free, as we do have alfalfa fields and the refuge and such that have standing water all around city limits and when the wind picks up, it can blow the mosquitos from those areas into city limits. They have changed the efficiency of the weeding program at the airport that is going well. They're now able to get to places that they couldn't get to before. The arena is pretty much done now, except for one gate. They will bury the culvert soon and will then be able to have more parking available. Mi. Souza may come back in October to put on a rodeo. The pool closes this coming Saturday, with school starting next week. SHN is the only RFQ that came in for the splash park, but he needs to review the revisions. The goal is to start that before the next pool season.
Councilmember Cox asks DPW Farnam about the water being shut off at the old skilled nursing facility.
Farnam explains that it was backflow prevention that shut it off. It was supposed to come right back on, but the piping got backed up and prevented that.
Mayor Minchella inquires about the letter from Doreen Smith-Powers.
DPW Farnam says that the City does not divert water and that the water rights are handled by the County.
Clerk Wheeler reports on the new businesses licenses and the new website that will be launched soon.
MOTION by Councilmember Engel, SECONDED by Councilmember Larranaga to go into closed session at 3:07 p.m.
No action taken in closed session.
Reconvened back to open session at 4:25 p.m.
With no further business to come before City Council, MOTION by Councilmember Engle, SECONDED by Councilmember Knighton to adjourn the meeting and to return in regular session on Tuesday, September 16, 2025 at 2:00 pm, City Hall. ALL AYES
Respectfully,
Tacie Wheeler
Tacie Wheeler
City Clerk