Alturas City Council
City Hall Council Chambers
February 17, 2026 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: Duanna Knighton, Jennifer Engel, Paul Minchella and Jodie Larranaga. Brian Cox attended via Zoom. Councilmembers absent: None. Staff present: City Clerk Tacie Wheeler, City Treasurer Dorothy Long, Director of Public Works Warren Farnam, Interim Police Chief Simon Fireman Jim Widby. Public attending: 3. All present joined together in the Pledge of Allegiance.
2. Public Forum
None.
3. Approval or Additions/Deletions to Agenda
MOTION by Councilmember Larranaga, SECONDED by Councilmember Knighton to approve the agenda as written. ALL AYES.
4. Consent Agenda
MOTION by Councilmember Engel, SECONDED by Councilmember Larranaga to approve Consent Agenda as follows: a.) Approve minutes of January 20, 2026 striking the part mentioning the MCTC meeting and the Christmas party in Council reports; b.) Approve City warrants for January in the amount of $286,305.25; c.) Approve ACH reconciliation report for January 2026 in the amount of $159,178.68; d.) Adopt Resolution #2026-4 removing inactive water & sewer accounts from November in the amount of $263.49. ALL AYES.
5. Discussion/Action Item
MOTION by Councilmember Engel, SECONDED by Councilmember Larranaga to approve mileage reimbursement for the SCED meeting on February 12, 2026 in Redding, CA. ALL AYES.
6. Discussion/action Item
Treasurer Long explains that MCTC reaches out annually to seek the City’s support of their Sage Stage program.
MOTION by Councilmember Larranaga, SECONDED by Councilmember Knighton to authorize the Mayor to sign a letter of support for the Modoc County Transportation Agency’s FTA 5311(f) Intercity Bus Program Application. ALL AYES.
7. Discussion Item
Renae Sweet, with the Office of Emergency Services, explains that the mitigation was due for an update. It has already been approved by FEMA and CalOES.
Councilmember Engel asks what dam is part of the plan included in the City’s portion, should there be a failure.
Mrs. Sweet states it is the Dorris Reservoir Dam and the Dorrison dam that is on tribal property.
Councilmember Cox points out that the plan has in their priorities mass vaccinations and climate change and he is not sure that either of those should be priorities for us.
Mrs. Sweet says that this plan recognizes hazards with both the County and the City. This allows us to apply for grants. Right now, it is out of compliance, as it should have been updated in 2022, and they only have 30 days to submit it after it was approved by FEMA and CalOES. It was approved 30 days ago, so they shouldn’t delay.
Councilmember Engel says that the entire plan has already been approved by the Board of Supervisors, FEMA, etc. The City would only really have control over what is in Annex J, the part for the City. Everyone else has already approved the entirety of the document.
Mrs. Sweet states that they did have public input on identifying all of the potential hazards.
Councilmember Engel states that she read the City portion, and has talked it over with Warren and Dominic who attend the meetings and she is comfortable approving this.
MOTION by Councilmember Engel, SECONDED by Councilmember Larranaga to approve Resolution #2026-5 adopting the Modoc County Local Hazard Mitigation Plan. ALL AYES.
8. Discussion/Action Item
MOTION by Councilmember Larranaga, SECONDED by Councilmember Engel approving Resolution #2026-6 approving the first amended budget for the 2025/2026 Fiscal Year Budget in the amount of #7,357,472. ALL AYES.
9. Discussion/Action Item
Councilmember Knighton states that she received a letter today from POST that they are not going to approve Mr. Simon’s certificate. Without it, he cannot be in this position. They could look into training, but it is a lot of hours that need to be completed. They cannot renew the contract without a POST waiver, so Mr. Simon would have to recertify with POST to continue.
Councilmember Cox says that not being POST certified limits his ability to make arrests, carry a gun, etc.
But he could still do administrative duties. We could check with POST to make sure he could just do administrative duties.
Interim Chief Simon states that he has not done any law enforcement duties, and has just been doing administrative tasks. He doesn’t wear his uniform or gun.
Councilmember Knighton states that it concerns her for the City to pay for his training, knowing that he only has limited hours left because of PERS and will not be able to keep working for the City long term.
MOTION by Councilmember Engel, SECONDED by Councilmember Larranaga to go into a 15 minute recess at 2:35 pm.
Reconvened at 2:44 pm.
Councilmember Knighton states that she spoke with POST and they advised to consult with legal counsel.
If he is in a police position, it could potentially be a liability.
Attorney Kenny says that anything could result in a liability, and asks what Mr. Simon wants to do.
Interim Chief Simon states that his is here to serve the City. He is willing to continue this position administratively.
Councilmember Knighton suggests that they update the contract to specify that he would strictly be an administrative Chief.
Councilmember Cox says that the liability would be greater on the City to not have anyone in that position.
He suggests making an amendment to remove any law enforcement duties from the contract and make it administrative only so that we can approve that.
MOTION by Councilmember Engel, SECONDED by Councilmember Larranaga to extend the Interim Police Chief contract, noting that it will be administrative only and will be terminated May 29, 2026, and authorize Councilmember Engel to sign the updated contract when the amendments are made. 3 AYES, 1 ABSTAINED.
10. Discussion/Action Item
Treasurer Long says that she has one application this morning, and expects to receive another on this week.
They have advertised in Western City Magazine, POST, California Police Chief’s Association, the local paper, the City website and City Facebook page.
Councilmember Cox states that they need a well-trained Police Chief, and need to explore more options if they do not find that. He says that the Shasta County Sheriff contracts with Shasta Lake City, and the Sheriff is overseeing the officers for the City. The City of Alturas has offered bonuses when they were on a skeleton crew, and Mr. Cox thinks they City should maybe consider offering a hiring bonus for the Chief position.
Or they could look into increasing the pay range for the Chief position. He wants to keep the police department, but states they need a qualified leader.
Treasurer Long says she is leery on signing up for more money when the police department’s budget is already not looking great. She states that we do have applicants now.
Attorney Kenny mentions that a lot of cities contract with Sheriff Offices for policing services.
Treasurer Long asks when Council would want to look at the applications, and how long they want to keep the position flown.
Council decides on a special meeting to be on Tuesday, February 24, 2026 at 9 am to review the applications.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Councilmember Knighton reports that she clarified the MEDC grant. It will include an inventory of Main Street, the buildings, etc. She says that one person now has called with interest in the meat plant. She also attended the planning commission meeting and they approved the variance for the old Record building on Carlos St.
Councilmember Engel reports that she went to the LAFCO meeting and there were issues approving the MSR for the Surprise Valley Healthcare District. She also met on Wednesday to discuss nuisance abatement and updating ordinances.
Councilmember Minchella states that he attended MCTC and the LAFCO meeting. He says that Surprise Valley Healthcare District MSR has taken a long time to complete. The district pointed out issues in the final MSR, so it will come back to the LAFCO commission at the next meeting. The MCTC meeting was just regular business, nothing to report.
Councilmember Larranaga reports that she went to the MCTC meeting. She also met with Jimmy about Eric coming to the Council meetings when Jimmy is unable to. Jimmy said he will have a representative come in his absence, but he doesn’t want to send Eric to sit in the meetings while we are paying him an hourly wage to be here, he has other things to do.
COUNCIL/STAFF REPORTS
Interim Chief Simon reports that the police department had 38 new cases with 14 arrests of which 2 were felonies and 12 were misdemeanors. A couple of incidents, that made the local paper, were the threat of a bomb and a car driving into a business on Main Street. He has asked Morgan to take lead on the abatement issues they are working on. They have a couple of major investigations going on this week, and they submitted the DOJ report last week.
Jim Widby, with the Fire Department, reports that their equipment is all in good running order. The expect to remain within budget. They are one person shy of a full roster and have five rookies currently. In 2025, the fire department had a total of 39 fire calls and 293 medical calls. They are working a grant to replace their skid unit. The electric horn has an inadequate range, so they are working on that as well, looking into an air tank for an air horn instead. Eric will be going to an arson investigation training. Last month, they had 27 calls – 3 fire and 24 medical.
Director of Public Works Farnam reports that their staffing is looking good. The new guy will be starting soon. The Mill site is going through some things. He has been working with Mr. Kenny on the lease. They still have not got a response from Fish and Wildlife on the right of way. They had a planning meeting last week to change the zone for the old Record building to make it residential. For the rental program, Dominic will go through to see who hasn’t registered their rentals on the 28th. The water meter handheld has been giving them problems, so they are working on going to tablets instead, which was the cheapest option for now. He met with the Chamber about the Fandango Days parade, and they are going to try to do what they did for the light parade. It works better for all of them. He mentions how important it is to retain employees, as they have been struggling getting and keeping everyone trained.
Treasurer Long reports that her and Clerk Wheeler have been working on finalizing the RMAP submissions.
She also mentions that the Sexual Harassment and Ethics trainings are due this year.
Clerk Wheeler reminds Council that Nomination papers for the Council seats are able to be pulled and are due March 6th.
With no further business to come before City Council, MOTION by Councilmember Engel, SECONDED by Councilmember Larranaga to adjourn the meeting and to return in regular session on Tuesday, March 17, 2026 at 2:00 pm, City Hall. ALL AYES.
Respectfully,
Tacie Wheeler
Tacie Wheeler
City Clerk