Alturas City Council
City Hall Council Chambers
June 16, 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, 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 Morgan, Fire Chief Lloyd. Public attending: 7. All present joined together in the Pledge of Allegiance.
2. Public Forum
Resident Dennis Banister spoke to advise Council of the street that he lives on (N. East B St) being in dire need of repair. He says that it is almost a dirt road now. The pot holes were filled, but the road itself is in really bad shape. He asks when that road will be on the list to be done.
Director of Public Works Farnam informs him that the pavement management plan leads us to repair the higher traffic roads first, but he is aware of the problem.
3. Approval or Additions/Deletions to Agenda
MOTION by Councilmember Engel, SECONDED by Councilmember Larranaga to approve the agenda as written. ALL AYES.
4. Consent Agenda
MOTION by Councilmember Knighton, SECONDED by Councilmember Engel to approve Consent Agenda as follows: a.) Approve minutes of May 19, 2026; b.) Approve City warrants for May in the amount of $297,691.64; c.) Approve ACH reconciliation report for May 2026 in the amount of $158,540.92; d.) Adopt Resolution #2026-14 approving Alturas Police Department to send unpaid impound fees to Sequoia Financial Services in the amount of $5,340.00. ALL AYES.
5. Discussion/Action Item
Ryan Wilson, representing Modoc Crisis Center, says that they would like to be able to put an open sign out on the sidewalk for the thrift store, that is open Tuesday through Friday from 9 am to 1 pm.
She is advised to go to the Planning Commission.
6. Discussion/action Item
Ryan Wilson, representing Modoc Crisis Center, explains that they are planning a Take Back the Night event on August 14th at the City pool. She says this is a global event for sexual assault victim awareness. They are hoping to have different agencies, games, and food from local vendors on the grass area in front of the pool. The swimming would start around 6pm, and they would shut down at 10pm.
MOTION by Councilmember Engel, SECONDED by Councilmember Knighton to grant permission for the Modoc Crisis Center to use the grass area in front of the pool for the Take Back the Night event on August 14th.
ALL AYES.
7. Discussion Item
MOTION by Councilmember Cox, SECONDED by Councilmember Larranaga to authorize the Alturas Elks Lodge #1756 to sell alcohol at this year’s Masten Ramsey event. ALL AYES.
8. Discussion/Action Item
Director of Public Works Farnam says that they have done this for a few years now and he thinks it is good for employee morale.
MOTION by Councilmember Larranaga, SECONDED by Councilmember Knighton to approve of family pool passes for full-time City employees for the 2026 season. ALL AYES.
9. Discussion/Action Item
Ryan Richardson, from Superior California Economic Development, does his presentation on the Downtown Revitalization project that they have been working on. He says that Alturas was selected as one of two demonstration cities where they have defined a focus area, assessed the building conditions and compiled property information into a usable database. They are planning to complete this project in September 2026. Alturas will get the final playbook with tools for the next step in the process, including funding opportunities. He also explains that Wells Fargo is covering the cost of this work, SCED is not charging the City of Alturas.
10. Discussion/Action Item
Shane Starr passes out handouts to Council and explains that MEDC is moving ahead to apply for a Rural Business development grant so that they could use the playbook that SCED is putting together. There is no staff, just a working board of 7. They are working with SCED to get business assistance.
MOTION by Councilmember Larranaga, SECONDED by Councilmember Engel to authorize the Mayor to sign a letter of support for the Modoc Economic Development Commission USDA Rural Business Development Grant Application. ALL AYES.
11. Discussion/Action Item
Director of Public Works Farnam explains that the Rules and Regulations have not been updated in many years.
The last resolution they could find was in the 70’s, so it is in need of some updates.
Councilmember Cox says that under the managerial – confidential employees, Fire Marshal is listed, but he is represented in the Union. Also, in the Strike Clause, Law Enforcement and Fire are listed, but they are not allowed to, so that should be looked into.
DPW Farnam says that he will make some revisions before he brings it back to Council.
12. Discussion/Action Item
Director of Public Works Farnam says that this is an annual resolution for our yearly projects. It is essentially a wish list of projects they would like to get done, but they are not all guaranteed to get done. However, it does have to be on the list to be eligible to use the funding.
MOTION by Councilmember Engel, SECONDED by Councilmember Knighton to adopt Resolution #2026-16, adopting a list of projects for the FY 2026-2027 funded by SB1: The Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017. ALL AYES.
13. Discussion/Action Item
Director of Public Works Farnam states that they have been behind for some time and are going through some changes, so this is to protect the City.
MOTION by Councilmember Larranaga, SECONDED by Councilmember Cox to authorize the City Manager/Public Works Director to issue a lease default letter to High Desert Lumber. ALL AYES.
14. Discussion/Action Item
Director of Public Works Farnam explains that the IT contract ends this month. They put out an RFP, and Sean was the only one who answered it.
MOTION by Councilmember Knighton, SECONDED by Councilmember Engel to authorize the City Manager to award City IT professional services contract to Computer Haven, Sean Buie, for five years at $2,800 per month, effective June 16, 2026. ALL AYES.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Councilmember Knighton reports that MEDC split up tasks and she has been working on getting support letters from businesses. They are looking at a more aggressive approach for the meat packing facility, as they haven’t got anyone to commit to it.
Councilmember Engel reports that Lafco approved the budget, and it did not include funds for a forensic audit for Surprise Valley Healthcare District. She also notes that the fire department did a very nice job for Jim Porter’s services.
Councilmember Minchella reports that he attended the Lafco and MCTC meeting, but has nothing else to report from those.
Councilmember Larranaga reports that she attended the MCTC meeting. She also notes that if anyone is planning on going to Redding, to expect about an hour or more delay.
COUNCIL/STAFF REPORTS
Fire Chief Lloyd reports that Eric attended an arson investigator training in Vegas. He tested last week and passed.
They are still working on the horn. They currently have 40 members and one new application, so they are still about fully rostered.
Police Chief Morgan reports that they had 27 new cases, 9 arrests including 7 felonies and 2 misdemeanors. purchased tech for the evidence room. It is all now barcoded and more organized. He is still working on updating the policies. Officer Alcala returned from Chico.
Treasurer Long reports that she is working to crunch the numbers to be able to pay off the Pers unfunded liability.
The office has been busy with the start of the pool season. They had to get a new phone number for the pool, as Frontier cut the old phone number, so the new pool number is 530-233-1608. They also received the new tablets for meter reading, which should make it much easier and cut meter reading time down. MCTC was very gracious in giving us boxes of binders. She also wants to remind everyone that the City will be closed Friday the 19th and Friday July 3rd.
Clerk Wheeler reports that we had three new business licenses this month. There are new owners of the Niles and the Trailside Inn, and a Brandon’s Handyman Services. Also wants to remind everyone that the new councilmembers will take their seat at the July meeting.
Director of Public Works Farnam reports that they still have one person out on injury, and they lost one more person whose last day was Friday. They are working on bringing another person back part time for mechanical stuff. He will keep Council updated on the Mill situation. They guy that is out there now is working hard. They will find out in July about the funding application for the Wastewater Treatment Plant. They have done some pot hole repairs and are starting to spray for mosquitos. The weeds at the airport have become a problem that they are trying to take care of. Everything is going well at the JLS arena. They have Fandango Days coming up, so they are preparing for that. Things at the pool are going well. They rebuilt the pipe for the geothermal. He met with Treasurer Long to go over budgets and looking into how they can pay off the Pers unfunded liability. They are planning to have another budget workshop sometime next month.
With no further business to come before City Council, MOTION by Councilmember Engel, SECONDED by Councilmember Cox to adjourn the meeting and to return in regular session on Tuesday, July 21, 2026 at 2:00 pm, City Hall. ALL AYES.
Respectfully,
Tacie Wheeler
Tacie Wheeler
City Clerk