Minutes of the Blythe City Council
Special Meeting
October 20, 2022
The October 20, 2022 Special meeting of the Blythe City Council was called to order at 2:30pm in the Council Chambers by Mayor Reynolds. Also in attendance were Council Members Rodriguez and Halby. Vice Mayor DeConinck was excused from the meeting. Councilman Burton was absent. Staff in attendance included: Interim City Manager and City Clerk Crecelius, City Attorney Roberto, Chief Building Official Brown and Police Chief Dale.
The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mayor Reynolds.
The Invocation was offered by Councilman Rodriguez.
CONSENT CALENDAR: Items on the Consent Calendar are considered routine and will be enacted with one motion of the Council. If any item requires individual consideration, it will be removed from the consent calendar and acted upon separately.
Councilman Halby moved approval of the Consent Calendar. The motion was seconded by Councilman Burton with a unanimous aye vote.
1. Posting of the Agenda.
The summary of agenda items were posted on the bulletin boards on the outside of the public entrance to the Council Chamber and near the inside entrance of the Council Chamber on Wednesday, October 19, 2022.
No public comment. Councilman Rodriguez moved approval of the Consent Calendar. The motion was seconded by Councilman Halby with a unanimous aye vote.
NEW BUSINESS:
Water Supply Line for Golf Course Project. Interim City Manager Crecelius stated there is a lot of background information in the staff report as to how we got here. There is a lot of history. The original course was on W. Hobsonway. It became unstable when Interstate 10 was developed, and the City quickly looked for new land. The City requested proposals and at least two were received. The City ultimately went with the proposal submitted by the Mesa Ranch group to locate the golf course where it is today. The land was donated and from there the City hired a professional Architect to design a championship golf course. The golf course opened in 1968 and has been in operation since. The City operated the course until 2010. The City maintained the course. The Pro Shop and cart rentals were contracted out. The last Golf Pro was Willie Getchell. At that time, the Golf Course fund had operated in a deficit position for a number of years. Past city management workshopped ways to fix the issues, but the position did not change. When David Lane was hired as City Manager, he was tasked with making cuts to balance the budget as well as making steps to eradicate a $3.4 million General Fund Deficit. At that time, they formed a golf committee to look at options. The City Council released an RFP for management and lease options. Nine proposals were received, eight from management companies and one from BNB Golf management which was a lease. The Council granted BNB the lease. They believed it was the best option for the City as it stopped the bleeding. The City would have had to pay a management company to maintain the course and the City didn’t believe that was the way to get out of the hole. In 2010 the City and BNB entered into the lease we have today. It was amended in 2011 to extend the term, and the agreement is in place until 2025. The Lease requires BNB to operate the course and restaurant as well as pay for utility expense, property taxes and maintenance. A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by David Bayles one of the principles of BNB Golf Management. There is an issue with the water supply line that brings water to the course. The pro shop and restaurant are on City water but the golf course is irrigated with water from A Canal. Originally, the top half of the course was irrigated by a well which was later decommissioned. The bottom half has always been irrigated with water from A Canal from this water supply line. In 2011 BNB decommissioned the well and ran a new pipe from the lake on the top to the lake on the bottom. Now the entire course is irrigated by water from A Canal. In looking at this issue and that agreement we were treating it no different than a main line break for a customer on City water. If there was a break in the line running up to the course to the pro shop, that would be considered a main line break and the City’s responsibly.
Anything past that point and on the golf course would be the responsibility of BNB. In our opinion, the agreement does not require them to make improvements to the supply itself. Issues with the irrigation system would be their responsibility. From what we can tell, the pipe was installed in the late 60’s, probably by the City. As mentioned, the land was donated by Mesa Ranch. Once the design was under way, more land was needed to build a championship course.
They then acquired additional land from the DeMeyer family which came with the access to A Canal. In notes dated in the late 60’s, there was a discussion about whether the City was going to put in a ditch or an irrigation line which is why I believe the City installed the pipe to supply irrigation water to the golf course. The pipe has been leaking for several years. It hasn’t been an issue as it was leaking into a field. However, the field is now owned by Red River Farms and they would like to build a concrete ditch. They believe our leak will undermine that and have asked the City to fix the pipe. I met with Dave Bayles and Michael Mullion of Red River Farms and discussed running a new line from A Canal to the golf course. It’s about 1,000 feet of 24” pipe. They estimate it to cost about $125,000. As the Mullions would like to install their ditch at the first of the year to have cotton planted in March, time is of the essence. Originally, I was going to going to bring this to the November meeting, but I felt it would be best to get direction now to have it under construction by the first of the year. I had originally told Mr. Bayles this would be discussed in November. In a subsequent email I told him I would call a special meeting. He didn’t realize that meeting wad today until the agenda was posted and he was unable to be here. Mr. Bayles, as an A licensed contractor prepared the plans for the project along with the scope of work and contractor requirements for the RFP in an effort to move this along. We will install a new line next to the existing line. The existing line will be buried in the ground.
This was not an expected expense. There may be an avenue for funding through CIF. I can reach out and start that process if directed. If we are not successful with CIF funding the other option would be to allocate General Fund surplus to the project. Today I am looking for direction.
Would you like to release the RFP, approach CIF about funding and if funding is not available, what other options would you like me to explore? Once the bids are received, I would come back to Council, probably in December, for award of the contact. By then we should know if we are successful with CIF.
Councilman Rodriguez asked staff to reach out to County EDA for any economic development funding sources that may be available.
Mayor Reynolds asked if the line could run down the access road. Interim City Manager Crecelius stated the design is a straight shot from the canal to the lift station. Its gravity fed, there is no pressure. You open the line, and the water flows through to the supply lake. I think this is the most logical route. If you went around, there would be extra pipe and I am not sure if we would need additional engineering. I ran a Title Report as we are under the impression the City has an easement for the pipeline. If there isn’t an easement, the Mullions are not opposed to putting one in place. They don’t care that the pipe is there, they just don’t want it leaking. The Mullions want to level the field 12 to 18 inches. This will expose the existing pipe so we will need to lower the new pipe. It will be buried 4 feet from top of pipe so there are no breaks from equipment vibration and another reason to put the easement in place.
Councilman Halby asked if lowering the pipe would affect the gravity fed line. Staff does not believe it will be an issue.
Public comment. Leslie Jessop-Watkins of 1250 E. Hobsonway stated the proposed new supply line is a direct shot between A Canal and the lake on the lower half of the Golf Course. That is why they did not want to go around. If you look at the line due south, that is the separation of two fields. The concrete ditch is going to be in that same area to separate the two fields to irrigate both sides.
Councilman Rodriguez moved to direct staff to look at funding options for a new pipeline for the Golf Course and release an RFP. The motion was seconded by Councilman Halby with a unanimous aye vote.
ORAL REPORTS:
Chief Dale reported on the Law Enforcement National Night Out held at Todd Park on Tuesday night. The National Night Out is an annual event. It is typically in August, we but moved ours to October due to the heat and we seemed to get a better turnout. We had a lot of folks come out and enjoy the displays hosted by area law enforcement. We demonstrated our new unmanned aircraft system.
Chief Building Official Brown gave an update on the City’s demolition projects. Cottonwood was completed. The recycling was very heavy, this means there was a landfill diversion which is great for the City. R&L Watkins did a fantastic job. The notice to proceed was issued for 241 S. 5 th street to R&L Watkins. 241 S. 5th street is one of the Fernandez properties we have been working on for a long time. Its one of the properties that did not sell. There are four others that did sell, and we are working on that though the City Attorney’s office and Code Enforcement.
Councilman Halby asked for an update on the burned restaurant in East Blythe. Interim City Manager Crecelius stated there are a number of steps to be taken. We have issued 6 citations and are now able to hold an office conference with the City Attorney and property owner. At the conference the City Attorney will try to light a fire under the property owner to either clean it up or the City will need an abatement warrant to clean it up. The costs of which would be a lien on the property.
MEMBER COMMENT: None
PUBLIC COMMENT: None
ADJOURN: The City Council meeting was adjourned at 2:53pm. ________________________________
Dale Reynolds, Mayor
ATTEST:
________________________
Mallory Crecelius, City Clerk