Town of Fort Jones ● 11960 East Street ● Fort Jones, CA 96032 ● 530 468-2281 .
AGENDA
Special Meeting
City Hall 11960 East St. Fort Jones
Monday December 19, 2022 – 5:30 PM.
CALL TO ORDER:
Fort Jones City Council Roll Call: Mayor: Garcia______ Members: Banks_____ Collie-Mason Eayrs_____ Stacher_______
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE:
PUBLIC COMMENTS:
Discussion items only, no action to be taken. Any person may address the Council at this time upon any subject within the jurisdiction of the Town of Fort Jones; however, any matter that requires action may be referred to staff and/or Committee for a report and recommendation for possible action at a subsequent Council meeting. There is a five (5) minute limit per topic.
CONSENT CALDENDAR:
Items listed on the consent agenda are considered routine and may be enacted in one motion.
1. Approval of Minutes: Regular Meeting December 12, 2022 PUBLIC HEARING: ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS
2. Review and approve Resolution for Prop. 68 application for Central Park (new location) STAFF COMMENTS:
COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS:
ADJOURNMENT:
The next Fort Jones City Council Regular Meeting is scheduled to be held on January 9, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. 1 Fort Jones City Council
Regular Meeting
December 12, 2022
CERTIFICATION OF POSTING AGENDA
I, Celeste McFall, City Clerk for the Town of Fort Jones, hereby certify that the agenda for the December 12, 2022 meeting of the City Council was posted in City Hall, near the door of the City Council Chambers, Ray's Food Place, Scott Valley Family Resource Center, Outside Frontier Hardware, the Post Office, the Laundromat and on the City’s website www.fortjonesca.org on December 9, 2022.
I declare under the penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. __________________________
Celeste McFall, City Clerk
The regular meeting of the Fort Jones City Council was called to order in person by City Clerk Celeste McFall at 7:00 p.m. At the beginning of the meeting, the only seated Council Member was Kathye Banks.
Also present: Deputy City Clerk Rachel Agron, Fire Chief Joseph Hess, Public Works Supervisor Everett Hullquist and Police Chief Josh Short.
City Clerk Celeste McFall led the flag salute.
1. Oath of Office Administered to:
• Mercedes Garcia
• Mark Eayrs
2. Review Letters of Interest for vacant counsel seats. Approve selection by majority vote. (Banks)
The candidates, Trevor Eastlick, Mark Gepford, Julia Collie-Mason and Amy Stacher each introduced themselves and spoke about why they want to be on the Council.
City Clerk Celeste McFall distributed ballots to the three seated council members, and once completed collected the votes. The vote was unanimous:
• Julia Collie-Mason
• Amy Stacher.
The City Clerk thanked all the candidates and then administered the Oath of Office to the newly elected Council Members, who then seated themselves at the council table. 2 3. Election of Officers: Mayor and Mayor Pro-Tem for two-year terms Mark Eayrs makes a motion nominating Mercedes Garcia for the position of Mayor and Kathye Banks for the position of Mayor Pro-Tem, Amy Stacher seconds the motion.
AYES: M. Garcia, K. Banks, J. Collie-Mason, M. Eayrs, A. Stacher.
NOES: None
ABSTAIN: None
ABSENT: None
Motion passes.
4. Appointment of Commissioners
Mayor Garcia, noting that the tradition has been the Mayor has the ultimate decision over Commissioner assignments, she welcomed those council members who had a particular interest in a certain Commissions. Discussion followed. Commission assignments as follows:
Public Works (Sewer and Water)—Kathye Banks
Streets and Roads—Julia Collie-Mason
Public Safety (Fire and Police)—Mark Eayrs
Parks and Building—Mercedes Garcia
Administration—Amy Stacher
Public Comment:
Suzie LaMarr asks Rachel Agron about the Department of Transportation, Thriving Communities Project matching Non-Profit workers. Rachel reports that she submitted a letter of interest for capacity expansion for the Economic Development program. She has not received a response from the Dept. of Transportation yet.
Madeleine Ayres addresses the Council, thanking them for stepping up. She wants them to be the model of decorum and integrity in public, in email and on the Internet. She urges them, when someone comes up and tells them “I heard...” to smile politely and check out the facts.
She would like to look at her City Council with pride. She asks that the Council behave better and that the members of the public will behave better.
Michelle DeCausmaker announces that she has filled out her paperwork to be a Volunteer with the Town of Fort Jones. She is still working on the Little League Park and the Paul Garrison Park Pavilion. She is also researching the family names who donated the trees in the park and continuing to upgrade the Scout Hall.
Kevin Hullquist would like the Council regarding, he is asking the Council to waive the sewer hookup fees for his Coffee house at Douglas and Main. The fee is $7500.00. Mayor Garcia directs staff to place the item on the agenda for the next meeting. 3 Discussion/Reports: Non-Action Items:
A} Police Department Monthly Report
Police Chief Josh Short provided a full report for the month of November in the council packet.
He invites the new Council Members to go on “ride a longs” with the department.
B} Fire Department Monthly Report
Fire Chief Joseph Hess provided a report and stats for the month of November in the council packet. The Rescue truck is back after a long wait for parts. Another truck has gone up for its annual servicing. Bids for the brush truck purchase through the CDBG funds are due by end of December to keep that project moving along. He reports that Scott Valley Rescue Fire Alliance scheduled a mini-fire academy for the all the departments in the Valley.
CalFire would like to put a fire break just outside city limits as there are fewer private residences in those areas. Josh Shorts says he has a contact with OES who knows about a grant for the fire break. He will report back.
C} Code Enforcement Report
Code Enforcement Officer Kelly York was not present and did not supply a report. Josh Short reports that the Motel should have something substantial action early next year. If anyone sees any code violations, the program is complaint driven, so please report it. The Gwinn house has action coming due in March of 2023, Bill Beckwith asks if Kelly is working on the situation. Josh Short promises that he will address it with Kelly York and report back.
D} Public Works Monthly Report
Everett Hullquist provided a report in the council packet for the month of November and was present. He noted that he has an open-door policy, and he invites the council members to visit and share any questions, concerns or suggestions.
Consent Calendar:
1. A). Approval of Minutes Regular meeting November 14, 2022, and Special Meeting November 28, 2022.
B). Ratification of disbursements
C). December payables
Kathye Banks motioned to approve the Consent Calendar. Mark Eayrs seconded the motion.
AYES: M. Garcia, K. Banks, M. Eayrs,
NOES: None
ABSTAIN : J. Collie-Mason, A. Stacher
ABSENT: None
Motion passes
Discussion/Reports: Action Items:
2. Review and Approve Hiring Interim City Administrator.
Kathye Banks makes a motion to secure Sectaris Partners for City Administrator services until such time that the City can hire a full-time Administrator. Mark Eayrs seconds the motion.
4 AYES: M. Garcia, K. Banks, J. Collie-Mason, M. Eayrs, A. Stacher.
NOES: None
ABSTAIN: None
ABSENT: None
Motion passes.
STAFF COMMENTS:
Celeste McFall asks the council to choose signers for the bank account, and to include Samantha Hess, Accounting Clerk to the list.
COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS:
The Council Members discuss their availability and desire to accept the task. They decide that Mayor Mercedes Garcia will continue as a signer and that Mayor Pro-Tem Kathye Banks, and Council Member Amy Stacher, along with Accounting Clerk Samantha Hess will be the signers on all the Town of Fort Jones Bank accounts.
Adam Cox joins the meeting and introduces himself. He says he is looking forward to getting to assist the Council in moving the Town of Fort Jones forward in the direction they see fit.
He said he responds to emails, phone calls and texts in whichever way they choose, and that he would schedule meetings with staff and the counsel. He notes that communication is key to success in any environment.
Meeting adjourned 8:10 p.m.
Attest:
_____________________________________________
Celeste McFall, City Clerk
Approved:
_____________________________________________
Mayor Mercedes Garcia
TO: FORT JONES CITY COUNCIL
MEETING DATE: DECEMBER 19, 2022
FROM: Celeste McFall, City Clerk
SUBJECT: Review and Approve Resolution 1117; re-applying for Prop. 68 grant BACKGROUND:.
The previously state and council-approved Central Park site contains three affordable housing units. The removal of these houses to make way for a park is not acceptable to the state and monetarily unfeasible for the city to undertake.
In Zoom meetings, our Office of Grants and Local Services (OGALS) personnel and the state official who approved our initial grant award have responded positively to changing the location of the park to the lot behind the Public Works barn for several reasons:
The new location is extremely close to the original site, and the demographics of the neighborhood was one of the weighted criteria the state used in approving the $485,000 park grant.
Because there will be no acquisition (the proposed site is City-owned), acquisition funds can be rolled over into the construction costs. This is favorable to the state because many other grant-funded projects have recognized budget shortfalls due to the rise in the costs of materials.
We recently received notification that the Town must re-submit the Prop. 68 Central Park grant with the new location as soon as possible in order to possibly retain the $485,000 award. To re-apply, the Council must approve a new resolution with the new site selected.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the Council approve Resolution 1117.
11960 East Street Ɣ P.O. Box 40 Ɣ Fort Jones, CA 96032 Ɣ 530 468-2281
THE TOWN OF FORT JONES
RESOLUTION NO. 1117
RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF FORT JONES
APPROVING THE RE-APPLICATION FOR STATEWIDE PARK DEVELOPMENT AND
COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION PROGRAM GRANT FUNDS
WHEREAS, the State Department of Parks and Recreation has been delegated the responsibility by the Legislature of the State of California for the administration of the Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization Grant Program, setting up necessary procedures governing the application; and
WHEREAS, said procedures established by the State Department of Parks and Recreation require the Applicant to certify by resolution the approval of the application before submission of said application to the State; and
WHEREAS, successful Applicants will enter into a contract with the State of California to complete the Grant Scope project;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Fort Jones Town Council hereby:
APPROVES THE FILING OF AN APPLICATION FOR THE Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization Program; AND
1. Certifies that said Applicant has or will have available, prior to commencement of any work on the project included in this application, the sufficient funds to complete the project; and
2. Certifies that if the project is awarded, the Applicant has or will have sufficient funds to operate and maintain the project, and
3. Certifies that the Applicant has reviewed, understands, and agrees to the General Provisions contained in the contract shown in the Grant Administration Guide; and
4. Delegates the authority to City Administrator to conduct all negotiations, sign and submit all documents, including, but not limited to applications, agreements, amendments, and payment requests, which may be necessary for the completion of the Grant Scope; and
5. Agrees to comply with all applicable federal, state and local laws, ordinances, rules, regulations and guidelines.
6. Will consider promoting inclusion per Public Resources Code §80001 (b)(8 A-G).
Approved and adopted the 19th day of December, 2022
I, the undersigned, hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution Number 1117 was duly adopted by the Fort Jones Town Council following a roll call vote:
11960 East Street• P.O. Box 40 • Fort Jones, CA 96032 • 530 468-2281 AYES:
NOES:None
ABSTAIN: None
ABSENT: None One Seat Vacant
Attest: Approved:
Celeste McFall, City Clerk
11960 East Street• P.O. Box 40 • Fort Jones, CA 96032 • 530 468-2281 Mercedes Garcia, Mayor