Orland City Council Minutes – February 21, 2023 1 | P a g e
MINUTES OF THE ORLAND CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING HELD FEBRUARY 21, 2023
CALL TO ORDER
Meeting called to order by Vice Mayor Roundy at 6:31 PM.
Meeting opened with Pledge of Allegiance
ROLL CALL
Councilmembers present: Matt Romano, John McDermott, Jeffrey Tolley, Vice Mayor Bruce Roundy
Councilmembers absent: Mayor Chris Dobbs
Staff present: City Manager Pete Carr; Assistant City
Manager/Director of Administrative Services Rebecca
Pendergrass; City Attorney Greg Einhorn; Police Chief
Joe Vlach; City Clerk Jennifer Schmitke
Staff present online: Public Works Director Ed Vonasek and Recreation Director Joe Fenske
CONSENT CALENDAR
A. Warrant List (payable obligations)
B. Approve City Council Minutes for February 7, 2023
C. Receive and file Planning Commission Minutes for December 15, 2022 D. Receive and file Planning Commission Minutes for January 19, 2023 Councilmember Tolley asked to pull item 4.B.
Action: Councilmember Tolley moved, seconded by Councilmember Romano, to pull consent calendar item 4.B. The motion carried by a voice vote 4-0.
Councilmember Tolley pointed out a typographical error in the minutes from February 7, 2023, City Manager Carr stated a correction would be made to read City Manager Carr.
Action: Councilmember Tolley moved, seconded by Councilmember Romano to approve the consent calendar as corrected. The motion carried by a voice vote 4-0.
ADMINISTRATIVE BUSINESS
A. MUNICIPAL GROUNDWATER RESOURCES
City Manager Pete Carr presented to Council a requested update on Orland’s groundwater resources, specifically on the well levels. Mr. Carr welcomed Sharla Stockton, Glenn County’s Geography Information Specialists (GIS) to help explain and answer questions regarding groundwater.
Sharla Stockton spoke about the groundwater data management system which she developed, and the County launched, for reporting ground water supply issues within the County. Ms. Stockton explained that from the data she has collected the approximate average depth of dry wells is around 93 ft. Ms.
Item 4.B.
Orland City Council Minutes – February 21, 2023 2 | P a g e Stockton reported that the data that the County gathers is available for City of Orland residents to review and is also available to North Valley Community Foundation to implement the drought assistance program.
Councilmember Romano asked if the County does any tracking of agricultural consumption. Ms.
Stockton shared that monitoring and metering individuals’ consumption can be done under purview of SGMA, the sustainability groundwater act. Vice Mayor Roundy, Orland’s representative for Glenn Groundwater Authority (GGA), stated that tracking/metering ag consumption could be a possibility in the future. Vice Mayor Roundy stated that currently there are monitoring wells scattered around Glenn County.
City Manager Carr reminded Council that the Department of Water Resources (DWR) project is to address dry and at-risk wells and will connect about 185 residents to City water. Mr. Carr explained that the engineering for the project area is at 90%+ and stated it is expected in the next few weeks that request for proposals will be able to go out. Mr. Carr reminded Council that the City will also be getting a new well that is deeper than any other well the City currently has(located at the west end of W Walker Street), drilling for that well should be starting this week. Mr. Carr shared that the engineering design on the new million gallon water tank the City will be getting is a little over 50%. City Manager Carr shared graphs and spoke briefly about Orland’s water consumption and about the six municipal well’s water levels from 2013 to present.
Councilmember Tolley thanked staff for providing the information, stating it was above and beyond what he requested.
Councilmember Romano stated his concerns about asking City residents to conserve yet the larger consumers (ag farmers) have no restrictions. Mr. Carr shared that Vice Mayor Roundy is the advocate for Orland on the GGA board and stated that would be somewhere to start to get his questions addressed. Councilmember Romano asked about turning Lely pond into a recharge pond. Mr. Carr stated that Lely pond is designed to retain and detain storm water runoff for about ½ the City, and also shared that the Orland Unit Water Users (OUWUA) use Lely for overflow. Mr. Carr shared that Lely could potentially be used for recharge if the GGA and/or OUWUA want to direct water from Black Butte Reservoir to Lely.
Councilmember Romano mentioned that other communities require people to plant trees to help with the heat burden in the community and suggested looking at the general plan to add a requirement for trees. Vice Mayor Roundy stated the City of Orland does have a Tree Committee that has added trees downtown and in designated areas around town. Vice Mayor Roundy shared that he liked the concept and that the streetscapes plan also has a plan for adding shade trees to the downtown area to make shopping cooler. Councilmember Romano stated concern for the developments east of town not having any trees, just pavement.
Councilmember Roundy shared that the GGA will be having hearings on rates being raised for everyone in the basin (current rate $1.93 an acre).
B. ARPA UPDATE
Mr. Carr gave an update on American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Covid relief funds. Mr. Carr presented the ARPA funds worksheet and shared that most of the allocated ARPA projects are in progress or complete.
Orland City Council Minutes – February 21, 2023 3 | P a g e Mr. Carr briefly went over the list of projects and updated Council what is happening with each project.
Mr. Carr shared that currently no projects are going over-budget or under-budget at this time. Mr. Carr stated that once the Queen Bee Buck gift card funds are exhausted, Council will need to decide whether to add funds to it, sunset it or replace it with something else.
Councilmember Romano asked what the delay was with the OPD/City Hall roof and floor repairs. Public Works Director Vonasek stated that getting bids from contractors has been difficult on this project.
Councilmember Romano also asked why the financial software is still pending. Mr. Carr shared that City Staff has been researching financial software companies and still plans to update the software but currently Staff is focused on other projects. Mr. Carr reminded Council that there is no deadline by which that the ARPA funds must be spent.
C. RECREATION COURTS PROJECT UPDATE
Mr. Carr updated Council on the progress and status of the recreation court improvement projects. Mr.
Carr reminded Council that in fiscal year 2022 they authorized the construction of four new pickleball courts for $200,000 and lighting for the basketball courts for $40,000. Mr. Carr shared that the pickleball budget included the understanding that a group of local volunteers would donate much of the labor working together with Public Works. While Staff and volunteers were working on getting bids from contractors, they realized additional upgrades could economically be made to facilities by leveraging contractors’ interest in larger projects. Mr. Carr reported that the tennis courts and basketball courts were then included into the project.
Mr. Carr shared that the pickleball courts have been constructed at Vinsonhaler Park with lighting. Once a few adjustments are made to the fencing the pickleball courts will be complete. Mr. Carr shared that the City’s two tennis courts at Vinsonhaler Park have been refurbished with new LED lights, fencing, net poles and resurfacing. Once the lighting is finished and improvements are made to the fence the tennis courts will be complete. Mr. Carr shared that the basketball courts at Lely Park have been resurfaced and once the new LED lighting is installed this project will be complete.
Mr. Carr stated that $204k of the $240k budget has been expended, and that if anything is left on the budget we would like to add a drinking fountain, windscreens, shade screens and benches at the Vinsonhaler Park courts.
Councilmember Tolley stated that the pickleball court is a good addition to the community and thanked Councilmember McDermott for all he has done for the project.
Councilmember McDermott shared that it has been a great community project, and stated it has brought people together to make the parks better. Councilmember McDermott shared he is looking for suggestions on what projects the community could work on next.
Public Works Director Ed Vonasek thanked Councilmember McDermott, Bart Caster and the team of volunteers who came out to help upgrade the courts. Mr. Vonasek shared that people from the pickleball, tennis and basketball communities came together and did an amazing job to upgrade each court.
Orland City Council Minutes – February 21, 2023 4 | P a g e Recreation Director Joe Fenske stated he appreciated all Councilmember McDermott has done to take the lead on the projects and shared that he has heard many compliments about the new pickleball court being the nicest court around. Mr. Fenske also thanked all the volunteers involved.
Councilmember Tolley commented that he usually sees soccer players playing in Vinsonhaler Park in the tennis courts but recently noticed they have been playing in a small area next to the courts under the lights and mentioned that it would be nice to get an area set aside for soccer with lighting.
D. REMOTE PUBLIC COMMENT DURING COUNCIL MEETINGS
City Attorney Greg Einhorn spoke to Council about the pandemic timeframe, Executive Orders that relaxed the Brown Act rules and shared that the orders have now lapsed.
Mr. Einhorn explained that the one of the teleconferencing rules that is still in effect states that in the event of a transmission disruption, the meeting could continue but the City Council could no longer take further action on any items on the agenda until the transmission was resumed and discussed this risk.
Councilmember McDermott stated he was in favor of continuing to allow remote participation.
Councilmember Romano shared that if the meeting can continue with voting suspending that he felt that remote participation should continue.
Councilmember Tolley agreed that keeping remote participation should be allowed, he shared that his only issue would be if the transmission was disrupted and an item needed immediate action that could cause a problem for the City.
Vice Mayor Roundy stated that Council wants the public to attend and participate so he would like to see remote participation stay.
Mr. Einhorn stated he received the direction from Council that Council would like to continue to allow for remote public comments during City Council meetings and that Council also acknowledges the risks that come with allowing remote public comments.
ORAL AND WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
PUBLIC COMMENTS:
Marjorie Palmer, Orland resident, expressed her concerns and ideas about the Orland City Council meeting remaining at Carnegie Center. Ms. Palmer’s understanding is that the main reason to move the meeting is to allow for better access for people that are handicap. Ms. Palmer stated many reasons on why the meeting should stay at Carnegie and gave the suggestion of adding an elevator. Ms. Palmer provided an example of Corning Carnegie Center (618 4th Street in Corning) that has recently added an elevator and suggested Council if they have time to go see how well the elevator works.
Orland City Council Minutes – February 21, 2023 5 | P a g e
CITY COUNCIL COMMUNICATIONS AND REPORTS
Councilmember McDermott:
• Attended the Planning Commission on February 16th.
Councilmember Romano:
• Toured Walker Street with Mr. Carr and the City’s Caltrans representative and shared that he had a great discussion and meeting with the Caltrans representative. • Attended the Chamber of Commerce meeting.
• Had a good meeting with the President of the Honeybee Discovery Center about moving forward on the pollinator garden.
• Brought forward two items he would like seen added to a future agenda which were:
1. Would like to see an extension of Hambright to the Recreation center. (Councilmembers agreed with Councilmember Romano to add this item to a future agenda).
2. Would like the General Plan and street circulation plan to be brought back on a future agenda. Councilmember Romano would like to talk about enclosed developments, easements, and addition of north to south streets. (Council did not indicate an agreement to have this item on a future agenda).
Councilmember Tolley:
• Shared that an Orland resident came to him and expressed her concerns about City Council meetings moving away from Carnegie center. The resident shared with Councilmember Tolley that the Orland Woman’s Improvement Club has a lifetime agreement to use the building.
Councilmember Tolley shared with the resident that the majority of Council was leaning towards keeping the meetings at Carnegie but that there are definitely improvements needing to be made.
• Thanked the City Clerk for adding comments to the meeting that he requested. • Met with his neurosurgeon today and stated everything is going great.
Vice Mayor Roundy:
• Will be attending the Glenn Groundwater Authority (GGA) ad hoc committee meeting February 22, 2023.
MEETING ADJOURED AT 8:07 PM
Jennifer Schmitke, City Clerk Bruce T. Roundy, Vice Mayor