ORLAND CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES
Tuesday, December 19, 2023
CALL TO ORDER
Meeting called to order by Mayor Chris Dobbs at 6:00 PM.
ROLL CALL
Councilmembers present: Councilmember John McDermott, Vice Mayor Matt Romano, and Mayor Chris Dobbs
Councilmembers absent: Councilmembers Bruce T. Roundy and Jeffrey Tolley Staff present: City Manager Pete Carr; Director of Administrative Services/ACM Rebecca Pendergrass; City Clerk Jennifer
Schmitke
Staff present online: City Attorney Greg Einhorn
CITIZEN COMMENTS ON CLOSED SESSION – NONE
MEETING ADJOURNED TO CLOSED SESSION AT 6:01 PM
CLOSED SESSION ENDED AT 6:25 PM
RECONVENEVED TO REGULAR SESSION
Meeting called to order by Mayor Chris Dobbs at 6:31 PM.
ROLL CALL
Councilmembers present: Councilmember John McDermott, Bruce T. Roundy, Jeffrey Tolley, Vice Mayor Matt Romano, and Mayor Chris Dobbs
Councilmembers absent: None
Staff present: City Manager Pete Carr; City Clerk Jennifer Schmitke; Recreation Director Joe Fenske; Library Director Jody
Meza; Police Chief Joe Vlach
Staff present online: City Attorney Greg Einhorn
REPORT FROM CLOSED SESSION – No reportable action.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
CONSENT CALENDAR
A. Warrant List (Payable Obligations)
B. Approve City Council Minutes for December 5, 2023
ACTION: Vice Mayor Romano moved, seconded by Councilmember McDermott, to approve the consent calendar as presented. Motion carried by a voice vote 5-0.
PUBLIC HEARING - Tentative Subdivision Map (TSM) and Mitigated Negative Declaration Addendum (MND) – Quiet Creek Subdivision project. Applicant: Quiet Creek, Inc. (TSM #2022-02) Mayor Dobbs stated that the Quiet Creek Public Hearing would be postponed until the January 2, 2024 City Council Meeting
PRESENTATIONS
Recreation Department Presentation
Recreation Director Fenske gave a presentation on the status of the Recreation department this past year. Mr. Fenske went over the capital improvements that have been approved as well as capital improvements planned for the future including a new playground at the City pool, Newport Park and a dog park.
Mr. Fenske spoke about all the community partners that work with the Recreation department such as Orland Unified School District, Glenn County Office of Education, and varying Orland youth sports teams.
Mr. Fenske shared that the City pool was open full time this past year, there were 51 private pool rentals all booked before June 1st. The pool was open every day and continued to offer lap swim, open swim and had steady aqua aerobics numbers. Orland Otters used the pool about 200 hours for practice and swim meets. Mr. Fenske stated the Orland pool offered swim lessons to 323 kids this year.
Mr. Fenske briefly spoke about Every Child Swims program which was started nine years ago where the Recreation department had partnered up with Mill Street second grade to give all second graders free swim lessons. This year on the first day 87% of students could not swim across the pool, and by the last day 90 % felt comfortable jumping off the diving board and able to get to across the pool safely.
Orland recreation youth programs included youth basketball, summer soccer, fall soccer, dance, tiny tots tumbling and flag football. Mr. Fenske shared that summer camps were very successful this year in partnership with the high school teams including wrestling, cheerleading, baseball, volleyball and basketball.
Mr. Fenske explained that program registrations are 60% from City residents, 35% from County residents and 5% are from people in other cities.
Adult Programs were back up and running including co-ed softball, adult volleyball, adult basketball, kickboxing, pickleball, disc golf, tennis, lap swim and aqua aerobics. Mr. Fenske stated he is working with the County on a new seniorsize program.
Mr. Fenske thanked his staff for going above and beyond for the community, the City Council for their support and recognized Orland Police Department, the Public Works Department, City Hall staff and Recreation Commission for their contributions to the department.
Orland resident and County Supervisor Monica Rossman thanked Mr. Fenske for all he does for the community and youth. Ms. Rossman shared her experience as a swim mom with traveling to other pools for competitions and stated how lucky Orland is to have such a gorgeous and well-maintained pool.
Councilmembers thanked Mr. Fenske for all he does for the Recreation Department and the City of Orland.
Library Presentation
Library Director Meza presented a slide show on the status of the library for the 2022/2023 year.
Ms. Meza spoke about the growing library collection over the past year; around 227,125 eBooks, 42,174 physical items (Books, DVD’s, Audio CD’s), 26 Chromebooks & Connectivity Kits (Chromebook, mouse, headphones, USB drive), 19 Learning2Go kits with over 350 Early Literacy materials and 19 Parks Passes, telescopes, Explorer Backpacks.
The total library users are 10,822, out of this number 5,320 are within the City and 4,806 are in the County, 696 are non-residents. Ms. Meza shared that the past year the library held 75 programs with 1,908 program attendance.
Ms. Meza shared that the library had a great year stating that the library saw an increase of 12% in checkouts, 52% increase in electronic checkouts and 8% increase in visits to the library.
Ms. Meza spoke about projects that have been completed at the Library in 2023 including a; a new roof, HVAC and entry door (Building Forward Grant), new outdoor programming area, the library is now a Glenn County designated Clean Air Center (Air Pollution Control District Grant), the library received $5,000 for Lunch with Library Grant which provided 141 children with free books and STEM activities, signed a $200,000 agreement/partnership with the health department, $12,000 Literacy Grant; created 19 Learning2Go kits that include more than 350 teaching and enrichment books and activities, $9, 021 Zip Books Grant.
Ms. Meza shared goals for the library in 2024 will include completing the Building Forward Grant – purchasing the generator and getting it installed, possibly adding Language Learning Services to Library programs, upgrading the Broadband equipment and working and looking into more grant opportunities for the Library.
Ms. Meza stated that the library is lucky enough to have the support from community and partnerships with local donors, Friends of the Library, Orland Rotary, Orland Women’s Improvement Club and Glenn County Farm Bureau.
Councilmember Roundy thanked Ms. Meza for all she does for the Library and community.
Councilmember Tolley asked about the completion date of the east entrance of the Library, Ms. Meza shared that finishing touches are currently being completed. Councilmember Romano shared his appreciation for all the upgrades over the past year, and thanked the library staff for all they do for the community. Mayor Dobbs thanked Ms. Meza for doing a great job with the library and stated the City is lucky to have her on staff.
ADMINISTRATIVE BUSINESS
Habitat for Humanity Purpose Place Phase 2
City Manager Pete Carr brought back to Council a request for support from Habitat for Humanity to expand the Purpose Place project. Mr. Carr briefly spoke about Purpose Places Phase 1 and spoke about the proposed Phase 2 expansion which would include:
• 16 additional permanent, supportive, affordable housing units with a mix of studio and 2- bedroom units, probably four more 2-bedroom and twelve more studios. • Several outdoor gazebo-type picnic areas for socializing, with an option to add more such space in exchange for fewer parking space requirements.
Mr. Carr stated Habitat for Humanity has tentative control of the .42-acre parcel immediately west of the project on Walker and recently closed escrow on the .34-acre parcel just east of the project which will be the Supportive Outreach Services Building. Mr. Carr explained that Habitat is amenable to changing the layout of the Supportive Outreach Building on the east side property.
At the November 21st meeting the Council directed staff to collect comparative data from first responder agencies and survey nearby businesses and residential neighbors. Mr. Carr provided the data from law enforcement, fire and EMS service. Mr. Carr shared that currently Purpose Place has no code enforcement issues and no permit compliance issues. Mr. Carr shared that the County has social workers on site daily working 1:1 with partner agencies providing individual and group services. Mr.
Carr explained that City staff went door to door hanging door tags and shared the feedback from residents and business owners, which was generally positive.
Chief Vlach shared that Orland Police Department has a great working relationship with Matt Defranco, Purpose Place manager, and stated there is limited impact on the department with the new residents.
Bill Wathen, Assistant Director from Glenn County Health, and Human Services Agency stated that currently the City, County and Habitat all have a great partnership. Mr. Wathen shared that Habitat is a great resource for the community that will grow in the future. Mr. Wathen shared that there are 8 case managers for Purpose Place residents and that almost every resident has a case manager. Mr. Wathen provided data from County staff and explained programs, services, activities, and engagement at Purpose Place.
Erika Fuentes, Glenn County Case Manager, spoke about Purpose Place residents’ services that the County provides and shared about the transformations she has witnessed with the residents.
Joseph Hale, Habitat for Humanity CEO, spoke about Phase 2 and stated Habitat for Humanity is open to changes to the additional greenspace and the layout of the Supportive Outreach Services Building.
Councilmember Roundy asked about additional security on the proposed additions and Mr. Hale shared the plan.
Matt Defranco, Purpose Place Manager, briefly shared his background/prior experience. Mr. Defranco explained his biggest challenges and shared he always wanted to work with Habitat for Humanity and stated he loves to help others and see the changes residents make on a daily basis. Mr. Defranco stated Purpose Place is a community that pulls together.
Michael Jordan, Glenn County Behavioral Health worker, shared his positive experiences with working with Purpose Place residents.
Vice Mayor Romano shared that he is for the proposed expansion but would like to see some modifications in regard to the positioning of the property on Newville and shared he would like to see a maximized green space on the property. Councilmember Tolley stated he supports the expansion but would like to wait an additional 6 months to allow the community to see Purpose Place become more of a success. Councilmember Roundy stated his feelings on the project and shared he is in full support of the expansion. Councilmember McDermott stated that he is in favor of the expansion and shared his appreciation for the positive changes Purpose Place is making in the community and appreciated the teamwork between the County and Habitat for Humanity. Mayor Dobbs clarified that tonight all the Council is needing to do is approve supporting Phase 2, not approving the actual plans. Mayor Dobbs shared he wanted the community to see how successful Purpose Place could be before expanding and shared his appreciation for all Habitat has done for the Purpose Place residents.
ACTION: Councilmember Roundy moved, seconded by Vice Mayor Romano to approve as requested.
Motion carried by a roll call vote 4-1.
Ayes: Councilmembers Roundy, McDermott, Vice Mayor Romano and Mayor Dobbs Nays: Councilmember Tolley
A. 2024 RAISE Grant Opportunity
Director of Administrative Services/ACM Rebecca Pendergrass presented a request to authorize the submission of two grant applications for FY 2024 RAISE program. Ms. Pendergrass explained that City Staff recently found out that the MPDG Grant submittal was not approved for funding, but shared that the application could be repackaged for this design-construction grant opportunity. Additionally, the previously submitted 2023 Raise grant application, which was focused on engineering for the streetscapes plan, was listed as “Highly Rated” and deemed a “Project of Merit” by U.S. Secretary of Transportation office; this would also be repackaged and submitted. Ms. Pendergrass stated that the applications are due by February 28th and would be for planning and engineering but not construction.
Staff is seeking letters of support from Caltrans to help enhance the applications.
City Council discussed areas that would be improved by the applications and asked that an additional application, possibly for SR32/Hambright traffic calming, be submitted as each agency is allowed to submit up to three. Councilmembers directed staff to move forward with submitting three applications for the RAISE grant program.
ORAL AND WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
PUBLIC COMMENTS:
Orland area resident Chris Lapp shared his concerns with the proposed Quiet Creek project.
CITY COUNCIL COMMUNICATIONS AND REPORTS
Councilmember Tolley:
• Asked to have on record the reason he voted the no on item 11.A. - Habitat for Humanity Purpose Place Phase 2 project for now but it would be a yes for the future.
Councilmember McDermott:
• Will be attending the Planning Commission Meeting December 21st, Vice Mayor Romano:
• Attended the Maverik grand opening December 19th and thanked all City departments for all they did on the new intersection at Commerce,
• Attended the Glenn County Transportation and Transit meeting December 14th.
Councilmember Roundy:
• Attended the Glenn County Transportation and Transit meeting December 14th, • Attended Glenn County LAFCo meeting December 11th.
• Spoke about Glenn County Resource Conservation District (RCD) Mayor Dobbs:
• Nothing to report.
CITIZEN COMMENTS ON CLOSED SESSION – NONE
MEETING ADJOURNED TO CLOSED SESSION AT 8:25 PM
CLOSED SESSION ENDED AT 8:42 PM
REPORT FROM CLOSED SESSION – Direction was given to City Staff.
MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:42 PM
Jennifer Schmitke, City Clerk Chris Dobbs, Mayor