POINT ARENA CITY COUNCIL
Mayor Scott Ignacio
Vice Mayor Barbara Burkey
Councilmember Anna Dobbins
Councilmember Jim Koogle
Councilmember Richey Wasserman
MEETING MINUTES
AUGUST 23, 2022
6:00 PM
VIA TELECONFERENCE
https://zoom.us/s/84888251095
NOTE: A full transcript of this proceeding is attached.
I CALL TO ORDER & ROLL CALL
The Point Arena City Council met via teleconference for a Regular Meeting on Tuesday, August 23, 2022. Mayor
Ignacio called meeting to order at 6:02 pm; and roll call was conducted:
Councilmembers Present: Mayor Scott Ignacio, Vice
Mayor Barbara Burkey, Councilmembers Anna Dobbins,
Jim Koogle and Richey Wasserman
Administrative Staff Present: City Manager Paul
Andersen, City Attorney Giny Chandler, Special Projects Manager Richard Shoemaker and Deputy City Clerk Jeana Gevas.
II READING
Vice Mayor Burkey read a quote by David Graber.
III APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
Motion to approve agenda by Vice Mayor Burkey, Seconded by Councilmember Dobbins. Motion passed unanimously 5-0.
IV MAYOR’S REPORTS/ANNOUNCEMENTS
None.
V COUNCIL REPORTS
Vice Mayor Burkey updated the Council on a successful visit by the CalCities Redwood Empire Division to Point Arena. Councilmember Wasserman updated the Council on the efforts of the Recycling Ad Hoc Committee.
VI PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR
None.
VII CONSENT CALENDAR
Motion to approve consent calendar by Councilmember Dobbins, Seconded by Vice Mayor Burkey.
Motion passed unanimously 5-0.
GOVERNING DOCUMENTS GENERATED:
Resolutions:
2022-26 (Covid Emergency)
2022-27 (Virtual Meetings)
2022-28 (Mutual Aid Agreement)
Agreements:
Sheriff’s Contract 2022-2027
City of Point Arena
City Council Meeting Minutes – August 23, 2022
VIII PRESENTATIONS
A) Veteran’s Building Planning/Technical Assistance Grant Update & Design Decision – Special Projects Manager Richard Shoemaker presented two design options for the renovation of the Veteran’s Building.
Council voted 4-1 to pursue Option 2 with Councilmember Koogle dissenting.
IX ORDINANCES/RESOLUTIONS
A) Resolution 2022-28 Entering Into Mutual Aid Agreement Between the Cities of Point Arena, Fort Bragg, Willits, Ukiah, Clearlake and Lakeport – CM explained the rationale for the agreement Motion to approve Resolution 2022-28 by Councilmember Wasserman, Seconded by Vice Mayor Burkey. Motion passed unanimously 5-0.
X REPORTS & ACTION ITEMS
A) Contract with Mendocino County Sheriff for Law Enforcement Services – CM explained there were no major modifications to the contract for 2022-2027.
Motion to approve Resolution 2022-28 by Councilmember Wasserman, Seconded by Vice Mayor Burkey. Motion passed unanimously 5-0.
XI CITY MANAGER & CITY ATTORNEY REPORTS
CM Andersen and City Attorney Giny Chandler provided updates.
XII INFORMATIONAL ITEMS
A) 2021-2022 West Company Annual Report
XIII FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
A) Next Meeting: September 27, 2022
B) Coastal Development Permit for 140 School Street (APN# 027-091-1) C) Final FY 2022-2023 City Budget
XIV ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, Mayor Ignacio adjourned the meeting at 7:59 pm.
MINUTES APPROVAL
Minutes approved at the September 27, 2022 City
Council Meeting:
_________________________________________
Paul Andersen City Clerk
Scott Ignacio, Mayor
August 23, 2022 City Council Meeting Transcript
I. CALL TO ORDER & ROLL CALL
Scott Ignacio 00:10
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. It’s 6:02pm Welcome to the August 23 2022 City Council meeting for the City of Point Arena. Please bear with us. We're having some Zoom update difficulties among the council members. And I'm assuming that the public might be to cause this a little detail to our little trouble getting our Facebook link on so if you're joining via Facebook, welcome. But we're having some instability issues and we'll try to correct them on the fly. With that, can I get a roll call please, Gina? Anna Dobbins 00:50
Councilmember Wasserman? Yes. Councilmember Koogle? Yes. Councilmember Dobbins? Yes. Vice Mayor Burkey? Here. Mayor Ignacio? Yes, here.
Anna Dobbins 01:08
Also in attendance, City manager Paul Andersen. We have Giny now. Special Projects Manager, Richard Shoemaker and Deputy City Clerk myself Jeana Gevas.
Scott Ignacio 01:20
Thank you for that. Folks. I think you'll recognize that we're flying without a city attorney tonight. Is there anyone on staff that might reach out she might be having… Paul Andersen 01:31
She's trying to get on right now.
Scott Ignacio 01:33
Okay. So we'll read her in as soon as that comes about.
Paul Andersen 01:38
I also want to just note that I don't see the sheriff on here.
Scott Ignacio 01:43
That's good to know. I'd like to turn this portion of the meeting over to Vice Mayor Burkey.
II. READING
Barbara Burkey 02:08
Thank you. Two things on my reading tonight. First of all, I just want to thank my fellow council members, and especially Paul Andersen and Jeana Gevas for all the help that you've given me this year with Fourth of July, harbor fest, and just being a council member, I appreciate you all so much. And I just want to thank you. And then my second part is my reading, which I may have already read this to you, I keep all my readings in a drawer in my desk. And usually after I read them, I throw them away.
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But this one I really like. So even if I've read it before, I'm going to read it again. And it comes from an anthropologist named David Graber. And the ultimate hidden truth of the world is that it is something we make and could just as easily make differently.
III. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
Scott Ignacio 03:03
Thank you. All right, thank you. Looks like Ginny is on. Okay, good evening, Ginny. Welcome aboard.
Folks, we have the item three, the approval of the agenda. You've seen the agenda, you've had an opportunity to talk to staff. If there's no objection, I'd entertain a motion to adopt this evening's agenda.
Barbara Burkey 03:58
I would like to pull something from the consent calendar.
Scott Ignacio 04:02
Why don't we do that would be calendar. That's an item item seven.
Barbara Burkey 04:08
Yeah, but it's part of the approval of the agenda.
Scott Ignacio 04:12
Well are you saying you don't want it on the agenda is what you're saying? Are you asking to pull it during the consent calendar?
Barbara Burkey 04:21
I'm asking you to pull it during the consent calendar.
Scott Ignacio 04:23
Normally, we usually get to that section and as it says in the instructions there, you can announce that you'd have an item pull before the adoption to approve the Consent Calendar is completed. And in which case okay, all that item. Oh, wait. Thank you. Thank you. Don't let me forget. I'll take I'll take your motion if you'd like.
Barbara Burkey 04:48
Okay, I'll move to approve the agenda.
Scott Ignacio 04:52
Councilmember Dobbins seconds that if there's no discussion from the public, can I get a roll call vote.
Jeana Gevas 05:25
Councilmember Wasserman? Yes. Councilmember Koogle? Yes. Councilmember Dobbins? Yes. Vice Mayor Burkey? Yes. Mayor Ignacio? Yes. Motion passes unanimously.
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IV. MAYOR’S REPORTS
Scott Ignacio 05:34
Mayor’s reports and announcements. Typically we have Sheriff Kendall, giving us a report tonight or Lieutenant Comer, neither of which appear to be available for the meeting. So if they show up later, we'll read them in for this item. As such, we'll just continue on to Item five. Are there any Council reports? Yes. Vice Mayor Burkey.
V. COUNCIL REPORTS
Barbara Burkey 06:48
This past Friday, we hosted the California League of Cities. Redwood division, monthly meeting in Point Arena. And they were here for the afternoon and the evening and some even spent the night and spent the weekend with us in Point Arena. And we had a really good business meeting. And then we all toured the lighthouse and the cove and had dinner together. And it was a really fabulous day and a great networking opportunity to meet our partners all through Northern California.
Scott Ignacio 07:27
Excellent. Richey.
Richey Wasserman 07:31
Just to add to that, I would like to thank Barbara as we all should, for the excellent job she did in organizing all the events here, organizing the food, bringing the snacks and providing dessert for our wonderful dinner, which was catered by Gama. Thank you, Barbara.
Barbara Burkey 07:53
You're welcome, Richey. Thank you.
Paul Andersen 07:57
Do any of the Ad Hoc Recycling committee members want to give a quick update about our meeting? Richey Wasserman 08:07
I can do that. Ad Hoc Committee members met with the addition of Mitch McFarland and Jeff Gyving.
And we had, I think, a very productive meeting. And determined that there will be some improvements to the facility down at the cove to provide for not only better service, but perhaps reduce the amount of non recyclables left in the recycling area. There are a number of those that I'm not sure if my memory will serve me, but one is better signage. Perhaps we're going to get new bins new for yard bins. Not only better looking but easier to use and cleaner. And perhaps we'll be doing a different method of slightly different method of recycling where we'll be separating the various items, plastic, glass, paper and so on. So as to not only educate users, but to make it easier for the pickup and Transcript of the August 23, 2022 Page 4 of 34
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recycling of those items. We hope this will make a difference and everyone was in agreement that we can make this work. So that was the basis of our meeting.
Scott Ignacio 09:55
Thank you. Thank you for that record. Councilmember Dobbins.
Anna Dobbins 10:01
We talked about community education about recycling and stuff as part of the agreement with Recology. And people. I've done a little bit of a reach out for some participation with the schools and enlist the help of Lena Bullamore, I have found that there's great enthusiasm for the schools to have some participation in education, things in the kids doing things, and I'm very much looking forward to it. And I'm, and I think it's going to be a lot of fun and very productive to have the children of the community involved in this.
VI. PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR
Scott Ignacio 10:42
Right, great report. Thank you for that any other council members with committee reports, or city related business? Okay, we're going to move on to item six, Privilege of the Floor, this time for members of the public who wish to be heard on items that do not appear on the agenda. Council policy is to limit each speaker to approximately three minutes pursuant to the Brown Act, the city council will not be taking action items that are brought up. With that, if you can use the raise hand feature or starting on your telephone. I will give you a few moments to do that. And you'll be recognized, we'll ask you to say your name for the record and the welcome. Okay, the I do not see it.
I want to confirm with staff, you're not seeing raise hands either, right. Please staff make sure you're also checking chat in case there's something going on.
VII. CONSENT CALENDAR
Scott Ignacio 11:50
We're going to now move to item seven, the consent calendar. And as the Vice Mayor brought out, I believe there was an item that was looking to be pulled and I believe it was Item C you're referring to.
Okay, the and the reason for pulling it is want to discuss.
Barbara Burkey 12:13
I just wanted to have a short discussion as I received three letters from different people in the community, expressing concern about passing this resolution again. And I don't know if other Councilmembers have received letters as well, but I thought we should just address it to explain why we pass this resolution each month.
Scott Ignacio 12:35
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That's a great, that's a great topic, and we have time for that. With that, are there any other items that Councilmembers would like to pull before I entertain a motion for approval of the consent calendar minus item C?
Scott Ignacio 12:50
I'll entertain that motion now. Okay, that'll be moved by Councilmember Dobbins second by Vice Mayor Burkey. No discussion from the public. Can I get a vote please? Jeana Gevas 13:10
Councilmember Wasserman? Yes. Councilmember Koogle? Yes. Councilmember Dobbins? Yes. Vice Mayor Burkey? Because we already heard that. Mayor Ignacio. Yes. The motion passes unanimously.
Scott Ignacio 13:29
Barbara, how would you like to go over that? Or would you like staff to review that for us? Barbara Burkey 13:36
I think I could just give a short intro. The reason we pass this COVID-19 state of emergency resolution at this Point in time is that it goes hand in hand with resolution 2022-27, the continuation of virtual meetings and allows us to continue to have virtual meetings until we are ready to go hybrid, which we're almost ready to do. We have the system set up but it hasn't been tested yet. So I think we would be approving resolution 2022-26 one more time before we start our hybrid meetings, therefore, I'm all for passing it again. But I know that some people feel that we're no longer in a state of emergency.
But for the purposes of this Council's communication with the public, I think we need to approve resolution 2022-26 one more time.
Scott Ignacio 14:43
Can staff confirm that this is falling under the governor's orders of providing that contingency for us that are still meeting virtually until we get to the hybrid that provides marriage? Paul Andersen 14:58
That's correct. So we declared a state of emergency in March of 2020. And have continued to do so because of the pandemic, understanding that things have gotten marginally better with the pandemic now and endemic perhaps, there are questions about continuing with emergency resolutions. And for us, the basically the main reason, as Barbara said, is because so that we can continue to meet virtually, at this Point we're ready to go to a hybrid meeting. It's been set up, I've worked with Eric Dahlhoff. To get our system there were some issues with the sound and video working together. We resolved those we intend to have a test session sometime in early September, if any of the council members here are interested in participating in that. We'll test it, make sure everything's good. And then we should be able to go live at the September meeting, if that's the council's desire.
Scott Ignacio 16:01
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I'll entertain a motion to adopt resolution 2022-26, COVID-19 state of emergency. I see a motion made by Councilmember Wasserman and a second made by Councilmember Dobbins if there's no questions from the public, or any of the letter writers in the audience that you can recognize, Barbara.
Barbara Burkey 16:30
No, I don't recognize anyone.
Scott Ignacio 16:32
Okay. All right. We just want to make sure they had an opportunity to speak to the item. There's a motion in a second on the floor. If I can get a roll call vote, please.
Jeana Gevas 16:42
Councilmember Wasserman? Yes. Councilmember Koogle. Yes. Councilmember Dobbins? Yes. Vice Mayor Burkey? Yes. Mayor Ignacio? Yes. Motion passes unanimously.
VIII. PRESENTATION
A) Veteran’s Building Planning/Technical Assistance Grant Update & Design Decision Scott Ignacio 16:56
Moving on to item eight, presentations, the veterans building planning technical assistance grant update and design discussion. Can I get a staff report, please? Paul Andersen 17:08
Yes, I'm going to pass it on to Special Projects Manager Shoemaker.
Scott Ignacio 17:12
Good to see you. So before you send is a major stage in this grant application and process. And at your last Council meeting you directed staff to go back and look at two schematic plans when that would cost a budget within what seemed to be allowable under the grant for design. And another one that was an upgraded version that might cost some extra dollars to complete the design process. You know, this, this process started back in 2020. And it might even say started in 2017, when we first applied.
And Jim would tell you that it started in 2007 when they had another CDBG grant to do a plan as well.
We're hoping that that you'll be able to get through that tonight. The ad hoc committee have been meeting for over a year on the topic. We met last week and went over the two options that Don had been asked to prepare that were different than the previous options. And for the most part, the committee was very encouraged and is ready to discuss with you tonight. The two options and then the recommended option they're making is option two. I don't know Don if you want to say something at this Point, please go right ahead.
Don Alameida 19:35
No, you take the lead Richard, you have the presentation.
Richard Shoemaker 19:42
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So in your packet is a copy of the two options and a cost estimate. Let's take a straw vote. Is there any Councilmember that's looking at option one? At this Point, you can change your mind as we go forward. Raise your hand if you were preferring option, option one that's in the packet. Those council members that are interested in option two, please raise your hand. So we have an idea of where we're going. I see four and Koogle, are you option one or option two? Scott Ignacio 19:52
I'm not sure which, which is which?
Scott Ignacio 20:38
Option 1 is the cheaper one without the pop out in the kitchen, option 2 use the updated version that we discussed at the last meeting.
Scott Ignacio 20:49
Thank you. I have some thoughts about both of them that I'd like to be able to comment on before committing to one. Two is the more expensive one the pop out one? Scott Ignacio 21:05
Yeah, about by about 500,000 dollars.
Jim Koogle 21:10
Then I would say that I'm more interested in one.
Scott Ignacio 21:13
Okay, Richard, you have your information and start with one please.
Richard Shoemaker 21:17
Okay, so let's see here. So option one, I guess I call it highlights of option one are starting on the left side. The this office number three and putting my cursor on is currently under control of the courts and Sheriff's Department will become a city office. The other interesting part of this design is a corridor created behind where the dais is, so that when this becomes all of City Hall, you won't have to walk through this line right here to get to the other offices. So makes it makes a lot more space. And a lot more privacy. There'll be a door into our storage area, the storage area currently is an uncontrolled atmosphere. And with a thorough cleaning, there'll be a lot of room in there for current documents.
But big change for that would be the door from the city offices. And then the fact that it gets environmental control.
Richard Shoemaker 23:30
So going to the right of the hallway of City Hall is our right now our standard assembly area. The Point of reference I'd make for you is this wall here is that stick current kitchen wall. And here is the current bar wall right here. So currently, the coastal seniors are in this zone right across in here. This is you know, what's labeled was Dynein prep right now there are desks and carts and all kinds of stuff in this area. So not much, much change in that area. Heading continuing to the east, we have a door added Transcript of the August 23, 2022 Page 8 of 34
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from the kitchen into the assembly dining area, there is some rearrangement that's not particularly detailed at this Point in time. And then this is pretty much our current lobby zone. And this used to be up in the top corner dry goods number one become storage for the kitchen, and hopefully some room for refrigerators and freezers so that all of those items that are down here currently in the bar would be in the kitchen so on and out of the what's called the public area. One of the major changes is new upgraded bathrooms right in here. Now we've gone from two women's stalls to four and one toilet to urinals and a toilet for the men's room, those numbers could be changed. Or like tutelage or something, just a matter of if there's room for those. At the bottom is the pop out a large conference room 179 square feet, that thing is 16 feet deep or long, it doesn't show up. But there will be windows along these two edges here. And there is a consideration about putting an exterior entry door on this.
But for now, this is the design. But again, this there would be some exterior windows here. I will say I want to go back to city Oh, appears that window. Here's another window. Oh my god and another window. To me, that's the highlight. I'm sorry. I'll miss it.
Richard Shoemaker 26:07
So that's your option one. And so if anybody has any questions about the option one at this Point, glad to answer those. So if you can have both your options out and visible when we go into the discussion of option two.
Scott Ignacio 26:28
I wanted to let you know that there was a comment in the chat. I saw flash up from Olivia Ford regarding showers for you know, in cases of emergency. And I just wanted to make sure you knew about that for your presentation.
Richard Shoemaker 27:23
Yeah, those items have been considered in the past. And Paul, the did you have some input about OES and showers and community use of an OES station?
Paul Andersen 27:38
Yes,if there is a need for an emergency operation center, the City Hall is designated as that. So it makes it complicated for the public to be there because there are major decisions being made behind the scenes. I will say though, that you know, there's no reason why in my mind, EOC couldn't utilize the conference room, the senior offices, the sheriff's department or a city office for that. They don't generally don't need as large a venue as we have for an EOC it's my understanding.
Scott Ignacio 28:16
Also, during a local emergency Red Cross, we'll be utilizing and setting up the services that Miss Ford talks about at the Point Arena High School gym, which has locker rooms and whatnot. This shower idea has come up in the past. I'll note it anybody can definitely bring it up about placement of those.
So I'm gonna go to option two let's try that again.
Richard Shoemaker 29:27
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So option two, starting on the far left is very similar, the same basically. So option I think this hallway might be slightly wider in your assembly area, which in the previous option was pretty much that same. Actually in the previous option. That area was 1560 square feet and this is 1480, not a lot of change. I'm going to continue the same way I did before the kitchen as been reconfigured. And if you know that the kitchen wall is where it still is, but it has been cut here from about this location, so it's now 464 square feet. Previously it was 605 square feet. Now it's made up for in this area up here is a walk in freezer and a walk in refrigerators, as well as a distribution and storage area. And right below it is a storage area. And here is the large utility closet janitor's closet, etc, etc., can also be used for other storage, that's about a 10 by 10. area. So it's a pretty good sized area.
Richard Shoemaker 30:54
And then into dropping straight down. This is dining reception. And as you've seen before, there'll be a comment about that we talk about changes the ad hoc committee wants to make. And then we come down to the bar where the bar has been reduced in size. Here's the old bar wall. This is the new bar wall, so it's a smaller room. And the bar is smaller. The other one, the bar was smaller as well, I believe, as it had to be used for bathrooms. So here's a small storage area, their bathrooms are split, one on each side. And one of the things about this configuration is these doors right here, there's been requests before for events that are happening on weekends, either BLM or the charter school, or the environmental education group could use the parking lot and the land outside. And with no bathroom except for the Porta Potti available, these doors can be locked these unlocked in the public, you'd have access to these restrooms, I will say that with a bunch of locked doors, that's a feasible in the other alternative. But this is a much simpler one. If you continue to go down, we have the conference room, which in this drawing is 237 square feet. So it's, you know about I guess 20% larger than the other one.
Richard Shoemaker 32:43
So I'm gonna go through the options that the ad hoc has wanted to look at and the changes in recommendation to you guys. Two of the main changes here are the mark yellow areas. And this would be an elimination of this set of panels and doors. So basically, this, this wall would be removed. There's always a possibility of accordion doors, but they're not always that great. And then the enclosure for the bar being removed. So this opens this area up to be more space. So basically, it probably adds another 120 square feet to this area here. So overall, you're adding to an area this big for community events without the kitchen. And the bar would also be set up as the coffee service area. So we would eliminate the hodgepodge of stuff up in this corner the assembly area. So this this one dramatically opens up the assembly area.
Scott Ignacio 34:36
you know, really does take a lot of the pressure off the kitchen, the freezer, storage and all of that by having this area here. Plus it's a place where deliveries can come in. Currently, our deliveries come in through these doors and make their way across this gate. These areas in here. The other change is this 604 square foot office space be reduced to the size of option one, which is 445 square feet, slightly lessening of size and that and but keeping the conference room size and this one shows the windows even.
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Scott Ignacio 35:20
One of the comments in the chat appears to be there's been discussion over the last 12 months about public computer usage. Was there a reason why I mean, I could see it being incorporated into this building design relatively anywhere, but are you in a position to to address that? Do you remember that from previous meetings record?
Richard Shoemaker 35:47
You know, I think that was one of the definitely one of the items that made that list. And I wouldn't I don't know how to explain this comment I'm gonna make I guess it's an opinion. You know, the library's in open public place, if people go in and out. And it's pretty typical. At this Point, this place is pretty well utilized during the day in all spaces. I'm not sure how that would change. I mean, you could set up some stations over here. But, you know, that's up to the council. And it's probably something that can be dealt with if you want to incorporate it into it the conference room or carve out another spot someplace else, you certainly could do that.
Scott Ignacio 36:34
Well, I'll let the public speak to that when you're ready to take public comments. So right now, are you can you speak with the councilmember Dobbins? Certainly.
Anna Dobbins 36:48
Oh, I was just going to ask is if is there an inadequacy to the computer at the library? I mean, is that not efficient for the community? Is that why there's comment? I'm not sure.
Scott Ignacio 37:11
It's in the chat. And it's brought up by belief by former Councilmember Ford. And it was a topic of discussion in the early phases in previous meetings. So they were just wondering why it was omitted.
And we'll allow her to speak to that if she chooses when we open up to the public.
Richard Shoemaker 37:36
I would suggest that it wasn't in I mean, semantics, I guess, but it wasn't included. There has to be choices made in use of space. Okay, any other comments or questions from council members? Scott Ignacio 37:55
Okay, if you're prepared, Richard, we'll open this part up to the public.
Richard Shoemaker 37:59
I think Jim was starting to speak.
Jim Koogle 38:03
Thank you. On both plans, the corridor that's there, is there some configuration of offices that that space can either be utilized towards office or be a part of the assembly hall? There's a corridor behind Transcript of the August 23, 2022 Page 11 of 34
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where the dais is currently is the hallway in city offices. Yeah. And the interior dimension of that corridor is how much?
Scott Ignacio 38:49
Don, can you speak to that?
Don Alameida 38:52
Yes. It should be five feet. for wheelchair access, you need the door width plus 18 inches to the side.
So five foot is a minimum width that quarter.
Jim Koogle 39:03
So it's so with the wall, the width of the wall? It's it's almost six feet out of the assembly hall. And I'm just wondering if there isn't a way to to put up with having the doors open into the end of the hall or have the doors open at both ends. And do something with the with the 100 plus feet that are in the middle, the small, smallest middle office. That's my question.
Don Alameida 39:35
Presently they go from office to office to office. And the comment to me was that they thought it was pretty inefficient. They were losing office space rather than assembly space. And that's where the suggestion that create a corridor came from.
Jim Koogle 39:53
And so I wasn't talking about having all the offices open but just having access to to the hall? Not to the hall to the assembly hall. Yes.
Scott Ignacio 40:11
Well, there's doors on either end, Jim, is unless I'm not understanding what you're referring to.
Jim Koogle 40:18
There are doors and other at both ends. But there's a an office in the middle that would need to access to to the hall if it was to remain a separate office.
Scott Ignacio 40:28
It has the door on the plans we're looking at.
Jim Koogle 40:34
So I'm just basically talking about losing the corridor, and in laying out the offices, either just as they are or with some other configuration.
Scott Ignacio 40:48
One thing to consider, too, Jim, if this wasn't a dedicated floor to ceiling hallway, if there was a type of partition that would be movable, but falls to the ADA guidelines that gone speaking to you would Transcript of the August 23, 2022 Page 12 of 34
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that be acceptable? If there was like a seven foot wall that had city, you know, the city art that's behind your head on it?
Jim Koogle 41:13
I mean, my thought is, basically you're losing, what's the length of the corridor, how many square, you're losing a lot of square footage there. And I'm just thinking, if you if you don't need to lose it, I would dedicate it to the rest of the use of the hall.
Scott Ignacio 41:29
I hear what you're saying. And I'm just offering and a portable alternative that could be when the halls used mainly for assembly, that partition could be moved out of the way. But I hear your Point, your Point. Anyone else? No?
Anna Dobbins 41:49
Well, I think that the idea of the corridor was sort of having like, a little bit of an issue of privacy for people who were wanting to come into City Hall, it’s not quite the same as the community hall. It's a more formal kind of situation where, if you're coming in with something, some plans and things like that, and there's something going on in the hall, or in the rest of the building, you can still have your designated area as City Hall, as opposed to the entire community being part of that, not to say that it should be separate. But just if I was coming into City Hall, for example, and I had some plans and things like that I wanted to go over and, and I had to wait in the hallway and things. I didn't necessarily want to have my I didn't necessarily want to participate with what was ever was going on in the hall. In other words, it would eliminate one action or the other. So that you could have both functions operate at simultaneously. Does that make sense to you?
Scott Ignacio 43:16
I understand what you're saying. It's between you and Jim. And I'll let you guys talk that out.
Don Alameida 43:24
Another thought is the elimination of the well between 20 and 16, that kind of mitigates that. It feels more roomier with the loss of that corner, right.
Richard Shoemaker 43:41
I was about to make that same observation.
Scott Ignacio 43:48
Okay. Richard, back to you. That's all right. Okay, do you have more for us at this Point? Or would you like to hear from the public now,
Richard Shoemaker 44:01
If you have any others, I don't have anything else to add to this. I guess what I would say within this session tonight, Don would actually be able to start the process of creating not just schematics but in actual design and try to fulfill the requirements of our grant which is to in the end, have a package Transcript of the August 23, 2022 Page 13 of 34
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ready for bid for City Hall at random or a community center renovation. With that, I would gladly entertain other questions.
Scott Ignacio 44:37
Okay, and before we go, since we're on this highlight the word assembly and the word dining you see those on your screen there, Richard? Yeah, double doors between assembly and dining and what it looks to be like barn door shutter doors, what are those to the bottom there? Don Alameida 45:01
They’re just moveable doors, that stack that you call a barn door. They could be glass doors. They're just sliding walls basically.
Scott Ignacio 45:10
Was there any reason, Don, why we wouldn't want to have that entire wall, the way it's presented there be an accordion door that can retract into its own housing? Don Alameida 45:22
Well, the housing would be part of that wall right there. The accordion doors aren't very good acoustically. Okay. And this is I mean, I mean, the opening area recording would be a bit bigger than that. I mean, you would need a man door, even with an accordion door.
Scott Ignacio 45:43
Well, retractable doors, I like the idea. You said there were the sliding doors that retract into a wall.
Don Alameida 45:51
Yeah, earlier iterations I had, they would stack and retrack into a wall. In this case, it would probably be a stack that's about the same length as that double door that's going into the bar that we're going to eliminate. You'd have a wall about that long on the left hand side of that, and then the walls would stack in the side that and be eliminated.
Scott Ignacio 46:13
I’m just thinking of make the assembly dining open up into a larger for a single purpose, or be partitioned down for multi-purpose.
Don Alameida 46:24
You need a swinging door for exiting. Unless I could justify the other doors being enough exits, which I don't think would be..
Scott Ignacio 46:44
Okay. Any other comments before we open up to the public from staff or the dais? Barbara Burkey 47:05
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I just want us to remember that the yellow lines mean eliminating those walls. And so the discussion of stacked or retractable doors between assembly and dining would be moot. For me, I don't see any reason to have retractable walls or doors there. I think all one space is much more efficient and usable than partitioning off all these different rooms. So I just want to put that out there that for me, the yellow lines of eliminating those walls is a good thing.
Scott Ignacio 47:57
You know, I like it all. The larger the space, the better. But I thought the idea of multi-purpose was so if there was a city event, it can occur at the same time that there was a whoever the occupant in this case, the Coastal Seniors would still be able to do whatever event or business they were doing. And I kind of like the option of having that. But I don't want a bunch of doors in the middle of the building.
I'd be open to that's why I've suggested in the retractable, I'd be open to that. Acknowledging the removal of those two yellow. Anyone else? Thank you for clarifying that, Barbara.
Jim Koogle 49:07
Is there a possibility of taking that feature of the open walls and the smaller office space to the first plan that we looked at?
Scott Ignacio 49:24
Are you able to pull that up record?
Richard Shoemaker 49:56
And this is option one again. So, Jim, what was your comment to this? And the doors? Jim Koogle 50:10
The thought was to, to utilize that open wall feature.
Scott Ignacio 50:17
Right here, that wall and the other one goes along the bar. Just basic. Yeah.
Don Alameida 50:23
So basically the wall between 12 and 15 and 18 would be eliminated in 15 and 18.
Richard Shoemaker 50:36
Well certainly that that could accomplish that opening of all this.
Anna Dobbins 50:40
That when provide the pop out for those freezers, and the opening up of the bathrooms, and then lobby for outside events and on occasion,
Scott Ignacio 50:59
The question is, can we do the same yellow line elimination to this option? Oh, yeah, if that's available, I know, we're going to talk about the east part of the building here shortly. But Mr. Koogle’s question was just can we do that? Like we were suggesting an option.
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Don Alameida 51:22
Yes. The same difference. Yeah, it could be done.
Richard Shoemaker 51:27
So this structure this building, is this supporting walls are out here. So all the walls that are in these areas are just dividers, spacing, and conduits. So there's nothing structural about these laws.
Scott Ignacio 51:46
The only thing is that hoses most of the HVAC whatnot above that lowered ceiling in that section over eating.
Don Alameida 51:56
Yeah. And in fact, when we eliminate all that, new ducting, for HVAC, but right now, it's kind of constructing with that ceiling.
Scott Ignacio 52:06
Is there any, was there any discussion about whether or not the main hall would have a similarly lowered ceiling for acoustic reasons?
Don Alameida 52:17
You probably went to higher ceiling. I mean, we could do acoustical baffles or something, if you wish, but the more people you have in a room, the higher you want to ceiling, are you going to start feel claustrophobic? Point?
Jim Koogle 52:32
I think acoustically you're better off at the higher ceiling if you're doing music.
Scott Ignacio 52:37
Well, one of the things we were talking about, and there was a Point was the acoustics in the assembly 12 area. So I like Don's suggestion that there are alternatives we could do after the fact. Okay, this Point, we would like to have the public use the raise hand feature. You heard what the council is talking about. We're trying to incorporate everybody's ideas that has participated from the public as well as our own. If you'd like to be heard on this topic, right now, use the raise hand feature or if you're on your phone, use star nine and unmute, or actually it'll raise your hand and we will call on you. I am now I would like to hear from Olivia Ford.
Olivia Ford 53:37
Hello. So just to clarify my comment in the chat to answer Anna Dobbins questions. Correct, the library is not open on all weekdays and they only open at 10am. And Sundays they close right at 5pm. And so it is not always available to the public to be able to access the internet when needed. And I know when we when I was on council, and we were first talking about this space, we were talking about some like just accessibility items for the public especially given you know where we are rurally on the coast. And Transcript of the August 23, 2022 Page 16 of 34
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so just was bringing that up again because I do feel like in 2022, having access to the internet is definitely a very important need because everyone at some Point needs it in some way. But also, to go back to the emergency shelter comment to Paul's comment about you know, how the school is set up for a local emergency shelter. Maybe it's not that additional access needs to be provided within city hall. Maybe it's working in partnership with the school. We'll figure that out. But I just wanted to keep that on the council's radar in terms of helping to provide that access. Or maybe it's even like there was a day where like people are allowed to come to use one of the computers that isn't always occupied by an employee or something like that. So just wanted to make that aware that there isn't consistent access to the internet publicly within the Point Arena City Limits.
Scott Ignacio 55:29
Olivia, just to follow up on that. You said, use a computer that one of the employees isn't currently using at the time, that would be in the city offices. And that's just not really an option, if I understand what you're saying. And my second question to you would be, who's providing and maintaining these computers and access in in the idea that you're putting forward just so the council better understand? Olivia Ford 55:56
Yeah, I think it would be just one computer. And I think finding funding for a single computer would be relatively easy to do. And yes, to your Point, there could be more computers than employees in the building right now. I don't know, I don't have that information, you know, not necessarily being in the offices, I have no idea in terms of like old supplies, equipment, if there actually are more computers and employees in the space right now. I was just noting that I'm sure there are other options, but just considering the fact that there isn't currently any consistent access to the internet for the public within the city limits.
Don Alameida 56:45
Maybe I could speak about, I’ve done a couple of iterations here. And some of the features, we've kind of abbreviated just to move through iterations. But it wouldn't be much to put a computer either in the senior officers area, or at the dining reception, you see that white area that was going to be for coffee, now the coffee is going to be at the bar, there's places and that's maybe a little bit more fine tuning as we just after we decided an option, because it's quite easy to designate a spot in one of those already in the conference room.
Scott Ignacio 57:21
All right. Thank you for those comments, Olivia. Anyone else want to use the raised hand raise hand feature to address the public? Or excuse me address the council? On the public? I'm sorting through the list here.
Jim Koogle 57:36
Quick comment, if I could. Just to dovetail off of Don's conference areas of possible use. That is still a common conference room. Is that correct?
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Scott Ignacio 57:50
Yes, it is a common conference room in the area designated 30 as senior officers. Thank you. I did have a question just on this design on both one and two, I noticed the pop out to the south. Is that a double thick wall? Or is that just like a add on?
Don Alameida 58:12
No, it is a double thick wall. The original construction of this building is kind of what's called a butler building or it's a steel frame building. It was designed in the 70s or 80s. And those type of buildings are kind of really fine tuned to serve the weights that it's designed for. There's really not a lot of latitude to make modifications. So the double wall access the conference in senior offices would be technically a separate building that’s abutting the Butler building. Which would make this remodel. I don't think it would even be feasible with how it was designed back in the 80s.
Scott Ignacio 59:21
So either Donald or Richard, for the public's benefit that might be just tuning into this for the first time. So we don't get moving too far forward here, assuming everybody understands what we're thinking or talking about, can you give a brief synopsis of what the council's decision is tonight versus what you know, both financially, the difference between the two plans and getting to a set of shovel ready plans. We're not deciding that this is going to be the end product. We're deciding this is the concept we're going forward with. Does that sound right, Richard? And can you explain like it says in the agenda between the fiscal impact of this stage is between zero and $50,000? Richard Shoemaker 1:00:26
So, in the previous iterations, I think we've been through this maybe three or four times, and three times, at least at this Point, the costs are set up by square foot of general use. And in option one, this is looking at right now, the estimated construction value is about $3.5 million on your grant, and under the contract with your architect Don Alameida, the grant, it contains enough money to pay for this design. And get a bid package ready, there's going to be you know, there'll be some slight other parts, probably in it. But for this discussion, this is pretty much a fiscally neutral amount of value on a construction project. If you go to option two, with the pop out the freezers, the slightly bigger conference room and bigger, quote, senior office, it takes the estimated construction value to just barely over $4 million. And so the math that happens in this is if our grant covers $3.5 million. And the cost of design between three and $4 million is paid at seven and a half percent, as Don's fee. And $500,000 worth of design is not covered under the grants. Been doing the calculation right there.
There's approximately $37,500 of funding needed outside of the grant to do option two. Now, if you reduce the size of that one office, if you eliminate, you know, a wall and so forth, those are minor changes, that will bring it down slightly. And I think about $120,000 bucks was an estimate, I think, a lowering of the overall price construction estimate price. So in regard to your decision tonight, if you strictly went with option one, this project doesn't require any other input financially. And I say that with a caveat. And I don't know, I can't tell you what the caveat is, I just can't say absolutely. And if you go with option two, they knew then another $38,000 approximately or$ 37,000 was the reduction Transcript of the August 23, 2022 Page 18 of 34
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in size of the one office would need to be inputted into the design cost. Any questions about what I just went through?
Jim Koogle 1:04:14
I have a question. Richard, you talked about a reduced price on two with the elimination of the bar wall and the wall between the hall and the entry. If we did the same thing with item number one, which was also talked about, would that reduce that cost in a commensurate amount? Don Alameida 1:04:44
Right now these are just the base square foot cost. I think any of those removed those walls are kind of nominal. I mean in reality when the bids come in would be the amount. mount. I just want to count on that right now. It’s too fine tuning. Thank you.
Scott Ignacio 1:05:09
Any other questions?
Richard Shoemaker 1:05:10
I would say, Jim, your general question is valid. I mean, both options, those walls can be taken out.
Scott Ignacio 1:05:16
He was asking you if the cost would be nominal. Similar, I believe is what his question was. All right, so. Okay. Vice Mayor Burkey.
Barbara Burkey 1:05:33
Oh, so I guess the big question is that we should all be asking ourselves, you know, the additional $37,000 out of pocket costs, where's that going to come from? Scott Ignacio 1:05:46
Well, the other thing was, that's something that will be a cost for the term of the project. But it's also $37,000, that you're investing in the future to that is not going to be cheaper. If we come to this. And 20 years from now, it's going to be much more expensive to create that square footage, if we decide to expand going forward. But yes, maybe city manager Andersen has some ideas of where that funding is going to come from.
Paul Andersen 1:06:26
Well, you do have a revolving loan fund CDBG funded, that's available to use. That would be my recommendation. Okay.
Scott Ignacio 1:06:47
We'll go to Councilmember Wasserman.
Richey Wasserman 1:06:51
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Just for clarity’s sake. The differences between option one and two are primarily to benefit the seniors.
Is that correct?
Richard Shoemaker 1:07:06
Hey, I would say that it, if you go in this building right now, it would have been I think they'd benefit the use of the kitchen. And in under the current operation, it would benefit the coastal seniors. But at this Point, we have refrigerators and freezers spread all over option one, I think they can be pushed off into that one corner. In that store, in this storage room area, dry goods area. And in option two, there's a separate freezer refrigerator setup eliminates probably makes it a more efficient, electrically operation for the long term of the building.
Richey Wasserman 1:07:57
And thank you, Richard, for that. That again, just for clarity sake, are the coastal seniors contributing to this planning stage at this Point? No. More specifically, would it be possible to make up some or all of that 37,000 through the coastal seniors, perhaps might be able to access other funding opportunities to cover that costs.
Richard Shoemaker 1:08:40
You know, I bet there were other grant opportunities that could be scratched around. I think if coastal seniors were paying their full share of electrical costs, I think if there was at least payment involved, those are other methods to raise those other funds if you wanted to.
Scott Ignacio 1:09:09
Like Richard says, there's grants for Meals on Wheels, which basically this space is currently being utilized for that could probably help with the funding of the difference of this cost between one and two. Thank you for that question. Councilmember Dobbins.
Anna Dobbins 1:09:30
I've been talking with a person I've been working with water monitoring, river monitoring and Water Agency. Programs and there are grants available for water retention, usages and things like that, like in the design of buildings, where you provide water retention. And when the roof design and gutter design. So there's all kinds of options to, you know, for some funding for some design features that I had no idea. It was I was just kind of surprised about what what's out there. And so I think that we have an opportunity to look into things like that, or a funding source.
Paul Andersen 1:10:30
I’d like to just make a comment. I love grants, they are great. Just consider your staff capacity to apply, manage and report on those. We currently have nine grants that we're working on already. And they have expended a significant amount of time for staff. We have had to hire, actually, other people to manage some of our reimbursements, which costs us money as well. So I just want to caution you regarding additional grants above and beyond what this grant would be for this particular building.
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That's all. And it's, again, it's a council decision. I'm just letting you know that staff capacity is pretty limited right now.
Anna Dobbins 1:11:09
Thank you, Paul. I wasn't aware of that.
Scott Ignacio 1:11:14
Any other comments before we move on? Okay, so, Richard, what's the ask tonight? You want option one? Option two, or is there something else? What is the ask? Richard Shoemaker 1:11:37
This was a committee recommendation that you make the choice of option two, with the minor modifications that were discussed. The committee has not made a recommendation as to the funding source for the other funds, but they are expressing that they believe that the that that's the option for the long term, you should go forward. So if that's what you vote for, Paul will be on the path and maybe the ad hoc committee, as well to find the other funding and Don will be able to do the work of designing this building in earnest.
Jeana Gevas 1:12:27
Over the next few months,
Scott Ignacio 1:12:34
To be clear, he revolving loan fund is city funds, not CBDG funds. I for one would support the use of those funds. I mean, we've used it for real estate investment in the past and worked out well for us.
Because that is a cheaper way of acquiring assets with funds that we already have, rather than trying to utilize grants, like the policy and staff time. I think, Anna, those are wonderful ideas, and it could still come to happen. But you know, I think if we look at these projects, either one or two, going out in the future at the Council can make a sound choice may not be unanimous, but we appreciate everybody's input. Are you ready for the ask then? Richard? He's nodding. Yes. Okay. So council before us is we're going to take a more than a straw vote. Gina is going to take a roll call vote and you're going to answer with option one or option two that your supporter does that work for everyone, including staff?
Jim Koogle 1:13:54
Quick question, I don't have number one or number two written on these little prints here. I'm assuming that two is with the outer bump out on the kitchen and one is without? Scott Ignacio 1:14:07
Do you have your agenda packet with you? It's on there. Section eight page two.
Scott Ignacio 1:14:26
Two is more expensive with the total number of $4,067,540. Option one is $3,494,540.
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Anna Dobbins 1:14:42
There’s also a reduction in the square footage of the senior pop out as well. So that's a reduction in the price as well.
Richard Shoemaker 1:14:52
To address Jim's question specifically, option two contains the kitchen pop-out. Option one has no kitchen pop out.
Scott Ignacio 1:15:05
Option two includes the larger office space to the south and larger conference room and the larger conference room and also has the benefit of public access on the weekend to use bathrooms. Anyone could have that. But it would involve locking a lot more doors and be a bit more possibly a bit more complicated. Let's just we're just trying to be transparent. Make sure everybody understands what we're looking at here. Any questions based on that information? Well, Jim Koogle 1:15:41
I do understand which is which but with your most recent comment about the possibility of allowing for a reduced area of the lobby to provide weakened bathrooms for tourists, is something that could be talked about later.
Scott Ignacio 1:16:04
It came up in this conversation was just reiterating it. That was a key Point between one and two was the design of the lobby and access to those bathrooms.
Jeana Gevas 1:16:15
Thank you.
Scott Ignacio 1:16:17
Yep. Okay. Richard, you're okay with the way we're gonna poll this? Richard Shoemaker 1:16:26
That's fine. I think you should, in the end, make a motion and follow it up. You can do the poll, but whatever wins make a motion.
Scott Ignacio 1:16:37
I would entertain a motion from any council member for option one, or Option Two to go forward.
Vice Mayor Burkey.
Barbara Burkey 1:16:48
I'll make a motion to approve option number two.
Scott Ignacio 1:16:55
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Okay, Vice Mayor Berkey makes the motion by Councilmember Dobbins makes the second. So this is again a vote folks. Richard
Richard Shoemaker 1:17:08
Is that including the modifications suggested by the ad hoc committee? Barbara Burkey 1:17:13
Yes. Including the modifications suggested by the ad hoc committee.
Scott Ignacio 1:17:18
And Anna, do you support that as a second still? Yes, I do. Okay, Richard, is that good? Roll call vote, please.
Jeana Gevas 1:17:34
Councilmember Wasserman? Yes. Councilmember Koogle? No. Councilmember Dobbins? Yes. Vice Mayor Burkey? Yes. Mayor Ignacio. Yes. The motion passes four to one with councilmember Koogle opposing.
Don Alameida 1:18:06
Thank you. Thank you, Richard. Oh, maybe we'll give a chance to chat tomorrow.
IX. ORDINANCES & RESOLUTIONS
A) Resolution 2022-28 Entering Into Mutual Aid Agreement Between the Cities of Point Arena, Fort Bragg, Willits, Ukiah, Clearlake and Lakeport
Scott Ignacio 1:18:23
Thank you, Council. And thank you public for the healthy conversation. Timely, we're at 7:20 It looks like. Let's move on to section nine ordinances resolution. Resolution 2022-28 entering into mutual aid agreement between the cities of Point Arena, Fort Bragg Willits Ukiah and surprisingly Clear Lake and Lakeport. Staff report?
Paul Andersen 1:19:00
As you remember as background earlier this year, maybe it was last year, we entered into an agreement with the four cities of Mendocino County around water supply and the ability of different jurisdictions to share their water with areas that are in need of it. That originated from the fact that Fort Bragg was having some issues being able to maintain the amount of water they needed to provide the city. The city of Willits trucked water over to Fort Bragg as part of an agreement that was made and then the City of Point Arena and Ukiah joined in that endeavor. So this particular mutual aid agreement is more wide ranging. It started out at a city managers meeting that we have between Mendocino County and Lake County cities. The issue was raised because of the fact that Mendocino Transcript of the August 23, 2022 Page 23 of 34
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County and Lake County are susceptible to wildfire inland, that there should be some sort of mutual aid agreement that would allow different jurisdictions to share resources with each other. The particular agreement we have here is voluntary. There's no mandatory obligation to provide resources especially if you know the capacity for those don't exist. It does include the appropriate indemnity and insurance requirements and requirements for documentation and the need and use of the assistance.
Your city attorney has reviewed this and voiced approval. It's relatively non-controversial. It just would enhance the ability of the cities in Mendocino and Lake County to work with each other on mutual aid for mostly natural disasters or manmade disasters.
Scott Ignacio 1:21:00
Thank you for that. So are there any questions with regards to the draft? That's in the resolution that's in the in the packet tonight. Not hearing any there's any questions from the public? Use the raise hand feature now before we entertain a motion? I'll entertain a motion to adopt or deny.
Richey Wasserman 1:21:32
Yes, I'll move adopting resolution number 2022-28 approving entrance into our mutual aid agreement.
Scott Ignacio 1:21:47
There's a motion is there. The motion by councilmember Wasserman was seconded by Vice Mayor Burkey. Now if there's questions or discussions on the motion, now would be the time to be heard using the raised hand feature or anyone from the council or staff can make comments. Not seeing any Jeana, are you ready for a roll call vote? Please proceed.
Jeana Gevas 1:22:09
Councilmember Wasserman. Yes. Councilmember Koogle. Yes. Councilmember Dobbins? Yes. Vice Mayor Burkey? Yes. Mayor Ignacio. Yes. Motion passes unanimously.
Scott Ignacio 1:13:00
Thank you very much for your work on this and with the other city managers in the region, Paul, good job.
X. REPORTS & ACTION ITEMS
A) Contract with Mendocino County Sheriff for Law Enforcement Services Scott Ignacio 1:15:00
Item 10 reports and action items and a contract with the Mendocino County Sheriff's or law enforcement services. Paul, is this just basic renewal? Paul Andersen 1:22:45
Yes, this contract is a duplicate more or less of the contract that we currently have with the sheriff's department. Giny and I met with the sheriff a couple of weeks ago, he had requested a renewal of or an update to the current contract because it expires this year. We met with him. His main concern Transcript of the August 23, 2022 Page 24 of 34
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was the ability to continue to use the Veterans Hall once the transfer of ownership happens. And that was never really a question on our end about whether that would happen or not. We definitely want the sheriff's department to stay in the building.
Paul Andersen 1:23:30
We did have some discussion, the perennial discussion, about the use of our funds and the use and the service level provided to the city of Point Arena for the $100,000 that we contribute to law enforcement services. That's an ongoing issue. One of the main problems that we've had and the sheriff's had is that there is not currently and has not been for a couple of years a resident deputy on the south coast and that diminishes our ability to receive services because most of the services are then provided out of the Fort Bragg substation. And as we know, the Fort Bragg substation is at least an hour away from us. So if somebody calls in an emergency or anything from Point Arena, unless there is a deputy in the area, that will be at least an hour before anybody gets here. And that is discouraging to residents of Point Arena. Because why call them if they're not going to be here for an hour. And we tried to alleviate that by telling people to call no matter what whether they're able to get here or not because we the sheriff needs to know what's going on in the area.
What we've talked about with the sheriff is that according to him, there are two candidates that are a possibility for becoming a South Coast resident deputy. And for both of them, the hang up has been the availability of housing. One deputy has a family and would like to purchase a house in the area and has not been able to find anything affordable for his salary. And the other person has not been able to find anything to rent. And so what Giny and I talked with him about and which I think is a good idea is if he's able to find a resident deputy who wants to start working, we can provide a couple of options, possibly one being, if we were able to find a place where a deputy could reside, or stay for three days, and another deputy could stay for three days, they would not be permanently living on the south coast, but have the availability of somewhere to stay so that they can stay on the south coast instead of returning to Fort Bragg Willits, wherever they come from. And then the other option is, over the years we have received more in COPS funding, the community oriented policing program, we have been able to build a bit of a reserve for public safety. We've been receiving about $120,000 a year in this grant and the contract with the sheriff is for about $100,000. So we build up a reserve there is a possibility of coming back and discussing a city contribution towards some sort of stipend for housing or other elements in order to attract somebody in this area to be able to rent and stay. So other than that, there are no other changes and that those aren't changes. Those are things that have been in the contract before but are continuing discussions.
Scott Ignacio 1:26:08
Thank you for that report, Paul. Yeah, as we are talking about it, for those folks out there that don't have a copy of it, this is a five year term from July 1 2022 to July 1 2027, approximately $500,000 over that duration. We, as city manager Paul Andersen explained, we do get the grants to support this for the city and law enforcement in the city. One thing that I would like to talk about in a future meeting, Paul, would be to see about utilizing existing city property at the old city hall that sits above the Transcript of the August 23, 2022 Page 25 of 34
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firehouse downtown and be refurbished for a three on-four off pattern for housing. And if we could use some of that public safety money to possibly upgrade that building for such a purpose, that would be something I would like the council to consider. So before you tonight, folks is the resolution for the next five years with the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office continual service. Is there any discussion that needs to be had for this item? Not hearing any, is there any questions from the public? Not seeing any I would entertain a motion to approve the contract with Mendocino County Sheriff's Office. The motion would allow city manager to execute that contract.
Scott Ignacio 1:27:37
Okay. Anna Dobbins is the motion. Vice Mayor Burkey will be the second on this one. Thank you.
There's no questions on the motion. Jeana. Can we have a roll call vote please.
Jeana Gevas 1:27:47
Councilmember Wasserman? Yes. Councilmember Koogle. Yes. Councilmember Dobbins? Yes. Vice Mayor Burkey? Yes. And Mayor Ignacio? Yes. Motion passes unanimously.
B) Annual Review of Equivalent Sewer District (ESD) Calculations Scott Ignacio 1:28:02
Wonderful. Item Ten B, annual review of the ESD calculations for sewer. Paul.
Paul Andersen 1:28:15
Equivalent Sewer District, so that everybody understands is just a term of art, which means the amount of wastewater used by a single family dwelling. And each house in Point Arena that's connected to the sewer services charge one ESD. The charge is made on the property tax rolls. Each year somebody gets a property tax that lives in the city of Point Arena and is connected to the sewer system. That charge is on the property tax and is paid as part of the property tax. And then the county funnels that money to us two times a year to pay for the expenses of our wastewater treatment facility and the repair program of that year.
We have some increases in the number of ESDs. I want to say that, you know a single family residence is one, a multifamily residence would be how many units but when you get into commercial establishments like restaurants, cafes, bars, markets, there's a higher intensity of wastewater usage based on the use of those facilities. And generally those are the changes in the ESD’s that happen when new developments have come online like the Cypress Meadows development, which does not happen very much. We've had new businesses open in the past year -- Center Street Market, Gama Restaurant, the New Musuem. We have modified the ESD calculations to take those new businesses into account and so, in your packet, you have a proposed changes to ESD calculations available. The Wildflower Motel is one in the past before the restaurant opened, they had 3.3 ESDs, based on the number of rooms at the Wildflower, but because there for whatever reason, they were not calculated at the accurate number of rooms. And so this has increased the ESD to 5.6. and I believe that was as a result of the hotel not being completely open the last time the ESD’s were calculated, so we're Transcript of the August 23, 2022 Page 26 of 34
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bringing it up to fully open status. The Center Street Market was a pharmacy and it had a one ESD.
And now with a small business in the back, and a food service establishment on the front, that will increase to four ESDs, one for the small business and three for the food service. At 293 main we have the New Museum Brewery, which is currently at five and now that the brewery has opened, that's an additional four ESD. So that will increase to nine. And that is part of the requirement of the coastal development permit that was issued for that establishment. And then we have 152 Main Street, which is the Gama Restaurant. It's currently at four and will increase to five now that the restaurant is fully operational. A restaurant is four ESD and an apartment is one. The total is we currently have 13.3 ASDs for these establishments and it will increase to 23.6. And those are the only suggested changes made this year.
Scott Ignacio 1:31:51
Is there any discussion Points on this from the council that you'd like to be heard on? How about from the public? Anyone from the public? Thank you. Okay, I'd like to hear from Jennifer. I'm assuming it's Jennifer Smallwood. Please confirm.
Jennifer Smallwood 1:32:09
Yeah, it was a small one. I just I was I'm not looking at the paper. But I read it before the meeting. And I memory serves, there's the price for ethics or sewerage is calculated every year. And so the price could go up some amount every year. And I was just wondering, because it hasn't looked like it hasn't last year, and it's not going to does that mean that eventually, we're going to get like double the price or something? Or whatever. I mean, I'm just wondering how, like how that works over time. If all of a sudden, you realize, oh my god, you need to charge way more than we are? Or why isn't there just a little bit every year?
Scott Ignacio 1:33:02
Filling in those blanks for you. What you read on that I believe the monthly charge for one ESD is $69.12 a year Most property owners pay 12 months of rates for one ESD which calculates out to $829 per year.
Paul Andersen 1:33:28
So I can answer that. About seven years ago, we conducted a rate study that had not been conducted in quite a number of years. We conducted a rate study and established rates for the next five years.
That was done by the Rural Community Assistance Corporation we did a full hearing has to be publicly noticed as a 218 hearing so people can object. There was not much objection so the city council approved that rate study. And so for the years, I believe 2016 through 2021, there were additional increases every year of about two to 3%. We have we are in the middle of needing to do another rate study. For the last fiscal year, and currently for this fiscal year, there is no change in the sewer rates.
They will remain the same until we are able to complete the rate study and then take it out to a public hearing and get approval from the council.
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We haven't raised rates in two years and in the third year, it could be a huge increase. That's not something I would necessarily like to see and it will also depend on the study itself and what they recommend. They generally create five-year plans and so I do remember the last plan that was done, I believe had an option for higher rates and the council decided to use as an option for lower rates, so there is that ability to decide how much what percentage increase there is each year. And generally, again, it was in the last study about two to 3% per year. So I would not anticipate much difference with that there was a large increase on the first year of the last study. And that was because it had been literally many, many years since the rate study since the rates had been raised. And the sewer plant was losing money, because it did not have the funds coming in to operate. And so that's why the rates were increased.
Jennifer Smallwood 1:35:37
I just Yeah, I like the first scenario not this one where we jumped because we weren't really watching until we had raised a lot of money all of a sudden not like that one as much. So hopefully, we can stay on top of that better and not have that big increase. That would feel a lot more like responsible. Thank you.
Scott Ignacio 1:35:56
Thank you, Jennifer. Anyone else? Okay, I'll entertain a motion to approve the annual parcel ESD adjustments. As presented. Richie Wasserman makes the motion. Is there a second? Scott Ignacio 1:36:24
Vice Mayor Burkey. He makes the second any discussions on the motion? Not seeing any I'll ask for a roll call.
Jeana Gevas 1:36:35
Councilmember Wasserman? Yes. Councilmember Koogle. Yes. Councilmember Dobbins? Yes. Vice Mayor Burkey? Yes. Mayor Ignacio? Yes. Motion passes unanimously.
C) Waste Hauler Franchise Annual CPI Increase
Scott Ignacio 1:36:49
Thank you. Ten C, waste hauler franchise annual CPI increase. How about a staff report? And we have a representative here tonight, Paul.
Paul Andersen 1:37:01
I'm not sure if Fred Stemler told me he wouldn't be here. But I don't know if he is one of the people on here, like a phone number or anything like that.
Scott Ignacio 1:37:09
Okay. Well, hopefully, you want to provide a report for us, please, if you shall.
Paul Andersen 1:37:16
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Yes, our franchise agreement with Recology has a provision that allows an annual rate increase based on the Bay Area CPI by October 1 of each year. Last month, Recology notified the city they intended to increase garbage collection rates by 6.8% for the period of October 1, 2022 through September 30 2023 and that new rate schedule was attached to your agenda summary. Additionally, Recology is also seeking to add charges to the rates for residential customers. With multiple recycling containers, there would be an additional charge of $8.65 per container after the first container. And for commercial customers, there will be a $25 charge per recycling container or a $50 charge per bin above the first ones. There are also new charges for replacement cans and bins. And that is my report.
Scott Ignacio 1:38:22
So I spoke with the city manager earlier and I noticed the CPI that's voted in here is at 6.8%. I just went through this with MCOG this last spring, and they have to base their contracts based on CPI. And the CPI in the spring has to be calculated on the previous year because this fiscal year is not done yet. So I don't know where they're getting 6.8% for the county, it's only 4.1% was the CPI that we had to approve contracts on because it's from the previous cycle. So I'm not sure, I knew we were at 8.1% in the spring. But it's been steadily coming down. I'm not sure where this 6.8% is actually coming from.
But then Paul, you did mention this isn't based on Mendocino County. It's based on the Bay Area.
Paul Andersen 1:39:17
Right. The contract is for the Bay Area CPI, which includes Oakland, San Francisco and Hayward. So that's definitely a little bit different than Mendocino County, but that is what the contract states. I couldn't tell you if that’s accurate or not. I was hoping Mr. Stemmler would be here to explain that.
Scott Ignacio 1:39:38
Well, maybe we can. The staff can put out a request on some of the discussion Points that happened tonight because I noticed this isn't necessarily an action item. It's a discussion item. I for one would like answers on how they're based in their various CPI calculations. I just seems a bit excessive anyone else? It's it seems pretty rare. And Richie, please.
Richey Wasserman 1:40:07
I have a question about the new charges for replacement cans and bins. And I would like to know why that goes to the customer, as most of the damage to the cans and bins, unless of course, they're misplaced or stolen or otherwise missing. Most of that damage is from the truckers themselves when they pick up the bins and you know, that kind of thing. I'm wondering what the justification for that is?
Scott Ignacio 1:40:39
That's a good question that should be answered by Recology as well. Since Solid Waste of Willits took over, I have had two containers that my resident that I had had for years, when Recology and Ratto group before them were dumping, but when SWOW showed up their robotic arm, literally changed it in half and fractured. I mean, it was it's, it's crazy. And I know they gotta make adjustments, but I don't see how that's reasonable to pass that expense on to the consumer. I only know like one resident that Transcript of the August 23, 2022 Page 29 of 34
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actually has multiple recycling containers. And I think that's actually a farmstay. Does anyone else know of? Well, excessive amounts of recycled in some time? Paul Andersen 1:41:36
Well, part of the request, in the letter from Recology states that there are two commercial establishments, and I believe seven residences that have requested additional recycling bins. I have requested that information as to for the commercial establishments as to who that who they are, so that we could possibly work with them. But I have not heard anything back.
Scott Ignacio 1:42:03
Well, you know, the price of things are going up, aren't they? Paul Andersen 1:42:08
So my question is, would you like me to reach out to Recology to get more information on these and bring it back at the September meeting?
Scott Ignacio 1:42:19
Yes, absolutely, being here to answer some questions would be helpful as well. Okay. Hopefully, we'll have that can do that in concert with any developments with the recycle area. It would be nice to just mesh those together as two separate items. And so on the next agenda, if you would consider that.
Barbara Burkey 1:42:56
I have one other question. In the analysis, it says, for commercial customers, there'd be a $25 charge per regular recycling container and a $50 per bin above the first ones. So we're a commercial customer, the City of Point Arena. So does that mean our bins at the cove we would charge we will be charged $50 more for each bin beyond the first one. Do is that rule gonna be apply to us as well? Paul Andersen 1:43:27
No, I talked I talked to Mr. Stemmler about that. And he assured us it wouldn't apply to the city's bins at the recycling center. And we do get we under contract we received two bins at no charge. And those dumpsters we have at the Cove for Pier-related trash are not charged.
Anna Dobbins 1:44:01
Um, are we talking about the Recycle Center bins or just the city's been separately about the recycling bins at the pier.
Paul Andersen 1:44:10
No are not there's no charge for those by Recology or swell.
Anna Dobbins 1:44:17
Thank you. Thank you for clarifying that.
Scott Ignacio 1:44:20
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Any other council members before I go to the public? Jennifer, you want to raise your hand again? Jennifer Smallwood 1:44:31
Hi. Is the company that picks up trash in Point Arena, the company that also does San Francisco are that why they might have been using that number. Do you know? Paul Andersen 1:44:44
I don't know the origin of that. That's a very old provision in the contract that goes back to the early 2000s I believe so I don't know what how that was reached or why that's the case. But that is what is in our contract through 2027.
Scott Ignacio 1:44:59
I think that was grandfathered in from the previous group, Ratto group, before they got merged with a company that's now known as Recology. So that's older boilerplate language that they probably did for their outside, so it makes their numbers easier. And unfortunately, it's a little harder on us. Okay, Jennifer Smallwood 1:45:19
Okay, well, I mean, if it's the same company, then we shouldn't have any problem with them setting up this. What the state wants us to have, you know, like more recycling and recycling, food waste, and composting, all that because San Francisco has an amazing recycling composting operation. So it's the same company, we shouldn't be, they should be able to do that for us. Because at the last conversation with them, there was a lot of conversation about how that was going to be really hard and challenging and stuff. And since then, I've seen the information about what they're doing down there. And it's crazy. I mean, it's, it's amazing. So, that's the same company, we should get the benefit of that.
Scott Ignacio 1:46:03
Is staff able to verify that or Jennifer, is that something you can find out? I would appreciate that.
Would you be able to follow up with Gina or Paul with some updated information if that is the case, please.
Paul Andersen 1:46:21
I will note that we have discussed organic waste collection with Recology in the past and it's not cost effective for them is the excuse that we have received for not providing composting service and also where the compost goes. Currently Cold Creek compost in Ukiah is the only facility and as I understand they're reaching maximum capacity. But again, that is something negotiable in the next contract. And it is something that has become mandated by the state should be something that's included in our contract, I believe.
Jennifer Smallwood 1:47:01
Yeah, I mean, it's the state, ya know, like they get to pick and choose where they applied to state laws.
I mean, they got to do it here too.
Scott Ignacio 1:47:12
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Okay. Oh, is that a decision item or report discussion item.
Paul Andersen 1:47:17
So I have been directed to find out more information and bring it back at the next council meeting.
Scott Ignacio 1:47:21
So directed. Thank you. And thank you, Jennifer, for helping us with that. All right.
D) Appoint Delegate to League of Cities Annual Conference of September 7-9, 2022 Scott Ignacio 1:47:30
Our new item ten D, appoint delegate to League of Cities annual conference for September 7 through 9, 2022. That's two weeks from now, Paul, you want to give her a report on that.
Paul Andersen 1:47:50
The California League of Cities, also known as Calcities now has an annual conference, it was held virtually the last two years this will be an in person conference again. The purpose of the conference is to network with other city officials and elected officials. There are a number of sessions that are provided about timely topics for city government. And it's a very good way to find out more about being a city council member and all of the various issues that come up before us. So this year, since it's back in live action, Vice Mayor Burkey and Councilmember Wasserman will be attending as the current representatives for the League of Cities. One of the things that happens at that conference is there is the ability to have resolutions or bylaw amendments voted on. And this year, there are some pretty non-controversial changes to the bylaws of the organization seeking to make it more inclusive and do better outreach. So we appoint a delegate one person to vote on that at the conference. And so that's what the purpose of this is to choose. Who is going to be the delegate at the convention to make the votes.
Scott Ignacio 1:49:12
So if there's Is there any questions or discussion from the public before we make the appointment? I'm not seeing any. I would suggest that we appoint Barbara as the delegate, and Richie as the alternate. Is there any discussion to be had on that?
Barbara Burkey 1:49:35
You know, I'm always the delegate. So why doesn't Richard be the delegate and I'll be the alternate.
Scott Ignacio 1:49:41
Does that work for you, Richie?
Richey Wasserman 1:49:57
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I'm glad to serve as that I'm voting delegate. As it turns out, there's I think only one item that's going to be voted on. And it's nothing controversial, but I would be more than happy to be that member and Barbara at my side as the alternate.
Scott Ignacio 1:50:17
All right, so the appointment will be Richey Wasserman as delegate and Vice Mayor Burkey is alternate. All right. Moving on. Thank you very much for that report. Thank you for going down. There are some of the best networks I know. Network and have a good time. meet some new people and old friends and keep that keep that organization going. It's very important. And thank you, Barbara.
Appreciate that. Yeah. All right. Moving on.
XI. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS
Scott Ignacio 1:50:56
You have an informative item there. Not much other than a report from you on item eleven A, 2021 2022. West Company. Annual Report. Good read.
Paul Andersen 1:51:14
I don't have a report on it. I just provided that as information for the council and the public. The West Company does a lot of economic development work and I wanted you guys to see what they're up to.
XII CITY MANAGER & CITY ATTORNEY REPORTS
Scott Ignacio 1:51:26
That's great. Thanks for including that. If there's no questions from the public, we're just going to continue on. Item 12, City Manager-City Attorney reports. Now, you know, Paul, we haven't proven that the city attorney actually showed up. City Attorney Giny Chandler, I’m vamping here until I see that mic unmuted. There she is.
Giny Chandler 1:52:02
I'm unmuted sorry. I don't have anything to report, which is good news.
Scott Ignacio 1:52:09
It's always good to have you here. And I see you are suffering from the technical consequences that we were having trying to get this meeting going tonight.
Giny Chandler 1:52:20
It's been an experience.
Scott Ignacio 1:52:22
Well, thanks we appreciate you being that legal conscience on the Council shoulder, each meeting consecutively. And I look forward to seeing you next month.
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Giny Chandler 1:52:34
You bet I'll be here.
Scott Ignacio 1:52:35
Thank you. Let's see. Who am I forget? Oh, Paul, that's you. Yes, thank you.
Paul Andersen 1:52:43
A couple of things. We were supposed to begin the piling project at the pier driving a new guide pile and nine fender piles. We've had some glitches and getting that going, not anything on the city's part.
So we do hope to begin that tomorrow or Thursday, it's been a difficult challenge to explain to people why we closed the pier for a number of days when there's no activity happening. And that's not something that is our fault. We expected it to be happening. And it is not. So we will continue on pace and try to get that wrapped up, it’s been frustrating.
Some other items. We did receive, I did sign yesterday, the Sea Level Rise Study Grant from the Coastal Commission, we've received that. Our city planner Scott Perkins will begin the process of creating the RFP and we do hope to bring that to you in September for approval. And then we can put it out to bid and then hopefully hire somebody and begin that process.
I also was able to sign a lake and stream bed alteration agreement with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, which will allow us to do work in Arena Creek after storms and before storms to clear debris, extra wood and cobble that happens in the creek during a storm, we now have the ability to go in and move that take it out and remove it. There are also a couple of other things that we're allowed to do that are one-time things, there’s some overgrowth near the retention pond and the intake by the beach that we can remove now. We weren't able to do any of this legally, until we had this agreement, so I'm happy to say we have the agreement now.
Scott Ignacio 1:54:25
That's amazing. job on that.
Paul Andersen 1:54:28
And then the other thing I would say is that all the staff of the city have participated in CPR training last week. And so everybody now is certified on CPR, and all other life saving techniques. And we will be continuing training over the next year on other aspects of city work as well. I'm sure there's other stuff but that's all I have at the very moment.
Scott Ignacio 1:54:55
Awesome. Great report. You got a few milestones there that ever since I've been around wanting to see taken care of. So good job with that Paul.
XIII. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
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Future agenda items you can expect us to consider in the next 45 days. Well, first off the next meetings on September 27 2022. In the next 45 days, we're going to be considering a coastal development permit for 140 School Street. We're also going to be seeing the final fiscal year 2022-2023 city budget as an item of discussion. And Paul, I do for myself want to offer, I’m assuming you don't want a full session. But if you want to do some testing, I'm available to the new in person meeting and we like this council to be prepared to show up in person at the at the regular meeting of 9/27? Paul Andersen 1:56:03
If we've got everything dialed in, and it all works well after the test run that should be a viable option.
Scott Ignacio 1:56:09
Okay. You let me know when you want to do the test. Yeah, I'll be reaching out to all of you. Citizens, thanks for being here. We appreciate your input. Always. And councilmembers. Thank you for helping me conduct another meeting and staff, please. You're not recognized well enough. Jeana, fabulous job tonight, fabulous job. You are the ringleader from the circus that's called Point Arena.
XIII. ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, Mayor Ignacio adjourned the meeting at 7:59 pm.
Minutes approved at the September 27, 2022 City Council Meeting _____________________________________ __________________________________ Paul Andersen, City Clerk Scott Ignacio, Mayor