1 City of Portola
MINUTES
Regular Meeting
Wednesday, September 09, 2026 06:00 PM
35 Third Ave, Portola, CA 96122
https://www.cityofportola.com/
https://zoom.us/j/3583067836
1. Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 6:00 pm by Mayor Bill Powers.
Mayor Powers made a change to the order of the agenda items. Agenda item 5 will be moved down to item 7.
1. Roll Call
Present: Mayor Bill Powers, Mayor Pro Tem Mikki Battaglia, Councilmember Jim Murphy, Councilmember Lauren Miller
Staff Present: City Manager Ryan Bonk, Finance Officer Susan Scarlett, Administrative Services Manager Kristen Schiavone, City Attorney Steve Gross (Zoom), Solid Waste Consultant Tom Valentino (Zoom)
2. Pledge of Allegiance
Led by Mayor Bill Powers
2. Public Comments
Josh Hart commented.
3. City Communications
1. City Council Communications
Councilmember Murphy had nothing to report.
Councilmember Miller said there will be a Community Forest meeting on Thursday, 9/10/2026, from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at the Portola Library. This will be the first public meeting to gather community feedback on the potential community forest project.
Mayor Pro Tem Battaglia had nothing to report.
Mayor Powers had nothing to report.
2. Reports: Beckwourth Peak Fire Protection District / Plumas County Sheriff / Northern Sierra Air 2 Quality
Beckwourth Peak Fire Protection District - No report.
Plumas County Sheriff - no report.
Northern Sierra Air Quality - Mayor Pro Tem Battaglia reported that wood-burning curtailment has begun and advised that everyone can sign up for daily advisories regarding curtailment status at myairdistrict.com
3. Staff Communications
Finance Officer Susan Scarlett reported that the City audit has begun.
4. City Manager Report
City Manager Bonk reported on the following:
The Gulling Street Bridge continuous monitoring system did not trigger any alarms.
On 8/25/2026, Caltrans performed an underwater inspection of the bridge. Staff is still awaiting a Caltrans report for the January 2026 inspection and the August 2026 inspection.
The United States Department of Transportation said the City was not awarded grant funding for the Structural Rehabilitation grant. Staff will follow up with the agency to discuss the reasons why the application was denied.
The City is still awaiting a potential award from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).
The Annual Fall Community Clean Up event is scheduled for September 19th, 2026, from 8 am to 12 pm. Volunteers can obtain prizes via a scavenger hunt. Intermountain Disposal (IMD) has donated a roll-off bin for trash disposal. The Portola Rotary Club will be donating lunch after the event.
The grant-funded Riverwalk Yoga and Meditation Garden is complete. The City’s website and Facebook page have been updated with details about the new attraction, along with an online reservation system for groups hosting free and paid events.
The Public Works department has completed the non-potable water line installation, which is now being used to water portions of the South Side parks. Plumas Sun reporter Ingrid Burke toured the project with the Public Works Director Todd Roberts last week.
Staff is reviewing a new grant opportunity through the State of California's Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization program to improve parks. Staff is reviewing the grant opportunity and potential improvements to various parks throughout the City. No matching funds are required, and the minimum award is $200,000 per project. The grant application closes in December 2026, and staff will return a detailed report for Council's consideration before seeking grant funding.
Staff is discussing and developing a proactive approach to the City’s Code Enforcement policies, as directed by Council. Staff will present more information to Council at a future date.
4. Consent Agenda
1. Claim
Adopt Resolution No. 2670. The resolution authorizes payment of payroll from August 8th, 2026 through August 21st, 2026 and accounts payable from August 27th, 2026 through September 3 9th, 2026
The amount of payroll to be paid is $40,601.72
The amount of accounts payable to be paid is $82,660.67 The total amount to be paid is $123,262.39
2. Minutes
Adopt the minutes of the August 18, 2026 Special Meeting.
Adopt the minutes of the August 26th, 2026 Regular City Council Meeting.
Councilmember Jim Murphy motioned to approve. Mayor Pro Tem Mikki Battaglia seconded the motion.
The roll call vote:
Aye Mayor Bill Powers Aye Mayor Pro Tem Mikki Battaglia Aye Councilmember Jim Murphy Aye Councilmember Lauren Miller
5. Proposal for Discarded Materials Services Procurement City Manager Bonk advised Council that HF&H completed the Solid Waste Franchise Agreement and Solid Waste Ordinance modernization, which Council approved in January 2026. He said the next step is for Council to consider going out to the public to bid these services, as the contract under the current solid waste franchise agreement expires on December 31, 2027.
He introduced HF&H Senior Project Manager Lauren Shipley via Zoom, where she discussed the attached proposal and outlined the scope of assistance HF&H would provide to the City should the City move forward with the bidding process.
Council voted to approve the agreement with HF&H, option 2: Abbreviated RFP Process and Parallel Negotiations and to approve the public bidding of discarded material services with the package being brought back before Council for approval at a later date.
Councilmember Lauren Miller motioned to approve. Councilmember Jim Murphy seconded the motion.
The roll call vote:
Aye Mayor Bill Powers Aye Mayor Pro Tem Mikki Battaglia Aye Councilmember Jim Murphy Aye Councilmember Lauren Miller
6. Clean California Community: Litter Advisory Volunteer Group City Manager Bonk said that in June 2026, the City earned the designation of a Clean California Community through a Caltrans initiative. To obtain this designation, the City worked with local volunteers who later formed an independent group called Pride of Portola (POP). POP has been seeking ways to increase visibility for its efforts and has requested a page on the City’s website to help with outreach to the community and organize future community cleanup days. Staff noted that POP is an independent volunteer organization and that adding it to the website does not give the group any authority over the City or establish a new committee. The City has no financial impact, other than minimal staff time to publish the group’s webpage content. Staff also presented a letter to POP recognizing their efforts around the City, and Mayor Powers read the letter aloud. 4 Council moved to authorize staff to create and maintain a page on the City’s website describing POP’s volunteer activities with content published at the City’s discretion.
Mayor Pro Tem Mikki Battaglia motioned to approve. Councilmember Lauren Miller seconded the motion.
The motion passed with the following vote:
4 In Favor Opposed
Abstained Absent Recused
7. City Councilmember Resignation & Filling the Vacancy The City Council discussed filling the vacancy on the City Council due to the resignation of Councilmember Stephan Mangum on 8/24/2026.
Mayor Pro Tem Battaglia moved to appoint a candidate to fill the vacancy through November 3rd, 2026, instead of holding a special election. Councilmember Miller seconded the motion. The motion was passed unanimously.
Councilmember Murphy nominated Jeffrey Gicklhorn to the City Council vacancy. Mayor Pro Tem Battaglia seconded the nomination. The nomination was unanimously approved. Deputy City Clerk Kristen Schiavone administered the Oath of Office to Jeffrey Gicklhorn after the City Council appointed Jeff to fill the Council vacancy. There were no public comments.
Councilmember Jim Murphy motioned to approve. Mayor Pro Tem Mikki Battaglia seconded the motion.
The motion passed with the following vote:
4 In Favor Opposed
Abstained Absent Recused
8. Adjournment
The regular meeting of the Portola City Council adjourned at 7:18pm