SUSANVILLE CITY COUNCIL
Special Council Meeting Minutes
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 – 10:30 AM
Meeting was called to order at 10:31 by Mayor McCourt.
Roll Call of Councilmembers Present: Quincy McCourt, Thomas Herrera, Mendy Schuster, Russ Brown
Absent: Kevin Stafford
1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: (Additions and/or Deletions)
Moved by Thomas Herrera; seconded by Russ Brown to approve.
Motion Carried: 4 - 0
Voting For: Quincy McCourt, Thomas Herrera, Mendy Schuster, Russ Brown Voting Against: None
2. PUBLIC COMMENT REGARDING CLOSED SESSION ITEMS (if any): Any person may address the Council at this time upon any subject for discussion during Closed Session.
Member of the public inquired about contract status with CDCR, State of CA, and the City of Susanville.
Lindsey Martin, public member, thanked Council and staff for supporting community.
Jim McCarthy, public member, inquired about the validity of Closed Session.
Mayor McCourt thanked community and stakeholders for support.
3. CLOSED SESSION:
Council convened into closed session at 10:41 A.M.
Councilmember Stafford joined closed session only via Zoom.
4. RETURN TO OPEN SESSION: (recess if necessary)
Council reconvened to open session at 11:06 A.M.
Margaret Long, City Attorney, reported direction was given by Council to allow City Administrator and City Attorney to begin efforts of meeting with CDCR officials and State of California officials.
5. BUSINESS FROM THE FLOOR:
Mr. McCarthy expressed concern about meeting meeting times and lack of access to meeting for the public to attend.
6. CONSENT CALENDAR: No business.
7. PUBLIC HEARINGS: No business.
8. COUNCIL DISCUSSION/ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Mayor pro tem Herrera noted his recent facebook posting was not addressing other councilmembers and offered thanks to the community.
Councilmember Schuster thanked the County Board of Supervisors for their moment of silence offered for the passing of her brother in late July.
Mayor McCourt offered the Land Acknowledgment Statement and the City of Susanville’s Mission Statement.
9. NEW BUSINESS:
9.A Discussion regarding homelessness within the City.
Dan Newton, City Administrator, presented information on homelessness within the city.
Mr. Newton provided an update of staff's progress and research that have been taking place to address homelessness and related activities. Efforts include weekly foot patrol on Susan River; meetings have taken place with County staff and public health staff members; conducting Susan River clean-up activities at staff level; researching grant funding for housing programs; researching camping ordinances; researching potential campsite locations and programs, researching Boise v Martin case and court rulings; meeting with California Department of Fish and Wildlife to obtain agreement to address the Susan River corridor vegetation, litter, clean up and environmental concerns from encampments in and around the Susan River.
Councilmember Schuster expressed her concerns and noted that council has been working to address homelessness within the community for many years and provided information about the Court C.A.R.E Act.
Councilmember Brown noted enforcement of ordinance in regards to camping on and along the river.
Mayor pre tem Herrera noted the efforts from the Susanville Fire Department, expressed concerns about mental health within the community and encouraged the time to act is now.
Mayor McCourt encouraged public to note staff efforts to address the homeless issue.
Various members of the public addressed the council with concerns on homelessness within the city.
Councilmember Schuster inquired about the estimated time it would take staff to clean up the current 5-7 current camps, and noted that Susanville has a six mile radius and it it would be best to address the entire city versus just addressing the Susan River corridor.
Mrs. Schuster also noted statistics from the point in time of homeless population and available beds to address the homeless population at Crossroads.
Mayor pre tem Herrera addressed safety concerns and this is the first step to address the homeless population concern on the Susan River and Council is taking the the issue very serious.
10. CONTINUING BUSINESS: No business.
11. CITY ADMINISTRATOR REPORTS: No business.
12. FUTURE COUNCIL ITEMS: No business.
13. ADJOURNMENT:
Moved by Russ Brown; seconded by Mendy Schuster to adjourn at 12:28 P.M.
Motion Carried: 4 - 0
Voting For: Quincy McCourt, Thomas Herrera, Mendy Schuster, Russ Brown Voting Against: None
Absent: Stafford.
______________________________
Quincy McCourt, Mayor
Respectfully submitted by:
____________________________ Approved on: October 5, 2022 Jolene Arredondo, Asst. to the CA