03-11-2025 City Council Meeting Minutes Page 1
MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE TRINIDAD CITY COUNCIL TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2025 (LIVE/HYBRID)
I. CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Kelly called the live-hybrid meeting to order at 6:00pm. Council members in attendance: Kelly, Tuttle, Breckenridge, Varela, Kenny. City Staff in attendance: City Manager Joe Tagliaboschi, City Clerk Gabriel Adams, Deputy Clerk Anton Souza, Grant Administrator Angela Cather, and Building Official Dan Dimmick.
Approximately (6) participants were present by video-conference, and (9) were present live at the beginning of the meeting.
II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
III. CLOSED SESSION – No closed session scheduled.
IV. RECONVENE TO OPEN SESSION
V. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
Kenny suggested items 1-4 should be discussed as staff reports, pulled from consent.
Motion (Kenny/Kelly) to approve the agenda as submitted. Passed unanimously.
VI. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – 02-11-2025 cc
Motion (Breckenridge/Tuttle) to approve the minutes as submitted. Passed unanimously.
VII. COUNCIL REPORTS/COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS
Tuttle: Attended HTA meeting. Discussed daily bus service to Ukiah and Crescent City, and expanding dial-aride service to help get seniors and disabled residents to medical appointments, etc., more efficiently.
Breckenridge: Animal Advisory Committee met last week. There was disagreement on the minutes, the Rancheria introduced their new Public Safety/Animal Control Officer, introduced the Animal Control page on the City website, and discussion about the leash law ordinance and other ordinance housekeeping amendments.
The Rancheria requested a that coastal pathogens and jurisdiction coordination be future discussion items.
Hoping to meet again in April to follow up on these topics.
Varela: Attended RREDC meeting, discussed project labor agreements with representative from California Building and Construction Trade Council.
Kenny: Nothing to report.
Kelly: Attended Humboldt County Hazard Mitigation Committee meeting. A survey was published on the City website for public input. Attended RCEA meeting. Their goal is to get to 100%, renewable local, carbon free, by 2030. They have a cash surplus. PG&E rates increasing have helped their budget. Federal funding impacts are affecting several programs.
Jeff Bairey – Trinidad
Requested an update on the Hector and Galindo crosswalk enhancements discussion.
Mayor Kelly responded, stating the City was waiting for an engineering second opinion, and hope to have more information to share by April or May.
VIII.STAFF REPORTS – City Manager & Law Enforcement
City Manager Tagliaboschi highlighted accomplishments summarized in the staff report included in the meeting packet, including; Attended a fire CSA 4 meeting. Encouraged the City to continue recruiting volunteer fire personnel with experience in first aid/medical. Next meeting will be held at the end of March. ColemanSanbell’s contract will end on March 19. New contract T3 Chief contract with Eric Sanders will cost $4,000/month. Two staff members will be testing for their T2 certification at the end of March. Water Tank and Pipeline project was a success. New tank is online. Water staff worked day and night for several months while the new tank was being built. Met with Intertie partners to finish the MOU on tonight’s agenda. Attended a Climate Action Plan meeting. Also attended the Measure Z meeting. The City was unsuccessful in receiving $57,000 grant funding requested for the proposed project for additional water distribution line replacement. 03-11-2025 City Council Meeting Minutes Page 2
Mayor Kelly thanked the City Manager for exiting the expensive contract with Coleman Engineering.
HCSO Lt. McCall summarized February service call stats. Also announced that a Deputy has been promoted to Sargent, shifting supervisor control and increases coverage in the north county area.
Gene Bass, owner of Pacific Coast Security provided an activity update. Enjoys working here, assisting the community, business owners, tourists, and providing an additional layer of public safety.
Resident Patti Fleschner thanked Pacific Coast Security for their service, noting they have made a difference in the Library/Museum/Park area.
IX. ITEMS FROM THE FLOOR
(Three (3) minute limit per Speaker unless Council approves request for extended time.) No items from the floor were presented.
X. CONSENT AGENDA
1. Staff Activity Report – January 2025
2. Financial Statements – January 2025
3. Law Enforcement Report – February 2025.
4. Ocean Protection Council SB1 Grant Funding for Axel Lindgren Memorial Trail Coastal Access.
5. MOA between the City of Trinidad and Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria granting permission to include City roads on its National Tribal Transportation Facility Inventory (NTTFI).
Public comments included:
Jacque Hostler – Trinidad Rancheria
Regarding the Axel Lindgren Memorial Trail grant project, the Rancheria is supportive but would like to be included in the discussion. It would be helpful to have the technical details shared so the Rancheria can assist and comment on it.
Mayor Kelly noted this would be a good topic for a G2G meeting, and will be handled accordingly.
Kenny requested pulling item 5 for discussion per request by the Rancheria. City Manager Tagliaboschi summarized the MOA.
Jacque Hostler – Trinidad Rancheria
Noted her staff found a error in the inventory listed and requests the item be pulled and brought back, with a revised inventory, at the next meeting for approval. Will be meeting with the City Manager to discuss the Boardwalk and Interpretive Center projects. The Galindo trail is an easement encroaching on tribal property.
Tribal Council cannot grant an easement for the boardwalk, but we can do a provisional landowner agreement.
We hope that will work for the Interpretive Center and Galindo Trail issue.
Motion (Kelly/Varela) to approve consent agenda items 1-4 as submitted, and continuing item 5 at a future meeting with a revised Exhibit A included. Passed unanimously.
XI. DISCUSSION/ACTION AGENDA ITEMS
1. Discussion/Decision regarding Revised MOU Between the City of Trinidad and the Westhaven Community Services District regarding the Water System Intertie Project.
City Grant Administrator Angela Cather explained that on February 11, 2025, Council directed staff to begin negotiations with Westhaven Community Services District (WCSD) regarding the draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), as the City and WCSD have been operating under an Interim Memorandum of Agreement, since October 7, 2022. Staff made multiple attempts to schedule negotiations with WCSD but were unsuccessful. Staff moved forward and updated the MOU to reflect the City’s and WCSD’s responsibilities based on the amended grant budget, approved by the Department of Water Resources, and previous informal discussions with WCSD. The updated MOU (attached) was sent to WCSD’s Chief Plant Operator and Board for comment.
03-11-2025 City Council Meeting Minutes Page 3
Notable Changes to the MOU:
Roles and Responsibilities: To make the project more cost and time efficient, roles and responsibilities shifted.
This has led to the City and City Engineer, GHD, to take on more roles and responsibilities. Roles and responsibilities are also listed in Exhibit C.
City Responsibilities: In addition to the City’s responsibilities of grant administration, agreement management, and invoicing and reporting, the City will also take on the responsibility of construction management, and construction observation.
District Responsibilities: The District’s responsibilities have lessened, as they are no longer responsible for construction management and construction observation. All other responsibilities as previously listed have remained the same.
Cost Sharing: The MOU outlines a cost share of a 50%-50% split between districts. As a reminder, the City has already contributed $15,000 towards the cost overrun in the design phase, with funder approval from another grant project.
Ground Disturbing Activities: It is the City’s common practice that when there is any grading or earthwork activities within project areas that tribally appointed cultural monitor be present. The MOU addresses that this common practice will be followed during the construction phase of the intertie project in all areas of the project area.
Advanced Payment: The remaining Advanced Payment of $417,900.00 for the construction phase of the project, advanced to the District from the Department of Water Resources, will be transferred to the City from the District. The transfer is to occur because the City will manage the construction contract.
Council questions included:
Breckenridge: If either agency has an excessive need, how will that be handled? Kenny: The Fire Department Chief will have to use their judgement during emergencies.
Kelly: This will be very beneficial during a drought. Councilmember Tuttle brought up a future agenda topic to discuss an intertie with the future recipient of Humboldt Bay Municipal Water, when that occurs.
Tuttle: If WCSD pumped water to Trinidad during an intertie that was under a boil water notice, would the City have to notify its residents of the water quality?
Public comment included:
Jacque Hostler – Trinidad Rancheria
Looks like a typo, maybe, with what the pump volume was changed to. City Manager Tagliaboschi explained that there was a change, due to calculations made after engineering assessment was made.
Motion (Kelly/Kenny) to approve MOU between the City of Trinidad and Westhaven Community Services District regarding the Water System Intertie Project. Passed unanimously.
2. Discussion/Decision to Accept FY2022-2023 Audit.
City Manager Tagliaboschi summarized that the audit was a success, and the recommendation provided to ensure future audits are conducted in a timely manner has been handled. The FY2024 audit will begin in midApril. Hope to have it ready for approval during the upcoming budget approval.
There were no Council or public comments.
Motion (Kelly/Kenny) to accept the FY2022-2023 Audit. Passed unanimously. 03-11-2025 City Council Meeting Minutes Page 4
3. Mid-Year FY 2024-25 Budget Update and Discussion/Decision to approve Budget Amendments; a. $60,000 for Town Hall Windows, Front Porch, and Rot repair. b. $25,000 For Classification and Compensation Study.
City Manager Tagliaboschi explained that the document included in the meeting packet titled “General Fund Operating Revenue vs. Expenses” was presented to the Council in June 2024 as a tool to summarize and incorporate all the individual funds that reflect the ‘big picture’ of the City’s financial expectations for FY 2024/25. It also included notes and adjustments that could be made should the Council desire to evaluate the cost of providing those services. These notes also were designed to be reminders so certain projects wouldn’t get overlooked, and as a road map for certain discretionary items and/or projects that were approved.
Many of the line-item revenues and expenses in the mid-year financial reports are shown proportionate to this point in the fiscal year (6 months out of 12 or 50%). However, many revenues or expenses that don’t appear to be reported may only occur at certain times during the year. The statements are very useful but may require additional insight to fully understand.
Overall, the Council’s efforts in June 2024 to recognize what the “new normal” of post COVID is and the adjustments and approach to the FY24/25 approved budget are mostly following the expected trend with a few exceptions. The good news is the FY24/25 revenues budget is as forecast and will likely remain predictable and on track through the remainder of the year for both the General Funds and Special/Restricted accounts. Of course, there is always the caveat that unforeseen events could change this forecast.
The adopted budget included an accurate assessment of FY24/25, projecting conservative deficit spending in a healthy manner. The General Fund has been building over the last 5-years due to a combination of robust economic activity affecting the 95570 area thanks to the voter approved tax measure and an increase in tourism, increasing property values, and a resilient tax base. The actuals are slightly ahead of the forecast for Approved FY24/25 Budget.
GENERAL FUND: The City’s conservative approach to spending, coupled with steady revenues from the baseline economy and significant contributions from visitors has helped build the City’s reserves over time.
Four primary expense funds (Administration, Police, Fire, and Public Works) are supported by discretionary revenue received through taxes and fees for service.
WATER ENTERPRISE FUND: One of the main areas of focus for the FY24/25 budget was to provide a continued effort to stabilize the Water Enterprise fund. To aid in these efforts there were a few measures taken to help attain that goal. There was a Council approved rate adjustment for the Water Enterprise fund which included a $300,000 one-time transfer from the General fund. The rate changes took effect on October 01, 2024. The $300,000 transfer from General Fund to water fund occurred in mid-February 2025.
There is also a change in the Water Plant CPO coming as the city has found a new interim CPO that will include a substantially lower and more predictable monthly cost of $4,000 per month until our staff can assume the CPO duties. The new CPO will start officially on March 19, 2025.
REVENUES: Sales and Occupancy taxes are trending slightly ahead of projections.
Sales Tax as of December 24: $192,468 (Approved budget of $350,000) 54% Transient Occupancy Tax: $149,157 (Approved budget of $215,000) 69% These current revenues are encouraging and reflect a healthy economy that can be easily disrupted by natural disasters such as wildfires, droughts, pandemics, or human-triggered disasters such as housing or market crashes.
Revenue sources are monitored and managed with the following objectives in mind:
• Monitor reserves and cash-flow needs in a manner that maximizes interest earning potential. • Emergency Water Fund Budget Stabilization – February 13, 2025, transfer of $300,000 to provide short-term Operation & Maintenance stability while the new water rates are being accrued and analyzed for impact on the Water Enterprise funds budgets
03-11-2025 City Council Meeting Minutes Page 5
• Maintain public buildings and important city assets such as trails and recreation infrastructure. Town hall Windows, Front Porch and Rot Repairs, $60,000. Continue to seek funding via the OPC Grant for ALMT.
Estimated grant of $2,500,000+
• Provide salary incentives to encourage employee retention with increased responsibility. Conduct Classification and Compensation study that better align task and compensation with job description and classification. Not to exceed quote of $25,000.
• Cover increasing costs due to State of Federal mandates and regulations. Use of grant funds, enterprise funds and General Funds as needed or required.
• Utilize for cash-flow needs during peak grant project outflow demand periods. • Develop a program committed to save for future underground utility projects. Future PGE Council discussion and $50,000 in FY24/25 budget.
MID-YEAR FY24/25 BUDGET GOALS & SUMMARY
Utilize reserves established from prior fiscal years, if needed, to support staff transitions. (City Manager transition for one month)
1. Maintain current law enforcement coverage and improve vital government services.- Current FY24/25 approved budget of $129,926 ( $67,500 Sheriff, $6,266 Animal Control Services, $ 56,160 Pacific Security). Pacific Security was budgeted for 1040 hours per year. This does not include special events or other additional law enforcement services.
2. Reestablish Water Plant Operations to city staff and away from licensed, interim consultants. Staff is pursuing the T2 ‘s and T3 needed to work in and operate the plant. As of now there is one individual who has passed the T3 and has the contact hours to perform the T3 duties as required by State regulations.
He is awaiting the credential from the state which could take more than a few months. It is not clear if this person is interested in performing in this capacity and the restrictive, and punitive regulatory environment that comes with the CPO title and responsibilities. The City has given Coleman a 30-day notice as required by the contract terms to end their water plant responsibilities. The city is working with a new interim CPO, and the terms of that agreement are substantially less than the Coleman agreement. The new agreement is a not to exceed $5,000 per month with a fee of $4,000 per month for services similar those provided under the current agreement. As City staff obtains the required credentials to operate the plant this agreement will also be re-negotiated to allow for reporting assistance and plant consultation.
The new agreement is scheduled to start on March 18.
3. Maintain and invest in public buildings, parks, and property. Town Hall Window Replacement , Front Porch refresh, additional dry rot and weather damaged siding repair and replacement of 22 windows, “terrazzo” style epoxy coating for the front porch, and dry rot repair have been reviewed by our Building Inspector, and he has assisted with the estimate of an additional $60,000 to complete the work at Town Hall. In the upcoming FY25/26 budget Staff will provide a budget number for painting Town Hall exterior.
4. Support community groups that enrich the community for locals and visitors- Provide staff support and facilities as requested for public civic, and private functions. The city manager currently sits as a Chamber of Commerce Board member.
5. Continue grant programs that will help the city continue to work on the elements for the General Plan update. The Planning commission continues to work on updating the elements to the General Plan.
Current work continues on the Safety Element. Much of this work is grant funded. Staff will provide an update in an upcoming council meeting as those elements take shape and will require council approval to adopt the new General Plan.
The FY24/25 Approved Budget included a small operating deficit, however revenue forecast is trending positive and with continued conservative approach to budget management and If revenue sources continue to exceed expectations, the operating budget will balance by end of FY24/25.
City Manager Tagliaboschi noted that the agenda item before the Council includes the request to authorize expenses for the Job Classification Study and the Town Hall window replacement project. 03-11-2025 City Council Meeting Minutes Page 6
Public comment included:
Andrew Davis – Trinidad
Recommended the City verify the warranty if Milgard windows are selected.
Council comments included:
Kelly: I support both the classification study and window replacement projects.
Motion (Breckenridge/Varela) to accept the mid-year FY 2024-2025 budget update, authorize $60,000 for Town Hall Windows, Front Porch, and Rot repair, and authorize $25,000 For Classification and Compensation Study. Passed unanimously.
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
- Annexation (Kelly)
ADJOURNMENT: 7:30pm.
Submitted by: Approved by:
_____________________________ _____________________________ Gabriel Adams Cheryl Kelly
Trinidad City Clerk Mayor