City discusses recent fire and approves contracts
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Council members gave their updates on meetings recently attended, and Council member Tom Cooley reported that after a recent fire study meeting, “we are at a milestone point.”
The agenda included an update on communications between the city and resident Ashlee Sims, regarding “complaints and accusations directed toward city staff and council.”
Mayor Bill Powers introduced the item to council, noting that council members have all been approached, or have heard in recent council meetings, about the situation at 715 and 739 East Sierra Avenue.
“Mayor Powers and Councilman Cooley met with Ashlee Sims recently. Mayor Powers issued the attached letter to Ms. Sims,” Knox said.
According to the city, Sims’ complaints apparently grew from an unresolved dispute with her landlord regarding unsatisfactory housing conditions. When it was discovered that the situation was not within the purview of the city code compliance officer, Kevin Sankey, the complaint was referred to Todd Roberts of the city building department.
A letter from Mayor Bill Powers stated that ultimately, Sims and her landlord were unable to find a mutually agreeable arrangement to repair the apartment, which the city understands has resulted in eviction proceedings.
The same letter also went on to refute a number of allegations made by Sims, including the allegation that “the city manager is not qualified for her position, and that the Portola Municipal Code requires that the city manager be trained as a code enforcement officer.”
The letter went on to state clearly that this was false information, as the Portola Municipal Code does not state this.
The letter also stated that Sims had asserted that city Public Works Director Todd Roberts was responsible for her eviction, and the future potential eviction of other tenants at 715 and 739 East Sierra Ave. “The assertion that Mr. Roberts is at fault is false,” the letter stated.
The city recognized that they were in receipt of Sims’ petition to maintain the code enforcement officer position and raised concerns about city staff members feeling harassed or intimidated while discharging their duties.
Sims stated that she took issue with the language of the letter. “I did not say Todd is responsible, however his job as a building official is to address situations like this,” Sims responded. She also repeated that this situation had gone on for nine months, before returning to allegations against the city manager.
Fire report
Beckwourth Fire Chief Bret Russell reported briefly, giving a recap of the recent fire in the city of Portola the previous Friday. “The situation presented to Beckwourth Fire and other responding agencies was quite fierce,” Russell said. “First arriving units found a fully involved structure fire spreading rapidly into the surrounding wildland and spreading to adjacent structures.”
Russell commended all participating fire departments that came in to assist on the call for mutual aid, thanking all for an “absolutely phenomenal job.”
He described the fire as being a difficult one to deal with, but that the level they were able to perform in the city on that day was a reflection on the support from the city itself.
Russell went on to state emphatically, “This absolutely brings home the point that I have been trying to make, that this year’s fire danger is going to be absolutely extreme. We are at least eight weeks ahead, fuel and moisture wise, of where we are typically at this time of year.”
It is of utmost importance for everyone to follow burn bans and not engage in burning, and Russell again emphasized the vital importance of the community clearing pine needles and trees to create defensible space around homes in the community.
Sims interjected with a question regarding the many neighbors that had reported Eric Armstrong’s “antics” before this fire had taken place and asked why nobody had taken action until it was “a big problem.” Armstrong was arrested by the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office in connection with the fire.
Russell responded that the question would be better directed to the sheriff’s office, and Council member Phil Oels asked if the cause of the fire had been determined yet. Russell responded that the situation was still under internal fire arson investigation, and an arrest has been made of the suspect for starting the fire.
Plumas County Sheriff’s report
Sergeant Tom Klundby of PCSO reported that concerning the fire, “We were working a case against Mr. Armstrong, and as you guys know with the current climate with how law enforcement is now, it was going to take a little bit of time for us to build up the case and then get it to the district attorney so that we could move forward with it.”
Klundby went on to report that the neighbors had been extensively interviewed the day before the fire had occurred, adding, “We obviously weren’t counting on him starting the fire. So, Mr. Armstrong is not just in trouble for the fire; he is in trouble for a myriad of other things in a different case.”
Sims addressed Klundby with the same question she had posed to Russell, asking why action hadn’t been taken sooner on the individual, with the fire putting many at risk.
“As you know, the climate of law enforcement has changed, and there are certain things that we are not allowed to do anymore,” Klundby reiterated. “Of the two fires that were started before, the sheriff’s and fire department did show up and Mr. Armstrong was counseled. Those two incidents were also sent to the district attorney … and the best thing we could do was try to get a case, which is what we are currently doing.”
City manager report
City Manager Lauren Knox reported on multiple items, starting with her heartfelt gratitude for all the entities that responded to the fire, including city staff. “Big shoutout and thank you to all of the first responders there and to our staff that rushed down there to ensure the hydrants and wells were ready and prepped potentially needed equipment such as backhoes.”
Second, Knox touched on water restrictions. She explained that likely she would be coming before the council soon with water conservation techniques for residents in the city.
“It has been brought to us already through the Monterey Agreement discussion with the Plumas Amendment, that we’re looking at our water allocation from Lake Davis and trying to rachet that down quite a bit.”
In addition, the city received correspondence the day before this meeting regarding shallow wells in Willow Springs.
There has also been correspondence from the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board regarding the underground tank situation that was a part of the A-15 project.
The board is asking the city to develop an entirely new work plan for that specific remediation, and a letter has been sent from engineer Dan Bastian to show that such a request would significantly impact the city finances.
Knox touched on the update of Cal/OSHA requirements, which seem to align more with the state guidelines, as well as city hall being open to the public once more.
The report was closed with Knox noting ongoing talks with Intermountain Disposal to amend their franchise agreement and solid waste ordinance by July.
Disc golf updates
At the April 14 city council meeting, council discussed a new disc golf proposal presented by local Tim Rhode and approved the use of City land for a Disc Golf course and the use of city funds, not to exceed $15,000 for the baskets, tee pads, and signage associated with the course.
Knox explained that one item that was discussed was the use strictly of city land, or whether additional land would be needed. At the time, it was believed city land would suffice, however, it was later determined that the course would need additional land to accommodate the full 18-hole course.
Houck Design and the Portola Disc Golf Club believe that the use of adjacent private property land to the north would provide needed space as well as improve the course design overall, due to the terrain and views.
“Mr. Rhode has mentioned the future desire of gaining approval from the Forest Service to use the adjacent land to the east to accommodate a portion of the 18-hole course permanently,” Knox explained. “This would not be able to be accomplished in a short timeframe, driving the need for the adjacent private property land to the north as an interim solution.”
Rhode, as the Portola Disc Golf Club, approached the property owners and determined that they are agreeable to the land being used through a license agreement between the city and themselves until such time that they wish to develop their land further.
After meeting with the Disc Golf Ad-Hoc Committee and legal counsel, it was determined that the best path forward would be to approve the agreement as well as approving the final design.
Rhode spoke briefly, explaining that he was currently primed to order the baskets, as they will take eight to 10 weeks to arrive once ordered. “I just want to say that the difference between 14 and 18 holes is that with 14 holes, people will come from the Reno/Tahoe area,” Rhode said energetically. “With 18 holes – I mean, I’m in Missouri right now driving two hours out of my way tomorrow to place a Houck course in Columbia, Missouri — people are going to come from all over the country to play this course at 18 holes.”
Powers thanked Rhode and a motion was entertained to approve the license agreement with the property owners, which was approved unanimously by roll call vote.
The second portion of the request, to approve the course design, was also passed unanimously.
Investment policy and budget adoption
City Finance Officer Susan Scarlett took the screen to discuss several resolutions applicable to the city budget.
The first resolution, 2469, was on the topic of the annual appropriations limit for the 2021-2022 fiscal year. Scarlett stated that the appropriations subject to limitations in fiscal year 2021/2022 would be $2,299,138.08.
Resolution 2470 acknowledged the change in verbiage to the investment policy, and 2471 adopted the reduced monthly rate of $10.23 for the solid waste administration fee.
Resolution 2472 addressed the monthly rate for the reduced landfill/post closure fee, going from $9.38 to $8.38 monthly, and 2473 adopted the operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
After reviewing each resolution separately, council individually approved each resolution with unanimous roll call vote.
Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account (RMRA) funds resolution
In 2017, the State Legislature signed the Road Repair and Accountability Act (Senate Bill 1) into law.
This act created the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account (RMRA) to address deferred maintenance on the state highway system and the local street and road system.
“SB 1 also requires the City to annually adopt a list of projects planned to be completed with SB 1 RMRA funding, which is then required to be approved by council at a public meeting and included in the city budget,” Knox explained.
Projects currently slated for the upcoming fiscal year include road rehabilitation and patching on East Magnolia Avenue and Beckwith Street in Portola. Both projects are estimated to be completed by October of this year.
Council unanimously approved the resolution to move forward with the work by roll call vote.
Law enforcement contract
The last item on the agenda was the law enforcement contract with the Plumas County Sheriff Office (PCSO). Knox explained that the city had been in discussions with Sheriff Todd Johns, and that the draft contract was anticipated to be substantially the same as past contracts, with a few minor exceptions.
“First, with the change in the way that the city will be providing code enforcement services, including the elimination of the code compliance officer position,” Knox said.
It was clarified that PCSO will be providing animal control services, included as a function of the contract.
To accommodate for the increased animal control services being offered, as well as the county’s discussion regarding the need for an increase to the cost to the city for the county to provide the services listed in the contract, the new contract amount is suggested to be $130,000.
Knox also noted that the council might want to consider creating an ad-hoc committee to work with the county in navigating future conversations with the county on what future contracts and a long-term approach to services will look like.
At the time of this meeting, the contract had not been fully reviewed by the county counsel and Board of Supervisors.
During public comment, Ashlee Sims again spoke, asking council to consider and take note of the statements made that night by Klundby, that since PCSO was “very limited on what they are allowed to act on and enforce” the council should reconsider before “signing a new contract with a pay raise.”
Council granted the city manager the authority to move forward with the contract, and Mayor Bill Powers then appointed the previously existing Finance and Administration ad-hoc committee to engage in future talks with the county on services rendered by PCSO.
Code enforcement services contract
The controversial decision to eliminate the code compliance officer position currently held by Kevin Sankey was brought before council once more, with the city altering the way that code enforcement services will be provided in the future with a company called CSG Consultants.
“As discussed in previous meetings, this will provide a greater emphasis on targeting health and safety code related issues, removal of blight, and other council priorities in the future, like rental housing inspection, or a similar program,” Knox said. “CSG Consultants also has extensive knowledge of the abatement of abandoned vehicles and will also be able to provide this service to the city. This will also allow for more control over the cost to provide code enforcement services, as it is not tied to a staffing position.”
Knox explained that the contract was $45,000 and could be ratcheted up or down depending on the needs of the city.
During public comment, Sims again stressed her opposition to the change, and Cooley noted that the change is intended to expand code enforcement services. After some further discussion, council approved the contract by roll call vote.
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