Supervisors approve finer points of property purchase
In an effort to move forward with construction of the new county jail, the Plumas County Board of Supervisors voted four to one in favor of allowing Public Works to continue an agreement with a firm to purchase property.
Set for the consent agenda, Supervisor Jeff Engel requested the item be pulled for discussion April 16.
Engel then asked why Plumas County Public Works Director Bob Perreault was entertaining the idea of buying a parcel?
Perreault explained Public Works looked at three parcels available and determined parcel “A” best suited their needs.
That parcel is in the Clarke Family Trust and adjacent to property recently purchased by the state of California for the new California Highway Patrol offices and yard.
“Relocation of Public Works maintenance activities is necessary in order to accommodate the construction of the new jail facility within the confines of the designated county-owned parcel and in accordance with the conditions of a special use permit granted on July 8, 2015,” Perreault explained.
Two other sites Public Works considered included parcel “B” owned by Robert Conover and was actually multiple parcels. Parcel “C” is three parcels, all owned by the Leonhardt family, but technically under different ownerships.
The firm of Bender Rosenthal, Inc., Right-of-Way Engineering and Acquisition Services assisted Public Works with parcel acquisition. This company handles all services required in investigating property searches and all other aspects involved in the property purchase. The amount for its services was not to exceed $61,390.
Discussion
Following Engel’s initial question concerning the property purchase, Supervisor Lori Simpson asked for a county council determination if the topic wasn’t better suited for closed session discussion.
Deputy County Counsel Gretchen Stuhr agreed, but Perreault quickly explained the work was executed earlier. County Counsel Craig Settlemire recommended changes to the language within the acquisition terminology amendment.
Perreault said the document was returned to the consultant for the minor changes and was now before supervisors under the consent agenda.
Supervisor Michael Sanchez suggested they should take no action and bring it back to the board for further action.
Perreault agreed that they could do that, but he didn’t think the item warranted closed session.
Supervisor Sherrie Thrall said she was concerned about things that created a delay such as impacting the start of construction for the new jail. She added she didn’t “want it to come back to bite us.”
Simpson said that she thought Engel was concerned with the cost of the appraisal.
Perreault responded that the contract was structured in such a way that only those tasks requested by Public Works were done. He added that Assistant Director John Mannle was in weekly contact with the firm.
At this point, Sanchez recommended supervisors should go ahead with a decision.
Stuhr agreed that this was an amendment to a contract and they could move ahead.
Engel’s was the only dissenting vote.
