Council awards contract for painting of City Hall

Tuesday’s meeting of the City Council steadily moved through the short agenda, with only two items, the city’s handbook and further discussion of funding events like the Fire Fighter Association’s Chili Cook-Off, postponed, once again, to a future agenda.
Awarding a contract for the preparation and painting of City Hall drew discussion as it was learned that there lead in the existing paint and asbestos in exterior window frames had been discovered by the contractor.

Baldo Rodriguez, the director of public works, stated the cost of clearing the lead and asbestos is estimated to be at $20,000, funded through Risk Management. The low-bid for the painting project was $10,400 by U.S. National Corp., of Panorama City. On top of that sum, staff also requested 10% of that amount to cover any unforeseen construction costs that might arise, and $2,250 for construction management and inspection, all of which will be paid through the general fund.

City Council Member Greg Shelton questioned the amount which would be spent on clearing the lead paint and asbestos, as he said that the common “remediation” effort for lead paint is painting over it. Rodriguez responded that the plan to correct the paint included chipping some of it away.

After a short discussion, the council voted 4 to 1 to follow staff’s recommendations as far as the clean-up work, and eventual painting job, with Shelton providing the dissenting vote.
The public hearing held Tuesday night on the construction of concrete improvements along West North Grand was opened and closed without anyone standing to testify. The council voted 4 to 1, with Shelton voting no, to schedule a public hearing for the future for the establishment of a fee to cover the cost of the concrete gutters, sidewalks and driveway access openings.

Shelton felt that the city had not yet done its job to fully ensure all the affected owners were contacted about the improvements, but as notices were sent to the business addresses listed for the owners in that block of North Grand Avenue (John Law Inc., Union Pacific Rail Road, and Randall Carroll, owner of Carroll’s tires), it was determined by city attorney Julia Lew that the city had done what was required by law for notifying the public.

Of the proposed improvements, those affecting the owner of John Law Inc., who Shelton was most concerned about, are the most expensive, totalling $10,048, which is more than the combined total cost ($9,898) of the improvements to be made to the two other properties.

The council voted 4 to 1 to appoint Brian Ward as the main representative on a Grievance Appeals Board which has been set up to hear a complaint from a city employee. According to the staff report given to the council, the Administrative Services department is processing a grievance which has reached the final appeal hearing, and so an Appeals Board must be created to complete this grievance process. According to the city’s policy, the Board must be comprised of three individuals: one council member, appointed by the council; one employee, appointed by the grievant; and a neutral third member agreed to by the two other members. Ward was reluctant to take the position and voted against his appointment. Shelton volunteered to act as the alternative, provided that Ward actually attend the meetings.

The council also voted unanimously to close Division Street between Putnam to Mill avenues Friday after an emergency request from Robert de la Rosa of Ola Raza, which plans to unveil a new mural in that location as part of Friday’s Art Walk event. The request forms and accompanying paperwork were in at 5 p.m. Tuesday by de la Rosa, who addressed the City Council at the first oral communications period in the hopes of having it placed upon the agenda. The council was able to vote to place it on the agenda because of the urgency of the request, but was slightly hesitant to approve the closure out of concern that not enough notice would be given to the affected businesses, Alley Ratz Tattoo, which will be participating in the art walk, and Poor Richard’s pizza, which uses that area for loading purposes. Other near-by businesses also use that street for parking.

Lollis promised the council that like any other city closure, proper notification would be posted at the site 24 hours ahead of time so that the businesses in that area would be aware of the closure.

The other scheduled matters, the City Council Handbook, and the consideration of financial support for the Chili Cook-Off, were tabled to the next meeting. One member of the audience stood to question why the handbook was being postponed during the second oral communications period, and though it is not customary, Mayor Virginia Gurrola replied that the council had decided to wait until after its representative went to an upcoming League of Cities meeting, in case some subject came up during that meeting which should be included in the handbook.

“We want to make it as inclusive as possible,” Gurrola said.

While there was some discussion of the Chili Cook-Off, this topic was postponed because the organizer, fire fighter Cody Clem, who was also to be recognized as employee of the month, has been dispatched along with other local fire personal to assist on a fire which continues to burn in the Shasta area of Northern California.