Memorandum – August 21, 2009

City of Willits
MEMORANDUM

Date:        August 21, 2009
To:        Honorable Mayor and City Council
From:        Paul Cayler, City Manager
Subject:    Administrative Progress Report

The following developments may be of interest to you and the community-at-large.    Please contact me at (707) 459-4601, if you have any questions.

HEARING ON SEWER RATES SCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER 14TH

The City Council approved a sewer rater setting study and scheduled a Proposition 218 rate setting public hearing on October 14th at 6pm.  Notices of the proposed sewer rate setting were mailed to property owners this week.  The notice contains specific information on the proposed rate, and how property owners may get involved in the rate setting process.  This sewer rate setting is important for moving forward with the new two phases of the sewer treatment plant improvement.  The plant improvements are ordered by the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board.

CITY HALL REORGANIZATION

Regular visitors to City Hall will notice that there has been reorganization.  Laura Knispel retired last week after many years of dedicated service to the City of Willits.  Laura’s sunny and happy personality will be missed.  In response to Laura’s retirement, there has been some reorganization in the front office.  Cathy Sanders has moved downstairs from the Community Development Department to work in the front office.  Visitors will also notice that City Hall hours of operation are posted:  8:00am to 5:00pm Monday through Friday.  City Hall is closed on the following holidays:  New Year’s Day, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday, Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Veterans’ Day, Thanksgiving Day, the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve Day and Christmas Day.

WATER CONSERVATION SPECIALIST

Quinton Roland has joined the City of Willits as the Water Conservation Specialist.  The position is grant funded.  Quinton comes to the City with a wealth of experience in planning in the public and private sector.  He is very talented.  Quinton has a full plate of water conservation projects before him.  Many people in the community may know Quinton due to his involvement in the West Commercial Street project design.   Welcome Quinton!

KIDS CLUB AND STATUS OF AB1364

Kids Club construction is progressing.  Indoor finish work is proceeding at this time.  I visited the project recently and saw that bathrooms were being tiled.  The project completion date is on or about October 1, 2009.

In another matter related to the Kids Club…   The City has been supporting and closely following the progress of AB1364 by Assembly Member Evans.  This bill will permit State grant deadlines to be extended for projects that were suspended due to the grant disbursement freeze earlier this year.  The Kids Club is funded through a State grant.  The project was not able to meet the grant deadline because of the funding freeze.  AB1364 is very important in order that the Kids Club project may be fully reimbursed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation.  AB1364 was amended on August 17th by the author.  I reviewed the amendments, and I found that AB1364 still does what the City needs.  The bill passed the Senate Appropriations Committee on August 18th, and looks to be approved by the full State Senate very soon.