Thumbnail photo: A canoe node is part of the Tolowa Cultural Trail at Beachfront Park. City Councilors approved an additional $50,800 to complete design work for the expansion. | Image courtesy of Crescent City.
Councilman Jason Greenough was absent. Among the items discussed at Tuesday’s Crescent City Council meeting:
Utility Box Art Project: City councilors gave their blessing to a Dirt & Glitter endeavor to paint murals on roughly 10 utility boxes within the city limits. Funded through a Klamath Promise Neighborhood grant, the art project is for local youth ages 14-24, Crescent City Manager Eric Wier said.
The City Council approved an agreement with Dirt & Glitter, which establishes rules and guidelines for the project — according to Wier, the murals have to have seascape, redwoods or historical themes and must go before the Planning Commission for approval.
Councilors also entered into an agreement with Pacific Power, which owns some of the utility boxes. According to Wier, the utility would not be responsible for the costs associated with the project nor for the maintenance. Pacific Power would also have the right to remove the art from any of its boxes without notifying the city, according to the agreement.
“We will be allowing Dirt & Glitter to paint these murals on these boxes and it’ll be our responsibility if they’re on Pacific Power (boxes), or even ours, to upkeep the mural itself or paint over it if it is in disrepair,” Wier said.
Beachfront Park expansion:
The consultant that has been working with Crescent City for four years to realize the Proposition 68-funded Beachfront Park expansion requested an additional $50,800 to complete the work.
According to Wier, the additional funding for GreenWorks PC would be paid for out of the two Prop 68 grants Crescent City received for the new amenities at the park. The consultant expects to have all of the design documents for the expansion finished by the end of the month, the city manager told Councilors.
Staff plan to have a general contractor for the construction phase before the City Council in April, Wier said.
“They would start the final phase of the amphitheater and waterfront plaza and Kidtown piece,” Wier said, referring to the park’s playground.
After receiving a total of $8 million in Proposition 68 grant dollars, Crescent City and GreenWorks entered into a professional services agreement to design the various amenities at the park, including the bike pump track, one-mile loop, amphitheater and waterfront plaza.
Since then, GreenWorks’ contract with the city has also included work in front of the Cultural Center, a gateway monument on Front Street as well as an interpretive trail celebrating Tolowa culture. Those projects are funded through a Clean California Grant, according to Wier.
Critical Incident Response Vehicle:
City Councilors signed off on a proposal from Police Chief Richard Griffin to use $110,000 in CARESTAR grant dollars from Sutter Coast Hospital to outfit a critical response vehicle.
Griffin said he realized his department could use such a vehicle during a 10-hour standoff in August that involved multiple agencies as well as public bystanders. It would allow his department to set up a mobile dispatch center as well as a mobile forensics station.
Sutter Coast Hospital received $725,000 from the CARESTAR Foundation to support behavioral health throughout Del Norte County. As part of an agreement with the hospital, the police department agrees to provide emergency response as well as transportation for subjects needing to be taken to care facilities for further revaluation, according to the police chief’s staff report.
On Tuesday, Griffin said his department already provides emergency response to critical incidents and calls for service and already transports individuals to care facilities. That will continue, though those subjects would likely be transported in a patrol vehicle, he said.
