Mayor Pro Tem Candace Tinkler was absent. Among the items discussed at Monday’s Crescent City Council meeting.
Water system servers: Councilors approved spending $83,045 for two servers from Dell Technologies to run the water system’s supervisory control and data acquisition software, or SCADA.
According to City Manager Eric Wier, the SCADA system monitors alarms, water pressures and enables staff to turn pumps on and off without having it manned 24-7. The system was updated in 2019, however a server’s average lifecycle is five years. With the city’s manufacturer support and hardware replacement coverage expiring next April, “the time to replace them is now,” the city manager said.
The city’s water fund will be able to cover this purchase, Wier said. Once they’re acquired, they will be sent to Technical Systems Inc. to be programmed before shipped to the city, he said.
Pyke Field Support: Remembering a “turf monster” attack during a softball game as a kid, Mayor Isaiah Wright supported the county’s efforts at getting much-needed upgrades for Pyke Field.
Wright and his colleagues offered a letter of support to Del Norte County as it seeks Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization Program dollars to improve the playground, build a new concessions stand, barbecue pavilion and restrooms and install new lighting.
Toni Self, the county’s administrative programs manager, said the county is drafting its grant application after reaching out to the community. The grant maximum is $8 million, she said. Although cost estimates haven’t been finalized, Self said it could be between $5 million to $6 million.
“The lighting alone is probably $1.5 million,” she said.
The Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization Program was created through Proposition 4, the California Parks, Environment, Energy and Water Bond Measure of 2024.
AB 2059: Councilors sent a letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom urging his signature on legislation that would help advance critical transportation projects in rural communities through the permitting process.
Assembly Bill 2059, authored by Assemblywoman Lori Wilson, would address the vehicle miles traveled metric that is applied to transportation projects under the California Environmental Quality Act, according to Wier’s staff report. The legislation would take into account the longer travel times and fewer transit options rural communities have ensuring that projects that address safety deficiencies, “system preservation needs and emergency evacuation procedures aren’t burdened by those mitigation requirements.
Del Norte Local Transportation Commission Executive Director Tamera Leighton asked the City Council to weigh in on this issue after receiving information from Nevada County Transportation Commission Executive Director Mike Woodman.
According to City Attorney Martha Rice, it would be up to Caltrans to come up with guidance on how the legislation would work if approved.
“The idea is to give rural communities like Crescent City and Del Norte County more flexibility when it comes to the mitigation requirements for vehicle miles traveled analysis under CEQA,” she said.
