The City of California Board of Aldermen reconvened for a special session Monday, handling some business that had been tabled during the group's Dec. 6 meeting since some board members were absent.

The agenda for this week included reviewing the city's insurance renewal, discussion of installing a pump station at Windmill Ridge subdivision, voluntary annexations and city business fees.

The board took action on all four agenda items. Starting with the insurance, the board spent some time considering a switch to a new plan, which carried a higher deductible but would have saved the city around $230,000. Despite the higher deductible, the city already "accepts risk" and covers deductible payments for its employees and would have continued to do so under the new plan. The city has carried what is colloquially known as a "Cadillac" plan for some years, which comes with a higher cost.

Though there was some traction for switching plans, the board ultimately approved staying with its current plan for one more year in a 4-1 vote. The motion also approved establishing a committee, made up largely of city employees but also including the city clerk as chair and likely a member of the Board of Aldermen, to examine the issue for next year. Alderman Lanny Ash stressed that the committee should be comprised "heavily" of city employees, since they will be the most affected by any future change in plan.

The board also approved moving forward with the pump station installation project at Windmill Ridge in a 4-1 vote. Water and Sewer Supervisor Kyle Wirts informed the board that after testing, water pressure at the subdivision was "drastically lower" than other areas in California. The issue has been severe enough that about a half dozen residents have installed their own personal booster pumps to improve the water pressure in their homes, Wirts said.

There was some discussion regarding whether federal COVID relief funding could be used for the project, and Wirts indicated that was probably the case. Alderwoman Resa Dudley stressed that if a large amount of COVID-relief funding is used on one subdivision, the rest should be spread elsewhere in the community, and other board members agreed.

Regarding annexations, the city returned to a request from Explore Variety Store, which is moving to a property that is currently located just outside California's city limits across from the vet clinic, to be annexed into the city. The move prompted some discussion regarding voluntary annexations for any other interested neighboring properties.

Some property owners were not interested in annexation after being approached by the city. The board approved, in a 4-1 vote, moving forward with annexation for the property owners who are interested for the time being.

Finally, the board discussed a number of issues related to fees for city business. The first topic was a proposed simplification of the city's electric rates, which would have removed the city's existing multiple rate schedules. There was some dissent among board members, however, because the simplified rates seemed to increase residential rates by around $19 per month while not increasing for commercial properties. The motion was not approved in a 3-2 vote, since Alderman Bryan Lawson was absent.

A few measures related to fees were approved, however, including adding fees to the city's transactions depending on payment option -- which passed in a 4-1 vote -- and applying utility deposit fees again when property owners move from one property to another. The board also approved a motion to immediately disconnect water and electric service when a utility customer passes a bad check. The change will take affect Jan. 1, 2022, after being approved in a 4-1 vote, and utility customers will need to pay a reconnect fee to restore service if they've passed a bad check when attempting to pay.

The Board of Aldermen's next regular meeting will take place at 7 p.m. Jan. 3.

Print Headline: Board of Aldermen takes action on insurance renewal, pump station at subdivision

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