City Council

SUSANVILLE CITY COUNCIL Special Meeting Minutes January 24, 2019 – 3:00 p.m. Meeting called to order at 3:00 p.m. by Mayor Stafford. Roll Call: Brian Wilson, Joe Franco, Brian Moore, Mendy Schuster and Mayor Kevin Stafford. Staff Present: Dan Newton, Interim City Administrator, Jessica Ryan, City Attorney and Gwenna MacDonald, City Clerk 1 APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA Motion by Mayor pro tem Franco, second by Councilmember Wilson to approve the agenda as submitted; motion carried unanimously. Ayes: Franco, Wilson, Moore, Schuster and Stafford. 2 PUBLIC COMMENT No comments. 3 CLOSED SESSION At 3:01 p.m. the Council entered into Closed Session to discuss the following: Public Employee Appointment - pursuant to Government Code Section 54957: 1. City Administrator At 3:09 p.m. the Council reconvened in Open Session. Staff present: Dan Newton, Interim City Administrator, Jessica Ryan, City Attorney, James Moore, Fire Chief, Daniel Gibbs, Acting Public Works Director and Gwenna MacDonald, City Clerk. Mr. Newton reported that prior to Open Session, Council met in Closed Session and no reportable action was taken. 4 SCHEDULED MATTERS: 4A Consider Resolution No. 19-5607 approving City Administrator Employment Agreement Mr. Newton explained that the proposed employment agreement for the City Administrator position has been discussed and negotiated according to the policy and parameters established by the City Council, and has been reviewed and approved by the candidate, Michael Wilson. He noted a change to page one of eight pertaining to the effective date of the agreement, which would be the term; it was now February 25, 2019 through February 25, 2021. There were no questions or comments. Motion by Councilmember Wilson, second by Mayor pro tem Franco, to approve Resolution No. 19-5607; motion carried unanimously. Ayes: Wilson, Franco, Schuster, Moore and Stafford. 4B Consider Resolution No. 19-5603 approving procedures for furloughed Federal Workers Mr. Newton reported that the City Council directed staff at its January 16, 2019 meeting, to bring an item forward that would address the current Federal Government furlough, and consider ways to provide relief to those utility customers that are not receiving a pay check. The Lassen Municipal Utility District recently announced a policy of assistance provided to their customers, and so the City modeled their policy after that by granting extensions to their utility billing due dates until the government shut down has ended. 190124. sp.min Staff has developed general procedures to follow when granting payment extensions, and those extensions would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Generally speaking, customers will have two weeks after the furlough has ended to bring their account current, or they may make payment arrangements which will also be considered on a case-by-case basis. Mayor pro tem Franco commented that the two week period is a bit of a concern, since there is no certainty that the back pay which is going to be paid is going to be paid immediately. It may take more than two weeks for the back pay to be reimbursed, and depending on the amount of the bill it may not be possible to pay all at one time. It was the consensus to modify the third bullet point on Resolution No. 19-5603 to include the word generally, as in Customers will generally have 2 weeks from the day the government shut-down ends to bring their account current. Theresa Phillips, Lassen Municipal Utility District, was present, and discussed the process that LMUD is following to provide relief to customers. She added that so far, they have received less than ten calls from customers who requested a due date extension. Mayor pro tem Franco stated that this is uncharted territory, and nobody will really know what happens until the furlough has ended and all employees have returned to work. Mr. Newton stated that staff has discussed a lot of ways to approach the issue and while every scenario cannot be addressed, staff believes that this method will allow the flexibility and discretion to provide the relief where needed, and prevent those who are chronically late paying customers from taking advantage of the situation. Customers will be required to provide proof of their federal furlough status, and will make every attempt to be as fair as possible. Ms. Ryan stated that if there were any current Federal furloughed employees on the City Council, that it would be best for them to not participate in the discussion. Mayor pro tem Franco advised that he is a federal employee, and at 3:23 p.m., he exited the Council Chambers. Councilmember Schuster asked how long the policy would be in place. Mr. Newton stated that it would be just for this current furlough, and it would not extend indefinitely as a permanent policy. Motion by Councilmember Moore, second by Councilmember Schuster, to approve Resolution No. 19-5603; motion carried. Ayes: Moore, Schuster, Wilson and Stafford. Abstain: Franco. Mayor pro tem Franco returned to the Council chambers. 5 ADJOURNMENT: Motion by Councilmember Moore, second by Councilmember Schuster, to adjourn the meeting; motion carried unanimously. Ayes: Moore, Schuster, Franco, Wilson and Stafford. The meeting adjourned at 3:26 p.m. 190124. sp.min Respectfully submitted by ____________________________________________ Kevin Stafford, Mayor ____________________________________________ Gwenna MacDonald, City Clerk Approved on: February 20, 2019 190124. sp.min