Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 6:00 pm by Mayor Bill Powers.
1. Pledge of Allegiance
  Led by Mayor Bill Powers
2. Roll Call
  
  Present: Mayor Bill Powers, Mayor Pro Tem Pat Morton, Councilmember Stan Peiler, Councilmember Leah Turner
  
  Absent: Councilmember Jim Murphy
  
  Staff Present: Interim City Manager - Jon Kennedy, Deputy City Clerk - Jason Shaw, Financial Officer Susan Scarlett , City Attorney -Steve Gross (remotely), Engineer - Dan Bastian
Public Comments
Lindsey Shaw left a public comment in support of keeping open the behavior health centers in Portola and Greenville. Plumas County is considering cutting their funding.
CITY COMMUNICATIONS
1. City Council Communications / Committee Reports
  
  Councilmember Murphy was absent.
  Councilmember Leah Turner: No Report
  Councilmember Stan Peiler: Attended the Celebration of Life for Tom Cooley.
  Mayor Pro Tem Pat Morton: Attended the LAFCo meeting, LESSG meeting, Beckwourth Fire Department meeting, and Music in the Park. She also noted that the Alumni Picnic this weekend and thanked the city for a great job of keeping the park nice and clean.
  Mayor Bill Powers: Attended the LAFCo meeting and the Celebration of Life for Tom Cooley. Wanted the committees who don't typically meet to think about holding a meeting so that way they can report out to the public. Financial Officer Susan Scarlett noted that some of the committees require the County to call them including Vehicle Abatement.
2. Staff Communications / Fire Report / Sheriff's Report / Air Quality Report
  
  Fire Report by Mayor Pro Tem Pat Morton: 56 calls for the Beckwourth Fire Department, 49 in the City of Portola.
  Air Quality Report by Mikki Brown: Still looking for volunteers for a wood stove study. Local air quality has been good lately. Curtailment days will begin earlier this year, starting in September and going though April.
  No Sheriff's Report.
3. City Manager Report
  
  Interm City Manager Jon Kennedy reported the City is still working on back collecting past due utility bills. Some are on payment plan contracts and others have received grant money from Project Go. So far Project Go has paid almost $30,000.00 worth of overdue utility bills in the City of Portola. Last payment alone was almost $10,000. Still working with Chico State of a grant program to redo the City's water system. Right now discussing what the City's urgent needs are. The grant itself will be $500,000 to help with some projects.
  Had a meeting this morning with Cal OES and FEMA. We put in our application for public assistance due to the winter storm emergency and this meeting was to establish a timeline on reporting damage from the winter storms. The end result should hopefully lead to some sort of payment for these damages.
  He noted he Plumas Sun is doing a good job reporting on the local news.
  Finally, the black and white printed blocks on the streets that people are noticing are GPS geolocations for surveying from the air. It's how these type of things are done now and its to give information to help improve the water and sewer systems.
Consent Agenda
1. Adopt Resolution No. 2556 authorizing payment of claims for the period of July 13, 2023 though August 9, 2023
  Accounts Payable: $724,925.77
  Payroll: $68,660.96
  Total: $793,586.73
  AP Check Run #45008– 45134
  Payroll Check Run #17281 – 17293
2. Approval of the Minutes from 7-12-23
Councilmember Leah Turner asked about the amount of days code enforcement was working. Interim City Manager Jon Kennedy stated that currently it's once a week with sometimes additional days. He also said wanted to have further conversations with Councilmember Turner and Councilmember Murphy about how the City handles code enforcement.
Ashlee Sims asked about a payment that was made to Plan West. Interim City Manager Jon Kennedy explained that it was a normal payment.
Councilmember Stan Peiler motioned to approve. A second was made by Councilmember Leah Turner.

The roll call vote:

Aye Mayor Bill Powers Aye Mayor Pro Tem Pat Morton Aye Councilmember Stan Peiler Aye Councilmember Leah Turner Absent Councilmember Jim Murphy
Renew State of Emergency Proclamation
Interim City Manager Jon Kennedy explained that we have to renew this every few months to continue the State of Emergency.
Mayor Bill Powers motioned to approve. A second was made by Councilmember Stan Peiler.

The motion passed with the following vote:
4 In Favor Opposed
Abstained 1 Absent Recused
Contract 22 - Portola STIP - North Loop Phase 1 Progress Payment No. 3
Engineer Dan Bastian explained the purpose of this payment. It's primarily bid items with no change orders this time but to expect some change orders with the next payment request. He also stated that the project was ahead of schedule. Motion by Mayor Pro Tem Pat Morton to approve the North Loop Payment #3 in the amount of $505,392.79.
Mayor Pro Tem Pat Morton motioned to approve. A second was made by Councilmember Stan Peiler.

The roll call vote:

Aye Mayor Bill Powers Aye Mayor Pro Tem Pat Morton Aye Councilmember Stan Peiler Aye Councilmember Leah Turner Absent Councilmember Jim Murphy
Support of Measures E & F – Beckwourth Peak Fire Protection District
Mayor Pro Tem Pat Morton explained that the new fire district is being put on the ballot as measure E and F and that members of the public will form a new independent committee to start campaigning in support of these measures (the Yes on E & F Committee). Measure E would create the new fire district and measure F would create a new tax in support of the measure.
She stated the issues facing fire districts here are also occurring all over the country. It is hard to find qualified volunteers for fire fighting. Other members of the City Council voiced their support for the measure and shared similar concerns.
City Attorney Steve Gross went over the legalities of what the Council could and could not do in support of Measure E and F.
Interim City Manager Jon Kennedy stated he was proud of the work that has been done and it was one of the best proposals like this that he has seen.
Mikki Brown from the pubic voiced her support for the measures.
Mayor Pro Tem Pat Morton motioned to approve. A second was made by Councilmember Stan Peiler.

The roll call vote:

Aye Mayor Bill Powers Aye Mayor Pro Tem Pat Morton Aye Councilmember Stan Peiler Aye Councilmember Leah Turner Absent Councilmember Jim Murphy
Closed Session pursuant to Gov Code Section 54956.9(d)(2), Existing litigation, Claim of Cari McCormack
City Attorney Steve Gross reported that during closed session pursuant to Gov Code Section 54956.9(d), the City Council unanimously reject the claim of Cari McCormack.
Councilmember Stan Peiler motioned to approve. A second was made by Mayor Pro Tem Pat Morton.

The roll call vote:

Aye Mayor Bill Powers Aye Mayor Pro Tem Pat Morton Aye Councilmember Stan Peiler Aye Councilmember Leah Turner Absent Councilmember Jim Murphy
Adjournment