Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 6:00 pm by Mayor Pat Morton.
1. Pledge of Allegiance
  Led by Mayor Pat Morton
2. Roll Call
  
  Present: Mayor Pat Morton, Mayor Pro-Tem Jim Murphy, Councilmember Bill Powers, Councilmember Stan Peiler, Councilmember Leah Turner
  
  Staff Present: Interim City Manager, Jon Kennedy, Deputy City Clerk, Jason Shaw, City Attorney, Steve Gross (remotely), Finance Officer Susan Scarlett (remotely)
Public Comments
Public comments provided by Lindsey Shaw
CITY COMMUNICATIONS
1. City Council Communications / Committee Reports
  
  Councilmember Bill Powers: Attended a book signing at the Portola High School's Book Club.
  Councilmember Leah Turner: Nothing to report.
  Councilmember Stan Peiler: Met at the Gulling Bridge with Director of Public Works Todd Roberts and Interim City Manager Jon Kennedy during the latest bridge inspection. Feels much better about the Portola Bridge after attending.
  Mayor Pro Tem Jim Murphy: Nothing to report.
  Mayor Pat Morton: Was busy finishing up the Angel Tree program. At least 132 bags were prepared and given out. Responded to concerns about the new Fire District's meeting times and explained it was only for this meeting that it was the same time as the City Council's meeting. They met quickly to swear people in and figure out their regular meeting times.
2. Staff Communications / Fire Report / Sheriff's Report / Air Quality Report
  
  Air Quality Report by Targeted Airshed Grant Specialist Mikki Brown: 21 of the last 29 days were curtailment days. A reminder to be sure to check the air quality before burning.
  Fire Report by Mayor Pat Morton: Beckwourth Fire reported 42 calls in the City limits in the month of December.
  Sherriff's Report by Undersheriff Chad Hermann: Happy to report the patrolling schedule is back to normal. Has been an extremely busy month. New jail project should be complete by April of this year. Will have a measure on the upcoming General Election ballot, Measure A, which will add a 0.75% percent sales tax for law enforcement funding.
3. City Manager's Report
  
  Interim City Manager Jon Kennedy: Nothing to report aside from agenda items
Consent Agenda
1. Claims- Adopt Resolution No. 2565 authorizing payment of claims for the period of December 14th, 2023 though January 10th, 2024.
  Accounts Payable: $153,051.89
  Payroll: $62,491.89
  Total: $215,543.78
  AP Check Run #45475 – 45555
  
  Payroll Check Run #17325 – 17327
2. Approval of the Minutes from 12-13-23
Councilmember Leah Turner asked if the code enforcement contract payment was the last one. Interim City Manager Jon Kennedy said it might be but there might be another one to wrap things up. Councilmember Leah Turner inquired about a few check payments to individuals. Interim City Manager Jon Kennedy responded that they were for reimbursements.
Councilmember Leah Turner asked about the status of the current Beckwourth Fire contract. Interim City Manager Jon Kennedy said it would need to continue until the new fire district is ready to take over. This contract will continue until the new fire district can take over. Mayor Pro-Tem Jim Murphy asked if there was a double election issue with one of the new board members of the new fire district. Interim City Manager Jon Kennedy explained there was none because she did not run for reelection as City Clerk.
It was noted that the minutes were updated to correctly display the City Council's reshuffle of its officer positions. Motion to approve the Consent Agenda and Minutes from 12-13-23 as corrected.
There were no public comments.
Councilmember Bill Powers motioned to approve. A second was made by Mayor Pro-Tem Jim Murphy.

The roll call vote:

Aye Mayor Pat Morton Aye Mayor Pro-Tem Jim Murphy Aye Councilmember Bill Powers Aye Councilmember Stan Peiler Aye Councilmember Leah Turner
2023 Audit
Draft Budget Schedule
Financial Officer Susan Scarlett went over the proposed budget schedule for 2024-2025. She noted there would have to be a few changes due to conflicts with Councilmember's availability. Wants to be sure everyone can attend the budget workshops. Only date that is in stone is the last date, June 26th. Direction was given to sort out the budget schedule offline with Councilmembers and City Staff.
There were no public comments.
Tax Sale Properties
County Board of Supervisors finally approved the sale of the La Jolla properties to the City of Portola . Already has been approved in the past by Council but wanted the Council's blessing to keep moving forward. Looking for a ratification of the previous decision to approve funding for the purchase of the La Jolla properties not to exceed $20,000. Will be using ARPA funds for the purchase.
There were no public comments.
Mayor Pro-Tem Jim Murphy motioned to approve. A second was made by Councilmember Leah Turner.

The roll call vote:

Aye Mayor Pat Morton Aye Mayor Pro-Tem Jim Murphy Aye Councilmember Bill Powers Aye Councilmember Stan Peiler Aye Councilmember Leah Turner
MGE Engineering Professional Services Agreement and Budget Amendment
Interim City Manager Jon Kennedy explained the City has hired an Engineering firm, MGE Engineering, to deal with the scour critical issue that has been around since at least 2006.
Critical scour issue has existed for about 20 years but previous recommendations on repairs were not implemented. Scour issue has become worse due to last season's winter storm disaster.
MGE Engineering came out last Thursday to inspect and report back their findings and recommendations about the bridge. Interim City Manager Jon Kennedy, Director of Public Works Todd Roberts, and Councilmember Stan Peiler joined MGE Engineering down at the bridge during their inspection. Councilmember Bill Powers also stopped by to observe.
We received the final Caltrans report today. Director of Public Works Todd Roberts explained that scouring is soil erosion occurring under pillar #3 , the middle pillar in the water, at the Portola Bridge.
Staff wants a budget amendment to pay for the cost of MGE Engineering to do their investigation on the Portola Bridge and make recommendations on what repairs can be done.
The cost breakdown for MGE Engineering to explore how to best deal with the scour critical issue was explained. First phase is $58,986. Second phase is $103,782. Total cost for both phases is $162,768. Interim City Manager Jon Kennedy wants to change the amount for approval to the full cost of both phases.
Phases may overlap as they uncover things with the bridge.
Tony from the public asked if the bridge reports will be made available to the public. Interim City Manager Jon Kennedy responded that yes, they would be soon.
Lindsey Shaw from the public asked if the bridge was in any danger of collapsing. Interim City Manager Jon Kennedy responded that no, the bridge is in no danger of collapsing.
Motion to approve the full amount of $162,768 for both phases.
Councilmember Leah Turner motioned to approve. A second was made by Councilmember Stan Peiler.

The roll call vote:

Aye Mayor Pat Morton Aye Mayor Pro-Tem Jim Murphy Aye Councilmember Bill Powers Aye Councilmember Stan Peiler Aye Councilmember Leah Turner
Proposed Ad Hoc Committee formation to search for a permanent City Manager
Interim City Manager Jon Kennedy removed himself from the meeting to prevent any conflicts of interest with the hiring process.
Mayor Pro Tem Jim Murphy stated he put this on the agenda because the process to find a permeant City Manager typically takes a long time. He went over thedifferent options for finding a permanent City Manager. The City Council could do the search themselves or hire an executive search committee. They could also hire the current interim City Manager with or without a separate interview.
It was decided by consensus to form an ad hoc committee to explore the different options for searching and hiring a permanent City Manager.
Mayor Pat Morton appointed Councilmember Leah Turner and Councilmember Bill Powers to the permanent City Manager Search Ad Hoc Committee to investigate and and make recommendations to the Council on the best way to search for a permeant City Manager.
There were no public comments.
Closed Session
1. Closed Session pursuant to Government Code Section 54957 – Public Employee Performance Evaluation - City Manager
  
  There were no public comments. There was no action to report out of closed session.
Adjournment
Meeting adjourned at 9:06pm