Council members in Chico tackled a series of minor issues with little acrimony Tuesday night, agreeing to small changes to various programs and to conduct an inventory of potentially surplus city-owned real estate.
As expected, city leaders agreed to proceed with a plan to turn over training, hiring and management of lifeguards at Bidwell Park’s Sycamore Pool to the Chico Area Recreation District, or CARD. The district also provides lifeguard training and lifeguards at two other pools — both operated by the school district. Officials estimate about $6,000 in savings. A suggestion putting the savings into restoring park ranger patrols will likely be supplanted by calls from council members to reopen a shuttered poolside parking lot and to re-grade and reopen the Upper Bidwell Park dirt road.
The council also moved ahead with an initiative that would redirect some of the fire department’s energy toward risk reduction, meaning more regular fire safety inspections of certain older buildings.
Additionally, the council approved a plan converting more parking along Flume Street from parallel to diagonal, in an effort to create more parking spaces. Officials expect to create 13 additional spots, with about half getting parking meters.
In other action, the council agreed to move ahead with an inventory of underutilized city-owned buildings and vacant property and to consider if those assets are being wisely used. Officials will also review existing lease agreements to assure rents are set at fair rates.
The council also heard testimony from Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea, who is seeking funds to substantially upgrade facilities at the half-century-old county jail. Honea is asking all municipalities in the county to tack on hundreds of dollars in impact fees to cost of a building permit for any new residential construction. The additional fees would add about $450 to the cost of a permit for a new single-family home, about $360 for each new apartment and $370 for each new mobile home. The fees would not be charged to existing buildings. They would go into effect county-wide only once approved by each city, and the Board of Supervisors. Honea said officials in Oroville and Paradise have already approved the fees and are awaiting adoption by Chico, Gridley and Biggs.