The California City Board of Aldermen, at the regular monthly meeting Feb. 5, approved the bid for repair of the roof over the locker rooms at the municipal swimming pool. The bid accepted was for $14,269 by G and R Construction, Tipton. The 30-by-70-foot roof was discovered to have sustained serious storm damage.
After a presentation by Recreation Supervisor Leslie Scheidt, the council approved changes in the fees charged for swimming lessons and pool parties. The age change approved is that children 3-years-old and younger will continue to be free. It was previously 5 and under.
All private swim lessons will be structured as follows:
Six 60-minute individual lessons for $75
Six 60-minute group lessons for $50 each participant, with no more than 5 participants per group
Only city employed lifeguards will be allowed to teach private lessons
Fees will be split between the instructor and the pool, 90 percent for the instructor and 10 percent respectively for the pool
All private lessons will be scheduled with department approval
A new policy in place is that a $25 security deposit will be required to parties coming during open swim hours, who wish to bring food into the pool area. This was approved following information provided by Scheidt about food, such as cupcakes, being brought inside for parties in bad weather. Often, a mess is created around and in the pool, and is not cleaned up by those responsible. This is not a problem in good weather, when the activities take place outside. The deposit will be returned on sufficient clean-up. This does not apply to private parties.
On a different matter, an update was given to the council on the Northwest Sewer Project. Engineers Gary Davis and Bob Gilbert, of Bartlett and West Engineers, reported that, after going through the necessary governmental steps, the project is on schedule. Plans have been obtained by 14 contractors for the $1.6 million project.
There is a pre-bid meeting for contractors scheduled for Feb. 7. Bids are set to be opened Feb. 20, with the council to approve at the regular March 5 meeting. Construction is to begin April 16 and be completed by Oct. 31.
The project cost, estimated to be $1,611,410, is to be paid for by the city of California, since there are no grants available. The project will connect Marshall and Cedar streets to the city sewer system.
The council was informed that with the change in where municipal charges are filed, some of the old charges, which were non-collectable, will be taken off of the records. The city is no longer handling municipal charges, since there is no longer a California Municipal Court. Those municipal cases now go before the County Court for resolution.
The next regular monthly meeting is set for 7 p.m. March 5 at the council meeting room in the California City Hall.