Following a month-long application process, the California City Council officially closed the window for applicants to the city's Chief of Police position.
Officially, the application window opened during the Council's Nov. 6 meeting and the deadline was at noon on Monday, an application window consistent with the city's other recent hires at the position. All told, the city received six applicants, which were discussed in closed session at Monday's meeting. The Council will interview four of these applicants on Monday.
In an otherwise relatively brief meeting, the Council approved a number of bids, ordinances and other agreements. Firstly, the Council elected to stay on the city's current health, dental and vision insurance plan with United Healthcare, which increased by 25.5 percent to $575,134.68. Renewal increases and rates for this particular plan, which is underwritten, are based on gender, date of birth and health condition.
The Council approved two bids related to the Electric Department's regulators, one of which went out a few weekends ago and needs to be replaced, and two spares that need to be rebuilt. The Council approved bids through Solomon Corporation for both instances, with the new regulator priced at $7,100 and the rebuilds priced at $6,700.
The Council approved a request to apply for an extension with the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to complete a list of action items. Included in this list of action items was an ordinance approved at Monday's meeting naming California's City Clerk as its Floodplain Administrator, but SEMA recommended the city apply for an extension so it can meet the other requirements on that list. The extension, if granted, would extend the city's window six months until June 18, 2020.
The Council also approved a bid of $2,750 from Bryan Ratcliff for hay at the city's wastewater properties.
The Council gave its approval for the city to solicit bids for repairs to the city hall roof, which has been leaking.
In other news, some city departments gave updates on ongoing projects, along with some that have recently been completed. On Nov. 21, a defunct transformer was switched out, leading to outages after 9 p.m. that evening in a section of the city.
In ongoing projects, work at the aeration basin took a brief pause because of the recent rainy weather but will continue as planned in short order. The project on Latham Road also continues as planned, having now reached the intersection of California's senior housing complexes.
The police department is still working on its transition to its new Omnigo reporting software, which CPD officers trained on this week. The CPD also saw an officer resignation this week, which was approved by the Council.
Finally, the Parks and Recreation Department continues to work on project bidding for the Aquatic Park proposal approved at October's City Council meeting. The department has also closed the existing indoor pool until after the new year, and is considering an expansion to the city's rec league soccer offerings, potentially expanding to include seventh and eighth grade-age participants.
The City Council's next meeting will be at 7 p.m. Jan. 6.