The City of California Board of Aldermen met Monday night for its May meeting, receiving a positive update from California Police Department consultant Gary Kempker regarding progress with the CPD's operational review.
Kempker presented a brief update to the board, explaining the more than 30 recommendations he originally presented earlier this year have since been condensed into 12 implementation areas, which he said the department has put into place with relative success. These areas of focus include the department's recruitment and retention strategies, department security and the security of evidence storage areas, communication with city officials, training needs, ongoing performance evaluations, more stringent definitions of probationary status and salary for new employees, field training officer programming, evidence oversight and storage, psychological and drug testing for new employees, regular policy and procedure review, and outlining of mutual aid agreements with other entities and jurisdictions.
Kempker said he felt the department was in a good spot to continue making progress but doesn't necessarily need a consultant guiding it anymore.
"I will tell you, they don't need me to finish these up," Kempker said. "They know the process, they can add implementation plans as they attack other areas (of concern). I am certainly at your disposal and will help this staff anytime, they just need to pick up the phone."
The city has not yet publicly released any information regarding the concurrent investigation by special counsel Amanda Grellner.
Other important business for the board included appointing a city attorney, department supervisors and a city collector, and electing a city clerk. All of the individuals currently serving in these roles will retain them, as approved in ordinances at Monday night's meeting. Though an ordinance was not yet drafted as of Monday, the board also approved appointing Daniel Hurt to continue as California's police chief, to be certified through a retroactive ordinance.
Alderwoman Resa Dudley was also elected by her peers as president/mayor pro-tem of the Board of Aldermen.
Another pair of ordinances also saw approval; one closes certain streets for Annunciation Catholic Church's annual picnic on June 6, and the other will allow the city to limit parking in the lot around City Hall in the event there is ever an issue. An example would be if the city noticed a high number of vehicles parking there overnight; a city department could then install "No overnight parking" signs and fine offenders accordingly.
Other items on the agenda Monday night included a trio of bids approved by the board. First, a bid for four MSA low-pressure cylinders to use with low pressure self-contained breathing apparatuses was approved through Sentinel Emergency Solutions at a total cost of $3,990.87. The second bid, for dumpsters, was approved through Gregory Container at a cost of $8,629 for 13 two-yard dumpsters and one six-yard dumpster. The final bid, for a welder for the Park Department, was approved through Bonecutter Body Shop at a cost of $3,125.
The board also approved going out to bid for street overlays, a project budgeted at $200,000 for this year.
Other new business items discussed were developing codes and standards for tiny housing in the city and establishing an ordinance requiring a formal registration process for vacant buildings, relevant due to the recent building collapse downtown. City Attorney Ann Perry was tasked with undertaking further research regarding both topics during the next month to bring to the board's June meeting.
One item was revisited from a previous board meeting, a follow-up on the city's 2011 smoke study. Water and Sewer supervisor Kyle Wirts said he did some early research and learned Missouri Rural Water offers a free study, pending a two-week wait list, if the city wants to do an updated one. The board decided that looking into that offering more to bring to a future meeting while continuing to look at the previous study will be the course of action for now.
In department reports, the Electric Department will take on an intern from State Technical College of Missouri in Linn for the summer.
In the Wastewater and Water and Sewer departments, both supervisors said they've done some thinking about rate increases after discussion at previous board meetings. Wirts said water and sewer would likely be a wait and see case; if the city taps into its bonding capacity approved a number of years ago and has to ask for a rate increase, Wirts said he wouldn't want a separate increase to cause citizens to see two rate changes in short order. Wastewater supervisor Patrick Murphy, meanwhile, said he would like to see the city look into a 10-year scaling rate plan.
For the CPD, Hurt informed the board that 47 pounds of prescription drugs were collected during the department's drug take-back event last weekend, which have now been taken out of the department for disposal. Hurt also said the CPD has hired a new front desk clerk.
In the Park Department, the board approved going out for bids to spray weeds at various sites around the city. Alderman Bryan Lawson also mentioned that he wanted to thank First Baptist Church of California and Joe Banderman on behalf of the city for their voluntary mowing work.
At the Fire Department, fire chief Allen Smith said the department hopes to refurbish its new truck if it is able; the decals removed from its previous department in Columbia have left "shadows" from the old lettering, he said, an aesthetic issue that the department would want to address.
Finally, City Clerk Aimee Hill informed the board the city is preparing for its annual audit and will be going out for bid for its liability insurance renewal.
The City of California Board of Aldermen's next meeting is set for at 7 p.m. June 7.