Public concern over the safety of the Gulling Street Bridge dominated public comments at the Portola City Council’s Dec. 11 meeting. Residents expressed concern regarding the stability of the bridge, especially considering the magnitude-5.5 earthquake that struck near Carson City Dec. 9.
Caltrans has told the city council that if the bridge moves even a half an inch, the agency will close it. Members of the public criticized the way it is being monitored, who is monitoring it, and the status of its stability. Several people attending the city council meeting suggested the status of bridge monitoring should be publicly posted on the city website.
Ryan Bonk, the newly appointed city manager, reported the city is finalizing a contract for the installation of a monitoring system. He anticipates the monitoring system will be installed sometime in January.
At the city council’s last meeting of 2024, Mayor Pat Morton stepped aside for new Mayor Jim Murphy, who has been mayor pro tem. Councilmember Bill Powers became the new pro tem mayor.
ARPA funding raises controversy
One of the most controversial topics of the evening concerned funds from the American Rescue Plan Act. During the 2021-2022 fiscal year the city received $461,697 in ARPA funds as part of a federal pandemic recovery initiative. The funds were originally intended to be used for health and safety issues.
The city council has approved spending them on city cleanup projects and purchasing tax lien properties. The city purchased 23 different properties for a total of $18,650. The total cost for community cleanup was $355,237.25.
The balance of the funds currently available is $87,809.75, said Susan Scarlett, city financial officer. Of that, $15,000 was originally allocated for a dog park. City staff suggested that the rest of the funds be allocated for water fountains in city parks, as well as on trails such as the Riverwalk.
Global Industrial, the company supplying the fountains, provided a financial quote of $62,591.16. That includes 15 fountains with a bottle filler, pet station and three enhanced bottle filling stations.
“The fountains for the last part of this money seemed like a really good fit with the original intent of the ARPA funds,” said Scarlett, who made the funding proposal at a previous meeting. The estimate for materials for the dog park totaled $7337.10 if purchased from Lowe’s, she said.
When Murphy asked about allocating ARPA money to road repair, a discussion ensued about how the funds can and cannot be used. Scarlett stated that the money was intended for the economic development of the city, thus the community cleanup.
“If we had talked about it from the very beginning, there are a couple of things that I found in the ARPA guidance,” she said.
The ARPA guidelines say nothing specifically about street repair, for example. But if the city is fixing a storm water drain it is acceptable to use ARPA money to repair the road next to it, Scarlett said.
“We do have, as you know, the road repair and maintenance funds that we are using,” Scarlett added.
The ARPA funds discussion provoked a member of the public to point out that the money could be used to fix the bridge. The local economy would come to a halt if the bridge collapsed, the commenter said.
A local resident noted that fountains can easily be vandalized, dogs can be provided different alternatives to drinking water instead of having water fountains for them. “We don’t need a dog park, we need potholes filled,” a member of the public said. The resident then stressed the importance of using the money to benefit the entire public.
The city council approved a motion to use the ARPA funds for the previously proposed costs and items.
Other public comments included concern about the number of hours city employees work considering that city hall is closed on Fridays, and city employees are supposed to be working 40-hour weeks. Under the topic of the 2023-2924 city audit, a public comment expressed concern about the council approving expenses without researching the charges, and not making the invoices as public knowledge.
In addition to Murphy, Morton and Powers, city council members in attendance Dec. 11 included Leah Turner and Mikki Battaglia on Zoom.
