CHICO — City Council Chambers had a decidedly orange hue with two-dozen Chico Public Works employees, clad in department garb, lining edges of the room and a row of seats for Tuesday evening’s council meeting.
They applauded when resident Nichole Nava praised their work during the public comment period. Otherwise, the group stood and sat quietly, watching diligently. The business directly related to them, an update on contract negotiations between their union and the city, took place in closed session with no action taken.
“All those orange shirts look very fashionable,” Councilor Tom van Overbeek said, thanking them for their attendance.
The City Council starts the open session of its meeting Tuesday, May 7, 2024 in Chico, California. (Evan Tuchinsky/Enterprise-Record)
The Public Works contingent and 20 other attendees saw the council zip through the agenda in 40 minutes. Every item passed — all but two unanimously. (Addison Winslow voted against pay-scale changes for firefighters and management.)
In the longest deliberation, albeit under 10 minutes, the council approved an agreement with Butte County Behavioral Health on a sobering center in Chico, utilizing funds from a settlement with opioid manufacturers. Even quicker, councilors renewed an annual declaration of weeds and trash as nuisances that property owners must abate; expanded the types of commercial cannabis licenses the city accepts; increased city fees; and, on the consent agenda with the pay raises, honored three businesses’ requests to seek liquor licenses.
On the same day Chicoans learned Enloe Behavioral Health will close this summer, the council moved ahead with another facility at the same complex. Behavioral Health is partnering with Chico and Oroville to open a sobering center at 560 Cohasset Road, Suite 180, with an annual operating budget of $2 million.
Funding will come primarily from a settlement with opioid manufacturers that included the county and cities, paid out over 18 years. The memorandum of understanding calls for Chico to contribute $357,000 over three years — $119,000 annually — from its settlement funds. So far, the city has received $342,207 over the past two fiscal years.
Deputy City Manager Jennifer Macarthy explained the county will operate the low-barrier facility. BCBH Director Scott Kennelly, responding to a question from Vice Mayor Kasey Reynolds, said the project is “on track for a July or August opening.”
City staff recommended approving the MOU. Only one speaker, George Deeds, addressed the matter, simply telling councilors to “do it” — which they did, 7-0.
Other items
In the first of two public hearings, the council accorded citizens the opportunity to voice objections to an April 16 resolution that delineated “weeds, rubbish, refuse and/or debris” as a public nuisance requiring abatement. The other hearing let residents offer input on a “cost-of-living increase” finance staff proposed to the city’s fee schedule. No one from the public spoke on either item, and councilors promptly passed both.
Regarding cannabis, the council previously endorsed a recommendation from its Internal Affairs Committee to allow for additional types of state licenses when the city grants permits for manufacturing. Tuesday, councilors reviewed an ordinance to that effect — and, without any public comment, authorized the ordinance.
With Chico considered oversaturated by the state Alcoholic Beverage Control agency, councilors must make a “determination of public convenience or necessity” for a business to seek a liquor license. Three applicants sought this waiver: Beer Lobo, for a tavern at 800 Broadway; Grocery Outlet, for its store at 2160 Pillsbury Road; and Karaoke Television, for a karaoke bar and rooms at 124 W. Second St. The council granted them without discussion.
Closed session — starting an hour before open session but done 20 minutes early — consisted of updates on labor negotiations and Warren v. Chico plus the continuation of performance reviews for the city manager, city clerk and city attorney. Councilors gave direction to staff on each matter but took no action.
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Future discussions
Councilors also unanimously agreed to consider two proposals from colleagues at upcoming meetings. Van Overbeek seeks to ban motorized vehicles from Petersen Memorial Way and South Park Drive — turning those roads through lower Bidwell Park into two-way routes for cyclists and pedestrians. Mayor Andrew Coolidge, who’d floated the idea in his State of the City address, seconded that motion and made one of his own to consider turning over to Chico State the rail-side bike path and the walking path from campus to Highway 32.
In a rare city manager’s report, Mark Sorensen teased a future discussion on rent stabilization for senior mobile home parks. He said the city hired a Southern California consultant, RSG Solutions, which will make a presentation June 4 about “rent control systems — how they can work, what they can do legally and what they can’t do legally.”
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