Napa County Grand Jury • 2019-2020

Consolidated Final Report

Published: August 20, 2020 125 pages Consolidated Report
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Findings 10 findings

F1 Page 19
Nearly all of the Public Works Department’s annual neighborhood sidewalk repair budget is spent on projects associated with the Local Streets Paving Program rather than those individual segments of vertically displaced sidewalks that present the most serious tripping risks. City of Napa website, general discussion of PWD sidewalk programs, https://www.cityofnapa.org/365/Sidewalks-Curbs-Gutters. See, e.g., the link offered by the Parks and Recreation Department on their website page, https://www.cityofnapa.org/377/Trees-Urban-Forestry. The city provides a form for all claims reporting an incident in which the claimant believes “the City of Napa has caused a loss or damage to [the claimant’s] person or property,” https://www.cityofnapa.org/151/Claims. 11
F2 Page 20
Because the Public Works Department lacks a written plan for determining which “one- off” or “priority” projects will be undertaken, repair decisions appear to be made subjectively.
F3 Page 20
Because the Public Works Department lacks a written plan for determining when “one-off” or “priority” projects will be performed, scheduling of these repairs appears random.
F4 Page 20
Because the Public Works Department lacks written definitions of key terms such as “location” and “priority” that are used in published documents or webpages, the use of these terms is confusing to readers.
F5 Page 20
The Public Works Department does not publish a list of “priority” projects completed each year, making it difficult for residents of the City of Napa to assess the City’s progress in repairing dangerous sidewalks.
F6 Page 20
The Public Works Department does not adequately inform residents of the City of Napa of its sidewalk repair schedule.
F7 Page 20
The Public Works Department’s webpage does not include a service request button or email link to the City of Napa’s service request page. The webpage therefore does not offer an easy way to report sidewalk problems.
F8 Page 20
The Public Works Department’s recordkeeping and public reporting are unclear because in both their internal and external communications as well as their internal records, the Public Works Department uses undefined terms such as “one-off,” “location,” and “priority.”
F9 Page 20
The Cost-Share program has not kept pace with the actual cost of sidewalk replacement. The 50% reimbursement level being offered is rarely available to homeowners.
F10 Page 20
The Public Works Department has not adopted a method for assessing the success of the Workorder Asset Management system conversion and its implementation in helping staff address sidewalk displacement issues.

Recommendations 10

Conclusions 1

Commendations 1

No Responses Found 1

Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.

Napa City