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Extraído del Informe Consolidado
Esta investigación fue publicada originalmente como parte de un informe consolidado más amplio que contiene múltiples investigaciones. Consulte el PDF consolidado para ver el documento completo.
Nevada County Grand Jury
• 1998-1999
Grass Valley City Government Reason for the Investigation The Nevada County Civil Grand Jury may investigate the*
⚠️ Aviso de traducción: Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings 11 findings
F1
The City has hired its first Community Development Director who will supervise the planning, building and future developments of the City. A new police chief, fire chief and public works and park superintendent were recently hired. The City is undertaking several projects involving annexation and development before the completion of the updated general plan. Future annexations will increase the City's approximate acreage from 2500 to 4500 acres.
F2
Some employees feel pressured by increased responsibilities and decreased recognition. They are not encouraged to give input to management regarding their areas of expertise. The City has managed to operate within its budget at the cost of reducing staff, training programs and motivational incentives. City employees are to be commended for their response to the downsizing.
F3
The 1982 General Plan has been modified from time to time and is in the process of being revised with completion expected by July 1999.
F4
The City has recently completed the reconstruction and landscaping of Main Street. Preparation for the street's resurfacing involved additional costs because of unforeseen below-surface problems.
F5
The City is currently involved in several other projects, including planning for a hotel/ conference center, a major upgrading of City Hall and a new combination fire station/classroom facility at Sierra College.
F6
A goals and objectives plan is formulated by the City at the beginning of each fiscal year with updated information provided periodically.
F7
Some City employees have expressed concern that the City administration in its determination to achieve its goals is pressuring its workers into stressful conditions. While the City has kept a balanced budget, staff has been reduced, causing some managers to be responsible for several departments. Various department employees expressed the need for more administrative support and improved communication.
F8
The City's present sewage capacity is 1.72 million gallons a day, average dry weather flow, and the City is operating at this capacity. Expansion of the Wastewater Treatment Plant will provide a planned capacity of 2.78 million gallons. Expansion is due to begin in April or May of 1999, and is scheduled to be completed within two years at a cost of 9.3 million dollars.
F9
The City, through its recently initiated newsletter, Grass Valley City Messenger, invited its citizens to participate on various boards, commissions and committees. A survey was conducted in which the public was asked to express their opinion of several areas of city performance. While the City has recorded the public responses, it has yet to publish another Grass Valley City Messenger presenting this information to the public.
F10
The City conducted a police recruitment program in the fall of 1998 that produced only eight applications. The statewide average is 100 applications to fill one vacancy. An effort had been made to improve the recruitment process, but the procedure had to be repeated because of the poor response. At the time of this review, the City had no female police officers.
F11
Currently, the City and Nevada County operate separate animal shelters. The Nevada County Agricultural Commissioner has jurisdiction over the county animal shelter, and the police chief has jurisdiction over the city animal shelter. Informal talks on combining some of the operations have taken place without resolution. CONCLUSIONS فر ۽
Recommendations 10
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R1The City should finalize the update of the General Plan before continuing its aggressive annexation and development plans.
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R2The City Administrator and department managers should develop a plan to balance departmental workload and improve internal communications.
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R3The City should publish its newsletter, Grass Valley City Messenger, on a quarterly basis for better communication between the administration and the community.
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R4The incorporated cities and the county should coordinate their law enforcement recruitment effort to create a larger pool of qualified applicants. Cooperative meetings have already started on this subject, and the Grand Jury recommends that they continue.
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R5The City and Nevada County should re-establish formal discussions on consolidating or combining their respective animal control shelters. RESPONSES City Administrator Due August, 30, 1999 Grass Valley City Council Due September 30, 1999 Rec 8/13/99 US. CITY COUNCIL BILL HULLENDER, MAYOR LINDA STEVENS, VICE MAYOR PATTI INGRAM GERARD TASSONE lev JOHN A. TAYLOR GENE HAROLDSEN A CENTENNIAL CITY CITY ADMINISTRATOR July 14, 1999 125 EAST MAIN STREET Honorable Carl Bryan II GRASS VALLEY, CA 95945 (530) 274-4310 FAX: 274-4399 Presiding Judge of the Nevada County Courts 201 Church Street Nevada City, CA 95959 RE: Response to the 1998-99 Grand Jury Report Your Honor, This letter is the City of Grass Valley's response to the 1998-1999 Grand Jury Report. We appreciate the interest that members of the Grand Jury had in the City, the time that went into their review and the efforts made in preparing this report. Because of the number of findings, conclusions and recommendations, each of which deserve to be carefully reviewed and commented upon, we have responded in the attached detailed report. This response was discussed and approved by City Council at its July 13, 1999 meeting: If you have any questions, please contact us. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Gene Haroldsen Bill Hullender City Administrator Mayor Attachment: Detailed Response to 1998-1999 Grand Jury Report City Council CC: Lorraine Jewitt-Burdick, Nevada County Clerk / Recorder Claude Biddle, City Attorney John Foster, Chief of Police Rudi Golnik, Director of Public Works / City Engineer Kyle Kollar, Community Development Director Bobbi Poznik, City Clerk E-mail: council&[email protected] www.cityof.grass-valley.ca.us CITY OF GRASS VALLEY DETAILED RESPONSE TO THE 1998-1999 GRAND JURY REPORT
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R6The State Health Department has inspection and approval responsibility for work performed on NID's domestic water treatment facilities and delivery systems. Engineering inspections and approval for work on irrigation water systems is the responsibility of NID. Buildings and construction work on non-water systems for NID's use is subject to county building codes and inspections.
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R7The historical financial information from NID showed that NID has averaged an annual rate increase of 3.8 percent for treated water users and 3 percent for irrigated water users.
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R8The district makes water sales outside the district. However, these are subject to year to year contracts and are subject to either reduction or termination if water is not available for district users. NID forecasts water needs in the district by the use of the county's master plan, county building permit history, NID history, building proposals by developers and any other sources available to management.
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R9Construction work on water systems funded by NID do not require competitive bidding. However, NID Board of Directors have mandated that competitive bidding will be used on all such projects. Construction work that is funded by the State and Federal governments require competitive bids and use of prevailing wage rates.
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R10NID has reserved funds for unknown contingencies, such as Federal energy de-regulation, re- licensing power plants and a contract re-negotiation with PG&E due in 2013. FINANCIAL
Conclusions 11
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CL1 Page 2Some employees feel pressured by increased responsibilities and decreased recognition. They are not encouraged to give input to management regarding their areas of expertise. The City has managed to operate within its budget at the cost of reducing staff, training programs and motivational incentives. City employees are to be commended for their response to the downsizing.
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CL2 Page 2The consolidation of planning, building and future development of the City under the Community Development Director should provide increased communication between departments and better service to the public. 32
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CL3 Page 3Some employees feel pressured by increased responsibilities and decreased recognition. They are not encouraged to give input to management regarding their areas of expertise. The City has managed to operate within its budget at the cost of reducing staff, training programs and motivational incentives. City employees are to be commended for their response to the downsizing.
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CL4 Page 3The publication of a newsletter is a valuable tool for keeping in touch with the community, particularly during the current period of growth and development. It offers an opportunity for the City to demonstrate its interest in public opinion.
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CL5 Page 3The City's plan for expansion of the Wastewater Treatment Plant specifies a capacity that may be inadequate for proposed expansion needs.
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CL6 Page 3The City's police recruitment problem is not only a City concern, but also one for Nevada County and the state.
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CL7 Page 2The consolidation of planning, building and future development of the City under the Community Development Director should provide increased communication between departments and better service to the public. Response: The City agrees with this conclusion.
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CL8 Page 3Some employees feel pressured by increased responsibilities and decreased recognition. They are not encouraged to give input to management regarding their areas of expertise. The City has managed to operate within its budget at the cost of reducing staff, training programs and motivational incentives. City employees are to be commended for their response to the downsizing. Response: The City disagrees with part of this conclusion. The City has employee recognition programs such as Employee of the Month, Employee / Manager of the Year, Firefighter of the Year, Service Awards, etc. In their areas of expertise, employee input to management is welcome and appreciated. The City concurs with the reality of having to operate within its budget and the commendation of its employees for their responsiveness and commitment.
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CL9 Page 3The publication of a newsletter is a valuable tool for keeping in touch with the community, particularly during the current period of growth and development. It offers an opportunity for the City to demonstrate its interest in public opinion. Response: The City agrees with this conclusion.
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CL10 Page 3The City's plan for expansion of the Wastewater Treatment Plant specifies a capacity that may be inadequate for proposed expansion needs. Response: The City disagrees with this conclusion. The 2.78 mgd sizing of the Wastewater Treatment Plant was analyzed in the Environmental Impact Report and based on the "most probable" population level identified in the Menkin / Lucero population analysis. The expansion will provide the City with 5,000 , } equivalent dwelling units (EDUs). Historically, the City has been utilizing 100 to 150 EDUs per year. This expansion should provide the City with sufficient sewer capacity for at least the next 20 years.
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CL11 Page 3The City's police recruitment problem is not only a City concern, but also one for Nevada County and the state. Response: The City agrees with this conclusion.
No Responses Found 1
Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.
Grass Valley
City
* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.