Dennis Buckley Judge of the Superior Court Yuba County Grand Jury Final Report i

Recommendations 8

• R1
  The City's financial condition was unclear and needed to be clarified.
• R2
  The traffic signal light projects are, as verified by Caltrans, on track again, and should be completed in 2006.
• R3
  A policy has been instituted requiring all city business to be in writing, signed by all parties, and filed. The sewer problems are unresolved and need to be addressed by the council.
• R4
  The temporary financial officer had made good progress on putting together the financial records of the City and provided the Committee a summary of revenue showing sources of revenue (see Attachment 2.)
• R5
  A 2-day training program had been given to the clerical staff by the providers of the water meter software and the new system for reading water meters and billing procedures was underway.
• R6
  Application had been filed with the United States Department of Agriculture for a loan in the sum of four million dollars for repairs to the sewer system.
• R7
  The Steering Committee for the Wheatland General Plan Update had adopted a Land Use Plan – Alternate D – as a starting point for future planning (see Attachment 3.) Bids put out by Caltrans on the signal light at 1st street have been received and were too
• R8
  high, so new bids will be put out. In order to verify the progress of the traffic signal light, the Cities Committee interviewed a Caltrans Project Manager, the District Local Assistance Engineer, and the Transportation Engineer, all out of the Marysville office. Members were informed that the Wheatland 1st Street signal light project was advertised in April, 2005, and although bids were received, all were rejected because the low bid exceeded the budgeted amount. Caltrans is now considering trying to amend the project to qualify it for next year's State Highway Operations Prevention Program (SHOPP), while also seeking additional money to fund the project as designed. The Department is also planning to re-advertise the project in the winter of 2005 and, if funds are available and the low bid comes in within budget, construction will begin in the spring of 2006. Caltrans further advised the Committee that the Main Street signal project is under a program known as STIP (State Transportation Improvement Program). Under this program, the City of Wheatland is responsible for the project and will have to complete additional engineering work, as well as apply for an encroachment permit from Caltrans in order to begin construction. There is a formula used for the STIP funds to determine the amount each county receives from the State. Information concerning this formula can be accessed at the California Transportation Commission website, at www.catc.ca.gov. Summary The City of Wheatland continues to grow rapidly with the anticipated problems which arise due to such growth. Not only is much new revenue needed to meet the demands of running the city Yuba County Grand Jury Final Report 14