Nevada County Grand Jury • 2001-2002

Nevada City Planing Department Reason for Investigation a citizen's complaint was received by the Nevada County*

Published: January 23, 2003 10 pages

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Findings and Recommendations 5 findings

The Planning Department located the records in question after the investigation began. These records were either misplaced or misfiled. We agree with the finding that the records in question were misplaced and/or misfiled.

Related Recommendations (1)

Nevada City must develop a much-needed records management system. We have implemented a records management system in planning. Over the past three years we have changed our planning records filing system from a chronological-based system to an address-based system. This process is nearly complete and we have found it to be working quite well. CITY HALL • 317 BROAD STREET • NEVADA CITY, CA 95959 • (530) 265-2496 Teople G. CENTENNIA CITY OF NEVADA CITY CALIFORNIA A Bicentennial Community Grand Jury Response 2001 Report May 29, 2002

The Planning Department does not have a written procedure for records management, resulting in a lack of guidelines for employees. Additionally, the manner of maintaining public records does not comply with State guidelines. We don't agree with the finding that we have no written procedure for records-management in the Planning Department. We have written forms, procedures and checklists. We have procedures for tracking the planning and CEQA process. We have special forms and lists that are updated on a bi-weekly basis and posted for staff and public use. We also have a written request form for records and a file-tracking system. We have no written procedure for indexing every item in a file. However, we are not aware that our record keeping system is not in compliance with State law. Toople G. Centennit CITY OF NEVADA CITY CALIFORNIA A Bicentennial Community Grand Jury Response 2001 Report May 29, 2002 The areas where records are kept lack the security to prevent possible theft

Related Recommendations (1)

The City should review and implement Local Government Records Management Guidelines issued by the Secretary of State. As suggested in the report, the City Clerk downloaded the document from the Secretary of State web-site and is in the process of reviewing it. We will attempt to implement portions that are applicable to our planning process but we will not implement those portions that are unreasonable for our City due to space, fiscal or personnel limitations. When the Grand Jury provides funding, we will implement new Records Management Guidelines.

or unauthorized access. In addition, these areas do not provide adequate protection from possible fire or water damage if the fire protection sprinklers in the ceiling are activated. We agree that the records could be damaged should the fire sprinkler system be activated. The City Hall was extensively remodeled and fire sprinklers were installed at the time of remodeling. The fire sprinklers being in proximity of the records was questioned at the time and we were informed that due to fire code, they would be required to be installed as they are. The Planning Department does not maintain a backup system of its records

Related Recommendations (1)

Address the lack of adequate records security. The City Clerk met with the Director of Public Works to review this matter. We have discussed several options: 1) locks on existing planning files, 2) moving the files to a locked room. We have ordered locking file cabinets for the Planning Files. The City Clerk and two other designated employees (office clerks) will have keys. People wishing to check out files will be required to complete a request form and the files will be retrieved and refiled by the above- referenced employees only.

to prevent disruption of business due to any incident that could cause a loss of records. We agree with this finding. The manner in which historical records are stored leaves them vulnerable to

Related Recommendations (1)

The City should implement and maintain a backup system to protect records and archives. The backup of records should be kept in a secure off-site location. This recommendation requires further analysis. The City Manager and City Clerk have been working with the County MIS department to enter into an agreement for computer support and assistance. With this support, it may be possible for us to keep a scanned copy of all files stored on the County system. At this time we are waiting for the County to complete their study of our system and to advise us of the next step. We anticipate a response by mid-June. At that time we will review the feasibility of this recommendation and decide whether to implement it or not depending on the County's response. 24. 14. 14. 14. 14. 14. 14. 14. 14. 14. CITY OF NEVADA CITY CALIFORNIA BICENTENNI! Nevada City A Bicentennial Community Grand Jury Response 2001 Report May 29, 2002

loss or damage. We agree partially with this finding. They are vulnerable to damage from the sprinkler system or fire, should it occur. Response to Recommendations

Related Recommendations (1)

Better protection and preservation of historical records is necessary. We agree with this recommendation and have already implemented a portion of it. Historical preservation has always been important to the City. Several years ago we investigated the costs of photo-reproductions of the City minute books to reduce the wear and tear on these historic documents as requests come in to review them. At the time this process was not very effective and cost-prohibitive. We will contact the State Chief Archivist as recommended and review new methods to accomplish this task. This item will be discussed with the Finance Committee during our budgeting process and we will look at budgeting funding to complete portions of the reproduction process each year. Additionally, we have our historic Assessment Books and other historic material locked in a concrete room. Waterproof coverings protect the documents since the room has fire sprinklers. The Minute Books are locked in a cabinet and we are exploring ideas for constructing a fireproof vault for them.

Additional Recommendations 3

These recommendations are not explicitly linked to specific findings.

R6

Grant money and historical support are available and should be pursued by contacting the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. We are not aware of any grant money at this time but will continue to review the websites and we will pursue grant money and support as it becomes available.
R7

Grand Jury members visited the Town of Truckee to review its records management system, which meets state guidelines. The Grand Jury recommends that the City Manager and the City Clerk visit the Town of Truckee to review this system with appropriate officials. We will not implement the records management system of the Town of Truckee. The City is currently in the process of hiring a new City Manager. The City Clerk will discuss this item with the new City Manager after the position is filled. While we commend the Grand Jury for their thorough review and visit to the Town of Truckee, it should be noted that it is a fairly new City with the advantage of setting up a new records management system. Nevada City, on the other hand, is one hundred fifty years old and our records system is a combination of old and new. We are in the process of converting our system as time and money permit. -- CITY HALL • 317 BROAD STREET 0 5 5 NEVADA CITY, CA 95959 • (530) 265-2496 Welfe Teople Centennial CITY OF NEVADA CITY CALIFORNIA A Bicentennial Community Grand Jury Response 2001 Report May 29, 2002 As noted previously, City of Nevada City never received a copy of your report. We appreciate the notification that we could access it on a web-site but that web-site was changed and we had difficulty accessing a copy of this year's report. The only copy we have currently is a two-page section faxed to us by The Union. Additionally, we are sure many of our older citizens do not have access to the Internet. Therefore, we would like to suggest that you continue to publish a copy of the Final Report in The Union or make copies available by other means. With all the hard work that goes into this report, it would be a shame if people were unable to read it. Again, we would like to thank you for your review and suggestions. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us. Sincerely, Beryl P. Robinson, Jr. Cathy Wilcox-Barnes City Manager City Clerk Zilliam- City Planner City Engineer
R24

14. 14. 14. 14. 14. 14. 14. 14. 14. CITY OF NEVADA CITY CALIFORNIA BICENTENNI! Nevada City A Bicentennial Community Grand Jury Response 2001 Report May 29, 2002 Recommendation 5. Better protection and preservation of historical records is necessary. We agree with this recommendation and have already implemented a portion of it. Historical preservation has always been important to the City. Several years ago we investigated the costs of photo-reproductions of the City minute books to reduce the wear and tear on these historic documents as requests come in to review them. At the time this process was not very effective and cost-prohibitive. We will contact the State Chief Archivist as recommended and review new methods to accomplish this task. This item will be discussed with the Finance Committee during our budgeting process and we will look at budgeting funding to complete portions of the reproduction process each year. Additionally, we have our historic Assessment Books and other historic material locked in a concrete room. Waterproof coverings protect the documents since the room has fire sprinklers. The Minute Books are locked in a cabinet and we are exploring ideas for constructing a fireproof vault for them. Recommendation 6. Grant money and historical support are available and should be pursued by contacting the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. We are not aware of any grant money at this time but will continue to review the websites and we will pursue grant money and support as it becomes available. Recommendation 7. Grand Jury members visited the Town of Truckee to review its records management system, which meets state guidelines. The Grand Jury recommends that the City Manager and the City Clerk visit the Town of Truckee to review this system with appropriate officials. We will not implement the records management system of the Town of Truckee. The City is currently in the process of hiring a new City Manager. The City Clerk will discuss this item with the new City Manager after the position is filled. While we commend the Grand Jury for their thorough review and visit to the Town of Truckee, it should be noted that it is a fairly new City with the advantage of setting up a new records management system. Nevada City, on the other hand, is one hundred fifty years old and our records system is a combination of old and new. We are in the process of converting our system as time and money permit. -- CITY HALL • 317 BROAD STREET 0 5 5 NEVADA CITY, CA 95959 • (530) 265-2496 Welfe Teople Centennial CITY OF NEVADA CITY CALIFORNIA A Bicentennial Community Grand Jury Response 2001 Report May 29, 2002 As noted previously, City of Nevada City never received a copy of your report. We appreciate the notification that we could access it on a web-site but that web-site was changed and we had difficulty accessing a copy of this year's report. The only copy we have currently is a two-page section faxed to us by The Union. Additionally, we are sure many of our older citizens do not have access to the Internet. Therefore, we would like to suggest that you continue to publish a copy of the Final Report in The Union or make copies available by other means. With all the hard work that goes into this report, it would be a shame if people were unable to read it. Again, we would like to thank you for your review and suggestions. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us. Sincerely, Beryl P. Robinson, Jr. Cathy Wilcox-Barnes City Manager City Clerk Zilliam- City Planner City Engineer

Conclusions 2

CL1 Page 1

At the time of the investigation, the Grand Jury could find no indication of criminal intent regarding the missing public records.
CL2 Page 1

The city's present records management system is antiquated and does not meet the State's Record Management Guidelines.

No Responses Found 1

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

Nevada City 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.