Dogwood Road repaving and Aten Boulevard sidewalks OK’d
IMPERIAL — The City Council here granted Aggregate Products, Inc. a contract for Dogwood Road pavement rehabilitation at its regular meeting Wednesday.
But first, the council had to rescind action on an Oct. 18 vote that failed to pass the measure. After deliberation, Mayor Pro Tem Geoff Dale requested the council provide further consideration. A second vote passed the measure 4 to 1, with Councilman Darrell Pechtl opposed.
Pechtl remarked the project benefits Imperial County much more than the city of Imperial, despite the county providing approximately $260,000 of the total project cost, while the city makes up the difference from their LTA measure with $36,000. We gave the county four choices and they picked the one that benefits the county the most,” said Pechtl. “I cast a protest vote because I think there are other streets where residents get much more of a benefit for the resources but we weren’t given that opportunity.”
The council then unanimously approved awarding Pyramid Construction & Aggregates, Inc. a contract of $196,833 for sidewalks along Aten Boulevard from La Brucherie Road to Old State Route 86. Mayor James Tucker recused himself as he owns property in the area.
“We’re trying to build a walk-around community where people feel safe and that corridor is growing and we want residents to feel secure all over the community,” Pechtl said.
Kris Haugh, a retired resident, expressed appreciation for the Dogwood Road rehab as he relies upon it to get to Imperial Valley Mall, but he does not often frequent that route. He said he would have preferred repaving of Aten Road from Austin to La Brucherie roads because it has greater traffic and is more torn up. He also favors new sidewalk installation.
“It’s good for public safety and will keep pedestrians and joggers out of traffic,” said Haugh.
In other business, the council concluded a memorandum of understanding between the city and the unrepresented employees who include managerial and department heads such as community and public service directors, the library director and police sergeants.
The MOU offers a 3 percent cost of living adjustment for the 2017/2018 fiscal year, retroactive to July 1. It also will offer 100 percent medical coverage for employees, but they must add on dental/vision care if they want that coverage. Employees’ dependents receive 50 percent coverage.
“It would be nice if we could offer dependents full coverage because I think 50 percent is a bit low, especially for a sole provider,” said Pechtl. “We want our employees fit and reporting for work. But the MOU shows our employees’ health is important to the city.”
The council also passed by a 3 to 2 vote to reclassify the position of executive assistant to City Manager Stefan Chatwin, currently held by Alexis Chalupnik. Her new job classification is management analyst and will comprise — along with clerical and public information responsibilities — special projects requiring cost analysis, grant writing and other duties. Chatwin remarked it had been a case of “mission creep,” where Chalupnik worked far beyond what an executive assistant would do. “Now that it’s official we’ll review Alexis’ pay scale and adjust it, but it will be no more than additional $3,000 for the fiscal year,” he said. “I justify this because if we didn’t do this, we would have to engage more personnel, shuffle present staff schedules and it would cost the city a lot more money.”