Construction slated for Highway 162

Discussion of food truck `village' heard by the City Council

OROVILLE >> Traffic jams are part of any healthy, growing city.

Among several items, the Oroville City Council approved up to $7.25 million Tuesday for a bid to construct sidewalks and bicycle improvements this year along Highway 162 from the Feather River to Foothill Boulevard.

“For most of us here, this is the first time we're going to see curb, gutter, sidewalk down south side Oroville Dam Boulevard,” said Mayor David Pittman. “That's a big deal; it hasn't happened in a long time.”

Construction is scheduled to begin late spring or early summer this year, according to Public Works Director Fred Mayo. City staff anticipate congestion for drivers to start then.

“There's going to be a lot of construction for the next two summers … it will be disruptive,” City Administrator Brian Ring said.

Mayo said the project, called the Highway 162 Pedestrian Mobility and Safety Improvement Project, stems back to 2015 and its design was finalized in 2023. The bid was awarded to Lamor Construction Inc. at $6,299,330 with a contingency of about 15% for any unanticipated costs.

Once the city is finished with sidewalk and gutter improvements, Caltrans is scheduled to begin construction of its share of the Highway 162 project with a full road replacement including new street lights and road striping.

“It's going to be a huge improvement for the mobility for citizens in Oroville,” Mayo said.

A new city corporation yard has been finalized for purchase, evidently outgrowing multiple facilities used throughout the city. The facility is at 655 Cal Oak, costing about $2,754,897, with additional improvement work of about $2,016,000.

Development bonds

The council approved an agreement to participate in bond programs available to developers whose projects are not large enough to warrant bonds on their own. The programs are with the Statewide Community Infrastructure Program and Bond Opportunities for Land Development

Community Development Director Patrick Piatt said market rate housing developers expressed interest to participate in the programs.

“The interest on these bonds is much lower than it would be if they went to a traditional lender,” Piatt said.

Vice Mayor Eric Smith said he was interested to see if the program would make Oroville more competitive to developers.

“The interest that the developers have been showing; it's strong,” Piatt said. “I feel like it does give us a competitive advantage.”

Pittman said there are several cities that are participating in the program, and that Oroville isn't the “guinea pig” to participate. Piatt said there are no drawbacks that he is aware of.

Food truck village

An ordinance defining food truck or mobile food vending “villages” for the purpose of proper enforcement of regulations was discussed by the council, which brought concerns about taxes and competition.

Discussion led to councilors suggesting a limit on the number of food trucks along Oroville Dam Boulevard to decrease risk of oversaturation and unfair competition with brick and mortar restaurants.

Rob Rodney, an owner of Taco Bell in Oroville, requested the city should limit the number of food trucks in one area as that may take away business.

“I try to notice what they're serving and most of the time it's tacos,” Rodney said.

Restaurant owner Brian Wong also said he'd be in favor of a limit, saying it would make unfair competition to operators in stores who are looking at upcoming costs as minimum wage rises for food service workers.

Councilor Janet Goodson said she would personally like to see a limit, having constantly seen trucks on Oroville Dam Boulevard, the “gateway” of the city.

City Planner Wes Irvin said there is no planned limitation on the number of food trucks in one area, nor any current restrictions on the number of trucks in the city in general. He said most of the restaurants in competition are along Oroville Dam Boulevard, and suggested limiting trucks in that area.

“The congestion issue on Oro Dam is significant,” Pittman said, adding it's likely the most accident prone road in the city. “We don't want to add congestion to a road we already have congestion on.”

Councilor Scott Thomson said he sees food trucks and brick and mortar restaurants as apples and oranges; that he sees a concern with limiting the number of food trucks because they are often in town for limited time, and sometimes a truck wants to start in Oroville but may not be able to because of a limit.

“Our family both are patrons to Taco Bell, thank you so much and as well we visit mobile food trucks,” Thomson said. “For us it's apples and oranges … for me I'm definitely a free market person.”

The councilors voted to accept the proposed ordinance with amendments to limit food truck villages along the Highway 162 corridor, as well as visit pavement types required for the environment.

Other items

The city's new software for public records requests is now online at https:// cityoforovilleca.nextrequest.com/.

Mayo said six employees in his department have accumulated 120 hours cleaning debris caused by the weekend storm.