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City Administrator Keith Anderson said before the February 24 city council meeting that the meeting’s agenda was the longest one he had seen to date.
California Theatre
An email addressing the “Dunsmuir City Council and the people of Dunsmuir” was written by former owner of the California Theatre Steve Naify and read by North Dunsmuir resident and former manager of the California Theatre Bill McIntyre during the public comments section of the meeting. These are portions of the letter:
“I was horrified at the state of degradation the theatre had fallen into. Anyone that looks at the exterior can see that the marquee is badly damaged, and it is. The marquee must be balanced on both sides. The inside of the marquee is hollow, when it snows heavily the marquee fills with snow and ice. The extra snow coupled with the stresses of the imbalance on the marquee if they are not fixed immediately there is a likely probability that the marquee will fall off the wall. This could be fixed by strengthening the attachments to the wall and straightening the marquee.
The more dire and dangerous problem to the general public as well as anyone that enters the theatre are caused by the infestation of pigeons in the theatre... I was shocked to see a population of almost a hundred pigeons living in the building. It seems that the last occupants of the theatre left in a big hurry. They left windows open, some windows were broken out completely and giving the pigeons total access to the building. In the short amount of time I was in the building I saw almost a dozen dead pigeons.
...Pigeon dropping dust is toxic and sometimes fatal if inhaled. Fixing this problem involves more than just cleaning up. A theatre I managed in 1975 had pigeon dust in the marquee tower. I called in an E.P.A approved cleanup crew. The foreman provided the workers with improper masks for pigeon droppings. One on the workers died, and two were permanently disabled due to having inhaled the droppings.
...This council must take immediate action to protect the public. The health department at the very least should be called. An EPA licensed “clean up” company needs to be involved right away. Pace Engineering (or a similar company” should be brought in to assess the integrity if the marquee. If you require my attendance at your next council meeting I will do my best to attend.”
Steve Naify
City Administrator Keith Anderson said before the February 24 city council meeting that the meeting’s agenda was the longest one he had seen to date.
California Theatre
An email addressing the “Dunsmuir City Council and the people of Dunsmuir” was written by former owner of the California Theatre Steve Naify and read by North Dunsmuir resident and former manager of the California Theatre Bill McIntyre during the public comments section of the meeting. These are portions of the letter:
“I was horrified at the state of degradation the theatre had fallen into. Anyone that looks at the exterior can see that the marquee is badly damaged, and it is. The marquee must be balanced on both sides. The inside of the marquee is hollow, when it snows heavily the marquee fills with snow and ice. The extra snow coupled with the stresses of the imbalance on the marquee if they are not fixed immediately there is a likely probability that the marquee will fall off the wall. This could be fixed by strengthening the attachments to the wall and straightening the marquee.
The more dire and dangerous problem to the general public as well as anyone that enters the theatre are caused by the infestation of pigeons in the theatre... I was shocked to see a population of almost a hundred pigeons living in the building. It seems that the last occupants of the theatre left in a big hurry. They left windows open, some windows were broken out completely and giving the pigeons total access to the building. In the short amount of time I was in the building I saw almost a dozen dead pigeons.
...Pigeon dropping dust is toxic and sometimes fatal if inhaled. Fixing this problem involves more than just cleaning up. A theatre I managed in 1975 had pigeon dust in the marquee tower. I called in an E.P.A approved cleanup crew. The foreman provided the workers with improper masks for pigeon droppings. One on the workers died, and two were permanently disabled due to having inhaled the droppings.
...This council must take immediate action to protect the public. The health department at the very least should be called. An EPA licensed “clean up” company needs to be involved right away. Pace Engineering (or a similar company” should be brought in to assess the integrity if the marquee. If you require my attendance at your next council meeting I will do my best to attend.”
Steve Naify
Better Communication with sheriff’s department
Council member James Phelps along with members Peter Arth and Mario Rubino talked about a need for better communication with the Sheriff’s department due to complaints heard from citizens of Dunsmuir, including people that arrive in Phelps’ law office wanting to file a complaint. Arth said he had heard complaints concerning local law enforcement too. “I’m the new kid in town... I hear a lot of complaints (directed toward local law enforcement) a few pats on the back... but a lot of complaints.”
Rubino stated we need “some way of tracking” filed complaints. The process of filing a complaint was briefly discussed. Sergeant Houtman agreed that working toward better communication between the council and the sheriff’s department was a good idea.
Cleaning up after dogs
Anderson apologized to the owner of the Burger Barn for failing to pick up after his dog on her property. He raised plastic bags in the air stating “I’m hoping that others in the communiy will carry these around and use them,” clearly a resolution of his own.
Owner of The Burger Barn Sandy Raine suggested putting dog clean up stations around town, to make the process easier for the public. Stating that it would be relatively inexpensive to do so.
Citizen complaint
A Citizen Complaint addressed to the city of Dunsmuir on 12-19-08 was made. Code Enforcement Officer Tony Congi reported that resident John Freeman had received a complaint about multiple vehicles including a large school bus being parked on his property. The citizen was “tired of looking at it,” said Congi. Helen Cartwright suggested he move the vehicles to a different piece of property which the owner had done before leaving only three vehicles left. Freeman and others in the meeting called for clarification of the ordinance.
Garbage credit at
Elementary School
Superintendent Mike Michelon and a small group of others from Dunsmuir Elementary School were in the Council Chambers. Michelon made the argument that the school deserved $10,000 in credit, not cash, for trash pick up because they had been being billed for years for three pickups per week when they were only receiving two. He said that the bill itself did not state the number of pickups the school was being charged for, therefore it would have been impossible to catch any billing error.
Neither City Hall nor the elementary school had the documents showing the original order. No party claimed to know exactly how the error occurred, but a clerical error was probable.
C.A. Anderson explained that the city pays a flat fee to the garbage company that is a subcontractor to the city, of $8,000 per month. Rubino stated that there was no more money to pay the Elementary School that “that” money was spent.
After some discussion Phelps stated to Michelon that it would have been a lot easier to resolve the situation if he had agreed on a 50-50 compromise for financial responsibility that had been brought up during the meeting. Michelon stated that he was willing to compromise, but that he wouldn’t agree to a 50-50 compromise specifically because he and others with the school didn’t feel they were 50 percent at fault.
End leaf burning?
There will be a question that goes out with the city’s utility bill March 1st to survey public opinion on whether to pass a no leaf burning ordinance.
Some of the arguments community members have posed in favor of leaf burning are: the convenience and tradition of burning leaves, and those with particularly large properties facing an additional difficulty in dealing with the larger quantity of leaves.
Those not in favor of leaf burning cite examples of people within Dunsmuir City limits with asthma and chemical sensitivity that react to the smoke. They also are concerned with the long term health risks for the general population. For many it is also an ethical issue that they see as a matter of taking responsibility for the environment. Composting is thought of as a possible alternative.
To prevent confusion it should be noted that a survey is not a legal vote, and the ordinance would only apply to people that live within city limits, not those South of the cemetery, although they will receive the same question. The vote is meant to only gain information for city government.
