Golden Hill and Union Road roundabout is expected to start construction Summer 2022
PASO ROBLES—Paso Robles City Council met for a regular meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 18. The City has returned to hybrid public meetings allowing the public to attend the meeting in person or participate remotely.
A Capital Projects Update report was presented to Council.
New LED scoreboards were installed at the Barney Swartz softball fields. Additionally, the softball fields were regrated, irrigation was fixed, among other maintenance repairs. The Uptown Family Park restroom roof has also been repaired.
In progress projects out to big included Fire Station 3 on Union Road. Council will award the bid during the Feb. 15 City Council meeting. The project is estimated to take 350 days to complete.
Creston Road was finally approved to receive funds from the California Transportation Commission for repairs and sidewalks. Construction is expected to start in Summer 2023 and will be on East Capitol Hill Drive to Trigo Lane and Trigo Lane to Rolling Hills Road. A visual simulation was shown for a future 24th Street Bridge. The bridge will be built next to the current one, and once construction is complete, the old bridge will be torn down. Construction for the bridge is expected to begin in 2024-2025.
The roundabout approved for the intersection at Union and Golden Hill Road is out to bid. If all goes well with the bids, the hope is to finish the project by the end of 2022.
During public comment, Council heard many concerns from the community over safety issues on the softball fields at Barney Swartz park. Much of the concerns had to do with the sand base (rather than using clay) on the fields, saying they cause the balls to pop up into faces and holes in the ground causing unsafe playing conditions. Public also asked for the concession stand to remain open regularly rather than the food truck system that is currently in place.
Councilman John Hamon asked staff to come back to Council with the current soil mix ingredients and look into updating their soil base on the baseball fields. Council also requested for softball field maintenance to be added to a future meeting agenda.
The Council received an update on the proposed Spaceport. On August 3rd, the Paso Robles City Council unanimously voted to submit pre-application information to the FAA for a Spaceport license for the Paso Robles Airport and to continue evaluating the Spaceport license opportunity with the Airport Commission. Staff will give a more detailed report to City Council in February.
Matt Thompson, Wastewater Resources Manager and Interim Solid Waste Coordinator, presented an amendment to Paso Waste & Recycle (PRW) agreement to 2032.
This is a five-year extension to the existing franchise agreement with PRW that expires in 2027. PRW provides residents with solid waste pickup, curbside recycling, and management of organic waste as required by state regulations in Senate Bill 1383. PRW will submit a financial plan to the City by July of 2022 that will outline costs for an anaerobic digester for converting organic waste to renewable gas and compost for local use. If a new anaerobic digester is authorized by City Council a new rate study will be necessary and subsequently presented to City Council by December 31, 2022. PRW will apply to the state’s $200 million grant program to help pay for the anaerobic digester.
Councilman Steve Gregory made a motion to approve the proposed resolution, which Councilman Fred Strong seconded. The motion passed 4-1 with Councilwoman Maria Garcia voting no. She wanted to open the agreement to other waste management businesses to apply to the position.
City Manager Ty Lewis reminded Council that any remaining parklets will be removed by Feb. 1. Additionally, a slideshow was played in remembrance for long time Paso Robles Volunteer Bill Pluma. Pluma passed away on Dec. 21, 2021. Mayor Martin then closed the meeting in his honor.
The next City Council regular meeting is Tuesday, Feb. 1 at 6:30 p.m.
