Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

City Hall Getting Facelift

By JOHN MILLER

Gurdon's City Hall will be getting a face lift in the near future.

The city's mayor, Rick Smith, dropped a bombshell on the city council Monday night, during its regular monthly meeting, by saying the Cabe Foundation has approved a $200,000 grant to renovate city hall.

Smith informed the council no city funds were spent on the project, which included hiring an architect to draw up preliminary designs for the renovations.

He said the city would receive $100,000 later this week, with the remainder coming in July 1997.

The current city hall, he said, is about 20 years old and does need some improvements made. Because of this, he appointed a building committee of local leaders to help with the design.

Smith went into detail as to the proposed changes, both inside and out, but said the ultimate decision on what will be done is up to the council.

Some of the plans include lowering the ceilings inside the meeting area to improve the acoustics; adding a kitchen to the south part of the city hall, including an ice machine; creating a break room for city employees where the existing kitchen is; constructing a new evidence room; installing a holding cell for prisoners; and putting in a bank-like door area for the Gurdon Police Department so people won't be able to roam around city hall during the evening hours.

The $200,000 grant originally included funds for a new heating and air conditioning system, Smith said, but these items have been taken care of through an energy grant from the state, with the help of Rep. Percy Malone.

With Malone's efforts, the city received a grant for more than $29,000 and has had a new heating and air conditioning system installed.

Smith said if construction costs don't rise and the city spends the renovation money wisely, there should be enough left over to purchase new furnishings for the offices and meeting room.

In other business, the council discussed the annexation issue and the upcoming election.

Smith said he had contacted the ISO Commercial Risk Services, Inc., concerning insurance ratings and the new 911 system which is scheduled to go on-line in November.

According to ISO, the City of Gurdon is rated as a class 7 fire department. Areas outside the city are class 10.

The company said it has no classification for Beirne and those properties protected by the Beirne VFD are currently a class 10.

Patrick Clifford, director of CRS, informed Smith the property classification is based on the first alarm response fire department, meaning where the calls normally first go when there is a fire.

According to the 911 design, the old five-mile radius of fire protection will no longer exist for which department will respond first. Instead, fire protection zones have been created.

For those residents along the east side of Highway 67, including the new Gurdon High School, the Beirne VFD will be considered the first response department.

Those living on the other side of the highway will remain under the protection of the Gurdon Fire Department.

This will result in higher insurance policies for those on the east side of Hwy. 67 as insurance companies base their rates on ISO ratings.

In some cases, a homeowners fire insurance rate can almost double because of the ISO rating going from a 7 to a 10.

Smith said all property owners who will be affected need to contact their insurance carriers to see exactly what will happen.

He also told the council he had drafted a letter which could be sent to all involved explaining the situation and wanted the council's opinion on what should be done.

Roy Quinney and David Williams voiced their opposition to mailing the letters, saying the residents in the proposed annexation area will perceive it as the city trying to change their minds, and the information presented will be one-sided.

The council said the city needs to stay away from anything that could be construed as campaigning, admitting those who will be affected wouldn't pay any attention to the letter anyway.

Smith said those residents will be paying out more money regardless of the outcome of the election. Should the annexation pass, they will pay the city's 5 mill tax, and if it fails, there will be higher insurance rates.

Williams said anyone wanting a copy of the letter could come and pick one up at city hall.

In a 4-1 vote, the council agreed to publish Smith's letter to the ISO and the company's response in the local paper.

Smith thanked Austin Capps for purchasing a new pickup for the GFD at no cost to the city.

The council agreed this vehicle will be used by the fire chief, Jake McBride, for official use only and can be driven between his home and business.

Members of the GFD have been working installing sirens, lights, striping and decals to the new vehicle.

Other fire department news concerned an Office of Emergency Services radio class Oct. 21 at 6:30 p.m.

The council agreed to make this a mandatory class for all firemen with the department so they will be familiar with the operations of emergency radio situations.

In addition, the council agreed to abide with the decision of the city's personnel committee on hiring two new firefighters, instead of having to come back and decide in the November meeting.

Gurdon police officers will be sporting new uniforms in the near future. The council agreed to purchase new black uniforms for all officers.

Smith said he and City Marshal David Childres talked about this and agreed it would be mandatory for officers to wear the uniforms.

The street department had its work cut out for it during the recent city-wide cleanup as almost 150 residents took advantage of the trash pickup.

On average, Jim Caldwell, street superintendent, said, each call resulted in two to five loads of refuse to be hauled off.

He said the county hauled between 20 and 25 loads to its class IV landfill, with the city picking up 12 to 14 loads of white items (such as refrigerators, stoves, washers and driers).

Because of an accident involving a street truck and a private vehicle at Second and Main, Smith suggested looking into getting a four- way stop sign placed at this intersection.

Not only would a stop sign serve as a speed break at this location, he said, but could help downtown businesses as people traveling through may look around and see what's there while stopped.

In addition, this is a dangerously blind intersection when trucks are unloading at the corner businesses. A stop sign, Smith reasoned, will make it easier for motorists to see one another, thereby preventing accidents.

Mary Burns presented the airport commission report, saying the commission is finished with its current phase of renovation work and is ready to submit receipts for reimbursement.

However, she said the runway won't be paved in time