Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

New SWB Contract To Be Negotiated

Gurdon Mayor Rick Smith was given the authority to negotiate a contract with Southwestern Bell Telephone concerning a piece of property the city wants for its rural water project.

The property is located near a cemetery on Red Springs Road. Smith told the council, during its regular monthly meeting Monday night, a tentative offer of $3,500 has been made to SWB for the land. The property is already graveled, fenced and has a building where a pump could be installed.

Smith said the land is also at an elevation conducive for the project.

The offer to SWB was made through the Summerford Engineering Firm.

City Attorney Eric Hughes had not had time to review the contract at the time of the meeting, which is why Smith asked for the authority to handle the negotiations. "Time," he said, "is of the essence."

Should the deal go through, the land would be utilized for the parent part of the rural water project. The first phase of the project, getting water and sewer service to the new Gurdon High School, has been completed.

Two items were discusses concerning the street department.

Smith said he had been approached by the mayor of Whelen Springs about helping the city erect signs for the county's new 911 emergency telephone system.

Art Cooper, Whelen's mayor, asked the City of Gurdon to bring a backhoe to Whelen to help install street signs for 911.

Smith said Whelen Springs only has 24 signs to be installed.

Gurdon Street Superintendent Jim Caldwell said it would take longer to get a backhoe to Whelen than it would to put the signs in. He said the signs could be in place in half-a-day.

However, Smith said Gurdon doesn't have a trailer to transport its backhoe on. He told the council Cooper informed him he had access to a trailer.

Smith expressed his reservations and said it would be more appropriate for Clark County to help Whelen than for Gurdon to do it.

Smith asked the council if it wanted to wait and see what the county said before deciding.

Councilman David Williams said he preferred not to do it at all and made a motion to that effect. The rest of the council agreed, and Whelen must now find another method of getting its 911 signs put in place.

The other item of business for the street department concerned hiring a replacement for Jim Caldwell, who was moved up from operator status to superintendent.

Smith said there is an employee who shows the potential for being a good equipment operator and could do the job with some training already on staff.

He said it has always been his policy to hire from within whenever possible, and this was such a case.

Caldwell said the employee, Tom McNab, is a good prospect as equipment operator. He said McNab can do what needs to be done on a backhoe now in most cases, and would catch on quickly on the grader.

Additionally, McNab has his commercial driver's license and acts as the city's truck driver.

Caldwell said McNab is careful with the machinery and in working around people.

Smith recommended moving McNab up to the equipment operator's slot as a training position until he is more proficient with the machinery. He will be getting a raise from $7.20 per hour to an even $8 per hour as a trainee.

The council agreed, and now the city will accept applications for McNab's former position.

Smith said the city's personnel policy committee needs to work and establish pay grades for each classification.

In other business, members of the cemetery commission told the council there has been vandalism in the city's cemetery (which is not in the city limits) as tombstones are being overturned.

L.C. Newton said five stones were turned over, with those stones costing between $8,000 and $10,000.

He said the stones can be repaired, but something needs to be done to prevent this vandalism.

Gurdon City Marshal David Childres said vandalizing a cemetery is a felony offense which carries jail time for the offenders.

According to Newton, the stones can be replaced with a backhoe, if the equipment can be brought in without damaging other graves.

Caldwell agreed the street department could do it, but wasn't sure if he could get a backhoe in the cemetery. "We'll look at it though," he said.

Newton asked the city if it could post a $500 reward for the arrest and conviction of anyone caught vandalizing the cemetery.

Smith said the commission has the authority to erect a gate or fence to keep people out of the cemetery after dark.

Childres said the Gurdon Police Department would accept the responsibility of locking the cemetery at dusk and unlocking it again in the mornings.

It was decided to put a chain across the entrance to keep people from driving into the graveyard after the sun goes down.

Tambra Smith, city recorder/treasurer, updated the council on the status of grants she has applied for to help improve the city's park (which is also outside the city limits).

She said the results won't be known until later this week. However, Smith said she and Mary Burns were able to raise about $7,500 in matching funds and are about $1,500 short of the total goal.

Smith said she has contacted the Cabe Foundation about this final $1,500 and was told it "looks promising." This, she informed the council, will mean 100 percent of matching funds will be raised with cash and in-kind services and updating the park won't cost the city a dime.

Burns, who was recently hired by the city on a part-time basis to do research for annexation, updated the council in her work.

She said it's going faster than anyone thought, as Charles Summerford has contacted Pioneer Abstract and should have a list of people who will be affected by the proposed annexation by next week.

Once this list is obtained, Burns said the people can be polled as to their thoughts on being annexed into the City of Gurdon.

The mayor provided the council, and members of the audience, with a tax cost comparison for those who would be affected by the annexation.

He said the highest property tax increase would be $117.50 per year, while the lowest jump would be $6.43 annually.

Those affected by the annexation would be paying another 5.4 mill on their annual property taxes, but would also receive all city services, including police and fire protection.

According to Smith, most of the property involved is in the $40,000 to $50,000 range, which would mean the property tax would be an extra $50 per year.

The majority of these taxes would go to the school as well.

A burn ordinance was introduced during the meeting, and was approved for a first reading. However, it must be passed in three straight readings before becoming a new law in Gurdon.

The ordinance specif