Council approves Fiscal Year 2023 Annual Road Report
ATASCADERO — The Atascadero City Council met for their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 9, at 6 p.m. The hybrid meeting was held in the City Council Chambers. Councilmember Mark Dariz had an excused absence from the meeting.
Both the Agenda for the evening and the Consent Calendar passed unanimously.
During Updates from the City Manager, Jim Lewis reintroduced Atascadero’s new Police Chief Daniel B. Suttles, who officially became the chief on Monday, Jan. 8. He also made it a point to thank Interim Police Chief Joe Allen for answering the call and returning to Atascadero while the city hired Suttles. The council also thanked Allen.
The first Management Report of the evening was the Fiscal Year 2023 Annual Road Report. Public Works Director Nick DeBar and Administrative Services Director Jeri Rangel gave the presentation.
“Council adopted an ordanance in July of 2014 to present this report with part of the adoption of the F14,” Rangel said. “The report includes financial statements, revenue information, and expenditure information. The retailers began collecting this tax in April of 2015, and it does have a 12-year life, so it will sunset or conclude in March of 2027.”
The current revenue earned for the last fiscal year was just under 3.2 million, and the interest income was listed at $39,000. Expenditures in projects in 2023 were 3.4 million.
“So the roads are improving in town. When the measure was passed in 2014, our PCI (pavement condition index) was at 47, and currently, we are trending upward,” DeBar stated. “What we’ve done so far, today we’ve had 52 center line miles of road been paved. This represents 36 percent of all city-maintained roads, not just the F14 neighborhood roads,” DeBar stated.
Eighty neighborhood road segments have also been completed, with over $17 million spent on those road repairs.
City staff will be sending out a flyer about the road repairs to city residents, summarizing the road report. The Annual Road Report and sending the flyer out to the community was approved unanimously.
The second Management Report of the night was a Parks and Recreation Update given by DeBar, Director of Community Services and Promotions Terrie Banish, and special guests Deputy Public Works Director Matt Pigeon and Recreation Supervisor Larisse Lopez.
The update spanned all the way from January and March storms in 2023 through the plans the city has for 2024.
The city has been awarded funds to redo the Paloma Creek Park Parking Lot and will be looking at pathway and trail maintenance.
“We are definitely looking at offering more adult sports, more adult programming,” Lopez said. “We know that our demographic is changing here in town, and there are a lot of adults looking for social outlets.”
At the meeting, city staff was looking for council direction on three items.
- Creating a seating area at the pickleball courts
- Repairing the picnic tables at Atascadero Lake Park
- Repairing the outdoor section of ATown Skate Park
When the item was opened up to public comment, the Kiwanis Club stated that they wanted to help and fundraise to help replace or repair the picnic tables at the Lake Park, which they originally put in.
Bob Brown, the president of the Atascadero Pickleball Club, stated that he would look into getting equipment and labor donated to help with the cost of the proposed seating area at the courts.
Multiple kids from the community stepped up to the dais to speak to the council about ATown Park’s impact on their lives.
All three items will be brought back to the council after city staff uses their direction to put plans together.
The next Atascadero City Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 23, at 6 p.m.
