City passes Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Road Report

ATASCADERO—The Atascadero City Council met for their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 10, at 6 p.m. The meeting was held virtually due to road conditions created by the Jan. 9 and 10 storm. 

At the beginning of the meeting, City Clerk Lara Christensen requested to add an item to the evening’s agenda.

“I did consult with our city attorney in the addition of an item, and government code does allow the City Council to take action on items that are not posted on the agenda,” Christensen said. “But in order to do that, the council needs to make a motion that one determines an emergency situation exists and adds the item to the agenda.”

According to government code section 549564A1, this defines an emergency as a work stoppage, a crippling activity, or other activity that severely impairs public health, safety, or both, as determined by the majority of the legislative body. 

She also stated that due to the storms earlier this week, the city manager, as the director of emergency services, made a proclamation declaring the existence of a local emergency on Monday, Jan. 9. In order to continue the local emergency, the City Council must ratify it within seven days. Due to not being able to hold a special meeting prior to the night’s City Council meeting, the City Council was asked to make a motion that an emergency situation does exist and to add the item to the agenda. 

The motion passed, and then the agenda was modified and passed unanimously.

The Consent Calendar was then passed unanimously as well.

During Updates from the City Manager, Rachelle Rickard gave an update on the storm and stated that they are trying to keep open as many roads as they can but that drivers should be aware that there is a lot of debris, rocks, water, and more in the driver’s right of way. She added that when a barricade states that a road is closed that the public adheres to those signs.

The council was then presented with the Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Road Report. Administrative Services Director Jeri Rangal and Public Work Director Nick DeBar gave the presentation. 

DeBar featured the brochure that they send out to every resident of Atascadero, which summarizes the annual report and provides background information on measure F14 and what’s coming up in 2023.

“We’ve worked on 45 miles of road so far,” stated DeBar. “Nearly 14 million dollars in neighborhood road repairs and improvements completed. We’ve resurfaced or rehabilitated 42 miles of road completed.”

The council was recommended to approve the Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Road Report and approve the 2022 Community Road Report that will be mailed out to all the properties in town. 

The motion passed unanimously. 

The added Emergency Declaration due to the storms this year was then thoroughly discussed. The motion to ratify the City Manager’s Emergency Declaration passed unanimously. 

The next Atascadero City Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 24, at 6 p.m.