DIXON, CA (MPG) - At the Nov. 19 Dixon City Council meeting, Dixon Police Chief Robert Thompson introduced Police Academy graduate Kevin Guaraldi, who swore the oath of office and officially joined the Dixon Police Department.

City Council welcomed Guaraldi, who said, “I look forward to serving the community and the city.” 

Before the Consent Calendar was approved, a member of the public commented on Item 9.4—a contract with Stantec Consulting Services Inc. for $189,600 for the creation of a Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF) Master Plan, relating to an expansion of the existing Wastewater Treatment Facility. The resident asked why the project wasn’t going out to bid.

“It seems like we use the same people over and over again. Maybe it’s time we look at somebody else to do it. I think we’d at least want to take bids and see what other companies have to offer,” the resident said.

Councilmember Thom Bogue said it would be prudent “to make sure we’re getting the best bang for our tax dollars” and said he would like to see the project go out to bid. 

Dixon City Manager Jim Lindley explained that Stantec “designed the original plan” for the city’s existing Wastewater Treatment Facility.

“They have all the original drawings; they have all the original calculations. I believe it would be more expensive to get a bid from a firm that doesn’t have all that existing information,” said Lindley.   

Councilmember Bogue said that the city should own all that information since they paid Stantec to develop it. But City Manager Lindley said that while the city owns the final plans, it is typical for engineering firms to retain ownership of the proprietary work that the plans are built upon. 

Such contracts should be re-evaluated, Councilmember Bogue said. Councilmember Don Hendershot said he would support a future agenda item to review the bidding process. 

City Council voted unanimously to approve the Consent Calendar, including the Stantec contract. 

The council then heard a preliminary report on the budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023-2024, which ended in June, and for the first quarter of FY 2024-2025. Staff said the city ended FY 2023-2024 with a $1.5 million surplus over what was projected but $0.5 million of that total is actually federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding expected in 2024-2025 but allocated earlier. So, the 2024-2025 budget will need to be reduced by that amount. The remainder of the surplus is due to revenues that were higher than projected and expenses that were lower than projected. 

The preliminary report shows a General Fund ending balance of $16,187,236 for FY 2023-2024, with a 59% reserve level.

City Council voted unanimously to approve the preliminary report and budget adjustments. Staff will present a mid-year budget update report for FY 2024-2025 in March 2025. 

Police Chief Thompson introduced a request for the addition of two over-hire police officer positions to enhance staffing flexibility and address recruitment and training challenges. Thompson said it takes a year and a half for candidates to be ready to serve as full-time officers, with recruitment, background checks, Police Academy enrollment and field training. In that time, they occupy a police officer position in the department but those are positions without an active officer on duty, which limits the service that the community is receiving. And Thompson said sometimes recruits quit or fail during the process, which sets the Police Department back as they have to start all over with a new candidate. 

Chief Thompson said the ability to over-hire would allow the department to hire other qualified candidates who are ready to work as full-time officers, while still investing in sending new recruits to the academy. This way, the department could “hedge our bets,” Thompson said. 

These temporary over-hire positions would be reviewed after 24 months to see if they are still necessary or if staffing at that time is sufficient. Thompson said it’s important for the department to continue supporting new local candidates to go through the academy, because he hopes there will be less attrition if more officers have roots in the community. 

City Council voted unanimously to approve the over-hire positions in the Dixon Police Department. 

The next meeting of the Dixon City Council is scheduled for 7 p.m. Dec. 3.