DIXON, CA (MPG) - During the Dixon City Council meeting on July 1, City Manager Jim Lindley requested to remove the item regarding National Night Out, typically held each August. 

“We found that participation, because of the time of year, in National Night Out is declining,” Lindley said.

Across Solano County, the first Tuesday in October is being redesignated as National Night Out, “so that it’s cooler and more people would participate,” Lindley said. 

The council agreed to have the item brought back at a future meeting with the revised date. 

During general public comments, a Dixon resident shared some safety concerns he noticed at the recent Grillin-n-Chillin event. He “enjoyed the event” but was worried about improperly-secured signs and exposed grills that could pose safety hazards to the public. 

Mayor Steven Bird said the city could pass the concerns on to the event organizers. 

Vice-Mayor Thom Bogue said each vendor undergoes inspections by the health department and the fire department, and Dixon Action Team organizes the event if the resident wanted to contact them directly. 

Another resident asked the city to ensure that leasing agencies better explain rental applications to low-income seniors. The resident said she lives in the Silvey Villas at Homestead, which is for low- or very low-income seniors, and she has been there three months and already been subjected to an 8.8% rental increase. 

Bird asked her to give her information to the city clerk so staff could follow up. 

The council then considered the annual placement of delinquent sewer accounts on the Solano County property tax roll for collection. 

Finance Director Kate Zawadzki said the account holders have received numerous written notices, as well as a phone call, to inform them of their overdue amounts and the date of this public hearing. There were 81 delinquent accounts with a collective outstanding total of $54,807.

When the county adds these accounts to the property tax roll, Zawadzki said, the city is reimbursed for the full amount due. The city then applies that funding as revenue to the city sewer fund. 

There were no public comments and the council voted unanimously to send the delinquent accounts to the county tax roll. 

Next, the council considered placing a delinquent weed abatement account on the county tax roll for collection through the same process. 

Zawadzki said there is one property, located near South 1st Street and Heritage Lane, where the city had to perform weed abatement at a cost of $1,356. Monthly invoices were sent to the property owner but the account remains unpaid. The city has performed weed abatement at this residence for the past three years and this would be the third year the account has been sent to the county tax roll. 

The council voted unanimously to send the account to the county for collection. 

Delinquent accounts for Dixon Recology’s waste services were also considered for collection by the county. There were 255 delinquent accounts with a collective overdue amount of $86,000.

Nine official notices were sent to the account holders by the time of the public hearing and Recology representatives explained that reimbursement of these costs reduces lost revenue for the company and allows rates to be kept low for the rest of their customers. 

Councilmember Kevin Johnson said some of the accounts only owed $109 and he suggested there should be a higher threshold for sending accounts to the county for collection. 

Bogue said the process is intended to keep rates low and asked what the threshold should be. 

A Recology representative said the current threshold is $25 overdue. She added that current overdue accounts are from the period of April 2024 through March 2025, so they are not new charges. 

In the future, Johnson said, they should reconsider the minimum threshold. 

The council voted unanimously to send the Recology accounts to the county. 

Bird announced his recommended appointments to commission and committee vacancies. Three vacancies on the Transportation Advisory Committee will be filled by Gabriel Ripley, Kylie McElwain and Brian Stephens. Their terms will run from July 2025 to June 2029.

There were five vacancies on the Parks and Recreation Commission, and Mayor Bird appointed DeAnna Cabrera and Kyle Esquer to serve terms from July 2025 to June 2027. Mary Taylor and Shannon Ripple will serve from July 2025 to June 2026, in addition to the student representative Tyler Collins. 

Johnson thanked all the applicants for applying and thanked the new appointees for taking the time to serve on these boards. The council unanimously approved all the appointments. 

City staff requested approval of a new job classification and salary schedule for a construction project manager. Additionally, they requested that a current employee working as a junior engineer be reclassified to take on the position of construction project manager. 

Human Resources Director Rachel Ancheta said that with the increased growth and development within Dixon, there is a need for dedicated staff to manage construction and inspections to ensure the work meets city standards. 

Ancheta said the current employee has already been taking on many of the responsibilities of a construction project manager and he meets the required qualifications for the position. 

The council voted unanimously to approve the new position and the employee reclassification.  

The council also considered a new lease agreement with Robben Ranch for 116 acres of city-owned land on Pedrick Road. 

That portion of land is part of the city’s wastewater treatment plant, which includes headworks, treatment ponds, evaporation basins and irrigation fields. The 116 acres are unused irrigation fields that have been leased to Robben Ranch for agricultural use since 2013. 

The current agreement is expiring, and city staff recommended a new lease agreement that would allow for an extension every two years, at the discretion of the City Council. The rent can also be updated at those two-year extensions. 

For now, the existing contract terms were proposed to continue unchanged, at $60 per acre for 110 acres, with the six remaining acres used as an un-farmed buffer zone. The annual revenue paid to the city through this agreement is $6,606. The agreement also saves the city money, since the ranch handles all the property maintenance.   

The council voted unanimously to approve the new lease agreement. 

The next Dixon City Council meeting is scheduled for July 15.