Logo courtesy of the City of Dixon

DIXON, CA (MPG) - At the Dec. 16 meeting of the Dixon City Council, the approval of eight additional License Plate Recognition (LPR) cameras was considered, at a total year-one cost of $29,200. 

Vice Mayor Thom Bogue questioned the justification for adding these cameras, and Police Chief Robert Thompson explained the city currently has 12 of these cameras covering six locations. As the department has been using the system, they’ve identified gaps in coverage that could be solved by adding cameras to four new locations. 

Chief Thompson called the cameras “transformational technology” that help investigate incidents more quickly and efficiently, so the gaps are “impairing investigations.”

Chief Thompson said the cameras are tied to a regional network, so the information is shared in real-time among neighboring jurisdictions, which is an invaluable resource. 

The council voted unanimously to approve the purchase. 

A public hearing was held to place a real property lien for delinquent transient occupancy taxes on the Motel 6 operating at 1480 Ary Lane. 

Finance Director Kate Zawadzki said the property owner has been notified numerous times of the past-due amounts and of this public hearing. The total proposed lien is $242,931.88, which includes past due taxes from the last two years, as well as penalties for non-payment. 

The council voted unanimously to approve the lien, which will be filed with Solano County Recorder’s Office.  

Public Works Director Louren Kotow presented an update on the city’s on-demand transit service, Readi-Ride. Seniors receive a reduced rate of $2.25 per fare, and residents over 80 years old receive free rides under the Golden Pass program. 

Program operations are funded through a $1 million grant, and to remain eligible, the city needs to show that 10 percent of fares are recovered toward operations.

Kotow said the number of Golden Pass rides are outpacing regular ridership, with the city recovering approximately 8 percent of fares. 

The recovery cost requirement has been waived in recent years during the pandemic recovery period, but Kotow said the rule could be imposed at any time. 

Possible options include either limiting the number of Golden Pass rides per person per month, or allocating general funds to subsidize the program, at approximately $5,600 per year.

A subsidy would ensure the program can continue as-is, without risk of losing the grant funding. 

Council directed staff to draft a budget amendment for $7,000 to subsidize the program. 

Councilmember Johnson had previously requested an update about the status of Hexavalent Chromium, or Chrome 6, compliance issues in the city. The update was presented by Water Operations Supervisor Josh Hudson, who explained that Chrome 6 is a heavy metal, which can be naturally occurring and is toxic in high concentrations. The federal maximum contaminant level (MCL) is 100 parts per billion (ppb) of total chromium. 

California previously had a 50 ppb MCL, but recently changed it to 10 ppb. This change puts the city’s water system in violation, at a range of 16-27 ppb. The city has a three-year deadline to get the water system below that level, due Oct. 1, 2027. 

The city has submitted a compliance plan to the state for review. Compliance options include water treatments and drilling deeper wells, all of which will be costly undertakings. 

The city is part of a lawsuit against the state for imposing this unfunded mandate. A hearing on the merits of the case is scheduled for Jan. 21, 2026. 

Councilmember Johnson said this mandate will result in a significant increase for ratepayers.

The council considered a potential ordinance establishing a residential permit parking zone on North 4th St., between East A St. and East C St., adjacent to John Knight Middle School. 

Many homes in that neighborhood only have street parking available, which was frequently taken up by staff from the middle school, despite requests by the school and the city for staff to park in their designated parking lot.

Residents were frequently inconvenienced, particularly those with medical or mobility issues, as well as when attempting to receive services or deliveries. 

The council previously approved temporary signs designating the area as a residential parking zone. But without an official ordinance in place, the police department has no enforcement ability. 

Establishing a residential parking zone with permits for residents would allow for enforcement, including fines and potentially even towing unauthorized vehicles. 

However, the police department expressed concerns with such an ordinance, stating that it would impose administrative and regulatory obligations on the department that they don’t have the staffing or resources to support.

In addition, the police department stated that a parking management program is not a public safety function, and the operation of such a program would divert officers away from their essential patrol and investigative duties. 

Staff said the temporary signage had improved the issue, and the school superintendent recently reminded staff not to park on the street, so the problem was mostly resolved.  

Vice Mayor Thom Bogue, who has long been a proponent of an enforceable residential parking zone at this location, said that while there has been recent voluntary compliance, the problem just moved to another neighborhood down the road. 

Councilmember Jim Ernest said that the city doesn’t have enough funding and staffing to implement this kind of program for the houses on just one street. And he cautioned that if they did establish residential parking here, many other neighborhoods throughout the city would start requesting the same.

Councilmembers Kevin Johnson and Don Hendershot agreed that the ordinance was probably not the right solution. 

Vice Mayor Bogue accused the rest of the council of “flipflopping” now that staff said the ordinance would be too difficult to implement. He motioned approval of the ordinance, which failed 1-4, with only his vote in support. 

Councilmember Ernest said he would support installing permanent signage on the street to encourage continued voluntary compliance.  

The next meeting of the Dixon City Council is scheduled for January 6, 2026.