Annexation of Cutten, consolidation of services, extension of Waterfront Drive all talked up

Staff Report
Humboldt Sentinel

Many community members have a vision for Eureka’s future, but only one is set to have the official City Hall stamp of approval.

‘Strategic Visioning 2011,’ the result of a series of poorly-attended, non-televised community forums held at odd hours of the day this fall in various out-of-the-way locales, seeks to continue the same game plan pursued by top city brass for years.

“The City of Eureka faces multiple, complex challenges, among them are the trends of growing demands for local
services and limited financial resources,” the introduction of the plan states. “The Mayor and City Council are looking to chart a course and create a vision for the future that will ensure our financial viability as well as our standards of living.”

In particular, the extension of Waterfront Drive, despite years of stalwart opposition by environmental groups, state transportation officials and the Coastal Commission, is improbably scheduled to continue it’s snails-pace progress. The long-term prospect of punching a road through protected wetlands from the Bayshore Mall area at south end of Eureka to the north edge of PALCO Marsh at the foot of Del Norte Street looks as bleak as ever; thus, the short term goal in the new plan is to complete a small segment in Old Town linking 1st Street at its intersection with G Street to the north end of Waterfront Drive fronting the Humboldt Bay Aquatic Center and the Adorni Center.

Also high on the talked-about-much, done-about-little list of the past decade is the annexation of suburban areas around Eureka which heavily impact its traffic and public utility systems, especially Cutten. The push for annexation looks to be developing more momentum with the plans of county officials and Green Diamond timber company to turn the eastern fringe of Cutten into a publicly-owned community forest — public, that is, meaning control by the County of Humboldt and not by the City of Eureka.

While staff at the Community Development Department claim that they aren’t currently working on any annexation activity, the plan speaks openly of annexing the three McKay tracts currently proposed for housing and commercial development — and in doing so, creating the pretext for swallowing up all of Cutten.

“[It] would create an undesirable island of Cutten,” the plan states. “Therefore the annexation of Cutten should be considered as part of the McKay tracts annexation.”

Also on deck is an expansion of the city’s Sphere of Influence, the first step towards outright incorporation of new territory, in the Indianola area. This unincorporated suburb in between Arcata and Eureka has faced long-term water issues which would be solved if they could tap into the water main currently running right past them to serve the entire city.

Any proposal for annexation will require a lengthy, and expensive, study process and eventual application to the Local Agency Formation Commission, which is controlled by a representative from the county and ones from each of the local cities. The plan further states that a community outreach scheme would have to result in positive responses from local residents in order to proceed, with these scoping sessions to take place in the later half of 2012, according to a timeline developed by Councilmembers Linda Atkins and Melinda Ciarabellini.

Less controversial elements of the plan include the continued consolidation of fire services between the Eureka Fire Department and Humboldt Fire District No. 1, with a joint Fire Chief and a new joint badge under the moniker of ‘Humboldt Bay Fire’ already implemented. City officials are also looking at the consolidation of dispatch services between the Eureka Police Department and the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office — a move which could improve response times, not to mention the associated cost savings.

Water was thrown on the idea of expanding the city’s role in encouraging local preferences for the expenditure of Eureka’s tax dollars. The current policy of granting a 5% preference to local firms in the purchase of materials, supplies and equipment is set to be evaluated, with expansion of this rule to construction contracting appearing unlikely.

“Initial review of the complex legal and geopolitical issues associated with implementing a local preference in contracting policy have led to the conclusion that the benefits of such a policy in Eureka would be low and the costs would be relatively high,” the plan states.

The entire Strategic Visioning 2011 document, up for approval at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, can be viewed on the city’s website at ci.eureka.ca.gov.

In addition

A bevy of ordinance approvals, following up their introduction at the Dec. 6 meeting, are likely to fly by with just as little public comment. These include the gutting of Eureka’s campaign contribution limits, an amendment to sewer use rules, and revision of its Housing Element to allow for greater leeway in zoning requirements for emergency shelters and special needs housing.

The City Council is also set to extend its moratorium against its own medical cannabis ordinance to continue to disallow the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries inside city limits. The initial 45-day ban is proposed to be extended for another ten-and-a-half months while legal staff continue to scramble to come up with a coherent response to federal threats of prosecution against local governments who, in obeying state law to allow medical cannabis patients to access their medicine, run afoul of federal controlled substances regulations.

On the Consent Calendar is the rejection of a claim by local attorney and landowner Greg Casagrande over the breaking of a water main at the corner of 2nd and I Street in front of the former Has Beans Cafe. Casagrande’s claim includes allegations that city staff allowed a water main break to linger for days without adequate repairs, causing flooding and possible structural damage to his building. Such a claim rejection is business-as-usual for City Hall, despite the potential for a civil lawsuit; their policy is to refer all possible tort cases to the Redwood Empire Municipal Insurance Fund, which then has the authority to reach an out-of-court settlement.

The last City Council meeting of 2011 begins at 6 p.m. on Dec. 20, and includes public comment time near the beginning of the session.