MARTINEZ, Calif. \u00ad\u00ad\u2013 Following the advice of its bond counsel, the Martinez City Council voted twice Wednesday on a lease agreement that would finance the resulting liability from the dissolution of the Martinez-Pleasant hill Joint Facilities Agency (JFA).<\/p>\n

By seeking the five-year loan, the city is in a position to save money as it pays Social Security taxes for up to three years retroactively for Martinez employees who had been classified as working for the JFA. Those employees are being reclassified as city employees, and the city also is picking up their share of retroactive Social Security payments.<\/p>\n

The cost isn\u2019t expected to exceed $4 million, the amount being sought by the city. How much the loan will cost the city is still being determined, Finance Director David Glasser said. Interest is expected to be 3.58 percent, but any amount that has not been used can be invested to earn money in the meantime, he said.<\/p>\n

Originally, the city sought a loan from US Bank, but its bond counsel, Jones Hall, recommended modifying the loan structure to conform to California\u2019s constitutional debt restrictions for governmental agencies.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a standard procedure,\u201d said Scott Ferguson, partner in Jones Hall. In fact, earlier Martinez City Councils have used the funding system to underwrite City Hall and water system improvements, the Council learned.<\/p>\n

Under this approach approved Wednesday by the Council and again in a vote by the same individuals acting as the board of the Martinez Public Improvement Corporation, Martinez leases City Hall to the nonprofit corporation, which in turn leases it back to the city in return for semi-annual lease payments. The loan will be paid back in five years.<\/p>\n

In earlier comments about the JFA, Assistant City Manager Anne Cardwell said the Pleasant Hill\/Martinez JFA was founded in 1975 between Martinez and Pleasant Hill to pool resources on common expenses. \u201cFrom the original agreement, we can see that the purpose was to develop and operate shared facilities and services,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThrough other records, we found that the agency provided information technology and transportation services. While there is some early record of these mutual services being performed, the agency currently provides services solely to the city of Martinez, and no record could be found to confirm when the city of Pleasant Hill withdrew,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Cardwell said that with new leadership, Martinez started a \u201cproactive approach\u201d to resolve the situation. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn late 2017, the city began talks with PERS, Social Security and the IRS to reach a resolution that would lessen the impacts to retirees, employees, and the organization overall,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city began talks with PERS, Social Security and the IRS, and kept active employees notified on the progress,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are happy to report that we have had notable success in our attempts to lessen the impacts of the dissolution of JFA on our retirees, active employees, and former employees.\u201d<\/p>\n

CalPERS agreed to adjust enrollment and earnings records rather than ask city staff to do the work, and agreed not to retroactively adjust any PERS pensions, she said. All JFA employees were officially under the City plan with PERS by Wednesday, she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cSocial Security has indicated they will accept corrected earnings records that will provide the reporting of Social Security earnings back to the dates of hire in the JFA,\u201d she said. \u201cThis should allow for some retirees to gain new eligibility for a benefit and may increase a benefit for others.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition, the IRS has said it wanted only the retroactive contributions from the city for the \u201copen years,\u201d currently 2015 through July 31, she said. <\/p>\n

Also at Wednesday\u2019s meeting, the Council approved a schematic design for renovations to Golden Hills Park, moving a picnic area that had become a policing problem, replacing an odd-shaped community center with a rectangular one that is expected to serve the park better, paved pathways, additional lights and light-emitting diode illumination.<\/p>\n

The schematic reflects suggestions made by the public at a community workshop at the park earlier this year, City Engineer Tucker said.<\/p>\n

During construction next year, when the park will be closed to the public, the city will try several gopher irradiation methods to make the park\u2019s open field safer. The basketball court will be moved, and Tucker and his staff are attempting to speak with a contractor about the park\u2019s tennis court, which developed problems soon after the most recent repairs.<\/p>\n

Vice Mayor Lara DeLaney was concerned that the plans call for removing 15 pines, although Tucker said they had reached the end of their life span and were shedding needles and branches on neighbors\u2019 homes. Other trees would be planted, he said. DeLaney said she hoped if 15 trees are removed, 15 more would be planted.<\/p>\n

Most of the funding for the improvements will come from the last part of the city\u2019s Measure H bonds, a $30 million issue that has been used for park improvements. But Tucker said the city is finding several other ways to pay for the project, which is expected to cost nearly $2 million.<\/p>\n

However, acting on bids for street sealing will have to wait, because city employees failed to place newspaper advertisements announcing the request for bids as required by California law. The Council was advised to reject the bids and seek new ones so mandated procedures could be followed.<\/p>\n

DeLaney said she found it disconcerting, since the bids had been opened and potential contractors had seen each other\u2019s amounts. With increasing prices and possible impacts from tariff changes, she worried the next round of bids could be higher.<\/p>\n

She said the state\u2019s requirement for two newspaper advertisements to be placed at specific times is \u201coutdated and outmoded,\u201d adding, \u201cnobody reads those.\u201d Instead, she said, companies can use websites to find projects on which they want to submit bids.<\/p>\n

Calling the state\u2019s requirement an \u201coutdated and antiquated method,\u201d she urged the Council to contact the League of California Cities about seeking an amendment to a contract code that is decades old. She also asked if the Council could proceed, given other ways it reached out for bids.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the state law is there for a reason,\u201d Councilmember Mark Ross countered. Advertising in a local paper puts the notice where the job is taking place, he said. And he wasn\u2019t convinced that the next round of bids would be higher.<\/p>\n

Bidders \u201cprobably will sharpen their pencils,\u201d and put the city in a better position when the second round of bids arrive, Tucker said.<\/p>\n

California law governing the procedures \u201cis very strict,\u201d City Manager Brad Kilger advised, saying a city shouldn\u2019t place itself into a position in which there are any questions about its construction bidding processes.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy understanding is there is no discretion,\u201d he said, and recommended the topic of changing state law be placed on a future meeting agenda.<\/p>\n

Bids for the project ranged from $2,466,233.47 to nearly $2.7 million for cape seal work on residential streets throughout Martinez. The work will be paid through Measure D revenues generated from a half-cent sales tax approved by voters Nov. 8, 2016.<\/p>\n

Also being advertised are bids for the 2018-19 paving work that will finish base failure repairs that must be done before the cap seal can be started. That will be underwritten by gas tax, including the money from the gas tax increase approved as Senate Bill 1, the Contra Costa County Measure J half-cent transportation and paving sales tax and Measure D money.<\/p>\n

Martinez Police Chief Manjit Sappal said his department \u201cis making progress\u201d in filling several vacancies and attracting better-qualified police applicants. In a pool of 13 applicants, five appear to be good candidates, he said. In the past, his department may have continued speaking with only one out of 15 applicants.<\/p>\n

He said on the average, of 100 applicants, only one is hired after meeting requirements, clearing background checks and appearing to be a good match for the city and Sappal\u2019s department.<\/p>\n

The Council\u2019s recent mid-year raises for police officers has put Martinez in a better recruiting position to fill vacancies that have caused officers who once might have filled school resource officer, homeless outreach and traffic assignments to be put on patrol instead.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people spoke. The Council listened. Things are looking good,\u201d Councilmember Noralea Gipner said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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