Willits City Hall renovations nearly complete
The June 22 Willits City Council meeting was held virtually. City Manager Brian Bender reported, “We are making our final push on City Hall renovations.”
City Hall was scheduled to close to the public for one day while painting was being finished and the new furniture was moved in. Staff was available for any public inquiries during the closure. Bender said, “The public has been very accommodating in our renovations, they have been understanding.” He requested continued patience as the renovation is completed.
The city is transferring from the county’s IT to new council-selected consultants. Bender said, “Everything is going well.”
The council adopted the Local Road Safety Plan for the City of Willits and authorized the submission of two project applications that had been reviewed at a previous meeting. Project Manager Jeremy Ronco explained the plan, “is required for each city in order to receive the Highway Safety Improvement funds.”
Deputy City Manager-City Clerk Cathy Moorhead reported, “They have been quite busy up at the airport.” The Public Works crew has been performing weed abatement work. Willits Municipal Airport has also been working on new hanger leases and is finishing up hanger inspections. Moorhead stated they will bring back Airport Day next summer.
Vice Mayor Greta Kanne commended new City Planner Taylor Perry on keeping the Facebook page up-to-date. She said, “Thank you for the newly improved Community Development Facebook page. It’s active and interesting. I appreciate it and I am sure members of the community do also.”
Ronco reported the PGE project on East Hill Road is scheduled to start back up with traffic control and possibly extended hours next week and perhaps the following week as well. The curb and gutter installation has begun on Blosser Lane. Ronco said, “It looks good, we are happy so far.”
Willits Police Department Chief Fabian Lizarrago reported the department will be swearing in a new officer next week. Lizarrago said, “We are excited to have him and add him to the team.” The department is also in the process of interviewing for a vacant sergeant position. Lizarrago said, “We are hopeful that we will be able to grow our team even more.”
Lizarrago stated that staffing in the department has been a priority to ensure current officers aren’t overworked. He said, “We are also taking a measured approach to make sure the people we bring in are of the philosophy that we have going forward. That they are enriched with the community policing philosophy to partnership with the community and are in tune with treating everybody with dignity and respect.”
Mayor Sabrina Rodriguez expressed her appreciation. She said, “Thank you and your team for doing such a good job over at the Police Department. I can definitely see a cultural change over there.”
Utilities Superintendent Scott Herman said the department is getting the mower repaired and urged the community to watch out for tractor mowing on the roadside to start up again soon. The first goal is to complete Sherwood Road, which will require traffic control. Herman also reported city reservoirs are still at 100 percent capacity.
Willits City Council meets the second and fourth Wednesday of each month at 6:30 p.m., meetings are open to the public to attend. Visit www.cityofwillits.org for more information.
View more on The Willits News