The Eureka Capital Improvement Program, in pie chart form. Snapshot: Zoom.


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Eureka residents can expect another summer of disheveled streets and detours throughout residential neighborhoods as the city embarks on a handful of new projects through its five-year 2022 Capital Improvement Program (CIP). The Eureka City Council received a presentation on ongoing and upcoming infrastructure improvements during its Tuesday night meeting.

“Eureka is a historic city incorporated in 1856 –- well over 100 years of age –- [and] that means we have a lot of aging infrastructure that is in various levels of condition, from good to very poor,” said City Engineer Jesse Willor. “Our infrastructure is in constant need of maintenance and upkeep, and sometimes there’s insufficient funds or there’s other obstacles to overcome that allow pieces of infrastructure, buildings, roadways and utilities to be in a poor condition — what we call ‘deferred maintenance.’”

Projects under the Capital Improvement Project may include land and buildings, information technology, harbor and waterfront facilities, park and recreation facilities, street and storm drain facilities, wastewater collection, treatment and disposal facilities, and water treatment and distribution facilities, he added.

At least 15 city streets will be subject to repairs over the summer, including sections of V, W, X, and Y streets near Target that have been littered with potholes for years.

“Thank you for getting that in, those streets have been neglected for so long,” said Councilmember Kim Bergel. “I’m really grateful for Measure H and that people did decide to pass it, as opposed to when they didn’t pass Measure I, because we got a lot of wonderful things happening.”

Measure H, which was passed by Eureka residents in 2020, enacted a 1.25% city sales tax to generate an estimated $9.6 million per year, a portion of which would go towards road maintenance and other CIP projects.

Eureka Mayor Susan Seaman asked Willor if there would be an opportunity for residents looking to make sidewalk repairs to bundle with the city for a lower rate during construction.

“Folks can jump in and try to take advantage of the large volume of work that we’re doing in order to get better prices for their residences,” Willor said. “There still might be opportunities there for us to create a list of people who are interested and bring them in to take advantage of some of those bids.”

In addition to upcoming street improvements, the following new projects were added to 2022 CIP:

  • Solar Renewable Energy – Water Treatment Plant
  • Mad River Pipeline – Valve Replacement
  • Jacobs Avenue Water Improvements Wastewater
  • Wastewater Treatment Plant Lift Stations
  • Jacobs Avenue Sewer Improvements

The council ultimately approved the item in a unanimous 5-0 vote. The five new projects in the 2022 CIP will return to the city planning commission for review before being incorporated into the program.

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In other business, the council approved a professional services agreement with OIR Group to perform independent police auditor on-call consulting services for the city.

The city initiated a Request for Proposals for independent police auditor services in November 2021, and assembled a review committee consisting of the city manager, assistant city manager, human resources director, a police captain, a police officer and a member of the Citizens’ Advisory Board.

“OIR Group was ranked the highest and [the committee] felt that they met the qualifications and had the experience that we’re looking for,” said City Manager Miles Slattery.

Interim Police Chief Todd Jarvis said the professional services agreement with OIR Group will enhance transparency within the city, but his comments looked forward to another aspect of the police reform package passed by the council last year: The creation of a local board charges with overseeing Eureka Police policies and activities.

“The biggest factor in all of this, by my experience, is going to be the people that you select to be on the board,” Jarvis added. “If someone’s very pro-police, we don’t need them on the board. If someone’s very anti-police and has an agenda, we don’t need them on the board. We need someone who can clearly look at something in an unbiased and impartial manner and make decisions based on what’s best for the city and provide information to the city manager and to me about how we improve our police environment.”

The council unanimously voted to execute the professional services agreement with OIR Group, which will not exceed $90,000 annually, in a 5-0 vote.

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