Avalon officials will be looking for a new city manager.
Part time City Manager Steve Hoefs announced his plans to retire from the part time position at the Tuesday, March 5, City Council meeting, said City Attorney Scott Campbell.
According to Campbell, Hoefs aims to leave the post at the end of the month. Hoefs is also the Avalon fire chief.
For approximately three years, Hoefs shared the job of running Avalon with Chief Administrative Officer Charlie Wagner for a year.
Avalon officials will be looking for a new city manager.
Part time City Manager Steve Hoefs announced his plans to retire from the part time position at the Tuesday, March 5, City Council meeting, said City Attorney Scott Campbell.
According to Campbell, Hoefs aims to leave the post at the end of the month. Hoefs is also the Avalon fire chief.
For approximately three years, Hoefs shared the job of running Avalon with Chief Administrative Officer Charlie Wagner for a year.
Wagner was compelled to leave his Avalon post earlier this year because the California Public Employees’ Retirement System allows retired workers, such as Wagner, to work temporarily.
When City Manager Pete Woolson announced his retirement to a closed session of the City Council in July 2009, Hoefs was appointed interim city manager.
Eventually, city officials hired Hoefs and Wagner, a retired city manager himself, to share the position. According to the International City/County Management Association, fewer young people are entering the city management field. Most city managers can expect to last three to six years on the job.
Rockfall fencing pulled from City Council agenda
One item pulled from the Tuesday, March 5, council agenda was a request from staff to hire a firm to design rockfall fencing along Pebbly Beach Road.
According to City Attorney Campbell, the issue will return to the council in two weeks.
Pebbly Beach road could be closed again if an insurance company withdraws its coverage.
The company wants Avalon to put up fencing to stop rockslides there.
Pebbly Beach road reopened in December 2012, after being closed for seven or eight years, according to Mayor Bob Kennedy.
As previously reported in the Catalina Islander, Pebbly Beach Road was closed due to concerns about public safety. Rockslides on Pebbly Beach Road can involve large boulders.
The road reopened without the rockfall mitigation that had been planned in the past, a proposed project that would have set up nets to catch boulders as they fell. The project never became a reality because the state would not allow the city to spend $1 million on rockslide mitigation.
However, the city’s insurance provider is now requiring Avalon to minimize rockslides along Pebbly Beach Road and Casino Way.
“The Santa Catalina Island Company, the owner of the road, has agreed to open the road to public use on the condition that the city provide it certain insurance coverage,” said the March 5, 2013, staff report prepared by the City Attorney’s Office.
The Public Agency Risk Sharing Authority of California provides some, but not all of the coverage, the report said.
One of PARSAC’s conditions is that Avalon mitigate the rockfall activity that originally led to the closure of Pebbly Beach Road in the first place.
The staff report said the city has received two proposals for designing rockfall fencing, one from Tetra tech BAS and the other from TerraCosta. The Tetra Tech proposal asks for $157,522 for the project. The TerraCosta proposal asks for $39,515.
PARSAC hired TerraCosta in September 2012 to prepare a report on recommendations for minimizing rockfall on Pebbly Beach Road. “Staff recommends selection of TerraCosta due to the lower cost estimate and their company’s greater familiarity with existing site conditions along Pebbly Beach Road,” the report said.
According to the staff report, the consequences of not approving a contract for designing rockfall fencing are significant.
“These costs will be delayed and possible road closure of Pebbly Beach Road could occur if PARSAC withdraws its coverage for Pebbly Beach Road,” the staff report said.
The council will also look at new rules for autoette permits for hotels in two weeks.
Contract awarded
Tuesday night, the council awarded a solid waste hauling contract to CR&R.
According to a staff report, Avalon currently spends about $1.4 million for waste disposal services. “Bids at all service levels are the same or lower than the current price,” the report said.
The council also:
• Hired Nyhart Epler to perform actuarial services to provide valuation of the city’s retirement plan.
• Approved the city’s 2013 growth plan.
