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Del Norte’s mobile literacy library is receiving a facelift and will soon be back on the road.

Melodee Mitchell, executive director of the Del Norte Child Care Council, and Patti Vernelson, former director of First 5 Del Norte, urged the Crescent City Council on Tuesday to approve a memorandum of understanding that changes the party responsible for the Wonder Bus’s insurance from the county to the Del Norte Child Care Council.

The Council’s unanimous approval Tuesday revises an MOU it entered into in May as part of the Wonder Bus Collaborative approving First 5 Del Norte turning the bus’s title over to the Child Care Council.

Under the agreement, the Del Norte Child Care Council will make the repairs needed to get the bus operational. The Child Care Council is also responsible for processing and holding the bus’s legal documents including its license and registration.
On Tuesday, Mitchell said she pursued a special projects grant through the California Department of Education’s Early Head Start Child Care Partnership. According to the MOU, this one-time funding will allow the Child Care Council to make all the repairs the bus needs, which will cost an estimated $34,000.

“Through many generous supporters and partners over the years, and brand new partners, we were able to secure funding,” Mitchell told the Council. “(The Wonder Bus) is literally in Humboldt County at Visual Concepts receiving a new wrap.”

The Wonder Bus’s new look will include a list of the partners, Mitchell said, including Crescent City.

The Wonder Bus rolled into Crescent City for the first time roughly 15 years ago, Vernelson said. It was initially owned by the Del Norte County Library before First 5 took over. Because First 5 Del Norte is a county program, the county provided the insurance.

“When the bus transferred to the Del Norte Child Care Council, the county had issues. I think it was just a liability issue for them,” she said. “The MOU you approved in May still had the county providing insurance, (but) the Child Care Council has stepped up to the plate.”

In addition to the city and county, there is a Friends of the Wonder Bus fund through the Wild Rivers Community Foundation, Mitchell said. Several one-time donors have also supported the bus over the years, she said.

A recent $10,000 donation will allow every youngster that visits the bus to receive a free book, Mitchell said. Children can also sign up for a library card at the Wonder Bus, she said. The goal is to get the bus back on the road by the middle of this month.

Vernelson said there will be a community ribbon cutting to celebrate the Wonder Bus once it’s back.

Sewer plant drainage improvements • The Crescent City Council unanimously approved plans and specifications for drainage improvements at the wastewater treatment plant. The Council also authorized City Manager Eric Wier to solicit bids for the project.

Though the city set aside $400,000 to complete the project, the cost is anticipated to be about $100,000, said Public Works Director Jon Olson. The project includes installing storm drains at the main entry gate as well as gates leading to Howe Drive and B Street. Olson said the decision to install more storm drains at the plant comes after an April storm created high flows that overtopped tanks and resulted in primary effluent leaving the plant.

In addition to the storm drain project, city staff expect to spend about $300,000 to pave an area of the plant that wasn’t finished during the 2008-2011 renovation due to project costs. Olson said this is an area that has boxes poking out of the ground and is a potnetial trip and fall hazard. Paving the area will also improve the overall drainage in the sewer plant, he said.

Vehicle Response Mitigation Fee Recovery Program • The Crescent City Council unanimously approved an ordinance that allows Crescent City Fire and Rescue to recover the cost of responding to a traffic collision from the party deemed at fault.

Councilors also approved an agreement between the city and Roseville-based Fire Recovery USA to provide cost recovery billing and collection for Crescent City. According to Crescent Fire and Rescue Chief Bill Gillespie, Fire Recovery USA is the same firm the Crescent Fire Protection District has chosen to recover response costs associated with car collisions.

A request for proposals authorized by the City Council also prompted a response from EF Recovery LLC, of Washington. EF Recovery works with 183 fire departments in 22 states, Gillespie said. Fire Recovery USA works with 1,075 fire departments across 42 states, he said.

Both firms have an average recovery rate of up to 90 percent. Representatives with Fire Recovery USA said if mitigation fees don’t fit what insurance companies recognize as industry standard, the company will often reject the fee. Fire Recovery USA provided a recommended mitigation fee table, but EF Recovery did not, according to the city’s staff report.

According to Gillespie, though Councilors in 2012 and 2013 balked at charging fees for response to vehicle collisions, responding affects the city financially. Costs to the city include volunteer response stipends, wear and tear on emergency vehicles and equipment use, Gillespie said.

Crescent City Fire & Rescue receives $20,000 grant • Crescent City Fire and Rescue will use a $20,000 grant to purchase 16 sets of personal protective equipment for use on structure fires.

This money will be used to replace equipment that have reached the end of their 10-year lifespan, according to Gillespie.

In addition to approving the grant from CalFire, the Crescent City Council unanimously approved an amendment to the 2019-2020 budget. According to Gillespie, $20,000 had been earmarked for personal protective equipment. The additional $20,000 in grant dollars brings the total amount set aside for protective equipment to $40,000, he said.

Cultural Center siding • The Crescent City Council unanimously approved allocating an additional $20,000 to replace rotted wood siding on the west side of the Cultural Center. According to Public Works Director Jon Olson, an ad-hoc committee focusing on the building repairs have approved placing the new siding horizontally to protect the structure from water damage. The estimated cost for the repairs is $20,000, but the exact cost can’t be determined until the extent of the damage is known, according to the city’s staff report.

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