Johnson urged the citizens of Ione to let him know what they would like to see addressed by the Police Department. Next up on the agenda was a discussion regarding the reissuance of special tax refunding bonds from Edgebrook and Castle Oaks Phase II. It was proposed to do away with the old defaulted bonds and resell the bonds on the open market. As of October the property was assessed at 34 million dollars, with the bonds initially issued at 3.8 million dollars. After much discussion from the City’s consultants and Rob Aragon of JTS, council approved the early bond redemption 4 to 1 with Councilman Sherman opposed. Sherman stated that he believed the report on the transaction to be quite technical and cumbersome and didn’t feel comfortable approving the document. He also questioned who would be liable if the bonds value fell because of the current slump in real estate.

Other council members argued that purchasing bonds are not risk free and those who invest in bonds are individuals who are knowledgeable on the subject, and aware of the risk. There was also a discussion regarding comments made at the last City Council meeting by resident Jim Skully. Skully listed a number of alleged errors in a recent report by the city to the Central Valley Water Quality Control Board on monitoring wells near both the city wastewater plant and Skully’s property. City staff prepared a detailed letter in response to those comments addressed to both Jim Skully and Bob and Virginia Silva. City Manager Kim Kerr stated that after thorough investigation, at this time the City will have to continue to disagree with Skully’s comments.

However, she said, an update regarding the wastewater system should be coming back to the council at the first meeting in February.  Councilman Ard responded to Skully’s complaints that he should work on issues directly with the City Manager, and that nothing is going to be 100% resolved until the environmental report on the wastewater system is completed. In an update on the Ione Fire Station Construction Project, the council was told that the construction project is currently out to bid, and moving forward in a timely way. The next city council meeting will be held Tuesday January 15th in the City Council Chambers at 6 p.m.