‘Discing’ of open spaces OK’d by City Council
Benicia City Council has agreed to hire A&L Services of Davis for $74,000 to disc open spaces in the city in hopes of reducing the places where a wildfire could spread.
The decision last week means the company would create firebreaks, fire trails and fire access roads in areas Benicia Fire Chief Jim Lydon described as “our wild land urban interface areas.”
Lydon told the Council on Tuesday that such seasonal work must be done by an outside contractor because the city doesn’t have the ability or the equipment to do the work.
Money from the General Fund’s Weed Abatement Account would be used to pay the contractor, he said.
The precise amount of the contract is $74,090.75.
The item originally was placed on the Council’s consent calendar, which means it would be decided along with other matters by a single vote without discussion.
However, Councilmember Christina Strawbridge asked that the item be pulled so she could ask whether the contract included payment for goat service.
Herds of goats are hired annually by Benicia to graze down weeds and grass, another approach to reduce the amount of plants that could fuel a wildfire.
“The goats are a different project,” Lydon told Strawbridge. In fact, animals provided through contractor Goats R Us already are at work this year, he said.
The disc operation is expected to start next month and to conclude June 30, Lydon said.
In other business, the Council kept an additional purchase of $16,000 of crushed aggregate rock from Syar Industries on its consent calendar, which was approved unanimously.
The city will buy the gravel from Syar Industries of Vallejo.
Benicia uses the crushed rock for the repair and maintenance of city streets and utility pipes.
The Council had approved an earlier purchase order for $40,000, but members were told that the Public Works Maintenance Division needs more to backfill excavations after repair and maintenance work is completed.
Syar, on Lake Herman Road in Vallejo, is the closest company that can provide the crushed aggregate rock that meets city specifications, and its proximity to Benicia reduces wear on city trucks that pick up the gravel, according to a city staff report to the Council.
By the same unanimous vote, the Council also accepted a $150,000 Climate Ready Grant that would pay for an assessment of the effects of climate change, determine Benicia’s vulnerable areas and devise a plan to address those shortcomings.
The California State Coastal Conservancy awarded the grant to the city; Tuesday’s vote meant the city agreed to accept the money.
Benicia doesn’t have to match the grant.
City Manager Brad Kilger said activities underwritten by the grant “will incorporate lessons learned as part of the University of California-Berkeley Innovative Solutions project, and leverage the existing Business Resource Incentive Program (BRIP) to conduct at least one additional site assessment in the Industrial Park.”
The project also may use free Pacific Gas and Electric Company energy audits, Kilger wrote.
“The current project budget indicates that $149,996 will be needed to complete the scope of work,” he wrote in his report to the Council, “but the city will accept the grant for up to $150,000.”
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