Tribune Calistoga Independently owned and published in Calistoga for Calistogans since 2002 April 3, 2015 uMudder event 1,100 women take on muddy obstacle course Below t Across the bridge Lowell Eddington first across the Golden Gate 3 uSoftball team wins Softball and baseball teams play strong on diamond 50¢ 12 City settles with unions except for police n CPOA remains under imposed contract By Pat Hampton Tribune Publisher The city council will be asked to approve the details of new contracts with the fire department, public employees, and unrepresented employees next week. City manager Richard Spitler said the final contracts will be ready for Tuesday’s city council meeting. “Proposed changes to the Calistoga Public Employees Association (CPEA), Calistoga Professional Firefighters Association (CPFA) and Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) are not completely done yet,” responded Spitler by email. “As typical of labor negotiations the wordsmithing gets tedious. I expect to have it done by Friday when we release the staff reports.” In 2011, the city eliminated funding for 14 positions and reduced salaries by 15 percent. Employees agreed to pay 10 percent of their health care premiums and to match their retirement costs. Two years ago the city settled with all but the Calistoga Police Officers Association union for a two year contract that brought a three percent raise. Those 2013 agreements expired Dec. 31, 2014 but negotiations continued past the expiration date. “As to the police union, we continue to negotiate,” said Spitler. “We are operating under the MOU that was in effect in 2012 with the imposed measures.” Spitler said. The firefighters agreement covers three employees, the public employees group has 17, and the unrepresented (department heads) has 12. MUDDER OF ALL WEEKENDS MAKES BIG SPLASH “At this date we are not ready to bring forth a new MOU from this group (police and dispatch),” said Spitler. The previous agreement included that the city conduct a Classification and Compensation Survey to look at small cities and salaries and job duties to see how they compare to the Calistoga pay scale. Some $50,000 has been allocated for the study to be completed this year. Gov. Brown orders 25% reduction in water usage as drought continues Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday ordered cities and towns across California to cut water use by 25 percent in his first mandatory water restrictions. The directive comes more than a year after Brown asked for a 20 percent voluntary cut in water use that most towns have failed to attain. The state will partner with local agencies to remove 50 million square feet of grass — the equivalent of about 1,150 football fields — and replace it with droughttolerant landscaping. Calistoga already offers a cashfor-grass program as well as a toilet replacement program. “As Californians, we must pull together and save water in every way possible,” Brown added. Photo by Pat Hampton The first-ever-in-Calistoga Pretty Muddy event was a day-long romp through mud obstacles and frolicking with friends. Here’s mud in your eye! Judge reduces attorney fee claim of $2.7M n $2.7 million request reduced to $587,000 By Pat Hampton Tribune Publisher By Pat Hampton Tribune Publisher Groups of women 100 strong were given the signal to start running and head for the first obstacle in Saturday’s Mudder of All Weekends just for women. The event drew 1,100 participants said Carolyn Denaro of the chamber. It was billed as a weekend for girlfriends to get away for a few days and enjoy playing and shopping together and taking spa treatments. There were large groups of Calistoga women tackling the very muddy obstacles from a slide ride to a muddy crawl that turned every See MUDDY page 2 Kelly Barrett Coudert loved the muddy day. A judge has reduced the $2.7 million in attorney fees claimed by a Grass Valley lawyer who represented Grant Reynolds in several lawsuits against the city. Napa Superior Court Judge Diane Price’s tentative ruling was issued March 26 on the claim by William McKinnon that he chalked up $2,799,189 in costs and attorney fees while representing Grant Reynolds in his litigation with the city over proper water discharge from the city’s reservoir to maintain downstream habitat for fish. McKinnon filed the claim for See McKINNON page 6 n
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