City Council Approves Admendment to Increase Service Fees, Provides COVID-19 Update

The Clovis City Council recently held a board meeting on Monday, September 13 to discuss several topics on the agenda. All of the items on the “Consent Calendar” were approved. 

Some of the highlights include the following: pertaining to public utilities and the fire department. 

Public hearing:

A proposed revision to the hourly rate was presented by Supervising Civil Engineer, Sean Smith. 

Smith’s 2021 proposal was a revision to the Plan Check, Inspection Services, Encroachment Permits and Community Investment Program, by increasing the rate of services from $115 to $119/hour.

The increase will apply to basis for charging staff time to CIP accounts, basis for deriving final map fee rates, basis for construction element unit inspection rates, and basis for charging staff time for services not otherwise covered in a fee category.  

“If approved, the hourly rate and all the affected fees will take effect on Monday, November 15th, 2021.” 

A resolution amending Plan Check, Inspection Services, Encroachment Permits and Community Investment Program Rates was approved by members of the City Council.

“I’ll make a motion, if I might, and appreciate the outreach that you did on the item,” said Mayor Pro Tem, Lynne Ashbeck. “Motion to approve.” 

The attachments to the staff report provided a detailed itemization of the proposed updates. 

Covid-19 Update

There is some good news regarding covid cases in Fresno County. 

“We’re not out of the woods yet, a lot could happen, but on both the occurrence dates, the episode date, and the reported date, the numbers are trending down,” said City manager Luke Serpa. 

Serpa added that if it continues this way, this wave is going to have about the same duration as the previous two waves. 

According to the Fresno County Department of Public Health, (last updated: September 10, 2021 at 2:15 PM): There are a total of 121,040 COVID-19 cases, 1,838 deaths, and 404 currently hospitalized.  

For more information regarding Fresno County COVID-19 resources, you can visit https://www.co.fresno.ca.us/departments/public-health/covid-19.

Alexis Govea is proud to be from the Central Valley. She graduated from Fresno State with a bachelor’s degree in mass communication & journalism and a minor in Spanish. She has that Bulldog spirit deep in her heart. Go 'Dogs! Alexis is happy to be a part of the Clovis Roundup and is excited to tell the stories of many people here in the valley along with other story pieces pertaining to the community. Alexis also works for the Fresno State Athletics Department and is a local on-air personality for Q97.1 radio.