Old Yuba City Welcome Sign.

YUBA CITY, CA (MPG) - Two committees for Yuba redesigns around town were recently formed, beginning with the City Welcome Sign Ad Hoc committee, comprised of two council members and Planning, Senior, Youth, and Parks & Recreation Commission representatives.

Councilmen Wade Kirchner and Michael Pasquale immediately stepped up to the plate at the Feb. 20 meeting, where Mayor Shon Harris said officials have been getting emails for a year from residents questioning the removal of signage on Township Road and State Route 20, and Bogue Road and Highway 99.

Disrepair is the answer, according to Ashley Potocnik, the committee’s development liaison.

City Welcome Sign Ad Hoc Committee Development Liaison Ashley Potocnik presenting Yuba City officials with new signage concept designs.

“The city has been working on ways to get designs there,” Potocnik said.

The two-part process first included a design concept competition in December 2023, with up to 10 artists vying for the honor.

“Tonight, we are forming an ad hoc committee to review those submittals,” Potocnik told officials on Feb. 20. “Following that, the second phase is the request for those proposals that will be sent out to the public.”

Forming a Water Tower Plaza Name and Mural Designs Ad Hoc Committee was also presented to officials by associate civil engineer Josh Wolffe. The funding for the citywide revamp is from a 2022 Clean California grant for $2.2 million for improvements on Plume Street under the water tower, and the murals adjacent to the water tower and along Center Street, Wolffe said.

Associate Civil Engineer Josh Wolffe explains the need for a Water Tower Plaza Name and Mural Designs Ad Hoc Committee for citywide projects.

The committee comprises the Planning, Senior, Youth, and Parks and Recreation Commission members, business owners, and a representative from the Yuba City Downtown Business Association and Yuba Sutter Arts. Mayor Shon Harris and Vice Mayor Dave Shaw will represent the city.

Sandy Drown, a Yuba City Downtown Business Association member and the Happy Viking owner, thanked officials for making a spot for business owners.

Yuba City Downtown Business Association member Sandy Drown shares her excitement for the new committees and projects.

“The merchants downtown feel like this is our front yard, so I appreciate you guys giving us a seat at the table from the beginning,” Drown said. “The downtown appreciates our relationship with the city, and we look forward to a new remodel downtown.”

Wolffe presented photos of the total project scope, including four main components: a water tower redesign, Center Street lighting, Water Tower Park, and Gateway Arch. 

“The new logos have just gone on the water tower last week,” Wolffe said. “Center street lighting is currently in process.”

Wolffe asked officials to focus on analyzing the mural design and plaza name on the side of Lee Canton & Babies to Teens Consignment Shop, which started in 2007. 

“For the mural design, the city staff has been coordinating with the Yuba Sutter Arts to determine the best way to procure an artist to install the murals along the two walls,” Wolffe said.

Wolffe said a call to artists will go out after the ad hoc agrees on the final design, including a historical timeline of the Yuba City area from the 1850s to the present day. Other ideas include paying homage to some famous Yuba City residents.

As for naming the park, Yuba City has a park-naming policy Wolffe said would be used to determine the name. Thus far, possible names include Downtown Plaza, Plumas Street Plaza, Plaza 1980, Don Covery Plaza, and Water Tower Plaza.

“We anticipate the final recommendations to be made by early spring of 2024,” Wolffe said.

Yuba Sutter Arts executive director David Read said his work on the project with Wolffe has been productive over the past few months.

Yuba Sutter Arts Executive Director David Read thanking the council for working so hard on the redesigns and including local artists in the projects.

“It is sort of serendipitous because, as some of you may know, in April, we are hosting the Sutter Theatre marathon at the Sutter Theatre,” Read said.

For 48 hours, artists gather to paint five large murals on the side of the theater along Church Street. After getting the idea from Reno, Read said, Yuba Sutter Arts had a mural marathon in Live Oak.

“As Sandy mentioned, it is a reinvention of Plymouth Street and all the great work done there over the years,” Read said. “These kinds of public artworks create, just like our theater, additional reasons for people to come to downtown Yuba City and Plumas Street.”

For more information on the City Welcome Sign Ad Hoc Committee call to artists, email [email protected].

A total scope snapshot of the water tower, plaza and other citywide redesign projects proposed under a 2.2 million Clean California Grant.