MARYSVILLE, CA (MPG) - At the July 15 meeting of the Marysville City Council, they considered assessing liens against properties with unpaid charges for garbage collection services. 

There were 289 delinquent accounts, with an overdue cumulative total of $107,315 owed to Recology. The property owners were informed of the overdue amounts and the date of the public hearing. 

One of those delinquent accounts belongs to local business owner Joseph Ferrie, who spoke during the public hearing to ask for help with an ongoing issue affecting his business, the Silver Dollar Saloon. He said he stopped paying his Recology bill because of an inability to use his own dumpster. 

Ferrie said the dumpster for his business was originally in a locked and gated lot. But in 2021 the lot was sold, and his dumpster was moved several lots away. For years now, he has dealt with people repeatedly cutting the locks on his dumpster and filling it with their trash, leaving no room for his own trash. He said since it’s so easy to access his dumpster, homeless people dig through it and leave a mess he must clean up. 

Since the dumpster is constantly filled with other people’s trash, Ferrie said it’s not fair that he should be paying for the garbage collection service. He said numerous attempts to bring this issue to the attention of the City Council and city staff have been ignored. 

Councilmember Stuart Gilchrist said he’s seen the issue first-hand.

“Every night, people pull in and drop stuff off. Everyone uses your dumpster. Everybody. I’m not kidding. It’s a constant cleanup issue,” Gilchrist said. He agreed it was “totally unfair.” 

Mayor Chris Branscum said people illegally using Ferrie’s dumpster amounted to “theft of services.” He asked city staff to investigate the situation.

“I’d like an official city report on this problem, because it’s probably something that’s not going away without some remediation,” Branscum said.

The council then voted to approve the assessed liens to be collected through the Yuba County property tax roll for fiscal year 2025-2026. 

The council also approved liens for overdue sewer accounts, owing a total of $214,000 to the city for sewer services. There were no public comments. 

The council then considered a contract with Ed Nelson of Marcus & Millichap, to provide brokerage services and identify potential developers for the city’s newly re-acquired Packard Library property.  

The city initially transferred the historic Packard property, located at 301 4th Street, to the nonprofit Sutter-Yuba Friday Night Live in 2000. But in recent years, it appeared the property had been abandoned, accruing multiple code violations. 

After months of litigation to regain the property, it was recently announced that a settlement had been reached and the city would be back in possession of the property, effective July 28. 

“The city is not typically in the business of holding real estate,” City Manager Jim Schaad said. “We are now looking at what the future might be for that property.” 

The council consensus was that the building’s historic character should be preserved, and they look forward to hearing ideas for potential uses or redevelopment. 

Mayor Branscum said the city can take the time necessary to find the right developer or partner for the property.

“We can afford to be very patient,” Branscum said.

The council voted to approve the brokerage contract, with compensation not to exceed 6% of the final sales price or an agreed commission structure for lease or partnership proposals. 

Next, the council considered a request for allocating $1.2 million from the general fund to the Ellis Lake Park Enhancement Project. 

The city has already been awarded $2.9 million from Caltrans under the Clean California Cycle 2 grant program for improvements to the walking path on the north and east sides of Ellis Lake. However, staff requested to change the scope of work after gathering input from the community. 

Public input made it clear that the priority was for a wide walking path (approximately 8 feet across) that does not require the removal of any trees or cutting into the surrounding green space. To achieve this, some sections of the project will need to incorporate concrete piers in the water to support a boardwalk pathway. 

“This would be such a huge improvement to the entire lake,” Branscum said.

The council voted to approve the plan. 

Finally, Fire Chief Kyle Heggstrom presented the Linda Fire Tax Sharing Agreement, which is the next step in annexing the Marysville Fire District into the Linda Fire Protection District. 

The tax sharing agreement proposes the redistribution of approximately $2.4 million of fiscal year 2026-2727 tax dollars to the Linda Fire Protection District to fund operation after annexation is complete. 

Mayor Branscum said he considers this a “merger of the two fire departments,” and the council voted to approve the tax sharing agreement. 

The next regular meeting of the Marysville City Council is scheduled for Aug. 19.