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Council presses for progress on Thompson Park while negotiating undergrounding with irrigation district
Summary
Council members urged staff to press the Central Irrigation District (CID) in negotiations over piping a CID canal and related Thompson Park improvements, and asked to be notified of CID meetings and negotiations to protect the city’s grant timeline.
Selma — Council members at the Sept. 16 meeting pressed staff to speed negotiations with the Central Irrigation District (CID) over piping the CID canal, a required element of the Thompson Park and adjacent active‑transportation projects, and to provide council members with updates or a seat at the table.
Deputy City Manager said park design plans are 95% complete but progress is being held up by coordination with CID over acceptable undergrounding improvements. Staff told council that the grant funding and schedule depend on agreement with CID and that negotiations are focused on the irrigation district’s standards and requirements for undergrounding the canal.
Council members asked that staff notify them about CID board meetings and said they are willing to attend CID sessions or present in CID oral communications to press for timely approvals. One council member suggested using elected CID representatives as leverage and asked staff to prepare negotiation materials or, if needed, a closed‑session negotiation update to the council.
Staff said the grant timeline extends into 2028 and that coordinated approvals are necessary to keep the projects on schedule. The council requested a future agenda item tracking the Rockwell Pond (28 acres) purchase status and a timeline for Thompson Park completion.
No formal action was taken; council directed staff to keep the council informed and to pursue interagency coordination steps to reduce delay risks.
