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Ione council approves warrants after discussion; Willdan invoice for parade flagged for review
Summary
Council approved payment of warrants but agreed to pull a Willdan invoice that appears to charge $10,503 for Christmas parade planning work for further review; multiple other warrant line items drew questions from council and public.
The Ione City Council approved payment of its warrants on March 4 after extended review and public comment, but members agreed to pull and investigate a questionable invoice from Willdan that appeared to include a $10,503 charge related to Christmas parade traffic control and other items.
Council members and staff walked through warrant pages line-by-line after a council member said some entries looked like typographical errors or mismatched invoice descriptions. The Willdan invoices prompted particular concern: a council member noted invoice #6228491 and adjacent invoice lines that appear to include charges for parade preparations, map responses for a Catholic church parcel, school district access and other work. At one point a council member said, "I think Willdan's got some explaining to do," and asked that the specific invoice be pulled for review before payment.
Staff explained some larger seeming charges reflect legitimate quarterly or annual bills — for example, dispatch services billed by the Amador County Sheriff's Department — and that some older or out-of-order invoice dates reflect coding and follow-up work to attach charges to correct activities. The council also asked questions about a $3,000 raw water bill in winter and a sewer repair invoice paid to a contractor, and discussed a previously owed invoice for a GASB 75 report from fiscal year 2020–21.
After public comment and discussion, a council member moved and seconded payment of all warrants. The council approved the motion by voice vote; the mayor announced, "Ayes have it." Council members and staff said the specific Willdan invoice and any other items suspected to be typos or miscoded would be pulled from payment or held for further review and follow-up with the vendors.
Public comment included concerns about nonprofit parade organizers shouldering unusually large fees if the parade permit or traffic-control costs are passed to community groups. A resident asked whether Caltrans might be able to provide permitting support at reduced cost, and another urged more pre-meeting communication so council questions can be answered without lengthy agenda discussion.
Staff said they will follow up with Willdan and others to clarify invoice items and adjust payments or coding as necessary.
