Turlock council approves renovations, municipal code updates and authorizes city attorney recruitment

The Turlock City Council on Nov. 4 unanimously approved a series of actions that will fund facility upgrades, adopt municipal code amendments and allow the city to seek an in‑house city attorney. The council voted 5‑0 to award a construction contract to New Century Construction and Consulting Inc. of Turlock to renovate the senior center and the Marty Yerby recreational facility and approved changes to the city’s municipal code and salary schedule.

Council voted first to adopt the agenda and then approved the consent calendar and two ordinances on second and final reading, including an amendment to municipal code provisions related to public works and adoption of the 2025 California Fire Code. All were approved by roll call with each council member recorded as voting "Yes."

On the senior center and Marty Yerby project (City Project No. 24‑036), staff said the work will improve ADA access, replace exterior doors with automatic openers, install touchless restroom fixtures, reconfigure restrooms into two unisex restrooms at Marty Yerby, and improve lighting and ventilation. City staff told the council the project originally attracted one bid in August — about 82% over the engineer’s estimate — so staff rebid the project and received four bids in October. New Century Construction was identified as the lowest responsive bidder with a base bid of $141,400; staff recommended authorizing a 10% construction contingency of $14,140 for unforeseen conditions and said the total estimated project cost, including construction, design, permitting and testing, is $254,188. Staff stated the project is fully funded from Fund 258 (housing stimulus funds) and that no general‑fund dollars would be used.

Separately, staff presented a reformatted job description for an in‑house city attorney and recommended amending the management salary schedule to include a salary range for the position. Staff told the council the city has not had an in‑house city attorney since March 2018, that a 10‑city salary survey was completed and that the salary range is appropriate to begin advertising. Councilmembers emphasized that, if the city hires an in‑house attorney, support staff and additional legal resources may be needed.

Officials said the municipal code amendments and the job description item are administrative steps intended to keep the city in compliance and to position the city to recruit for an in‑house attorney. All items in this package passed on recorded roll calls of council members Abraham, Bixell, Vice Mayor Monette, Phillips and Mayor Bublak.

Next steps: staff will execute the contract with New Century Construction and proceed with procurement steps; the city will post the city attorney job and begin recruitment according to the newly adopted salary schedule.