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Ceres council tables Mitchell Road median design, directs community outreach
Summary
Councilors tabled a budget amendment to finish design of a median on Mitchell Road and instructed staff to conduct community outreach before returning with a final design; the project is mostly HSIP grant-funded with an 11.47% city match.
The Ceres City Council on Oct. 27 voted to table a budget amendment that would fund final design work for a median along a quarter-mile stretch of Mitchell Road, directing staff to conduct door-to-door and business outreach before returning with a revised design and report.
Public works staff described the proposal as primarily grant-funded through the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP), with the city contributing an approximately 11.47% match from Measure L. Mike Beltran, the project lead, told council the design includes ADA curb-ramp upgrades, stormwater improvements and reinforced median mount-overs coordinated with the fire department so apparatus can cross when needed.
Vice Mayor Martinez and other council members pushed staff for more data and public engagement after several residents raised concerns. “If I had not requested this to be pulled, these plans would not have been made available,” Martinez said, noting residents and businesses had not been widely notified. Beltran said staff’s records show five collisions on the stretch in the last five years and that the project is intended as a proactive safety measure.
Residents at the meeting said they were surprised by the drawings. John Warren asked when the project was first proposed and pressed the council to verify exactly where the accidents occurred. Dave Pratt said the drawing posted that night made clear northbound access at several cross streets would change and urged the city to post plans online earlier.
Council members also debated finances. Beltran said if the city were to cancel a grant-funded project now it might need to return roughly $80,000 already drawn from the state; he said public outreach itself would cost only a modest amount of staff time rather than that full sum.
After discussion, a motion to deny the item (which would effectively kill the project and likely trigger repayment) failed. Council then approved a motion to table the budget amendment and return with a staff outreach plan and updated design materials; the table motion passed on a unanimous roll call vote.
Next steps: staff will carry out the outreach described to nearby residents and businesses, tally responses and bring a design update and community-engagement report back to council prior to construction authorization.
