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TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2012 www.redbluffdailynews.com Breaking news at: 20-minute workout Partly cloudy 70/49 Weather forecast 10B DAILYNEWS See 6A Vitality RED BLUFF Sports 1B TEHAMACOUNTY DAILY 50¢ T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Chili round-up By ANDREA WAGNER DN Staff Writer Water rate hikes up for comment Decisions over a possible wastewater rate hike and the elimination of the human resources director position top the Red Bluff City Council agenda tonight. Meeting at the community center instead of city hall, there will be a public hearing on whether or not to approve a hike in water and sewer rates. City staff is proposing an increase of an average of $3 a month for residential water bills and a $16 per month increase in residential wastewater bills — spread over two years. Wastewater rates have not increased since 1997, while the base rate for water hasn't increased since 2005. The consumption rate, or charge per cubic foot of water used, hasn't changed since 2008, according to staff reports. The proposal to increase fees comes, in part, from the Photo courtesy of Terry Bauer A huge crowd turned out throughout Saturday for the ICS Chili Cook-Off in downtown Red Bluff. DN STAFF REPORT the crowd favorite, two Reno cooks took top honors during Saturday's ICS Chili Cook-Off in downtown Red Bluff. took first place in the judged Red Chili and Salsa competitions respectively, with Skip placing third in the Salsa group. Skip earned the top prize of $500 and Dionne $100 for their wins. Skip and Dionne Cooley of Reno was second in Red Chili, with Jim Beaver of Mammoth Lakes in third. They earned prizes of $200 and $100. Adrian Fuhrman of Ben Lomond San Jose's Ron Boisseranc topped the Chili Verde, or Green Chili, category to earn $200. Bryan Harrington of Redding and Barbara Beaver of Mammoth Lakes took second and third. They took home While a Bay Area team proved $125 and $75 for placing. With Cooleys in first and third in Salsa, second place went to Red Bluff cook Larry Jantzen. Only first place comes with a cash prize in the Salsa competition. Traveling more than three hours north from Marin County, the Novato Fire Chili Company was the popular favorite, taking both the Peoples Choice and Booth and Showmanship awards, each of which comes with a $100 prize. Just behind in both competitions was the Red Bluff Volunteer Fire Depart- ment. Third place in Peoples Choice was Mill Creek Cafe in Los Molinos. The event is a fundraiser for the Red Bluff Rotary Club and organiz- ers estimate some 4,000 people turned out over the course of the day to sample offerings from 50 cooks at 28 vendor stations. Farmers, residents to get more water FRESNO (AP) — Water agencies that supply millions of California residents and farmers will be getting more water this year, thanks to a wet spring and high reservoir storage. The state Department of Water Resources said Monday that State Water Project contractors can expect to get 60 per- cent of their requested water, 10 percent more than earlier estimates. On Friday, the Bureau of Reclamation, which runs the federal Central Valley Project, said its agricultural water con- tractors on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley should expect to receive 40 percent of the water they requested. Even in wet years it's difficult to receive 100 percent of requested water because of pumping restrictions to protect threatened and endangered fish. Office manager charged with embezzlement office manager at Growney Motors, Monday, after receiving a call about a possible embezzlement. According to a department press release an investigation DN STAFFREPORT The Red Bluff Police Department arrested a 50-year-old revealed Arleen Morton had transferred around $35,000 of company funds over the course of the past two years into a personal account. Morton was arrested for embezzlement and was being held at Tehama County Jail on a $15,000 bail. Triathlon in Lake California LAKE CALIFORNIA — The Tri-Shasta Sprint Triathlon committee and sponsors invite everyone out to a sprint triathlon being held May 12 in Lake Cali- fornia. The event begins at 9 a.m. and includes an 800- meter swim, 12-mile ardu- ous bike course and a 4-mile run overlooking the Sacra- mento River. For race and entry details visit the Website: www.trishasta.com. The Tri-Shasta Sprint 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 Triathlon entry fee is $50, and includes a participant shirt with bag, and age divi- sion awards. Spectators are always welcome and encouraged to cheer on friends and family members and enjoy all that Lake Cali- fornia has to offer. Daily News photo by Julie Zeeb Red Bluff Police Lt. Dan Flowerdew, right, pins on chevrons for Matt Hansen, left, who was sworn in Monday as a sergeant. reserve officer in November 2011, Matt Hansen was pro- moted to sergeant on Mon- day in a ceremony at city hall to replace Dan Flow- erdew. Flowerdew was promot- ed to lieutenant following the promotion of Kyle Sanders to captain on Tues- By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer Sworn in as a Level 1 day, April 10. While Hansen is new to the department, he is not new to being an officer and brings a wealth of experi- ence having worked at the San Diego Police Depart- ment, with homeland securi- ty and a SWAT team for 10 years. sergeant at the California State University, Chico Hansen also served as a HAVOC WITH YOUR SOCKS? toenails WREAKING Are your PODIATRY CENTER AEROFEET Painless Topical Treatment THAT REALLY WORKS. Treat your neglected nails and cracked heels with our at home SPA EXPERIENCE. Call today for an appointment (530)527-7584 Smog Inspection $ COMPLETE AUTO REPAIR Pass or FREE retest (MOST CARS & PICK-UPS) 2595 195 S. Main St. Red Bluff 530 527-9841 + cert. The final tally of money raised has yet to be calculated, but Rotari- an Michelle Blunkall said she expects more than $6,000 was raised to fund scholarships for local students. Live music, a Stick Horse Rodeo, dummy roping and a classic car show were held in conjunction with the cook-off, offering some- thing for all ages at the event, which is one of the first during the 11 Days of Round-Up. Saturday evening brought a con- cert by Michael Martin Murphey at the State Theatre and a street dance at the Cone Kimball Plaza. Festivities continue today with an opening reception for the Round-Up Art Show, 5-8 p.m. at The Big Picture, 857 Washington St. downtown. The rodeo photogra- phy of Matt Cohen will be show- cased during the free event. The city also has two other loans for the wastewater treatment plant, which require the city stay out of debt and keep an overall net income. "Operating income for the wastewater fund has decreased approximately $130,000 in the past two years," the report states. "Needed repairs and maintenance that have been put off can easily reduce the net operating income to zero in any given year." city wanting to stay on top of a $3.9 million loan taken in 2006 for the water fund, the report states. Rate increases have increased the amount needed to keep up with repay- ment on the loan. The city is also looking into grant funding for capital repairs and improvements to the wastewater system, but in order to qualify, the city would have to increase wastewater rates by nearly 55 percent, the report states. After the public hearing on water rates, the city will also consider two items that affect city manager and attorney Richard Crabtree. Crabtree is proposing the council pass an ordinance amending the city code to show the offices of city manag- er and city attorney are compatible. He officially took the dual-seat as city manager and AAU champs attorney April 1 after former manager Martin Nichols left earlier this year. tree would assume a third position as personnel officer. If passed human resources director Tessa Pritchard Crabtree also proposes reorganizing the human resources department. If it passes, the reorganization would mean that Crab- would be laid off as of June 30. The city stands to save $82,704 a year by eliminating Pritchard's position, according to Crabtree's report to the council. Andrea Wagner can be reached at 527-2153, extension 114 or awagner@redbluffdailynews.com. Red Bluff promotes new sergeant Police Department, eventu- ally promoting to lieutenant. Since then he has been teaching law enforcement classes at the Tech College in Redding. "Matt tested with our agency in August 2011 for the position of police sergeant and we knew there'd be multiple openings coming up," said police chief Paul Nanfito. "It was our goal to get him trained on how the Red Bluff Police Department conducts busi- ness before the sergeant's position became available." Hansen will spend a few weeks working with another sergeant to help him adapt to becoming a supervisor, Nanfito said. Hansen, a former fire- man and medic, is married to his wife of 18-years, Bon- nie. The couple has two chil- dren, Kyle and Emilee, and have lived in Tehama Coun- ty since 2005. ——— Julie Zeeb can be reached at 527-2153, exten- sion 115 or jzeeb@redbluff- dailynews.com.