City moves forward to collect delinquent utility bills

By Jacob Hoffman Express staff writer

The Winters City Council discussed taking steps to collect payments not made by city residents toward their water, sewage and/or solid waste bills at the July 18 meeting.

City Manager Kathleen Salguero Trepa explained the background as, “This is an annual process whereby we attempt to collect delinquent water and sewage utility accounts. We do make an effort to reach out to the property owners, we sent letters on May 17 and again on June 7.

The property owners have all been notified that accounts are delinquent…and that if they aren’t paid in full that we do have the ability to lien the property subject to council approval.”

The list of delinquent fees totals just over $44,000.

The staff report states the adoption of this motion would mean “the city council must, by Aug. 10, file a copy of the report of delinquent water and sewer charges with the Yolo County Auditor-Controller. The Auditor-Controller must enter the delinquent amounts against the parcels on the assessment roll. Such charges constitute a lien against the premises against… which the charges have been imposed.”

Mayor Bill Biasi asked if the city had been enforcing its policy of penalties for light payments, which Trepa said has not been the case, with Biasi suggesting this policy be enforced for the delinquent accounts.

Council member Richard Casavecchia asked if there was a mechanism for shutting off services, which the city confirmed was “stayed because of COVID,” but is being reimplemented.

The public hearing began with resident Tina Lowden who said these delinquencies cause the city difficulties, as well as the structure of the city’s financial enforcement being inefficient.

Council member

$2,500 in products.

Based on the camera footage, Suspect No. 1 was wearing camouflage pants, a green hooded sweatshirt with a white shirt underneath, black-andwhite shoes, a red hat, a black face mask and white gloves. Suspect No. 2 was wearing dark pants, a brown hooded sweatshirt, gloves, a dark mask and white and dark shoes. Both suspects left the scene in a vehicle described as an older model gold Toyota Sequoia with chrome aftermarket rims, according to a Winters PD so- cial media post.

Similar burglaries took place in Dunnigan and Davis within the same time period. Winters PD is working with the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office and Davis Police Department to confirm if the burglaries were connected.

Anyone with information regarding this incident should contact the Winters police tipline by email at tips.winters @winterspolice.org or by phone at 530-795-4561. Callers can remain anonymous, according to the post.

Councilman pleads no contest to weapon allegations

By Lauren Keene McNaughton Media

A Winters city councilman charged with felony weapon possession made a plea agreement Wednesday that reduces his two most serious charges to misdemeanors.

Richard Thomas Casavecchia’s deal won’t be official until Aug. 2, however, as his attorney, who appeared in Yolo Superior Court remotely via Zoom, inadvertently filed a plea form that did not include the required signature. Casavecchia did not appear in court.

Under the agreement, Casavecchia pleaded no contest to two counts of possessing an assault rifle. A third count, possession of an unserialized firearm, will be dismissed. Casavecchia, 39, is expected to be sentenced to one year of informal probation and 100 hours of community service. He pledged to surrender the two rifles to law enforcement.

Court documents describe both of those weapons as “semiautomatic, centerfire ri- fle(s) that did not have a fixed magazine. Further, (they) had a pistol grip that protruded conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon, a telescoping stock, a forward pistol grip and a flash suppressor. Both rifles meet the definition of an assault weapon.” His attorney, Michael Wise, could not be reached for comment.

Casavecchia still retains his seat on the Winters City Council. Members of the public have called for his resignation at several city council meetings.

County files lawsuit alleging state CEQA violations

McNaughton Media staff

Yolo County officials announced Tuesday it’s filing of a lawsuit against the California Department of Water Resources in connection with certain undisclosed aspects of the Yolo Bypass Salmonid Habitat Restoration and Fish Passage Project.

Filed in Yolo Superior Court, the action asserts that DWR violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) by failing to disclose the conveyance capacity of operable gates at the Fremont Weir.

County officials called the lawsuit

“necessary to safeguard the interests of Yolo County residents, protect agriculture and maintain transparency throughout important projects,” according to a news release.

The federal Bureau of Reclamation and the California Department of Water Resources are partnering to reconnect floodplain habitat and improve fish passage for young salmon, according to the project website. “The Yolo Bypass Salmonid Habitat Restoration Project works to reconnect the floodplain for fish during the winter season and improve connectivity within the bypass and to the Sacramento River,” the site says. “The project provides seasonal inundation that mimics the natural process of the Yolo Bypass floodplain and improves connectivity within the bypass and to the Sacramento River.”

Currently being built seven miles northeast of Woodland, the operable gates are slated to convey twice as much water from See CEQA, Page 5