A clean air grant may help the City of Ripon cover $87,912 of the combined purchase price of $114,037 to obtain five vehicles.

The Ripon City Council will consider authorizing the Public Works Department to apply for the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District Public Benefit Grant Program when they meet tonight at 6 p.m.

If awarded, the City proposes using the grant funds to purchase four John Deere Gator GX electric utility vehicles for use throughout the Public Works Department and one 2026 Kia Sportage Plug-In Hybrid for the Building Department.

The Kia Sportage would replace an aging gasoline-powered fleet vehicle currently assigned to the Building Inspector, improving fuel efficiency and reducing vehicle emissions.

The total purchase price for the 2026 Kia Sportage Plug-In Hybrid is $46,125.04. If awarded, the grant will provide $20,000 toward the purchase, resulting in a maximum City contribution of $26,125.04. The City’s share will be funded through the General Department Capital Fund.

The purchase price for each John Deere Gator GX electric utility vehicle is $16,978.23, which will be fully funded through the grant program.

The maximum that the air quality control district will award to go toward the purchase of a qualifying vehicle is $20,000.

Claim for $9,892 for

damage from pothole

Mercury Insurance submitted a claim to the City of Ripon on July 6, 2026 for reimbursement of cost to repair the front tire, rim and steering rack of Alexis Nieves’ vehicle for damage done to her vehicle due to a pothole.

The amount of the claim is $9,892.48.

City of Ripon is a member of the Central San Joaquin Valley Risk Management Association (CSJVRMA), which consists of 54 cities in the Central Valley that self-insure liability losses through a pool.

The CSJVRMA claims adjustor reviewed the claim and pictures submitted.

Government Code Section 835 gives immunity to public entities for incidents such as this when they had no knowledge of the condition prior to the occurrence.

The City was unaware of that particular pothole prior to the incident. Since that time, the pothole has been filled.

Accordingly, it is the claims adjustor’s recommendation that this matter be submitted to the City Council for the claim to be rejected.

Parking lot bid to high

Staff is recommending the council reject the sole bid received from United Pavement Maintenance, Inc. in the amount of $3,108,581 for the Community Center Parking Lot Expansion Project and authorize staff to re advertise the project.

Bids were publicly opened on July 1, 2026 . One bid was received from United Pavement Maintenance, Inc. in the amount of $3,108,581.

It exceeded the engineer’s estimate of $2,257,175 by $851,406.