City Council - Regular Meeting

Okay, good evening. I will call to order this City of Belvedere City Council meeting for Monday, June the 8th, 2026. Can I get a roll call, please, Beth? Council Member Cooper.

Council Member Burke.

Here.

Mayor Wilkinson.

Present.

Council Member Mark.

Here.

Council Member Carapiet. Here.

Okay, we will be moving to closed session before we move. Can I ask whether there's any public comment on the closed session agenda item? There are no public present. Okay, perfect. In that case, we will adjourn. Thanks. Okay, I will reopen our public session. There is nothing to report out from our closed session today. Beth, I don't need to take a roll call again. Okay, perfect. So we are going to move on to item number three, which is reports and presentations, 3A City Council reports. Does any City Council member have any updates?

I attended the remotely attended the May RBRA meeting and want to report that the RBRA received grant approval from the EPA for funds to proceed with additional eelgrass plantings. And that's it. Anybody else?

Jane.

Yes, as the mayor's proxy, I attended the last MCC, MC City Selection Committee made up of mayors, Marin County mayors and city council people. And I wanted to proudly announce that the group elected council member Kara Piette as the alternate representative to ABAG, which is the Bay Area Housing Group. And as our legislative representative, I will be attending the annual ABAG meeting on June 18th. And as Council Member Carapiette is the alternate, she will be attending with me. So we'll both find out what's going on there. I did also want to remind residents that while we haven't seen many coyotes for the past few months, this is the time of year that if there were any parents with pups that they would begin the pups would begin to be investigating their surroundings around this time for the next couple of months. So please pay attention to your pets. Our website offers many articles and suggestions, and I recommend reviewing it and to contact Marin Humane if you have any concerns or want to report an incident. Lastly, I attended the meet and greet for the Mallard Point coordinator, Eric Seabrook. I was very pleased that the get together happened. We had a great turnout, wonderful community comments. But one thing that surprised all of us, including me, was that their company was not going to begin any oversight until the demolition phase began. So I'm assuming that we all misread the April breeze when it said that they would be organizing projects submittals, tracking conditions, ensuring compliance and serving as a liaison between the city residents, applicants, contractors and engineers. We may have been reading more into it than what was intended, but I also found the proposal that was submitted by Phillips Seabrook Associates. And it did mention ensure conditions of approval are adhered to. So I think we may have all assumed that they were gonna be involved with the conditions of approval. And I just wonder if we perhaps should review the scope of work so that it can be clarified to everyone what the actual expectations should be on this position. I think we all thought it would be more than that. So that was a surprise. Thank you. Anybody else?

I did. I attended the monthly sea level rise meeting, also known as Bay Wave. Two things to report. They just hired chief climate officer, Dr. Nadia Sadarim, who started about two weeks ago. So that was an exciting development there. And we also discussed how the different municipalities in our region, County will be preparing for SB 272, which is a requirement by state law that we submit an adaptation plan for sea level rise by January 1st of 2034. There is a grant writing process that's underway right now. Some of the municipalities are deciding to do it independently, meaning they'll apply on their own. whereas others are considering doing it in collaboration with other municipalities, so multi-jurisdictional. And we will be in the process of evaluating which is the best path for Belvedere, and we'll report back.

Okay. I don't have anything to report either, so we will open that to public comment. Anybody in the room? I don't see anybody. Is there anybody online? Out of the 13 attendees, there are no hands raised. Okay, great. Thanks, Beth. Okay, so we'll move on to 3B, which is our city. Oh, I'm so sorry. Come up.

Do you mind, if you don't mind, can you just announce the name? Jill Barnett, 50 Peninsula Road. I just wanted to agree with Jane about Eric Siebel, and I think you should review where their contract starts, because he is the project manager, and everything before demolition is part of the project. So I agree with reviewing his contract.

Thank you. Okay, unless there's anything else, we'll move to 3B, our city manager's report.

Yes, thank you, Mayor Wilkinson. I'll go ahead and start off with an update on the police department's staffing matter. As you know, the city council has established a subcommittee of the city council to consider short and long-term strategies to address staffing matters within the police department. This topic was discussed during February's council retreat as well. First, I'm glad to report that the decision has been made to refill the vacant sergeant position. This position was left open following Officer Sabita's retirement last year. This week, Chief, we will be restarting the internal interview and hiring process that began earlier this year. More significantly, the proposed budget before you this evening also includes three years of funding to temporarily restore the previously deferred seventh officer position. Recruitment is expected to begin immediately following tonight's adoption of the budget. This additional position will help bring back staffing resiliency within the department and give Jason's team the opportunity to focus on more proactive and diverse police work like parking and even some code enforcement matters that we're looking into. Looking towards the future, the budget also includes $30,000 for the development of a mid and long-term strategic plan for the department. The subcommittee is drafting an RFP and has identified several qualified firms to assist with this effort. The selected consultant will evaluate the department staffing and operational model. review succession plans for when key staff retires, and assess alternative service delivery options appropriate for a small agency such as Belvedere. Staff anticipates that this analysis will take approximately four to six months following consultant selection. Onto other topics, rodents, specifically rat activity has been on the rise in Marin. I have personally heard from several residents who've experienced costly vehicle damage and other property damage this year from rats. Staff is developing a pilot mitigation program that we expect will run approximately three to six months. In lieu of toxic poisons, the pilot will focus on deploying contraceptive bait stations that can also track usage around the city. Other cities in and around the Bay Area are using this similar method with success. The initial look will help us understand the extent and concentration of that rodent activity, evaluate the bait's effectiveness, and inform a longer-term strategy. We plan to return to the City Council with data-driven findings and recommendations following completion of the pilot. Staff has also coordinated with Marine Humane and Wild Care to develop a frequently asked questions FAQ document for the residents. And an informational page will be available where folks can find details about the pilots and the best practices for rodent mitigation as well as the FAQ. More to come. And then finally, beginning with the July city council meeting, the agenda will include a new standing item titled council member requests for future agenda items. This item will provide council members with a formal opportunity to request future agenda topics that are outside of the annual goal setting process. Requested items may be scheduled for future council meetings consideration or referred to staff for preliminary review, subject to the support of a majority of the council members present. And that's all I have for now. I'm happy to take questions.

Thank you, Robert. Do council members have questions? Jane, go ahead.

When do we get to start requesting?

I think the earliest we put this on the agenda is next month, but it could be August.

Okay, fine. Thank you. Okay, let's open this for public comment. Is there anybody in the room that wishes to make public comment? Seeing none, I will open that to online comment. Mayor Wilkinson, there are no hands raised. Okay, great. In that case, we will close item 3B and move on to 3C, which is an update on the Marin-Sonoma Mosquito and Vector Board, presented by Peter Vonkrud, I hope I pronounced that correctly, who's a district manager and our representative Richard Snyder, who's here to present as well. So welcome to both of you.

Hi, Richard Snyder, Tim Pomander-Walk. I've been a member of the board since you appointed me back in 2018. And of those several years, I've served four years on the executive committee and I was president for the year of 2023 and currently serve on the nominating committee trying to shape the future. I'd like to introduce Peter Bunkruda, who is our general manager and who has a presentation for you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your service.

Thank you, Richard. Yes, my name is Peter Boncrude. I am the district manager at Marin Sonoma Mosquito and Vector Control. And we're going to go through a little bit of what we do at our district and try to focus a little bit on the city of Belvedere as well. So just a quick overview. Oh, there we go. We are an independent special district. So similar to like a fire district or a water district, we have our own tax base. We have our own governing body. And basically our role is protecting public health from mosquitoes and other vector-borne diseases in both Marin and Sonoma County. We have a board that's governed by 24 different members. Some of those from incorporated cities and as well as from Shasta County, I'm sorry, from Marin and Sonoma County at large. Our tax base is within the property assessments, and our authority is under the California Health and Safety Code. We cover two different counties, 2,200 square miles. We are the largest district in California, just under a million residents, and over 25 species of mosquitoes are monitored. Interesting history for Marin-Sonoma Mosquito and Vector Control. We are one of the earliest mosquito and vector control districts in California. The San Rafael Improvement Club, which was a women's club in San Rafael, raised money early in the 1900s to try to reduce nuisance causing mosquitoes in the area. It was impossible to live during certain parts of the time of the year from largely salt marsh mosquitoes. So the San Rafael Women's Club came together and they raised a bunch of money and they were actually able to hire an entomologist from UC Berkeley that then trained the first mosquito inspectors in California to try to reduce those mosquito populations. Then not too far after that California passed legislation that allowed the creation of mosquito and vector control districts and ours was one of the first. So the Marin Mosquito Abatement District was created not too long after the Vector Control Law was passed in 1915, and we've been around ever since. So we've added new districts, we've consolidated, but ultimately we've included now both Marin, all of Marin and all of Sonoma County within our boundaries, as you can see. So from 1976 to 2004, and then we continue to annex some of the outer areas within Northern Sonoma County and Western Marin County. Today, we are a modern organization that covers, as mentioned, 2,200 square miles. We follow what's called integrative vector management, which is a form of integrative pest management, which basically is looking at the toolbox and finding the right tool for each job that you have. No specific position or no specific outcome is expected. We use our surveillance to guide our control interventions and ultimately whichever control intervention we need to use for each situation. Okay, here are some of the programs that we offer. Everything is driven by our surveillance and monitoring. So we're running close to 100 mosquito traps across the two-county district every week. We also add additional traps as part of that, but our regular trapping is 100 plus. In addition to that, we're also doing our rodent issues. So we're out there looking for homes and helping out with exclusion. We're also working on tick surveillance, so both in Marin and Soma County. We're out looking in the areas where ticks are the most prevalent. We're collecting those ticks, and then we're testing them for disease, mostly Borrelia burgdorferi, which is Lyme disease, and then some other Borrelias, which are akin to Borrelia burgdorferi, which can cause relapsing fever. In addition to our surveillance and monitoring, obviously, we have the control element. Most of our focus for mosquito control is on the immature stages of mosquitoes, so while they're in their water. We find that we have a lot more options when we're dealing with mosquitoes in the water versus while they're on the wing. And we have, it's a lot easier to find, right? We can find these different mosquito sources. We can treat them before they ever become adults. Our goal as a public health agency is disease prevention. So we're always focused on those mosquitoes that can cause disease. And we're focused on trying to reduce the transmission of those diseases to people. The main diseases that we're concerned about here in both Marin and Sonoma County County right now is West Nile virus is still the main main player in our area. However, we are keeping an eye out and testing for Western equine encephalitis, as well as St. Louis encephalitis, which have been in California, but at different times over the last 50, 60 years. Service requests do drive our operations to some degree. Last year, we had over 12,000 service requests. This year, hopefully we'll have a few less because it was quite a few. Most of those were on Yellow Jackets. Public education as well. So we have an education specialist that goes into the schools, teaches kids at all different age levels, different curriculums that are approved by California for whatever that age group is. So we try to target not only the information that we're trying to put out there, but also what the teachers are trying to teach to each grade level. Plus, we also have our outreach or P.I.O., who will do a variety of different events. If there's events in Belvedere that people are interested in us attending, let us know. We're always happy to add things to the list. And then obviously all of our different outreach, our websites, our social media. So district-wide, last year, like I said, we completed over 10,000 service requests. We tested over 17,000 different mosquitoes. We inspected 40,000 different locations for potential mosquito breeding, and of those, treated around 16,000. We did have one West Nile virus positive incident last year, which was a positive dead bird in the city of Sonoma area. District-wide trends, overall, our mosquito numbers were down last year, which is a positive thing, even though we did see that West Nile virus incident. Overall, in comparison to previous years, last year was a lower year. We're sort of seeing similar at this point this year, both locally and statewide, and we're hoping that continues. And ultimately... You know, those are the things that will drive our operations. I took a small little smattering of the different mosquito species. Like I said, we're dealing with 26 plus. Those are the ones that we're looking at pretty regularly. And most of those are disease causative or very nuisance causative mosquitoes. Let's look a little bit at Sylvia Belvedere. So as you can see, all these are locations that we have done control activity. So we have close to on both Tiburon and Belvedere property sites. So roughly 6,000 different locations that we inspect regularly for treatment. And of those, you know, on average, we're inspecting 3,000 to 4,000 each year and treating around 2,200 year dependent. In addition to our mosquito control elements, we did over 24 rodent inspections on the island. And then we did 156 yellow jacket treatments. This is kind of what the work looks like. Our technicians go out every morning. They're identifying those sources that we've already previously identified as potential mosquito breeding habitats. They're checking those habitats to see if they're breeding immature mosquitoes and then finding the best control strategy and hopefully the most long lasting control strategy for each one of those situations. And that can conclude everything from source reduction to public education, to chemical control, to biological control. We have a variety of different tools that are pretty habitat dependent and species dependent. You can see up on the screen here, we're dealing with marsh habitats, we're dealing with wetland habitats, we're dealing with urban habitats. We do have a very wide variety of different types of mosquito breeding habitats throughout both Marin and Sonoma counties. On the right-hand corner, you can see one of our mosquito traps. I probably should have put one. Our biologist, our main lab director, Dr. Fury, actually suggested created a whole new trap using our 3D printing, which is really exciting. That's actually out catching the trap that is typically used for mosquito surveillance. So we're pretty proud of the fact that she designed a new trap that's doing better than the existing industry standard trap. And it's costing us a lot less money and we can put a lot more traps out there to look to see what's going on from a mosquito standpoint. And then the last one is one of our technicians, our rodent specialist looking for exclusion options for a property owner. So one of the things to keep an eye on is this emerging threat for Aedes aegypti. We refer to them as invasive Aedes. Basically, these mosquitoes don't belong in California. There's more than just Aedes aegypti, but Aedes aegypti has been the one that spread the best. There's also Aedes notoscriptus and Aedes albopictus that's moved from the L.A. area all the way up to Shasta County. And so far, we have been able to avoid Aedes aegypti in either Marin or Sonoma County, but we are slowly getting surrounded. So they're now been found in Solano, Santa Clara, Alameda, Santa Cruz, Yolo, still not in Napa, still not in Marin, still not in Sonoma, still not in San Mateo. So we got a little bit of a boundary, but not by much. So we're keeping an eye out for those mosquitoes. Why do we care? It's just another mosquito. Well, we care because these mosquitoes can transmit diseases that Up until the last three years, we're not transmitted in California. So dengue, chikungunya, Zika virus. And unfortunately, now we have had locally transmitted dengue in Southern California where Aedes aegypti is pretty well established. And the concern is that where this mosquito can be established, those diseases could also be transmitted. Dengue, chikungunya, and Zika are different than West Nile in the sense that humans are the host for those diseases. So in West Nile's case, it's a bird. So it's a bird mosquito disease. For dengue, chikungunya, and Zika, it's a human mosquito disease. So somebody could travel to an area where one of those diseases is endemic, come back, get bit by that mosquito, and then ultimately transmit it on. So that's why it's a concern. We have traps out that are specific for those mosquitoes, and we are looking for them regularly to make sure if we do get them, we have a good response plan put into place. Just a quick little financial snapshot. So as I mentioned, we are covered by largely property taxes as well as some additional benefit assessments. That accounts for just under $13 million for our revenue basically each year. And with that, we cover $38 million. technicians and staff members, as well as a fully funded capital program. And we are currently looking to do some facility improvements. So one of our big projects in the next two years is going to be the construction of a new admin building, as well as the expansion of a new shop and vehicle storage, which is exciting. We haven't done any expansion since the late 90s, and we're busting at the seams a little bit. So we're excited to have some expansion there. on the same footprint, the same boundaries. And with that, I'll talk quickly about beyond. So technology modernization is our goal. We just rolled out a new grant that we were able to take advantage of through the state that we were able to completely reorganize all of our digital infrastructure. We're gonna take that and continue to build on it with this new facility improvement that we're looking at. Additionally, climate resilience is on our minds. When you're talking about climate vectors tend to be the canary in the coal mine. Meaning we know that emerging diseases and the diseases that are the mosquitoes that are carrying them often are coming ahead of some of the other larger climate change oriented indicators that are out there. We know that the expansion of these mosquitoes and then these diseases is likely due to climate change. And so we're always trying to identify where the next emerging disease or emerging mosquito issue is going to come based on that change in an overall climate. We're also looking at enhancing our surveillance. So finding new traps, new techniques, looking into things like remote modeling, looking into things like identifying our old data set and utilizing it to inform future decisions. So big data questions. We just hired a new data system specialist that's going to be working through a lot of that old historical data. And the mosquito side of things, we're very good at collecting it. We're not as good at making it operationally relevant. So that's the next goal. And then the last one is community engagement, doing exactly what we're doing here today, getting people to know that we exist and we can help you with your rodent issues if you have questions, because we have a rodent specialist and we do this all over Marin and Sonoma County. So we're always happy to partner with cities, counties, anybody that's interested in making things better for them from a mosquito and vector control standpoint. With that, I'll open it up to any questions if there's time.

Peter, thank you for that very interesting presentation and all the work that you do, which is super important. I do have questions, but I'll open up to other council members first.

So yes, thank you for your presentation. It's very informative. And I have to say, I personally have used your service, but the question I did have that is sort of relevant or soon to become relevant to the city is addressing our rodent problem. And I'm not sure what your program is about and the steps all that are gonna take place, but you are available that the city can reach out to you and see if there's something that you can help us with, whether it's a service or just advice on addressing that problem, is that a possibility?

Yeah, we can do exactly what has already been discussed and lend, hopefully, an additional voice to that information. So our rodent-borne disease program is focused on exclusion, largely. So our rodent specialists will get called through a service request, will go out to the property, and then we'll provide an exclusion report. So they'll do a full inspection of the property, identify areas that are either entry points or potential harborage areas or food sources, and they basically will give a laundry list to the property owner of things they can do to improve the they're um the rodents that either are on the property potentially even in the home itself uh they can then take that report and they can either hire a pest control company to do the work for them or they can do some of that exclusion work themselves so we don't actually do any of the road control we just provide consultation on the road so it sounds perfect for what you guys are working on we can work with you on your faqs we already have a whole lot of that on our website um and it's going to be just as relevant for belvedere as it is for any other part of marin county

And that service is free?

That service is already paid for through your property taxes.

Thank you.

Any other questions?

Just one, I guess, you mentioned ticks and we have a little party favor here.

I'm not super liked at parties because I bring some of the strangest party favors. But yes, what you have is a tick key. So what that is, is a tick remover. Great to throw in your vehicle or your purse or your bag or whatever you use to go hiking. And it's to remove ticks. It's a nice, easy way to cleanly remove the tick. That's the main thing. If you find a tick, getting as much of that tick off as you can, getting as much of the hypostome out or the head parts out as you can is going to prevent any kind of secondary infection from like bacterial infection or something. So really key to have with you. Yeah, thank you. And then it was married with hopefully a tick card that will let you know the ticks in our area and the concerns of certain species in our area.

Well, I just wanted to check so that I could thank you for this nice gift and also thank you for the presentation.

Well, and to the public, I'll let them know that those are available to them as well. So if you need anything for tick surveillance or for tick removal, just give us a call. We're happy to make those available.

I would very much like to thank you for this key because my husband has removed two ticks out of his leg in the past week associated with mountain biking and it's never quite sure whether he's got them out completely. So thank you for that. One of my questions was in relation to ticks, what's the data showing in terms of the prevalence of Lyme? So whatever the Latin is for that, but what are you seeing in terms of the data?

Sure. So in general, our Lyme disease numbers are lower than Midwest and East Coast. But Marin County does have some of the highest rates of Lyme disease within our ticks in terms of California counties. So if we're looking in California, Marin does have a higher risk than other counties, but it's still very low. Four to five percent is the infection rate that we typically see in most of our ticks that we collect. You know, we can see micro habitats will have higher infection rates. But in general, those numbers are fairly low. And there's a couple different reasons. One is our temperature. One is that we have a slightly different species of tick. So we have Ixodes specificus here on the Midwest and East Coast. It's Ixodes scapularis. Behavior is slightly different. And then also we have a really interesting species. biological environment here where if the tick feeds on a lizard that is endemic here to California, it will actually kill the Borrelia. It's a Borreliocidal effect. It'll kill the Lyme disease bacteria in the tick. And that also reduces our overall infection rates in California. So not bad if you compare it to Midwest and East Coast, but definitely something in Marin County you want to be aware of. Do your tick checks. Make sure you're wearing some sort of insect repellent when you're out and about. Make sure you're wearing light-colored clothing if you're going to be in areas where you know ticks are going to be, and ultimately making sure that you remove those ticks as quickly as possible. If you're worried, you can always hold on to it. We can always ID it. We won't test ticks for people, but both public health labs, I believe, will test for ticks. We only test the ticks we collect. It's the same as the state. If you go to CDPH, they won't test ticks that are collected off of people. And that's because we don't want to give people a false sense of either security or, you know, the other end that it did test positive. That doesn't mean you have Lyme disease and vice versa. So we really work on the medical side of things, informing doctors as to what our risks are for Lyme disease, knowing the signs of Lyme disease, and then hopefully treating the Lyme disease quickly and effectively for those people that have gotten bitten.

Thank you very much. And I'm sure the city will be reaching out in relation to our RAC question. So thank you for that offer. Unless there's other questions, I will open this up for public comment.

I just have one comment I wanted to make. I wanted to thank Richard Snyder for his service on the Mosquito Vector Board and representing the city so well. That's all. You're very welcome.

My pleasure. Okay, is there anybody in the room that would like to make public comment? Seeing none, I will open this to... I see none. Seeing none, okay. In that case, we will close item 3C. And again, thank you to Peter and Richard for everything that you both do.

Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Okay, we'll be moving on to item 3D, which is interviews for applicants for appointment to the Planning Commission and the Belvedere-Tiburon Library Agency Board. Is there a staff report before we go to interviews?

I'm happy to give you a summary of the staff report, or you can jump right into it, whichever you prefer.

Do you want to give a quick summary of the positions that we're interviewing for?

Yeah, so we have two vacancies currently on the Planning Commission. One four-year term currently held by Commissioner Azoulay Jemay, who is seeking reappointment, and one partial term created by Commissioner Butros' resignation. We received one application from Jacob Lansky, who is present this evening for an interview. We also have an opening on the Belvedere-Tiburon Library Agency Board. Incumbent Tony Hooker is seeking reappointment, and one additional applicant, Andrea Barish, has applied and is here this evening to interview as well. And then finally, two Finance Committee members' terms are expiring. Both incumbents, Bob McCaskill and Patrick Fader, have requested reappointments. No additional applications were received for those open positions. That's all.

Thank you very much. In that case, can I ask Jacob, who I see over there, come and introduce himself to the City Council?

Good afternoon, Madam Mayor, members of the City Council. My name is Jacob Lunetsky. I'm applying for the vacant seat on the planning commission. I do have to reflect that going after the mosquito presentation, which was actually quite interesting, is not an easy task. However, I'll try not to bite and hopefully the buzzing in your ear will be very, very minimal. Just by just sheer introduction, I've moved to Belvedere last February. It's a fascinating town. It's a beautiful town. There's a sense of history. There's a sense of aesthetics. There's a kind of a charm and appeal that's almost indescribable and makes it unique. And one of the reasons I want to be on the Planning Commission is because it dovetails with my interest in preserving this town and making sure I can continue and grow in an intelligent way. But also dovetails with my professional background. Just on a day job, I oversee the real estate transactions for a large technology company in Silicon Valley. Always have been professionally in real estate all my life. My first job was as a real estate attorney, then went to business school and then served in various other real estate functions. Since then, I'd like not to make this long, but rather open up to Q&A. As I said, very, very interested in this town, very interested in the history. but also just making sure that the people here can continue to thrive and whoever moves in can also just live up to their full potential and how they see their residences. Open up the questions.

Jacob, thanks so much. Who would like to start with questions?

Kevin.

Oh.

I don't have many questions. We had the opportunity to spend some time on the phone and I was very impressed with your background. I think I can definitely see how you could leverage some of those or many of those experiences for the work that you're doing. I guess, I mean, given that you are working at such a large high profile technology company in Silicon Valley, how do you imagine sort of balancing that? the demands of that with the demands of the planning commission, especially given, I think your travel schedule, which seems like it's pretty interesting to say the least.

Yeah, I'll just get Claude to do my other job. I think the answer to your question is, I can devote the time to this as long as I know how to schedule it, right? And the beauty of this position is that you know when the meetings are, you know what has to take place before the meeting, the kind of the due diligence that has to happen. So that becomes much more schedulable. It's the issue of where, you know, I have to have a meeting in three hours, that becomes much more problematic. So to the extent that there's visibility and the time commitment, it becomes a much more manageable task.

Thank you.

Hi, Jacob. Like Kevin, we spent some time on the phone, so I'll be brief. Something that I think has evolved in the Planning Commissioner's responsibilities is some of the longer-term planning perspectives and policy related to housing elements and general plans. And I think someone can really step into that the longer they've been involved with the city and going forward. I just wanted to gauge your interest and your openness to being involved in that long-term planning aspect for our city, both from a municipal code perspective, and as I mentioned, housing policy and general plans as well.

You know, I worked in Berkeley, California for five years as a practicing real estate attorney, helping them with their housing element, helping working with their zoning board, with their planning commission as well. It's been an interest of mine. The question I think you're asking is how do we balance this intelligently? Like the city is not a straitjacket. It's the question of how do we accommodate the growth of the city, but do it in a way that still preserves that which makes it special. And it's not an easy answer, right? It's a question of you have to delve into the code, you have to delve into the legal requirements, but moreover, you also have to delve into what can be built in a way that doesn't infringe and impinge upon the lifestyle of the existing residents.

Pat, do you have any questions? Hi, thank you. We've not had a chance to chat, so this will be our first chat. So one question I always have, and I believe I know the answer because I've seen you, but have you had an opportunity to attend any planning commission meetings?

I have, I've attended the last two meetings.

And what have you learned from that?

What I've learned from it is that there is a question of how do you balance some of the growth there's a question of also how do you balance some of the improvements that people want to make to their homes legitimately want to make to their homes with the concerns of the neighbors with the aesthetic and concerns that various members have expressed. What I've learned is that it's an interesting job, and it's one that I think to the extent that there is a legal perspective, the commission could benefit as well. The kind of the structured thinking that a law school teaches you or being a lawyer teaches you, I think could enrich the discussion.

Okay. And thank you for that. And this is a little bit kind of connecting a question that Kevin had and that Peter had. And I think for me, it's talking about, you know, your work life balance schedule. And for me, it's not only, you know, your expertise and what you bring to the commission as far as working on municipal code and housing element and general plan, but also, you know, there's, subcommittees, task force, things like that that come up. And they are not three-hour notice meetings. They're more in advance. Are you available to help? And so the question is, would you be able to carve out more time if you were to serve on one of those committees or task force to develop new codes, new approaches, the new housing element and revision of our general plan that's going to be coming up.

The answer is yes, because it can be scheduled ahead of time. The answer is absolutely yes.

Okay. I have something, but it's the comments. I can't think. It's question time. Let's see. Here's a question. Would you feel comfortable offering constructive feedback or suggestion on improvements to a plan especially if the applicant is someone that you know, a friend, not necessarily a neighbor within 500 feet, but maybe a neighbor, you know, 600 feet away, and you're allowed to participate in that project, would you be able to give, you know, constructive criticism, your honest opinion, and not feel you needed to hold back because you might hurt their feelings or?

So as part of my job, I negotiate for a living. And when you negotiate with the other side, there is a part of it that is about the feedback. Now, you could do it in a very unconstructive fashion. You could call them names. You could say they're stupid. You could do a lot of things. And you've insulted them. You've affected their ego. And you've gotten nowhere in whatever view you're trying to convey. And then there's a way of doing it in a way that is actually not just constructive, but in a way that takes their views and unites yours. And moreover, what you find is these conversations are not debates, they're discussions. The goal is to actually find common ground rather than to score a point. So absolutely. I mean, this is what I do for a living.

Okay. Let's see. Oh, here's one. I was a planning commissioner for 10 years. So sometimes I would do my own my own life experience here. So sometimes I would have a project visit, do all my homework, everything else. And though you're not supposed to make your final decision on how you feel about the project, you kind of come in and kind of have a feeling how you feel about this project. Like, you know, I'm really for it or I'm kind of got some issues with certain things or I'm not really, you know. This needs a whole lot more work. But then I also learned that as you listen to other commissioners and you listen to other viewpoints and their ideas and their opinions, that you can change your mind and say, wait a minute, I didn't think about that. And that does make sense. And so for a project that maybe I wasn't going to vote for, I might change my mind and vote for it. Or a project I was going to vote for, that I'm going to vote for it to be continued so they can do further work. Do you feel that you have that kind of open mind analysis that you would be open to other people's viewpoints and being able to change your mind?

I hope I can learn. I hope I can learn from my fellow commissioners. That's part of the experience, right? Nobody has a monopoly on wisdom or a monopoly on good ideas. So you have to absolutely listen to others.

And do you believe that as a planning commissioner, that your role is to balance the municipal code with the interest and wants of a applicant against what's best for the entire community?

I believe that the job of the commission is often a balancing of factors. That is absolutely true. It is also one where you cannot disregard the law. So the law may set a bright line, in which case you have to follow it. And if the law is not as exact, then of course you have discretion.

Okay. Thank you. And then I guess my last question is, is that when we, we all have our, um, careers, jobs, interests, specialties that we bring to whatever we're doing in our volunteer life. And, um, As a planning commissioner, we're going to be looking at you to be making your approach to being a planning commissioner and your decisions and everything else as more as a citizen versus as a role as a lawyer. And so do you see yourself having a problem with that?

No, not at all. I think lawyers can be good citizens.

Okay. All right. Okay. Well, those are all my questions. Thank you.

Jane, I think I skipped you. Do you have questions?

You didn't skip.

Oh, I didn't skip you.

Okay. I'm sorry. It's my turn now. That's all. Go ahead. Hi. Nice to meet you. I was not on the planning commission, but. I've attended many of the meetings over the last four or five years. So I've learned a lot. And a lot of my questions have already been asked and answered. So thank you, fellow commissioners. I think you said you've only lived here for four months?

No, no, no. February of 2025.

Oh, okay. Great. I was going to say, wow, you're really jumping in. jumping in, you fell in love fast. Um, okay. So I'm assuming, you know, one of the things that, um, can come up is that where you live, you know, everything intimately about that neighborhood, but we do have, um, three to four different types of zoning here based on, um, if you live on the water, if you're living on a small Hill, larger Island, whatever. So, um, I just wondered if you were familiar with all the different physical areas and that they may have zoning differences and that you would be representing all of the areas equally, not just the one that you live in because you're most familiar with it.

Yeah, so two part answer. The first is I've tried to walk pretty much every street in the town. I think it's just beautiful. It's also good exercise given the slopes. But the second part of your question is there's going to be aspects of the code that I'll need to learn. But it's not like I represent one particular block and that has to triumph over everything else. Absolutely not.

Yeah. Yeah, you're right. The code is complex at first, but then it gets easier as you learn it. At least that's what I've heard. I wondered if you'd had a chance to speak with any of our planning commissioners that sit there now.

I have not other than just observing. Okay. And I've spoken to Marsha Lasky. She's an alternate.

Yes, and a previous planning Commissioner and have you had an opportunity to meet with our planning director Rebecca just briefly briefly during the meetings okay so. Although the monthly meetings are scheduled in advance, as you said, you've also responded to questions about. perhaps smaller subcommittees or additional small task force that might have to do with housing element or general plan review and update, et cetera. But there's also, we have a requirement of training, of going to training, although that's, again, it's set up in advance for just one time. It's not ongoing training, so that shouldn't be an issue. But something that is ongoing is the communication back and forth from our planning director. And I'm assuming that when you're doing all your traveling, you have email availability and get back, would be able to get back to her for whatever it is she needs from you, at least within 24 hours. Does that seem reasonable? That is correct.

Okay.

Okay.

If I didn't have that, I'd probably be fired.

Yes, probably. Otherwise, my other questions have been answered. So thank you. Thank you for offering to serve. Thank you.

Jacob, I have no questions of you. We've met and had a nice coffee together and I learned a lot about you. So I think I had my questions answered. So with that, shall I open for public comment in relation to this first or shall I do the other or should we proceed with the other interview first?

You can just do one round after we complete the interviews.

Okay, perfect. So, Jacob, you're not required to stay on. The decision won't be made until the end of the meeting, and it could be a long meeting, so it's entirely up to you whether you wish to stay or not.

Thank you very much. Thank you so much.

Thanks for your time. Okay, so we'll move on to our second position, which is for the Belvedere-Tiburon Library Agency Board of Trustees, and this is for Andrea Barish, who I believe is here. Andrea, welcome. Please just introduce yourself, where you live, and your interest in serving on the agency board.

Yes, thank you so much for having me here. I'm really happy to be here. I live in Belvedere, just on San Rafael Avenue. I actually grew up here. My family moved here in 1968. And we probably all became members of the Belvedere Tiburon Library when it was based in the same building where the post office is now. My family was very much engaged in the library. My father was very involved in the fundraising to help move it to the new, I say new location, but the newer location where it is now. And my mom at the age of 90 last year was working as a volunteer at Corner Books And she did that for several years. So the library has been a very big part of my family's life. I had moved away after college and came back every year to spend time at the library when I was home. And as soon as I moved back nine years ago, I became I got my library card renewed. So it's been a really big part of my life. And libraries in general have been so I when this position opened up, I actually misread it in the tip in the arc and I applied for it and the last cycle and it was actually for the tip on position. And so I said, we're not doing to run now but Belvedere is coming up. So I waited and waited until it opened up and wanted to take the opportunity but I've been doing a lot. I do a lot of research and reading about where the library is now and was really engaged with reading and I've been reading about it for a couple years now, but the strategic plan and the Let's Connect theme really resonated with me. I that's who I am as a person with connections are really important to me, but also in my career in communications. I work for a large PR agency for decades in strategy and communications. And then now I work for the American Heart Association and communications, VP communications. Most of my job has been about finding ways to connect communities with either a brand or a product or a service. And that's what I do. I look at the data, I interpret it, I find an idea, and then I implement it. As part of my role in the American Cancer Society right now, I'm very integrated with the development team, with our event planning and fundraising. I do a lot of work with that team to help them meet their goals as well. So I'm sort of a horizontal position that works on all sorts of things. I have to know everything about everything and not just one part of the channel, but I'm really excited about this position because I feel like it's a lot of opportunity to really help connect the community to the library. I'm not, you know, I'm looking at the, I see the plan goes till 2026. I'm a little bit excited that there's a new plan in place, hopefully, or there's going to be some strategy around putting one together. love to be part of that plan because that's sort of what I do. I love putting strategy together and seeing it come to life. And then just a personal note, just watching the library when I first walked in a couple of years ago and had been rebuilt, I felt like I walked into a cathedral. I was like, this is amazing. And I was so proud of what the community had done and just some of the programs and services now just blow me away. So I'd love to be more of a part of that and bring it to life. And as a side note, I'm retiring in nine days, but who's counting? After 40 years, and I'm looking forward to spending time and investing more in my community. Thank you.

Andrea, thank you very much for that introduction. I'll go to council members with questions.

Jane. Welcome. Thank you so much for your interest in this position. Do you understand that there is another candidate and He's not here tonight because we had already interviewed him before he took his position. So just, I wasn't sure if you understood that.

I learned that when I got the packet and I saw that he was coming back and I understand how important people who have been in that role are and have that continuity, but I'd love to bring a different perspective and different ideas. And, but I do understand it because I've served on boards myself and know that that's important, so.

So whatever decision gets made tonight, I'm really impressed with a lot of the things that you mentioned, such as connecting the community to the library and that you have this background in communication and Community engagement marketing, etc, and I wondered if you were familiar with other opportunities at the library, they have an extremely active foundation board which actually sounds like a very wonderful match. as a possibility if you would be open to that I served for a year or so as the representative to the library board from our city council and the foundation board representatives attend every board meeting are very involved in everything the board does but they actually are the arm that connects the community to the library much more so than the board does And so I'm just putting that out there in case you're at all interested in that, that I think would be a great opportunity for you. But otherwise, I think you're very prepared for joining the library on any position there.

Thank you. Well, I've never been really a title person. I'm more about the work and the job. So if the job is somewhere else, that's fine. I'm open to that for sure.

Okay, great. I'm glad you're open to it.

But Dani, are you saying there's a position on the foundation available right now?

Okay, thanks.

Kevin.

And I'm happy to connect you if you needed that.

Thanks for your interest and congratulations on your pending retirement. The water is fine. You will enjoy it, I promise. Just maybe quickly, if you could share some of your lessons learned from your board service with the American Cancer Society, I think it was.

Yeah, sure. I worked for the American Cancer Society for a few years as an employee. And then when I moved to New York to take a new position there, I wanted to stay engaged, so I joined the board and I did a lot of work through fundraising. I did a lot of work with going to see prospective donors and creating stories and really understanding, connecting to our mission. I'm a cancer survivor, so one of the things I did, I did a lot of patient outreach So that was really important to me. And I just stayed really engaged throughout. I did lobbying on the Hill in Washington. That was really amazing opportunity. And then when I moved back to California nine years ago, I was still really connected to my American Cancer Society team and they approached me and they said, how would you like to be on the board here? And I said, well, I love it. And they said, well, how would you like to be the chair? And I was like, okay, that's a little bit different. So, but I did take that on and I really enjoyed it. I loved, we sort of built that board for the Bay Area So I was in part of my job was to go out and meet people and ask them to be part of that team also develop programs and services for our board and and really I navigated. you know, I managed the board meetings and came up with the strategies and the overall agenda. But the best part was, you know, we were talking earlier about, you know, being open to ideas and that to me is like the best part. I mean, I always feel like the best idea can come from anywhere. It doesn't matter who you are. If you have an idea, I'm open to it. And I think that's part of my creative job that I had, you know, the good idea comes from anywhere. So I really appreciate that.

Thank you. And I'm just very inspired by the work you're doing. I mean, all of these organizations that you're helping with such important purposes. So thank you for all that work.

Peter.

Hi, thanks, Andrew. I don't really have a question. I really loved your letter and I really applaud and thank you for your interest. And I think your engagement and your community focus is is right up exactly what our representative to the board would require. And I think, you know, pending our deliberation, you'd be an asset to that library representing Belvedere. So I just thank you for your involvement.

So thank you very much for coming forward. And I really appreciate feel inspired by your enthusiasm. It really comes across. And I just sit here like council member Jane Cooper sitting there going, wait a minute, she would be great here. She would be great there. So we probably should all connect later because I think there's a lot of great opportunities for you out there. But the one question I did have for you, above and beyond this role, is that have you attended any of the library board meetings? Have you had an opportunity to do it? I haven't.

I've just been assigned to the library. And I have to say part of the hard part is that because I work full time, so many of the programs are during the day. And my mom attended many of them. So I knew from her what she was doing and her Spanish and her Spanish. you know, have a redraw, you know, iPad, all those kinds of things she was taking, I thought was great, but I haven't really been able to take advantage of too many things. I go every, I work in the library sometimes, do my, I bring my computer and work out of the library. And then, but I haven't really been at the board meeting. Okay.

Well, you have the opportunity in nine days to be able to expand your time, but it's always very difficult for us when there's so many great people that come forward to volunteer because this town runs on volunteer. I mean, other than our staff, we're all volunteers for everything that happens here. And there's so many great opportunities, multiple opportunities that could use your talent. So I just hope that whatever the decision is tonight, that there's many more opportunities that you would fit in so perfectly with. that I think that we'll be taking up some of your retirement time and taking advantage of all your talent in one form or fashion as our future unfolds. I would love that.

Thank you so much.

You're welcome. Thank you for applying. Thank you. Andrea, I don't have any additional questions. You're obviously incredibly qualified for this role. So we will be deliberating at the end of the council meeting. So again, you're welcome to stay. You do not have to stay. I don't know if I have a higher self-esteem for that. But thank you for your application. As I say, you're incredibly qualified and talented and we look forward to connecting with you.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, let's open this for public comment. Is there any public comment in the room? Not seeing any. I see no hands. Okay, perfect. In that case, we will close item 3D and move on to the consent calendar, which is item four. The consent calendar consists of items that the city council considers to be routine or council has discussed previously and do not require further discussion. Unless any item is specifically removed by any member of the city council, the consent calendar will be adopted by one motion. Council will take public comment on all items on the consent calendar when the calendar is called. Can I first ask council members whether anybody wishes to remove any of the items from the consent calendar? Seeing none, I will open the consent calendar 4A to 4C to public comment. Is there anybody in the room? Seeing none, is there anybody online? I see none. Perfect. In that case, can I get a motion for the approval of 4A through 4C?

I can make a motion to approve the consent calendar as written 4A through 4C. Second.

Second. All in favor? Aye. Motion passes. Okay, we're going to move on to the individual consent calendar. I guess I will read out the verbiage. The individual consent calendar consists of items that the city council considers to be routine or council has discussed previously and do not require further discussion, but are separately listed because a council member or members have a conflict of interest which require them to recuse themselves from participation in this decision. I will identify myself as being one of the council members recused from item 5A as I live within 500 feet of the property three Belvedere Way.

I likewise will recuse myself because I also live within 500 feet of the subject property.

And I will hand over to Vice Mayor. Thank you.

I'll ask just the public in here too. Do we have a staff report?

No staff report.

Okay. So I'll bring it back to the council. Do you have questions from the council?

I do have a question. I don't know if it needs to be pulled or if I could just ask the question. I know what's before us tonight is the vocal. Do you want to say something?

Do you want us to pull it or not? I mean, essentially it's an individual item.

Just pull it.

It doesn't matter as a practical matter. So please go ahead. Okay.

All right. So I know what's before us is the revocable license for three Belvedere way. And that last month there was also a second revocable license for the lane portion. So my question has to do with the lane portion. I asked the question before the meeting. I don't know if the answer was able to be researched and answered, but there were, are existing several PVC drainage pipes that are coming out onto our property and into I guess the drainage that's along the lane. So the question is, were we able to ascertain if those are a public drain or if they're private improvements?

A clarification from our council, please. Can we be discussing something that's not been agenderized? The RL is for Belvedere Way, not the lane.

Right, but I believe the council member, Vice Mayor, I believe the council member is asking just a little bit more context and asking a factual question.

Okay.

So I think staff can go ahead and answer if they have that information.

I was able to reach out to Tony Boyd. And currently we have no record of these pipes and they are not city owned. So my guess is with this building, and I quickly looked through the building permits submittal for comments from engineering, I assume a more robust drainage plan has to be submitted and approved. And I'm not sure. I would guess that these might go away as part. I don't know. Okay. I don't know what's going on.

So the drainage may come later. So it may prove that when they submit their building plan with their drainage included, if they are doing any kind of extension across our property, they would then have to come back and get an RL for that portion.

Yes, they would.

Okay. All right. That was my question.

Any other questions?

Well, I had a lot of problems with this but I've been reviewing it a little bit more and I guess I'll just ask some for clarification purposes. There was some statement that public benefit would be because some of the road was being repaved to make it easier to drive on and I think there were in the staff report and something about easier maneuverability for the public when they drive on Belvedere Way. But we actually have signs on Belvedere Way that say there is no turning on Belvedere Way at the top. So I don't think easier maneuverability is going to work as a public benefit. But I recognize that the actual driveway as it is now, is over city property. And the property line is in from where the driveway would go. So by redoing that area, that would benefit the city property because it would take care of the roadway there for their entry into their home. Is that correct?

Yeah, that's correct.

Okay. And then also, all the planting that already exists going up elevator way that's also currently on city property. And so the RL would take care of them providing the maintenance for all those plants.

Correct.

Okay. So I do then see that there's a benefit to the public based on those two things.

not necessarily on what was written in the staff report.

So just to clarify that. And then I also had a little, I have a concern because I know that the RL was pulled for along the lane. And I think in the RL report, Planning Commission condition of approval, there's a statement that says if any of the construction impacts the retention wall or that area of land, that the owner will have to provide the repairs for everything there. But it seemed when I read it, I mean, I don't have it in front of me, sorry. It seemed like it went something like we'll talk about it, but what I would like to ask if there was a way that we could make that more definitive and make it more that I would like the public works to actually go out and look at the wall that's there. measure its angle, because I have a hard time believing that a foundation for a huge pool, which is going to be built 10 feet from that wall is not going to have any construction vehicles that are going to impact that area. And since that is in the planning commission condition, and unfortunately, I was very disappointed, we usually have Our residents are usually really great neighbors of the lanes, and they usually are very generous in wanting to work with the city and figure out a way to improve what's next to them. So it was disappointing to me that that didn't happen. And I just want to make sure that if there's any way we can strengthen that condition by having the actual measurement of the angle of that retention wall so that once any construction demolition begins, we'd be able to show that it was related to that, not simply time or weather. So that's my request.

If I may, Vice Mayor, just briefly, just to clarify the procedural posture here, Council Member Cooper, the Planning Commission resolution and the condition of approval that you mentioned is not currently before the City Council. I can certainly understand your concerns, and I'm sure those concerns could also be shared with the Planning Commission, so they may bear in mind in the future, but that has not been appealed to the Council. What is before the Council is the real cool license, but we will certainly pass it along.

Okay, thanks.

Thank you, Council Member.

That's it.

Thank you. So we'll now open it up to the public for any public comment. Anyone in the room? Beth on the phone? I see none. Thank you. So we'll bring it back to the council for deliberation and or decision. Any discussion? Do I hear a motion?

Yes. Hold on one second.

I'm listening.

I can make a motion to approve the revocable license for existing private improvements in the public right-of-way for the property at 3 Belvedere Way.

Jane's faster with the trigger. Yeah. Do I hear a second?

That's you, Pat. Just say second.

All those in favor? Aye. Motion carries. We can now invite Sally and Mark back in, Peter. Sally and Peter back into the room.

Okay. All right, we are going to be moving on to item six, which is our public hearings. Item 6A, discussion and approval of a request for an extension of the tentative subdivision map for the Mallard Point project located at 1 to 22 Mallard Road. I think if we can ask the applicant and his team to come to the front, that would be helpful. And on the staff side, I'm going to identify everybody who I think we have available, if that would be helpful to begin. We have... Our city engineer is available online, John Moe, is that correct?

Yes, he is.

Brian is here somewhere. Brian, our city building official is here. Rebecca obviously is here, our director of planning. And we have our specialist attorney, Barbara Kelks is present as well, along with our city attorney, Andrew Shen. Okay, I think we are gonna do this a little bit differently, which is we're gonna start with the staff report from Rebecca. And then if that's okay with the applicant, we'd like to go over to you to give an update on where you are with the project, and then we will take it back to city council questions for for both our representatives and also from the Mallard Point team as well. So Rebecca, do you want to kick off with this specific item?

Yes, I do. Thank you, Mayor, and good evening, council members. As you mentioned, the item before you tonight includes discussion of a request for an extension of a tentative subdivision map for the Mallard Point project, which is located at 1 to 22 Mallard Road. On March 19th, 2024, Planning Commission approved demolition and design review for the demolition of 22 units and construction of 14 units located on Mallard Road. On May 13, 2024, the City Council approved the tentative subdivision map and revocable license for the project. Pursuant to this resolution, the tentative map was set to expire on May 13, 2026. On February 2nd, 2026, the Planning Commission considered the applicant's request for amendments to the Planning Commission and demolition resolutions. At that meeting, the Planning Commission made several changes, extensions of design review approvals, additional time of 75 days for demolition, adjustments to lots one and 12 to remove one unit from the fourplex on lot 12 and add one unit to the apartment building, and clarification of the timing regarding construction of the apartment building so that it receives a certificate of occupancy or finals inspection as applicable prior to or at the same time as issuance of the certificate of occupancy or final inspection as applicable for any other dwelling unit on the project. or in the project. In April of 2026, the applicant applied for a three-year extension for the tentative map until May 13th, 2029. The applicant's reasoning behind the extension includes need for additional requests while continuing to navigate the ongoing permitting, utility coordination, tenant noticing requirements, and sequencing issues associated with the project, including coordination relating to the existing PG&E easements, demolition permitting, outside agency approvals, and final map processing. State and local law govern the subdivision of property, dividing it into larger parcels into smaller parcels. And under that Subdivision Map Act and the Belvedere Municipal Code, a tentative map expires 24 months after its approval. Local law states that an applicant can seek an extension for up to three years. New or revised conditions cannot be attached to a request for an extension, but the City Council may determine the length of the extension. So long as a request for an extension was made before the tentative map expired, the extension may be approved even after the automatic 60-day extension expires. Belvedere Municipal Code section provides that Planning Commission considers extension of tentative maps. However, the Subdivision Map Act provides that either the legislative body like the City Council or an advisory agency like the Planning Commission may approve an extension. Here, the applicant has requested that the council consider the extension. And since council approved the final resolution regarding the tentative map, staff believes it appropriate that the council consider this pending request for the extension. The project is an important part of the city site inventory and the recently approved housing element. The applicant has submitted applications for demolition infrastructure and bulkhead replacement and is continuing to address all of the final map conditions. The applicant has submitted a request for a three-year extension of that tentative map. Based on the applicant's explanation for the three-year extension, staff can recommend a shorter two-year extension for the tentative map through May 13th, 2028. Staff estimates that a two-year extension would be sufficient to complete the conditions required for the final map approval. Ultimately, the duration of this extension is at the council's discretion. And I'm here for a question, should you have any.

Thank you. Bruce, do you want to introduce your team? And I believe you have a update on the status of the project, if you'd like to give that now.

The question is, where do I find...

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay, no worries. Oh, good. Good evening, mayor and city council members. I'm Bruce Dorfman with Mallard Point. Joining me tonight are Jay Lucchetti, our project manager, and Riley Hurd, our council. I wanted to give a quick overview of why we are where we are relative to the extension request for our tentative map. So needless to say, there's been a lot of actions taken by the city council as well as the planning commission over the years. But since 2024, we've been working diligently to process a number of items in order to get to a point where we could get the final map approved. But basically relative to getting the final map approved, we put together this development sequencing milestones that not just reviews getting to the final map, but also to some of the other elements of the project. But a key first step is to get the demo permit. And walking you through this process, once we've received the demo permit, then that starts a 60 day, then we can provide a 60 day notice to our residents to vacate, which is statutory. and after they vacate, then we can demolish the project. Demolishing the project is important relative to the final map, and I'll go to the lowest line, which is it allows us then to abandon the utilities, which can't be done on a conditional basis. We then record new utility easements. And at that point in time, we can record the final map or get the final map approved. Relative to the demo permit is also important relative to the other aspects of the project as it allows for the bulkhead construction to commence. allows us to access sites that are currently inaccessible to do additional geotechnical exploration, which lead to foundation design and ultimately to building permits, allowing for the construction of the single family and multifamily homes. And it also allows us to move forward with infrastructure. Okay. Oh, went too quick. So this is what we've been doing with over the past two years. Above the five permits are the various agencies and departments we've been working with in order to get the various permits approved. It's probably close to a couple dozen that we've been involved with in total. And then down below is our team that responds to the various or is developing the design as well as responding to the various questions that have come up. What I want to mention is that this is just for permitting and it excludes all the third party attorneys, excludes our marketing and our finance teams. And also should be noted that several of these agencies are federal agencies and were impacted by the government shutdown at the end of last year. So that slowed us down. So the status of the current reviews, we have gone through multiple iterations of these. And I think that staff would agree we're on the fourth revision of the bulkhead permit. We're on our fourth revision of the infrastructure permit. We're on our fourth revision of the final map. We're on our fifth revision of both the affordable housing agreement and the regulatory agreement and the third revision of the SIA. And that's a lot. Finally, relative to the sequencing of our construction activities, once we get to vertical, we are starting with the apartment building, which is a lot one, and then effectively building counterclockwise, or sorry, building clockwise on the site until we get to lot 12, which is the lot right across from city hall. So with that, that provides a quick overview and here to answer any questions.

Good evening. My name is Riley Hurd. I'm a local land use attorney. I specialize in state housing laws and I was also a part of the project team that got Mallard Point approved. In the last five years, I've personally entitled over 3000 housing units in Marin County. And I can guarantee you that no one wants delay less than a developer. I read some of the comments like, let's get them going and all this. They are trying. That is our goal, to get these things across the finish line. But it's very hard out there right now. What's being asked for tonight is not uncommon across the county and the state. Interest rates are holding back investment. Construction costs are particularly high. And Marin has a very special problem of no local workforce because there is no local housing. So it's this... kind of cycle that is making things take a little longer right now. But the only thing before you tonight is extending the tentative map, but I did understand why you wanted to hear about the project. I wanted to let you know that I wrote a letter to the city. It was dated May 12th, 2026. If you haven't read it, I suggest you get a copy, take a look. And what this letter is about is post entitlement permits. So the legislature, as you know, has been chipping away at local control. Like it or not, that's what's happening. And, you know, they got builder's remedy. They've got objective standards only. And they're moving into kind of what I call the final frontiers because, you know, the permitting, the projects, they're getting approved. But what they were seeing is this phase that Mallard Point is in right now was hanging them up. And remember, most of these are 4,000 unit developments in the Central Valley, and this is just a microcosm of it. But the improvement agreements, the building permits, demo permits, they were taking forever to get out of cities. So basically, they mirrored the Permit Streamlining Act and said, we're gonna make these rules apply to those post-entitlement permits as well. So what my letter does is kind of explains, and we're trying to work collaboratively and educate as all these new laws come down, but it's basically explained that all of these permits that are keeping us from moving forward on the map should have been issued quite some time ago here in Belvedere, and a number of dates have passed. We're still just kind of, again, trying to work in partnership and get those issued. But that's one of the reasons for the request before you tonight is we're waiting on these permits, and we must get the demo permit. So you know, as you heard, this site is the cornerstone of the housing element. And there's something coming up called the mid-cycle review. And it's where HCD goes to the cities and says, okay, you're halfway through the planning cycle. How are you doing? What have you approved? And what has gotten built? Because if we're not seeing good progress, you know, we may have to take another look at things. And for Belvedere's, purposes, this project will really be under the microscope for HGD. So we're hoping that we can move forward as quickly as possible. But we need this extra time. That Rorschach test that Bruce put on the screen, the people that care about housing are wringing their hands and saying, why aren't we getting more housing? Where is it? Well, that diagram is why, besides the construction costs and interest rates. It just takes more time, and it takes more money. you know, the only thing before you tonight is extending the tentative map. It's not rehashing the whole project and, you know, what other things would we like to change or done differently? But we hope that you can extend the map so that we can keep working with staff and get something going. And we're all here for any questions. Thank you.

Thank you very much for that. Okay, I'm going to open to council for comments, questions. Sorry, start with you, Peter.

Sure, thank you. We've received a lot of letters and I just wanted a couple of questions both to our staff and perhaps the applicant as well. Relating to the demolition permit, the bulkhead permanent infrastructure, Among the existing conditions of approval, there's two that are of particular interest relating to those. One is the demolition permit as a requirement to be issued along with the demolition permit at the same time. I think it's condition 12 of the, as you mentioned in the staff report. The second relates to the affordable housing agreement, which requires, among other things, that the affordable units be built and completed prior to CVO of any other property in the development. Can you just confirm that those conditions won't change with any potential extension? I assume it isn't, but I just wanted a clear confirmation.

All they're asking for is an extension of the tentative map. None of the conditions change. Neither they can change. They would have to make a new application for a tentative map to change the conditions, which they have not done.

And as you mentioned that, what's before us tonight is this simple extension to this tentative map. And can you likewise confirm as the staff report identified, is that any real consideration of what's before us is really just the length of the consideration. New terms and conditions really are off the table. Short of a significant change other than we're seeing tonight, we don't really have much discretion to change anything other than the length that they're asking for.

That's the only thing you have discretion. There've been a number of court cases that say that no new conditions can be attached to a tentative map extension.

Thank you. I'm also, Rebecca, you mentioned the February 26th Planning Commission review of a number of alterations to the program, to the entitlements. I know this is not before us, but I'm just hypothetically, or I'm just throwing out there, if and when that one, and if there are new alterations that come before the planning commissioner or ultimate city council, they follow the same non-discretionary review associated with multi-unit housing and affordable housing law as well. Meaning it's any alteration to the existing permits would follow the same, limitations that our original approvals were to begin with. Correct?

Yes. Yes.

Okay. Yeah. And finally, perhaps Bruce or Riley, you could comment on this. I know you talked about the 60 day notice. I wonder if you could confirm or describe the tenant notification and eviction process and timeline. a little bit?

Sure. We've been providing regular updates to all our residents as to the status of the project. In February, we did provide 180 day notice that's required under the affordable housing agreement. And we're prepared to provide the 60 day notice. But one of the requirements is that we have the demo permit in hand. So as soon as we get the demo permit in hand, then we would issue the 60 day notices. And our objective would be to start demolition in August, which would allow us to complete the bulkhead this summer season.

And you've got the same water moratorium Is it June to October 31st?

I think it's October 15th. October 15th.

Is it the same as ours or is it April? Because ours was June.

Yeah, it's different waters. It's the same waters, but it's different conditions.

But ours was in April. I guess different waters. The bay is June. Because what was it, isn't ours June 1st?

Yeah, it's October 15th through April. I believe it's the 15th or early April. There's no work in water.

Okay, thank you. I appreciate that.

Okay, Kevin, I'll go to you next.

Sure, thanks. So one of the questions was one that Peter asked, so I'll skip past that. I guess another question for our attorney would be, and these are questions that have come up through the community. So regardless of what we're considering tonight, our job is to represent the community and provide a voice for them. So I will do that. Can the extension resolution include language to clarify that all existing conditions in resolution 2024-16 remain in full force? Do you think that's necessary or?

It's certainly not necessary. But I mean, yeah, I think you could say that. But I mean, they're asking for an extension of the tentative map and the conditions as they've already been approved.

Got it. Yeah. And then maybe one last thing for our attorney is if we can't add an extension condition, which you've been very clear that legally we cannot do existing demolition, design review, final map building, et cetera, public improvement conditions allow staff to coordinate or withhold permit issuance for infrastructure, bulkhead, et cetera. I mean, can you make

The staff can only do the coordination basically that's allowed by the conditions. So for instance, the demolition permit requires that the bulkhead permit be issued at the same time that the bulkhead construction go along with the demolition permit. There's not a condition that requires that the final map and the final map improvements be built at the same time as the demolition.

Got it. Okay, thank you. Then moving on to staff, a question for staff is, and this is different than what the attorney had stated, or implied, I think is, I think, based on your report, 30 of the 80 conditions are still outstanding. Is that correct?

Yeah, I have John Moe is a panelist. He's tracking those through a spreadsheet. So, John, can you answer this one?

Sure, I can answer that. There are, in my count, there were about half of the... conditions still remaining for the demo permit, but several of them are minor, very minor items. So it's closer probably to about 85% of the demo permit items have been answered or can very easily be answered. It's just a matter of a complete application.

And so if you had to estimate, so in terms of those last 15%, are those significant issues? Are they minor issues? Are they easy to answer? They're timely to answer?

They are integral to the improvement, some of which relate to the bulkhead. Some relate to noise mitigation. There's permitting issues. It's just a matter of whether or not they've got their paperwork in order. It's just a matter of if they've got it submitted. And there's also a geotechnical peer review that they have to answer those questions relating to the bulkhead.

And so what's the meatiest one? Is it the geotechnical condition that's outstanding? I thought I heard that there was something related to stormwater drain issues.

There is timing of drain. There is a major public storm drain that goes through the site. It's just the timing of when that storm drain is replaced. It must be in place, remain in place until the new storm drain that will route it around the new construction is installed. So in other words, we have to maintain drainage through the site during construction and certainly through demo.

So if 85% of the conditions have already been met or nearly been met, I think is what you said. Correct. So the other 15%, you would say are, um, things that can be easily addressed within the next 30 to 60 days or. I'm just trying to get a sense because there was an implication that it's basically the city's slow and everything's done. And based on the status report that we've seen or what I understand, there's still a number of issues. It's actually more than what you had suggested. So maybe the status report has been updated since the last time I saw it.

To answer the amount of time, it's difficult to say if their plans are complete. We typically try to complete our review within two weeks in the city in general, within 30 days, all departments.

Again, my question, though, is of the remaining, what is your assessment in terms of how long should that take? If we're meeting our deadlines and doing things according to the process, what type of time is required to get this to 100%?

It depends on the completeness of the submittal, honestly. It's difficult to say.

And your experience in the completeness of these submittals has been what?

Generally, they've been good. They've been responsive. They made good progress. It's just hard to say what that last 15% might take. I just don't have that before us to be able to tell you that.

Okay.

So if you're thinking that this 15% is, it's sounding, again, I just want to make sure I'm clear. It's very manageable. Then why would three years and certainly even two years be required or needed for this? I mean, it sounds like this could get done in months, not in years.

I think for the demo permit, that's correct. There may be some other outstanding issues that the developer may be aware of that I'm not aware of. I don't know.

Okay. Yeah. And you were talking about the tentative map when I asked the questions. 85% of you were talking about the demo.

I was talking about demo, but both the tentative map, excuse me, the final map in particular is probably closer to 90% or above. There's a couple of easement issues on the final map. So they're very close. The improvement plans are very close as well.

Got it.

So I guess they've made good progress.

OK. Right, right, right, right, right, right. Yeah, I think that's it for right now. But I'll have others. Thank you.

OK. Jane, do you want to go next?

I'll try.

I'll try.

So let's see. We learned about how much is left. I guess I'm just going to jump into how asking the developer, how do you anticipate demolishing in August, which would require you to let the tenants or have them be evicted in June for 60 days? And then you need the demo permit. But are you assuming that the last 15%, which has to do with the bulkheads, noise, and geotech from what we've been told, that that can be submitted, reviewed, and responded to in two weeks or three weeks?

Effectively correct. Everything that John just referred to are things that he has seen before or the staff has seen before. And frankly, the one new item in April, we received a... a geotechnical review that was completed by staff. So that's relatively new that we're in the process of responding to. But as it relates to the bulkhead specifically and to the demolition, we think that we'll have a response here this week.

OK. And I agree with Councilmember Burke that It seems that you were saying that the city is causing you to be late on several different reasons throughout this report. But according to our engineer, he does his best to get back to you within two weeks. And I've been reading the post entitlement section on the California, housing website. And certainly they are talking about more like 30 and even 60 days would be considered adequate to get back to after reviewing so I I am also assuming that since you've submitted I don't know how many three or four reports four times and a few five times and one three three times that I guess my question is, or my assumption has to be that what you're sending into the city is not really responding to what they need. And so it has to keep going back and forth. I don't know, but I don't really see how this is a city issue. It sounds to me that it's the developers submissions that are, causing any issue here. And I think, but if you're planning on demoing in the next two months, and the final map is 90% complete. Again, the question is, why would you need three years for this tentative map extension?

So let me go back. What I said was there's a lot of agencies that are involved with this permitting process, and there's a lot of coordination that's required amongst those agencies. We do get new comments coming from various agencies, including the departments, that we probably shouldn't be getting under the new Permit Streamlining Act. Nevertheless, we are responding to those. As it relates to the reason for the map extension, the map is independent of the demo permit. It's independent or it's incumbent upon the demo permit being issued. It's incumbent upon easements being removed. There's a process with various utilities to get those easements removed and replaced. And frankly, we don't control those utilities either. Stuff comes up all the time. We didn't see last year going into the fourth quarter that the government was going to shut down. And frankly, agency review of various permits did delay our project. So consequently, there are just things that are out there and we're not naive to say, yes, we control everything.

So. After you demo, let's say in August, you're saying that to actually complete the final map with all the agency requirements, would take up to three years? Could.

Part of this is, frankly, one of the next steps is to get PG&E to vacate their existing easements and then to place new easements on the site. And working with PG&E right now, is that the most streamlined organization?

Yes, we've heard that. Okay, so let's see, what else do I have?

Can I jump in with a question while you're reviewing others just to, cause we're on this topic. If for whatever reason you, you don't get the demo permit until September, October, and that runs you up against a wall in terms of the work that you can do on the bulkhead. That presumably therefore pushes work out into potentially beginning next April.

Affirmative.

So the question there is, would you therefore delay the eviction notices as well, or is your intention to issue the eviction notices as soon as you get the demo permit and I was wondering from a legal perspective also whether there's any constraints on that meaning does is can there be how long can the gap be between when they issue the eviction notice and when they start to demo if there's a legal constraint and I'd love to understand from Bruce what your intention is.

Our intention is to issue the eviction notices when we get the demo permit.

So even if you can't demo for another six months because of the bulkheads?

We haven't contemplated that scenario necessarily.

But in that scenario, is there a reason why you'd want to lose that income because you have other conditions that you... Just so that you can deal with, or you don't have to deal with it at some future time. Okay, so you can't really provide us with any clarity on that. You're just saying it will depend on the circumstances at the time. Okay, thank you. Sorry, Jane, back to you.

Okay, I noticed on one of your slides that there was a mention of when you drew that picture and it said demo evict, demo permit evict, and then actual demo. And then after that, it said, additional geotech after demo. I just wondered what kind of geotech is that that would be different from the geotech that's required in the demo permit? Let's see. It was all the little arrows? Right. The chevrons. The chevrons.

Thank you. we are yeah this one yeah so in row two it said additional geotech exploration right so we did uh the initial phase of geotech work was specifically for the bulkhead uh bulkhead is not a structural element it's primarily there to prevent erosion The geotechnical work that we're going to be doing on the go forward is for the foundation design of the buildings themselves. And so that can be only, we can only get a rig in there once we remove some of the homes that are on the property.

Okay. So it's for foundation work.

Foundation work for the homes that are along the lagoon. That is correct.

Okay, thank you. Sure. So... Andrew, everybody else is busy. That's OK. I didn't want to start interfering with your conversation. I unfortunately have tried to memorize all these things, but I haven't quite mastered it entirely. And I realized I left my important piece of paper at home. So I need your help. And that is. listed on the demo permit. I think it's number 17 was geotech. As I recall, and so what, what were the listed? Were there any listed components of what that geotech was covering?

It says that the engineer shall provide a letter stating that the proposed structural construction of the structures and stormwater drainage is in compliance with the geotech report. probably I would think this refers to the bulkhead which is you know associated with the demo permit and you're talking about wait you said structures and wait and proposed site storm water drainage before that one sorry um The geotechnical, do you want me to read you the condition again? The geotechnical engineer shall provide a letter stating that the proposed structural construction of the structures are somewhat unspecified and the proposed drainage is in compliance.

So we have no way, I mean, how would anyone make the determination that the use of the word structures only refers to the bulkhead and not to buildings? since buildings are structures that are gonna be there. And so my question is if they're not doing geotech for the buildings during the demo permit, which is what's listed there in the condition, I guess I have a concern that we're not doing this properly or that it should be done that the foundation and structures that are gonna go on the property that quite a bit of water borders this property, it's not landlocked. And so there are a lot of differences potentially in weight and size of structure, et cetera, and how it's gonna work. And all that is geotech. And I question why you think it's only bulkhead.

Well, I mean, they have submitted, you know, probably John Moshe, it might be better to describe, but they did submit a geotech report for the original approval, which had a lot of borings, talked about the bay mud and the kind of treatment they would need to do in order to construct safely.

I think that was brought up in the peer review also and that they need to still respond to.

So all that was done. These are the detailed foundation designs for each structure. Right. And for that, they probably need a vacant site because their ability to- Well, we don't know that. Yeah, well, this is where John Moe should- Right, yeah, exactly.

He might have an idea. So good.

Sure, sure. I'd be happy to chime in. It would be for both the bulkhead and the structures, the foundation for the residences themselves.

That's what I would assume.

Thank you.

So that is required in the demo permit as noted in number 17.

Well, no, no, no, that was, no, no, that was, they were noting that they needed access for additional geotechnical work to assess the geotechnical conditions for the residential, the homes, the structures of the homes, their foundations, but they needed access to get to those locations on site.

So you're saying they need to demo to be able to determine the ground underneath. Is that it?

Yeah, I believe that's what Bruce just explained. Oh, okay. That's what I understood him to say.

Okay. And you agree with that, that they need to be demoed?

That sounds correct in that that location is unique relative to the water, and I don't believe they do have access to that location.

You don't believe they have access to their own rental property?

Well, for a drill rig to drill into this. Oh, a drill rig. Yeah. Correct.

Okay. I don't know what a drill rig is. Okay. Thank you. Thanks.

Okay.

Can I, are you, I'm sorry. I just wanted to jump in with one related question. Barbara, on the post-entitlement permit provisions and laws that Riley mentioned and we've been talking about a little bit, are those applicable to all permits or only permits that were in place that are subsequently in place? Because these entitlements are May of 24, are subsequent post-permit streamlining provisions applicable to a May 24 entitlement?

By post-entitlement permits, they're meaning all the permits that they required after you. So it is applicable to the current- Based on those application dates. Yes, the building permits. The statute went into effect, I think either certainly in 2025 and perhaps in 2024.

So those are pegged to those particular post-entitlement permits, not the entitlement itself.

Correct, correct. It's the demolition permit. The final map has separate timelines. The building permits.

Wonderful, thank you.

Yeah.

Let's move down to you, Pat, if you've got questions. I didn't. Save the best for last.

No, no, not yet. Oh, not yet? So... Since we're talking about extending based on the final map requirements, we're also waiting for certain conditions of approval for that to go forward. But it sounds like we're close, although I don't know what things are outstanding. So it's hard to judge how much time might be necessary for them. So do you just, are you still there, John?

Yeah, yeah. Yes.

Okay. Sorry. Do you feel like I was trying to review some of the information on the website? And I saw that a sense technique, a sense technical report review had been submitted in 22 and 23, and then resubmitted and then revised? Or do you feel that? Um, from what you're saying with the 90% that most of these submissions and reviews have been completed? I couldn't tell if there was a final version that was totally complete or not.

Well, yeah, their final map is well along in the review process. Almost all items are complete. One of the big items is the PG&E easement as Bruce has noted. And the other element of that is the improvement plans. So it's a package of both final map and improvement plans along with the subdivision improvement agreement goes to council for approval and all of those elements. So it's not just the final map, but they're integrated or it involves both final map and improvement plans.

So, so it's, and then are there, sorry, sorry.

So it's not just one, you know, it's not just one element, even though the final map is well along the review process. It's there are, there are more items that need to be completed. Okay.

And then are there, I understand that you're an authority on this. Are there separate subdivision map act requirements as well?

All of this is governed by the Subdivision Map Act. The final map is. And they've met all of those requirements. And one of the requirements is to identify the needed easements. And that's one of the final steps.

Okay. Okay, thanks. And I did have a question based on I think it was Council member marks question about the adjustments from the February 20 February 2 2026. Planning Commission meeting, there were some adjustments, I think it was lots one and 12. It seemed to me that our municipal code. Oh, and And I think if I recall correctly, that some of the footprints of those two buildings did change. Is that correct? Or was it just merely an exchange of numbers of apartments? but I thought the footprint changed. I remembered seeing something about more open space in between or something like that.

The footprint of the apartment building did not change. There was one fourplex and one triplex. The fourplex became a triplex, and I believe there's a little bit more space in between those two structures.

I was just wondering, I know it seems minor, but I would like to ask that our municipal code 18.24 point 060 states that what was approved in the tentative map must not have changed but you're just saying there was a change and I wondered if that needed to be amended or if that needed any any review or discussion or. And if that was part of the need to extend out, is that it was approved by the Planning Commission? Correct.

But the tentative map is approved by Yeah, that's a good question.

Okay.

So we'll dig into that.

Okay, keep going. Okay. Okay, I think I think I changed. It's your turn, Pat.

No.

All right. I'll try and be somewhat organized here with all my questions. Have they responded to the third city response back to the applicant? Have we received their response yet?

No.

Okay. the same question on the tentative map if it needed to be adjusted at this point. And then just, that's more of a comment than a question. Yeah. So I think that's what I have for staff. The rest of my questions are for the applicant. So, hi, how are you? Good. So you made a comment and I just want to make sure I understood it. It had to do around It's distracting. It has to do around PG&E.

Yes.

And you said that something about a conditional basis for the utilities that I guess in the demo and that you had to wait for the final map.

Yes, to clarify, a final map cannot be approved on a conditional basis. So you can't look at the easements and say, we'll approve it with the easements as is, but conditionally record it once the easements have been replaced.

Okay, and so that brings up the question regarding your easements. agreement with PG&E. So does that, when you ask them for an easement, does that require like an application with a permit number with PG&E or is it like a different, so you actually have a permit number?

We get, come on up. Yeah, we've been communicating with PG&E through our joint trench consultant, Giacalone Design. We have a project manager that's gone through, they're going through their process. And does the city have a copy of that? The city, no, because we don't have yet a final design from PG&E, which is forthcoming.

Okay, the permit number is very important, I've learned.

Yes, yes.

When dealing with PG&E, so that's a good thing. So the other question has to go back to your little display. And it was where you had the clockwise on the sequencing. And you're starting with the apartment building, then you're going to those condos in lot number three, two and three. And you show the sequence as it goes around and all the way back to lot number 12. So the question is, is that the single family homes, you're going to be selling lots. I mean, you've been very honest about that from day one.

Okay.

Okay. Right. Am I correct?

We're selling homes.

So you're going to be building the homes.

That is our current thinking. That is correct.

So that's different from when you came before us in planning that you were going to sell the lots and let the people- Build their homes.

I think we may be getting a little bit into the semantics of it, of when we close relative to construction, but our objective is to try and build this all in one fell swoop.

Okay. Even if you don't sell the lots?

Well, I guess our current sense is that we're going to sell all the lots as well.

Okay. All right. So another question was, well, that has to do with the demo that why originally you didn't sequence it with just the demo and the bulkhead, but rather you also did the infrastructure. So it was just a question why it took to this point to realize that you should have separated out that process.

Because we weren't, well, I don't know, John, if you want to respond to that.

That's up to the developer's discretion to decide what their sequence might be.

relative to the demo and the improvement plans that were included together. They were together. Correct. And it was recently where staff requested that we separate it.

Staff requested you separate it?

Affirmative.

So, but you chose what my question, sorry if I wasn't clear. Who told you to do the demo and the improvement together?

We've submitted the demo and improvement plans together.

Right.

And they've been processed together, albeit with separate permits have been filed for each. And recently we have been requested and it's fine request to pull out the demo plans. So we were doing so.

Okay. Rebecca, can you confirm if that's correct?

Yeah, I don't remember that's how, I remember being in a meeting with John and Brian and you guys asked if we could separate them out and Brian said, yes, they could be separated out.

That was the suggestion in order to process the demo plans separately.

But what's changed? I guess the question is what's changed in your thinking that requires those two to separate? Is it the PG&E issue or what is the reason to separate the two?

Just in order to get the demo permit prior to the improvement plan permit.

Okay. Pat, do you have more questions?

No, most of my questions. Oh, well, let me ask this question of John Moe. Thank you very much. So it is my understanding that both the geotech and the hydrology reports from the applicant and the peer review reports have to, the peer review has to approve of what the geotech and the hydrology report finally is that they both have to agree on what that is before anything is going to be approved for the geotech or the hydrology.

Is that correct? Yeah, that's correct. There's a peer review for both hydrology and hydraulics and for the geotechnical review. And they have some comments regarding those reviews to, you know, better summarize the conditions of the site.

Okay. Okay. All right. I think that's, those are my questions. Everything else has been asked. Thank you.

Bruce and company on the The separation of the infrastructure from the demo permit, I know this doesn't necessarily mean a whole lot necessarily for the extension, but just from an understanding perspective, you seem to indicate, and it makes perfect sense, that you need to have abandoned easements and then convert it to final new easements for the various services with PG&E, Little and other service providers, in order to fill out the full requirements for the final map. That seems to be how you presented it, which seems to be a dependency, not just an option to split the two apart. Right. So maybe it's semantics or splitting hairs, but I don't think, you know, you saying the city requested it, why would the city request it if in fact it's a dependency? That just seems a little odd and squirrely.

Well, Again, these plans have gone through a process and it's just a mechanics sort of thing, but then to say that there isn't a demo permit on file or a demo plan on file, the city has already reviewed the demo plans, they're fine, we're gonna separate them and then we'll resubmit those independently with some of the other elements or some of the other responses that have been asked for. such as the Herzog peer review letter, a response to that as it relates to the bulkheads. Okay.

Can I follow up to the same? Just so Bruce doesn't have to keep jumping back up. So I think maybe just to put it out there, I think one of the concerns from the community is that you demo and then it just sits there forever. It's just a big black hole before you when and if you do the infrastructure. And so I guess maybe, I mean, there's not a condition that we can apply to obviously extending the tentative map deadline, but can you just talk about your thinking or how you envision this happening that gives the community some reassurance or some peace of mind to know how this is all going to play out?

Sure. Our objective is to get it done as quickly as possible, as I've previously stated. This is $150 million to $200 million project once it's fully built. And consequently, between my partners, lenders, and just general economics, this isn't going to sit fallow, provided we can get this going.

So I had another question.

No, just somewhat related. And again, this is going beyond the scope necessarily of why we're here today. But I'm just curious, because everybody's concerned about whether you actually develop this whole project. Can you give some background on where you are on the financing? Sure. bulkhead and demolition, one separate part of the financing, the infrastructure, the second, and where are you on that? And what contingencies and so forth are associated with that that you can share with us?

Sure. No, actually, we are working with a lender right now that is financing all of the infrastructure as well as all the vertical improvements, so a single source. And we hope to make an announcement about that in the next several weeks.

Okay. That's clear. Thank you. And then in terms of the demo, you've already got that funded and ready to go.

The demo is also part of that package.

Okay. Thank you.

That was one of my questions. Okay. Okay. So the next last question I think I have is you're going to be demoing. Okay. You're going to be demoing. Affirmative. Yeah. I get your permit. And what exactly are you going to be demoing? Are you going to be taking out all the infrastructure, you know, the stuff in the road? Are you taking the road out? Are you just taking the vertical housing down? Or what exactly are you demoing?

What we're demoing is the residences so that we can get, as mentioned, the boring rig to do the geotechnical and also get access to the bulkhead to replace the, or access to the lagoons so we can replace the bulkhead.

Okay, so you're not going to rip up the road right now?

To some degree, we'd like to use the road and keep the dust down to the extent possible, but eventually the road's being replaced. The configuration of Mallard Road changes.

So all the... Fun stuff underneath the road is going to stay there until you get ready to demo the road?

Effectively.

Effectively. You'll cap off all the utilities and that kind of stuff.

We have to cap it off, and some may be abandoned in place.

Okay. Then that brings me to a question on the demo, that they have 75 days to demo, which if you're just doing the vertical, you're going to get that done way in advance. But do they then need to... Is the... demoing, deconstructing of the road and the infrastructure under the road, is that considered part of demo? And, you know, would they then need tasks for an extension? Because you have 75 days and maybe you need 90 days to get to the, you know, whatever, 120 days, or would that be part of the improvement, the infrastructure improvement permit thing?

Uh, Brian Vanson is on the call. I think he can answer that better than me.

Hello everyone. How are we? How are we tonight?

Good.

Fantastic. In terms of the timing of the demolition, we would have to review some of the statutes. It sounds like the application or the new application that will be submitted by the applicant would be just for the vertical elements at that point. And so whatever is listed on the application as the scope of work would be what the permit would be valid for.

So they're going to be submitting for a new application for demo just for and so that it's not including everything like it did before and he's they're going to do you he's going to they're going to submit a new demo application. Is that correct?

According to the applicant, that is what I understand. Yes.

Is that correct, Mr. Dorfman?

We are submitting a separate demo application.

Okay, thank you.

And I do want to clarify. So everything that's included in the demo application is what's going to be demoed in 75 days that we are allowed. So to the extent that it specifically shows foundations or roadway improvements being removed, then that's the scope of what we will be doing during that period of time.

Okay, right. And then does the new application require another application fee?

Yes.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Sure.

No, no, you go ahead.

I'm about the new application. I'm not I'm not sure. I thought I heard you say you're submitting two new applications because this is one application. So would you be submitting a demo application and a Infrastructure application?

Improvement application. I mean, improvement application? Effectively. I mean, we're in the process of new iterations of documents, but effectively we're going to remove the demo pages from the current set of plans, issue those, and then issue the improvement plans.

Okay. And then do you anticipate that they will be identical applications to what is written there except they'll just be on two separate or will they change?

No, they are effectively the same, but updated responding to the last set of comments.

But the conditions don't change. I guess that's what I'm asking. The conditions that the planning commission that nothing, nothing along that would change. Okay.

Okay, I don't have questions because so many have been asked, but I just wanted to ask staff before we go to public comment, is there anything extra that you want to add from legal or from Rebecca that we've sort of skated over at all? No, at this point. Okay. So I'm going to open it for public comment. Anybody's free to speak for three minutes. Please come when you come to the podium. If you wouldn't mind identifying yourself and where you live, you don't have an obligation to do that. But if you're willing to do that, that certainly helps us. We won't be addressing any questions that might get asked during public comment. It will come back to the council afterwards and they may decide to respond. to ask questions that have been brought up through public comment, and that's at the discretion of the City Council. Again, I would just remind everybody that the item that is here tonight is a discussion of what level of extension we want to give to the tentative map, but you are welcome to comment on Mallard Point-related comments, but this is what we're here tonight to deliberate on, so I'll invite the first person up to...

Thank you very much. My name is Susan Clough and everybody always says go first, so I'm gonna go first here. Peninsula Road, I'll be brief, I'll try. I know many of you and I know how hard this job is. You're volunteers and you're handling a lot of competing pressures and you're trying to write, so I appreciate the time and I wanted to thank you right off the bat for that because this is a very complicated project. On paper and certainly in the noticing, tonight's item looked routine. Just more time for the applicant to meet project conditions approval, but I don't think it's routine. Because what we understand now is the applicant plans to try and decouple the parts of the project, starting with the demolition while holding onto the entitlements through a patchwork of agreements and bonds and deferring the real hard work, geotech and soil structural design, grading cut and fill plans and a final survey maybe even until later. That's not just a few technical details. That's what determines feasibility, public safety and community impacts. This large subdivision project was approved as one integrated whole. It should stay as one integrated whole. So if you grant an extension, please keep it tightly aligned with the other expirations that this project map depends on. Push it out only to the March, 2027, when the design review and demolition approvals run out. And then if needed, look at everything altogether again. Second, I think it's important that you know, really know where this project stands. There is no written status report. There is no written compliance. This is the same map. And I think that's really important. What permits are complete and ready for review and approval? What's still pending? Which agencies have signed off? Have any of those expired? Have any of those got conditions that might affect this suggestion that came through? And what remains outstanding, particularly stormwater, drainage, bulkheads, floodplain compliance, and core site improvements? Right now, it's genuinely hard for residents and probably city council as well to understand where things stand. Third, please state clearly that any proposal to defer, phase, resequence key components of this project must return to the Planning Commissioner City Council for discretionary review in a noticed public hearing, a well-noticed public hearing. If project plans or timing or conditions change in a real way, which it kind of sounds like it was, that's what's been talking about tonight, it should come back to be discussed and decided in public. Lastly, the applicant has already had two years to complete their applications. So please ask them what the critical path is to the final map and improvement plans and what the applicant is committing to accomplish during the period they're asking for. If current tenants there are being displaced this summer, but there's no clear timeline or certainty the full project will be built as approved, that just feels wrong to me. Thank you.

Thank you, Susan. Would anybody else like to make public comment in the room?

Good evening. David Kenneth Smith at 7 Leeward Road. I thank the City Council and the City Engineer for their careful review of the proposed Mallard Point development plan. I speak tonight only as a Leeward road neighbor to Mallard point with considerable time spent reviewing the geotechnical aspects of the soil water interface, as well as the sites, winter stormwater drainage. I currently hold a license from the state of California department of consumer affairs as a registered professional geologist number 56 89. Tonight, we are deliberating about the timing and sequencing of the project. In this context, I applaud the city for taking the vital steps of contracting for expert, independent, third-party peer review of what continues to be the most delicate and technical aspects of the project, the performance of the geology beneath the Mallard Point site as a foundation for the vertical infrastructure, as well as the flow of peak winter stormwater drainage from Belvedere Island to discharge in the Belvedere Lagoon. The contracted peer reviews are objective and provide a comprehensive evaluation of engineering reports supporting the project application. They also frame criteria for the project to go forward with full confidence. There are many technical issues here that are the domain of engineers, geologists, and construction specialists. However, I will focus on one topic that is easy to understand and conceptualize, particularly in the project of timing and sequence, and that is stormwater drainage. Lagoon functions as the downstream boundary condition for the entire Mallard Point drainage system. In the absence of an implemented drainage infrastructure plan, demolition of existing structures would alter site conditions in ways that could materially affect runoff behavior. Specifically changes in the timing, volume, and peak flow of stormwater could discharge directly into the lagoon in unexpected ways without adequate engineering controls to moderate or attenuate flow. Demolition activities could also expose soils and disturb existing surfaces, increasing the likelihood of sediment transport. Temporary or disrupted drainage pathways may further alter hydraulic conveyance to the lagoon. In addition, fine sediments and residual materials from structural demolition could be mobilized during storm events, contributing to turbidity, localized sediment deposition near lagoon margins or outfalls and potential impacts to adjacent bulkhead structures. Importantly, the peer review also highlights that system performance under a mandated 100-year maximum storm event has not yet been adequately evaluated. If demolition proceeds immediately after the site is vacated in August 2026, and by agent's requirement, further construction work must be suspended before the next winter rains commence, Drainage analysis does not appear to provide defensible mitigation strategies for these conditions should demolition and construction phases not be sequenced properly. I urge the city and its engineering staff to proceed in a sequenced and deliberative manner to answer questions posed by their own 30 party experts, which raise issues essential to the success of the project. Thank you.

Thank you, David. Is there any other public comment in the room? Ken, come on up.

Good evening. Ken Johnson. We've worked with the BLPOA. I'm president of the BLPOA. We've worked with Bruce and Jay and our subcommittee of the board of directors. And I think we're gaining a lot of traction. But I think that we're in a position here and I have no recommendation regarding the time for an extension. I think it should be given. The time is really, you know, in my opinion, personally, a little bit of a side issue. I think it should be given, but I think we have to look at the consequences of the demolition. Perhaps this is in the city engineer's But we've got two peer reviews, one in February of this year, the other one in April of this year. The BLPA has written its own evaluation in April of this year. And here we are tonight. You know, we don't have any documentation or response to those peer reviews. And what worries me from a practical standpoint, and it's not Bruce's fault that the economic situation has changed so much.

Thank you, Riley. The city nor Bruce have been responsible for the economic situation of our country.

The issue we have here and my worry is simply we go forward without accounting for the potential of having a demolition and just empty dirt without a mitigation as to what would happen when the storm comes up this winter. And we all know there's an October 15th date set by the state of California that the bulkhead must be completed. No, I'm sorry. They have until October 15th to do work on the bulkhead. There is no, in my understanding of that permit requirement that they complete it. We could end up with a situation if people are forced into it, we have demolition and we have no bulkhead. Those are the worries that concern the BLPOA. We're continuing to work with Bruce and his team. But somehow in this mixture of things, it's just kind of human nature. We need deadlines to get things done. But so far, the deadlines in terms of responses are not complete. I'm sure they'll be done soon, but then what happens if those responses have an issue? What happens if the city engineer finds them not completely 100%? So those are the concerns that we have, and we ask for the city's help in helping resolve them. Thank you.

Thank you, Ken. Is there anybody else? Jill, coming up.

Jill Barnett, 50 Peninsula Road. Okay, so I agree with all the other comments from the residents. And just to add to it, the Mallard project was approved as one whole project. All approvals and expiration dates must align so that the project moves forward as one project, just as it was approved. So if you grant an extension, because that's what I understand we were supposed to be discussing tonight, not demolition permits, et cetera. If you do grant an extension, make it a nine month extension so that the project lines up with the other approvals, design review and demolition expirations. Then you can look at everything together. I believe that that would be the most organized and clear direction to take. And speaking of being organized, you must, I feel you must require a written status report of items that are pending in process where they are in the process. Have they started? Are they almost finished? I asked this same question the last time I spoke to the council. It was a request to have a swim lane diagram, which is common in construction projects. So I think that should be, made available. And the city's latest incompleteness letters and peer review comments show that the developer is still far from providing a complete permit approval ready package, especially on the key technical items like geotechnical and drainage and stormwater. So anyhow, that's my comments.

Thanks. Thank you. Any other comments in the room? Yes, come on up, Andy.

Andrew Barnett, 50 Peninsula Road. I'm a surgeon, and we frequently go into the operating room um planning to remove or to change things and we always go in with an a b and a c plan what will happen if the best happens what we'll do if it's more difficult and what we're going to do if it's a disaster and i think that sp 330 is designed to make sure there's no net loss There's no reason that we can't expect, rather than decoupling these two things, the demo and the replacement, that the developer provide an A, B, and C plan and how they're going to respond based on what the geotechnical studies show after the demolition is concerned. What are they going to do if it's... B or C, are they going to be equipped or able to do their construction? So I think it's reasonable to expect that they provide multiple scenarios and how they're going to satisfy the no net loss requirement of SB 330 to replace those things. And that includes financing as a major part of it because you can build almost anything if you can get the financing. And we don't know that this developer can. So I request that the council consider requiring that the developer provide comprehensive solutions to the various potential responses to the geotechnical studies that will be done after the demolition, but prior to issuing the demolition permit.

Thank you. Any other comments in the room? Okay, seeing none, we're going to go to public comment and line. Beth, can you invite the first person in?

Yes, Mayor Wilkinson, we have Deli Woodring. Deli, you should be able to speak.

Hi everybody, Deli Woodring, I live on Peninsula Road. Following up on what Andrew Barnett just said, should financing for the whole project be approved What guarantee do we have that funding will be available after demolition if there should be some geotechnical problem that involves completing the project? I think this is really a loophole that needs to be tightened before anything is even thought of being started. Thank you.

Thank you. Apologies. We have Ruben Galvin.

Reuben, welcome.

Hi, good evening, Mayor, council members, staff, members of the community. My name is Reuben Galvan. I'm a field representative with the North Coast State's Carpenters Union, Local 751. Carpenters Union. Which covers? Bryan County. As we discuss development and growth in Valdivier, we know housing is needed, but it's important the new projects don't just add units. We must also set standards to protect the workers who build them. That's why I'm here asking, will there be strong labor standards on this project? When I say labor standards, strong labor standards, I mean contractors that pay fair wages, that support working families, access to healthcare, so workers don't have to choose between going to work or taking their kids to the doctor. Giving real opportunities to apprentices from state accredited programs who want to, the apprentices who want to learn a trade and build a career. And meaningful labor compliance. Real enforcement to make sure contractors follow labor laws. Pay workers properly and provide safe working conditions. These protections don't just help workers, they also help the community as a whole. When workers earn fair wages and get healthcare, They can better support their families and contribute to our local economy. Apprenticeships train the next generation of skilled workers who will keep our city growing strong for years to come. On the other hand, when labor standards are ignored, we leave the door wide open to irresponsible contractors. the kind who pay low wages and offer no benefits, misclassify workers to avoid paying those benefits, and even, worst cases, wage theft. These bad actors don't just hurt our workers. They hurt the community by lowering the quality of work and putting safety at risk. Valdivier deserves projects built by responsible developers and contractors who will treat our working families with respect and dignity. I urge the council to encourage strong labor standards on this project to make sure the development benefits everyone, not just the developer. Thank you for your time.

Ruben, thank you for your comment. Beth, is there anybody else? Yes, we have Jim Hornthal. Even Jim.

Hi, can you hear me okay? We can hear you. Perfect. I'm going to be very brief. I think that this is, by my count, almost six years since this project began. And rather than getting into issues of microeconomics or macroeconomics, I think the city needs a developer who's solvent. I think that working on financing six years into it, I don't know why the council wouldn't just require... this financing being in place before any demolition is done, the risks seem too high. And I'm also very disturbed by the way the developer said tonight that the staff asked for the permits to be split when it's my understanding that quite the opposite, the staff was reluctantly willing to allow it because they thought they didn't have a choice and that it came from the developer. And a sense of honesty would be really nice And transparency I think is essential And six years into a project to not have the financing in place is not the city's problem. The laws in Sacramento do not guarantee developer profitability. We do need more housing. We do need more low-income housing. And how we get there is the question of if we get there. So I'm troubled by that depositioning and disinformation statement that's fundamental to the trust that the city and the residents are looking to have with a developer who's got such a big responsibility to improve the area. That's all.

Thank you. Anybody else? Mayor Wilkinson, there are no other hands raised. Okay. We will bring this back to the city council essentially for deliberation, but I do have a few follow-up questions, if that's okay, from things that have been mentioned by through public comment and others might also have questions as well. I'm going to start. The first is obviously we've heard questions concerns about potentially some demolition happening, the bulkheads being partially done before we go into the winter season and the issues associated with that. I wonder if our building official or John can comment about the sequencing of that and who makes those determinations to make sure that it is safe. Rebecca, is that a Brian question or is that a John question?

Well, let me read the condition of approval or just summarize it quickly to refresh Brian's memory. And then I think he can comment on it. So it says the demolition permit application shall be accompanied by a permit application to replace the lagoon bulkheads along the entire length of each property adjacent to the lagoon. The bulkhead shall be replaced as soon as reasonably possible in conjunction with demolition. of the existing buildings based on recommendations from the city building official and city engineer so brian would you like to comment on that condition in terms of the time frame and when that will happen uh yeah so again as as per the developer's statement um it's going to be far easier to install the bulkhead um

once the structures are removed due to the length of the bulkhead that, that, uh, that was intended to be replaced. Um, in terms of the timing, we could have both permits issued. Um, however, it would be up to the applicant or the developer at the time to install the bulkhead on, in a timely manner. Um, per, per the conditions, um, We could not limit issuing the permits. However, we would be able to follow up with the developer and make sure the installation of a bulkhead is timely with the demolition work. If that answers your question, Mayor.

I guess it's just there's no condition in which during the winter season we're going to leave a half-removed, half-built bulkhead.

Yeah, I mean, the building official.

Go ahead, Rebecca. Go ahead. I'm sorry.

The building official and the city engineer will work on the sequencing of issuing the demolition permit and the bulkhead replacement only when it is permitted, which is not between October and April.

So you're saying you wouldn't issue a demo permit in October or November because they can't do the bulkhead till April?

I don't know. I'm not saying that. That's something the engineer and the building official need to

Okay, so the other thing is, is that there's also a condition 23 that addresses, I think, the same subject about if the bulk, if the demo is done and the bulkhead is not complete or isn't started, that I think condition of approval number 23 addresses that. And so that brings the question of having a robust site protection and mitigation framework for that in place in case it's not done. So could Brian or John Moe address that item number, condition of approval number 23, that would give- The sweat plan and the re-plan? It's, well, no, it's not, it's a... If it disturbs more than an acre, number 23, it's not the storm.

Oh, right. The plan, if it disturbs more than an acre, then it's required to have staging and scheduling component indicating when facilities must be installed and when they may be removed. A separate rain event action plan shall be required and prepared as part of the SWEP plan, the Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan. So that will also be required as part of the demolition permit.

John Moe, we have here, the expert. Whatever you put in place, would that properly address any issue? And if it doesn't, who's responsible in case there is an incident in the water that will bring in the agencies involved?

Right. It's a stormwater pollution prevention plan, and that's required before the permit would be issued. So they'd have to have that in place. They would submit that to the State Water Board, which issues the permit for that SWPPP, reviews that, and there's a process for the submitting of that. And they, along with that, they have to monitor the rainfall events and monitor stormwater discharge on site.

And that's included in condition of approval 23? Correct.

So does that stormwater prevention plan carry all the way through while it's still a muddy lot before anything gets added in? Meaning if for some reason the developer decides to sit on an empty lot, does that plan still apply and they still have to follow those conditions?

That is correct. Yes. And it can change. It can change as the site conditions change. As they phase their work, that plan is to be updated to meet the site conditions as they progress through the project.

Okay.

And are there protections there that, you know, taking a worst-case scenario that – You know, things don't get billed for three, four years. And, you know, then the developer needs to do a new kind of improvement because of the situation. And they choose not to do it. What are the recourses the city has to make sure that whatever's required will be done?

Are we talking about just the demo? Are we talking about improvement plans?

No, we're talking about if we have a dirt lot or a partial dirt lot, you know, part of it gets built and then part of it's not, you know, worst case scenario. And we're left with a dirt pile. And over the years, the conditions change and this and that. And you go to the developer and, of course, he wouldn't do that. um but you go to the developer and you say okay now you need to do xyz and he goes i'm not paying xyz i'm not doing it what what protections do the city does the city have to make sure that that is always protected yeah they're they have to stabilize the site um and um

In whatever condition it's in. So whether it be for a month or two months, whatever it is, three months or more, that site's required to be stabilized. And so no muddy water runs off the site. They have to have best management practices in place, that sort of thing. But beyond that, you know, fines for, you know, clean water from the, you know, monitoring by the state, that's the limit, I think, of the SWPPP. There's no other teeth in that to say, oh, you must develop further regarding that particular condition and that stormwater pollution prevention plan.

And if the BLPOA is forced with additional costs for cleanup, the...

I believe there's- Property owner is responsible? I'm correct.

Thank you. I had one additional, just a confirmation. So obviously there's been lots of requests around us somehow imposing some financing conditions or financing certainty. And just to stress again and confirm with legal, we have no ability to attach any additional conditions to the extension of this permit.

Barbara, that's you. Barbara, to Andrew. I apologize.

Do you need me to ask the question again? Sure, the question was, there's been requests for us to attach certainty around financing and financing conditions to confirm again, we have no legal authority to apply any conditions to this extension. No. And at no point in the future will we have any ability to attach new conditions to this project?

That's correct, unless the applicant requests changes in the conditions already adopted.

Okay, thank you. Okay, we'll go to Peter next in terms of any follow-up questions you might have.

I'm not sure where I come out of this from a correlating various extensions and expiration dates of various entitlements. Rebecca, do you know what the demo John Lundquist, City of Boulder, Exploration date is, as it was extended and the end of design, I don't think demos extended designer view was extended recently, do you know what those were do the.

John Lundquist, City of Boulder, Design review will expire on March 19 2027 unless the city has issued both the DEMO permit for all required demolition and a permit for all subdivision improvements.

John Lundquist, City of Boulder, And the DEMO.

Well, the demo, the design review is contingent on the demo. If the city has issued the demo permit, all of these entitlements are contingent on us issuing the demo.

But does demo expire itself?

I don't know if there's an expiration for the demo.

There doesn't appear to be an expiration date for the demo permit. The condition on the demo permit is that the demo has to be completed within 75 days after it's issued. Yeah.

Okay. And then the design review, if the demo had not been issued by then, it expires on March of 2027.

Yes. And effectively the final map because the public improvements go along with the final map.

Got it.

Yeah.

And the final map is the May of 26. I understand that. And John, there's been a lot of questions and I think the stormwater pollution prevention plan you talk about goes a long way towards this, but It's my understanding and my experience that all the technical requirements, geotechnical, stormwater and so forth for the demolition plan are handled for the demolition permit. And likewise, the infrastructure improvement requirements are handled in the review and subsequent issuance of that permit. And subsequent building permits, one of many perhaps. The infrastructure, sorry, the geotechnical stormwater and any other structural requirements are resident in that review as well. I'll only mention that because I'm curious the discussion about the whole project being reviewed in its entirety I don't know that that can really be the case because without this, a segmented approach to some degree, I mean, certainly you could have a demolition permit that's complete and final and put it on a shelf and then do your infrastructure review and analysis, assuming you can get access with your rig to do those various investigations and do the subsequent review and analysis associated with the building permit. But it would seem logical to do it in a stepped fashion. And I'm just wanting to confirm whether whether that's true or whether you think we have some resident assertions that it should be held altogether as one. And the applicant is saying that they can't do that physically, not only with the requirements of their easements, but that's not the practical way to do it. I just wanted your comments on that, please.

Yeah, I don't think this is unusual in that many times people, or developers rather, come forward with demo permits prior to improvement plans and final maps being complete. A lot of times it's timing. They also want to potentially get rough grading done. This is a unique site next to the lagoon. But it's not unusual for applicants to come in with rough grading and demo permits in this fashion.

And do you have any... with the various prevention plans, which are state regulated and fines associated with lack of upkeep and maintenance with those, whether it's three months or three years, do you have any concerns about our city's ability or your ability with your support to adequately review the geotechnical and structural requirements of the subsequent infrastructure plans and building permit plans beyond the demolition?

Yeah, we've reviewed almost all of the improvement plans to date and we did get assistance for the geotechnical peer review and the hydrology and hydraulic peer review for the drainage system. Structural review is separate as well. So, yes, we feel like we have the resources that we are needed, that are needed rather, for the improvement plan review. If we're not, then we would certainly seek outside help for that. But I think we do, we've got those consultants in place to provide that support.

Thank you. So I have a question on, actually two. So They submitted a letter for the extension, which allowed an automatic 60 day administratively approved extension, which brings us to this evening. So when we give the extension, whatever the amount of time is we give, does it include that 60 days or is it from like today?

It's from the it's from the date of expiry that it would otherwise that it would have otherwise expired.

And then I had a follow up question because you made a comment and said that regarding that we can't put any new conditions on any of the conditions of approval for anything that all of that is set in stone right now. As long as the applicant doesn't ask for a revision, if the applicant asks for a revision on a condition, then the door would be open for us to add more conditions?

I think, let's see. I did say that. Yeah, you did say that.

Gotcha.

I mean, I think you would need to I think they would need to be related to what the applicant was requesting, the additional conditions.

So whatever the condition was, it would kind of have to be related to that. Yes.

And not to something over here and left something over here. Or you suddenly say the building has to be moved or, you know, something like that, that it's no relationship.

But it does. It does give a crack in the door.

It's a small crack in the door. Yeah.

Okay, thank you. Those were my follow up questions. Anybody else have follow up questions?

I was wondering, I know there was a question about the agency letters. And if they had all been submitted, if they were reviewed, and if they were still valid, given the number of years that they may have been already submitted to the city, who who reviews those agency letters and determines whether they need to be resubmitted or redone.

Brian and John review those letters.

I think my other questions. I mean, John, I guess I think I know how you're going to answer this, but it is nerve wracking to one of the questions I asked Mr. Dorfman was even after demo and the requesting of the three years more time that he agreed that it could take a while to get what is necessary for the final map and things could sit there for a while empty. Is it your belief that when the geotech can be done, the second parts of the geotech after the demolishing, is it your belief that these type of structures can actually be built in this location without, so that I think the fear is from many people in the community, the demolish will occur and then they'll do the geotext study to see if the land actually could support what's being proposed there or what was in the application. And do you have any concerns along those lines or can anything be built anywhere?

No, no. I think that's why we need the geotechnical evaluation to determine, you know,

um what that foundation yeah but they're demolishing first so then if it turns out that oh oops these things can't be built here then what happens but i think it's the type of foundation that we're talking about okay yeah okay thanks

Okay, if all questions have been asked and answered, I'm going to see if a council member wants to open the discussion around the actual extension of the map. Kevin, would you like to go first?

Sure, okay, so there's two issues, and the one that we're here to answer or address is the timing, which unfortunately I'm gonna make you wait till the second half of my conversation for fear that you'll tune out on the first part. No, seriously, is I think that all of the context that we're talking about and the concerns that have been raised by the community, like Susan, David, Ken, Jill, Andy, Deli, Jim, Jim H., The folks who had sent in letters are really valid. We had a meeting a week ago where some of those individuals and other community members also voiced their concerns. And so while this may not be a popular opinion among some people, I do feel like many of the concerns or a number of the concerns are things that we, the city, we the city council as a governing body can do a better job at communicating. I think that the community has sort of raised the bar in terms of what they want to hear about this project, how informed they wanna be about this project, the things that they are most concerned about this project. And I think we have to find a way of upping our game too. to rise and meet that standard. And I know that's going to require more work of staff, and I apologize for that. I'm hoping the consultant can be further engaged to do that. I'm certainly willing to jump in and help wherever I can to do that as well. But some of the comments, especially the ones made by the public today during the open forum, were things that could be better managed or better addressed with just more transparency and more detail and more transparency You know, telegraphic communications as to where things stand, what's outstanding, to what degree are we near completion and so forth. So that's one part. So I think that's on us. I do think that we have to continue to work with the developer to move this project along quickly because I think at this point in time now it's really about getting it done. That's the most important thing and getting it done even more importantly based on all of the conditions that we all agreed to. And we've heard many times tonight we can't add any more conditions but I think it's super important for us to ensure that every single one of those conditions is met to its fullest extent. And I know that I have the city's commitment that they will do that. We will not issue any permits unless every single condition has been met to the fullest extent that it requires or it needs to be met. And nobody's nodding their head, but I'm sure you're nodding it inside your head. You're envisioning what it would look like to . But go ahead. So I think that's another thing that we all need to just put in the public record, that we're all agreeing that that's true. And I saw, actually, Bruce nod his head. And he is agreeing that those conditions need to be met. And in the details is where the challenge will be. But again, I think that's on us to make sure that they're met to the standard that we agree to. I do think though that the, You know, some of the things that are most concerning are covered by many of the conditions, the stormwater drain, the geotech, you know, obviously the peer reviews. I think there's, you know, condition 10, 17, 18, 23. I mean, there's a number of conditions. Again, I think we just need to make sure that those are delivered on fully and completely. The sequencing is more troubling because I don't think there's really much evidence We can do about that. Again, we'd have to impose a condition to order a sequence that we prefer, and we are being told by legal we can't. We can't require that in the context of offering an extension to the tentative map resolution. That would be the only way of doing it. I mean, I'm taking the developer, Bruce, at his word that they want to get this done and get it done quickly. I do know, based on what we have in our conditions, that the sequencing between the demo and the bulkhead are things that we can heavily influence. I mean, that permit requires that the building official and the engineer provide a recommendation as to when that bulkhead will be replaced. And so that's part of the permit. At least that's the way I'm reading the condition and stat. So we have the ability to ensure that the demo and the bulkhead are tied in a way that makes sense. Obviously, you can't demo and then let it sit there throughout the winter with nothing happening. So, again, more work for us to do on our part to ensure that all of this is delivered on. I mean, in terms of the timing, so now to part two, what we are here to answer tonight. You know, throughout my career, I mean, we often used a quote to bring focus to some of these things. And it was, nothing makes a person more productive than the phrase, I need it tomorrow. And so I very much agree that a shorter timeline is a better timeline. I know it's not an exciting prospect to think about coming back to this meeting in the near future, but I think given the complexity, given the community's interest, given all of the variables, I think that we should, we should take the time. even though it might require a little bit more work on everyone's part. So I actually like the suggestion, March 19th to 27, that we extend the tentative map until then. It does co-terminate with the design review, which is interesting. But again, I do think that in a shorter period of time, I'd love to come back. And it just keeps the pressure on. And it sounded like from my questions earlier on that we were nearly there. A lot of the things are just about to come in. We're at 85%, the 15%. Again, John, I'm using this all against you. I'm sorry. But again, if it is true, if that is in fact where we are, then that seems reasonable. And if it isn't, we'll know in a short order why it's not. And then we'll have to make additional decisions. So there you have it.

Okay, who would like to go next?

So I thank Vice Mayor Burke for a very eloquent explanation on our responsibility to our community. And I totally support and stand behind what he says about how we need to improve. And hopefully with this project coordinator, and an improved website that we will be having more transparent communication to everybody. But I want the community to know not to feel bad because sometimes we don't know to the last minute either. So, but to... address what we're here tonight for the final map. I also agree that from what John Moe has said that we're so close on the final map and the improvement plans that three years seems excessive. And I think if we, had been able to see their response. We might've been able to better understand exactly where we're at, but the commission is pretty much in the same unknown space as the rest of the community. And so I sat here and after asking my question on does a 60 day improve, I was ready to give them till I believe it was the May 13, 2027 date, which would be a year. But I am also fine with giving them to the March date. The tentative map always had a different date. everything was approved at the same planning commission meeting, but the tentative map had to go to city council. And that's why it's got a two month later date. So, I mean, I, I am fine with either the may or the March date. Um, I would support either one of those states for an extension. And I just had one more comment that I don't know who wrote it, but condition 17 on the demo is very poorly worded. I would never have said it had to do with the bulkhead or anything else, I would have thought that it had to do with the structures of the building. So I would just say in the future, whoever does those conditions needs to be more watched. As I have said many times, words matter and using the correct words for specifically what you're addressing is going to be very important going forward. Thank you.

Peter, do you want to go next?

Thank you. I agree, Kevin. I think you highlighted it very well. And using your same rubric, your first points, I agree we need to do better at communicating this. And I was a bit frustrated, I think, with the community that our project manager consultant is not involved in the upfront, which Jane talked about in the early part of the meeting. And contract um scope notwithstanding we absolutely this definitively talked about adding some of the permit um conditions and summaries checklists outstanding issues key omissions to their responsibility to help us document those and outline those for the community both online and so forth so i would i would encourage us to uh strong encouragement, I'd really like to ask us to better utilize that resource because I don't know that we have the bandwidth to do that, as Kevin said, that we need to step up that scope of work. Tying it to the design review, I'm okay with, but I think there's a, there's a complexity there in that design review, March 20th of 2027 moves with the demolition permit. So, right.

It has to, it has to have actually both public improvements, which basically is the final map.

Not necessarily. I mean, I mean, well, you could hold off on the final map for as long as you really want to.

Yes. It's, In this case, the public improvements are running along with the final map and the subdivision improvement agreement and the developer has to post a bond.

Okay. So you're okay with understanding that the applicant can come back and extend them all. You're okay with aligning with that because you presume that that wouldn't move unless the final map were subsequently approved.

Yes.

Okay, I understand. I'm okay with that. I think it's shorter than the applicant wants, but I understand your perspective relative to holding their feet to the fire and recognizing that, if nothing else, it's a good opportunity to readdress this as we go forward.

Jean? Hey, thanks. I think after this process, I also agree that we have to pay close attention to what we're saying and making sure it's what we mean. And so I'm gonna hold Kevin here. and say, I think it's a great idea to share as much information as possible with the whole community and with the council on where everything is on this project. But I'd like to know how you propose that happening so we don't just say we want it, But how? A spreadsheet that's online? How do we do this?

Rebecca, can I sort of jump in there? Because I know you're developing these Excel spreadsheets. Do you want to talk a little bit more about that and how much you plan to share or can share with the community?

Sure, yes, we're almost complete on two spreadsheets, one that lists each condition of the demolition, one that lists all the conditions of the tentative map, and we will make one for the design review, and it has the condition listed. a column that says check done or pending and then notes so um we are planning on getting making those public once they're complete so what just how long is that two weeks away how long do you think it'll no by next week

And you will update those whenever something changes and how will you let the community know? Will there be a date that sort of states when it was last updated so that, because it's a constantly sort of living document as we need to, people need to know.

We can do that. We can do that. Okay.

So as things change, they need to indicate what's changed so the community can see that visually. Okay.

I might suggest that we consider the Belvedere breeze. We put it in that. Well, that's not frequent enough, actually. You'd want to do it more often than that. The other thing, and we should talk, I mean, it's the, I think in those spreadsheets, it would be very helpful if then there's a live link that you can get then click through to the section of the website that has the supporting material. So if you're talking about condition 31 and it's the stormwater drain, yada, yada, yada, well, then you can go and look at, you know, this has been a, whatever. I mean, it's, yeah, it's, it's, it's, it's easy to do. I'm happy to help in that regard, but I think, that kind of dashboarding approach would be very helpful at giving people a telegraphic view as to where things are. And then if they choose to dig in deeper, they can then easily do that. Sure.

And can we put it at the top of the website? I know the website's going to get adjusted with the coordinator, but he's going to take some time, probably won't be ready by next week to revise the website. So if you could put that at the top, because it's organized differently. So, and it's a new thing. So I think if it was at the top, it would be really helpful.

Sure.

Okay. Jane, do you want to continue in your comments?

Thank you for that. And I agree with the March 19th, 2027. It's fine.

Okay. I have absolutely nothing to add. I agree with what's been said so far. So would somebody like to make a motion?

I can read a resolution. I propose a motion to approve the resolution of the city of Belvedere. City Council approving extension of the tentative subdivision map for the Mallard Point project at one through 22 Mallard Point Road to March 19th, 2027.

Second. All in favor?

Aye.

Motion passes. Okay. Thank you to everybody who's spoken. Thank you to the applicant. We'll take a five minute recess so that people can leave if they would like to. And we'll come back in five minutes. which is discussion and approval of the city of Belvedere annual operating and capital budget for fiscal year 26, 27 and five-year capital plan. Helga, I believe you have a staff report.

Good evening, Mayor Wilkinson and council members. Since the proposed fiscal year 26, 27 budget was discussed in detail at May, we will only focus on the changes since then. And actually, there have been very few revisions. On the revenue side, based on the latest estimate from Marin County, secured property tax revenues are now projected to increase by 5.12% in fiscal year 26-27, higher than the 4.06 growth assumed in the proposed budget. This results in an additional 73,277 in security Secured property tax revenue increasing the fiscal year 2627 estimate from 7.06 million to 7.13 million with no changes to other property tax revenue projections. The projected fire tax revenue has been increased by $14,416 based on updated state price and population data. The preliminary budget assumed a 3% increase, while the revised estimate reflects an updated growth rate at 4.19%. As a result of the higher fire tax revenues, the amount required to be transferred from the general fund to support fire services will be reduced accordingly. The city receives donations to support the concerts in the park series, which help fund the program each summer. Donations supporting the concert in the park series are now anticipated to exceed 59,000 in fiscal year 2526, compared to the original estimate of 32,000. Based on this performance, the fiscal year 2627 budget increases anticipated concert in the park donation revenue from 32,000 to 50,000. In addition, a new revenue line item has been established for the Belvedere Film Festival to separately account for donations supporting that event. Based on fiscal year 25-26 contributions, film festival donation revenue is projected at approximately 18,000 in fiscal year 26-27. And that brings us to the expenditures. The wildlife mitigation funding included in the administration budget has increased from 7,000 to 13,000 in fiscal year 26-27 to support continued coyote monitoring and the implementation of the contraception-based rat mitigation pilot program. In the police department budget, vehicle maintenance expenditures have been reduced by $30,124 from 41,263 to 11,139 to correct a budget entry and better align the budget with actual expenditure levels. Under the non-departmental budget concerts in the park expenditures have been increased by 18,000 from 42,000 to 60,000 to better reflect anticipated program costs. In addition, the Belvedere Film Festival expenditures have also been established as a separate budget item with an appropriation of 22,000 based on prior year spending. The majority of these costs are offset by donations received by the city to support these community events. As a result of these revenue and expenditure changes, an additional $120,000 has been allocated to the Long-Term Capital Planning Fund in fiscal year 26-27, increasing the transfer from $110,000 one, sorry, from 1.1 million to 1.22 million. This additional funding raises the projected fund balance at the end of fiscal year 2030-31 to 2.42 million, an increase of 550,000 over the 1.87 million balance originally projected, further strengthening the city's long-term capacity to fund future infrastructure needs. When everything is said and done, this budget will exceed the general fund reserve policy goal by 415,000, which is slightly less than the previous version. However, it still projects that the city will meet its reserve goals for the next five years. And with that, I'd be happy to take questions.

Does anybody have any questions for Helga? Any questions?

I just had one, Helga. It sounds like you have to do a lot of work for all these donations that then turn around and go out. Is that a huge impact on your time? um usually our administrative tech takes most of it okay because i was thinking about the fun run which also is adding to your workload no the admin tech will handle most of that okay okay well we don't care about that i'm just kidding no it's fine okay thanks okay if there's no other questions that's open for public comment

You see none okay let's bring this back for any discussion and emotion, and I would just a caveat that this has already been reviewed twice by the finance committee. One once for the finance committee, this is the second reading for the City Council with some minor amendment so if anybody has any discussion speak up if not someone can make a motion. Anybody want to comment or just motion.

We can make a motion to adopt the attached resolution appropriating funds necessary for fiscal year 2026 through 2027.

Second. All in favor? Aye. Motion passes. Move on to item 6C, discussion and approval of fire and emergency medical services special tax rates for fiscal 26-27. Helga, this is you again.

Yes, thank you. In your packet this evening is a resolution to levy the previously approved special tax for fire protection and emergency medical services. This is an annual item we need to pass to levy the tax that was approved by voters in 2000. The fees per parcel for the upcoming fiscal year will be $1,143.40 for residential dwelling units. $1,301.50 for commercial occupancies and $228.94 for vacant parcels. The revenue received from this assessment is spent only on fire services. However, it does not cover the full cost of fire services budgeted at 2.67 million for fiscal year 26, 27, and will require a transfer from the general fund of 1.41 million to cover the difference. And with that, I'd be happy to take questions.

Any questions for Helga? Sorry. Can I make a motion? Sure. Oh, I'm sorry. Is there any public comment? Okay, perfect.

Jane. Okay, in that case, I make a motion to adopt the resolution levying previously approved special tax for fire and emergency medical services and fixing the rates thereof for the fiscal year 2026, 2027. Second. All in favor?

Aye. Motion passes. Moving to 6D. introduction and first reading of an ordinance amending Belvedere Municipal Code section 3.28.080 to implement annual update of fire and emergency medical services special tax rates for fiscal 26-27.

Thank you. This is the first reading of a proposed amendments to Belvedere municipal code section 3.28.080. Chapter 3.28 of the municipal code was enacted by voter initiative in 1980 to establish the city's fire and emergency medical services tax with section 3.28080 setting the applicable parcel tax rates. The proposed amendments are administrative in nature and update the ordinance to reflect the fiscal year 26-27 tax rates approved by the council, ensuring the municipal code remains current and improving clarity and transparency. Earlier this evening, the council held a public hearing and adopted a resolution approving the fiscal year 26-27 fire and emergency medical service tax rates. The approved flat fees per parcel are the $1,143.40 for residential dwelling units, $1,301.50 for commercial occupancies, and $228.94 for vacant parcels. Because the associated tax revenues have already been incorporated into the fiscal year 26-27 operating and capital budget, these ordinance amendments have no additional fiscal impact. This annual ordinance update as part of the June budget process to ensure the municipal code continues to accurately reflect the rates being levied. We will bring this back to council for a second reading at the July 13th meeting if approved tonight.

Great. Any questions for Helga? Seeing none. Hold on. Public comment. I see none. Jane?

I move that we approve the first reading of ordinance 3.28.080. Can I get a second?

Second. All in favor? Aye. Motion passes. And I would just preview that at some point during this year, we'll be bringing back some updates to all of this from what we're learning through our conversations around annexation. We've learned some interesting things around our fire tax and that will be coming in future months.

Correct.

Also, Helga, I appreciate, I know we had this conversation last year because we hadn't updated our ordinance in a while while we had updated the fees. I think it's great that we're keeping up on this so that the ordinance itself has the transparency that you're intending.

Thank you. Okay, I forgot to mention at the beginning of the meeting that we have, if it's still on anyone's agenda, 6E, which is around the introduction of a drone ordinance, has been moved to the next meeting. So we will not be discussing that tonight. Okay, we'll close the public hearings and moving on to other scheduled items. 7A, adoption of resolutions calling a general municipal election on November 3rd, 26, and requesting the Marine County Board of Supervisors consolidate this election with the November 3rd, 2026 general election. Is there a staff report here and who's giving it?

Thank you, Mayor Wilkinson and Council. Be really quick. In December, the terms of office... of council member Jane Cooper and Peter Mark will expire. The city must notify the Marin County of Registrar's The Marin County Register of Voters of the city's intention to conduct the general municipal election on November 3rd, 2026 for the purpose of electing two members to council. The California Elections Code also requires council to make several additional decisions after calling an election. These routine matters are also addressed in the resolutions in front of you. Staff recommends that council adopts the two resolutions for the November 3rd, 2026 general municipal election.

Thank you.

Any questions for Beth?

Can they be adopted together or separately?

It's one resolution, yeah.

And I make a motion to adopt.

Hold on, I've got to open for public comment. Oh, yeah.

Jeez, Beth, come on, hurry up.

I see no hands raised. Okay, Jane, go for it. You're on a roll tonight.

I know, I'm really into it. I make a motion that we adopt two resolutions for the November 3rd, 2026 general municipal election.

Second. All in favor?

Aye.

And we do have, am I allowed to ask whether our current sitting council members are intending to run again in November or is that premature? You're not allowed to ask.

We found another forum for that announcement. Okay. Thank you, Mayor.

Is that curiosity?

You're the secret.

Okay, we are moving on to 7B, first reading.

We're going to have a balloon announcement. What is that when you have a baby? A reveal.

We're going to have a gender reveal. 7B. We're going to get through this meeting if it kills me. 7B. First reading and review of a resolution for period July 1, 26 through June 30, 29, establishing salaries and benefits for miscellaneous, non-represented employees of the City of Belvedere. Helga, is this you or is this Robert? Robert.

Thank you, Mayor. Item 7B is the first reading of the resolution for employee salary. It's going to be what's proposed as a three-year contract, as you mentioned, starting July 1st, 2026 through June 30th, 2029. The proposed resolution implements the results of the city's recently completed classification and compensation study, which was the first comprehensive review of this kind in more than a decade. Overall, the study showed that Belvedere's compensation levels for some employees was low compared to other Marin County agencies. The resolution seeks to realign these low positions with a one-time salary adjustment. Across the board, the agreement also includes a 2.5% cost of living adjustment, that's a COLA, effective within the first full pay period of July 2026. That percentage... matches the consumer price index inflationary data for the Bay Area. And then for the second and third year of the contract, CPI-based cost of living adjustments will be applied with a floor of 2% and a ceiling of 4%. Benefits generally remain unchanged with only minor housekeeping updates, including a small increase in the boot allowance for public works maintenance staff. Both MOUs I'll mention, the miscellaneous and the police departments, which we're about to hear as the next item, also include transitioning to a seven-step salary or pay schedule system. We're currently on a five-step, and that'll be effective July 1st, and it will only impact new employees hired after July 1st, 2026. The estimated fiscal impact is approximately $84,000 annually over a three-year term and has been assumed in the proposed budget that was adopted. And that's all I have for now and I'll open the questions.

Questions from council? No, seeing none. The $84,000 is the impact of the COLAs or the impact of the salary adjustments from the compensation study?

I believe it's all the above, right?

It was an average over three years that included both.

It included both. Okay, perfect. Okay. Any public comment, Beth? I see none. Okay. Can I get a motion?