City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening everyone and welcome to the special city council uh meeting for January 27th, 2026. We have a quorum. Let's begin the meeting. Roll call, please. Council member Maloney, present. Vice Mayor Pearson, present. And could you make a statement on your remote participation, please? Yes. Um, pursuant to government code section 54953, I'm appearing remotely due to a medical issue. Council member Mendoza here. Council member Orleans here. Mayor Meyer

here. Please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Public comment for tonight's items will be three minutes each. In order to ensure that all speakers feel welcome to share their views, members of the audience are kindly requested to refrain from applauding or speaking to the council from the audience without being called upon first. At this time, the public is permitted to address the city council on items listed on the special meeting agenda. I have one speaker in person, Danny.

Okay. Sorry, getting my visual aids together. All right. Well, people have asked, "Why don't I run for office?" Well, the answer is what we're going through right now is the reason. For the life of me, I'm trying to understand the rationale of your counsel. I'm not a lawyer, but it just doesn't make sense. This weekend's Minnesota killing just makes the recommendations of your council and therefore your silence dumbfounding. But then it hit me. They're circling the wagons and all of you think you're on the inside. Darren's gone. She's leaving. Peachman, I figure, is sheltered by BPOA. They're getting their stories, their stories together. They're trying to paint a narrative. Did Yolanda hit her own head? Was she ill that morning? Was she even detained? All of that lawyer speak. and you five are on the outside looking in. Now, that's why I would never run for office. Before November 5th, the answer was simple. I think I can do more on the outside than over there. Now, I could not I would not be silent.

Whatever reason your hands are tied. I just couldn't do it. I couldn't I would be demanding to see the video. I would be livid if anyone told me we got this. I just couldn't do it. You all must have your reasons. I mean, I like most of you, so this is hurting me. But I think you guys truly believe you're on the inside of the wagons that are circled. And you're not you're not two of you are going to be I guess running this year. Three of you in two years. We need to do better. Oh, and I'm gonna call in since one of you is missing for the next open comment.

I have no additional speaker cards in person. Anyone online who would like to raise their hand to make a public comment may do so. Now, just real quickly with the council's indulgence, Mr. Dorman, you left something at your seat. I don't know if you want to take it with you and I have no hands raised in Zoom. Thank you. Do we have a motion to recess to close session? So moved. Second. Can I have a roll call, please? Council member Maloney. Yes. Vice Mayor Pearson. Yes. And there's nobody present in the room with me. Council member Mendoza. Yes. Council member Orleans. Yes. Mayor Meyer.

Yes. We are in recess to close session. Thank you. And just before you do, can I make a clarification for the record? Coun or Vice Mayor Pearson, you indicated that you're participating remotely via government code section 54953. I just want to clarify. I think you're participating under just cause, which is 54953.8.3. Is that correct? That's correct. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. We are now in recess to close session.

Thank you for waiting. We'll be um we'll start in just a moment. Thank you for waiting. We are coming back from closed session. There is nothing to report. Do I have a motion to adjurnn close session?

So moved. I'll second. Could I get a roll call, please? Council member Mendoza. Yes. Council member Maloney. Yes. Council member Orlemans. Yes. Mayor Meyer. Yes. And Vice Mayor Pearson is absent. So we are adjourned from close session. And do we have an answer? Okay. We are moving into our regular city council meeting. Um we have a quorum. So we can begin with a roll call, please. Council member Maloney present. Vice Mayor Pearson is absent. Council member Mendoza here.

Council member Orlemans here. Mayor Meyer here. Please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. We are going to start with a presentation. I'd like to invite Eric Anstat, chief assistant county administrator, to present an update on the East County Service Center. Good evening.

Good evening, council. I'm Eric Angstat, chief assistant county administrator for Contraosta County, and I'm here with my, uh, senior management analyst, uh, Corey Young, and we're happy to give you a brief update on the East County Service Center project that's, uh, here at the city of Brentwood. See, the slides are up. So, uh, going to cover a little bit of the background for how we got here, current site overview, talk about the project, and a little bit about how it integrates with the Brentwood specific plan. So, for background, um the Contracasta County did a 20-year capital master plan that the uh board of supervisors adopted in September of 2022. Uh goals of that for countywide stuff were improving equity access to services and overall customer experience, reduce our facility and real estate related costs, increase collaboration, resource uh sharing between departments, provide flexibility in new workspaces, and continue to increase sort of techn technology adapt adoption throughout the county. One of the things that we found throughout the master planning process was East County had the highest population growth over the last decade and continues to have the highest population growth in Contracasta County. It's also home to the second largest population of county staff. So many of our staff live out here in East County, but it had the lowest number of county facilities. So it's been underserved for decades. So, as part of that master plan, the board of supervisors agreed that the first of these new um county uh aggregated service centers would be built in East County. The counties owned the six vacant undeveloped parcels along Technology Way in Brentwood for um almost 20 years now, 15 years um since 2011. So they were bought before I came to the county and it was always thought that there would be some kind of county facility out here in Brentwood and that

was confirmed again in the 2022 master plan and we were able to um by the large 5acre parcel directly south of those six parcels giving us a total uh site area of just under 8 acres. Next please. So, what we're planning to uh build there is about a 117,000 square foot three-story building that will house at the end um approximately 440 county staff. It's bringing together eight major county departments. The largest uh the largest uh tenant will be the employment and human services department with multiple of their divisions that provide a lot of the services that county residents need. Child and family services, adult and aging services, workforce services, the workforce development board, community services, health services also wants to have a number of their administrative uh programs like their infant nutrition program and other nonclinical uh programs in that building. The clerk recorded elections wants to have an office so that people don't have to go all the way into Martinez to get clerk services or election related materials, veteran services. Um, and then the public defender, district attorney, and probation all want office space out here because there many of the clients that they're dealing with are in East County. And the uh board of supervisors, District 3 office is also going to be in the building. And then we'll also have support services like IT and other u smaller uh sections in there to support all of those eight major service uh departments. And then um it'll also have on-site security in the building. So to give a quick overview of the site um for anyone who's not totally familiar with this and I know most of you are because you're in Brentwood but many of the rest of the county isn't. Um that blue outline is the uh six parcels and technology way and then the large uh 5acre parcel to the south. Next please. Uh the entire site is flat and

undeveloped currently. Um there's not a lot of development surrounding it right now. You have some residential stuff to the west. Next, I'm looking from the Technology Way corner. It is a again flat open field with almost no trees. Those two trees are on the uh Jack in the Box site there on the corner of Technology Way and Redwood uh Redwood Boulevard. Again, from Brentwood Boulevard looking up, it's a large undeveloped site. And then you have additional uh undeveloped parcels to the south. And then across the technology way, you have um a variety of commercial buildings. the auto zone and there's also a small uh uh daycare school on the corner as well. So the project itself what we're proposing is this is a uh you know isometric angle rendering of the three-story building. So it will have a large public plaza between the building and technology way. will front on technology way and it's you know designed to hopefully be a space that when the county is not in in service with the buildings that it's also a programmable space. So, uh, we've done a similar, uh, building complex in downtown Martinez. And with the public plaza spaces, what we like to do is at least offer for the, um, city to have the ability to use that space for programming, you know, after 5 on, uh, weekdays and on the weekends. So, again, that's something that we would, it's an offer we'll make to the city when it's when it's ready. We can have a discussion and see if we can uh, enter into a memorandum of understanding about using it. But it is something that we as the county will uh absolutely approach the city about when the project is completed. Here's sort of an overview. Um the uh parking will be shaded with um significant tree cover or and again these these are still not final final drawings because we're still in the tail

end of the design process. We're also working to potentially cover uh a significant portion of the parking lot with solar so that we can generate um enough power to power the building and have it be net zero. Um but again, that is subject to future financing arrangements that we're currently in uh discussion with some of the county vendors. Um we've in response to you people may have seen an earlier concept drawing from uh earlier of 2025 that had a very different looking building. You know the the design has developed over the last year. Um we have had contact with city staff and some city electives and some of the feedback we got was a preference for things that uh related more to Brentwood. So we've changed the color palette on the building. We've changed the facades and we're trying to bring in the, you know, the colors and some and this will also be reflected on the interior decorations, the art, the graphics, you know, the agricultural um history of Brentwood. So, here are some renderings of it looking east from the sort of technology way from the west and then a couple of distance shots just to show you how far off kind of Brentwood um boulevard it is from the technology way that this the tree screen is going to uh keep the building almost invisible here from uh Brentwood Boulevard looking up technology. If you could just go back for one sec. Um you can see that the building itself is back from uh Brentwood Boulevard by about 450 ft. So it is significantly set back from Brentwood Boulevard. Then next slide. Thanks. And then this is looking from Nancy um toward it. So again it is it is significantly set back and will be uh significantly screened with the vegetation and uh on the parking lot. So then um just a little notes um in

terms of the Brentwood uh specific plan only that southern 5acre parcels actually in the Brentwood Boulevard specific plan area. Um the parcels along Technology Way are not. Uh the sidewalks and street fixtures along Brentwood Boulevard will be developed consistent with the Brentwood Boulevard standards and in conjunction with the standards that the city of Brentwood has so that the public right ofways are are up to the city of Brentwood standards and and their desire to have, you know, a cohesive and uniform presentation along Brentwood Boulevard. We are reserving some of the space for a potential future county building in that parking area along Brentwood Boulevard. So the hope is that maybe in the future the health services division will uh develop a medical clinic uh there to continue expanding the um contraosta regional hospitals network of care out here and then that would front on Brentwood Boulevard and be uh integrated with Brentwood uh Boulevard specific plan desire to have that sort of commercial frontage along Brentwood Boulevard and again we're providing either dense tree cover or dense solar and tree cover for the parking lot and then the large plaza on the north side, like I said, offering a civic space. It can hold up probably up to 200 people. It'll have a small stage. It'll have power. And so, again, it's something that we hope that we can enter into an agreement with the city of Brentwood for joint use of that because we do want to have it uh be available as a city amenity. And then just some elevation sort of the traditional views of as you can see the the various um elements of the building. on the front side there on that uh right hand side that second uh floor element is providing shade to the plaza and behind that is two large conference rooms that'll also be available for civic events but also the way the building is

going to be designed that will be a a sort of a cooling and uh center for uh power outages. So we will have the ability to power that section of the building separately from our solar and battery backup power. So in the event of outages, especially outages during the summer when there's high temperatures when uh sensitive users might need a cooling center, that will be available as an emergency refuge space or also with the fil the air filtering that will be uh available will also be if we have some of those wildfire days where you get the incredible smoke um you know like when a couple years ago when the sky turned orange. Uh it will also be a refuge center for those that might have uh you know breathing difficulties or asthma or something and need to have take refuge um into place. So it'll be part of our emergency services thing and we'll have a separate electrical system that will be powered. We're also uh using geothermal energy primarily for the main heating and cooling of the building. And the building is going to be built out of a technology called mass timber which is again a leading uh sort of sustainability uh technology that will um allow us to you know really improve the carbon footprint of the building over concrete or steel. And then this is sort of the uh south side. This is the staff sort of entrance. And that pretty much ends my update. I'm happy to take questions or hear comments or whatever you would like.

Thank you. Do does council have uh Yes, go ahead.

Thank you. And I just want to make sure that I I check again. I was still trying to log in when the meeting started, but I'm passionate Pearson here present and I am here remotely under the just cause. Um thank you so much for your presentation. Um, I do want to say that I'm grateful for the opportunities. This is in my district. I'm thankful for the opportunities that we've had to check in. I think that you all took into consideration a lot of our comments and input and so I am very appreciative of that. Um, I do have a couple of questions. Some of them were answered in our meeting, but I think that they should be answered public facing. Um, one of them is, um, will you all be providing any employment opportunities that are, uh, additional employment opportunities with the expansion of this building being here that, um, I know we can't guarantee them to Bwood residents, but will there be employment opportunities? And then I have follow-up questions as well.

Sure. So the um both during construction so we as the county we always use um full union um construction with project labor agreement and with that comes apprentichip programs that all of the trades run. So during construction, there will be opportunities for apprenticeship uh programs in all of the trades. And then once the building is open, the workforce development board will be there. And the county's workforce development board provides a number of of job opportunities, job counseling, and job skills training. And so operationally, yes, there will be um you know, a gateway for people to, you know, look for employment both in the the county employee base as well as getting help for any other job opportunities and developing their job skills for for employment.

Besides the solar panels, what other things is the county going to do to reduce our carbon imprint? Will there be any EV chargers for both the county vehicles as well as the public? Yes. So there will be extensive um electric vehicle charging both in the uh staff parking areas for the staff fleet and for the public facing parking.

And then also this was a question that I brought up um with the type of offices that will be coming um in this area. Will there be opportunities to um could it be detrimental to some of our residents? For example, registered sex offenders coming to check in to these offices near two schools. So the probation department will have offices in there. It will be their uh responsibility to make sure that their clients are complying with the rules of their probation. So if there's somebody who cannot come to this office for service, the probation office will be going to them for service.

Okay. And then um thank you for you know telling more about the greenery and the legislation. Will there be any improvements to Brentwood Boulevard? Um as we know that we have a current um we're under we're trying to improve that street. It's it's used to be the old highway 4 before how you know we got throw fixed. Will the county be providing any improvements to the public?

Yeah. So all of the property that touches along the public right ofways, the uh standard improvements like sidewalks, um landscaping, all of that will be uh part done in conjunction with the city of Bretman because that is something that is in the city's jurisdiction. So there'll be encroachment permits for all of the work that's required um to put in the standard, you know, uh streetscape improvements. Thank you. That's all of my questions. Other questions? Yeah, I have a couple questions. I know city staff has asked for the um traffic survey because that's one of the residents biggest concerns. Do you know when we on council and the public can expect that?

Yeah, the uh mitigated negative declaration should be published either the end of this week or the uh Monday next week. Okay. Um can you make sure that our staff gets an email so that we can know when it's available? Thank you. Also, um there's a lot of homes right there off of Technology Way. They have concerns about all the traffic that's going to be coming down their side street. What What's the reason for having the entrance on Technology Way, which is kind of a residential side versus Brentwood Boulevard, which can take probably a bigger load of traffic.

Um, partly it's the shape of the site and the length of the building. It would be hard to have an entry that would face Brentwood Boulevard. And then the second thing is we're reserving some of that land in for a potential future county uh site that would uh be on Brentwood Boulevard and face Brentwood Boulevard. Okay. When will you be having a town hall to um address the residents and their concerns? So the traffic, the architecture, all of that good stuff. Uh we weren't planning on having a town hall.

Okay. So um I would suggest that you have a town hall with the residents and get their feedback. Um we take their opinions in when we're making decisions. So, I think that's important if you want to be a partner to the city and to the residents. I think that's important that the county do that. We'll consider it. Questions?

Um, just a comment. Thank you very much for providing the update. I appreciate that you actually came and showed this presentation to all five of us. So, and the community and everyone watching. So, um, I do agree. I think a community meeting would be beneficial just to get people to actually listen and interact kind of like how Contra Costa Fire did it for fire station 90. Um, and I think it just brings people's concerns up front, but it would be awesome if you guys could do that. Yeah, as I said, we'll consider it. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Thank you. I would like to move up two of the proclamations um before public comments. That would be F3 and F5. Are there any objections to that? No objection. No objection.

Thank you. So we will start with um inviting Gigi Crowder, chief executive officer for NAMI Contraosta. And we will also be inviting, we are lucky to have two for this, uh, Jessica Eastman Stewart and Anitra Simpson with the Brentwood Black History Month ortorial Committee. Yeah. got a full house. We hugging after we hugging now. All right, we are going to start um with reading the proclamation and then I would love for uh Gigi and then one representative from your group to speak as well. And we hope you all feel welcome. We're very honored to honor you today. Thank you so much for joining us. Whereas Black History Month is a time to recognize and honor the rich history, culture, achievements, contributions, and resilience of African-Americans whose influence is woven throughout our history. And whereas the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History, ASAH, has designated the 2026 National Century of Black History Commemorations, marking 100 years since Dr. Carter G. Woodson initiated the first Negro History Week in 1926, an observation that evolved into Black History Month and continues to deepen our collective understanding of African-American history and legacy. And whereas Black History is American history and recognizing the contributions of

African-Americans, strengthens community awareness, honors those who struggled for freedom and justice, and inspires leaders to uphold the values of equality, opportunity, and dignity for all. And whereas by celebrating Black History Month, the city of Brentwood reaffirms its commitment to diversity, inclusion, and the educational enrichment of all residents through programs, observances, and events that celebrate cultural heritage and promote unity and understanding throughout our community. Now, therefore, it be proclaimed that the city council of the city of Brentwood hereby recognizes February 2026 as Black History Month. So, we are going to start with Gigi. This is your proclamation. We would love for you to say a few words.

Thank you.

Thank you all for um recognizing this uh month. It's really important. Well, we have a couple more days, but you're early. And and that's really important because it's one of the shortest months in the year, but because we're here in Brentwood, we get the other days, right? We get even more days. But it's really important. Uh I sit on a lot of committees where we're trying to address the disparities that take place in this county. Whether it be health, whether it be education, whether it be physical health, mental health, African-Americans tend to have the poorest outcomes. So that's one of the reasons that in addition to being the um CEO of NAMI National Alliance on Mental Illness, I also started a campaign called 40 voices and we have an African-American holistic wellness hub. We had to use private dollars, most of them mine, to to put in place because we recognize that the healing should not wait until this beautiful building is here in Bridwood when I'm so excited about it coming because I might apply for one of the jobs. Okay. But we have to wait till social services move out of Cavalo before we get the county to fund it. And I just feel like that's that's not that's asking too much for a community that also pays taxes here. So I appreciate the city of Brentwood. Um I feel privileged to know most of you. I I don't know you, but I'll get to know you, but I I'm really close to each of the council members and I appreciate all you've done. Thank you.

Thank you, Gigi. And I'm going to ask the Britwood Black History Month ortorial group to have someone speak as well and then we'll take pictures separately uh who would like to speak.

Hi, thank you for this honor. Um so we are a small but mighty group that um this uh ortorial started about four years ago for you that didn't know and it started at Pioneer Elementary School and this year we have over a hundred people um students across five school across eight schools uh participating in the Black History Ortorial this Sunday from 1 to 3 next door at Liberty Auditorium. we've sold out. Uh we have about 600 um tickets that we've sold. And so really, we have not only just African-American students, but all students, allies that are performing and celebrating black excellence. Um we have a tea care that's going to sing Law. We have um a punk brand that's going to play Michael Jackson. Like it is going to be a fabulous time. And we absolutely thank um the city. But not only that, but our um district for their leadership, Dr. Eaton for all the support that the principles have provided in helping us get um to this um spot. And then also just all of the monetary, this is donations. We are volunteering outside of the school, the work, the kids, all of the things, the activities. were coming together on weekends, nights, all nights like so we um thank you for this opportunity and for recognizing the hard work that these amazing um individuals have been putting forth. It it is definitely um a labor of love and I appreciate you guys all very much for again celebrating and acknowledging black excellence here in Brentwood. So, thank you.

Thank you. And uh we will start with Gigi. We want to make sure we're standing in front of the screen so the vice mayor can take part. I hate I'm not there for Gigi and Nitra and all the parents who put on this amazing competition.

Um I want to say too I I appreciate Gigi. She has been an incredible support to my family during some times of challenge. So uh it's very meaningful to have you here and accept this award. Thank you, Gigi. What is it? Thank you all.

See you Sunday. Council doesn't have to go sit just yet. And now we would like to bring forward Ian Cohen and the FBLA chapter adviser Mark Tinder. And anyone else if you want to bring up your group. This is for the Future Business Leaders of America. Hello. Good to see you. And we'll read the proclamation first. Whereas the Future Business Leaders of America, FBLA, is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to preparing middle school, high school, and collegiate students for careers in business and leadership through relevant career preparation, innovation, innovative leadership development, and community engagement. And whereas FBLA week, nationally recognized each year during February, celebrates students who are making their mark, demonstrating impact, growth, ambition, innovation, and leadership as they prepare for future careers in a global society. And whereas the Liberty Union High School District's FBLA chapters in the city of Brentwood have exemplified academic excellence, community service, and dedication to leadership in business education, making significant contributions to our community through competitive events, volunteerism, and civic engagement. And whereas the outstanding achievements and commitment demonstrated by FBLA members contribute to the economic vitality of our community and help cultivate the next generation of business leaders in Brentwood across California and nationally. Now therefore, it be proclaimed that the city council of the city of Brentwood hereby recognizes the

week of February 8th through 14, 2026 as Future Business Leaders of America Week. And who would like to speak? Well, if it's okay, um, mayor, if we have just three people speak or kind of officers introduce, I'll keep it short. I know these meetings have been very long, but well, good evening, council staff. You know, it's been forever since I've been in here, like since literally since last year. It's not too late to still make that joke. But as you've heard a million one times, I have built this chapter from nothing with Mr. Mark Tinder. And now we went from seven members to 31 competitors to now 49 competitors this year in our third year going to regionals which regionals is the day before the Super Bowl which I know we're all kind of disappointed about who's playing the Super Bowl. So at least we have something to root for but sadly no Bad Bunny at this event but we will be in San Ramon just across the county from here but we hope to bring it in Brentwood in the future to fight for the better and Brentwood title here. But um with just that, I would love to introduce my 2025 2026 board of officers. But first, I'll hand off to Mr. Mark Tender real quick.

I want to uh thank the council and the mayor. Thank you very much for this. Uh we meet uh Future Business Leaders of America is the largest CTSO, that's Career Tech Student Organization in the United States. And it's it's really exciting. Uh they we meet every Tuesday in my classroom and we have up to 60 members in our classroom. On Wednesdays after school they're in my classroom. They're preparing for competition and they they do this on their own. Um again I thank everybody uh to be uh participants and this is a studentrun organization not teacherled but I'm I'm the adviser. it is student run and they're excited and um we look forward to going to state and possibly nationals like Ian Cohen did

a couple years ago and um so thank you very much

and and then I'll love the officers just to say their name real quick and introduce themselves to the council since this is their first time well some of them are on the youth commission but some of them this is their first time being in this Hello. Hello. Good evening, council. My name is Jane Hunsoy. Uh you obviously don't know me. This is my first time here and uh this is my second year at this club. Uh my first year serving as the director of competitions. So it's really amazing to be here and I can say that in my one year of experience, I'm extremely proud and happy of what our club has been able to achieve. I mean if we look at our like previous uh competition seasons we could see that two years ago we had five awards won at the regional section uh conference called the BSLC uh base section leadership conference for short. Um the next year following that we jumped all the way over to 30 recognition um awards won. And this year we're coming with an even bigger squad. We're looking to win more. We're looking to find greater success and I mean sorry uh we're looking to find greater success and this is really good news from us because especially being in our infancy of this club. It's only our third year here and we're looking to do all these great and big things. So I want to take thank you council and Mayor Meyer of course for being able to recognize FBA week. Thank you. All right. Uh, hello everyone. I'm Isan. Uh, I'm a junior at Heritage High School and the chapter president of Heritage High FBA. And despite being one of the newest chapters in the Bay section, we've proven ourselves to be a solid competitor and consistently sent people

to the state and international competition. Um, our members compete in a variety of events ranging from business, law, and tech and other career related events as well. And as we continue to grow, I hope that we can continue to represent Brentwood and our school at the section, state, and national level. And thank you for all of your support.

You can say your name if you'd like.

Um, hi um everyone. So, I'm the d uh secretary treasurer at FLA and I'm glad to meet you. Oh, sorry. Hi everyone. I'm the secretary treasure at FLA. I'm so glad to meet you guys. Um we put a lot of work into funding um our club and we've put um are glad for everyone's support here. Hello everyone. My name is Fish Varum and I'm the director of competitions at FBA's Heritage Heritage High School's FBA chapter. Having helped members study and prepare for their competitive events at FBA, I'm really grateful for being surrounded by these strong and motivated people determined to succeed and I cannot and I look forward to um helping uh grow this chapter in the future. Thank you for your support. would like to take a photo. Thank you.

We can go ahead and leave We're moving into public comments. The public comment time for tonight's items will be three minutes each. In order to ensure that all speakers feel welcome to share their views, members of the audience are kindly requested to refrain from applauding or speaking to the council from the audience without being called upon first. At this time, the public is permitted to address the city council on items that are not listed on the agenda, items that are listed underformational reports or on the consent calendar, presentations, or requests for future agenda items. New requests, comments for the meeting's detailed agenda items or business items should be made when those items are called. Please limit your remarks to three minutes or your microphone will be muted when the timer expires. The first speaker I have is Sahil. Hello city council staff and city council members. Thank you for letting me present some brief remarks regarding the work of our youth commission. First, hello everybody. My name is Sahil. I'm a commissioner on the Brenford Youth Commission. And now let's del deeper into what we're doing right now. The youth commission is prioritizing new

recreational events tailored for our youth and fundraisers to keep the commissioner's coffers going. New events that are almost confirmed that should be are a career fair fair for older youth which should be taking place around March to April which intends to feature large amounts of small local businesses and mentors alongside a completely unrelated STEM fair which should be taking place around early May meant for younger audiences. There will be hands-on activities and a large space for plenty of Brentwood exhibitors to display whatever project they'll be doing. And finally, we also launched our new youth commission civic essay competition separate from our already originating scholarship that la was launched on January 8th. And all of that details can be found on our spring activities guides registration page. And so, yep. Also, finally, we will be opening up more vacant seats for all the term limited commissioners in the next couple of months. So, yeah. Finally, I would just like to give a big thank you to Miss Madame Mayor Meyer and to the whole city council for allowing the commission to exist and supporting our initiatives all these years. Now, with that, thank you, city council staff and city council members. I yield the floor. The next speaker is Melissa. Good evening. On Monday, California Assembly Member Matt Haney introduced AB1633, legislation that would impose a 50% tax on the profits of private ICE detention centers operating in California. I'm here tonight to urge this council to draft and send a formal letter in support of this bill. The proposal comes

at a moment when the actions of ICE are once again drawing national alarm. On New Year's Eve, Keith Porter was shot and killed in Los Angeles while ringing in the new year. And in Minnesota, Renee Good and Alex Prey were also murdered. All victims were gunned down by federal immigration authorities, sparking protest and renewed scrutiny of ICE ISIS tactics. These are not isolated incidents. They are part of a broader pattern of aggressive enforcement, lack of accountability, and violence that has real devastating consequences for families and communities. AB1633 recognizes that the harm caused by ICE is inseparable from the private detention industry that profits from it. Massive corporations are making hundreds of millions of dollars by incarcerating people, separating families, and operating facilities with documented histories of medical neglect, abuse, and death. These profits are made possible because detention has turned into a business that relies on suffering to remain viable. While ICE detention centers may not be physically located in every city, residents are taken from our communities and sent to these facilities across California. What happens in those detention centers affects our neighbors, our co-workers, our classmates, and our families. AB AB1633 is a strategic and lawful way for California to push back. When direct challenges to federal immigration policy are limited, the state can and should act to remove the financial incentives that fuel detention and abuse. This bill does exactly that by discouraging expansion and holding for-profit detention corporations accountable. A letter of support from this council would matter. It would affirm that our city rejects the idea that incarceration and family separation should generate corporate profit. It would show solidarity with immigrant communities living in fear and it would send a clear message to the

state legislature that local governments expect leadership grounded in human dignity, accountability, and justice. I respectfully urge you to take this step and draft a letter in support of AB1633. Thank you for your time and for your commitment to the values of this community and what makes us better in Brentwood. The next speaker is Rey, followed by Oxana.

Good evening. Um, I'm I'm re and I managed the Brentwood Library just across the street there. So, the Brentwood Library represents an investment that the city makes in its community. So, I wanted to come and share what we're doing this month. Brentwood families have enjoyed borrowing mystery picture book bundles to celebrate picturebook month. Children have been building their early literary literacy skills at the library with a clue game in the children's area all month long. And our insiders program, which offers people with intellectual and developmental disabilities access to the library and social connection, has been flourishing in its new time slot on the first and third Wednesday mornings of each month. Overall, it's been a wonderful start to 2026. And we're looking forward to 2020 to to February as well. On February 9th, local author and educator Felicia Lang will help our libraries to celebrate Black Children's Book Week with a storytime and craft program. Um the teen area will be home to a fall in love with Black History book display all month. And on Wednesdays after school, teens can join creative workshops in music, poetry, and spoken word offered by the Youth Arts Connection. and or find a safe space to chill and be social in the library's midweek mixup program. Um, overall, there's something for everyone at the Brentwood Library, so I hope to see each of you over there sometime. Thank you, Good evening, Madame Mayor, council members, and staff. Um, I uh last session I already shared and I've been sharing pretty consistently since I've been coming. Um, many of us lead with social issues and they're very important and there's a lot of nuances. I um have been very consistent that faith and religious freedom is very important to

me. I came as a refugee from a country that killed over 20 million Christians. And so I very passionate about this topic ever since April. I've been coming I've been very consistent and clear. These are kind of the policies I look for to make sure religious freedom is protected to make sure policies honor all religions. And so I'm very passionate. Um some of you might not know but I actually when we moved here as a child I didn't speak English and we uh lived in Bellflower. Mr. Duffy you might know the area. Um, I think you worked in one of the cities neighboring it, but um, it was not a white, let's say, suburban neighborhood. We were one of the few white families and I quickly learned in my ESL class, English second language, that I absolutely love Spanish and I absolutely love um, all of the Hispanic people. We played soccer in the park and it was such a great experience. But at one point, there was one boy that started coming and harassing us. He called us Russian spies. We had nuclear warheads and I started to be very afraid to go to my school. He actually drove up with his cousin as we were walking home. I was third grade, fourth grade, fifth grade, and he beat us up. And so, um, ever since then, I was afraid to go to school, not because it was a predominantly Latino neighborhood, but because of that one bully. And so I just wanted to kind of ask the city to start to um I love Madame Mayor how you make us feel safe about like let's not clap, but I've noticed there's a lot of bullying language that comes and seeps into these chambers. I was called racist last week and I know I spoke to you, Mr. Duffy, about how do we navigate something that is not true. I'm sensitive to that kind of language because of my background and the bullying that I endured as a child. And so I love passionate debates and I bring my children here. But my daughter was

here till 11:00 with me. I couldn't arrange babysitting for her. And we got into the car and my daughter said, "Mommy, are they going to kill you?" And she felt that bullying in this. We have children and youth commissioner that speak here. And as we open the Zoom meetings to the public comment, there's a new law. I would appreciate some policy around hateful speech and words that use bully, that use uh racist and sexist, homophobic. This type of language is very demeaning and it doesn't get us anywhere. I love Miss Melissa's comment and as an immigrant, I am very nuanced about the immigration policy. My husband is a Hispanic, Jolatina, and Mikorason. All of my kids speak. I have no additional speaker cards in person. I do have two hands raised in Zoom. First speaker is Senziana. Senziana, go ahead. Good evening. Uh I hope everyone can hear me. Um I uh I am here to um confirm that I am not represented uh in tonight's um city council meeting. My um um district representative is MIA. I don't understand why we all show up for work like it or not. So she should be in the chambers. Um this uh is her I don't know

fifth, sixth or maybe almost 10th um uh time missing a meeting or calling in remotely. Uh even though you know she's really outraged that she has to be on Zoom and put her um uh video on. I mean this is simply ridiculous. People in her district elected her to be there for them and she cannot even show up. I don't see my timer. Again, I'm not really sure what the issue is. So, I would appreciate a 30 second uh warning. Um, another remark I want to um uh say about my uh district representative, she knows who she is. Uh I'm part of district 2. Uh, she didn't even show up for the land and news development meeting. I'm pretty sure it was cancelled because of her not being uh available or not being legally allowed to um participate remotely. So, city attorney really needs to call her out and uh u literally uh make her understand that land use is one of the main issues residents of Brenwood care about. This proves she's out of touch. She leads as she um uh uh campaigned away and remotely.

Oxana no refugee from Russia prays like prays like you unless you resented your religion and converted to some nonorthodox religion. 20 seconds.

Thank you. I appreciate that warning and there's nothing wrong with that, but stop being a hypocrite. You only started to show up to this meetings uh city council meetings with no real contribution. I haven't The speaker's timer has expired. The next speaker is Danny. Danny, go ahead. really quick for a lot of people there and listening. Um, the changing our garbage schedule. As I told my wife, this is a state thing. Um, but I would love some clarity. And here's my dilemma. The way I understand it right now is that we're going to put food and other debris in our green, which I'm not quite sure of the biohazard aspect of that. Uh but, you know, it is what it is. And when it gets summery, it's going to get kind of toasty in there. Uh my problem is at least right now unless someone can clarify it is uh green will be picked up every other week. So in theory we'll have hot garbage in the summer uh just wafting away. And so I'm hoping to get clarity on that and clarity on if we're going to throw away the garbage, you know, food products and the associate

paper um and plastic things like that. And we're going to use our blue as our glue. Exactly what are we going to be putting in brown? So that's it. Thank you guys. Talk to you soon. The next speaker is Tracy. Tracy, go ahead. Can you hear me? Yes, we can.

Okay, good. Okay, so I'm I'm gonna start off all in a outrage. Um, first thing is Mike has made me mad saying he was going to consider a town hall. No, you don't consider it because they work for us. We pay them. So, there's no considering anything. And that was very offensive. And I'm pretty pissed off about that quite frankly. And then second of all, I've been up in arms about this building and I have sent an email yesterday, didn't even get an auto reply. Got no response and she knew darn well that this hearing was being held today on this agenda. Not even so much as like, "Oh, let me get back to you and I know you're upset, blah, blah, blah." Nothing. And then another person said he wrote last week and didn't hear anything. So yeah, I'm I'm upset first of all for the spending. I know we need stuff and I'm not opposed to that, but I'm I'm feeling like right now at this moment, you know, we went from apparently spending 4.5 billion like five years ago to 7.1 and then I could be wrong and then we're going to pay for a$130,000 building that will probably go even over that and includes office space for the supervisors who apparently can't even call you back. I mean, this is just offensive to me anyway. I know people need help, but perhaps it could have been done on a lesser scale and um I know I can't do anything, but on top of that, and then turn around and ask for a a sales tax increase and ask ask for a lifting of their tax caps all while building this building. Like, how much

money do they think we have? I don't know. I'm mad. And it's not your fault. And I'm new to the city and I'm all up in arms, so I probably sound crazy, but I I appreciate you listening to me. The next speaker is Ron. Ron, go ahead. Are you there? Yes. Go ahead.

Uh, so can I speak on item D1 on the agenda? This would be for items. Sorry, let me double check on in public comments or is there a public comment section for D1 later? Forformational reports. D isformational reports. East County Services Building. uh on the for the presentation. Yes.

Okay. Good evening, Mayor Meyer, council, and staff. Um apparently I've been at the sleep at the wheel for about the last decade because um this East County Services Building has just been known to me for maybe a couple months. Um I had no idea that this was coming to Brentwood. Uh, and at a cost of $130 million. I know it's a county building. I know we need services out here. Um, I guess there might be around 300 interactions per day from what I'm hearing. Um, and I understand it'll serve the residents for the greater good, but I've asked for services from the county. I went into the county building on Walnut Boulevard. We were having some trouble last year in our neighborhood and basically what I got from the county representative was we can't help you. It's a city issue. It's not just a city issue what we're dealing with. And I feel like the county has let us down big time. and so and also the city. The money spent on this building could be put to better use. And I'm frustrated. I'm a little ticked. Um like I said, I know we all need services, but this monstrosity of a project is just it's not going to end. They're raising our taxes. They're charging more sales tax. So, East County residents, be ready and beware because it's getting out of hand. Thank you. Have a good night.

I have no additional hands raised in Zoom.

Thank you. I would like to um like for staff to reach out to the presenters and push on a town hall. I think we're hearing that a lot of our residents have questions and concerns and they should be heard. So, I'd really like to see for the county to give us that um not just consider it. And I'd also like to recommend based on public comments and what I think each of us are probably receiving emails on that we do a town hall on SB 1383. Um I know we've been doing some promotion on that. We've been sending newsletters and social media posts, but it seems there are still remaining questions and concerns about that. So, I would like to see something like that. 13, I'm sorry, 1383, SP 1383 is related to the changes that are going to happen in waste management and the request for you to move your food items from uh your food discards from your regular garbage can into your green waste bin. And there are a lot of changes that are coming uh based on state law that we can't control, but I do feel like we should give people a chance to come in person and ask questions. It's being implemented as of February 1st though, right? The state law.

Good evening, Mayor. Thank you for the question. Yes, we are beginning the residential portion of our compliance efforts on February 1st. The law itself has been in place for some number of years already.

Thank you. So, I I think it's it's going to have to be a timely request so that people are clear moving into this um transition what exactly they need to do. Um, so I'll I'll trust staff to work on figuring something out with that and then promoting it so that we can get it out there and people can attend. Thank you. At this point, I would like to move item D, theformational reports portion of the agenda to just before consideration of future agenda items and also move item H4, which is the DBCOU, um, ahead of other agenda items. Um, and we will move into consent first and then move into D4. Any questions on that from council? Okay, thank you. Do I have a motion on consent?

I'll make the motion. Sorry. No, go ahead. I'll make the motion for consent. A second. A roll call, please. Council member Maloney. Yes. Vice Mayor Pearson. Yes. And there's no President. Council member Mendesa. Yes. Council member Orlemans. Yes. Mayor Meyer. Yes. Thank you. And I'd like to move into item H4. Madame Mayor, are we going to haveformational reports at all? Yeah, I just said we're moving it to the end of the meeting again. Oh, sorry. I didn't hear that. That's okay. It's going to be Let me repeat where it's going to be so everyone's clear. Um, just before the consideration of future agenda item requests.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you. And for item H4, Abraham Selena, senior management analyst, will present an update on theou between the city and the downtown Bretwood coalition. Thank you, Abraham.

Good evening, honorable mayor, members of the city council. Uh my name is Abraham Selenus, senior management analyst with the economic development team. Here to present to you um a presentation regarding the downtown Brentwood Coalition's. Uh thisou was established in 2024 and will be expiring in June of 2026. Um so this is an update from staff and the DBC themselves. So, I'll just provide some brief background and then I'll pass it to Kristen Mingus, executive director. So, downtown Brentwood continues to serve as a dynamic and thriving hub for community gatherings, small business activity, and diverse arts and cultural events throughout the year. A key contributor to this ongoing success is the city's partnership with the downtown BMW coalition. In July of 2024, the city entered into a newou with the DBC to continue joint efforts and sustain the high tenant occupancy, new business launches, increased foot traffic, and strong event attendance. The current MOU remains in effect through June 2026, and outlines key areas of collaboration, including administration, programming, fund development, and fund development, all of which are being successfully implemented. A detailed quarterly report summarizing DBC's fiscal year 2024 2025 activities is attached to the staff report. Um but with that I'll pass it on to Kristen Mingus. Thank you Abraham. Good evening Mayor Madam or my god madame mayor. That's a great start you guys. Um vice mayor council members city officials and members of our community. I'm Kristen Mingus, the executive director of the Downtown Brentwood Coalition. Um, I just wanted to start by thanking all of you guys, my board of directors, and our community for letting me serve in this position

for just about eight months now. Um, it has been an honor. Um, and I've really fallen in love with our community and our city. Um, like Abraham said, I've prepared a 2025 impact report that you guys all have gotten before this, and I hope you had a chance to review it. Um, I did prepare a short video for you guys to watch that we're going to watch now to kind of highlight all the great work we've done together. Downtown Burwood is a special place that brings our community together to celebrate, connect, and support the local businesses and organizations at the heart of our city. I'm Kristen Mingus, executive director of the Downtown Brentwood Coalition. I've been in this role for about eight months, and I am proud to share with you what our board, our partners, and the community has accomplished this past year. The Downtown Brentwood Coalition is a nonprofit made up of small business owners, nonprofit partners, and community stakeholders. Our mission is to strengthen our local economy and keep downtown vibrant by supporting businesses, building partnerships, and producing year-round events that bring people together. Our work is guided by a dedicated board of directors who bring a diverse experience and shared commitment to downtown. This year, DBC has hosted 12 community events, bringing over 35,000 visitors to downtown. These events promoted economic growth by connecting people with our shops, our restaurants, and experiences. Events like Bags and Brews on Memorial Day weekend includes a military tribute honoring the local heroes who gave so much. Our full day festival, October Fest, continues to be a community favorite. In 2025, we also introduced a few new events we're so proud to add to our

roster. Our first annual crab feed sold out for its first year, and the response made it clear this is something the community wants to see again and again. We also launched Harvest Table, a community dining celebration showcasing downtown Brentwood's local restaurants and seasonal harvests. Our downtown chefs work together to create an elevated sixc course dining experience with table service provided by Liberty High's cheer squad and live entertainment from local groups like Ghost Light Theater and Brentwood Collective. Collaboration was a key driver in 2025. We hosted multiple joint mixers, one in particular with the Chamber of Commerce at Laconda Capri. We joined the city of Brentwood's Junth celebration by hosting the freedom walk, coloring stations, and supplied gift bags for our youth. We also supported major civic celebrations by providing announcers and judges for the Fourth of July parade, the Veterans Day parade, and the holiday parade. Promote other local events such as hometown Halloween, dinner events, festivals, markets, and many others. part of KTVU's Fox 2 summer Zip Trips, a live onair elevated Brentwood's profile and expanded our reach throughout the Bay Area. They highlight interviews with city leaders, nonprofits, farmers, business owners, and residents. Throughout the year, we welcomed families downtown through popular retail events like the Bestie Bash, Mama Palooa, and fan favorite Bubbles and Broomsticks, which lit up the night with crowds dancing, laughing, eating, shopping, and enjoying downtown together. A meaningful addition this year was Santa in the Park. We hosted a two-day event with free Santa photos,

performances by Liberty Choir, Virtuous Voices, and amazing local young artists. This event brought holiday joy to hundreds of families. It's an event we plan to bring back. A thriving downtown also depends on strong partnerships. In 2025, we worked closely with organizations that serve Brentwood and unite our community around real support for others. One example is the mayor's challenge. We encouraged schools and the downtown businesses to participate, help promote across the community, and have downtown serve as a donation drop off site. All of this supported the Brentwood Regional Community Chest, helping local families in need during the holidays. We also expanded hands-on community work through Brentwood Shine. The DBC proudly partners with Working Wonders, supporting adults with disabilities. Participants gained meaningful work experience, confidence, and social connection. We also introduced Catwalk of Courage, a fashion focused fundraiser hosted at the historic Delta Theater benefiting adventure therapy, building visibility for participating businesses while supporting families impacted by cancer. Now, we have a dedicated DBC office. The space currently serves as a workspace for the executive director. Once fully ADA compliant, including a ramp installation, it will be able to offer even more services and resources to the public. This year, we also began the transition from a 501c6 to a 501c3. This change will allow the downtown Brentwood Coalition to serve the entire downtown community by offering broader programs, events, and support that benefits all businesses and community members. It also strengthens partnerships and aligns us with the model used by most downtown coalitions. 2025 also marked a major step in our rebrand. We launched a fresh new modern

website that highlights our businesses, events, and local charm in a more engaging, user-friendly way. Running our monthly newsletters and events through the website now will only gain more exposure to our amazing downtown. We strengthened our social media presence through consistent storytelling and community collaboration. That effort increased our reach from 1.2 million to 3.3 million. In collaboration with the city staff, we also took an active role in keeping downtown bright, clean, and welcoming. One of the biggest wins was helping resolve a three-year trash and cleanup issue on Helen Meyer alleyway and supporting the city in moving long delayed construction forward. We also supported additional street cleaning efforts to help maintain a vibrant city center. Some work is the kind people notice without always knowing who's behind it. Our board personally manages the American flag displayed downtown. It's a simple tradition that reflects real downtown. We are also focused on accessibility and business support. In partnership with the city, we began to work to help ensure every downtown business becomes ADA compliant. This is an ongoing effort that reflects our commitment to inclusion and to a downtown that works for everyone. Looking ahead in 2026 and beyond, our focus remains clear. Support local businesses, strengthen partnerships, and create memorable experiences that bring people into the downtown corridor and keep our historical district thriving. Thank you to our board of directors, downtown businesses, nonprofit partners, city staff, volunteers, sponsors, and every resident who supported our downtown Brentwood this year. Thank you to the city and to city officials for investing in the executive director role. Together, we are strengthening the leadership needed to drive sustainable economic growth into the downtown

corridor. Your support is what makes this great work possible. I'm Kristen Mingus, the proud executive director of the Downtown Brentwood Coalition. I am grateful for the opportunity to continue serving and strengthening our beautiful downtown Brentwood. See you in downtown.

You need the mic needs to be turned on. Sorry. So, I've probably watched that about 30 times and it does fill me with pride, but it also shows me that we are just getting started and I have so many other things I'd like to do for our city. Um, I'd like to take a moment just to recap and walk through some numbers and details that help kind of show everything that you just saw in the video. Um, first, it's important to understand that not all of our events are designed to be revenue generating. Our focus is community development and economic growth. Many of our events are intentionally created to help support struggling businesses, increase foot traffic, um provide opportunities for youth and community members to be involved and strengthen our downtown. This past year, we generated approximately $34,000 in event revenue. In addition to that, we've donated $4,000 to local nonprofits and spent nearly $2,000 supporting the Brentwood Shine Project, another nonprofit effort. Like you saw, we hosted the Catwalk of Courage this year. All proceeds went directly to adventure therapy and the coalition did not retain any funds. Santa in the Park was entirely for the community, an event we funded without any revenue in return. These events reinforce that our events are centered on community impact and economic vitality and not profit. So, I wanted to touch base on some things that come to my desk all the time. Um, we get the question a lot, why does the city help fund downtown Brentwood Coalition? And to me, the answer is very simple. We do more than just host events. We collaborate with nonprofits. We partner with organizations. We support local businesses. And we serve as a liaison between the city and the downtown merchants. We assist with city beautifification efforts, help address ADA compliance needs, and identify updates necessary to move downtown forward. In my research, I found that most downtown coalitions, including those in our neighboring cities, receive financial support from their city officials. For an example, Pittsburgh

receives approximately $100,000. Livermore receives 90,000 and Martinez receives 50,000 annually. Another common question I get is why is a coalition uh why does the coalition have use of the house in downtown, our offices? What's often overlooked is that we fully maintain and sustain that building with our own funds. We've redone the floors, added new landscaping, and pay ongoing costs for pest control, electrical usage, replacing the heating and air conditioning unit, and maintaining managing what is need to be required to keep that historical building operational. We've also transformed it into a welcoming hub for the community, a place where residents can come in, ask questions, and access local information. We are nearly fully ADA compliant and are currently gathering bids to install a ramp. At the same time, we are actively speaking to local sponsors to help fund this effort and we're hopeful to get this complete in the next coming months. I understand that this funding was intended to be temporary, but I do believe the work that we do for downtown Bretwood supports continuing the model used by our neighboring cities. One where the coalition will receive continued financial backing from the city. Another option that we have previously explored was the pebbed process. While it was started with limited city access, the financial burden is significant and would fundamentally change the coalition. That that process typically takes about two years and requires an estimated $30 to $50,000 in fundraising to just get started. Additionally, self-sufficiency through events alone is not sustainable as our mission is focused on community and econ economic development rather than revenue generating. Regarding Oktoberfest, the $44,000 grant goes directly towards producing that event, and the $5,000 fee return offsets the portion of more than $9,000 we pay in police and security costs that are required. City event fees and

regulations are increasing. We needed five guards at our last most recent event, the crab feed. This will continue to impact our operational costing costs. The MAU supports not only these efforts, but also the executive director role, which allows us to provide the constant day-to-day support our downtown and community has come to rely on. I am incredibly proud of my board, their dedication, drive, and belief in our downtown, and they continue to push us forward. I believe in the executive executive director role to be vital to the long-term economic growth and sustainability of downtown Brentwood. The downtown Brentwood coalition is an extension of the city, its businesses, and its community. We thrive on collaboration, listening to business owners, understanding their challenges, and working alongside of them to succeed. We are proud to partner with the other local organizations such as the Chamber, Rotary, Soptimus, and Lions Club, knowing that when we all work together, the entire city benefits. Thank you for your time and your support and your continued investment in the downtown Brentwood coalition. I am excited to see what's ahead and I'm truly grateful to be a part of this work. That's it. Thank you. Do we have clarifying questions from council? Okay, moving into public comment, please. At this time, the public is permitted to address the city council on this agenda item. We did receive five written public comments in advance of this meeting, summary of which will be displayed on the screen. The first public speaker I have is Amy. Good evening, mayor and members of the city council. I was trying to rewrite what I was going to say real quick

because I didn't want to repeat things that you're going to hear from other people. Um, so I'll try to summarize it pretty quickly. I'd just like to take a moment to thank you for your continued support of the downtown Brentwood Coalition and also share my appreciation for Kristen Mingus and the impact the executive director position has on the downtown Brentwood coalition. I am speaking both as a downtown business owner and as a member of the coalition's board of directors. Kristen stepped into a role, everybody knows this, that uh left very big shoes to fill after Amy Till's resignation. And I feel like she's handled that transition with an incredible amount of grace, humor, and kindness. Her position is extremely valuable to the coalition as she is focused on organizing and supporting the downtown Brentwood coalition and our downtown businesses. Our board is mostly made up of business owners, people who care deeply about the downtown but don't always have a surplus of time. And in the interim before Kristen started the executive director position, we all definitely felt the impact and the strain that it caused not having that position filled. Um, she's carried on the important work that Amy Tilly started and has taken every challenge that we've thrown at her with professionalism and heart. And as she said that Oktoberfest, the different events that we throw have gotten more successful and larger over time. Um, and really I just believe that her role is invaluable. I'm grateful for the dedication and care she brings to our downtown community, and I'm grateful for the part that you all play in helping us continue our work. Thank you. The next speaker is Arlin followed by D followed by Emil.

Good evening, Mayor Meyer, Vice Mayor Pearson, and city council and staff. Um, I had something written prepared, but I'm sorry. After that presentation that Kristen just did, she said it all. She did an amazing job. I'm so proud of her and what she has accomplished in the short time that she has been with us. And the DBC and the city of uh Brentwood need an executive director in this position to continue with our downtown continuing to thrive. Um we've created so many great new events this year with the crab feed and the harvest table and we're going to continue those on for years to come. and we're getting more ideas and more um suggestions on different ways that we can help our downtown business community. And without an executive director, none of those things are are going to be possible. We are a board of small business owners and stakeholders and volunteers. and we need somebody that can run and and guide us through the continued growth of downtown. So that's all I and I just we love Kristen and she's done a fantastic job and we can't see what she what can't wait to see what she'll do in the future. So thank you for your time. Good evening, mayor and city council. My name is Dion Medo and I'm the owner of Sari Love. I'm just outside of downtown Brentwood. I want to thank the city for your continuing to support our downtown community through the executive director position of the downtown Brentwood coalition. Before joining the board, I experienced firsthand how impactful the

executive director role is as a downtown business owner. Through promotion, events, and consistent visibility, my business was supported at a critical time, and that support played a real role in the growth of my business. After joining the board, I've been able to see the full scope of this position. When we did not have an executive director for several months, that work shifted to volunteer board members. Most of us are business owners and it was really difficult to maintain sustainability. Since Kristen stepped into the role, I've seen the momentum return. Her work directly supports economic growth, strengthens community building, creates long-term sustainability, and brings real vitality to downtown. The benefits of her work extend beyond individual businesses in downtown. Our entire city and community benefits. Not all of this work is meant to generate profit, and it shouldn't be. Its purpose is to activate downtown, support local businesses, and advance the city's broader goals. The executive director position is not just for the DVC. This role serves as a daily connection with the city and is essential to the continued growth of Brentwood. I hope the city will continue to support our executive director position, which has proven to be critical to our downtown Brentwood community. Thank you. Hello, I'm Imol Gatus. Uh, I'm a resident and um part of a historic family that has been in Brentwood since 1865. So, I thank you, Mayor Susanna, for allowing me to speak and council. I'm one of the directors on the downtown coalition. This is our historic heart of Brentwood here in downtown. It takes effort, dedication, caring,

involved parties to keep downtown beautiful, vibrant, and a successful destination. I believe that every citizen in this city has an obligation to support and participate in protecting and promoting the traditions held here in our everchanging community. I speak tonight first of all to thank the city for the positive promotions and support, but I'm also speaking to encourage this city planning and Brentwood residents to recognize and respect to support the Brentwood downtown coalition as it is the only group that exclusively promotes downtown. Kristen has done a wonderful job. It takes a leader. It takes a lot of work. Thank you very much.

The next speakers are Roberta, followed by Christian, followed by Randy. Good evening, Mayor Meyer, Vice Mayor Pearson, Council This is my first time up here. I am Roberta Bias. Um I am a local business owner and community community advocate here in Brentwood. Um I'm here tonight to speak in support of the integrity and work ethic of the executive direct director uh Kristen Mingz. Um, in my experience working alongside uh the coalition, I am a member as well and um I my business is located on we are considered non uh core downtown um in the Liberty Link Center located on Brentwood Boulevard um where Tailgator is located and my business is called Curated. And I just wanted to give a po a personal testimony as opposed to just reading from my phone that um Kristen picked up um with the outline um downtown businesses um where Amy left off where including you know our um small businesses into you know what goes on with downtown as well. Not just I know everyone's speaking about you know um exclusively downtown but she really reaches out like it's just it's I did not know that this was going on tonight but I just called or texted Kristen uh yesterday and she text me right back and I asked can we you know brainstorm on some you know events for

the Liberty Link Link Center that's been I think it's been there since 1987 and with different businesses there of And um she texted me right back and said of course you know she she said house tomorrow which you know which is really um you know like a lot to speak on a person who's executive director of the whole downtown Bwood coalition that she's willing to have a meeting with the entire Liberty Link Center on ideas to bring you know um events to that center. So, with that being said, I just wanted to let you guys know on how passionate, honest, and approachable she is and how she is so willing to work with multiple um entities in the city when it comes to the chamber and bringing um the city of Brentwood chamber coalition and like the whole community together. So, I really love her and like her here in Brenwood and we would like to keep her. Thank you. It's my first time here. Uh, good evening, members of the council. Uh, my name is Christian. I'm here tonight on behalf of Laconica Capri. Uh recent we were we opened uh two years ago in the downtown area and since then I'm just here for full support for Kristen and the DBC. Uh the amount of efforts that they've done for our restaurant and for the downtown area has been tremendous. Um, I can name out plenty of events like the Bubbles and Broomsticks that created so much traction in our restaurant that I ran

out of almost all my specialty cocktails that day. And I firmly was very surprised. But with the help of the co with the help of DBC for all you all you council all you council members, I'd like to tell you they do an amazing job. like Kristen has done so much to help the community in many ways. Um for us spec specifically helping us with our events like the Capri Mixer this last summer which was one of my first events um managing uh Loki Capri and honestly went out with a bang. It was one of amazing events that we had and I almost I almost ran out of appper that day. But um I just like to say uh for the um local events uh that we've that they've helped with us. It's been a tremendous honor and uh we hope that you look at these uh statements not as something of a just passing on. We really truly believe that they have done an immense immense job with us. Uh we are still planning events this year that will probably lead us into next year even and that for us in the community is amazing. it um it helps us tremendously and um gosh I planned for a two-minute uh speech but it got three which is great but um mostly I like to stand on her the ability of Kristen the um way that she communicate to others and communicate in a group setting with ongoing um things that have to happen basically meetings have to happen organizations I trust me planning some of these parties and events is No joke. And the way that we've been doing it for these last couple of year for this last year has been a tremendous experience with the coalition with with them hand in hand.

Anytime I need anything, they're there. Especially Kristen 24/7. Anytime the restaurant is in need, hey, we need to come up with this event. They always have the bestest ideas. And I don't say that with no experience. I see that hand in hand. Thank you so much for letting me speak today. And thank you. Yeah. My name is Randy Moer and I'm the owner of Olive Place on Oak Street. Um, I've had the privilege of operating my business in downtown Brentwood for the past six years now. It's hard to believe it's been six years. Kind of crazy. Um, owning a small business is both a privilege and a challenge. We invest our savings, our time, and our hearts into our storefronts. But none of us succeed alone. Over the past six years, I have seen firsthand how the strength of Downtown Brentwood is built through collaboration, shared vision, and strong leadership. And that is exactly what the Downtown Brentwood Coalition and its executive director, Kristen Mingas, provide. I've had the privilege of working closely with Kristen and consistently witness her incredible dedication. She is deeply invested, highly responsive, and genuinely cares about the success of each business owner and the long-term health of our downtown. Excuse me. She goes far beyond what is required because she believes this um she believes in this community. I personally witness the economic value the coalition brings to our city. From coordinated events that drive foot traffic to marketing initiatives that spotlight local business that spotlight local businesses to advocacy that ensures our voices are heard. The coalition consistently turns ideas into real measurable impact. I see it when sidewalks are full, when customers tell

me they discovered my shop through a downtown event, and when new business feel when new businesses feel confident choosing Brentwood because of the supported um supportive ecosystem in place. Downtown Brentwood is not simply a collection of buildings. It's a living, excuse me, breathing economic engine and a gathering place for our community. That's what happens when you, you know, go through menopause. You cry at dumb stuff. I'm just saying here for the public to see. Uh, when we invest in the coalition and its strong leadership, we are investing directly in local jobs, local families, and the identity of our city. This is so embarrassing. I respectfully, and it's kind of late for me. I'm just saying that you guys don't know how you do this. I respectfully urge you to continue supporting the downtown Brewood Coalition and Kristen's role as executive director. The return on this investment is visible, tangible, and deeply meaningful to those of us who call downtown home. Thank you for your time and for your um continued commitment to our community. And thanks for letting me cry apparently. So anyway,

the next speakers are Genevieve, followed by Vicki, followed by Savino. Hi, I'm just a business owner. So, um I don't really have anything fancy, but um I've owned Boardsmore for 19 years, and I've been in different locations, but this location downtown is the best. And then the DBC, we were I started out with the DBC before the executive director. And I noticed as soon as Amy came in, it just grew. It just boomed the whole all the different events, everything and foot traffic and also sales. So, it made a huge difference. And then when Amy left and then Kristen came in, it just continues to grow and customers always comment about how much fun they have and they keep coming back downtown and checking out all the different stores. So, it makes a huge difference. Hello friends. Um, I'm a crier, too. So, I specifically wrote something down that would hopefully not make me cry. And I also have a really bad cough, so hopefully I don't have a coughing bed. Um, my name is Vicky Little and I own Sip and Scoop, um, small business located in downtown Brentwood. I'm here tonight to voice my strong support for the downtown Bruntwood Coalition and specifically for the executive director position. Um, I asked Chuck GBT why it's important to have a strong downtown area. A vibrant downtown is the heart of a city. It drives local economic growth by supporting small businesses, creating

jobs, and attracting visitors while also serving as a central gathering place that strengthens community connection. A lively, walkable downtown filled with local shops, dining, arts, and events, enhances quality of life, builds civic pride, and creates a positive image that draws families, entrepreneurs, and investment. When downtown thrives, the entire city benefits. As a business owner, entrepreneur, and a longtime member of this community, I can say without hesitation that the downtown Coalition has been one of the most impactful and positive forces in our business district. And much of that is because of the leadership of its executive directors, first with Amy Tilly and now with Kristen Mingus. Kristen doesn't just manage a program, she builds a community. Since becoming involved with the coalition, I have personally experienced increased visibility, stronger relationships with other business owners, and more meaningful connections with the city and our residents through events, promotions, communication, and hands-on support. Kristen has helped create a downtown that feels alive, welcoming, and collaborative. When I opened my business and grew when I opened and grew my business, there were moments that were incredibly challenging. many many m moments still, but having the downtown Brentwood coalition and Kristen's leadership meant I wasn't navigating these challenges alone. She consistently advocates for small businesses, listens to our concerns, and actively works to bring solutions, opportunities, and foot traffic into our downtown. The ripple effect of this work goes far beyond our individual shops. It impacts local jobs, familyowned businesses, community events, and the overall identity of Brentwood. Downtown is no longer just a place to pass through.

It's a place people come to gather, support local, and feel connected. That does not happen by accident. It happens through intentional leadership, which Kristen and the board provides every day. Approving and supporting thisou ensures that the downtown Brentwood coalition Oh, I'm done. Thank you for having me. Good evening, Madame Mayor, Madame Vice Mayor, City Council, and city officials. Uh it was great seeing some of you on Saturday. Uh hope you guys enjoyed your crab and some of your stake, but most importantly, um thank you for your continued support uh of the DBC. Uh my name is Sabino Wukava and I am the co-owner of the Lounge on Oak. Uh we can all agree like during the week that downtown Brentwood can be a little dim. You know, traffic is light. So, us as small business owners, we have to come up with promotions and ideas to help drive that foot traffic. Uh for example, you know, Zappers does, you know, uh martini Mondays. Uh we do Taco Tuesdays. BCBC kills it with their trivia Tuesdays and uh so on and so forth. Uh but with these promotions comes high cost with um very to low margin, little margin. That's what we need as a small business as we operate without deep corporate dollars. This funding not only supports small businesses, but it creates jobs, generates tax revenues for our city through well produced events. Without dedicated leadership, the impact is limited. And Kristen brings that. An

executive director ensures events are professionally managed, businesses see real economic benefit, and the city sees a return on its investment. The role brings accountability, consistency, and growth, not just programming. Without these events, it would be challenging for us to maintain the employees we have, to continue to be open seven days a week, and to operate the hours that we promote. Funding this position is not a cost. It's an investment in local jobs, local businesses, and a stronger tax base for the city. I urge a council to support this funding and help ensure these events continue to benefit our entire community. Thank you.

The next speakers are Oxana, followed by Mike, followed by Greg. So, um I'm not part of the DBC and I'm not a business owner in downtown, but I am a mom with four children and um your events draw us out all the time. Um, we did a scavenger hunt at one of the events and that's when I met you and you had us I I think it might have been the Junth event, but you had us like go to different businesses and read facts from those businesses and that's when I discovered boon uh boondoggies. I never knew that was around the corner. Also, there's a a barber shop. I think it's near the emporium where I took my three boys to get their haircuts. And so it really works and it it's very engaging uh for us. Um you know, we moved to Brentwood because of the family-friendly environment. And I did do two and a half hours to Foster City each way just to be able to own in this community. Thank God our mortgage is now lower than our rent at Hayward. And so um love Brentwood for all of these family-friendly events. So just wanted to say thank you. We support you. We love you. Okay. I'm uh Mike Cleman. I'm a 23-y year Brentwood resident. Um uh I don't want to take up too much time, but my first message I do want, and this is off topic, Tracy, if you're still listening, I don't know who you are, but that type of energy I come, we do have to stay on topic. I can g. But yes, I want to be your friend. Anyway, um the DBC, I am really excited that we are in a completely different environment with the DBC now

and how much everyone loves the DBC. I do want to go back and revisit back around 2020, 2021, we were in COVID and we were struggling. Um that this was not a slam dunk the DBC and for our city to fund it. It was actually, if I recall, pretty controversial at the time. And I want to thank city staff and council member Mendoza and VI uh and Mayor Meyers specifically because you were on council at the time and you and the other three members took a leap of faith and fully funded the DBC and look what we have now. We came out of COVID. These businesses are flourishing. Kristen, you mentioned like what I love about the DBC. You're exactly right. It's not all about revenue and making money and all that. That's the one of the reasons and messages that I like about the DBC. And indirectly, what the DBC has done is made Brentwood's downtown the crown jewel of East County. There's not a storefront that's available to rent, right? It is prime real estate. The property values of all these businesses, the value of businesses in the DBC have gone through the roof. It is so thrilling to me that um the DBC is here and under your leadership and all of the business owners down here. We were down, my wife and I and friends were down here on Sunday night and we went to the lounge. We went to Zephr. We walked around. We couldn't even get a table and we're like, "Oh, this sucks." But then we would say to ourselves, "This is awesome. This is what we want. We want it to be packed." So, we had to hight tail it to 8 acres. Um anyway, I want to say thank you very much Kristen DBC Amy Tilly before you. Um I'm really thrilled. Let's extend this.

Give them all the money. Give them all the bags and let's keep it going. Good evening, mayor and city council and staff and DBC people. Um, for those of you who don't know, my name is Greg Robinson. I am the uh owner of the Bretwood Press and I've had the pleasure of working on the corner of Bur and Oak Street for the last 26 years. And I can say that I can also support the DBC as I was one of the founding members about 20ome years ago. Um I think it's a great organization. I think the people understand that they do uh the DBC does so much for downtown. I have to look at my friend PJ who's out there in the rain with his beautiful uh woman uh putting up flags, right? I don't know if it's your wife or girlfriend, fiance, partner. I'm trying to be politically correct. um and blew it, right? But anyway, the moral of the story is is that it that that what the DBC does for the downtown area is amazing. Um they're out there all the time. The events are great. Um some of you know the DBC was in the Brentwood Press building for a period of time until they had the opportunity to get the the building downtown. Um so I think it's great and I think that we need to keep looking at this as a as an extension of what the city can do for the community, right? Um, so I think that it's a good program. I think that we should continue making it happen. And, um, I just want to thank the DBC and all the crew for all that you guys do for downtown around the press building. That's it. Thank you.

I have no additional speaker cards in person, but I do have a few hands raised in Zoom or speaker in Zoom is Matt. Matt, go ahead. Hi. Can you hear me? Okay. Yes, we can. Okay, great. Well, good good evening, Mayor Meyer and fellow council members. I head up Working Wonders, a nonprofit that serves adults with developmental and related disabilities. Matt, it sounds like we lost you. Are you still there

in supporting us at every turn? The DBC board and everybody in the organization has been incredible and very welcoming to us. Um Kristen will even join us regularly in our weekly outdoor and indoor work project with the DBC out in the elements and things. She rolls up her sleeves. It's called Downtown Shine. It's a true testament to her character. She's out there with us getting the job done, making downtown sparkle by cleaning up. Uh we have a growing relationship with the DBC, a partnership that we believe reflects well on the community, uh welcoming everyone. Everyone can contribute to the community and play a role. And we take great pride in our relationship with the DBC. We have small work crews that serve several generous businesses that are DBC members. So, they treat us very well and we work very hard to try to measure up to um you know paying our clients minimum wage. Um last week we worked on the support staff for the highly successful DBC crab feed at the Brettonwood Community Center. We've also worked at the October Fest, Bags and Brews and other DBC events. We believe in opening doors in the community for people who are often left behind. And clearly Chris and the DBC share in that belief. Our adult clients cherish their relationship with the DBC. Thank you, Kristen, for all that you do. That's it. The next speaker is Siana.

Siana, go ahead.

Hi, good evening. Um, thank you for um highlighting uh downtown Brenwood Coalition. This is such an amazing organization. Um, and uh, uh, a special shout out to Kristen and her team. Kristen's the best. Um, it's a very passionate and ener energetic leader. uh please support the downtown Brenford coalition and not only fund at the current level but please increase the funding for this amazing organization and its director. Uh I actually uh have an idea how to allocate some additional funds and defund the useless basketball midnight basketball league. Uh that's $25,000 that we spent on something that uh has no return on branded community. We haven't heard anything uh on this organization uh uh giving back to our community um support and the organization supported by uh Patisha who's remote and looks extremely bored right now by all the public comments.

Stay on topic. Thank you Tony. I am on topic. Uh this is I'm just suggesting ex additional funding for for downtown Brendwood coalition. Um, Lynn um is an amazing um uh leader also uh supporting Kristen and um uh definitely a uh big shout out to all the uh downtown um uh businesses that support and contribute to our uh amazing community to make it better day in and day out. I want to say shame on the council members Pisha, Fay, and Tony who voted for the awful fire station and uh supporting the um uh tattoo parlor coming in down. I was muted for 20 seconds so I reclaim my time. Uh so all these three council members uh supported businesses that do not really contribute to bottom line of the downtown um uh businesses and uh uh definitely a shout out to curated. I uh had the opportunity to walk in there. Amazing business. And I want to end by recognizing council member Mendoza and uh Mayor Meyer for all their support to our uh downtown Brenwood businesses and downtown Brenwood Coalition. So, please consider funding and increasing funding for um uh this amazing nonprofit um that really contributes and uh brings uh light to

our amazing community in Brenwood. Thank you. The next speaker is Dorina. Go ahead. Hi, can you hear me? Yes, we can hear you.

I thank you. Um, good evening um, Mayor Meyer, Vice Mayor, and City Council. My name is Darina, and I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Kristen and the downtown Brentwood Coalition. Kristen has gone above and beyond in her support of Brentwood. Um, as a co-founder of a local nonprofit, E-Haza Gumpo, I have personally seen her build strong partnerships and bring community together and support all members of our community and all of our neighbors. Kristen is always so kind, responsive, and incredibly easy to work with. She consistently shows tremendous heart, dedication, and integrity with great leadership. Um, I I'm here tonight to ask the council to continue to support this position of the exe executive director and also to t to thank you Kristen for all your hard work and your commitment. Thank you. We truly appreciate you.

The next speaker is Matt. Matt, go ahead.

Good evening everyone. Uh, my name is Matt Hagar. Um I'm a downtown building owner, business owner, and also the developer of a future project, The Grove at Brentwood. Some of you have um possibly heard of. And I just wanted to chime in on the importance of the DBC to me and Kristen's work. Um early on in my project, I brought this to Amy Tilly and I spoke with her. She was incredibly enthusiastic and supportive and really gave me a lot of confidence to move forward with the project. Um, and now that she has left and I've continued that work with Kristen and she's been equally supportive and enthusiastic and I speak with her a lot. She helps me um, in a number of ways, gives me a lot of good information and um, she's just been a fantastic resource and I've lived in this community my entire life. um went to Liberty and um you know been here for a long long time and I've seen this downtown area grow and thrive and you know for those of us that have been around um a long time in Brentwood it it wasn't always that way and a huge huge part of um my desire to move forward with this project is the DBC and Kristen's work and just the overall um you know community support and the events that now happen downtown and as many many business owners have um you know testified to that it's been a huge support um the vibrancy the life you know the downtown area is the core of any community and um you know we definitely um want to see Kristen continue her work and um she's doing a fantastic job so just want to throw my support behind her and her position final speaker on Zoom is Marie Bell ahead Uh, good evening everybody. Um, it's

Marvel and I just want to thank um thank Kristen so much. Um, I think that this role is incredibly important. Um, last year after shortly meeting her um, you know, we connected about a fundraiser that we were doing um, with Campo to um, for back to school supplies for our farmworker little ones. Um and immediately right away she was so kind, so thoughtful, just really um thinking through what um what we could do to make the event successful, you know, partnering with the lounge and Savino. Um it was so awesome and um I'm excited to be working with her again so that way we can continue raising funds for for our work but to give back to community and um I think that this role is incredibly important and um you know don't have to go um and uh and say what everybody else has already said but just really thankful for her work um and and the gift of this role. So, thank you.

I have no additional speaker cards or hands raised in Zoom. Thank you, Amanda. Uh, comments from council members. Council member Mendoza.

Yeah. Um, you know, we've lived in Brentwood for a while like my husband said, and when we first moved out here, we had um the Cornfest, right? Everyone loved the event. um Saturday night my girlfriend came with me that doesn't live in the area and we were just talking about how we used to bring our kids downtown and I'm like well you're sitting where it used to happen right inside the community center and it's just um I appreciate you so much because there was a time when we didn't have events for our families and our kids um it really slowed down and we did have some open storefronts downtown and I think just the investment that you all have made with your time and um your dedication to the downtown has just really turned our city around and I appreciate appreciate you as a resident. I don't think it's a secret that the first time you came I was a little bit like I don't know. I'm not sure about this. Like are we going to really have a return on investment? Because you know the finance girls always think about the return on the investment. And um I do think we have a great return on investment. Um you said something that kind of hurt a little bit. Not for me but for you. You said I'm just a business owner. You're not just a business owner. Like you really are um a part of Brentwood like a lifeline to Brentwood. So, I appreciate you as a resident because we are nothing without our businesses and the people who live and breathe wanting to make Brentwood better. So, don't ever say you're just a business owner because you're so much more than that. Um, when I look at the financials, I know people are like, "Oh, the money, the money, the money." And when I think about, you know, Park and Wreck and all of the events we give them, we don't have the bandwidth to run all of the events that you run. Not only that, but we don't even have the financials to run what you run on the money that you get. When I think about fully loaded um headcount, that is your pay. That is your um your benefits. That's your vacation pay. That is your pension obligation that we pay for. Those are the things that bankrupt cities. And we don't have to do that because you do it all for us. And 12 events is a lot. And I don't think that

um people realize it. I should have asked the question before of staff like how much does it cost to run one event. I'm sure it's you I mean you couldn't probably run one event for what you do or maybe two events for what um theou provides but I appreciate you um seeing you all out there even with when you guys are setting up in the morning and I come by for an event and you have all the high schoolers there. It's really a community um it's not just the events but it's the way you bring community together. So I appreciate you. Um once everyone's done making comments, I'm ready to make a motion on this. Um so I'd love to make a motion on this item. Um and yeah, so I'm calling that one. Other comments?

Yes. Um first off, I want to thank all of you uh DBC for everything that you do for our community. Um the communication, the collaboration, the diversity of everything that you bring to our community is amazing. I can't say enough like just seeing all the events, the restaurants, the shops, everything that's opened up. You're constantly striving for innovation and that's something as a resident here I'm beyond grateful and thankful for. And Kristen, everything that you do for our community, I'm beyond grateful to you for. And we're constantly saying like, "Oh my gosh, Amy did this. Amy did this. Amy created her own legacy." But girl, you are creating your own legacy. You are amazing. So, be proud of everything that you're doing and we are beyond appreciative and honored to have you here with us. Thank you.

May I come down or you can go? Oh, it was if you're raised I I'll I'll yield and wait.

Okay. Um, the DBC was probably one of the first groups that jumped on board with Tony Orleman's when I first got on to council. And yes, I had to give it to Amy because Amy was the person that reached out, but it's all of you as a whole that started bringing me into those events and getting me to understand how strong our downtown actually is. It's my district. And I I wasn't even as clear until the DBC started with including me in part of those events, bringing us along and then watching the downtown change, watching the difference of when there was a cigar lounge at Crown & Crow and that was about it 20 years ago to now on a Friday or Saturday night. You can't find parking. You can't I walk from my house to the downtown and it's about a mile away just because I can't find parking out there. So, you guys are doing an amazing thing with the city of Brentwood. Um, and we we truly appreciate that and it does not go unnoticed. And Kristen, you you probably spent a week trying to get a hold of me because I didn't recognize your number on my phone and I wouldn't answer it. And then finally you texted me and I realized who it was. Um, but the tenacious, the the won't give up. I'm just going to keep pushing for what I have to do because that's what I'm here for. So, thank you guys. It's amazing. Thank you.

All right, so it's my turn. One, I have to say, um, is that okay, Mayor? Absolutely. Yep.

Thank you. Uh, first and foremost, I'd like to say Kristen, you had some big shoes to fill and you've done an amazing job. Um, I want to just say, let's be honest, if it weren't for the DVC, we wouldn't have had a KTVU Zip Trip in downtown Burnwood. Um, I know that there are several awards and recognitions that we've received um for our main uh main street and I'm always honored when I drive people in downtown Brentwood um to talk about all the accolades and highlights. I know that um there have been questions about the house, Kristen. There was no explanation needed for that house. I appreciate that. We have always talked about as a council um we need a visitor center and I couldn't think of a better organization than the DBC to be in that house and be our visitor center. Um I know there's been questions of fairness to other organizations and I I just have to say you're before us right now. So um it is our job as a council to listen to your needs to listen to our residents and the business owners. And man, it warmed my heart to see how many of you all stood up together as community and spoke up. Um, I know that um that you know we consider fairness and equity, but I think that the evidence proves um how fair are our our reaches and that there is ways that we can go even further. Um, one of the things that I do want to mention is I know that we looked at there was given to us was the amount of money and Hov, I know you want to make a motion, but I'd like to discuss some of the stuff before you make the motion. Um I know that we were given and it looks like we round about I did have a question to Carrie. Um or actually I'm sorry I'm used to Carrie sitting in that seat. Christine um if the the amount that we we got from you all for um that was spent in 20 um 24 through 25. Did that also include the

amount that we're paying for sta the staff or was this just for grants and um contributions? Should it have been 190 something or or was that inclusive of the what is it like 75,000? I can take that one. Uh Vice Mayor Pearson. So I I prepared that information. Um and we kind of reviewed it all together. Uh but yeah, it includes the direct contribution. So that's theou any economic development grants and fee waiverss.

Okay. Because I would just ask if we can upfront in and be give a full inclusive number um that would include the economic development grants and some wiggle room for other activities. So instead of the I know last year was 124 they didn't go up much between 23 and 25. So I would ask that we renew theou and if we can hito when you make your motion could you do an all-incclusive amount versus here's what it is and then they can come back later on for economic like separate stuff.

Those are they're different buckets. This is from the general fund and I'm sorry I'm not the finance person. This is from the general fund and the other money comes from the economic development fund from the sales tax license fees. So they've got to stay separate. So, I understand what you're saying, but um yeah, but we can't um we can't keep dipping into the general fund. We need to actually keep those monies in the economic development t sales business license bucket. But is are all of them? I don't think all of them are from the economic development grant. But they're waivers. You don't give them money. They just you count it towards it's not from a P&L perspective. You're not giving them cash. You're um just giving them a waiver. Thank you.

Uhhuh. No, I get what you're saying. I mean, yeah. You get what I'm saying? Like just so we have Yeah. But because it's different accounting buckets, we got to keep it clean. Yeah. And then can I ask them them actual how much without her telling all her business is the amount that we give is it sufficient to maintain the level of service? Kristen, is that everything?

Do you want Kristen to come back up? Mayor or or the board president if that's an easier question for her. Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't think about that. You guys are making me sweaty. So, truthfully, Kristen is underpaid compared to other downtown districts and and and what we we approached her with $80,000 because that's what we had. And we would love to be able to give her more and give her more benefits and um actually also create more staff because it's getting to the point where she needs some part-time help.

So, and you know there's only she is on the phone or visiting with people or meeting with people all day long and and in addition to doing the events and um you know networking and trying to get sponsorships. I mean, it's really a job for a committee of two or three people and she's doing it all right now with a little bit from the board. So,

yeah, thank you for that. I appreciate it. That's what I thought. I know at one time you all had some interns possibly in there, but I know that you you probably need more of a full-time staff versus just an intern. Yes, we interns are great for handling some of the smaller tasks, but really with the amount of events that we're doing now and the amount of um advocacy we're doing for the businesses and working with the city on different projects, it's just there's a lot of buckets to fill and she's doing them all right now.

Yeah, I think I agree with council member Mendoza on that that we Thank you for that, Lynn. I appreciate it. um the the the cost relative to what our staff would actually spend to throw events and we've already heard from our staff several times park and about bandwidth as we you know in continue. So to keep the momentum that has been set um council member Mendoza when you make your motion I'd love to second it.

Yeah. Um I have a question real quick. So if we're talking about increasing the amounts um we know we don't want it to come from the general fund. Is this something when we do economic developments, can we put in a line item for extra funds just to support the DBC and their um activities or do they need to be specific for an event for um the way the um ballot measure was written? Because we always do it for events, but could it be like we do 80,000 here? I think it's 80 80,000 here and then when economic development grants come, they still ask for the same stuff they ask, but can we have an extra bucket? um so that it's not coming out of the general fund.

So I would appreciate just maybe a minute to look that up in the uh in the municipal code to make sure that we don't go the wrong direction. My initial assumption would be yes, you can do that. Uh but let me just make sure that you don't approve something and then we have to come back and correct it later. Yeah. I just don't want that. Wasn't there a time when you we tried to look at the art fund? Um I don't think I don't know if we can use the art fund because um when Katie did the research on that but maybe Okay, how about um Harold has his go ahead.

So Mayor Gerald Duffy the um city administrator I just want to remind the council what this item is scheduled. It is one a a report an update and the other is to give staff direction and the direction would be to come back with it with anou. So any action direction tonight would would give us the have us come back to the council with an updatedou and we can identify and outline sort of the scope that you that you would want want.

Okay. How does the um council feel about doing 90k for theou out of the general fund and then when the grant time comes, we can discuss more of how flexible that ballot measure was when it comes to our spend. It it seems to me and just jumping in the middle when we initially did theou a year and a half ago,

they had come forward and had already agreed on theou with a number but we didn't like the number so we raised it. So why don't we just give staff the opportunity to come up with a number with the DBC and if we don't like it we can change it as opposed to putting limits on it here. Um, does it have to come back again if we change it again? Or it has to come back again for our final. Do we need it a third time? That's what I don't want to do a third. Can we How do you guys feel about 90k? I'm okay with that. I am too, but I do want to make comments still. We're not ready for motion. Yeah. Okay. Go ahead. Sorry.

Okay. I I've been very patient. I want to say it's one of the harder things about being mayor is that I traditionally the mayor speaks last. So by the time I get to speak, all the great stuff has been said. So, um, I would like to thank my fellow council members for saying some wonderful things, but I do have some things to add. Um, I'm I am kind of a newbie to Brentwood. My family and I moved here 16 years ago only. So, yes, newbie. Um, but I at the time remember thinking how exciting it was to live in an area that had a downtown. Not every city has one. And we all have to consider ourselves lucky to have a downtown for so many reasons. One of them is the fact that it is such a gathering place. It is such a place where we all come together. It's a destination. and it brings people in from other cities. It drives economic development and it drives us culturally coming together through events. Um I I've just really enjoyed the way it's blossomed over the years. I was initially when I heard about it without a doubt excited about it um about building the uh the position, taking part in um Main Street America, all of those things. Very excited about it. Um, and Amy did do a fantastic job and I think she was what was needed at that time and Kristen is what what is needed now and she's picked up um exactly where Amy left off and and built this into something even more beautiful. Um, so I have to thank Amy for what she did to build a foundation that Kristen is now taking and running with. And that's an incredible thing because I do feel very very grateful that we have you that we have your board. I've worked with board of directors before and so um and I'm an executive director for a nonprofit myself um during the day so I I get some of what you're feeling. I get what what you're putting into this. Your board is amazing. Um the board of directors and I don't think we've said enough about them. They've given their heart and soul to this to make our downtown as it was said the heart of the community and done a fantastic job with that. And we see the community sees the effort you put in. We see the hours that you put in. we

see the investment you make personally, professionally and it really has built something amazing. So, thank you board members too. Um the idea of all of the developments that have happened since so the increase in social media engagement is huge. The expanded focus on agurism which I personally absolutely adore. I love seeing that um that a kind of component bring being brought into the events and the partnerships. Um, I love I love that you've been involved with helping downtown to become ADA compliant. That is really important. It's something that we've tried to focus on in our aging and disabilities committee, too. But you've been able to really take that and run with it as the person who leads downtown. Um, and in addition working with working wonders, for example. So, I think the idea of the inclusivity increasing as well, this is all it all just really means a lot. It just we're in the right direction. uh we're moving forward, the empowerment of youth, all of the things I'm so excited about. Um so I again coming in last had to think of some things that hadn't been said yet. So the idea of the growth from the beginning um from the time I've moved here, even through COVID when so many businesses were struggling and downtown struggled too, but we made it through. We made it through and we've become even stronger and we are a destination. And when you go to events downtown, you're seeing people from all over the Bay Area and sometimes even beyond that. And so the idea of of kind of making that partnership with the a tourism piece and bringing in people after fruit picking, for example, I I love hearing what you're saying and I love that vision because I think it's exactly who we are and how we maintain what Brentwood has made to so many people while still recognizing the beauty of the cultural growth and the the beautiful legacy of the farming. So, thank you for all of that. Um, and with that, I think we're ready for a motion.

My apologies. Just wanted to get the information out there regarding the municipal code. And so, it does indicate on a project by project basis, that's how these funds are to be applied for and then it's up to the discretion of the city council. So, the ordinance does specify a projectby- project basis. Although it also states, you know, it's for the purpose of general economic development purposes, but on a project by project basis. Thank you for that, Carrie. So, um, how do you feel about what we talked about, NY, and then when we get the grants, we'll go through the grants and then we'll see what else, if possible, we can do. Vice Mayor Pearson, how's that feel?

I have no objection to it. In addition to you would be renewing theou all the way through 2027, right? Or 2028. Yeah. 2017. So, yeah. So, um I'll read the motion. As detailed in the staff report, I move to direct staff to develop and return to council with a newou um to continue the partnership at 90,000 with the DBC for the fiscal years 2026 through 27 and 2027 through 28. I second that motion. Can we get a roll call, please? Excuse me. Council member Mendoza. Um per fiscal year 90,000. Yeah. 90,000 per fiscal year. And still a second. Yes. Same second.

Council member Maloney. Yes. Vice Mayor Pearson. Yes. And I'm I'm alone in the room. Council member Mendoza. Yes. Council member Orleans. Yes. Mayor Meyer.

Yes. Congratulations. That motion passion passes. Thank you all for coming out. I really appreciate it. So now we're going to move backwards to uh open public hearings with item G1. Parthim, director of parks and recreation will present the next item regarding the landscape and lighting assessment district number 23-1, Orchard Grove. Before we start, does anyone need a short break? We're good. Okay, mayor. I do. I'm disabled. I've been insulted several times and I need a break. Okay. Four minutes, five minutes.

Just about three minutes just for three minutes. Okay. Thank you.

We can get started again as soon as everyone takes a seat and is ready to go. Back into item G1.

Good evening, honorable mayor, city council members. My name is Harriet Alim, director of parks and recreation. In accordance with the landscaping and lighting act of 1972 and proposition 218, this item represents the final step in the annexation of territory to landscape and lighting assessment district number 23-1, Orchard Grove as annexation number one. Upon annexation, the city will be authorized to levy annual assessments of 30 single family residential properties and four duet units within the Orchard Grove North development located north of Gracie Lane between Adams Lane and Lone Oak Road. On May 27th, 2025, the city council adopted resolution 2025-55 initiating the annexation of territory to the district and preliminarily approving the engineers report. The proposed maximum assessment rate of $1,698.71 per single family parcel and the estimated maximum annual revenue that can be generated is $56,50. This figures, these figures are fiscal year$2526. The maximum assessment rate will be increased each subsequent fiscal year by the annual change in the consumer price index. The city of Brentwood conducted a public hearing on June 10th, 2025 to consider the proposed annexation of the Orchard Grove development in the districts as in the district as annexation number one. At that time, the annexation could not be approved because the developer had not yet established ownership of the property associated with the Orchard Grove North development. As a result, the public hearing was continued into a date uncertain. On October 30th, 2025, the developer established ownership of the annexation area and the public hearing was rescheduled for this evening, January 27, 2026. The annexation of

territory to the existing district requires property owner approval and notice and ballot was mailed to the affected property owner as required by proposition 218. The ballot can be opened and tabulated by the city clerk after the close of the public input portion of the public hearing this evening. If the property owner's ballot is favorable, city staff recommends council adopt the attached resolution, which will give the approval of the final engineers report and confirm the annexation of the Orchard Grove North development into landscaping and lighting assessment district number 23-1. Orchard Grove staff and virtually on Zoom, the city consultant, Francisco and Associates are available for any questions you might have. Thank you.

Thank you, Herth. My big question is why is my face up there instead of Harif's? It's unsettling. He's speaking. Why am I on? Um, do we have any questions for staff? No questions. Okay. Uh, moving into public comments and the public hearing.

At this time, the public is permitted to address the city council on this agenda item. If you're participating via Zoom, please raise your hand to speak. If you're in person, please file a speaker card. Your microphone will be muted if you speak on items that do not pertain to this agenda item or after the timer has expired. We receive zero written public comments in advance of this item. I do not have any written or I lied. Actually, I do have Sorry, we got it's all shuffled up. So, I do have one speaker card in person, Melissa. Then I have no speaker cards in person or hands raised in Zoom.

Thank you. Moving into um any discussion. Okay. Uh the election in this matter is hereby called. Are there any additional ballots to be submitted? And we need a motion to close the public hearing. So moved. Second. Roll call. Council member Maloney. Yes. Vice Mayor Pearson, yes. And I'm alone. Council member Mendoza, yes. Council member Orleans, yes. Mayor Meyer, yes. Thank you. Do I need to repeat that question, by the way? For the discussion on the item,

if there is any discussion, you you may have that now. Okay. and there doesn't appear to be and then uh you can take a motion on the next portion which would be to confirm if there is a majority. I don't believe that we got an answer to the additional ballots being submitted. I have no additional ballots. I just have the one. Yes. Thank you. All right. Council motion, please. I can make a motion. As detailed in the staff report, I move to adopt a resolution ordering the annexation of territory to LLA number 23-1, Orchard Grove as annexation number one, and taken all implementing actions. There is one action just prior to that.

I have to be directed to open the ballot. She's got it there. Um, I move to confirm there's no majority protest of the formation based on the tabulation of the return ballots weighted by assessment amount. Second. Council member Maloney. Yes. Vice Mayor Pearson. Yes. And I'm alone. Council member Mendoza. Yes. Council member Orlemans. Yes. Mayor Meyer.

Yes. The motion passes. And I would ask that the city clerk tabulate the ballots and read the results. The ballot is a unanimous yes. So it is affirmative. Thank you. And do we have a motion? Since there's no other discussion, right, I will make a motion. Okay. As detailed in the staff report, I move to adopt the resolution ordering the annexation of territory LLA number 23-1 Orchard Grove as annexation number one and taking implementing actions. Do we have a second? Second. Roll call, please.

Council member Maloney. Yes. Vice Mayor Pearson. Yes. And I'm alone. Council member Mendoza. Yes. Council member Orlemans. Yes. Mayor Meyer. Yes. The item passes. Thank you, Amanda. Moving into H1. Uh Alexis Morris, director of community development, will present the next item regarding oil and gas leasing and development.

Good evening, honorable mayor, vice mayor, and city council. Uh just one moment while we get the presentation on the screen. Thank you. Uh so thisformational item uh was requested by Council Member Mendoza and Mayor Meyer. Um they requested a discussion of a potential comment letter on the recently released Bureau of Land Management Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement or SEIS. A little background on the BLM SEIS. Sorry for all the acronyms. Um, the EI SEIS was prepared under the National Environmental Protection Act, which is a uh federal environmental law similar to um our SQA law and an SEIS is similar to an environmental impact report prepared under SQA. Uh this SEIS is narrowly focused on the Bureau of Land Management, oil and gas leasing and development in San Bonito and Monterey counties. There are no sites in Contracasta County analyzed in the SEIS. The SI SEIS is supplemental to a 2019 um EIS which was made for the larger north coast region of BLM which does include Contraosta County. This focused SEIS was prepared due to a lawsuit settlement. So, the Bureau of Land Management is currently accepting public comments on their SEIS. The public comment period ends March 6, 2026. The BLM is also hosting a virtual public meeting to receive oral comments and that is being held on January 29th, just in a couple days. Um, if anyone would like to attend that session, uh, they must be registered to attend. They can't just log on and join a Zoom. They have to be registered. And links to register

for that meeting and, um, to submit a written comment if the public is interested are provided in tonight's staff report. So tonight we are seeking council's direction um uh regarding whether to submit a comment letter on the SEIS and if so requesting that council provide direction on the comments that should be included in that letter and if we receive that direction a letter would be prepared and submitted by the March 6 deadline. Alternatively, council could direct staff to prepare a general comment letter oppo opposing oil and gas drilling near the city's borders. that would also be prepare prepared and submitted by the March 6 deadline. Um, that concludes the report and I'd be happy to answer any questions that you have.

Thank you, Alexis. Do we have questions? Yeah, I have a question. Um, I'm looking at the map on page 73 of the agenda and there seems to be a little red box um near Brentwood. Did you see that one? Yeah. So, the map um and it I think it's identified as lands open for leasing. Right. So, if I could let me call that up and then share my screen one more time if that's okay. Because that's a little scary when you see lands open for leasing and it's like near you.

So, um I'm sorry. Why won't it open? Okay. Okay. Could you share my screen now? This is the figure you're referring to. Yeah. So my understanding is the entire area outlined in that darker gray line is that North Coast office territory. Okay. And so the 2019 EI EIS was prepared analyzing potential leasing and drilling activity in this entire area. the supplemental um EIS, which is the one that was just released, was is only dealing with areas in San Bonito and Monterey County. So again, it's building off of and supplementing a previous document that dealt with a much larger uh project area and uh many more communities.

Do we know why they would have called out Contraosta? And I guess I mean it might be a discussion, but do we know why they called out Contraosta in? Because the notice when I went in to see the notice, the document said they weren't available until Monday, so I just saw them. Was it Monday? Um, do we know why they called out Contraosta if Contraosta isn't of interest? I believe I don't know why, but I believe it's because the North Coast Field Office encompasses Contraosta County, um, Marin County. it encompasses all of those counties. And so they're naming what the contra what the North Coast Field Office has jurisdiction over. But um if you look at the actual SEIS and and I have to admit I haven't read all 100 pages because I just uh got the assignment. But on page 16 of the SEIS, let me see if I can um Is my screen still being shared? Sorry if this is making anyone seasick. Yeah, we could you stop sharing for one moment and so people don't have to suffer through that. Um okay, if you can you share now. Sorry. So this is the um executive summary. The introduction of the SEIS that we're discussing says the alternatives considered in this SEIS includes implementation of two of 14 gas uh leases um for this Hollister one and Hollister 2 which are the locations in uh San Bonito and Monterey County.

Okay. So we don't think there's any risk even though there's a little red dot. Right. Well, that might be subject to previous 2019 um activities. There may be leases and all of that that take place, but that's not what's being analyzed specifically in this EI in this SEIS. So, there are leaseold areas identified in that red square that we just showed. Uh

um so in 2019, they analyzed activities for all those areas showed in red and blue. It's just this particular document is not dealing with those our areas in Contraosta County if that makes sense. So there may still be considering leases or drilling activity in that red area but under a different action a different um uh SCI well final EIS from the BLM.

So I guess sorry more questions. So my question is since there's a red dot and they might be considering it, is it worth sending in comment? And and you know, I take it back to um what happened here on Loan Tree, right? Like it's not in our city, but it was a risk of maybe something happening near us and we and as a city, we sent in a letter. So I don't know. Well, I think there's different mechanisms, right? So, a comment letter on the SEIS can be drafted and sent by council. Um, the content of that document just doesn't happen to deal with Contraosta County. Okay.

The council could send a comment letter to the BLM largely about their oil and gas leasing uh activities in Contraosta County and how the council particularly feels about that. It just isn't necessarily triggered or has to happen by March 6. Okay. Okay. If it's not a comment on this actual document. Okay. Does it Thank you.

So, continue to continue the questions on that. If we were to send a letter um a comment and say that it was a general comment about um our opposition to oil and gas near the borders of Brentwood, near homes near whatever according to what the governor's latest distances uh recommendations are. That could still be related to it though. That could still be submitted to this as a comment. And even though it's not a directly involved, it's still because contra contracasta has been mentioned, there is some relation.

It certainly could. I I might recommend to have most effects, you would probably send it to different a different uh departments within the agency. So not just as a comment on the SIS because that promise uh process is similar to SQA. So when you get a comment on an EIR and it doesn't actually have to do with the content in the IR, all you have to say is noted. Got it. Okay.

You know, so you can still certainly do that to register the council's opinion through the SEIS process, the comment process by March 6th. You can also send letters to the agency, the same letter um to different factions of the agency. So it's not just noted and filed through the SEIS and it doesn't get to other folks in the agency if that makes sense. So it's an and kind of situation. So could staff then recommend these other um departments or whatever that you're talking about.

Um I would have to look into that. I'm by no means an expert on the Bureau of Land Management and how they're organized. Um, we can certainly look into that and see what the regional represent who the regional represent because remember there's this is a north coast office. So I'm sure there's um leadership for that office. I'm just not an expert in the BLM. So I'd have to look into that. Okay. Thank you. Mayor, if I might, the council may also want to send a letter to your federal representatives as part of that process, too.

And I I do want to make one point of clarification. Uh when uh the director started her presentation, she referenced that this item was from uh the mayor and council member um Mendoza. This item was actually put on the agenda by the city manager's office after having a conversation because there are two ways to get things on the agenda. One is the process that requires us to do a future agenda item, then come back and put the item on for discussion. And by that time I felt it might not be enough time to have this discussion and get direction. So I placed the item on the agenda, gave the assignment to the director and I just wanted to correct that correct that record.

Thank you. Thank you for moving it forward more quickly. Other questions or should we move into public comment? At this time, the public is permitted to address the city council on this agenda item. If you're participating via Zoom, please raise your hand to speak. If you're in person, please file a speaker card. Your microphone will be muted if you speak on items that do not pertain to this agenda item or after the timer has expired. We receive zero written public comments in advance of tonight's item. I do have one two speaker cards for in person. Melissa Um, just to clarify too, there is new leasing in that area and there is another line aside from that dot. I was looking at the map earlier. Um, right on the outskirts of Brentwood. Um, anyway, it is ask you to write another letter night. Um, I am speaking to ask council to submit a letter of oppos opposition during the draft supplemental environmental impact statement comment period. While the BLM's draft document concludes that impacts from new leasing would be minor, an ever growing amount of independent scientific and public health research paints a more comprehensive picture, especially for the people who live near these sites. Peer-reviewed studies from California and across the United States consistently show that living near oil and gas development is associated with increased exposure to air pollutants, including fine particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic compounds such as benzene. These pollutants are linked to asthma, cardiovascular disease, cancer risk, and other serious health outcomes. Importantly, these harms are often localized, meaning they may not register in regional averages, but are actually

felt by nearby residents. Research has also found associations between proximity to oil and gas operations and adverse birth outcomes, including higher rates of preterm birth and lower birth rate, birth rate. These are not abstract risks. Pre-term birth is one of the leading causes of infant mortality and lifelong health complications. The draft SEIS largely dismisses these concerns by relying on outdated public health analyses, regional emission averages, and promises of future projectby project review. It explicitly declines to conduct up updated environmental justice or cumulative health impact analysis. Even though many communities in California already face compounding burdens from wildfire smoke, agricultural pollution, extreme heat, and water scarcity, this doesn't even include the possibility of disturbing off-reservation sites that are considered sacred to the area's indigenous tribes, which the report lists as confidential, the areas, not the tribes. Water resources are another major concern. The SEIS states that oil and gas development uses a small fraction of regional water supplies and presents no new risks. But in a state defined by droughts, any added risk to groundwater or surface water, especially contamination that can persist for decades, poses a serious threat to residents, agriculture, and local economies. Cleanup, when contamination occurs, is slow, costly, and often incomplete. Perhaps most troubling is that once leases are issued, local control is dramatically reduced. Cities and counties are left responding after impacts emerge rather than preventing them in the first place. This is not a question of whether every possible well will cause harm. It is about whether we are willing to accept avoidable health, water, and climate risks in Next speaker is Oxana.

Hello, council members. Um, so and Madame Mayor, I apologize. Uh, so, um, I moved in 2019 and I came in at the tail end of the Measure L conversation and actually your campaign caught my eye. I was one of the moms that was commuting on Basco Road and I was like, I don't want sprawl development. this is crazy. We need to think about this. Um, and so just wanted to kind of um, I don't remember what I voted to be quite honest because it was a crazy life time in my life, but I started to do a little bit more research and realize that like not all developers are created equal and we have some local developers that are investing in certain um, areas. So my question is that specific area that was measure L um the Gacho family owns it and there's federal split estates where some estate holders own the agriculture land and then the minerals are owned by the federal land. I was trying to do some research to see if those specific parcels were split federal or state lands. And I think all of us in Brentwood are like, "Yay, no drilling in our backyards." And so I think it would be worth it to look into um some of that information is not available to the public. I've called the planning commission office in Contraosta and had my friend who is an urban rural developer um help me look at some of those parcels and it's kind of a little hard to find which ones are the federal split estates and which ones are kind of in that pink dot that was shown in Contracasta. I think this is something that it's worth looking into. None of us want drilling back there. Um they're not pretty. It's off by Willy's Bagels. That's where I go to all the time and my kids play at the park and it would be really nice to see if that 1700 acres is part of that split estate. Thank you.

I have no additional cards in person. I do have one hand raised. Tracy, go ahead.

Hello. This time I promise to be more calm. The only thing I want to say is that I hope you do issue a letter of opposition and try to fight it as long and as fast as you can. Um, it's just a matter of time before they come and you know the sooner we can try to avoid it the better. And that's it. Thank you. I have one additional hand raised in Zoom. Syniana, go ahead.

Good evening again. Um, please issue a letter of opposition um as we did several years ago uh and approve that was approved and unanimated by uh our city council. uh we need to protect uh our uh city. Um if uh you know you you look back at the history, Brentwood's always been um an oil field and uh currently a lot of the homes on the west side of the city and even all the way to Fair View, they've been built on uh oil wells, capped oil wells. And we know very well, it's been even on the news that um that um you know, it has a negative impact on our community. And having drilling uh at the border of um uh uh Brentwood, it's going to be even worse. And pre it's pretty much in people's backyards. And um uh as uh it's been um projected I if I remember correctly it was 3 four years back um it's uh uh at the distance less than what the the current uh regulations uh are asking for. So reinforcing the fact that we're opposed to it, we're opposed to oil drilling in people's backyards uh will uh send another um uh signal up to whomever intends to um uh drill around Brenwood. So please consider doing this. Uh it it will be very appreciated by the residents who currently suffer from the negative impact of their homes being built on top

of cap wells as it is today. And by the way, bride the gate is the same thing. It's been neglected by two of the current uh uh council members that we have uh on the dis today. One is remote by the way. Please related to oil and gas. Thank you. The thing is um we we need to send a signal that we're opposed to this. Thank you so much. I have no additional hands raised in Zoom. Thank you. Moving into council discussion.

I would like to send a letter just reiterating kind of what we sent back in the day. Um what was it? 2021 I think. 20 I think 2021. No, it was before I was elected. 2020 I think is when we sent the letter just kind of reiterating the same thing that we um that we oppose oil and gas drilling just for the health. Um I know there's a 3200 uh foot buffer now that we didn't have then. But just reiterating that um there is a European company that continues to have their eye on Loan Tree and there is an active application with the county um that they have not removed. I think they're just waiting for people to stop watching. So I think just making sure that people know where we stand on oil and gas drilling is always just a nice thing to do and this is a good opportunity to do it.

Council member Maloney,

I think it would behoove us to not only send the opposition letter to SEIS but also take the suggestion of our city manager to send it to our federal representative and um also if we can ask some of our senator representatives to also support it if that's possible as well. I think uh a letter would be uh the least we could do, but I I would kind of like as opposed to just a general letter of opposition when we were going through agenda review, we had talked about um maybe specifically talking about on the EIS where they did not consider the health and safety of the neighboring communities to address that specifically so that they know it's because we're concerned about the health and safety of our citizens and that was one of the reasons or one of the things they did not study in the EIS. So, let's call that out as opposed to just a general letter.

Good point, Vice Mayor. I agree with the sentiment of all the council so far. Okay. Thank you. And I do too. And I think it's important to note too that um our first moratorium was in 2022 and then the ban in Brentwood um was in 2024. Uh all of the health impacts have been noted. I think it's a very good idea to include those and of course the the Senate um assembly and federal representatives uh receiving copies as well. Um and I think with that we are ready with for a motion.

Yeah, I can make a motion. So, I'd like to make a motion for um if staff could please compose a letter um like uh Tony said includes the our concern over the health and safety of our neighboring communities um and just our opposition to oil and gas drilling in Contraosta. And if um we could follow direction from Harold and um Fay to send it to all of our governmental partners, so assembly, senate, and then also federal, I think that would be great. Am I missing anything? No, but I'd like to second. Okay. Can we get a roll call, please? Council member Maloney, yes. Vice Mayor Pearson, yes. And I'm alone. Council member Mendoza, yes. Council member Orleans, yes.

Mayor Meyer, yes. And and just to be clear, no other direction needed, right? Thank you.

Thank you for that. Okay, moving into item H2. Christine Andrews, acting finance and information systems director, will present the next item regarding the 202526 midyear operating budget and the tenure general fund fiscal model. Good evening, honorable mayor and council members. In June 2024, the c the city adopted its most recent two-year operating budget. Pillars of the city's operating budget development process include funding set aside for future infrastructure and equipment replacement needs and amounts budgeted specifically to address the city's unfunded pension and retirey medical liabilities. The general fund budget also includes the capacity to maintain the required 30% reserve of expenditures. Funding for essential services are then proposed and approved by the city council. Tonight's update confirms that the city's general fund remains structurally balanced in the second year of the two-year budget. Revenues and expenditures are aligned, general fund reserves are maintained, and proposed mid-year adjustments are modest and manageable. The updated 2526 general fund projection is conservative and incorporates all known economic factors and the proposed budget amendments in tonight's action. The projection shows that the general fund revenues will equal expenses in 2526 producing a break even result. However, policy requires that 30% of budgeted expenditures be set aside as a reserve in the general fund at the end of each fiscal year. As annual expenditures increase, so does the amount required to meet this 30% target. At the end of 2526, we project that $600,000 will need to be transferred from the budget stabilization fund to

the reserve balance to meet the 30% requirement. The key takeaway is that the city's general fund remains structurally balanced this fiscal year. Next, I will summarize the midterm general fund budget requests. General fund revenues are expected to increase by $345,000 or 0.4% over the currently budgeted revenues. Sales tax are expected to come in about $351,000 higher, which includes a one-time trueup adjustment. The city's sales tax consultants expect sales tax revenue growth to be relatively flat in Brentwood in fiscal year 2627, which is consistent with statewide projections. As detailed in the staff report, while some revenue categories are outperforming expectations, others are softening, and the net result is a modest increase that does not materially change the city's financial position. We'll now review proposed general fund expenditure amendments. The adjustments proposed tonight would increase the general fund expenditures by.3% or $220,000. As detailed in the staff report, total department requests of $279,000 of additional goods and services are necessary for the remainder of the fiscal year. This requested increase has been partially offset by one-time budget savings on county provided animal services. Included in department requests are increases in parks and recreation budgets for sports and recreation staff, utilities, and tree service costs. An increase in the city manager department for the purchase of a vehicle. An increase in the community development department for higher credit card processing fees, which will be fully recovered. An increase in police department expenditures for software costs. And finally, an increase in

engineering for the contraosta clean water program cost. The impact on the general fund from the combination of the proposed revenue and expenditure adjustments is favorable, resulting in a net increase of about $125,000. Next up is a review of the updated general fund fiscal model. The city prepares a 10-year general fund fiscal model to look at the long-term impacts of proposed budget changes and to ensure a sustainable financial future. The fiscal model is not a forecast of what will happen. It's a planning tool that shows where we are headed if current conditions persist. Importantly, it gives the city several years of visibility to course correct if necessary. The fiscal model, like the operating budget, is also conservative by design and includes estimated costs for future impacts such as operational costs for amenities like the San Creek Sports Complex and increasing pension costs. Revenues are also conservatively projected as the model includes slowing development and lower future interest income. This chart summarizes the annual results of the updated fiscal model. The balance of the general fund 30% reserve is shown in blue and the budget stabilization fund balance in green. As you can see, the 30% reserve grows steadily over the 10-year period. As expenditures grow year after year, the amount needed to meet the 30% reserve requirement gets larger. The reserve increases from about $25 million in fiscal year 2526 to about $34 million at year 10. The model projects that the budget stabilization fund balance will be at its highest in the current fiscal year and be drawn down over the next nine years. Operating expenditures are projected to exceed revenues by about $500,000 a year. Plus, the amount needed

to maintain the 30% reserve in the general fund is about $860,000 a year. And this will result in about $1 million remaining in the budget stabilization fund at the end of the forecast. At about year five of the forecast, you can see that the total 30% reserve and bud budget stabilization fund balance together starts to decrease. This gives the city kind of a five-year window to pursue economic development opportunities with the important goal of increasing revenues. Additional revenues would support the 30% reserve balance without the need to draw down the budget stabilization fund and at the same time provide resources to maintain the high quality of life enjoyed by Brentwood residents. Next up is a discussion of pension paydowns. Council policy requires that in any year there is a general fund surplus after the reserve requirement is met that the surplus is transferred to the budget stabilization fund. After the transfer, 50% of the surplus is required to be used to pay down unfunded obligations. The 2425 general fund surplus was $1.3 million and half of that will be used to pay down unfunded pension liabilities. An additional pension payown of $600,000 from the budget stabilization fund is being recommended tonight. In June of 2024, the city council approved a set aside of $1.2 $2 million of the 2324 surplus. This set aside was made as a good faith measure during ongoing labor negotiations now concluded. Staff is recommending that 50% of the set aside be used for a pension payown in accordance with policy. The 2025 budget and debt management committee agreed with the recommend recommended payown, but also recommended that the remaining 50% of the set aside

of 600,000 be deposited and reserved in the general fund for use on future projects or programs at the city council's discretion. As detailed in the staff report, budget amendments are also proposed tonight for funds other than the general fund that have employees to contribute their fair share match of the payowns. These pension paydowns reduce long-term costs, strengthen the funded position of the pension plans and are consistent with council policy. Now, a brief discussion of city utilities and other fund amendments. The city provides residents with solid waste, water, and wastewater services. The charges for these services and the accompanying costs are accounted for in individual enterprise funds. These funds are self-supporting and do not receive any general fund support. The proposed amendments in the utilities and other funds are primarily for each fund's proportional share of the pension payowns. We will now turn to issues on the budget watch list and next steps in the budget process. As we look ahead, staff continue to moni monitor several factors that could influence future budgets. First, consumer spending remains under pressure statewide. While Brentwood revenues remain stable, sales tax growth is flattening. Second, interest rates have stabilized but remain elevated compared to historical norms. This affects both investment earnings and inflation and will continue to be monitored closely. Third, while recent Kalpers's investment returns are trending toward targets, future pension costs remain sensitive to market performance. If returns fall short, our required contributions could increase. Finally, construction costs and aging infrastructure remain long-term challenges. Many of the city's assets are reaching an age where maintenance and replacement needs will

increase, requiring careful prioritization through the capital improvement program. None of these issues present immediate concerns, but together they reinforce the need for continued fiscal discipline and long-term planning. This will be a busy next six months as we work towards a brand new two-year budget. The process will include a strategic plan workshop in the spring, followed by the CIP workshop and adoption, and finally the two-year budget workshop in May and adoption in June. To summarize, the general fund remains balanced and the 30% reserve target met. While we do not have capacity to add to the budget, we are also not in a position to have to reduce costs or services. The budget stabilization fund is projected to be slowly drawn down over the next nine years, leaving an estimated balance of about $1 million. In the intermediate term, the outlook remains manageable, provided the city continues its disciplined approach to financial planning. Finally, staff's re is recommending the approval of all of the proposed budget amendments in tonight's staff report. And I want to thank you. This concludes my presentation. At this time, staff is available for any questions you may have.

Thank you, Christine. Do we have questions? I just have one. Um, and I've been meaning to look at this and I just haven't had time. Have we accelerated the surplus draw down? Like if I were to look at the model from five years ago, are we dipping into that surplus more than we had anticipated about five years ago? Thank you for the question. Um so no. Um because our forecasts in the fiscal model are generally conservative, we're we should be beating it most of the time or otherwise, you know, by definition we're not being conservative. So we have projected minor um reductions in the past. Now things have come along that we hadn't anticipated. Costco would be your big one. Yeah.

Uh we didn't know that was coming a few years ago and now it's here. And so that that helps. Okay. Um so when we look at our projections, we tend to not include things that we're hoping for or that might come. Not until we know they're going to come. That way we avoid spending or committing the money and then saying, "Whoops, on the other side, we don't have the revenue to pay for that." So it's actually better results than what you're seeing. So if you want to extend that, you know, if I were to guess which side we'll land on, we should do a little bit better than that. Okay. Um but we don't want to say that and then have funding committed and then enter a recession that we haven't had in 10 or 12 years and then find ourselves having to cut. So that's why we are intentionally conservative. Okay. Thank you.

Other questions? Um I have one. when you talk about the conservative method for uh this projection, I'm I'm curious if you can talk a little bit more about how that works, how you do these projections, because I I think it's easy um it's easy for us to appreciate that that you're conservative in these projections, but to understand really how that process develops. So, I could talk as long as you will have me. That was an open invitation. So, but I won't do that. Um I know it's getting late. So thank you.

Yes, understood. So we are very conservative with first of all our development projections. So going forward we're projecting you know single family maybe 150 units or so per year. So there's not a lot of you know if we if we're under that number it's not going to impact us too much because we weren't relying on it much to begin with. We don't have uh new uh innovation center revenues coming in. We don't know when that's going to happen. We don't know the impact that that's going to have on sales tax and job generation. All those sorts of things are unknown at this time. So we don't say, "Hey, in 5 years we're saved by the innovation center." Nothing like that. Um so on the expense side, we're also conservative in the in the way that um so I think most places probably take a look at their current budget and say, "Well, we'll just add 3% or 4%." And so we actually work with Kalpers, get very detailed forecasts on these things. So that that side is a little less I would say it's more accurate than anything. Uh because um you know it's less of an estimate and more of a you know you can kind of look what are what are our pension rates going to be? What's our oped requirements going to be? That sort of thing. But we're also you know we don't put extra staffing in there. So that's in one sense we're not being overly conservative in that we're projecting oh we're going to need you know 20 new staff to show up and and we're you know kind of upping our expenses like that. That's not in there. So as the revenues come in then we can do that. But generally I would say the way to look at it is we go for accuracy especially on the expense side when we when we're able to do so and know what's going on on the pension and and retire medical but on the revenue side until it's fairly certain you're not going to see it in there and that's how we're conservative.

Thank you Carrie Harold. Yeah. And I think um Christine can probably put a slide up to show you uh one of the things that they're doing is they're anticipating the expense. So this model actually includes for example cost for support of the San new San Creek Sports Complex. So they're adding those expenses in. So we're not surprised later on, oh we had this this issue. So they're they're really very good about those assumptions as we move forward. Thank you.

And I can add one one more thing to that discussion on the San Creek Sports Complex. For instance, you know, one of the meetings that we had preparing for the two-year budget right now is getting together with parks and they said, "Okay, what did you have in the 10-year fiscal model for staffing of Sound Creek Sports Complex? We're starting to pencil that out. It's not it's going to be part of the 2-year budget. Where did you start it?" You know, we started it, I think, in 26 27 and kind of ramped it in. So, so staff is also aware that we're doing this and we kind of work together. We kind of, you know, ask them what do you think it's going to cost, put that in, check with them again the next year. Every time we're updating this model, we're it's it's just constantly being managed.

Thank you. Christine, you also mentioned the flatlining of sales tax revenue. Yes. Yes. Um and the staff report was projecting 350,000 for sales tax revenue increase in 2526, but that other than that you were considering that to be a one-time only, not ongoing. Is that because of that?

Yeah, I mean we we kind of have a a a reset in the amount of sales tax we're getting for a major new retailer. We have, you know, we kind of reset the base, but going forward, what we're seeing from our sales tax consultants and and statewide is a real slowing growth in sales tax revenue. And that's because I think prices are really hitting people. They're kind of dialing back some of their spending. You know, when prices go up, we get a percentage of the price, right? So, if prices are going up, you would expect that our sales tax revenue would also increase kind of like by the level of inflation, but people are making different choices and and dialing back their spending across the state. Um, so we're we're looking at like flat to 1% growth um for the next fiscal year from our consultants projections. That's how we we come up with that. So yes, we've kind of already increased our base, but then we're not seeing like a takeoff from there right now in our projections. Again, we get together with our consultants quarterly and if they have different information, we will incorporate that into the two-year budget. will incorporate it into our every six month um forecasts. Great. Thank you all of you. We appreciate that. Um should we move into public comments or do we have other questions? Okay. Thank you.

At this time, the public is permitted to address the city council on this agenda item. If you're participating via Zoom, please raise your hand. If you're in person, please file a speaker card. Your microphone will be muted if you speak on items that do not pertain to this agenda item or after the timer has expired. I have no cards in person or I do have one hand raised in Zoom. Tracy, go ahead.

Hi. Um I I'm trying to learn about all this um budgeting and what have you and I see that in your projection I'm just not even sure if what I'm saying is right but you have a 10-year projection on the budget and then somehow somebody has said that you've anticipated like what 150 homes or I don't know if I misheard that But I'm wondering because of the California laws regarding housing and they're making um you know all these changes to what can be how much can be. So this number that was anticipated is that taking into account what we're going to end up having to do because of the state do does that make sense? But anyway, that's I'm kind of wondering about that because if you have like 300 homes, you have property taxes on 300 homes, you know, it just kind of depends on what the state requires or what we're going to end up with. So, I don't know if that was taken into account or not. Anyway, that's all I had to say. I do have one additional hand raised in Zoom. Syniana, go ahead.

Hi, good evening again. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. Uh what caught my attention um is uh the discussion around the aging infrastructure and that's definitely a concern. So I really appreciate our finance team pointing that out. um specifically as a resident um just using our uh roads day in and day out um it's impossible not to notice um the degradation um that been we've been seeing um along the years we uh Brentwood used to be number one uh having the best roads I don't remember exactly if it was just for East Bay or um uh the whole region in general and Now we're just we just have um like I I mentioned already seen degradation um over the years. Um so and um you know it's a it's a real concern that um a lot of the CIP projects that uh we had um in the uh past couple years on the list uh have been unfunded um CIP projects directly related to our roads. So, I would really appreciate to see a little bit more attention and um um uh funds allocated to uh road maintenance and uh really uh selecting contractors that um are solid and do a great job um and uh you know just uh really getting a good value for our money uh that uh is allocated to um road improvements. So, um, that's really just one item that, uh, jumped out to me. But, um, again, a big shout out to our finance team. They've been amazing, uh, along the years. I really appreciate everything

they've done for, uh, uh, keeping our city in a good financial state. Um, and, um, you know, having that conservative approach, um, uh, to our finances. Thank you so much. Thank you. And Carrie, could you please respond to the question earlier?

Yes. Thank you, mayor. So, the way we do our development projections is we take the general plan and we take a look at what's left to build within the existing general plan and we just phase that in over an extended period of time. And so, we assume it's going to take a while. And that's what when I say we're conservative, we don't assume it's going to happen in the next 5 years. Uh so, we just kind of drip it in um over a 10-15 year period. Uh but that's all we can go with is what's in our adopted general plan. So that's what we're using at this point in terms of the unit counts. Thank you. Okay. Uh council discussion after if we're closing public comments. I don't see any more. I have no additional speakers. Thank you discussion.

I really appreciate the thorough report. Thank you all as always. Uh the it's it was amazing being on the finance committee and actually being able to break all this down for the last year and a half and the ability for you guys to be able to make all of this make sense to the public and somebody who has a high school education is incredible. So, thank you for an amazing presentation.

Um I want to say thank you and and thank you for your staff time and all of your work on the budget subcommittee. I know it's it was an added task that you didn't have before and I do appreciate all the extra work that everyone puts in on it because you know all your other departments have to give stuff to you first and it comes to us and so I appreciate everyone's efforts in this and um I always appreciate everything you guys do from financial perspective. I know it's a lot of work personally so thank you. Vice Mayor, did you have anything? Same thing. Thank you. It was a great report. Okay. And Christine, I really enjoyed uh having you speak on this and and present all of that in a in a way that does make sense, I think, to everyone and and sparks some really good questions. So, thank you. Uh do we have a motion?

Oh, I'm sorry. Before we do, Harold, did you have something? I I did want to give a big shout out to Christine. I think she did a fabulous job. Uh and I also want to just I I shared this with Carrie. This is the first organization that I've gone through where the finance director hasn't received a 10-page letter from me in the very beginning of the process. So, I appreciate that. Okay. As set forth in the staff report, I move to adopt the resolution amending the 2526 operating budget. I'll second. Roll call vote, please. Council member Maloney, yes. Vice Mayor Pearson. Yes. And I'm alone. Council member Mendoza, yes. Council member Orleans,

yes. Mayor Meyer, yes. And that passes. Thank you so much again. Okay, moving into H3. Michelle English, management analyst, will present the next item regarding ongoing and recurring purchases with specified vendors for fiscal year 202526.

Thank you. Good evening, honorable mayor and city council members. Tonight, we are presenting a mid-year update to the fiscal year 202526 requests for council authorization of agreements, amendments, purchase orders, and change orders that exceed $50,000. Purchasing policy requires purchases of goods and services over $50,000 and legal services over $75,000 be approved by the city council in June before the beginning of each fiscal year. Policy requires approval for regular and recurring purchases and services with vendors that are expected to exceed these amounts. For transparency, policy also requires that purchases of any new services, new types of goods or vehicles exceeding these limits must be brought to the city council in a separate staff report for approval. Increases to the amounts approved in June or vendors not originally included in June but are expected to go over the thresholds by the end of the fiscal year are presented in January for consideration of approval. This January staff report provides transparency and includes the vendors with new or increased dollar amounts and the method of vendor selection. This item simplifies the authorization process by consolidating the regular and recurring purchases of goods and services into one staff report as opposed to presenting dozens of individual staff reports for all purchases exceeding policy thresholds. All purchases with vendors presented tonight in exhibit A have been reviewed for compliance with purchasing policy and are consolidated into one

transparent report, allowing for efficient and uninterrupted regular city operations. This item does not increase the operating budget or authorize spending beyond the current approved budget. All purchases and service costs must fall within the amounts included in the adopted operating or CIP budgets. Staff recommends that the city council authorize the regular and recurring purchases with the vendors in the amounts detailed in exhibit A. In conclusion, each department is responsible for its respective vendors and amounts requested and staff from every department are available to address any questions you may have regarding their specific items. Thank you.

Thank you, Michelle. Any questions for staff? Okay, public comment. At this time, the public is permitted to address the city council on this agenda item. If you're participating via Zoom, please raise your hand to speak. If you're in person, please file a speaker card. Your microphone will be muted if you speak on items that do not pertain to this agenda item or after the timer has expired. I do not have any speaker cards in person and I have no hands raised in Zoom. Thank you very much. Council discussion or a motion.

I'll make a motion and it is as set forth in the staff report. I move to adopt a joint resolution approving the and authorizing the city manager and city attorney and executive director, general counsel or designates to execute certain agreements, amendments, purchase orders and/or changed orders that have anticipated spending over 50,000 and 75,000 for fiscal year 2025 26. Second. Roll call, please. Council member Maloney, yes. Vice Mayor Pearson, yes. Council member Mendoza, yes. Council member Orleans, yes. Mayor Meyer. Yes. And the item passes. Thank you. Thank you.

Item H5. Andrew Pai, engineering manager, will present the next item regarding an agreement for engineering design services for the Lone Treeway Union Pacific atgrade crossing CIP project. Good evening, honorable mayor, council members. I'm Anju Ple, engineering manager with the engineering department, and I'm here to present before you the agenda item H5. I'll be going through the details on the background of the CIP project 336 31706, the lone treeway union pacific at grade crossing project, a recommendation to the council for moving forward with the engineering design of the project as well as the next steps. Oops. Um, going into the project background. Um so the Union Pacific railroad uh that goes through Brenwood is also called the Makokco line. It extends from Martinez to Tracy going through Conquer Naval Weapon Station, Baypoint, Pittsburgh, Antioch, Brenwood and Byron. So the name Makoko in itself was uh from a major smelting unit in Martinez called the Mountain Copper Company that used a line in the early 1900s. So in Brenwood, the line crosses the city at five locations, namely Lone Treeway, San Creek Road, Central Boulevard, Oak Street, and Balfo Road. The line has not been in operation for more than three decades. Additionally, a fire that occurred several years ago damaged the railroad trestle over by

Marsh Creek, rendering the structure impassible. So, but despite its current inactive status, roadway improvements that affect the road uh the railroad corridor must be approved by UPR and the California Public Utility Commission. So, going into the project background, Lone Treeway undercrossing. So Lone Treeway is a major arterial in the city and has experienced heavy traffic in the past several years due to population growth. There is a bottleneck in traffic near the railroad crossing between Medallion Drive and Fair View Avenue where there is only one lane in each direction. So for over 20 years, the city has been coordinating with UPR on potential improvements at this location through a CIP project which initially considered a grade separated undercrossing. to understand what a grade separated undercrossing is. This shows a rendering of the original project which is an underpass. And as you can see in the rendering, the original project envisaged an underpass consisting of six travel lanes under the UPR line. These are more renderings from the original plan. It shows a train tracks being supported by a bridge structure in its original location while limb treeway goes underneath as an underpass. The brick structure is supported by concrete columns. Efforts on this project however stopped in 2008 mainly because of lack of funding. However, and if this project were to be constructed currently, the estimate is projected at $40 million.

So coordination efforts after the pro uh project after the efforts were stopped, coordination efforts were resumed back in 2022 when the city and UPR held field diagnostic meetings to evaluate the railroad crossings at all the locations and a revised scope was evaluated which contemplated a four-lane arterial along Lone Treeway with median islands, bike lanes and sidewalk. In March of 2025, staff worked with UPR and got an approved variance request to the original undercrossing project and got an approval for an atgrade widening of the lone treeway to four lanes on the condition that the safety improvements at the that was identified by the diagnostic team are implemented at four all the four other crossings. So going back to the variance approval, we have two components to this variance approval. One is a loan treeway uh at grade crossing. This schematic plan kind of shows the improvements which are planned in that area which includes widening of Lone Treeway between Fairview Avenue to Medallion Drive. There'll be four travel lanes with turn lanes, bike lanes, sidewalk improvements, a landscaped median island. There'll be the green infrastructure which includes the landscaping as well as any bio retention facilities and also utility relocations because there are PG& poles along the way. Second component of this various approval is the safety enhancements that we are required to do at all the other

pole crossings. This is not as significant as it is on loanway and it includes primarily ADA upgrades which is sidewalk curb ramps, median islands, striping and markings, signs, lighting upgrades and possibly a pre-signal at Balfo Road. With this um the current estimate for the updated project scope with their grain improvements is now at 21.75 million. So um if you look at the cost estimates the original project if you were to have move forward would cost us about 40 million. And so now with the updated scope of add widening and safety enhancements it got uh reduced to 21.75 million. So this brings us a total savings of 19.25 million. Going into the funding sources the primary funding source for this project is actually ECRA. So for people who don't know it, it is a east county east contraosta regional fee financing authority. It's a joint spouse authority that was formed in 1994 to coordinate and fund regional transportation improvements in eastern Contraosta County. It includes the city of Antioch, Brenwood, Oakley, Pittsburgh and the unincorporated areas of East Contraosta County. The authority board is made up of elected officials of these five member governments. As you can see, Mayor Meyer serves as a board chairperson and council member or is her alternate. Alan Balor, director of engineering is a staff person. So the core purpose of ECRA is to establish a uniform regional development fee program across the member

jurisdictions. They collect and manage revenue to fund transportation infrastructure that serves regional travels. coordinate planning and implementation of projects that address regional growth um mobility uh across ECRA maintains a comprehensive list of regional transportation projects including major road widenings and extensions that are eligible for funding through the fee program. Their board reviews and authorizes additions or adjustments to a regional project list. Examples on the list include the San Creek Road extension in Antioch and Brenwood, Cypress Road improvement in Oakley SR4 widenings and finally the lone treeway railway crossing project. So the project our project is in the ECRA project list. So the major changes such as adding projects or changing priorities typically requires a unanimous vote of the board ensuring all member jurisdictions agree on the regional priorities. staff would like to acknowledge Mayor Meyer as chairperson of the ECRA board and council member Olman's alternate and thank them for their efforts to ensure that this project remained a regional priority and eligible for regional funding. The next funding source is a development impact fee which is the uh which is recommended for this project. So the development impact fees are collected through the city's development fee impact fee program. At a higher level overview, developers are required to pay mitigation fees at the time of permit building permit issuance and the collected fees are then fund the design and construction of the public facilities such as parks, community facilities, utilities and roadways. The widening of loanway is currently

included in the fee program as a roadway project and therefore eligible for the DEF funding. Summarizing the fiscal impact. These are the phases for this project. Um based on the nexus studies, ECRA will fund up to 82% of the total project cost which amounts to $17,835,000. The acryer board will approve a change in the project scope from an under crossing to an agrade cost crossing. consistent with our approved variance and following this approval the city will enter into cooperative agreement with Ecrafer for the allocation of its share of project funding as you can see the remaining 18% has to be funded by diff the required funds will be transferred from CIP 336-31695 which is innovation center at Brenwood infrastructure at the same time leaving sufficient funds to fund the utility extension project that was awarded in the last council meeting. So this recommendation is not expected to impact with moving forward with the innovation plan center specific plans as extension of the Jeffrey way will require right of acquisitions from private owners including the East Bay Municipal Utility District and East Contraosta Irrigation District and also it is anticipated that the future developments will be required to extend Jeffrey Way through conditions of approval. With that I'm summarizing that this is a funding source development impact fee and acryer and a transfer of innov um

from funding from CIP 336-31695 to this project to get us to a total of 21 million um for our uh for our project needs. Um after getting the various approval engineering put out an RFP or requested proposals to find a qualified consultant to perform the engineering design services. We received two proposals after thorough evaluation of the scope submitted qualifications similar project experience references and further negotiations on the cost proposal. Staff is recommending Kimley Horn and Associates to perform the engineering design services for this project. With that, staff is recommending the city council adopt the resolution approving and authorizing the city manager to execute a professional service agreement with Kim Horn and Associates for the engineering design services in the amount of 1,14,755 plus funding authorization for a 10% contingency of 110,476 for a total funding authorization of not to exceed 1,2 215,231 for the Lone Treeway Union Pacific at Great Crossing CIP project number 336-31340 and amending the 202526 202930 capital improvement program and amending the 202526 operating budget for the associated project funding transfer. If this recommendation is approved, staff will issue the notice to proceed to the consultant to start the design services. Staff will engage with a SQA consultant for review of the environmental documents for this project. Staff will enter into cooperative funding agreement with ECRA and if everything works out,

construction is anti anticipated to start in 2028 29. With that, I'm conclude my presentation and I'm happy to answer any questions. Thank you, Andrew. Any questions?

Can um we hear a lot about accidents on Oakley on their at grade train. What what do the safety measures look like so that we don't have those same kind of accidents because this area is a I think a little bit busy, right? So how are we going to make sure that it's safe? So um you know at at this point there is a bottleneck in traffic at that location because you can see that uh you know the lanes on the west side is it's expanded right the lone treeway is widened only there is this bottleneck right there and that is possibly a reason for the accidents happening more in that region. So we as part Kimhorn is al will also be doing a traffic analysis to figure out the safety features um of this project. So in coordination with UP um all safety enhancements as needed for that project will be implemented. So it is our understanding that you know with the widening um and addition of lanes and other um you know complete streets elements uh bike lanes and uh street lighting this will all enhance the safety of that corridor.

Okay. And what do you expect the frequency of trains to be once they're like active there? Uh that is um it's a very interesting question because we still do not know when the train will be in operation. Our communication with UP is that we have to design it in a way that the train will start tomorrow. But unfortunately there has not been any uh any timeline on when that train will go through. So if we never did this there would be never any trains coming through.

We we do not know when like when UP's plans are to have the train allowed through that uh railroad but unfortunately any improvements we have to do based on their guidelines. Okay. Thank you. I have one question uh with the widening of Lone Treeway um to six lanes. That's what I heard. Correct.

No. So the original uh project the underpass had six lanes, six travel lanes. So when the UP um had a field diagnostic meeting with the staff um they agreed upon a fourlane um and uh based on our uh review of the project four lanes will be sufficient for that corridor. Perfect. And do we have to exercise eminent domain at all to take any of the land or are we good? We are all good. All the right of way was acquired ahead of this. Okay. Thank you.

Thank you. Um it's obviously it's going to take a little while to get this off the ground so to speak um for it to not even be starting in two years until two years passes. But during that period of time um how is traffic going to be relocated or redirected I should say?

Well, you're talking when it goes into construction. Um at that time definitely we will have a traffic control plan in place. So the consultant will ma ensure that you know if there is any closures um are required it will be you know notified appropriately and measures will be made to ensure that there is a traffic flow for all the residents and we will make sure most likely it will be a phased out closure. So it won't be a complete closure allowing traffic at least to go through. That is our understanding at this point, but these details will be looked at when we go out to construction. Great. Thank you. Any other questions? Okay, moving into public comments, please.

At this time, the public is permitted to address the city council on this agenda item. If you're participating via Zoom, please raise your hand to speak. If you're in person, please file a speaker card. Your microphone will be muted if you speak on items that do not pertain to this agenda item or after the timer has expired. We receive zero written public comments in advance of this item. I have no speaker cards in person, but I do have one hand raised in Zoom. Siana, go ahead.

Hi, good evening. Um, I uh really like this project. I'm not sure how it came about. Um it looks like a great improvement for our city. However, I uh uh am here to express my opposition from allocating funds from innovation center and uh directing them to this project. Um innovation center should be um the number one project uh going forward for our city. um is the only opportunity and possibly the last opportunity for our city um to create uh good paying jobs for our uh residents and uh I would hate to see um uh funds uh being allocated to some of the projects. Thank you.

I have no additional hands raised in Zoom. Thank you. And I think that is a that is a good question to um answer because I think when we've talked about the funding transfer is not going to impact the progress of the innovation center and I'm curious why the funding would have been allocated there first if it wasn't going to be impacting the progress. I would request Allan to

I can answer that uh regarding the Jeffrey Ray extension. So, as you know, if you will recall at the last city council meeting, we approve city council approved the award of the construction contract for the utilities extension that as you know and we we fully believe that that's going to help the marketability of the PA1 or the innovation center area. Uh so that's step one. uh the remaining we we are rem moving funds from that project to this uh that's our recommendation based on the opportunity we have to to utilize and and and access uh equa funding for the lone treeway improvements um it's the intent is uh for the Jeffrey way extension currently today there's really no need for that roadway um there's no um circulation um issues right now in that area um and with future development when it when it does come through uh the city we anticipate we would uh there would be conditions of approval on those developments to complete the improvements at that time but again the utility extension itself I think it's going to bring improve the market marketability of the innovation center area

thank you Alan so I think the for me the question is still we did initially have that money those funds allocated to that expansion or that extension and now we're not saying it's necessary I just want to understand how that worked.

That was at a time I think when the project was originally created. Um it was envisioning the city building Jeffrey Way extens extending Jeffrey Way from its current terminus uh to I think it's beyond Amber Lane. Um so the idea is when when developers do come through we would still be able to uh through the fee program uh those when they do and build it out uh they would be eligible for reimbursement from the city through fee credit. So um in the long run I it's just from staff's perspective we don't see this as as holding up development. Thank you for that. Um okay council discussion. Um

just to piggyback on that. So I So we took development fees from older developments and put it in this bucket, right, for innovation. And what we're saying is yes, we had it earmarked for this, but because we're getting seas was it $17 million from Equifa, it's worth moving these dollars from this bucket to this bucket. Okay. So what happens to innovation center in the future? Developers have to pay their fair share of the roads, right? So some of it will be paid by them and then we'll still have some money left over. Right.

That's correct. Yeah. When the developers come through there's calculations and uh fee estimates that's done. So there there is a counter balancing that happens. But yes, uh ultimately uh if they are due uh reimbursements for the improvements they build, um then they'll receive them through our fee program and vice versa, if they owe us for their fair share, they'll similarly give it to us as well.

And while it's not perfect, like I would have preferred the above grade, um I I am concerned about the safety. I'll be honest, like I am I I'm concerned about it, but getting $17 million from ECRA, um I think we we kind of we kind of got to do it. will save our voters or our residents money. So, um I mean I do prefer the above grade, but I will give in on this one. I don't like it, but I'll do it. Thank you. Um any other comments because I I've got Okay. Uh I did want to mention I think um as far as being chair, by the way, that was last year. There's a new chair. So um I coming on to it last year. EPIA is a very complicated uh committee commission uh board to be on just like tridela just like um transplant and state route 4 all of them have a huge learning curve and so for staff to have been as supportive as they have been throughout this process of learning for me uh has really helped a lot. I I get support with the agenda. there's something that specifically they think I should be calling out or questioning, they will let me know which really helped because jumping in on something like this is not uh it's not an easy transition if you don't have an engineering background and I don't. Um so thank you for that. And I think too I I remember Mayor Bryant talking a lot about attending EPIA meetings and advocating and I've in the year that I've been on there and council member Orleans has seen this in his um trielta work too. There's a lot of cities that are basically battling for the same amount of funds and everyone has a priority project for. So this is a big deal for us. This is a very exciting thing for us. Um we hear a lot, one of the major complaints we hear is about uh traffic and safety due to the growth that we've had in the city. So even though it's a little far off, I wish it could start sooner. Um I do really

appreciate the fact that we've been able to collectively um as a city as you know people who have been on that board um in the past that we've all kind of worked together to make this happen. And so thank you again for all of your support as staffers on this and for helping me with the learning curve. Um and with that if we are ready for a motion. I had a comment. Okay.

I didn't get sorry you asked but I was trying to unmute. Um, I did want to say thank you to you, Madame Mayor, for your time on ECRA and Tony for your willingness to be her her her back backup. Um, it goes a long way when we have representation in these meetings and just your commitment with having a full-time job to going to them. I just want to say thank you. I want to thank staff. This, um, I'm sure council member Maloney knows we're we're our district is pretty much affected by the bottlenecking. It is dangerous. I've actually since I've been here, there was an accident in that area of a child on a bicycle um that had to be airlifted from that area. And so that is concerning the safety and the bottlenecking. The people who try to race around to to try to get a little bit further down Lone Tree. I even went to the doctor and my physician who lives in Brentwood says she doesn't go down Lone Tree. She goes all the way around just to get home to avoid that bottlenecking. So yes, I'm with the mayor. I wish we could do this like tomorrow. I'm super excited for um the you know the improvements to our infrastructure and um I'm also grateful to staff for such an amazing staff report and presentation tonight. I'm also happy that um we asked a couple of times about grants and how we can other get unique funding and you all listened and so I'm grateful. And then finally, it is finally nice to see some construction costs come in under what a previous estimate was. So that is always good news. Thank you.

And Harold. Yes, Mayor. Um part of the report indicates that there are four locations for construction in this project. And so while the the main construction site is at the one loan tree with a significant cost, but there are also three other sites that you have to do some improvements on. And so are when you talk about the 28 29 construction start date. Are you saying that all four of them start at that point in time or can the three of the others start ahead of that that 2829 date?

No. uh that cannot happen independent of the loanway improvements. So once we have the consultant on board, we have to engage with UP for new diagnostic meetings and then we have to enter into a construction and maintenance agreement with UP. So for all these improvements, so it will be a one project in one go. So all the improvements will be designed and UP has to review all the plans um and then they enter into a maintenance agreement with us. When all these formalities are sorted out then we go into construction in one go. So it cannot happen independent of the loanway project.

Just to add from from the city staff's perspective, we'll we'll do our best to push the lone treeway uh project I mean loan way improvements to go first. the other four locations, they're really they're just primarily uh striping, uh equipment updates, ADA upgrades, and you know that that will be done, but we don't see that impacting traffic during construction too badly. Thank you. And we are ready for a motion.

I can make it. As detailed in the staff report, I move to adopt a resolution approving and authorizing the city manager to execute a professional services agreement with Kimley Horn and Associates Incorporated for engineering design services for the Lone Tree Way Union Pacific at Grade Crossing CIP project number 336-31340 amending the 2025 2026 to 202930 CIP and amending the 2025 2026 operating budget for the associated project funding transfer and I will second. Oh, go ahead. Well, you go. Okay, I'll second. Thank you, Amanda. Council member Maloney,

yes. Vice Mayor Pearson, yes. And I'm alone. Council member Mendoza, yes. Council member Orleman, yes. Mayor Meyer, yes. Item passes. Thank you. Um, we're going to move back intoformationals and we will, um, we'll start with the vice mayor.

Thank you very much. First, I want to I need to address statements made earlier tonight that were both inaccurate and inappropriate. California government code expressly allows remote participation for just cause, including medical reasons. I'm disabled and my remote participation is lawful and appropriate. Suggesting otherwise, is false and is disparaging to people with disabilities and has no place in this chamber. Rather than us sending a message of exclusion, the council should be clear that no matter your circumstances, abilities, or differences, you can have a seat at the table. It is particularly hypocritical that the criticism comes from the very person who previously argued in favor of remote participation for public comments so that they themselves can participate remotely. Despite my medical limitation since our last meeting, I attended the MLK prayer breakfast, the Rock Church dedication with mayors and council members from Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Pittsburgh, and Mountain House, which included a representative from uh Senator Grayson's office and uh Supervisor Scales Preston attended and Supervisor Burgess sent a certificate as well as I attended the DBC crab feed. I also want to correct the record that the L meeting um regarding the L meeting, the meeting did not occur because an anonymous email raised an agenda posting issue tied to the address where I would be appearing remotely, not because I was unavailable or unwilling to participate. With respect to the midnight basketball, a majority of this council voted to support and fund the program. My understanding is that the funds have yet to be actualized and dispersed to the intended recipient. Finally, while some cities and council members around the country and send council members around the country and out of the country at public expense, my trip to Europe at the end of last year was a personally funded vacation. Not a single dollar was paid for by the city of Brentwood. Any suggestion otherwise is false and lielist or slanderous. Those are the

facts. Now, for my district, I asked city staff what is going on at Big Basin Drive and O'Hare Lane regarding the electric pole and discovered that the pole will possibly be moved this summer. Additionally, O'Hare and San Creek, I noticed that the lights were only half on the street and so city staff said they would check into what was going on with the lights um going only half on. And then the greenery. I got a couple of um comments about the lack of greenery in the art installation that it didn't reflect what was pictured when the art installation on Sand Creek was presented to us and city staff is looking into greenery being put there. Other than that, that's my update. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Mendoza.

Hello. Since that's how we've met, um I attended a Cal's round table um with the subject matter of economic development. I met with our rabbi and um he will be meeting with our staff and we just want to make it clear that we um don't accept any anti-semitism, any kind of racism, any prejudice in our city and want to make sure he and his congregation feel safe. Attended um Supervisor Chanel Scales Preston's crowdfeed. Attended the lounge's three-year anniversary. um the downtown Brentwood coalition members meeting, another Cal's round table arounding ebike regulations, which had the most people I've ever seen at a round table. I think it was about 250. A lot of cities are having the same issues we're having around ebikes. I attended the Cal's Academy and was happy to be joined by um Carrie, which um we kind of geeked out during the financial presentations. Um attended the Brentwood Police Department um recognition dinner. attended the uh downtown Brentwood uh crab feed which was a lot of fun. Um attended the opening for with Amanda. We went and um our planning commissioner uh Chris Brand to the VR NextGen opening. Um and that is over at the Rail Shopping Center if you like um that kind of stuff. It was I didn't even want to put it on like it kind of scares me but um intended the contra contraosta rapid response training in light of what is happening with ICE. Um yesterday I had the um pleasure and the honor of attending the urban league of the greater Bay Area state of the black base survey and gub gubanatorial forum at UCSF. Um, today I attended a Trilogy fired severity zone meeting and um, it was really sad because these people all bought their houses when we didn't have these red zones in our area and now the updated county maps have red zones and a

lot of these people are going to be uninsurable or have really high insurance and it's going to impact their property values and their ability to sell. And um, from what it looks like it there's not much we can do at this moment. Um it would be nice if we could find ways to help them. Um Contracasta County Fire is trying to help them find ways to lower their rates with there's a list of like 20 things you can do and um if you do those you usually get a discount on your insurance from some providers but um elections matter and we have a new um insurance commissioner coming up in the state of California. So hopefully we get someone that can help with our rates. Thank you,

Council Member Orlemans. Thanks. Usually I'm loud enough without it, but okay. Uh we had the Tri Delta Transit uh gender review uh recognition ceremony for the Brentwood Police Department. A great event, and it was really nice hearing other officers within the building that weren't Brentwood officers. they were from other agencies saying, "Wow, I wish our department would do things like this for our people." So, it is a a shout out to the Brentwood PD that we do recognize our employees when they do great things. Um, the I attended the celebration uh for the 9-year anniversary with Rock Church in Antioch as well as the dedication of their new building at 501 Auto Center Drive. Thank you for the invitation, Vice Mayor. Um the meeting I had a meeting with the veterans uh regarding the construction on the fire station about parking and whether they were able to move some fences around and we're starting to work on that or see what fire can do to help us out with that. Um I attended a PAL meeting uh regarding the crab feed for uh PAL. The tickets are on sale right now and the event is March 14th and then the special meeting today of the closed session.

Thank you, Council Member Maloney.

Hello everyone. Um, since our last meeting, I attended a human trafficking fundraising event for Community Violence Solutions. It was a great event hosted by Vine and Grain and coordinated by Kyle Baker and Jessica Lopez. I'm very thankful for having members in our community actually advocate um for the fight against human trafficking and awareness. Um I also attended the East County NAACP MLK prayer breakfast along with other elected officials and community members. It was a great event where Dr. Martin Luther King's legacy was remembered and instilled to be continued forward for the pursuit of peace and justice. I also attended an award ceremony for outstanding performance at the community center that awarded various achievements such as mothers against drunk driving award, legal firearm recoveries, outstanding community service officer, outstanding officer and dispatch for the Brentwood Police Department. Um, I also attended the downtown Brentwood Coalition Crab Feed, which was a soldout event, and it was a great event. Thank you to the DBC for all that you do for our community. Um, I also attended the League of All Cities Mayors and Council Conference or Academy. Um, and I'm also happy to announce that I was appointed by the Kel Cities President to serve on the public safety policy committee. And I was also appointed by the League's African-American Caucus to serve on the Community Services Committee. And just for this year, the public safety policy committee priorities were identified as Prop 36 implementation, addressing fentanyl and other controlled substances. and wildfire mitigation and zone zero implementation. And for our community services policy committee, the priorities were identified as uh seniors and aging, parks and recreation and access to open space and early learning, child child care and youth programs with a homelessness component to all three. Other than that, now I'm here.

Thank you. Uh since we met last, I attended the League of California Cities roundt on economic development. Um the third anniversary of the lounge celebration. Um I attended the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service Cleanup at Creekide Park which was hosted by East Bay Regional Park District and the Marsh Creek Restoration Project. Um lots of volunteer opportunities available through that group. So Earth Team I think is the group that was of children kids there. um the Cal's round table on ebike regulation. Yes, it was hugely attended across the state. I gave a tour to a group of cub scouts um and their family members of city hall. Uh planning meeting for the community day of service for 2026. Um this will be our third year. Two years in a row, we've had approximately 700 volunteers and potentially around 30 nonprofits working together that day to support initiatives um happening in Brentwood. At this point, the date is April 18th. Mark your calendars as a tenative. We're working on on moving that forward. I met with East County Valkyrie girls flag football to discuss options to work with the city. Thank you for um to staff for working on that. the annual recognition ceremony for the Brentwood Police. Um the downtown business coalition crab dinner fundraiser attended Contraosta rapid response training to just really truly understand how to be an observer and to monitor if ICE does show up in our community. And with the San Francisco um immigrant center moving into conquered potentially by summer um I I think it's something we need to be aware of. And then also attended the Urban League of Greater San Francisco Bay Area Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast state of the black Bay Area and gubanatorial candidate forum and I am handing it over to Harold

Mayor due to the late hour I'm going to pass. Thank you. Okay, moving into we are at request for future agenda items and I have one. Um we used to do for LED I used to be on LED. Uh we used to do kind of a postevent um follow-up where we'd get a response on ROI. We'd get uh just kind of a breakdown of what the budget actually looked like coming back after the after the project. Um and so I'd like to see that it's basically grant reporting following um events or however the funding is used. I think that was something that was really helpful for LED members to be able to make future decisions and and city council in general to understand how that money is being spent. Any questions on that?

Can you elaborate a little more on that, mayor? Yes. So, following events that had been funded through LUD, there was a I'm sorry, the grants, right? Mhm. The grants. Um, there were it was like a P&L uh following it. So, they would report back to us. Did they actually spend the money the way it was supposed to be spent? Um, did they have to make any amendments? Did they learn anything from this? It was more like a did they meet the criteria through which they uh qualified for the grant. It's just a

So it's my understanding that there is a report that they're supposed to be providing to staff. Um I did have that conversation with Abraham yesterday and so I'll go back through and there are some organizations that have not done so. And so one of the things that we had talked about is when we come back for in the new cycle is that that's one of the conditions that they will need to comply with or or they should not be qualified or allowed to participate in the grant program the next year. But I'll before Abraham leaves tomorrow, Thursday, I will make sure that that we get um we get all that. We'll come back with a with a with a with a report back on.

Thank you. And I do remember when I was on Lud that that was a requirement, but I do also remember that some people had not complied. And I don't think if you want to call it enforcement, I don't think the enforcement of that requirement was consistent either. And so I think it just it really needs to be a very clear requirement. And did you have feedback? The actual requirement went away. Um Darren Gail asked to no longer do it. So I believe that that's what happened. He actually took it away um because I had asked for it and it I think it was there wasn't enough staff time, but I think there's a way that we can figure it out. Okay, great.

I was going to say the same thing. I without a full discussion, do we even have to have a future agenda item? It was not changed by council. It was changed by economic development with with Darren without the request of it. So, could we just go back without her without it coming back since it was not a council directive? Which is totally fine with me? Yeah, it it's it's actually the mayor. is actually still in the guidelines. But here's what we can do is that I believe there's no need for a future agenda item request. I believe that we can just come back to as a like a regular report to the council and and we'll have a discussion there. Fair enough. Sounds good. So, we'll add that to our our list of items.

Thank you very much. Okay. Um moving into item J1, Vice Mayor Pearson and Council Member Maloney will introduce their item. Thank you. Um, as I brought forward before, um, we right now have u, obviously big sporting events that are, uh, coming into the Bay Area. For example, Super Bowl and in June to July, we're going to have FIFA. And one of the things that I've learned that our city is not has not engaged with the Bay Area host committee in the Bay Area which is basically coordinating cities in Alama County Contraosta County to provide different type of types of tourism to um a lot of those uh tourists that are coming for those sporting events. So for the whole month we're too late for Super Bowl but for the whole uh month from June to July while FIFA is here. Um, one of the things that we'd like to focus is to have a tourism strategy for the city of Brentwood that focuses on day experience tourism, not necessarily locals that are coming here for that. Um, and how do we do that? Basically with engaging um, our community and a tourism stakeholders. Um, I've spoken to Harvest Time and I asked for this item to be actually uh put on the agricultural committee as well just so it could be on their radar uh to also engage Brentwood farmers um and any of our local businesses, restaurants, retailers, um event organizers, historical society um to basically come up with some sort of strategy for during this time. Um I looked at other cities for example um there are day experiences for Morgan Hill for example that I found where a person that can come they could go on a farm do horseback riding do picnics do a wine experience so those are the things that we don't have here they don't necessarily need to stay here because we don't have the hotel

infrastructure um but we can provide those um day experiences especially since we are the uppic capital here in Bratwood So, I could see farm events, day experiences, wine events that um basically partner with our historical society, with our downtown uh coalition. Um things that would invite that. And then we would just need to um basically um develop a marketing strategy and timeline that would work with all of our stakeholders to have that at least open and available during this period in time. Um, vice mayor, do you have anything else to add?

Yeah, I just wanted to throw some numbers out there. The there is an um the economic analyst for 2026 FIFA World Cup project that individual US host cities could see projections of about 160 million to 620 million in economic activity due to this event. Um, a lot of it will be visitor tourist spending, tourism, transportation, food and beverage. Of course, hospitality wouldn't be ours, but retail. Some things that people are hosting are like uh the things that the uh council member Maloney said, but even uh restaurant weeks that will enc encourage um economic activity um in places like our downtown area or other parts of our city um and or you pick weekends um that would encourage that in our agricultural spaces. Um, in a broader context, some cities have seen an upwards of $500 million in economic impact just on fan spending and tourism res revenues. So, I think it's definitely something that we need to look into um and have a broader conversation. The only issue is that it's right around the corner. So, this conversation, in my opinion, should be immediate and expedited with a return back from staff on some suggestions or comments as soon as possible. Any questions from staff to council or from council to council?

Well, mayor, I I think one of the important components that that we need to um come back to the to the um council with this. How are these other cities organizations doing that? What is the infrastructure that they have? I think the council's right. We have the product. We need to get the product out there. And so one of the things we want to do because of the short time frame is I suspect that these organizations actually have additional professional marketing help. And so what we need to do is we'll come back to the council with with what what they're doing and how they're doing the engagement and we may be able to just to look at that and either get seek additional resources to help or just provide our existing material to the right marketing people to get us with the right in the right connection. And I think um learning more about it. For example, Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek have already partnered up with the Bay Area host committee on their visit walnut creek.com, visit pleasanthill.com. And I think what they've what they're doing is just bringing all their stakeholders to kind of bring their product and sharing it with the Bay Area host committee. So I think it's incumbent on how do we bring all of our stakeholders, create that product, and share in it. So I think that's where we need to like what do we come up with? Yeah, I agree. I think that partnership with the host committee, they they'll probably help us generate ideas and marketing proposals. So

So can you clarify what is our time frame for being able to launch so to speak?

So So I think the event is going to start here in June in order for us to have something concrete. People start to plan things out at least two, three months, some six months, some a year. um it would be beneficial if we can have something by February. So the end of February from staff just to kind of kick it off and then when we um hold our agriculture committee just kind of talking to uh the a committee folks on harvest time on how we can create those different experiences. I've already spoken to Jessica Enos about this so that way she can get a heads up and start kind of thinking of different ideas as well. So, for a question for staff, um, how how are we feeling about capacity to be able to pull off something significant or are you thinking maybe if the first time we do it, it's a little bit smaller and then next time there's a little bit more capacity to expand and grow.

I mean, I'm guessing it's parks and wreck, but is it also you or is it not parks and wack? I mean, who would be Well, I don't I don't think it's parking rent. Economic development, maybe. Okay. And no one's here from there. Yeah. It won't be park It won't And they're short-handed. Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. Go ahead.

So, it it wouldn't necessarily fall to Park and Rex because what we're talking about really is is taking our existing items and being able to market it to the right organizations. And so, um I think we'll we'll look at economic development. would look at the city attorney's office and really look at um casting a net to with other cities and other city managers to find out to get to make the connection to get to the right people to expedite this. I think Park and Rex along with our other community partners have products that we can pull together and it's that those products that need to be connected with the with the right organizations. So um

economic development that that deals this 100% like in San Francisco economic development drove this is not throwing an actual event because a lot of times the host committee is just looking for a space to go to for their events like uh Harold said for actual already existing products. So we wouldn't even need anyone to throw anything. This is just hey we have space this these are our offerings and how do we come to the table to sit to drive more um tax dollars being spent in our city. Yeah. Okay. Thank you for clarifying. Uh question though because we do have two people short now in economic development. Is that something you're feeling comfortable about taking on? Yes. Okay.

Yeah. And I think I was just going to say we could always ask our local partners to create the experiences themselves. We're just marketing or helping the marketing. So I don't think we necessarily need to create it. We're just the layers on. And I I think what's important is that we look at this from the standpoint of understanding the infrastructure identifying what really works. For example, you pick is such a standalone unique opportunity and to be able to and I'm not I I think I'm there. I I will you pick capital of the nation of the world. Well, I'm not quite sure yet, but but uh it, you know, just the I when I was coming to Brentwood and I got a copy of that map, that map was so impressive uh and and you could spend weekends here, week after week. And I think that that is such a an opportunity to market. So we may want to look at you know what can we do immediately and develop that strategy and then then come back the next time with a larger with a larger strategy. So um our focus will be what do we have shovel ready to give to someone to be able to say the highest end with this with this organization.

Absolutely. Yeah. Great. Great. If there aren't any other questions, moving into public comment. At this time, the public is permitted to address the city council on this agenda item. If you're participating via Zoom, please raise your hand to speak. If you're in person, please file a speaker card. Your microphone will be muted if you speak on items that do not pertain to this agenda item. I have no cards in person and I have no hands raised in Zoom. Okay. Thank you. Any further discussion on this?

Yes. No, I think it's great. We always need uh tourism. I'm sharing my screen because I think what we have is a page. Can you see that? And it has the visitors on here and it has the buckets. I think we probably need to be a little bit focused on what we want. So, like, okay, so wineries, what's our goal for the wineries? Um, is it, you know, um, they can't spend the night here because we really don't have that many hotels here. So, what does that look like? They're already doing a trolley. So, do do we think we need to expand the trolley? Um, how do we help them bring in more people to do their tastings and buy their bottles? So, like I think that's one area of tourism. And then the Upupic one, I mean they that one they have I think I mean they're golden on that. I I don't know how many more people we can take on our roads for you during that time because it's like it's so crazy. Um, and then I think about events and when um like so for example when you're talking about the soccer I'm like do we part like we don't have the soccer fields yet right we're not going to have them for that but do we partner with someone like the DBC and say hey if you want to run this program to bring people downtown to celebrate you know the World Cup like do we put up a big screen and you can watch a game downtown like what does that look like um I think it's a good idea but I think it's like putting it in these buckets that are very targeted and what is someone already doing that we can just leverage and maybe help them a little bit because um I don't think we have to own it all like you were saying we could be like the liaison but I think there's a lot of it I think the FIFA one definitely if if we could find a partner to help us do that and figure that out that would be so fun but um I mean I'd love to see Bad Bunny on a big screamer we're going to miss that one but um so I think um the FIFA one I do worry about the FIFA one because a lot of people are saying they're going to boycott the games because Northern California got the worst pick of the games in the whole tournament, I think. So, I'm not sure how many people are going to get um I mean, people are trying to sell their tickets now. So, but I think it's a

great idea. I just think maybe bucketing it up and who's doing it and where can we take them and if we think there's a next level they can go to, how do we do that, you know? So, that was it. That was my only comments. Okay. Um a motion then. Can I add one more comment? I think that we're focusing on FIFA, but I I'd like this to be ongoing that we continue this for other events. So, um I think when we made this agenda item, it wasn't just for this event, but um it was for future to always be in constant contact of when we find out things are coming to California or Bay Area that we figure out a way to be involved and bring that generate revenue to our city.

Yeah. You know, and just to be clear, what my goal would be is to help the city develop the infrastructure. So we we we take a we take this sample and we run it through and we we develop a system where it's easy for us to put our our best products into the system to make the connection as as as uh uh uh council member Mendoza said we can take it take it to the next level of an existing of existing program. Okay. Um, you want to make the motion f? Uh, you can if you want to.

I'd like to direct staff time and attention to um to look into how we can um begin to bring more I'm sorry to work with I'm sorry I had it in my head and I didn't write it down. Sorry, just a second because I had to look at also my notes. How we can um work to Go ahead, F. You do it. I'm sorry. I just lost everything I was going to say.

All right. I would like to direct staff to prepare a tourism strategy for the city of Brentwood that focuses on day experience tourism. uh that leverages our Brentwood a tourism and local amenities and captures basically the increased Bay Area visitation associated um especially with the FIFA event occurring in July but also other events and if we can engage with our local stakeholders to um help lay on with them on creating that um day experience or strategy to attract the tourists. um also to engage with the Bay Area Host Committee to create that line of communication where we're funneling our day experiences and creating that marketing strategy with our partners to um advertise what we have and to attract the tourism.

And can we can we add to that and to return to the council no later than March 24th? Could we do end of February? Yeah, I was gonna say can we do either early March or end of February? No later than March 10th. Okay. No later than March 10th. I second that motion. Roll call, please. Council member Maloney. Yes. Vice Mayor Pearson. Yes. And I'm alive. Council member Mendoza. Yes. Council member Orlemans. Yes. Mayor Meyer. Yes. The item passes. And one more motion, please. I make a motion to adjurnn. Second.

Did you say second? Okay. Uh, roll call, please. Council member Maloney. Yes. Council me or Vice Mayor Pearson? Yes. May alone. Council member Mendoza. Yes. Council member Orleman. Yes. Mayor Meyer. Yes. So, we are adjourned. Thank you. Thank you. Good night.