City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you.

Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the June 9th Special City Council meeting. We have a quorum, so we can begin with a roll call, please.

Council Member Maloney. Present. Vice Mayor Pearson. Present. 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.

Moving into public comments, the public comment time for tonight's items will be three minutes each. 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 first being called upon first. In addition, in order to maintain decorum and ensure that no one site is obstructed, public commenters are reminded not to approach the dais.

At this time, members of the public are permitted to address the city council and items listed on the closed session agenda. We did receive one written public comment in advance, which is summarized on the screen above. First speaker I have is Danny.

What about the Rocks? Glad you asked. There are accusations floating out there about something unforgivable. There have been whispers about it in the city, and I for one can no longer be quiet. There are accusations about your team, Mr. Duffy, or as the kids say, them streets be talking. There are assertions that include, but are not limited to, extracurricular activities such as bowling. during business hours, hours that we pay and expect work to benefit our city, not the top bowling score. Taking advantage of city-funded activities such as going to seminars and meetings, which have little, if any, benefit to our city. For example, there are allegations of an excessive number of your employees, sir, and an excursion to Disneyland. Unfortunately, this might include a meeting between our former interim city manager and several, and by several six or seven, to discuss who can go this year and who can go next year. Employees exploiting our sickness tardy regulations, which if you don't know, you can actually find online. Unfortunately, these actions were taken with either permission or participation from our former interim city manager. Many of these alleged allegations took place under the previous city manager as well, who often just turned a blind eye. Some of you may think, well, city leadership gave permission for these activities or authorizations. That's a convenient thing to say now that they're gone, one, and that's no excuse for another. Yes, these are serious allegations. Some may even argue that this misuse may have a greater impact on our city than a couple of emails by two dummies. I don't know how these allegations are supposed to be addressed. Should I submit a formal request? Is this a future agenda item? Or can a city manager do his job? Me, I don't care. In closing, as a reminder, my claims do not fall outside of FOIA. I would rather not ask for emails, hotel receipts, and bowling scores, but as recent events have shown, text remains forever. And as the Bible says, and I'm paraphrasing, ye who is without sin cast the first stone. Thank you.

The next speaker is Melissa.

May I approach? I guess I have a hard time understanding why, in 2026, we are still having to hold conversations about what constitutes appropriate treatment of women in the workplace. I also wonder why some men continue to fail upwards despite their known record, but that is a different matter. Call it toxic masculinity ruins the party again, I guess. We talked about harassment and discrimination like they're isolated incidents, but the data tells a different story. Between 2018 and 2021, women filed more than 78% of all sexual harassment charges, according to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. That statistic only covers the incidents that get reported. The EEOC has also found that up to 90% of people who experience harassment never file a formal complaint, mostly due to fear of ridicule and retaliation. That being said, harassment is only part of the picture. Discrimination against women in the workplace is just as normalized. A Pew Research Center study found that 42% of working women in the United States say they have experienced gender discrimination on the job. When we talk about workplace culture, we're not just talking about feelings or perceptions. We're talking about a system where women are consistently undervalued, underpaid, and pushed out. Harassment and discrimination reinforce each other. They shape whether women feel safe speaking up, whether they're taken seriously in leadership, and whether they stay in the room at all. As mentioned in my previous comment two weeks ago, studies show that workplace discrimination undermines professional advancement, leads to higher turnover, and has measurable impacts on mental and physical health including anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Public trust is not just about policy decisions. It is about conduct, integrity, and the standards we are willing to uphold when no one is watching. I'm no longer talking about just some salacious text messages, but the additional discriminatory behavior that has recently come to light in the mere six months Mr. Duffy has been employed by our city. When we excuse behavior like this, we are signaling to every woman in this community and every young woman watching that their dignity is negotiable. For the love of every woman that has ever worked, does work, and will work for the city of Brentwood, please make the right decision regarding this matter. We're supposed to be better. Thank you.

I have no additional speaker cards.

Thank you. Closing public comments. We need a motion to recess to close session.

I make a motion to recess. Second.

All in favor?

Aye.

We're in recess. We are returning from closed session. Thank you for your patience. We had two items. For item number E.2, there was no reportable action. For item number E.1, I'm going to read a statement. Tonight, the city council voted to place the city manager on paid administrative leave effective immediately. on motion by Council Member Maloney and second by Council Member Orlemans. The vote was as follows. Mayor Meyer, yes. Vice Mayor Pearson, abstain. Council Member Maloney, yes. Council Member Mendoza, yes. Council Member Orlemans, yes. I want to be clear that administrative leave is not a final determination of any matter. I know residents may have questions and I understand the desire for transparency. This is a personnel matter and there are legal privacy and due process limits on what the city can publicly discuss at this time. Our responsibility now is to preserve the integrity of the process, ensure continuity and city operations and continue delivering the services that residents rely on every day. In the interim, city operations will continue under the leadership of the city's executive team and department heads. The council has confidence in our city staff. We appreciate the community's engagements and patience. We will share additional information when it is appropriate and legally permissible. Do I have a motion to adjourn closed session?

So moved. I'll second.

All in favor? Aye. Closed session is adjourned. starting a regular city council meeting again. Thank you for your patience. We have a quorum, so we can begin. Can we get a roll call, please? Council Member Maloney?

Present.

Vice Mayor Pearson?

Present. Council Member Mendoza? Here. Council Member Orliman?

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,

with liberty and justice for all.

Okay. We are going to start with the presentation, item C1. I'd like to welcome BART Director Mark Foley and invite him to the podium.

Thank you. Good evening there members of the City Council. My name is Mark Foley. I am your representative on the BART Board of Directors. My district spans from the Concord Martinez area all the way out to the end of Eastern Contra Costa County and just so that you know a little bit about me. I'm a 47 year resident of Contra Costa County and a 23 year homeowner in Antioch and I wanted to come and talk to you tonight about the new BART and 2026 and 2027. So with that, talk to you a little bit about what we are doing to try to improve safety, cleanliness, and reliability of our system. So hopefully you've ridden BART recently, and if you have, you've seen the new fare gates that we've installed, over 700 gates at 50 stations. We did that under budget and ahead of schedule. In addition to recouping about what we feel is gonna be $10 million a year in additional revenue, We've actually seen a reduction of over a thousand hours in rider driven maintenance, graffiti, things of that sort that has essentially gone away in some areas because of these fare gates. So we've seen not only an improvement in revenue, but also a decrease in our day to day costs. In addition to that, what we're really talking about is also police presence in the system. We changed the way that our officers are deployed, and we've seen a drop of crime over 41% year over year. Folks are recognizing that when they're in the system, feeling safer. And that's really recognized in our customer service results. Almost nine out of 10 folks that take BART say they recommend it to a family member, a friend, or an out-of-state visitor because they are seeing positive change within the system. And part of that too is enhanced cleaning. We've actually doubled the number of cleaning crews that we have within the system to really focus on the rider experience. Oh good, didn't happen too far. Tap and Ride. We were the first agency in the Bay Area to adapt Tap and Ride, which allows you to simply use your debit or ATM card, your mobile device, your watch, to pay for your payment without having to have a clipper card. That actually represents about, in April, it was almost 900,000 trips that we actually took using Tap and Ride. In addition to that, we're actually seeing sort of that seamless integration between not just BART, but other agencies like Tri Delta Transit. um glowing up our stations uh led lighting i have two daughters who ride bart and they ride it solo i want them to feel safe in the system i want the system to be well lit so that anyone who's riding feels welcomed and also feels as though they can be on a platform in the evening and not feel as though they're scared so really what we're trying to focus on is lighting up our stations to make them more attractive and welcoming for riders in the evenings and in addition to that we've been focusing on our escalator repair and replacements. 23 of our 40 escalators in downtown San Francisco have been replaced. If you've been there recently, you'll notice that many of the escalators now have external enclosures. We've actually added a top of the street level kind of closure that allows us to actually lock down the escalator at the end of service so individuals aren't housing themselves in the escalator during the evening or overnight hours. So it isn't just about focusing on our regular day-to-day work, but also celebrating BART in the Bay Area. Picture here of us doing a Concord movie night out of the Concord Station. Some of you may have read the news, but over the weekend I got to take my wife to prom. I was one of 1,200 folks that attended the BART prom at the Rockridge Station. Not only are these events an opportunity for us to really celebrate transit and BART in the Bay Area, It actually is a money-making investment for the district, so we actually generate revenue for these events, and it is something that we like to do really just to celebrate all that BART is in a positive way within the Bay Area. I mentioned earlier about fare gates and not everyone can afford to ride BART without skipping their fare. So, you know, historically we've had student discounts, discounts for mobility challenged riders, seniors that would ride the system. so we worked with mtc and developed clipper start which allows for a income-based reduction on your affair so it's up to 50 off your affairs riding bart and it's basically someone who is has income at 200 of the poverty level or below has the opportunity to apply and actually be a clipper start rider uh in april we had almost 200 000 rides using clipper start in addition to clipper start we have bay pass and if you don't know what that is it's either an employer or a educational institution buys essentially an unlimited pass for folks to be able to ride bart or any other transit in the bay area for one monthly cost so i can take tri delta transit to bart to county connection and i'm simply paying one fare for the entire month no matter how many days i ride what time of day what day of the week um uc berkeley their student union just joined that um and next year san jose state will be back in there as well so really trying to offer that up to educational institutions and employers like ucf ucsf that have taken advantage of this. And then lastly, one of the things that we focus on as an agency, twice a year we basically look at our data and where our ridership is, and we re-sync our ridership schedules. So we work with the Tri Delta Transits and the County Connections of the world to make sure that our changes are known to them, so that they can adjust schedules accordingly and we can try to synchronize so that their writers who are ultimately our writers are able to connect or vice versa. So we also have some cost and revenue challenges, as you probably have heard. The Bay Area still has the highest adoption of remote work in the country. And most folks are only going in the office two or three days a week. And that's really representative of what our ridership looks like. We're at about 50% of our pre-pandemic ridership during the week. And what that has resulted in is about a three to $400 million annual operating deficit because BART was built on the concept that riders who pay for their fares is what will help pay for the daily operations of the agency. So as you can see, pre-COVID, 71% of our operating budget came directly from the fare box. That dropped into the 30% range. So we're starting to look at a world where we are very short in our operating funding. In fact, we're estimating around $370 million starting in FY27. Now, I will say that on Thursday, we're going to hopefully approve a budget that will actually be balanced for fyi 27 which means we've been able to sort of sustain our additional revenue that we've gotten from some increased ridership and some money savings moves that we've made to actually push that out to fyi 28 but that's. only part of the solution. We need to get folks back into the system, which is why we've really focused on trying to welcome riders back. But part of it is looking at the fair model that worked for the first 50 years of BART and really just doesn't work the way that people are going into the office today. So we kind of looked at ourselves first. What are we doing? Well, we are one of the lowest per mile costs of other rail agencies in the United States. If you do a direct comparison, in fact, The challenge we face during coven we reduce service 40% almost overnight that only resulted in a 12% reduction in the budget so. Fixed rail does not easily scale back to just reducing a train you still need to inspect all of the tracks, you still need to inspect all of the stations, you still need power, so even if you run less trains, you are still having a majority of your costs that are fixed. So part of it was looking at what are we doing the way of accountability and oversight so during the last eight years, we actually have brought on board and inspector general. One of the few in the Bay area, one of the few in the state for a transit agency and the IG basically looks at fraud waste and abuse within the system to see if there's anything that we can do to improve the way we do business. Additionally, we created an audit committee that looks at. reports from the Inspector General, but also provides feedback to the full board. And then lastly, as part of Senate Bill 63, which, as you may know, is the enabling legislation to allow a ballot measure, part of that was doing a multi-phase independent third-party audit of the large Bay Area transit agencies' accounting, spending, and revenue And so they found that Bart had saved close to $516 million in operating costs over the last six years. And as of Thursday, we will be adopting a set of specific strategies to help improve our revenue, but also control costs. So you've probably heard a bit again about this transit measure. It isn't just BART, let me say that it's also AC Transit, it's also Muni, it's also Caltrain, but We also included languages to support Tridel to transit and county connection. So they're actually specifically called out in the bill to receive funding if this were to pass. As you probably are aware, the Connect Bay Area campaign turned in over 300,000 signatures about a week ago. They only needed 186,000, which is hopefully supportive of how the Bay Area feels about transit and investing in its success. But even if a ballot measure was successful on additional operating revenue was identified, that's only about 310 million, which still puts us in the 50 to $70 million annual deficit range. But staff has reassured the board that they can do what they think is necessary to close that gap with a number of levers that we can pull. But separate from that, I just wanna touch base about the budget state loan that was opened up to transit agencies in the Bay Area. We would not take that loan. Unless we're able to pay it back so we're going to accept the terms on Thursday. But we're essentially going to hold that money in escrow and if there is additional revenue in November, then we'll be able to utilize those funds as a bridge between when a sales tax would take place and the beginning of the calendar year. If there is not additional revenue we wouldn't be able to pay the loan back so we couldn't be good conscious except. So as part of this budgetary process this year, we asked staff to look at an alternative, a plan B, if you will. What if we don't have revenue in November? What do we do to still provide great service? So we've been focusing on the service I talked about earlier, but what if we don't have additional revenue? What will that look like? So we asked staff to go through and identify ways that we could try to close that 300 plus million dollar gap. And what that looks like for us, as you've probably heard, is a number of cost-saving measures that we're beginning January of 2027. It's about a 70% reduction in services, closing stations at 9 p.m. Instead of the 10-minute headways between cranes that we now enjoy on the Yellow Line, that would go to 30 minutes across the board, we might need to close stations. And just a word about that. When staff initially brought us a list of stations, it was based on ridership. Myself and Director Rinn out of Walnut Creek ask that we have that language change so that the board as the decision making body like yourselves are the ones that will decide if any stations need to be closed and, if so, which stations those are and why. Because just looking at ridership doesn't necessarily talk about the impact to a community or the impact to say highway for. And again just touch on one other thing We might have to lay off up to a third of our staff for about 1,200 employees pretty significant drop-off and the challenge with that is when you lay someone off who is Certified you simply just can't bring someone back in when ridership goes up in two or three months They have to go through recertification and training so making that decision really pushes out our ability to make additional recovery after, say, ridership is starting to peak back up. And lastly, I will just say the World Cup is starting later this week. I encourage if you're spending lots of money on a ticket to spend less money taking Bart down to Levi's. You can jump on the yellow line, get off at Milpitas, jump on the VTA light rail, and get right to the stadium. And with that, I am happy to answer any questions that you might have.

Thank you, Director Foley. Do we have any questions? Comments? Thank you very much for your report.

Thank you.

Thank you. Moving into public comments, the public comment time for tonight's items will be three minutes each. 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. In addition, in order to maintain decorum and ensure that no one's site is obstructed, public commenters are reminded to not approach the dais.

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 under informational reports or on consent calendar 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. The microphone will be muted when the timer expires. First speaker I have is Sahil.

Hello, City Council staff and City Council members. Thank you for letting us present some brief regards regarding the work of our Youth Commission. First, hello, everyone. My name is Sahil. I am a commissioner on the Brentwood Youth Commission. And now let's delve deeper into what we are doing. As of right now, the Youth Commission is preparing to transition into a new term and welcome four new youth commissioners who were selected out of a group of 21 applicants to fill term limited seats on the commission. If confirmed by you, the City Council, this coming July, their service to the City of Brentwood will begin, signifying a new era to a commission dedicated to serving our youth. Along with this, our first ever STEM Fair occurred exactly one month prior on the 9th of May and was an utter success. we were able successfully able to engage with the community raise enough money to sustain our two scholarships attract numerous exhibitors across Brentwood and the tri-delta area and have a staggering attendance of almost 200 individuals unprecedented given the fact that this is the first debut of an event and now just quickly before I move on I'd just like to thank Madam Mayor Meyer for attending the event briefly at the start Then we also awarded three individuals a total of $2,250, partition-buying the three in varying amounts, for either winning our signature youth commission scholarship or our civic essay competition. the youth commission scholarship has been the flagship predominant scholarship that has been a fundamental purpose and a pillar of the youth commission ever since we were established or and the civic essay competition would just introduce this year in this term and it was you had to apply by encapsulating by showing how you civically engage with brentwood which effectively means that everyone who applied and ended up winning, made Brentwood a better place in the end. Finally, before I'd like to end, I just want to thank Madam Mayor Meyer and the whole City Council for allowing the commission to exist and supporting our initiatives all these years. And now with that, thank you City Council staff and City Council members. I yield the floor.

The next speaker I have is Tracy, followed by Pastor Greg.

hello you all know who i am and i'm here basically to discuss my uh i was going to say discovery request but my records request to three of you and it was pearson maloney and orlemans i have been asking since april for emails or whatever it's in my document request but i was met with they needed additional time which is fine then nothing so i called trying to find out what was going on and you know i don't even know how many times but i have made several attempts and i was told that patnisha said there was nothing i was told that faye didn't even respond and tony you did provide two screenshots so i appreciate that because you actually knew what I was looking for. I find it hard to believe that there was meetings referenced on February 10 regarding the Community Service Center. And Patnisha, you said one meeting and then at some point you said at the first meeting, which implies there was two meetings. So anyway, I was trying to get the information from you guys because I'm interested in that. So then I emailed everybody. because I was upset, nobody was responding. And Ms. McVey said that she was going to try to get documents signed where you say there's nothing, of course, radio silence. So at this point I was, I'm angry. So I submitted another document request because I find it hard to believe that there's been no meetings, no discussion, nothing, no call logs, there's notes. I can't believe there's nothing in your records regarding the meetings that you've had. And I don't care what you say, I don't believe it. Anyway, so I submit a second request saying I want everything. Then I was met with it's too broad. Well, I have no choice because I have still not gotten a document saying that you've done a diligent search or records or deny my request, I have gotten nothing. And that is not okay. When a citizen asks for a document, you need to do the search and get it to them. Not just radio silence. I have asked and talked on the phone, nothing's in writing. So I think this is totally inappropriate. And I demand that I've written you an email that tells you what I want and how I expect it to be handled pursuant the rules, I don't even know if it's the California Public Records or the Brown Act, but there's definitely rules in there that need to be complied with.

The next speaker is Pastor Greg, followed by Danny.

Psychological safety in public spaces is a subjective experience of emotional and physical wellbeing free from the pressure of survival needs and social anxiety. It acts as a safe container or holding environment that allows individuals to regulate unconscious anxieties, lower psychological defenses, and engage with their environment and with others without fear of judgment or rejection. Hey, y'all. I'm Greg. I am a pastor. I am a clinical psychology doctoral student. And I am also getting a doctorate in ministry. I say all that intentionally as a gender expansive human. in this society, because it's important for us to understand that many of us do not already feel safe. I'm also black, if you haven't noticed, and blackness has not always been welcomed here in Brentwood, so much so that when my family, I have five kids, moved into our home, the Trump flag was on the corner, and clearly we don't feel safe around that. As a gender expansive human who is experiencing all of the unrest because of what's going on in society. I wanted to come to y'all today and I was asked to come to y'all today to speak about the Juneteenth celebration that's coming, which I am very, very grateful for that it's even happening here in Brentwood because what a amazing moment in time for that to happen. But also, I think it's really important for us to consider who is on the docket, who is on the ticket, right? because not everyone on the docket has made queer folk like myself feel comfortable or feel safe to even be in presence anywhere in America, let alone at a celebration that is supposed to be celebrating my blackness. If my queerness cannot be invited to the celebration where my blackness is being celebrated, I don't even know how I can show up. So I want us to consider what it means and what it looks like for us to bring forth individuals who are known for their hatred or their hate speech or their language that has been across pulpits and platforms and microphones that has not made my community feel safe. As a clinician in our community and a pastor in our community, I am constantly helping folks heal through those moments. I think it would be amazing if we think through that in the forefront so safety is already what they have. So when they come to my office for any of the reasons, they're in celebration mode and not still living in the fear and unrest of what it meant to show up to another event where other folks were lifted and their blackness and their queerness was demonized and problematic based on who is up there speaking or singing across the platform. So I appreciate your time. Thank you.

I honestly don't know what to say about your decision. Two of you, one's a cop, one's an ex-cop. I am very, very, very certain that there are emails you would love to never see the light of day. And you know this. And yet, Madam Mayor, Councilwoman. My mistake was saying it was about race. Because when I looked online, that's what it seemed like. Oh, yeah, well, you know, he's a black man from Oakland. And and, you know, he probably did all those things he did. But no. When I was here earlier today, which now that the gentleman's no longer here, I guess my claims that I brought to the light of day will now not be seen. The word on them streets, so to speak, which actually now as I was doing listening, I realized it wasn't about race. It was about a few people who didn't like the change in the culture they were forced to change with. I gave you the information. It's up to you guys to actually follow through and see if what is out there is true. And the only way you can't find it is if you don't look. is why that man's not here not a text not his color because he had the audacity to come in here and tell some of these members of staff and by the way i know who you are i know who you are but It astounds me. I kind of expected two of them, two of you, to vote, but all four of you? No, I just couldn't believe it. I can't believe that you guys bowed down with the, oh my God, he's racist, I mean, not racist, he's sexist, oh my God, my panties are in a bunch, I'm clutching my pearls. I can't believe you guys fell for that, but you did. If you really wanna show through the research I gave.

The next speakers are Clay, followed by Paul, followed by Sue.

So before I officially start, I wanna say and call the previous speakers because that is the rich tapestry that is Brentwood that I love. Hello, city council, mayor, city staff, members of various committees, Oh, that we have tonight. I have to read this better. In case you don't know, I'm Clay Holley, resident, community advocate, pot stirrer, and man of the people. I'm coming to you today as a warning. I have a new thing a-brewin', and this is your advance notice that I'm gonna be back. Here's what I'll be presenting in the near future. Brentwood, our suburban city with 60 some odd thousand residents, our eventual build out, over 90,000. That's 50% more than where we are at right now. Imagine your family of four, now a family of six. Your family of six, now a family of nine. That's a lot of growth. What I've noticed recently that we as a community have been reactionary to much of our growth. Taken by surprise, if you will. The city council gets items to vote on and the residents are caught off guard wondering how did this happen? It goes through planning, it goes through the city staff, it goes to the city council, nobody worries until the residents find out, then, you know. I'm going to be proposing a plan to be proactive in managing our growth. The way the various committees communicate amongst themselves and provide that information to the public. The way, when it reached the city council, few people are surprised. The subject? The Brentwood corridor. The last time it was updated was in 2015. Since then, we've grown by 20%. It's coming down the pike soon, or it should be. So far i've had conversations of two of my favorite elected officials, so the rest of you stop ducking my calls. i'm going to be checking in I want to hear the concerns of you and your constituents, so we can come up with a plan to keep things better in Brentwood let's together make a plan for the future. And I'd be remiss if I didn't remind everybody loves seeing clay. Some love seeing me when I arrive, the rest when I leave. Thank you.

Good evening. As we march towards July 4th, America 250, I hope our city is planning a robust celebration of our country, untainted by leftist rhetoric and backward-looking criticisms. Our country has provided the greatest prosperity and freedom for the greatest number of people of any country in history. Yet we have seen protests in our community to disrupt our government. The council needs to carefully vet organizations prior to issuing demonstration permits so they cannot use us like fodder to their cause. Recent examples, No Kings, a national organization of loose affiliation supported by billions in funding. And AACP tried to destabilize a destabilization campaign in Brentwood using the Ramirez case. Brentwood should never be a platform for these subversive groups. Right now, insane and suicidal sanctuary state Democrat policies mean that criminals elements might be here in Brentwood. Due to our geography, our city is the perfect nesting ground for human trafficking and slavery. December 9, 2025 proclamation against slavery and human trafficking is laudable and a strong first step in fighting back. What action will be taken in Brentwood? Will the council strongly advocate seamless interaction with ICE, DHS, DOJ, FBI, and our police to eliminate these criminals and find those enslaved and trafficked? We need to hear an action plan and see it in action. Please make an announcement. Otherwise, a proclamation is just a piece of paper. When I was going through the public school system, there was something called C.A.R.E. The teachers and students and leaders strove to create embracive environments and guide every child to perform their best. Over the years, C-A-R-E has been replaced by D-E-I, which masquerades as something warm and fuzzy. Don't be taken in. DEIA is a harsh Marxist orthodoxy based on exploiting race, sex, genderism, division, discrimination, and prejudice. Its political purpose is to destroy exceptionalism, separate people into groups, and establish dominant political control over our lives. We have seen the disastrous effects in higher education, medicine, military, air traffic control, aviation, high tech, policing, and our political representatives. qualifications have been loosened in. reference to quotas for special class individuals today we routinely leave behind half of our students who cannot meet grade level reading and math testing does the Council feel alarmed about this, could the city staff talk about how Brent which di program is avoiding this trap, thank you.

Mine will be quicker and easier. I'm here about the fires that happened, fire that was last week in Brentwood. I'm here on behalf of the residents of Shadow Lakes, Brentwood Hills, and surrounding areas to address a persistent public safety hazard. at a property believed to be owned by an llc or an investment group in southern California some residents were evacuated from their homes, due to this second fire in the same area. Due to the owners ongoing failure to maintain vegetation and remove combustible debris our neighborhood has already suffered two major fires linked to this parcel one last year and one just recently. Our area has been reclassified into a higher fire risk zone, increasing the burden on emergency services and mitigation budgets. Homeowners are facing steep insurance premium hikes, non-renewals, and some cancellations tied directly to the elevation of wildfire risk in this area. Property values and residents' financial stability could be undermined a single, By a single negligent parcel we respectfully request that the city direct code enforcement and fire prevention to conduct an immediate inspection under applicable weed abatement and hazardous vegetation ordinances and then any future follow up fees and actions to bring them into compliance. This is a clear matter of public safety and fiscal responsibility with urgency needed as we are just beginning the fire season. Thank you.

The last speaker card I have is Melissa.

And if we could, Terrance, if we could have staff follow up with Sue and maybe we can work out some sort of a report in the future for another item. Thank you.

Hello much happier terms gosh I am so thankful that the first amendment is still a thing that exists in our country for now anyway. And I just want to stand here and give my thanks to the Council, who I know worked hard a couple years ago to make this happen and to the city and staff that continue the tradition of. flying the pride flag in Brentwood. As a member of the LGBTQ plus community, there are so many of us in East County and it means so much to us to see our city fly the flag that represents us and the hardships that we've faced. So just, I wanna be on the record for my complete thanks and also bring tidings from the Reconciling Committee at the Brentwood Community United Methodist Church. I'M SO GLAD THAT BRONTWOOD IS WILLING TO STEP UP AND REPRESENT EVERYBODY. THANK YOU.

I HAVE NO ADDITIONAL SPEAKERS.

THANK YOU, AMANDA. WE'RE GOING TO MOVE INTO THE CONSENT CALENDAR. AND WE WILL PRESENT ITEM F2 AFTER THE VOTE. IS ANYTHING GOING TO BE PULLED? Okay, do we have a motion?

Make a motion to approve the consent calendar. I second.

All in favor? Aye. Thank you.

And if... I apologize for the record. Can I read the ordinance title?

Yes, of course.

An ordinance of the City Council of the City of Brentwood approving a zoning text amendment to the Brentwood Municipal Code RZ26-002 to add Chapter 17.695, restaurants with on-premises alcohol sales, establish development standards for restaurants with on-premises alcohol sales and amend land use classifications for restaurants with or without the sale of alcohol citywide.

Thank you. For item F2, we'd like to invite LUHSD Board Trustee Dr. Tamela Hawley and LUHSD Board President Tamara Weber to receive a proclamation for Juneteenth. And I'd like to ask Vice Mayor Patanisha Pearson to present it.

Good afternoon, good evening everyone. It is my distinct honor to stand before you all on behalf of the city of Brentwood to present the proclamation in recognition of Juneteenth and also to do so, and I want to classify that as Juneteenth Day of National Independence. It's also a privilege to do so with two amazing educators who are here today. On June 19, 1865, Union Army Major General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas, and delivered the news that enslaved people were free more than two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Two years. Let that settle and sit for a moment. Two years of people who had been enslaved still being enslaved when they were indeed free. Freedom had been declared on paper, but it had not yet arrived in practice. Juneteenth is the day freedom finally landed. For generations of Americans, we've kept this alive, not just black Americans, but all Americans have kept this day alive, because it's American history, it's not black history. passing it down through family generations, community celebrations, and quiet acts of remembrance, even when the broader nation turned a blind eye and looked away. It was on June 17th, 2021, the then-seated President Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, making it a law that was the first reckoned federally holiday since MLK Day was established in 1983. But a holiday on a calendar does not complete the work that we still must do. Black Americans continue to face systemic challenges, including persistent wealth gaps, disproportionate incarceration rates, ongoing health disparities. Juneteenth is not a finish line. It is a marker that reminds us how far we have come and a mirror that shows us just how far we still need to go. So that is why the two people today mean so much to me as a parent in the city of Brentwood. Dr. Tamela H. Hawley and Board President Tamara Weber, you serve on the Liberty Union High School District Board at a time when what children learn and what they are permitted to learn is contested on a daily basis. You show up anyway. You advocate for students who need dedicated voices in their corner. Juneteenth teaches us that freedom delayed is still freedom to be fought for. Dr. Hawley and President Weber, your work in public education is the continuation of what that fight truly means to us in Brentwood. Many of the council attended the recent graduations, the African American Baccalaureate, and every student that walks across that stage knows their full history, and hopefully they know their full worth. That's a testament to leaders like you all. So on behalf of our mayor, Susanna Meyer, our city council, and the residents of Brentwood, it is my privilege to present you all with the proclamation for Juneteenth. And so now I'll read the proclamation. presented to Liberty Union High School District Board Trustee Dr. Tamela H. Hawley and Liberty Union High School District Board President Tamela Weber, whereas Juneteenth observed annually on June 19th commemorates the day in 1865 when news of freedom finally reached enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, making a pivotal moment in the nation's journey towards liberty and justice, and whereas Juneteenth stands as both a celebration of freedom and a reminder of the ongoing pursuit of equity, opportunity, and dignity for all people, and whereas the city of Brentwood recognizes and honors the enduring contributions, achievements, and leadership of African American individuals and communities whose efforts have enriched our nation, strengthened our institutions, and shaped our shared future. And whereas Juneteenth provides an opportunity for education, reflection, and community engagement, inspiring meaningful conversations about our history and the values that unite us, and whereas the city of Brentwood remains committed to fostering a welcoming, inclusive, and respectful community where diversity is valued and every resident has the opportunity to thrive. Now for be it proclaimed that the city of Brentwood does hereby recognize the 19th day of June as Juneteenth. Would you all like the opportunity to speak?

This is an amazing presentation, not only because, as Fatenisha Pearson mentioned, our school district is non-wavering when it comes to making sure that students do know all of our history, even in the face of resistance from those who are supposed to be regulating us. We still have one of the first black history courses, and we will not stop. We will continue to build and include all students. But it's also very personal to me since, as some of you may know, my family is from Texas. And we are amongst one of the largest slave-holding families in the nation, the Heath family. And we did not get the word until two years later that we were free. And so this is not just about educating others, it's also about revering and remembering what it is, all of us, that our personal history tells us and how we look back and reflect on the struggles, challenges, and successes of all of our families, not just my family but your family too, and celebrate those. So thank you. This is amazing. This is an amazing group of people and we appreciate this very much. We will take it back.

Thank you for the recognition and including us in celebrating Brentwood and having us represent. We're so thrilled to be here and we'll take this back and share this with the board. Thank you.

And I'm gonna need a motion on F2, please. Did we gonna present that? Oh, that's right, we did, sorry. Okay. Moving into item G1, Miguel Contreras, Associate Planner, will present the next item regarding the Grove at Brentwood.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Good evening to the City Council. Good evening to members of the public, Miguel. Everyone planning division here to present the grove which is DR 25 dash 0, 0, 8, and C. U. P. 25 dash 0, 1, 0, is a call for review. Call for review. Just a brief history. The PC approved the project back in May 5th of 2026 on May 8th, 2026 council member Mendoza called the project for review. THE COUNCILMEMBER INDICATED SHE ONLY WANTED TO DISCUSS THE POTENTIAL LICENSE TYPES TO BE PERMITTED, SPECIFICALLY THE ABC LICENSE TYPES AND HOURS OF OPERATION FOR ALCOHOL RELATED USES. COUNCILMEMBER MENDOZA CLARIFIED THAT SHE DID NOT WANT TO INCLUDE THE DESIGN REVIEW AS PART OF HER CALL FOR REVIEW. However, because a call for review requires a de novo hearing, which means a new hearing, the City Council must hear the project in its entirety, including the CUP and design review, and make findings to approve, modify, or deny both DR 25-008 and CUP 25-010. Quick location, the project's located on the southeast corner of Oak Street and Walnut Boulevard. It has a general plan designation of Downtown Specific Plan and it has a Downtown Specific Plan designation of Western Gateway Neighborhood District. The specific requests are a conditional use permit for the alcohol or for the sales of alcohol for offsite and onsite consumption. And the second request is a design review approval for a new 35,690 square foot shell building, a community theater and associated site improvements. The site would be access off of Walnut Boulevard. The parking on site, there would be 144 parking spaces. There's ample loading area that would allow for five loading vehicles. It's highlighted in red on the screen. And the project proposes close to 50,000 square feet of landscaping. Diving into the community theater and usable open space, the community theater would feature lighting and sound amplification. The hours would be limited from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and the outdoor area would be 24,000 square feet of usable open space, meaning that folks can go out, have a seat, have a drink, have their children play at the play structure or splash pad. These are the types of amenities that are featured. And the outdoor area would be completely enclosed as shown by that purple line in the map on the screen. The outdoor area also features restroom facilities that are separate from the main building. The architecture of the building incorporates a 20th century commercial style. It features a flat roof, a parapet above the mechanical equipment, which means you won't be able to see any of the mechanical equipment from any vantage point. It features vertical and horizontal projection and tower elements. So let me speak a little bit on the tower elements. So the downtown specific plan allows for power elements to go above the maximum height limit for buildings in the zoning district. The zoning district, the height limit is 42 feet and the towers are projected to be 53 feet. The downtown specific plan does not have a height limit for these tower projections, so it's up to the approving body to approve them as part of the design review. We also have a architectural projection on the eastern portion of the building, which the planning commission viewed as a tower element and permitted to go four feet above the maximum building height for the zoning district. The conditional use permit so the conditional use permit request sales of alcohol for on-site and off-site consumption. Draft conditions of approval would require adherence to all ABC regulations and recommendations. The project would be limited to ABC license types 2021, 41, 42, and 47. All tenants conducting sales of alcohol would be limited to the hours of operation as the grove itself, which is from 6 a.m. to 12 a.m., midnight. Temporary and special events would be subject to issuance of a temporary use permit by the planning division. and no alcohol consumption would be allowed to leave the premise or the parking areas. Consistency, so the project would be consistent with city regulations and CEQA requirements. During the actual May 5th Planning Commission meeting, we did get a lot of significant amount of public comment, both written and in person. The vast majority was in support of the project. The Planning Commission did discuss concerns regarding noise, parking, and hours of operation. The Planning Commission determined that the eastern architectural projection that I spoke of earlier would be considered a tower and approved it. And the Planning Commission unanimously approved the project with the removal of condition of approval number 13 that would have had required the eastern projection to be reduced to the main building's height limit. recommendation so staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution approving design review 25-008 and adopt a resolution approving a conditional use permit 25-010 both would be subject to findings and conditions by City Council. That would conclude staff's presentation available for any questions.

Thank you Miguel any questions. Okay, excuse me. Moving into the public hearing for this item.

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. We did receive 35 written public comments in advance of tonight's meeting, which are summarized on the screen. First speaker I have is Denise.

Good evening, Madam Mayor and City Council. My name is Denise Cosgrove, and I get to serve this year as president of the Brentwood Chamber of Commerce. And I come here tonight in support of the Grove. On May 5th, the planning commission approved this project five to zero unanimously. The commission deliberated thoroughly, including on alcohol hours and landed on a midnight cutoff. That is a reasonable outcome reached by people who did their job. The community responded with 16 pages of written support. The Chamber and the Brentwood, Downtown Brentwood Coalition both stood behind this project. By every measure, this process worked exactly as it should have. Three days later, it was pulled. Matt Hagar has paid over $52,000 in staff fees to get to this point. This council should also ask tonight whether this call for review will cost him even more, and if so, who bears that burden? The chamber supports projects that bring residents downtown, increase foot traffic for existing businesses, create opportunities for small entrepreneurs, and strengthen Brentwood's economic vitality. The Grove accomplishes every one of those goals. It is a 35,690 square foot multi-tenant commercial building, a 24,000 square foot outdoor gathering place and a community theater on four acres in the heart of downtown Brentwood. It is retail. It is community space. It is economic activity. It is the kind of project that puts Brentwood on the map. We I have heard this project referred to as a public market, but it is much more than that elevating this project evaluating this project solely through the lens of one component does not reflect the full value it brings to our city and our existing businesses. The concern raised is alcohol sales and hours of operation. The city's own staff report, which now includes a downtown alcoholic establishment, identifies 21 locations in Bruin already permitted to serve alcohol. The Grove was approved to serve till midnight. At some of these 21 neighboring operations, they can serve until 2 a.m. We simply ask that the Grove be held to the same standard as the businesses already operating in this community. Consistency is not too much to ask. I do want to speak to a broadened pattern because the Chamber believes it deserves an honest conversation. Costco was pulled, Costco eventually built, but not without unnecessary delay in cost to a project Bruntwood residents wanted, clearly. The downtown fire station rebuild faced last minute design objections over brick color and window shapes, and that contributed to a $500,000 cost increase to Bruntwood taxpayers. Lazy Dog was pulled, Lazy Dog is not coming.

The speaker's timer has expired.

The next speaker is Ruby.

Good evening, mayor and members of the city council. I'm Ruby Dhaliwal. I work in the commercial real estate space, specifically in the veterinary division with mergers and acquisitions. And I approve would like to see the Grove in full fruition here in Brentwood. I just want to share with you Brentwood holds a profound place in my heart. The city is where I bought my first home. It's where my son began his life on this planet as a Brentwood resident. And it's where I first stepped into my journey as an entrepreneur. I know firsthand what it means to build a business from the ground up in this community. I experienced the full life cycle of entrepreneurship right here from gestation and inception working closely with the incredible city staff all the way to successfully selling a thriving veterinary practice. The practice is still running successfully in Brentwood today, actively looking to expand, add more doctors and acquire more land. I know this city's heartbeat because I have lived it. When this phenomenal development project, the Grove, went before the Planning Commission, it was met with a unanimous approval. It is a project designed for the future, growth, and potential of Brantwood. Following the unanimous vote, a second hearing was brought to the table. I KNOW MANY IN THE COMMUNITY SAW THIS AS A ROADBLOCK OR A HALT TO THE PROJECT, BUT I DON'T SEE IT THAT WAY AT ALL. I BELIEVE THAT WHEN A COUNCIL MEMBER STEPS FORWARD TO BRING A PROJECT BACK FOR REVIEW, IT ISN'T TO STOP PROGRESS. IT IS OUT OF A DEEPLY VESTED INTEREST IN THE PEOPLE OF BRENTWOOD. IT WAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO CROSS THE T'S, DOT THE I'S, AND ENSURE EVERY SINGLE QUESTION WAS THOROUGHLY ANSWERED. Today, those questions have been answered. The due diligence has been done. We now stand on the precipice of moving an incredible project forward. Great developments require a collective effort, and this process has shown the strength of ours. I see only great things ahead for this site and our city, and I strongly urge the Council to approve this project tonight. Thank you for your time and your continued service to Brantwood.

The next speakers are Carol, followed by Alexa, followed by Siru.

Good evening. I have a different look because I represent the Guerin family. They are the family that owns that acreage on Walnut Boulevard. I've been working with them for a little more than five years. We went through several offers on the property, but the offers all came in wanting to put housing there, which is next to a railroad track, even though it's not used much, if at all, but also some gas lines that run through the property. So housing was absolutely not the appropriate use. When this project got presented or when Matt came by and said, This is the perfect spot for a dream I have. I have been so impressed at the work, the diligence, the attention to detail, and the attention to the community. This isn't somebody from outside our community. This is a broker that lives here, that has has family here. So this is somebody that cares about Brentwood as much as the rest of us. I remember this plot of land back when, well, there was a train station on the city owned parcel. And then there was a building to get in the walnuts. We still have a black walnut there, although it's on his last legs. but to get in the walnuts and then to pack them, a packing delivery to all of Contra Costa County and sometimes around the world. I represent the Garens. The Garens are 100% behind this project. This represents them and the heritage that is Brentwood. I've completely completely agree with them, this is an amazing thing, and all the I's have been dotted, all the T's have been crossed. Consider accepting this project and letting it come to fruition. Thank you so much.

Alexa.

I need my glasses. My name is Alexa Padilla. I'm a Brentwood, Antioch resident, and I was a Brentwood resident for over 20 years. I'm a mom, a stepmom, and a local business owner. I manage a catering business, a food truck, and a restaurant operation. Most of all, I'm a Mexican-American woman, born in Mexico and raised in the United States since 2002. As a mom, a place like The Grove is exactly what many of us travel to Napa, Walnut Creek, and Livermore for. We want a place where we can meet other moms, enjoy a glass of wine, watch our kids play, and enjoy food from a variety of options. We want somewhere our kids can play, something they can enjoy and even end up ordering their own things or leaving us with sandwiches that they don't like because suddenly they do not like it because it has fancy cheese on it. It is a place where we can bring our husbands for date night and can count on a safe drive home. It is a place where we can take a break on a Saturday morning from our husbands. It is a place that can offer dining, entertainment, children's attractions, safety, and shopping. As a business owner, I see the Grove as opportunity. It is an opportunity for local businesses to expand. It is an opportunity to market and support businesses already rooted in this community. It is also an opportunity to bring in new concepts from surrounding areas and create a more diverse business environment. Being in the food and beverage industry for over 10 years, I know that communities and businesses thrive when there is variety, culture, and opportunity. The Grove has the potential to create all of that in one place. As a Mexican American, the Grove represents something even deeper to me. It represents motivation. It represents a dream. It represents work and opportunity. many immigrant hispanics and even american-born hispanics struggle every day to find stable work i live a block away from the lone tree shopping center and i see this regularly And there's a man who plays music with his son to make a few dollars. At the Raley Shopping Center, I see two Hispanic women sitting in front of TJ Maxx with babies and strollers beside them selling strawberries. What the majority of these people have in common is that they are immigrants. They are hardworking people to provide for their families, but they continue to face barriers, especially when they do not speak the English language. In the food industry, I've come across hundreds of hardworking men and women, many of them Hispanic, who are willing to clean, cook, landscape, maintain a restaurant, wash dishes, mop floors, and do the work that keeps businesses running. These jobs may not require perfect English, but they do require hard work and commitment. Now put that into perspective, with 25 different tenants at the Grove, I'm not saying that every person selling or performing on the street will suddenly have a job there, but the Grove will send a clear message that there is opportunity in Brentwood. That is why I support the Grove. Thank you.

The next speaker is Siru, followed by Steven, followed by Adam. First name I have spelled S-E-A-R-U. I apologize.

Good evening mayor Meyer and Council members and staff, my name is shauna fit and, first of all, a debt of gratitude to each of you for your service to our Community. I don't say that lightly as I know firsthand how much work goes into what you do and it is very much appreciated. As a former planning commissioner, I'm in full support of this project. The review of this project has brought about a broader concern about the direction the city is headed when it comes to economic development and lack of support for our local businesses. Small, medium sized businesses and projects like this one are the backbone of our economy. This project has reminded my family of repeated waste of resources when it comes to viable and well-planned projects that are already in full alignment with our master plan. Our community needs healthy economic development and jobs to balance out the growth and provide an ever-increasing quality of life for our residents. I stand before you this evening encouraging you to support our local businesses and projects, MEDIUM AND LARGE EFFICIENTLY. I STAND HERE TO SHARE THAT SIZABLE INVESTORS AND VENTURE CAPITALISTS AND FUTURE BUILDERS ARE WATCHING THE DECISIONS THAT OUR CITY IS MAKING AND HOW OUR COMMUNITY CURRENTLY SUPPORTS ENTERPRISE TO DETERMINE IF THEY WILL BRING HIGH QUALITY JOBS TO OUR CITY, SPECIFICALLY OUR INNOVATION CENTER AT PLANNING AREA ONE. If our city is not business friendly, they will not take their prospective projects, opportunities, and jobs elsewhere. I want this to be an opportunity for healthy discussion, collaboration, and change, an opportunity to set a new standard of leadership and economic development in our region. Our city has been well planned and managed for many years, and we have a bright future if we embrace our roots while embracing innovation, change, and inevitable growth. The city of Brentwood is a gem of resources and people. This gem for future investors includes our infrastructure, bandwidth, logistics, regional positioning, incredibly talented people, and above all, our values. Let's review our city's values for a moment. We see them in every city logo, heritage, vision, and opportunity. It's important that we honor these values, heritage, being mindful of our culture, agriculture, history, and roots. Vision that we continue to be forward-thinking and progressive and stay ahead of the masses. An opportunity that we create through economic development now for our future generations. Balancing these values is important to maintaining the quality of life for families, young adults, and childrens. so that they can one day work, serve and play here as well. Let's remember that these decisions we make today will affect us all for years and decades to come. We owe it to our community to demonstrate high quality leadership, communicating thoughtfully and respectfully and coming.

The next speakers I have are Stephen, followed by Adam, followed by Dirk. I'm pretty sure I'm pronouncing this one right. Even the last name is Castillo. All right, I'll move on to Adam.

Good evening.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council and staff.

I didn't prepare anything today. I really wasn't going to speak, but I felt I would have left regretting not speaking on this matter. It's obvious from planning commission to the people that are here. This is a great project. I don't think anybody can really, really deny that. I don't think anybody does deny that. It's more about from what I understand the alcohol and going to the late nights as a resident, a business owner, a busy guy. When I have a moment to go out and past eight o'clock and there's nothing opened besides a couple bars where there's kids there starting trouble. I don't feel safe. going out to an establishment like that, that is catered more towards the younger crowd. We need somewhere here in Brentwood, there's a lot of working professionals here in Brentwood. We need a place where we can, meet up that we can hang out with the little ones or our significant other and have a drink, have a cocktail without having to worry about some college kids starting to fight. That's what it's all about for me. I think this is a great, great design from somebody who's obviously here rooted in Brentwood, who's looking out for the community, who wants to bring jobs. Not only that, but also the opportunity for business owners the next generation of business owners who might not be able to afford a large brick and mortar, but can afford a little space in the Grove that can maybe be their stepping stone to something bigger and something larger. an amazing opportunity so i'm all for uh the support of the grove and and hopefully you guys uh feel the same and really really uh consider um keeping the alcohol sales till midnight just so we have that us grown people have a place to go and hang out

Next speaker is Dirk.

Good evening, Mayor and members of the City Council. My name is Dirk Ziegler, and I'm here tonight to express my full support for this project. As a Brentwood resident for over 25 years, a local business owner, and one who served on the Brentwood Planning Commission for eight years, I've had the opportunity to review many development proposals and firsthand the amount of work that goes into bringing a project through the planning process. This project has undergone extensive review by city staff, the applicant, the Planning Commission. Concerns have been identified, discussed, addressed throughout that entire process. But for careful consideration of the facts, testimony, and applicable standards, the Planning Commission voted unanimously five to zero to recommend approval. While not everyone may agree with every aspect of the project, I believe it's important to recognize that when an applicant has worked in good faith throughout the city's review process, responded back to feedback, and made the necessary adjustments to the city's goals, policies, and standards. And when that occurs, I believe the project deserves fair consideration based on its merits and extensive work that's gone into bringing it before you tonight. From my perspective, the project represents a thoughtful planning and responsible investment into our community. It has been vetted through the appropriate channels and has earned the support of the Planning Commission based on its merits. I RESPECTFULLY ASK THE COUNCIL TO GIVE WAY TO THE EXTENSIVE REVIEW THAT HAS ALREADY TAKEN PLACE AND APPROVE THIS PROJECT SO IT CAN MOVE FORWARD. THANK YOU.

Hello, my name is Stephen Castillo. I'm a father in Brentwood. I bought a house here a few years ago on 520 Heather Place. My backyard backs up to McLaren Road. So I'm in big favor of the Grove Project, but as a father that walks my children up and down Grove to downtown, Brentwood and stuff. I'm a little concerned about the alcohol consumption. And, um, you know, I'm probably the only person that is concerned about that because I, my backyard backs up to McLaren. So I have personal life experience with hearing the cars race up McLaren coming from downtown Brentwood. And like, I appreciate that you guys have reduced the time, uh, to 12 to 12 AM, I guess, or so that, that helps out a lot. But, um, I would like to, um, just voice um my concern about what this could potentially bring to that residential neighborhood so um I would like to just voice my concern I'm all for it I think it's going to bring great property value and it's going to be a great place to hang out with me and my family but um where there's alcohol, there's bad influence, and there's other things that come along with that. And it's been framed as, oh, it's going to be a great family environment. But the reality is that it turns into something else where there's that type of influence, where there's a lot of alcohol drinking and stuff. So I just wanted to voice my concern on that and make sure that there's going to be proper safety for the residents that live right there and that are walking their kids over there.

I have three hands raised in zoom. While we have the last speaker card in the back. Monica, go ahead.

All right, can you hear me? Okay.

Yes, we can go ahead.

good evening mayor and city council members my name is Monica and I own a small pop-up business and i actually grew up here in brownwood currently i'm a brentwood oakley resident but i grew up went to middle school and high school here in brownwood and so tonight i just wanted to kind of discuss what my business is about and how the grove i'm in full support of the grove so i watched this city go from you know quiet farmland where people and friends would come out cherry picking to one of the fastest growing communities in the bay area i watched neighborhoods go up go up and new families move in. And I felt so proud of that growth. And it was almost in a way like the city of Brentwood was growing with me. And as I grew up, I always felt proud. But I also watched us keep driving out of Brentwood to find the kind of experiences we deserved here at home. So I remember driving out to different cities to kind of experience things that I couldn't hear in Brentwood in my own city. So I am a small business owner and I realize that I am still doing that. I run a specialty espresso and matcha bar. And right now to serve customers, I pack up pretty much a small coffee shop into a van and drive it to places like the Alamo Farmers Market. See, I love those communities and I love the farmers markets and I love Brownwood Farmers Market. But see, my community is here and unfortunately feels like there isn't enough space for me here. and my roots are here. So Brentwood has been, you know, I think in Brentwood, it's best for us to have the growth, not just another fast food corridor, not another strip mall, just a real destination where families can come on a Saturday morning or evening just because it feels good to be here. Somewhere a little Afghan American girl growing up in Brentwood can watch a local business owner and someone that looks exactly like her grow up on the same streets actually thrive in her own community. That little girl was me, and I have been able to develop little pockets within my bigger Brentwood community. But I feel like I've been fighting to serve our community more. And that's why to me, the Grove represents that fight and being able to grow and reach out to more people as opposed to having to pack up and move around to different cities around us. So for me, the Grove isn't just retail. It would be an infrastructure for our community, for diversity and for growth. It's the kind of place that would give small, diverse, locally owned businesses a real shot, not just national chains that can afford to be anywhere. It would help a small girl with big dreams here in Brentwood that grew up in Brentwood be able to be proud of what she's built. So when the Grove is built, you're telling Brentwood entrepreneurs that you belong here too within your own communities. I want to serve matcha lattes and rose cardamom espressos to my neighbors and I want to be able to help my neighbors in more ways even the hours of the Grove would allow me to serve the community the speaker's timer has expired the next speaker I have is Lynn Lynn go ahead

Okay, sorry. Can you hear me now?

Yes, we can.

Okay, sorry about that. Good evening, Mayor Meyer, Vice Mayor Pearson, Council Members Mendoza, Maloney, and Orlemans. My name is Lynn Tay, and I am the President of the Downtown Brentwood Coalition and also the owner of Zephyr Grill and Bar. I am here tonight to express my strong support for the Grove at Brentwood project as approved by the Planning Commission. As a longstanding business in our downtown, I have seen firsthand both the strengths and limitations of our current footprint. While Brentwood's downtown has a unique charm and a loyal customer base, its physical size inherently limits opportunities for new businesses to establish themselves and to contribute to the area's vitality. Projects like the Grove represent a rare and valuable opportunity to thoughtfully expand what downtown can offer without compromising its character. The Grove has the potential to become a meaningful asset to our community. Developments like this create a destination environment, one that encourages foot traffic, supports local entrepreneurs, and enhances the overall economic ecosystem. By bringing together a variety of food, beverage, and specialty vendors in a shared space, the Grove at Brentwood can complement existing businesses rather than compete with them. From my perspective as a restaurateur, increased visitation to downtown benefits us all. When people have more reasons to come downtown and stay longer, it strengthens every business in the area. The Grove would help activate our downtown in ways that aligns with Brentwood's growth while maintaining a sense of community in place. I respectively sorry, I respectively encourage the council to approve this project as is not only as a single development, but an investment in the long term vibrancy and sustainability of downtown Brentwood. Thank you so much for your time and consideration.

The next speaker I have is Nina. Nina go ahead.

Yes, are you all able to hear me?

Yes, we are.

Awesome. Okay. Good evening. Mayor vice mayor council members and city. I just wanted to chime in and give my support. Um. A lot of residents and business owners there know me as Kirsten or Nina. I operate a mobile oyster bar oysters. Oh, la, la. and i just think that the idea of the grove is phenomenal matt is a visionary like me and when i learned about this a year ago i was just elated to know that somebody was bringing something so innovative to our city i think that we deserve it i know that we already have a strong Exposure downtown and we have a lot of great things that downtown Brentwood coalition and the city does to draw traffic. But I think this is a very elevated and future way to continue to know that we can assure. that Brentwood will grow in a very positive way. I love everything about the vision. It gives a small business owner like me an opportunity to possibly have a place, a home base in downtown Brentwood. I've been a pop-up mobile oyster bar for the past six years serving the wineries and farms there in Brentwood, but to know that this could even be something feasible for me to have a small home base there. It's just so exciting and I think a lot of the business owners feel the same way. I just echo everything that the other supporters have shared and I just wanted to make sure that I joined in the meeting to express my support for this project. Thank you all.

The next speaker I have is Lynn. Lynn, go ahead.

I think maybe that's me again and I already spoke.

Thank you. The next speaker I have is Cinziana. Cinziana, go ahead.

Good evening. Thank you for the opportunity to speak, especially on this project. It's a great project. As I already mentioned that during the planning commission discussion, um i am um a proponent of dialogue and um especially knowing um the two people who are on the side of this dialogue and they're both near and dear to me and i know that dialogue is a very healthy thing to have and i know the results will be will be great so i encourage you to discuss it. The project is great and I'm very, very positive the results are going to be very satisfactory on both sides. What I want to mention, and I agree with everything that's been said tonight, but the proposed project um we all heard that received strong endorsement from the from the planning commission and uh earned a unanimous approval commissioners recognize the project as being a very exciting exciting investment in brentwood's future and it will be a destination that brings energy, jobs, dining, and economic activity to the city. However, there are still concerns about noise, crowds, late night activity, and ultimately concerns about enforcement and public safety. Three of the current council members campaign heavily on promises of public safety and stronger neighborhood protection. Yet Brentwood continues to struggle with police staffing shortages, including the failure to fully hire for the fifth beat. As the city grows, enforcement resources have not kept pace. The Planning Commission did its job by evaluating the project on its merits. Now responsibility shifts to you, to our city leadership. If Brentwood wants economic development, vibrant gathering spaces, and new investment, then the city must also commit to the staffing, enforcement, and public safety measures that make those projects sustainable. Residents should not be forced. to choose between economic vitality and public safety, but Brentwood deserves both. And I hope that stays with you, our leaders, and we keep that in mind, not only for tonight, but for the future, because a safe city, it's a vibrant city and a city that encourages economic development for the future. Thank you so much.

The next speaker I have is Marisol. Go ahead.

Thank you. I guess I'm also Mexican-American and live in Brentwood, not Antioch, not Oakley. And what I see is that as a Mexican-American, I was listened to about my concerns in Deer Ridge with eight acres. But what about the Mexican-Americans and those that live across by the Grove? What about the farm workers that live on that side of town by the Grove that wake up early to work our fields? What about the Mexican-Americans who live by the Grove who are essential workers? I think this is a great project. With its greatness, you can still say yes. But how about we think about the downtown specific plan, the residents that live there? Say yes to the Grove, except to the 21 and over liquor license and staying open until 12 a.m. How about you close at 10 p.m.? Those two things. It's that simple to help our town and the residents in that area and stick to the hard work folks have put into the specific downtown plan. If you say yes, as stated, how can it be kin friendly and take care of residents? Do what you did with Deer Ridge to the east part of town. In Deer Ridge, you said yes, but set the time at 10 p.m. closing. If you don't think kids will be at the Grove, you are sorely mistaken. Which of you have a 22 year old son or daughter? Oh, guess what? I do. So they'll be there. It's not going to be just older folks who want to wine and dine. You will get those young kids going if it's 21 and over. And funny that now we care about the planning commission votes. They voted to deny bridal gate the fire station, but yet this council went through and approved both those items. Anyways, please spare me. Don't be a hypocrite. And somehow now you're about the planning commission votes. And I'm saying this about the people who are speaking in public comment. also the chamber of commerce needs to investigate some of the facts costco was appealed by the building not council lazy dog was appealed by council only because lazy dog was going to walk after the planning commission's ruling it was pulled so they could fix it and keep it for chamber not to know that they aren't coming um back because the hotel isn't there so they they need to get some facts straight Oh, and Ziegler, didn't you approve the for 311? You actually seconded that motion to give 311 their. So, I'm not sure, but doesn't the downtown have the most police police calls? Can we find out about the police calls for the downtown area after 9 0 PM? No, 5th beat, but you want another 21 and older place to stay open until midnight. Listen to the resident who spoke. up not the businesses stick to the downtown specific plan it's really that simple say yes to the grove but take away the 21 and older and no to 12 a.m closing please i'll come back to tony in the chamber

So before I start, I'm also Mexican Salvadorian. I live in Brentwood. I got a business. I'm involved. It's past nine o'clock at night, and I'm here in person. I'm not just gonna call people by their name, but good evening, mayor, vice mayor, and members of city council. My name is Tony Aguilar. I am a Brentwood resident, local business owner, and someone who is deeply involved in our community through local organizations, events, and volunteer efforts. I'm here tonight to voice my support for the Grove Project and the approval of alcohol sales through midnight. As I mentioned, I also live downtown Brentwood, and one of the things I enjoy most is seeing our community come together, whether it's at the community events, local restaurants, the farmers market, or simply gathering with friends and family. Those connections are what makes Brentwood special. The Grove would create another place where residents can connect, build relationships, and enjoy everything our city has to offer. I don't know, I feel prideful in the perspective that everybody always has something to say, but we come here in person and we all should be heard. We should all have a dialogue. We should all be able to have this conversation and not be calling people that are in the audience from somebody sitting in their sofa. Brentwood has experienced tremendous growth over the past several years. While we have added homes and residents, many of our residents still leave Brentwood to enjoy dining, entertainment, social experiences in neighboring communities. The Grove presents an opportunity to create a destination that keeps people here in Brentwood while also attracting visitors who will support our local economy. What excites me most about this project is that it creates opportunities for small businesses, entrepreneurs, local artisans, restaurants, and community events. It's not just another commercial development. It's a gathering place where families, friends, neighbors, and visitors can come together and in a welcoming environment. Reasonable adults should have the opportunity to enjoy an evening out without having to leave Brentwood for neighboring cities. The proposed operating hours help create a vibrant atmosphere while still ending at a reasonable time. With proper management and oversight, I believe the project can contribute to a safe and positive addition to our downtown. And just recognition to the person bringing this to the city, born here, graduated here, and he's putting it all for us. So appreciate everything you have done so far.

At this time, we'll invite the applicant and Lance for their portion of the public comment. The applicant is given 10 minutes to speak.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, members of the City Council. My name is Lance Cornell, principal architect of SDG Architects. We're a local firm. We're about 3 quarters of a mile down the street where my office is. And I like to talk about the least controversial thing about it. It's the architecture. I know there's a few people in the crowd that had some comments about it, so I just wanted to address a few things. I do want to give thanks to Miguel and the planning staff for doing some great work and getting us to this point and to provide us guidance through the process. Eric Noltenius as well, who's not here tonight, but I want to mention his name. He's been a steward of this project and helping Miguel and ourself and Matt steer this process. When Matt first came to us to talk about this project, It was a lot of things to stuff in a sack there's a lot of things on this project there's not only a 35,000 square foot two story. multi tenant commercial space but there's also outdoor recreation activities and amphitheater public space, it was a lot to pack in and I credit matt with his ambition to. force me and him to sit in the room for hours on end to go through the design process and to find a solution to meet the city requirements, the regulations, the design guidelines, things like gravity and cost all came into play. I do want to make one mention regarding the east tower there. I mentioned this in the planning commission, but if you hadn't seen that video, it's there as a memorial to the old train station that was there that has been torn down years ago. And so that was an homage to that. that establishment and that's why it's it is where it is and it's the height it is so I respectfully request that you keep that particular tower there on the east elevation from an architectural perspective and I do want to thank people from the public who are able to speak tonight both for and against the project we love the dialogue we love the input I raised my two girls here, Brent Wood, through and through. And I sat on the planning commission for many years and sat there and worked with many, many people from staff throughout the process. And just very proud to be able to contribute what I can to the city and to do what I can to make this project what it should be. So with that, I'm just gonna introduce my client, Matt Hagar.

All right. Good evening, mayor, vice mayor, council members, and city staff. And thank you for taking the time this evening to discuss the Grove at Brentwood. Over three years ago, I set out to build something that Brentwood has never seen before. Not because it's my job, or what I do for a living, not because someone told me to, but because this is my hometown. I was born and raised here, fourth generation, graduate of Liberty High School, along with my parents and grandparents who are still here and in the room with us this evening. I've spent my entire life watching Brentwood grow and wanted to create something to add to its legacy and enhance its future. Those who know me well would most likely describe me as pretty persistent and a little bit stubborn. But the reality is, if it wasn't for these traits and my deep ties to this community, this project would have been abandoned a long time ago. It began as an idea in January of 2023. After some initial due diligence, I wrote the city an offer to purchase their land in June of 23, nearly three years to the day. Since then, we've navigated every step required of this process. from the Surplus Land Act, environmental review, traffic analysis, pedestrian analysis, soil testing, tree studies, fire review, railroad coordination, utility coordination, countless meetings, revisions, reports, approvals, and more. Recently, someone asked me how much time has gone into this project. The honest answer is it's difficult to quantify. Over the last three years, there have been countless hours spent on research, design, financial analysis, tenant outreach, community engagement, and navigating the entitlement process. Thousands of hours have been invested not only by myself, but by architects, engineers, consultants, attorneys, city staff, and many others. Projects like this don't simply appear. They are the result of years of effort, collaboration, and commitment from a large number of people working toward a shared vision. The city staff report noted that more than $52,000 has already been spent on entitlement processing, hearings, and staff review. In reality, when architects, engineers, consultants, studies, legal review, design revisions, and carrying costs are included, the true investment just to reach this evening approaches the cost of purchasing a home in this city. And that's all before a single shovel has ever been put in the ground. At this point, we should be talking about grand openings. At this point, we should be talking about which new restaurants are coming to town. At this point, we should be talking about community events, family gatherings, and new jobs created. Frankly, we should all be up the street enjoying our beautiful weather over great food and amazing drinks. But instead, we're still in these chambers discussing the project's future. Tonight's hearing has already added more than a month to the process, and it still is just one step in the journey. Even if approved this evening, months of permitting remain before construction can begin. Following the Planning Commission's approval, we were targeting a construction start before winter. That timeline was already tight, and this delay now threatens to push our construction start into next year due to the rainy season potentially costing us an entire building season. Delay is not a neutral act. It increases costs, it increases risk, and it makes the ultimate goal of delivering this project to the community more uncertain. As I understand it, the primary reason for tonight's discussion is additional review of the conditional use permit related to alcohol service and operating hours. This topic was discussed at length by Planning Commission. During that discourse, Commissioner Johnson stated to let the free markets decide, and I strongly agree with his position. There are already multiple businesses in the area that are open until midnight or later. We could have pushed this item even further and requested 1 a.m. or 2 a.m., like others that are already operating to that time, but we didn't. We also could have gone farther and requested a Type 48 license. which is a traditional full bar with no food and is the most frowned upon by the city, but we didn't. The application before you reflects what we believe is a reasonable and responsible balance for this project and for this community. What I feel sometimes gets lost in the discussion is that this project is far more complex than simply just a public market. The public market is certainly a focal point, which I understand, but this project also includes a second story with additional commercial uses and tenants that must be able to compete and succeed in today's business environment. Flexibility isn't a luxury for this project. It's a necessity. A project like this has never been completed in the city of Brentwood. In order to bring a project of this scale and complexity to life, we need every reasonable tool available to us. Additional restrictions do not simply create inconvenience. They increase uncertainty and make the project more difficult to finance, build, lease, and operate successfully. For that reason, we respectfully request approval exactly as presented with no changes. I would imagine at this point, it should be pretty evident that the support for this project extends far beyond myself. You have received over 100 emails of support, nearly two dozen live speakers on May 5th, and many more this evening. The planning commission's discussion was thoughtful, intelligent, and thorough. Difficult questions were asked. Legitimate concerns were raised. These concerns were debated and addressed. The process worked exactly as it is designed to work. They concluded their discussion by voting unanimously 5-0 to approve the project with no changes. And I believe they got it right. You see, this project is more than just another building. It's a place where families will gather, local entrepreneurs will launch businesses, and a draw for visitors and residents to spend money in this community opposed to others. It is a place where memories will be made for decades to come. Long after all of us have left public office or private business, this project can remain a meaningful part of Brentwood's identity and future. three years ago we began this journey with a simple idea to create something special for Brentwood today after thousands of hours of work substantial investment extensive public outreach unanimous planning commission approval and overwhelming community support we stand before you asking for one thing let us build it let us take this vacant piece of land that has been underutilized for decades and transform it into something our community can be proud of for generations I respectfully ask that you uphold the Planning Commission's unanimous 5-0 approval and approve the grove at Brentwood exactly as presented. And as always, my design team and I are available to answer any questions and concerns you may have about the project. Thank you.

If there are no other speakers, I will now take a motion to close the public hearing.

So moved. I'll second.

All in favor?

Aye. moving into council discussion i'm guessing you want to be the one to start because yeah um first of all i thought it was interesting that the chamber continually comes up and vilifies me costco was not pulled by camp i mean costco is not pulled by council it was pulled by the developer i did not pull the fire station that was tony I we pulled Popeyes because the residents didn't want it and residents come first. We pulled lazy dog because they were upset with what Ziegler did on their design. And Darren called me from these chambers to tell me they were going to pull the project when they talked to him outside. So I saved that project until they decided to move from California. So before you speak ill of people, you should probably look up the details. Number one. Number two, Matt and I met and Matt agreed that he would pull the adult only license. So I'm not sure what changed between then and now, but he understood that he was claiming this was a family friendly place. So I'm not sure what happened, but I do want to share my screen and go over some things. The first one is coming up. the downtown specific plan. So this project is in the orange section in the bottom. And this is what we consider the Western Gateway. If you look at the Western Gateway, there is things that are allowed by CUP, there's things that are just allowed by right. One of the things that is prohibited, we cannot approve is that adult only license. It is prohibited per the downtown Brentwood specific plan, adult oriented businesses. Alcohol only bars are adult oriented businesses. We cannot allow that in this area. So that is my first thing and that's one of the reasons I pulled it because we cannot have that. And the license is, it is this, yeah, minors are not allowed to enter and remain. So it would be the 42 that I would ask that we not allow. Because again, this, I mean, when I met you Matt at the crab feed, you said this would be a family oriented place. It's where everyone can bring their kids. Well, that's not conducive to an adult only liquor license. So that's the first thing. The second reason I pulled it was the hours of operation and I asked the police department for all of our hours of calls that we get downtown. And as you can see, 27.7% of our calls come in from 10 to midnight and then 23% come in from midnight to two a.m. So 676 calls in the data that I received from the fire department. Oops, sorry, let me do that. Hold on a second. Share and I'm going to share this one. See if it comes up. So this is why I am proposing that we do what kind of what Walnut Creek does in order that they can keep their public safety top of mind. They go ahead and start at 10. And if you have no incidents in a year, they give you another hour with no incidents and no negative impact on the police department. and so those were the two things i was asking for which i didn't think they were a big deal and then i was like okay so it's kind of like you know a public market is what we've been told so then i looked at oxbow market i frequent oxbow market a lot um that one is open from 7 30 to 9 again no liquor license that's adult only at oxbow market i then looked at the emoryville public market which has been there i probably for about over 30 years they opened from 10 to 9 and then on sundays from 10 to 8 again you know, no adult only liquor licenses and the new one in Castro Valley from eight to seven. Again, no liquor license like the ones that were being asked. So So that's all I was asking for. I think it's interesting because yes, I did meet with Matt and he was very open to not there being any adult only liquor licenses. So I'm not sure. And I do not meet with applicants. I never meet with an applicant. I love this project so much that I met with Matt because I think it's a fantastic project. But then I have to look at things like Dolphin Park and the negative impact that has had from being across some streets. I have to look at things like Creekside Pickleball and the negative impacts that that's had across the street from homes. And I also have to think about the most recent couple of things, Winco, which is right near homes also. And then this last week, we started receiving complaints about eight acres and the music they're having outside. So all I'm asking for is that because of the people that live there that we have some consideration for hours of operation. That's it. I don't I don't think a 10 o'clock will kill your business. I think it's something we can talk about on the council. But, um I'm the one who got a call when there was blood all over the press building one morning and they wanted someone to clean it. I'm the one who gets the calls when there is chaos downtown. So we're just trying to make sure that we do the right thing. If I don't watch public safety, oh, she doesn't care about public safety. If she does care about public safety, oh, she... you know, she's doing this to stop the business. We're not doing it to stop the business. Like I told Matt, I love this project. I love Oxbow. It's one of my favorite places. I'm in the business. I'm there all the time. And because I'm in the business, I also understand the ramifications of different liquor licenses and hours of operation. And that's why I pulled it.

Thank you. Thank you to everyone who spoke. I just looked at when you read adult-oriented businesses, and it actually means something different. Adult-oriented businesses is from page 166 of the same document you're reading from. It says it means any business establishment or concern which as regular and substantial course of conduct operates as an adult arcade, adult bookstore, adult cabaret, adult dance studio, adult hotel motel, adult modeling studio, adult theater, any business establish or concern which as a regular and substantial course of conduct sells or distributes or offers for sale or distribution sexually oriented merchandise or sexually oriented material or any other business establishment or concern which as a regular And substantial course of conducts offers to his patrons products, merchandise services or entertainment characterized by emphasis on material depicting, describing or relating to specific sexual activities or specific anatomical areas. Adult oriented business does not include those that use those uses of activities, the regular the regulation of which is preempted by state law. So I think this as presented is not an adult oriented business, but I don't have a problem with the midnight as a resident of Brentwood. It is very difficult to find somewhere where you as an adult can go after 10 PM in the city of Brentwood. I think that is something that we've heard of several members of the community, even in public comments, communicating about having places to go after 10 PM. I went to eight acres, ordered a drink and some dinner. And I was told after, well, I sat down and before I can even order, I was told I had 10 minutes to rush. That was after leaving an event to run over to have dinner and a date with my husband. And so while I do appreciate that we have spaces for children and I have a family of four, I do have a 22 year old who comes back home all the time. And I know he probably would patronize it, but it is allowable for a 22-year-old to go to a space that sells alcohol. Um, so I don't, I don't understand that distinction. I do think though, um, to council member, um, um, Mendoza's point, I did look this up. Um, and I want to talk about something that was brought up by one of the, a couple of speakers. I grew up in Oakland. I bring that up all the time. Um, one of the things I appreciate about what reading about this project, um, is it reminds, and I don't want to, if you ever been to this area, it's on the border of Oakland and San Leandro. And it is like an indoor flea market. And I'm not saying the Grove is gonna be that, but what it presented was smaller spaces for marginalized groups and people who are lower income to have business. And I really grew up appreciating spaces like that, where one, as a resident, I can afford it, because it wasn't a big brand, but also as someone who knew people who had space in there in Durant Square, who would probably never have the opportunity to open up a business, I appreciate it. And if you go further back in downtown Oakland, there was EB Mall. And I used to love going in there, but it created spaces for marginalized groups, low-income women, women-owned businesses, people of color, people who came to this country as immigrants to really have a space to have business where they ordinarily wouldn't allow it. So I have no issue with the midnight stop time. I did look up the type 48 and 42. 42 is just problematic. 42 creates a nightclub atmosphere, which I don't think many of us would want. I think with having the applicant having 41, 47, 20, and 21 is what I saw, maintaining those, I don't know why you need a 42. I'd love to hear the applicant tell more about why you would need a 42, which is proposed. I would do away if we can come to some compromise of getting rid of type 42 and keeping everything else the planning commission authorized. It's a beautiful space. I'm looking forward to it. And I'm looking forward to being somewhere where I can turn up to midnight as a grownup. I'm going to tell the truth. So, all right. That too. Right. So, yeah, that's my statement.

Go ahead. So I know we're on discussion points, but I do have a question, maybe for clarification from hopefully one of our staff members that can clear up the difference between a 42 and a 48, 47. I don't remember what the numbers were you were talking about.

There are five proposed. One is the 41. 42 is for a tavern or nightclub. It looks like somebody shared. Okay. I just gave up. to the minors are not allowed to remain. And it creates a more tavern-like atmosphere because it won't have any children there. So it can turn into like a nightclub setting. So I don't even know how that would fit with this project, to be honest with you, because of how it was presented. And that's why I defer to the applicant to tell why the 42, why he feels the 42 is necessary. I'd love if we can give him the opportunity to speak as to the necessity of a 42.

Before we have Matt come up, Miguel, did you want to say anything to this, to the report?

No, I was just trying to find the, for clarification, I was trying to find the... Okay.

Yes, go ahead.

I'm really excited about this project. This is an amazing project, so thank you for bringing it forward. I don't mind the hours as long as we don't have the club environment. So for me, I am completely open with the hours. There are now coffee shops that are open until midnight or 1 in the morning in some parts of the Bay Area where people are going, reading, having tea, having coffee, whatever the situation is. and my colleagues and people in the community are absolutely right there is nothing that's open that late in our community and if there's i'm sorry oh denny's yes that's true um so in that i welcome that idea but i also want to be thoughtful in the essences where i don't want us to approve something without thoughtfully thinking of all the residents that are around and just like my colleagues have said we have come different community members that are coming forward after projects that have been approved regarding noise issues and whatnot and nuisances so i would like to echo what a couple of my colleagues have just asked and see what your perception on the 42 license. Thank you.

And I think again, before you come up, were you done or did you have any other questions?

I don't have any more questions, but I would like to make a comment.

Okay.

Um, I did meet with matt and we discussed this project and I thought it was an amazing project I didn't realize possibly that the the difference in the alcohol license making it a club like atmosphere could be problematic. But. I've been very excited about this since we met originally and with all the excitement going on in the city of Brentwood, it's obviously something we want to bring to the city of Brentwood. We want to be thoughtful about the neighborhoods it's going into and all your neighbors that you're going to have to live with. But I'm not 100 percent sure you wouldn't be as equally thoughtful dealing with the complaints yourself. But you may not always be the owner is the problem is what happens if this changes hands and there's a different owner, less thoughtful, not necessarily from Brentwood and takes that 42 license to a complete club on walnut boulevard as opposed to the grove which we're all falling in love with um we have to be thoughtful to the history and and what we're getting to bring into brentwood For our kids my grandkids are going to grow up here and I have to make sure this is a safe place for my grandkids to grow up and a club type atmosphere may not be that good, I am interested to hear why. you think you need that license. Before I finish, I just want a half a second to make a comment that this council has always encouraged public comments. In every single way, we have encouraged public comments. We've asked you to come up and speak. We've allowed the call-ins. We've allowed people to have as much time as we can give them. And I think we should be careful about chastising people that speak in our chambers because that's not encouraging public comments. That's discouraging people from making a comment. I'm not saying it's easy to sit here and have people complain and yell at us all day long and tell us what idiots we are because you disagree with a decision we made. That happens to all five of us all the time. we need to be more courteous to the people that we're giving the right to allow you to speak. So I just wanted to make that comment.

Okay, and again, before you come up, I'm gonna, I haven't spoken yet. I will say, I want to say a few things. The first one is there's a negative perception when something gets pulled. And really, and Matt and I talked about this too. It's not necessarily because somebody wants to kill a project and definitely not in this case. And I would say more so it's the conversation wasn't completely developed in the previous committee or commission that it was heard in. I watched the Planning Commission meeting and at the time I wished that they had brought some things up to show, for example, local residents that they were taking some things into consideration. It doesn't, again, it doesn't have to be negative. It just means like either we think the conversation isn't done. We think the public needs to hear more interaction. We think the public needs to hear that we're listening to both sides of an issue. And so I didn't feel that conversation was complete either. So I wasn't, I wasn't against this being pulled for that reason and I will also say the hard thing about this and I think what's causing some of the frustration here is some things that were said online about the council member who pulled this pulling other items and they weren't true and so Matt and I talked about that as well and so I think that's a it's hard because you kind of come into a conversation like this and an agenda item like this believing the worst and that's not In the case here, obviously everyone here loves this project. I love this project. First talked to Matt about it and I was like, oh my God, Brentwood is just about to be even better. I was so excited about it. But I do think it's important to say that because I think The misconceptions can cause people to be a little bit more back against the wall and angry with each other, and it doesn't necessarily have to start there. I think it's just, again, being receptive. It's also not the first time one of us has fallen into getting a little defensive thing that happens. And again, absolutely, comments are welcome. It is not always easy to hear what people have to say. It's our job to listen. But there are times if something is presented that we know is not um actual fact then sometimes there's a temptation to uh correct that and and there's been more than one of us that have done that i think and it's tempting even for the ones that haven't it's tempting um i did want to say too i uh went through the The public comments for the Planning Commission meeting, our public comments, a lot of people approached me in person to talk, and I was trying to capture the positive and the negatives. And the positives do outweigh the negatives, but I just wanted people to hear a little bit of perspective here. So positives, economic development, new business and jobs, sales tax revenue, small business incubation, benefits downtown. Repeated comments about the project being family friendly, which again goes back to that not being sure about the license 42. Because everybody that I've heard about, you know, that loves this project, loves that part of it. There's a place in Oakland, it's actually going out of business, unfortunately, called Plank. And you can have a glass of wine next to a playground where your kids play. It's fantastic. I love it. Proximity to downtown was a positive. There was actually a mention of respect for representation of local history. And I assume that to be like the towers. Transforming an area of blight. Design that fits Brentwood standards. And again, there were some changes to it, right? Because the first round wasn't exactly the right fit, but it's beautiful now. Increased property values. On the negative, there have been concerns expressed about traffic, noise, hours. Some of them were from local property owners, people that live in the homes there, people that live in the senior mobile home park there, parking in nearby neighborhoods. There was a request for signage to say no Grove parking here. And I wish there was a way to do that. I don't know if there's anything we can do about that. Some were citing concerns about negative impacts on downtown and other nearby businesses, thinking this would take away from that. And then there was some talk about consistency in allowing similar businesses next to homes and then reducing those hours, but not these hours. So I mentioned this all to say these are all things that we're considering when we read the agenda, when we watch the Planning Commission, when we look at all the public comment, when we hear things tonight, we're doing our best to try and represent everything. All of this said, I definitely have questions about the license 42. And when we spoke, it sounded like there was some flexibility with that specific item. So I would like for you to speak on that. The hours, I... I'm not a huge fan of midnight next to the homes, but I wonder if we could even think about 11. I don't know. But at this point, if you can come up and talk about that license, also how, in your opinion, it would impact any future developments with different owners, for example.

yeah no i appreciate that thank you thank you madam mayor and council um what's unique about the conditional use permit is that it's conditional so it it adheres to a certain standard there's an extra level to it the great thing about the conditional use permit which i think may alleviate some of your concern is it's revocable so if you get code enforcement questions police calls you can pull a conditional use permit or re-evaluation and revocation. So if you have a 42 license and it turns out to be a problematic site for code enforcement, police office, city, hopefully Ms. Mendoza doesn't get called on some of these things, but there are mechanisms in place to pull some of those conditional use permits to stop the business. So whether Matt owns the business or It's being sold. That conditional use permit rides with the property. And so that's your mechanism to say, no, we don't like it that way. We can re-review it. We can pull it back and go through the city process to have that revoked. So again, the Planning Commission did a great job of adjudicating through the process and discussing it. And, you know, we feel very strongly that let the market decide, you know, a lot of businesses, if there's nobody in the bar or nobody at the wine tasting table at 1130, they just close. They don't stay open because they can. If the market says they don't, there aren't businesses that are, you know, taking drinks past 10 o'clock, they just close. So that's why we're trying to give the flexibility, because we don't know who the tenants are going to be. We're building it as a shell, and we're marketing it to various tenants. And so we want to give the broadest flexibility and, again, let the market decide. And if, again, it does become problematic, you have that mechanism as a conditional use permit to pull it and revoke that and shut it down. So I just wanted to answer your question from a procedural standpoint. And I can let Matt talk about some of the other questions.

I just want to go ahead. Sorry. No, Matt, I'm sorry.

Thank you. So when I put the type 42 on the application, I had no idea that I would have this much conversation, honestly. So the type 42, right? It's beer and wine. It's no minors, no food. The equivalent of that, I think that we can all kind of use as a real life example is the Cocoa County Wine Bar. They have a type 42. They're the only one in the area that has that. So I think that's a good representative of what that license is. The giant nightclubs, you know, the bars, et cetera. That wasn't the intent of asking for that. If you are to have, you know, say a wine tasting room or something like that, that would fall under that as well, I believe. So that is the intent of that. It's not a rowdy ruckus environment. And so, again, also back to what I said in my speech is that there's two components to this and i don't think that license fits very well or at all within the public market first floor but i do however think it fits very well within the second floor because these are more traditional retail spaces so a wine bar or something of that nature or a wine tasting room i think is very appropriate on the second floor And also my understanding of the ABC licenses, I have food and beverage consultants. I've also spoken to the ABC directly and my understanding and anyone with more knowledge, feel free to correct me on this, but the way that ABC licenses work, especially in an environment like this with multiple tenants, multiple licenses, a lot of overlap, right? It's kind of messy. You know, everyone goes out when you drink there, you know, there's signs that say no alcohol past this point, right? There's certain areas that you can drink per that license. So you cannot take a license of more freedom, a wider ranging license, say like this one with no food involved, and bring it into an area where food is involved or a lesser license. So what I mean by that is if you had that in the public market area, you wouldn't be able to really intermix incorporate that tenant and that license with all the other tenants that may have maybe they're just you know serving beer and wine you know and food right maybe mexican restaurant is serving you know beer with their you know food right you couldn't even go in that area you couldn't mix you couldn't mingle so i think that's a point that needs to be brought up as well that there are abc limitations on this that prevent a lot of that happening and again it's just it's just not the intent and again i think the intent of that license was more the second floor than anything So I just want to clear that up.

Did anyone have any other questions for Matt?

I think my question, and I don't even need to hear it. My question pretty much was, I understand why you chose it. now, but the flexibility or the willingness to let it go. But that being said, just so everybody knows, Type 41 is on sale beer and wine as an eating place. It allows beer, wine, sparkling wine, champagne, sake, hard cider for on-premise consumption up until 2 a.m., even though that's not the proposed. It does not allow distilled spirits, cocktails, mixed drinks containing distilled alcohol. And then the 47, it allows for the distilled spirits and the mixed drinks. Same time. So my thing is, hey, sell some other food items. But that being said, I am ready to make a motion because I just think the intention of this as presented is not what it could turn into. And I think Tony point well taken that one, we don't know who could be a potential future buyer. Right. And then the, the second thing for me is that there's a reason why there is a substantial number of wineries outside of the city limits. We have one tasting space, as you just reported, If we want to change to have more tasting spaces downtown, not a bad idea. Can't speak for or against it, as I said on council, because it's not before me. But we need to look at the downtown specific plan to see if that's what the residents would want it to turn into. And right now, that's not the case. I'm prepared to make a motion. Yeah, just a couple more comments. Unless you want to make some more comments.

When she read the definition of what adult entertainment is, adult cabaret, which you mentioned, does include nightclubs, bar, and a lounge. So we can't... I mean, that's not allowed in that area. So we would... I mean... I think we want it there, but that's why I'm fighting the 42 and fighting the hours. I just think that, you know, we talked about the market will bear what it's gonna bear, but I think, I mean, I don't know who's been here long enough to remember the red rhino that used to be on Lone Tree. where we had issues. And the problem with pulling back a CUP is that it's very difficult to do that in this city. And even back then, they said that the key issue is currently there's no mechanism following up on CUPs and making certain they're followed years after their issue. So this has been a longstanding issue with CUPs. It's not a new one that we're having now, right? It happened... with the Red Rhino. It happened with the Oasis when it wanted to come. So we can learn from our mistakes and what we've done before. So if you all are okay with the 12, then why can't we do something like a mechanism? If we see a lot of police calls, then we pull it back to 11, like they did with Spoon Tonics in Walnut Creek. Because at the end of the day, these people are the ones that are living here. And I'm afraid we're gonna get an issue like the eight acres or the Creekside. And it's not fair that now we're gonna have two driveways that are gonna shine their lights into their homes up to midnight. That's why I'm like, I just think it's really late. They gotta get up and go to work in the morning. And it's 100 feet away. It's not even that far away. So, I mean, I don't know. I just feel bad for the people that live there.

Council Member.

I understand your point completely because we're getting all the complaints with the WinCo and everybody else, but we're starting off handicapping them because of what other businesses are doing, not finding out what this business is gonna do. And how are they going to run? And how are the neighbors of this business going to react to the cars coming in or in and out in the middle of the night or the music playing? They may be sitting on their front porch listening to the music. We don't know. but we can give the business the opportunity to experience that. And again, we're talking about a Brentwood resident with a history in Brentwood that I think is gonna embrace the Brentwood community enough that should those complaints be coming in, I'm assuming he's gonna be doing something to correct that along with or conditional use permit. But now I'm hearing two completely different sides of a conditional use permit of one, it can be pulled very easily, and two, we can't pull them ever. How about if I just ask the lady that's been doing this for longer than I have, what's the scoop here?

Good evening, Council. Conditional use permits can be revoked if we can make the findings that are required to do so. It is not simple. Infractions have to occur to begin with in order to document that someone is violating conditions of approval, then you can go through the process of a revocation. The reason it gets complicated is the infractions. You're getting complaints. You have to investigate. You have to follow up. So it's a time-consuming administrative process, but it can be done, and it's definitely built into every CUP in the city. So if someone is flagrantly violating their conditions of approval, I have the ability to recommend it to Planning Commission to be revoked. other people in the city have the authority to recommend that it go to the planning commission for a revocation so as long as we can document the violations it can be revoked but it is a process that takes time it's like all the other administrative complaints people would like it to happen immediately but it you know we have to give everyone their due process okay so it's somewhere in between we can never do it and it's really simple if that makes sense

Oh, it makes sense. It's the answer we always get.

And I have one, I do have one question for you. Don't they have to abide by the noise curfew as well?

Yeah, so we have the noise ordinance. We have the CUP conditions of approval in front of you. And you have the unruly ordinance, you guys, just in front of you. Well, yeah, that's for individuals, two or more individuals. But yes. So yes, the noise ordinance that has to be complied with the general plan noise standards have to be complied with. But as always, we have to be able to document those violations when they occur. And it is a it's a process, right? The other option related to the CUP is if the council does not want to include, because this is kind of unique, it's an overarching CUP for businesses. We don't know who they are yet. And the CUP does run with the land. So I can see there's some concerns about the unknowns. What is it we're approving? Because you don't have an actual tenant in front of you. one thing you could do is pull the type 42 out and make that subject to a cup if a business came into the city that wanted to operate there so again if the market is a factor we no one may ever be interested in operating that type of business at the grove right or someone may come in and they would be subject to a cup process at the planning commission you can also just remove it from the cup and not permit it at all but if you are concerned about is it on the first floor the second floor what type of business it is maybe have them subject to a future cup and not a part of this blanket cup that's also an option you can have a question about the amplitude so the music stops at 10 right isn't that what the cup says

That's what the design review says as part of the design review for the theater.

Yeah. So hopefully that will help with some of the traffic, the music stopping at 10. I know. I think that we as a council have to be diligent that if it goes till midnight, you email us and call the police and open tickets because that's the only thing that's going to get the CUP polled. But I wish there was a mechanism for us to have like, okay, let's review in six months after opening. Let's look at all of the police calls and let's see what's going on. I wish we could do something like that because that seems to be working for Walnut Creek, right? Reviewing after they open something up. They're very cautious about their residents. And I just want to be as cautious. It just doesn't sound what we have a mechanism right now for that.

So I would defer that question to the city attorney because I've heard different opinions because the CUP use permit is an entitlement, right? And it goes with the land. So I've heard interpretations that once it's granted, it's granted and the only process is a revocation. But I've also worked on use permits with like a one a 12 month review. So I would defer to the city attorney on whether that is possible.

And I would say we would model that Walnut Creek model. And if it's worked for them so far without researching it, I would be happy to research and look into it. But obviously we're short on time now. If we have another model, we could model it after then we could do that.

Could we just do an agenda item after being open for a year? Like, hey, I'd like to make an agenda item to review police calls, resident complaints, have a town hall and see how it's going then. Is that something that's allowable?

I mean, as city council, if you choose to as a future agenda item to look at, you know, particular businesses or things like that, you can set it as a future agenda item. And if that's what council wants to do, it could do that.

Okay. I'm not, I mean, I don't care for that one. We're not doing it for other businesses right now. I'm not saying it's good or bad. And also, I don't want to model after a city when I don't know the details or have anything before me today. So I'd like to make a motion. My motion is detailed in the staff report. I move to direct staff to return with a resolution modifying design review DR250-008 conditional use permit CUP25-010 based on the following direction and proposed findings. And that is that the... Everything approved by the Planning Commission continues with the exception of pulling the 42, the alcohol license type 42.

Vice Mayor, I think, and I'll turn to Alexis on this as well, but I think you can probably make that modification, which is fairly minor right now on the dais and staff wouldn't have to bring it back.

Okay, I'm in my motion for us not to make that modification now so we can get this approved and going. I'll second.

All in favor? Aye. That motion passes. And we do not have a second one at this point, right? We don't. Okay. Congratulations. Yeah. Thanks for everything. We're going to take a short break at this point. We'll aim for five minutes. Thank you. Thanks everyone for coming. We're going to go ahead and get started. Okay, moving into item H1, Thomas Lloyd Smith, City Attorney, will present the next item regarding the appointment of board members to the Municipal Pooling Authority Board of Directors.

Thank you, Mayor. The city is a member of the Municipal Pooling Authority, a joint powers authority that provides risk pooling, which gives liability coverage, workers' compensation coverage, vehicle physical damage coverage, and claims administration. It consists of three basic relationships. The first is the Municipal Pooling Authority, which provides that broad level of coverage. and looks at general liability along with workers' compensation. The second is a layer which is IRMA, the Employment Risk Management Authority, which provides employment practices coverage. And then the third layer is CARMA, which is a third relationship that provides excess coverage for claims that exceed $1 million up to $9 million in coverage. And so all of these are housed within this relationship with MPA. And the city has MPA directors. There is a voting director, and then there's also an alternate director. And this item is an item that proposes the city attorney for the voting director, and then the human resources director as the alternate director.

Thank you. Do we have any questions for staff?

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. I have no speaker cards in person or hands raised in Zoom.

Thank you. Moving into discussion.

I'm ready to make a motion.

Can I just mention real quickly why I brought this back? I just wanted to take a deeper dive into the discussion because I think it's important, especially in looking at the staff report, that at least one of the people that are appointed here have a direct line to counsel. It's just a matter of kind of reducing risk is the way I was looking at it. So yes, if you want to make the motion, go ahead.

As detailed in the staff report, I move to adopt a resolution appointing the city attorney as the voting board member and the human resources director, including any person serving in an acting or interim capacity in that position as the alternate board member on the MPA board of directors and repealing resolution number 2026-38 in its entirety.

I will second that. All in favor? Aye. And that motion passes. Thank you. Item H2, Casey Weikert, Public Works Director, will present the next item regarding a request for emergency out-of-agency wastewater service.

Thank you. Good evening, Mayor and Council. If you can share my screen, please. Thank you. This item is a request that came to staff from LAFCO last month, and it is for consideration of emergency sewer service at an existing property off of Lone Tree Way. So you can see on the map here, this is the property highlighted in yellow there. And you can see it is in a carve out the yellow lines that go to the left, the right, and beneath that property is the actual city boundaries. So this property is in a little carve out that is technically outside of city limits. The request from LAFCO came because the septic system that is at this particular residence has failed, and because of the location of the septic system in relation to the private water well that is also on the property, the county regulations do not allow for a new septic system to be put in place there because of setback requirements. So LAFCO has determined that the system is hardship and considers it an emergency circumstances and are requesting that the council consider this property to be allowed to connect to the existing city sewer system. From a staff perspective, We looked at the policy that you guys passed recently in March and that policy does allow or provide for that staff to deny as a matter of practice, any development projects that want services outside of city limits. But that policy also allows that city council may direct staff to enter into a new agreement for services outside of city limits. Staff's recommendation for this particular project is that we accept this recommendation from LAFCO, the request, and for a couple of reasons. The first is that this property is an existing property. It's not a development project. We're not adding growth here and it is going to impact other local nearby residents. What the system that they have now that's failed requires them to have a septic pumping system come regularly and they have to pump their sewer out. That means a truck comes by and it's noisy and it's loud and it smells odors and it is going to impact So we're just bringing this item for your consideration, and I'm happy to address any comments that you have.

Thank you, Casey. Any questions?

Yeah. Go ahead. Can you put the map back up? Only the highlighted piece of property is the yellow block, but everything inside of the yellow lines are additional properties that could be coming to us next week and the week after. in the future should their septic systems fail, correct?

That's possible. I don't know the exact distances of those systems compared to what wells they may have, and that's what drives the county's policies for the location of it. In this particular case, my understanding is that the septic system is too close to either that property's well or a neighboring property's well, and they don't have additional space to install a new septic system on their property.

How large is the piece of property? Do you know?

I don't know. My guess is, comparing it to some of the residential houses, there's probably half an acre.

Twenty what?

Little over half an acre then, yeah. Little over.

Okay, thanks. I have a couple questions too. Whose problem is this to solve?

Well, technically it's a homeowner's problem. LAFCO has just made a request of us. The city is under no obligation to accept this request, and we were happy to take direction either way. We don't have a particular position one way or the other other than we consider that there might be some impacts to the other existing residents near that property.

Okay. And I'm wondering, I should say I'm guessing, the well and the home were built before the county had that restriction as far as the setbacks?

Good question. I don't know. I don't know the locations of the existing wells on those other adjacent properties, and I don't know the exact location of the septic system on this property, but I can tell you if the setbacks are several hundred feet, that property is too small in and of itself to meet those setback requirements. But I don't know which came first, the property or the county's ordinances.

Okay. Because I'm kind of wondering why there wouldn't have been a grandfather situation. Do we know if the resident has reached out to their county supervisor?

I don't know that also. This request came from LAFCO, not necessarily the county. So the request from LAFCO came with a letter from the resident describing the circumstances and what happens in the processes that they went through. And I don't know if the county gave them consideration for an advance or not.

Okay.

Mayor, if I may, just to clarify that question. At this point in time, staff has not received a request that came through the county or a supervisor. We were only reached out to by LAFCO. So we just brought that forward.

Okay, thank you. My final question, in the ordinance that we recently approved, does the language actually say only new developments or is it more general and vague?

It doesn't say only new development, but that's my understanding based on the conversation we had that night.

Okay. Any other questions before?

I have one question. Is there any potential for us to annex this area?

don't know if we know an answer to that immediately i think that's there's more complexity there so certainly if the council would like staff to go do some additional analysis prior to making this this determination we can certainly do that and bring this back again this was brought forward by lafco because of the failed um the failure at the current property so we were trying to be timely and just bringing this forward per per our current policy. But if there's additional information that the council would like around this area, we could certainly do that and bring that back.

And the amount that I'm seeing in the agenda, $7,842.91, that's what the current property owner would pay. Is that sufficient for all of the expenses that we as a city and staff time we're going to endure?

Yes, that's the current connection fees that we would charge for any other residential connection to the sewer system.

Can I ask something about that? When, no, let's do it during discussion about that.

Okay, no other questions. We can 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. I have no speaker cards in person or hands raised in Zoom.

Thank you, Amanda. Moving into discussion.

So I my concern is it wasn't new development was any any utilities. That's when when we voted on that motion. That was my feeling is anyone who wanted to add utilities. We would say no to I do have concerns about what happens like Tony was saying with the next neighbor and the next neighbor. I think that if they want to use our utilities, they should be within our city limits and paying property taxes in our city. I also remember back when Dwelly Mori was considering annexing into the city, I remember reading the hookups were about 30,000 per house. So there's a big difference. And I remember reading that document, 30,000 versus the 7842. It's very, very different. because it was Stephanie, the lady who drives that big rig that showed me all her paperwork that she got. So right now I'm not apt to do this. I think that they should go and talk to their county supervisor and ask for an exemption on the setback so that they can install their septic system.

What other discussion do we have?

I'm kind of leaning towards, we said we weren't gonna take on additional things outside of the county or outside of the city limits. And we maintain a lot of our system off of not only the money we collect from the hookup, but the sewer fees and the property taxes that would go along with that. And we're losing that. from this piece of property, it belongs to the county. The county's the one benefiting from the property taxes, not us. Seems like a them problem, not an us problem. I don't mean to be a jerk about it, but it's looking out for the best interest of our citizens and our systems to maintain, because if we do one, It's not gonna stop with just one. It's gonna stop with everybody that comes with that. So I agree.

Do you wanna make a motion?

Okay, make a motion not to approve the request for the out-of-agency wastewater service limited to the existing residents at 8091 Lone Tree Way.

I will second that. All in favor? Aye. Thank you for the report. Moving into item H3, Casey Weikert again, Public Works Director, will present the next item regarding solid waste collection services and water rates.

Thank you again, Mayor and Council. This item should be familiar. In April, we brought a summary to you of the health of the enterprises and a proposal to increase the service levels of the solid waste services. So tonight's discussion is just a quick recap of that direction that you gave us in April. We are returning tonight with a resolution that does in fact do exactly what we had discussed, which is to increase the water rates at 4% rather than 6.5% that was adopted in the rate study. and we are also going to implement weekly green waste collection for the organics instead of the current biweekly system. We will retain our biweekly recycling collection. The effort to increase that solid waste service requires the purchase of five new additional garbage trucks and several employees to drive those routes and maintain that equipment. I will stress again that this will take 12 to 18 months for us to get this service, and that is strictly because it takes 12 months to get a truck from the date you order it. So it's not that we aren't going to implement this as fast as we can. It literally takes us that long to get the trucks to do this. So what we have before you tonight is a resolution that just codifies increasing the solid waste rates to 4% instead of 6.5% as previously adopted in the rate study, and formal adoption of the solid waste service to include weekly green waste collection.

Any questions? Okay, I just have one. I'm just kind of double checking for public information. Any funds released from unrealized projects go back to the water, wastewater and solid waste enterprise funds balance and not the general fund?

Any funds released from which projects?

Any unrealized projects that were talked about specifically in this agenda item?

So that's how we come up with the additional money in the health of that fund is because we had the very large solid waste organics digester gas project that never got off the ground. That was built into the rate study previously. So there were funds being accumulated over time that were not used for that. So they stay within that enterprise fund and those funds are what allow us to have the excess money to buy the additional trucks now.

Thank you. That was just for clarification. 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. 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 did receive one written public comment in advance of tonight's meeting, which is summarized on the screen. I have no cards in person and I have no hands raised in Zoom.

Thank you. Any discussion on this or a motion?

I'm ready to make a motion. As detailed in the staff report, I move to adopt a resolution regarding enhancement of solid waste collection services to include weekly green waste collection and implementing a reduced water rate increase of 4% for fiscal year 2026, 2027, lowered from the previously approved 6.5%. I'll second.

All in favor? Aye. And motion passes. Thank you. Item H4. Lindsay Pinnell, Recreation Supervisor, will present the next item regarding an MOU and fee waiver with Meals on Wheels Diablo Region.

Good evening sorry we got locked out of the computer so we'll be. Okay, thank you. I'm ready. All right. Thank you. Good evening, Mayor Meyer and members of the council. I'm Lindsay Pinnell, Recreation Supervisor here to present the staff report for the Meals on Wheels Diablo Region Program Memorandum of Understanding and Fee Waiver. Cafe Costa provides a congregate lunch program at the Brentwood Senior Activity Center Monday through Friday. The city has partnered with Meals on Wheels Diablo Region for many years. Our most agreement is set to expire this June 30th of 2026. In addition to past MOUs, the city council has approved past fee waiver applications for use of the Senior Activity Center for delivery of services and meals. The program serves adults ages 60 and older with a suggested contribution of $3 per meal. However, no eligible senior is ever turned away if they're unable to make a contribution. Guests under the age of 60 are welcome to participate and they pay $7 per meal. On average, the program serves approximately 30 seniors each day. Throughout the year, Cafe Costa partners with our Senior Citizens Club of Brentwood to host special holiday luncheons. And these events include decorations, entertainment, and expanded meal service, typically attracting 80 to 100 seniors. And the club helps to cover the cost of the meals that exceed the regular meal allocation from Meals on Wheels. The current agreement with Meals on Wheels Diablo Region covers the fiscal year 24-25 and 25-26. Recently Meals on Wheels has experienced changes to their program funding. Meals on Wheels has lowered their caps of meals they provide to the cafe program. And with recent funding structure and rising operational costs, these challenges and shortages are impacting all Cafe Costa programs. But city staff is working closely with Meals on Wheels staff to ensure that no eligible senior is being turned away for the Cafe Costa program. Tonight, staff is recommending approval of a new two-year memorandum of understanding for fiscal years 2026, 27, and 27, 28. Under the current agreement, the city's annual contribution is $26,000. The proposed agreement increases that contribution to $36,000 per year over the next two years to address rising operating and staffing costs. For fiscal year 26, 27, the additional $10,000 cost will be fully offset through the available CalAIM grant funding. With the fee waiver of Meals on Wheels, just to clarify, the fee waiver is not requesting any additional money from the city. It's just requesting to waive the fees for the use of the city to run Cafe Costa. The funding that they will receive will be solely based out of the MOU. We just brought them together tonight because they go hand in hand to run the program. With that, staff's recommendation tonight is to adopt a resolution, one, approving an MOU with Meals on Wheels Diablo region for the senior nutrition program at the Brentwood Senior Activity Center. Two, approving a fee waiver for Meals on Wheels use of city facilities for fiscal year 26-27 and fiscal year 27-28. And lastly, approving the payment to Meals on Wheels of $36,000 per fiscal year in 26-27 and 27-28 for staffing services. And that concludes my presentation. Thank you. And I'm available for any questions.

Thank you, Lindsay. Anyone have questions? I sent a few questions in and so thank you for answering those. I just want to clarify a couple things still. The $10,000 that we're getting requests for, you're hearing that other cities are going to be dealing with that same request?

Yes, everyone is on a different schedule, so it hasn't come up, it's just ours that has come up. So yes, anticipating that as everyone's MOU comes up, there's gonna be different requests and additional asks.

Okay, and then the part that was discussing federal cuts and where they impact the budget and then how this 10,000 is going to be used specifically, can you talk a little bit about that?

They didn't give us a specific breakdown of where the money is going to go. It's basically for staff operational costs. They're getting less funding. Food has gone up. Staffing costs have gone up. And so just overall, I believe the way that they're doing their budget and working things out, that's what it came out to be for us.

Okay. Thank you very much. We can move into public comments. Thanks, Lindsay.

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 speaker cards in person or hands raised in Zoom.

Thank you. Any council discussion or a motion?

I'll make a motion as detailed in the staff report. I move to adopt a resolution approving an MOU with Meals on Wheels, Diablo Region for the Senior Nutrition Program at the Brentwood Senior Activity Center.

Second.

All in favor?

Aye. Motion passes. Thank you. Item H5, Erin Wanden, Parks Maintenance Manager, will present the next item regarding the award of a contract for the Aquatic Complex Mechanical Room Improvements.

One moment, obvious technical difficulties once again here.

That station seems to have issues.

Splashing. Oh, God. Is it in check before?

Mayor, if I may. Aaron, Amanda has a presentation. If you like, she can run it for you.

Much appreciated. Honestly, this is something going on over here. Thank you. And thank you, Lindsay, for jacking things up over here. Pardon me. I'll see her tomorrow first thing, so we'll... Thank you, Honorable Mayor and City Council. Before you now is the Aquatic Complex Mechanical Room Improvement, CIP project number 35252434, the award of contract for the mezzanine replacement. As you may or may not know that Brentwood Family Aquatic Complex was constructed in 1999. So it's closer to the 30 year old than a 20 year old. Since the construction of the facility, the mezzanine has not been replaced. However, a lot of items have been replaced in that facility, such as the filters for the pool, the heaters, the pumps, the slides have even been repurposed, as well as the decking and plastering replaced. So a lot of repairs being made out there. But over the years, the mezzanine that holds the filter system, so it's like a double-decker mezzanine system, the filters sit on top of that mezzanine. Well, through routine inspections, staff started identifying some structural concerns with some corrosion in particular. And then... AFTER ENLISTING THE HELP OF A WOOD ROGERS ENGINEERING FIRM, WE COLLECTED AN ASSESSMENT FROM THEM, A FORMAL ASSESSMENT. AND IN THE REPORT, THEY PROVIDED THREE OPTIONS FOR REPAIR. THE FIRST BEING THE LEAST EFFECTIVE AND LEAST EXPENSIVE, WHICH WOULD BE REPLACEMENT WITH THE SAME EXISTING COATED CARBON STEEL FRAMING. WELL, AS WE NOTICED, THAT'S WHAT WAS SHOWING WEAR AND TEAR AND CORRODING A LOT QUICKER THAN A STAINLESS STEEL FRAME. SO STAFF'S RECOMMENDING THE STAINLESS STEEL FRAME WHERE WE CAN GET AT LEAST A 30 YEAR IF NOT LONGER LIFESPAN ON THE REPLACEMENT PRODUCT. OPTION NUMBER THREE WAS COMPLETELY WIPING OUT ONE OF THE BUILDING'S WALLS EXTENDING THE FILTRATION SYSTEM OUTSIDE INTO A NEW WALL OBVIOUSLY A MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE SOLUTION AND ALSO A VERY LENGTHY PROCESS. Obviously with the pool being very popular, there's a window of opportunity to have this work done, which is during the closure period of the pool, which is between October and February. As you can see in the photos the quotes underneath them were directly right out of that the engineers report I won't quote them, but, as you can see there's rust there's deterioration and actual concrete starting to deteriorate excuse me, as well as the metal actually shrinking. So after gathering the assessment from the engineering firm and again looking at staff's inspections, staff put together a formal bid that was made public on March 5th, 2026. After putting it out to bid, the opening took place on April 16th, 2026, at which time five bids were received, including the one from Wilson General Contracting for the $342,000 estimate. I'd like to say the bids came anywhere between the 342 and 580. Those bids are also in your staff report. So you have the five bids with you, but again, a very competitive process for obtaining those bids. Following the consideration of the Wilson General Contracting bid, the second lowest bidder did PROVIDE A PROTEST FOR THE PROJECT AND AS A RESULT, STAFF MET WITH CITY ATTORNEY, THE AWARDING CONTRACTOR WILSON GENERAL PROVIDED A RESPONSE AND UPON SUBMITTING THE RESPONSE, THERE'S BEEN NO FURTHER ACTION TAKEN OR ANY ISSUES FROM THE PROTEST. As a result, staff recommends awarding of the contract of Wilson General Contract Incorporated in the amount of $342,450 with a contingency of 10% for a total not to exceed of $376,000. This number's well under the projected initial budget of $495,000, which was presented in the CIP for this fiscal year. With approval tonight, as I had mentioned before, there's the window of opportunity, but park staff will work with, excuse me, recreation division very closely, so as not to interrupt any of the programming for the pool, and therefore the project will take place between the months of October and February, and the contract states just that. So it should not interrupt, the project should not interrupt programming at all. That's my report for tonight. I'm here to answer any questions.

Thank you, Aaron. Any 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. 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 requests for speaker cards in person or hands raised in Zoom. Thank you.

Any discussion or a motion?

I just want to say thank you. I know this has been on our CIP for years and it's finally happening, so thank you.

I mean, I can make a motion.

So as detailed in the staff report, I moved to adopt a resolution approving and authorizing the city manager or designee to execute a contract and any necessary related documents with Wilson General Contracting Inc. for a total funding authorization not to exceed amount of $376,695. I'll second. All in favor? Aye. The motion passes. Thank you. Thank you.

Item H6. Are you sure you want to sit there? We're hoping it gets set up correctly through the tech, but Gail Knight, Management Analyst, will present the next item regarding on-call grant writing and procurement services.

Good evening, mayor, vice mayor and members of the city council. I'm very excited to speak tonight on the notice of award item for citywide grant writing and procurement services. Not just because this is my first presentation before you all, but because this item is such a crucial piece of the puzzle and helping the city secure funding opportunities and support projects that directly benefit our community. This item is for the approval of agreements for three on-call consultants that will be available for citywide use on an as needed basis. This will allow the city to engage in specialized consulting services when deemed appropriate by city staff. The initial term of each agreement is for one year with optional extensions up to two additional years. We're requesting city manager authority to amend the agreements due to future possible rate increases. However, that will not change the not to exceed amount of up to 200,000 per agreement per fiscal year. Costs are to be absorbed into CIP project budgets when possible. Prior to retaining a consultant for a specific project, funding availability will be confirmed and authorization will be provided in accordance with city procedures. For grant opportunities that are not associated with a specific project, the proposed fiscal year 2627 to 2728 operating budget includes an annual general fund allocation of $150,000 for contractual grant support services. The proposed operating budget will be presented to the City Council for consideration and adoption at the June 23rd meeting. Any additional funding beyond the annual allocation would require separate City Council action or approval through a mid-year or mid-term budget amendment. The current grants and rebates policy number 14 ensures that grant opportunities are aligned with city priorities and receive the appropriate level of city manager or city council oversight before applications are submitted. Specifically, city council approval is required before submitting any grant applications that would obligate the city to provide $10,000 or more in matching funds. Grant applications that do not require matching funds still need city manager approval, no matter the amount. If a grant deadline occurs before city council can consider the application, staff may continue to submit it with city manager approval. However, staff must return to the city council as soon as possible to seek direction on whether to continue or withdraw the application. Grant funding is one of the engineering department's top 10 priorities. While I serve as the primary point of contact for this program, a citywide approach is essential to identifying funding opportunities and strengthening grant competitiveness. Through increased citywide collaboration and with the team effort from our consultants, we will be able to expand the city's resources and expertise and maximize external funding. Although staff participation remains critical, consultant support allows departments to remain focused on their core services and day-to-day responsibilities. Expectations of this program include one, identifying opportunities. Each department is tasked to provide their top 10 priority lists, along with evaluating any additional projects, programs, or improvements to seek out any potential grant funding possibilities. Ultimately, it will be up to the city whether to move forward or not. Two, prepare and apply. Upon city manager and or city council approval, the consultant will develop a strong application and submit. Three, award received. Grant awarded. Now is the time to celebrate and work with staff to update the budget. Four, project utilization. Appropriate department and point of contact staff to be assigned and ready to work with the consultant to utilize the funds as approved. Five, monitor and manage. This requires good communication from all involved to track progress, meet deadlines, and ensure compliance reporting. Six, close out. Submit final reports and close out the grant. Ultimately, the city's goals are straightforward. Identify more grant opportunities, submit stronger applications, secure additional funding, and successfully manage and deliver grant funded projects that benefit the Brentwood community. How did we choose the right fit? An evaluation of nine highly competitive qualification packages were scored using the following criteria. Qualifications, approach, experience, pricing, references, and staffing. The executive team along with myself identified three consultants that best align with the city's needs based on their local expertise, demonstrated results, competitive cost structure, and clear understanding of the city's goals and priorities. Here are our pool of consultants and some notable achievements. Ardura, with over 30 billion awarded in the last 10 years from federal and state programs. Engineering Solutions Services, who has secured over 30 million in recycled water infrastructure for Santa Clarita. Evan Brooks Associates, also known as EBA, has an 84.3% success rate and a 90.3% retention rate for their clients. And what's even more notable is that each consultant operates on a task order basis with no retainers, no monthly minimums and no automatic charges. Grant opportunity monitoring alerts and bi-monthly funding lookaheads are provided at no cost to the city. The city only incurs a cost when it authorizes a consultant to perform specific work such as preparing a grant application, conducted targeted research or providing post award administration. Before any billable work begins, a detailed cost estimate and scope is provided and the city's explicit written approval is required. The city controls the pace, volume, and cost of engagement at all times. Thank you for your time and we welcome any questions.

Thank you, Gail. Great presentation. Any questions?

I do have two questions. One is, I was reading from the staff report is this just limited to grant opportunities in the engineering department?

No, it's citywide.

Citywide. Okay. Cause the staff report says it says, um, for grant opportunities in the engineering department, um, on one section. So thank you for clarifying that. The other question that I had is, um, is there a cap on the, cause I saw it was a 200 per agreement per year. Is there a cap on the number of agreements per year?

We decided on three. There was talk on potentially more, but because this is our first year implementing it, we all talked about it and said, let's start with three. And after the first year, if we feel like we can increase that, then that could be a discussion.

So the real ask is 600,000, not really 200,000. It didn't go on.

There we go. So in our agenda conversations with the city manager, he mentioned that the ask was supposed to be 200,000 in its entirety. So while one third of that for each grant group, also spoke with Christine, and she may be recommending 50 for each, which is a nice round number for each agreement. And did you want to chime in?

Yeah, I mean, we can always come back if we need additional amendments over that amount. It's kind of an odd number to do like 666,000. Yeah. And and at the council's pleasure, we can certainly, you know, amend the agreements to be $50,000 per agreement. Again, we're kind of starting out here. And I think that that engineering was looking for maximum flexibility because the funding source would not necessarily just be general fund. Right. But it could also be project budgets that are available. But I want to, you know, have engineering chime in and make sure we're we're not missing anything.

And I have one question. Is there a minimum requirement for the grant that we would apply for? No. So, for example, I have seen grants for like $50,000, $150,000. Some are a million. If we apply for a grant for $100,000, then we're paying $66,000, this number. So basically, that's how I'm understanding it, correct?

So each grant amount, depending on if it's matching funds or if it's federal or if it's state, all require a different level of input with regards to the consultant. So they do vary. However, just to kind of give you a rough estimate, if you're looking to apply for a grant, particularly under $500,000, what I've been told is it would be anywhere from 10,000 to $15,000. So each grant application, depending on how much work is involved, if we need them to monitor it and continuously help us report on it, could be more expensive. Or if you're applying for a AARP grant that's up to 25,000, it could be as little as a few hours of work. And those hours of work range anywhere from $150 to $250 an hour. That helps, thank you.

Ellen, did you have anything to add?

Just to add on the flexibility that staff was seeking with the $200,000 per agreement, The goal here is to be, you know, this is our first time implementing it. We wanted to have the flexibility to see if there's opportunities out there, we want to be able to move quickly. You know, these agreements are up to 200,000. We're not anticipating that we're going to hit all of them at 200 each. But again, just having that flexibility, depending on which consultant gives us this particular opportunity, we want to be able to utilize them, of course, with council's, we're gonna have to come back with council for our grants policy for council approval for a lot of these. And I think that's all I had to add.

Thank you, Thomas, yes.

SO ONE MORE THING FOR CONSIDERATION SO ONE FOR COUNCIL CONSIDERATION YOU MAY WANT TO CONSIDER SINCE WE'RE DOING THIS A 50 PER AGREEMENT AND THEN THERE'S ALSO A SECTION HERE WHERE WE HAVE TWO ADDITIONAL ONE-YEAR EXTENSIONS THAT ARE IN THERE YOU MAY WANT TO LEAVE THAT SECTION OUT AND THEN HAVE have staff just come back to council, report on progress, and then you can renew the following year so that you don't have multiple years going into the future. And I credit this one to Council Member Orlemans who was in a discussion with me earlier about this, the idea of bringing it back rather than having these renewals that go all the way into the future.

So if you don't mind, can I ask the question, what would the benefit be of the two year extensions as opposed to just doing a one year and then coming back next year? Is there a benefit?

So I believe there is a tremendous benefit after speaking to the city of Antioch, city of Anaheim and city of Long Beach. What they tend to do is favor one consultant over the other. Once we get to know them and start a relationship, it's going to be pivotal to be able to see which one works with Brentwood. with a an ease and a smoothness of it i can't predict that so having the flexibility of perhaps maybe one of them not being as good of a fit as the other ones that gives us the flexibility to focus more on one also if you have certain applications or they're working on something, having that extension allows us to continue that smooth process instead of having to go back to potentially find another consultant to come in midstream. It allows us the flexibility to perhaps extend one and not the other depending on our relationship and how lucrative it is for our city.

So just so the extension if you chose not to do that then staff would just come back to Council and get approval for the subsequent years but Council would get an update on the progress that staff has seen for each of these different consultants and then you'd be able to based on that information determine how you wanted to allocate the next year of funding. SO IT'S JUST A CHECKPOINT FOR COUNCIL IF YOU WANT TO HAVE A ONE-YEAR APPROVAL AND THEN HAVE IT COME BACK, YOU KNOW, DETERMINED AND BASED ON THE STAFF REPORTS YOU GET THEN WHETHER OR NOT YOU WANT TO FUND EACH OF THEM EQUALLY OR DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT, BUT IT JUST ENSURES THAT IT COMES BACK TO COUNCIL INSTEAD OF NOT NECESSARILY HAVING TO COME BACK TO COUNCIL FOR MULTIPLE YEARS.

Thank you, Terrence. Thank you, Mayor. Just to add a little bit more context in terms of if we think about how these operate, it's very similar to any other on-call contract that we might operate for engineering services as an example. And so that is hence why it's structured as a multi-year because we're kind of picking those folks off the shelf when there's opportunity, either funding opportunity or some kind of legislation changes or there's something that presents itself that is unknown to us, which often is what we find is we need to really be able to act quickly for those opportunities. Hence, we wanted to have these multiple vendors who we can kind of pick and choose from based on their specific expertise. And I would also just say, certainly we can, I think what's been brought up around a one year agreement is certainly something we can do. Just keep in mind that we did do a competitive recruitment here, or excuse me, an RFP process, which was a selective procurement. And typically under those scenarios, your terms are locked in for that period. And if you don't have an opportunity to extend, and you don't have to extend, mind you, that that would still be the council's prerogative, typically that would, under those scenarios, you would go back out and do another solicitation to get additional vendors. There are benefits to doing that. There's also some cons to that, as was brought up by the staff around continuity. And then also just, this is an administrative process. It takes us a good amount of time to go through that selection process and to vet. So there is a trade off in that if you do a one year, we may find ourselves in a situation instead of just coming back to renew an agreement, we may be going through another process. Again, pros and cons, I just wanna put that context out. And then the last point of clarification or addition is we do have a grants policy that's been referenced in the presentation. I would also say as this is really a pilot phase for us, staff is also gonna look at that policy and come back and make recommendations around how we select grants, when matches are required, and if there's in-kind requirements and what level of staff participation is involved. Those are all the criteria as we evaluate grants with our vendors that we will be taking into consideration. the current grants policy is is silent on those types of criteria or matrix that we would use to help us make decisions so we want to make sure that we spend our resources very carefully but we also want to make sure we don't apply for grants that's going to tie up a whole fte or you know really require us to put in a lot of extra work for a very little return because that can happen often So we have to be very critical about how we evaluate it. So that will also be something in the future in the grants policy that we'll need to do as we kind of live and learn and go through this process.

Can I ask a question about the extension? Is there a way to kind of meet in the middle where there's the option for the extension, but it comes and we have a conversation like, okay, it's time to extend. These are the results from the three contracts. These are the ones we want to extend. Can we move forward? Can we just do something like say, yes, we want to extend, but it's a conversation we all have and we can. And that way, I mean, I'm excited about this because we've been asking for grants forever. So thank you so much. Great presentation. But is there a way we can kind of meet in the middle on that?

And so the answer to your question is yes, you can have an extension that the extensions here in terms of what's being asked for here, it's approved up to up to additional one year extensions for each of these agreements. but that doesn't mean that those extensions were guaranteed. What we're really talking about at this level is when does council enter the picture versus when does staff make the decision? And so you can certainly have the extension on the contract. If staff wants to approve that extension, they would just come back and get approval for it. And so that's the case where council retains the ability to have that extension approved by council. The way it's worded here, the approval is upfront by council and so it wouldn't come back. And so that's all that we're talking about. You can certainly structure the contract with an extension. It's just a question of who's approving the extension.

I just want to clarify, though, before our motion is made, the total cap, because I keep hearing different things and the staff report reads differently. And then the way Alan presented it, it sounds like three different at $200,000. And that's not the direction I don't think the staff is going. Yeah, that's $600,000. So just to be clear, it is a total cap. Thank you. Thank you.

Yeah. And for that, for that number, I mean, you can, I mean, I think Christine was recommending 50,000 per contract. You could choose a different number if you wanted to and insert it in the range, you know,

What if you have one that's like kicking butt and like getting grants and they like, let's say, you know, we're saying $195,000, $65,000 each or $50,000, doesn't matter, like, you know, $200,000. And you have one company that is like totally over delivering and one that's under delivering. Do they have the ability to shift dollars from one vendor to another if one is outperforming?

No, and that's why it's good to have that flexibility to see how it goes. Terrence spoke on the on-call consultants currently in engineering, and we have that implemented as well, just depending on what the project is and depending on the scope. some on-call consultant can have a better understanding of it. The great thing is we can get proposals from all three and we can go with the one that has the lowest price. And that's the great thing about having that flexibility is being able to strategically and you know, be smart about the ones that we actually sign off on. Um, it's not a quick yes. It requires city manager approval. Uh, plus department had approval prior to that. And any grant application that's applied for also requires a green light.

So we just do a bucket.

We've seen the benefits of the grants. So why, why are we capping them at a certain amount for three? Why don't we just give them the total? This is it at their discretion. Yeah. The 200,000 at their discretion.

I mean, yeah. So I think we're getting a little separated between budget and contract, okay? Oh, I'm sorry, were you gonna speak on this? So even if you authorized these three organizations to spend up to $200,000 a year, Our intent is not to spend $600,000, right? Our intent is to have flexibility. Engineering and the city at large would have to have the budget to fund that contract. So the contract does not give us the budget to spend. if that makes sense or kind of they're two separate things so um in this sense if they did have one that was was going like gangbusters and they each had 200 we could we could say oh we have budget in projects we have some general fund budget we could spend all 200 out of one and spend zero and zero So I think what engineering is looking for is we're not looking to spend $200,000 per contract. What we're saying is we kind of don't know who's gonna be the winner. We don't know what projects might have budget and we're limiting the general fund contribution maximum to 150 a year. So that's kind of the gist of it, but it's obviously up to you as a council what you feel comfortable with.

And so let me jump in on the backside. So you heard the budget piece, and then when it comes to the contract, as a council, you're looking to approve, because you have to be able to approve some form of contract, you're looking to approve a contract for a specified amount. And so that's why you've got different contracts with different amounts for each, because you have to know as a council, okay, what are we authorizing for each contract? And it has to tie to the budget, as Christine mentioned. And so what does all this add up to? I THINK WE END UP BACK IN THE POSITION WHERE CHOOSING AN AMOUNT THAT YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH, THAT IS ALSO COVERED IN THE BUDGET. AND IF CHRISTINE IS SAYING THAT'S 50,000, MAYBE IT'S 50,000 PER CONTRACT. AND THEN ONCE THEY FIGURE OUT THESE DETAILS OF WHICH CONTRACT WORKS BEST, THEY COME BACK AND YOU CAN TALK AGAIN ABOUT WHAT BUDGET ALLOCATION IS POSSIBLE AND WHAT CONTRACT IS POSSIBLE. BUT RIGHT NOW, IT SEEMS LIKE THERE'S A BUDGET LIMITATION Is that right?

There is, but I think the 150 that we're keying in on is general fund. But there may be budgets that are already funded in CIP projects that have planning and design and other funds available from other sources. But we just don't know which of those CIP projects, future or current, would qualify for the grant. So it's really very hard to say we have this much in CIP, if that makes sense.

So the immediate win right now looks like $50,000 per contract with the ability to analyze this, come back and come with a more sort of comprehensive approach.

I mean, if you guys are getting money like crazy, I mean, we would be dumb not to give you more money to get more free money, right? So it's, I mean, I don't think I'm concerned about if you need more because you've made so much for us and they're covering CIPs, I don't think it's a problem to come back and ask for more for the firms.

Amanda, did we do public comments yet on this one? I didn't think we did. So can we just, can we move into that?

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 have no speaker cards in person or hands raised in Zoom.

Thank you, Amanda. Back into either discussion or a motion.

Just before we make a motion, I know we're getting close. I just want to be 100% clear. If we say... whatever the number is, $150,000 with no extensions, we would have to go back out to an RFP next year to get new people to try to apply for these spots. So then the extensions kind of make sense. I got it, thanks.

Well, that's why we were saying we should do the extension, but you come and we talk about it because we've never done this before, right? Yeah.

Do we have a motion?

So I move to adopt a resolution approving and authorizing the city manager or designee to execute three on-call agreements and the amount not to exceed, did we say 65,000? Because that's 195,000. Yeah, 65,000 per agreement for the fiscal year 26 to 27. And executing two up to two one-year extensions for each agreement that comes back as an agenda item for review with city council. Is that good for fiscal year? Is that okay?

Okay.

Do you have a second?

I'll second.

All in favor?

Aye.

Thank you very much for the presentation, Gail.

Thank you.

And now moving into item H seven, Megan Olivera, associate engineer will present the next item regarding a professional services agreement for engineering design services for the citywide non potable water distribution system.

Good evening.

Good evening, mayor, vice mayor, council members. This is for the citywide non-potable water distribution project with the potential award of the design contract to Hydroscience Engineers. So the initial phase of this project work was completed in fiscal year 2021, 2022, where we installed non-potable water mains along Fairview Avenue and Sand Creek Road. And also the recycled water pump station 2.1 pictured here. And 14 meter conversions from non-potable water to potable water. From potable water to non-potable water. And all of that was designed by hydro science engineers. So recent data collection shows a growing demand for non-potable water. And so we need a study to assess the current operations, collect additional data, and recommend any improvements or upgrades to this pump station. So back in November, the city issued a request for proposals for a designer to perform this study. And unfortunately, no proposals were received. So staff reached back out to Hydroscience Engineers and negotiated a scope and fee, which brought us to the total funding authorization we're bringing tonight of $97,521, which includes a 10% contingency. So the total budget for this project was 9.4 million. In the initial phase, we spent 8.9 million. The funding authorization for this study would be $97,521, leaving us with $408,405. And this project's fully funded with the integrated regional water management grant, the parks and LAD replacement funds, and the state revolving fund. The timeline for this project back in November we requested proposals we negotiated with hydro science and that brings us to tonight for the potential contract award we're hoping for the study to be complete in September, and then the full design complete July of 2027 and hopefully complete construction October 2028. Thank you for your time and staff's available for any questions. Thank you, Megan. Any questions?

Okay, moving into public comments. 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 speaker cards in person or hands raised in Zoom.

Thank you, Amanda. Any discussion or a motion?

I love the purple pipes. I'll make a motion if no one else has anything else to say. So as detailed in the staff report, I move to adopt a resolution approving and authorizing the city manager or designee to execute an agreement with Hydro Science Engineers Inc. for a total funding authorization not to exceed amount of $97,521 for the citywide non-potable water distribution system. I'll second.

All in favor? Aye. We've had a request to, thank you again, Megan. We've had a request to push out item H8.

A motion to postpone.

Yeah, we could, we already, we skipped last time doing the informational, but I think there's a lot of

No, we did it last time. No, we skipped it. No?

We skipped it, yeah. So can we also skip that? Do we need a motion? Can we lump those two together in a motion to postpone them? Okay. Can someone make that motion, please?

I'll make the motion to postpone H-8 and informational reports from council.

I second. All in favor? Aye. Till next meeting.

Till next meeting or date uncertain?

Till next meeting. It's already ready, so maybe next meeting is okay. Okay, okay, all in favor? Aye. Who was the second on that? Alveda was. Okay, thank you. Okay, requests for future agenda items. These are new requests, so if you have one, please let me know.

Yes, ma'am.

Yes.

I'd like to discuss the use of staff time resources to investigate cost and locations for a Brentwood sharps disposal site as well as a battery disposal site here within the city and what that would cost the city to operate.

Okay. Sharps. Sharps containers like needles.

Oh.

Sharps containers.

Does staff need any more information on that? I would like to make a request to, I don't know if it's actually an agenda item or just a request for a report, but we have been hearing from residents who are concerned that there was a fire, open space fire, two years in a row in a very similar area. So if that either looks like a report from the fire department, maybe something including where the city's responsibility ends and the county's begins, what fire safety measures have been taking place, what residents can do if they wanna protect that open space in the backs of their homes. Anything kind of overview like that? And again, I don't know who that report would come from or if it's an agenda item, but yes, yes.

Contra Costa Fire had a really good informational day at Trilogy. I think Carrie was there. So if they could come and do a presentation like that, because it is on county land and I think that might be helpful. They had a lot of resources.

So then I will change my request to have this presentation be very similar to what was presented at Trilogy.

Got it.

All right, thank you. And then our last item is J1, a request from Vice Mayor Pearson concerning noise mitigation at the business located at 6700 Lone Tree Way.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I'll keep this brief. We had a resident who has come in here. We had about three or four residents who have talked about the level of noise at 6700 Longtree Way and the adjacent street abutting up against it. I actually had residents submit videos and recordings of sound. It is extremely loud from WinCo. And so I said when it was a vote for the sound wall that once we do it, a precedence will be set that I would now say whenever someone has a sound issue and they bring it forth, I would like for us to investigate it now. That being said, I would like to utilize staff time and attention for us to investigate if there's anything that we can do to mitigate the nuisance of the sound potentially. Additionally, if there was something that was missed, a miss in the contractual agreements that these people signed or did not sign, the turning over of the property from the developer to them, that was brought to our attention by a resident as well. So I'd like us to kind of investigate the historical narrative and spend a little bit more time and attention on this.

Okay, anything else? Any questions for the Vice Mayor? Okay. No. In that case, do we have any questions from us, the staff?

Are we doing public comment or no public comment?

Yeah, I just worded the questions wrong is all. So no questions for staff at this point. Then we can move into public comments. Thank you.

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Thank you, Amanda. Moving into discussion on this item.

I think I kind of said it. So whatever you all are thinking, I would highly recommend that we listen to the residents. It is very loud, the videos. And this is not even at a time. The videos that I received were not even at the loading time. It sounds like either an air conditioning unit on the side that faces the resident's home. And it has to exceed the decibels that are permissible or even the ones that we recognize, the council recognized back then for the sound wall. So I'd like us to take more time into looking into it.

Yeah, I agree. I think we need to look at it. I think we need to see who's responsible, right? Is it the developer? Is it the city? Is it WinCo? Is it a CUP? If it's a CUP, is there anything we can do around the CUP? Because I know the wall you're talking about, that was our fault because we dropped the wall. We didn't keep it at the right height. So then what we did when we extended the wall is we brought it up to the legal height. So is it at the legal height? Could it have been any taller? And I think this is kind of, I mean, this is kind of why I, the noise with the Grove, I think is gonna be a problem too, is I think we need to, I don't know how we on all projects look at noise a little bit more because it's really becoming a problem. And, you know, we're gonna have to move the pickleball courts and the Winko issue. Now, you know, it sounds like eight acres is going to become a problem. So I just think noise is a big problem. So I do agree. We need to look at it and and looking at this, maybe we can come up with a process for reviewing noise when we get applications in and make that a big part of staff reports. And then after something is there, how do we monitor it and make sure that it's not going above the noise ordinances that we have?

And enforce if needed. Any other comments? I'm definitely in support of this item, especially because we've been hearing repeatedly and I know people are feeling very frustrated. And it is. It feels like noise for us has been one of the noise and traffic have been some of the bigger issues lately. So yes, fully in support of this item. So do we have a motion?

And I have another question. Will we be at liberty to look at the CCNRs that were signed by the residents?

I don't know that they have them, but if they're recorded, that's a public document. So we can look into whether they have them. They were also supposed to be provided a disclosure. I haven't seen a copy of that and they don't appear to be recorded. So there's some information we can bring forward to council and other things we might have to look into. And can I ask a clarifying question about the, so when you say who's responsible, do you mean for mitigating noise, operational noise?

I'd say a two-parter. One is to Council Member Mendoza's, the who's responsible for the mitigation of noise. But I'd also like to look at looking back to the contractual agreements. If at the time the developer failed to give proper notice, I'd like for us to find out if that was not proper. The disclosures that were required. Absolutely. Yes. So, OK, thank you for the clarity. So I make a motion that we give staff time and attention to explore the issue at sixty seven hundred long tree in the streets and neighborhoods that are adjacent to it, exploring who's responsible for the mitigation of the noise, as well as what the disclosures were at the time that exchanged hands from the developer to the original property owners. I'll second that.

All in favor? Aye. That motion passes. And we need one more to adjourn. I make a motion to adjourn. Second. All in favor? Aye. We are adjourned.