City Council - Regular Meeting

we have returned from closed session and there is nothing to report out so that will take us to our regular meeting so at this time I would like to call to order the Elk Grove City Council regular meeting today is Wednesday May 27th 2026 and the time is 6.04pm Clerk

Thank you, Mayor. This meeting of the Elk Grove City Council is recorded with closed captioning. The recording will be cablecast on Metro Cable Channel 14, the local government affairs channel on the Comcast and DirecTV U-verse cable systems. The recording will also be video streamed at metro14live.saccounty.gov. Tonight's meeting replays will be on Sunday, May 31st at 6 p.m. and Tuesday, June 2nd at 9 a.m. on Metro Channel 14. Once posted, the recordings of this and previous meetings can be viewed on demand at www.elkgrove.gov or youtube.com slash MetroCable14. For members of the participating audience who may have personal electronic devices, please place them on silent mode during the meeting or on mute when you are not speaking. The Elk Grove City Council welcomes, appreciates, and encourages participation in the City Council meetings. City Council requests that you limit your presentation to three minutes per person, per item, so that all present will have time to participate. City Council reserves the right to reasonably limit the total time for public comment on any particular noticed agenda item as it may deem necessary. Pursuant to resolution number 2026-099, no individual speaker concerning public comment may address the City Council for more than three minutes per item. If you wish to address the council during the meeting, please complete a blue speaker card, which can be found at the back of the chamber and provided to Assistant City Clerk Brenda Haggard prior to consideration of the agenda item. With that, Mayor, I'll be moving into the roll call. And for the roll call, I will be starting with Council Member Robles. Present. Council Member Spies. Present. Council Member Brewer. Present. Vice Mayor Suen. Here. And Mayor Singh-Allen.

Here. Thank you. Next up is our land acknowledgement. Assisting will be our Vice Mayor.

Thank you, Mayor. We honor, respect, and acknowledge Elk Grove's first inhabitants, the Plains Miwok, who lived as sovereign caretakers of this land and these waterways since time immemorial. We commemorate and advocate for their descendants, the Wilton Rancheria tribe. the only federally recognized tribe in Sacramento County who endure because of the bravery, resiliency, and determination of their ancestors, tribal members, and leaders.

Thank you. Next up is our Pledge of Allegiance. I would like to invite Kara Reddick to lead us this evening. At this time, please join us for a brief moment of silence. Thank you. Next up is our approval of the agenda. May I get a motion?

So moved. Second.

All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Thank you. Next item please.

Under section three, there are no closed session items on the regular agenda, which will advance us to section four, our presentations and announcements, and that first being item 4.1, which is a proclamation recognizing May as Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Awareness Month.

Excellent. I would like to call forward our tribal leaders here with us this evening from Wilton Rancheria. Would you please join us? And assisting with reading of the proclamation is our vice mayor. All right.

Thank you, Mayor. Good evening. Nice to see all of you. It's my honor to recognize this proclamation, Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Awareness Month is May 2026. Whereas on May 5th and throughout the month of May, we remember, honor, and act for the lives of all missing and murdered indigenous people whose lives have been taken as a result of the ongoing crisis and for those who may be facing violence alone. And whereas California has the fifth largest caseload of missing and murdered indigenous people in the United States. As California is home to 109 of the 574 federally recognized tribes and holds the largest population of Native American people in the United States. And whereas indigenous women and girls are murdered at a rate nearly 10 times higher than the national average, and where four out of five have experienced violence and are targeted for murder, exploitation, and abduction in California's urban, rural, and reservation populations, disappearing at alarming rates with little public visibility and justice. And whereas the city of Elk Grove is committed to spreading awareness of indigenous people who have gone missing or have been murdered, and those who have not had the proper attention or justice, And whereas we act in solidarity with our community, state, nation, and most importantly, we stand with Wilton Rancheria, the only federally recognized tribe in Sacramento County, as we recognize Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Awareness Month, always seeking to build upon and support our indigenous communities and to stop this epidemic and heal with our communities. Now, therefore, be it resolved with the City of the Council, the City of Elk Grove, hereby proclaims May as Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Awareness Month in the City of Elk Grove and urges all community members within the city and our state to keep the spirit alive and take action for all our missing and murdered indigenous relatives as we work to end the violence being committed against them. Thank you so much for being here today.

Thank you. Welcome. Would someone like to speak?

Good evening. I just want to say thank you to the city of Elk Grove, the mayor, city council members. On the behalf of Wilton Rancheria, its leadership, and all its tribal citizens, this means a lot. So thank you.

Thank you. We will come down.

I can speak.

Yes, I just want to say thank you for the honor of this and all from our citizens also. Really appreciate you guys. Thank you so much.

Thank you. How are you? Good to see you. All right, I'll squeeze into the gear.

Thank you.

All right, we're on to our next item, 4.2, Arts and Creative Economy Commission Annual Update.

All right, good evening, mayor, vice mayor, city council members. My name is Sarah Rodriguez, and I'm your arts, culture, and creative economy program manager, and also the staff liaison for the Arts and Creative Economy Commission. So today I'd like to hand the mic to the commission's chairman, Brian Rickle, who will walk you through our annual report. And we also have members of the commission joining us today. So they're in attendance. I'll be here to answer any questions that you have. Thank you so much for your time.

Hi, everybody. Good evening, Madam Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council Members. I'm Brian Rickle, and I am the Arts and Creative Economies Chair. I'm thrilled to be here with you all this evening to offer our Arts and Creative Economies Commission Annual Report. We did have our members who are going to be with us tonight, but I don't see any of them here yet. But they are Erin Val, Julie Cooper, Sally Guthridge, Mike Manganon, Pablo Espinoza, and Man Phan. Over the past year, the Arts, Culture, and Creative Economy Commission has undergone a significant transformation as we have worked hard to better align with the city's economic development goals while still maintaining a strong commitment to community-centered arts and culture experiences and growth within the community. This year marked the successful establishment of a re-envisioned commission with an expanded focus on the creative economy and recognizing arts and culture, not only as community assets, but as drivers of economic vitality, tourism and civic identity. With the help of our city liaison, Sarah Rodriguez, we've invested in building a strong and professional public presence through the development of new branding material, including a logo, outreach materials, and event infrastructure, ensuring a consistent and recognizable identity across city events and programs. This new branding is exciting and has been noticeable at all the events we've supported. Please note that in this photograph here that one of our commissioners, Julie Cooper, had to be absent from that first photo, but along with the rest of our commissioners, plays a valuable role in our work. Now that arts, culture, and entertainment has joined economic developments as a priority for Measure E funding, a major milestone for both the committee and the city was advancing the arts, culture, and creative economy strategy. This included launching a formal RFP process and selecting the cultural planning group to guide Elk Grove's planning efforts. The strategy will provide a long-term roadmap for integrating arts and culture into the city's economic development, placemaking, and community engagement priorities. The committee is especially proud of the work accomplished through this process, though the decision was not an easy one given the number and caliber of professional proposals we received. The commission also expanded its role in public art through the implementation of both RFQ and RFP processes to select partners from the city's inaugural mural festival. After a thorough review process, we were proud to select Talking Walls as our partners for Paint the Grove, helping bring high caliber public art and community activation to Elk Grove. From June 1st through 6th, eight talented muralists will transform seven walls along historic Main Street into an outdoor gallery. More on how you can take part in this citywide celebration in just a moment. I want to talk a bit about our accomplishments this year. In addition, the commission played a key role in the city's asphalt art task force, collaborating across departments, including public works, transportation, economic development, and Elk Grove Unified School District to explore innovative community-based design solutions in public spaces. The resulting crosswalk art will encourage drivers to be more aware about driving in a school zone and use the art of one of our incredible young artists to bring this idea to fruition. As a parent who lives across the street from Mark Garfield Elementary School, I can tell you this is very needed and very helpful. Celebrating the work of young artists in this community is something that our commission places a very high value on. Community engagement remained central to the commission's work. The 25th anniversary photo competition generated strong participation with 168 submissions from local photographers. A commission subcommittee curated 20 finalists, which were exhibited at the Fine Arts Center and later featured at the city's illumination festival. The competition drew over 600 public votes and culminated in a well-attended reception of approximately 60 community members with strong interest in making this an ongoing program. The commission also supported the city's arts ecosystem through recommendations for nonprofit event grant funding, and by actively engaging with local arts organizations through presentations, public comment, and event participation. Commissioners represented the city at numerous community events, including Sunday Funday, the volunteer reception, the Elk Grove Unified School District Art Showcase, and gallery programming at the Annie Peony Gallery and Fine Arts Center. This year's signature initiative that we are very proud of is Paint the Grove, a week-long activation that will transform historic Main Street into a dynamic public art corridor. This festival reflects the Commission's commitment to placemaking, tourism, and artist engagement while positioning Elk Grove as a regional destination for arts and culture. On June 1st, we will be hosting a VIP artist and sponsor event to welcome our artists to town, thank our sponsors, and kick off the festival. June 3rd will be our Street Art 101 learning session for 30 high school and middle school students where they will get to take a workshop on how murals are created. The Annie Peony Gallery is hosting a separate event for children in the community to paint a community mural on their fence along with other community events. Finally, we are looking forward to activating this entire space with two culminating events on June 6th. In the morning from 9 to 10.30 a.m., we will host a walking mural tour starting at Old Town Plaza. Community members can join and learn about the artists and their work. Then later that day from 4 to 8 p.m., we will also be offering a local artist battle in Old Town Plaza. If you've never seen an artist battle, it's amazing. We've got live painting artists. They get a certain amount of time to paint, and then those will be judged, and somebody will win that event. So please join us while local artists paint these large canvases live in an exciting competition. We'll have food trucks, local artists, and local arts organizations tabling, a DJ, and it stands to be a really fantastic time. Please bring your friends and contribute to the public voting opportunity. These next two slides contain some past samples of work from the artists who have been selected to paint walls. These are not what they will be painting. These are simply reflective of the work that they do. Between the next two slides, you'll see work from artists such as Bubblegum, Francesca Gomez, Mr. Toledo, Cameron Moberg, who is also one of the owners of Talking Walls, ER, Ricky Watts, Alex Bacon, and Naomi Haverland. The energy surrounding this festival, its curators talking walls, and the impressive artists we have joining us has been nothing short of exciting. This festival will be a huge celebration for our city and our region. These murals will become a part of our heritage, a part of our history. The moment they are finished, they become a part of our city. I think it's safe to say that we are very excited to bring this festival, its artwork, and the elevation of our Main Street space to fruition. And a huge, huge shout-out needs to go to Sarah Rodriguez for her coordination, patience, and professionalism in connecting the dots between multiple points of our community to create something we should all be incredibly proud of. This festival alone strikes at the heart of what we would like to accomplish in our work, and I hope you're all able to join us June 6th for the culminating activation events. I'd like to take a moment to talk about some ongoing projects that we've got coming in the near future. But first, I think it's really important to give a huge thanks to the previous arts commission in the city. They have been responsible for these projects that continue to use art in an effort to make our city better. We are grateful to all of them for their work and the foundation that they gave us moving forward. First, Radiant Eddie. This is a stunning new sculpture by renowned artist, Aaron T. Stephen, honoring Harriet Eddie, who was Elk Grove's first ever female high school principal. She also helped establish her school's first library. Radiant Eddie celebrates how the ordinary can become extraordinary. And I think it's really apropos that she was a principal at a school for our young people. As an educator, I think watching young people become extraordinary is one of the best things we can do. This will be installed beginning June 24th at the new library location. The other books and ideas, this beautiful art deco style piece currently lives in the existing branch of the Elk Grove Library and will be relocated to the new space in early August. Created by Arthur Stern, books and ideas is an important part of our library's history. And finally, Hello, Goodbye is a beautiful sculpture by Stephen Fairfield and was installed in the Old Town Plaza in October of 2025. Currently contracted to undergo some improvements, this piece reflects Elk Grove's history in the mid-1800s when people of diverse backgrounds traveled to and from the area by railroad. It symbolizes the universal moments of greeting and parting with loved ones, evoking memories of shared stories, emotions, relationships, and significant life events. Looking ahead, the commission invites the community and city council to continue engaging in this work. Opportunities include contributing to the arts, culture, and creative economy strategy, attending Paint the Grove events, and supporting the continued growth of Elk Grove's creative sector. A quick note on the arts, culture, and creative economy strategy that I'd like to mention publicly for everybody. There will in the coming months be an opportunity for us as a community to be able to offer our thoughts and ideas via public listening sessions and surveys. It is imperative that the whole of our diverse community shows up for these important conversations. We have the opportunity to shape our city and its artistic presence as a group. The arts are something that touch all cultures, ages, races, and communities. Your thoughts will help shape who we are as a city and a community, and I truly hope that everyone is willing to have their voice heard in this process. The arts as an economic driver for things like tourism and placemaking for ourselves is a huge part of this work and it should involve as many voices as possible. And we hope to hear from all of you. And as I mentioned the other night during the planning commission meeting, I moved from a city that is currently wiping out its entire arts and culture budget in San Diego. And I'm very proud of the fact that we are leaning into our arts and culture and the creative economy that it can create. So I'm very grateful for all of you for that. Finally, the progress made this year reflects a clear direction for this commission, a more integrated, visible, and impactful role for arts and culture in shaping Elk Grove's identity and economic future. The commission looks forward to building on this momentum in the year ahead. And if you have any questions or would like to discuss anything, I'm right here. Thank you.

Thank you. What an excellent presentation. Thank you. I am so looking forward to the events in June and seeing the murals. It's exactly what our city needed. I can't wait. Yeah, it's gonna be exciting. Any questions, comments from my colleagues? Looking to the right, seeing none, left, none. Yes, yes, go ahead, Council Member Brewer.

Chairman Rickle, I wanna thank you for the presentation, and I wanna applaud you for your leadership with the commission itself. Your passion for arts and how it ties into a community. and how it helps bolster the economic development for us really means a lot. And having the members who sit on this board with you that has that same sort of commitment and vision coupled with Sarah's intuitions and work ethic really plays into the bigger picture on why all of this is transforming in such a great way. I want to thank you for that.

Thank you. I really appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor. Yeah, I echo those sentiments. You are an excellent addition to this commission, and all the commissioners, you know, are fantastic, but I really appreciate not just what you presented, as Councilmember Brewer mentioned, but your nod to the previous commission members, because we are, like, progressing and just, you know, taking steps forward, and their contributions, I think, were fantastic, and as are yours, and so seeing the different ideas come forth is really exciting. I love this Paint the Grove concept, so really excited to see what comes of that in a week or so. But it's just, as you first started speaking, I was just thinking about how our community is coming along, embracing the arts, and really becoming more colorful, if you will, based on that. So thank you so much for all your work in this. And, you know, I can't believe that San Diego did that. So, I mean, they're a beautiful city too. But really, I mean, when I think about what they've done and where we are going, that gives me hope for our future too. So I think we're going to experience great things. Thanks to you all. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you and to all the commissioners for all the great work. I will.

Thank you. I'll pass that on. Thank you.

Thank you. All right. We will move on to our next item, public comment. At this time, I will open up the public comment opportunity. We have two people signed up. We'll start with Mark Graham, followed by Lynn Wheat.

Good evening again. Mayor and council and staff, Mark Graham, your telecommunications policy expert and advocate. I appreciate what the city did opposing HR 2289, the American Broadband Deployment Act of 2025. I have here in my hands a copy of the letter signed by our mayor. You have this, and I don't know if you read it, but I do encourage you to read it. I'll tell you just a tiny little bit. The city is strongly opposed to HR 2289, the American Broadband Deployment Act of 2025. It would undermine public safety, force local taxpayers to subsidize private corporations, and disrupt the very broadband deployment progress that it aims to accelerate. The predominant cause of broadband permitting delays is not local government. It is the federal permitting process. This Congress has already recognized that problem. The House passed bipartisan legislation to expedite and improve permitting by federal agencies and on federal lands, which will do far more to accelerate BEAD-funded projects, BEAD is broadband, anyway, it's some program we have, than imposing rigid mandates on local governments, which is what HR 2289 wanted to do. All right, now. That's good. As I let you know, I think it was Monday and back in March, the FCC, Federal Communications Commission, they're a captured agency, and they are supposed to be working for the people, executing the will of Congress, and instead they just open their ears and hands and minds and pocketbooks, and they ask telecom what they want. And so they have a docket, proposed rules right now, and I'm asking the city to oppose these proposed rules. The docket number is 25-276, and without getting into it in too much detail, it's another way, think of it as a backdoor, you could think of it as a loophole, it's not a loophole, it's another means of federal policy making for them to accomplish the same thing that they have been trying to accomplish through HR 2289, which the city has now opposed. And so I'm asking the city to take a look, and for all the same reasons we opposed 2289, oppose this thing. This is briefly from Children's Health Defense. And the other thing is Children's Health Defense put together, no, is it? National Call for Safe Technology, not the same thing. But anyway, here's what the proposed rules mean for your community. They would silence your community's voice. What the FCC calls streamlining is really shutting you out. Public hearings would disappear, conditional and special use permits would vanish, and elected officials, would be powerless. We don't want that. Automatic tower approvals after 150 days. We don't want that. No independent review. The FCC wants to bar localities from hiring their own experts to test radiation safety. Lose existing protections. Our telecommunications law that the city worked on for 19 months back in 2018 and 2019 That's at risk. It would be in jeopardy from this law, and it threatens property rights and local budgets. Anyway, I will give this to your clerk. You have lots of information. Please follow up.

Thank you, sir. Next up is Lynn Wheat.

Good evening. I don't know if you can see it, but I'm proudly wearing my Elk Grove 101 alumni shirt. So I just finished that nine-week program. And I just want to commend staff for just putting together an excellent program, being willing to answer questions, And if they didn't have the answer, they followed up with emails. And I just really appreciated that. And I also have my little certificate that I will put with my citizen planner certificate from 2015. So I have friends say to me, why did you sign up? You go to all these meetings. You know what's going on in the city. You know how the department's run. And I said, well, You know, I am sure I could learn something new. So something that I will share with you, I learned more than one thing. But one of it was that our households are serviced by Republic and that our apartment complexes and our businesses are serviced by Cal Waste Services. So we have two different trash carriers operating within our city. And I also heard that our staff are working with our apartment residents to really begin to participate individually in recycling. So I was excited to hear that. Again, I could probably stand up here for 10 minutes and just keep saying they did a great job It was a good use of my time, well worth it. I have a binder now that has all these different departments. So when I come to meetings now and I get new information, I'll have a place to put it. So then when I'm home, I won't have to search through endless material. So again, I want to commend them for this. I met a lot of new people, and it reaffirmed why I live here, because we just have some really kind, wonderful, caring people. So I have a couple minutes. I love the idea of arts, and I focus on it's a quality of life issue for the residents here. And so I think that should be like our primary. Who are we serving? We're serving the residents here. And a secondary benefit would be getting more tax dollars and creating a tourist destination. But I think we really ought to focus on it's for our residents. Thank you. Thank you.

That concludes public comment. I will go ahead and close the public comment opportunity. And we will move on to our next item, our city manager's report.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of the City Council, Jason Berman, your City Manager. Several items to report on this evening. First item is the 2026 Elk Grove Community Survey is currently open to anybody in the City of Elk Grove that wants to complete it. It's available up on the City's website. it'll be open through June 1st. So we encourage everybody to go on there and complete that. As Ms. Wheat just mentioned, we just finished our latest cohort of Elk Grove 101, great successful program. Appreciate everybody spending those nine weeks with us. We had 24 residents that graduated through our program this time. We'll start the next cohort in August. That'll be another evening session. This one was a morning session. We kind of alternate back and forth to accommodate people's schedules. And this last one we just finished was the first time the CSD had a day to talk about Parks and Rec and fire. So it was great having them, and they did a great job as well. Let's see, May is bike month, so the city will host its final free e-bike class on Saturday, May 30th from 10 a.m. to noon at District 56. The class will review e-bike type, safety, maintenance, and storage. Elk Grove residents who attend will be entered into a raffle for a free e-bike, so that's a huge motivation to come on out and make yourself eligible for a free e-bike. Space is limited. We encourage people to register at our website, elkgrove.gov. already talked about the grove that we're super excited about. And then we do have our pitch out grove. Applications are open right now for our fall event. Encourage anybody that knows the business that wants to be part of that to go on our website and look for those opportunities. The community is invited to attend the event, which will be on September 3rd at District 56. And then Several of you went to this, but on May 16th, we had the Luke Bryan concert in Elk Grove. We had more than 20,000 people come to Elk Grove to a sold-out Luke Bryan concert at the Mann Ranch. Data shows that people came from all over Northern California, the Bay Area, further north, further south, so great, great event. Despite heavy traffic at times, concert goers came away thrilled with the experience and their time in the city of Elk Grove. City teams are already planning how to make future large-scale events even more successful. So thank you to our police department, our finance department, our community development department, public works, everybody that had a hand in making sure that was a safe, successful, fun event and really showcase our city in a positive way. So kudos to everybody on that. And then my final item is I wanted to recognize our very own Kara Reddick. This is her last city council meeting. She's been with the city for nearly 24 years. She is the longest serving city employee that the city has ever had. And we are going to miss her tremendously. She's done an amazing job working her way up from a management analyst to now deputy city manager. She's leaving us to assume the head of the City of Lodi organization as its city manager. We couldn't be more proud of her and grateful for her time with us. Our community is better. Our organization is better because of her talent, her effort, her engagement with so many of us. So we're going to miss her, but we're proud of her and wish her nothing but the best in her next endeavors. And I know the council also have something that they would like to share with Kara. So I'll go ahead and turn it to you guys.

Yes, thank you. Of course, the City of Elk Grove wants to recognize and appreciate all of your hard work. So whereas Kara Reddick is set to become the City of Lodi's first female city manager, yes, and it is with bittersweet congratulations that the City of Elk Grove has the honor to recognize her nearly two and a half decades of public service with the City of Elk Grove, having touched the lives of thousands, including community members, colleagues, and staff, serving as a dedicated professional, inspirational leader, and thoughtful mentor. And whereas Cara served as the Deputy City Manager for the City of Elk Grove, where she provided executive oversight of key city functions, including public affairs and communications, community engagement, human resources, risk management and operations, operations oversight of District 56. And whereas Kara was instrumental in leading the implementation of Measure E, a voter approved 1% sales tax passed in 2022 that generates $34 million of ongoing revenue for city services. She also secured more than 18 million in state and federal funding to support capital improvements enhance public safety, expand library services, and funding homelessness initiatives, and whereas Kara Reddick has served as a force of positive transformation to our community and organization, imparting a legacy of excellence to the community of Elk Grove. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the City Council of the City of Elk Grove hereby recognizes and celebrates Kara Reddick for her decades of dedicated service to the City of Elk Grove, commending her service and wishing her the best in all her future endeavors, signed this day, May 2026. A round of applause.

Oh, I'll say something.

Yeah. Mayor and members of the city council, Cara Reddick, deputy city manager, I'm so honored to have served this community for the last almost 24 years. And I have my tissues because I'm a crier. But I think you had me at the pledge because I've never done, I don't think I've ever done the pledge here. Oh, my God. That just means a lot. And I thank you for the proclamation. I want to thank the council for your leadership with the community and the city. Not every city council operates like you do. And you are a model council for cities throughout the state and the nation, the way you treat staff members, community members, and your leadership. So I want you to know I appreciate that about you. I want to thank Jason Bearman, city manager, for his leadership. I can't really look at him, because I'll get all emotional. But he has been a leader and a mentor to me since he started. He is an exceptional city manager, and we are very lucky that he is leading the city. You have an amazing executive team and an amazing staff. And everyone here has a hardworking attitude, continuous improvement, and they care. They care about the community. And I think that goes a long way. So I just want to thank all staff, the executive team, Jason, and the council for this opportunity. And I'm very honored to be going to the city of Lodi as their next city manager. And I hope that I can lead them in a strong way and bring a little of the Elk Grove magic to Lodi. So thank you. Congratulations. Oh, my goodness.

It has been a joy, an honor, a privilege to work with you. You have led with compassion, professionalism, true dedication. When you think of public servant, you think of Kara Reddick. We are so proud of all that you have done. It is a bittersweet moment because we're sad to see you go. But we know that you have your wings and you're going to fly to the next city. And they need you. They need you. And they're lucky to have you. A couple of us have a friend down there, the vice mayor there. I think he's vice mayor, Mikey. So I know that you're going to a community that will welcome you with open arms and value all that you bring, that steady hand that is so needed in the city of Lodi. So we want to wish you, obviously, the best of luck. Could not be more proud of what you have accomplished here. Just truly an honor. Thank you. We'll go on to our other colleagues. We'll go, we'll start with our Vice Mayor, and then we'll go to Council Member Brewer.

Okay, thank you, Mayor. Well, Kara, I am so happy for you, as the mayor mentioned. But hey, you are synonymous with Elk Grove. I mean, 24 years. We've only been incorporated for 26. So, yes. And up here, we talk about sometimes previous council this, previous council that. You've been here for all of it. So a lot of the success is you had a hand in it. I can't be more happy for you. It's been a pleasure working with you for the past 12 years and just seeing your continued growth as a leader, but also your calm demeanor, your pleasantness. Ever since I came on board, you were always that way, always welcoming and very, very able to navigate the controversies. um a skill set so much needed in your new role and your current role and so you do that so well uh we are going to miss you as the mayor mentioned and but we also are so happy for you we know Lodi's in good hands and you can certainly know that you've made such a huge difference here I mean you're I I know you're not going far you live here so you're gonna You can still enjoy this area and be here to criticize us when we do wrong. So, but just congratulations and thank you so much for your service throughout all these years. Congratulations, Kara. Thank you.

Council Member Byrd.

And I'm just totally grateful to be in your presence and to be able to work with you these past four years and to see you from afar. do your service to the city of Elk Grove is truly commendable. Servant leadership is something that is more of an art form. and see you in action really shows that you are more than ready for the next level. You are more than ready to become a Lodi City Manager and you're gonna do great there because you have a lot of intangibles that check off so many boxes of what is required and what is needed and what is also extended from a true servant leader, Kara. You lead with faith, you lead with heart, and you do it with a great degree of humility that truly makes people want to work with you and work for you and run through walls for you. And being able to work with you during the Measure E campaign was a sheer delight because I saw your ability to not only rally the forces, but to keep the charge moving and to do it with such joy has been a miracle. And so, like I said, everyone is sad that you are leaving, but we're very, very grateful. happy for you, it's tears of joy. Because we just know that you're gonna do great things over there. And for Mikey Singh Hoti, he's gonna have to pay us a fee. Yes. Because he's taking very talented, very awesome people that have done work for the city of Elk Grove and helping transform Lodi into the city that they are becoming as well. So thank you so much. Congratulations. And we will see you down the road because a lot of our city managers in the region live in Elk Grove for a very good reason. And we definitely take stock in that and take pride in that. But thank you and congratulations.

Thank you. Council Member Spees.

Wow, Cara, wow. I mean, 24 years, that's incredible. You've seen the good, the bad, the ugly. You know where the bodies are buried. I mean, my gosh, the corporate knowledge that's walking out the door. I mean, after, you know, like the vice mayor said, you know, 26 years as a city and you've been with us for 24 years. I mean, just the growth of the city, right? The growth and of course, you know, your growth, right? Didn't know you way back when, but I'm sure when you look back and you think, my gosh, you know, The things I've learned or the things you've learned, I should say. And, you know, yeah, Lodi is, I mean, it's egotistical to say that Lodi is getting a great thing, right? I mean, because, you know, they're taking a piece of our knowledge, right? And it's great knowledge, right? Like I said, you've been there through it all. You've been a piece of it along all the way. And it's a great accomplishment to take. And so... Congratulations to Lodi. Congratulations to you. I'm sad for us. I'm going to be straight up and honest about it. I'm going to miss you. You've done good. You make us proud. So thank you.

Council Member Robles.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I think it was in 2018 when we were, when Elk Grove and the Chamber would host governmental affairs meetings at the Chamber offices. And I used to work for AMI back then. And I think I would give my federal update really nervous after hearing yours because yours was just perfect, especially explaining everything on the city. But you were always the nicest person to me as a staffer. And that's something that just everybody who's a staffer remembers when someone on the executive team is super nice. You've always been so warm and welcoming, and I know that for several of the colleagues. That's why a lot of them were tearing as they were reading the proclamation. You just embody love and kindness and warmness. Lodi is very lucky. I was at an event yesterday with their mayor, Ramon, And literally, I was like, you are lucky. You're taking someone who is amazing and who's going to make change to be the first woman city manager to lead that. I can't wait to see the great things that you're going to do for Lodi. They are excited. I'm not going to say that they're excited for the growth, but they are excited. And they have the right person to steer that ship, right? So thank you for everything you've done. And I can't wait to see your success and cheer you on from afar. We're just right down the street. We are the best district, but we are one city. District 4. District 4. District 4. But one city. But no, just thank you for everything you've done for the countless hours of working. The folks don't see even the sacrifices that you and your family made for our city throughout these 24 years. We truly appreciate it, and we wish you the best.

Thank you. Thank you. Good luck and Godspeed, friend. We're going to come down. Okay.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. You're amazing.

Hey, where are we? All right, next up is our consent calendar items. At this time, I will open up public comment. I do not have anyone signed up for consent. I'll close public comment and look for a motion to approve consent. So moved.

Second.

All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Thank you. All right, next item, please.

Take us to Section 8, our public hearings. And our one public hearing is Item 8.1, which is to conduct a public hearing to consider a resolution confirming the Laguna West Service Area Fiscal Year 2026-27 Annual Report and ordering the levy of the Laguna West Service Area, formerly County Service Area No. 5.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council Members. I'm Cindy Tiffany, Finance and Budget Analyst for the Finance Department, and I'm here to present the Laguna West Service Area Levy for Fiscal Year 26-27. The Laguna West Service Area was originally established in 1992 by Sacramento County as what was known as County Service Area 5. The City of Elk Grove assumed administration in 2003 when Laguna West was annexed into the city and became known as the Laguna West Service Area. The service area provides an array of services such as street sweeping, road maintenance, drainage services, and administration to the area. Shown here is a map of the service area. The parcels that are within the district are shown in the colored areas. And the map has not changed since the service area was created by the county in 1992. In 1993, Sacramento County Board of Supervisors adopted ordinance number 1418, which established the service area allocation formulas and the procedures for collecting County Service Area 5 service charges on the property tax roll. To levy the service charges, the governing jurisdiction must confirm an annual written report detailing the individual parcels and the respective service charges. The formation documents establish the basis for the annual increases. Since the levy is being assessed at the maximum rate, the levy cannot be increased. Here is the proposed service charges for 2026-27. As you'll see, it keeps the same service charge level as the prior year, which, for example, is $17.04 per single-family residential home. Staff recommends maintaining current service levels to provide an adequate revenue stream for projects and services to maintain sufficient reserves for future projects and to maintain consistency with the proposed 2026-27 budget document. Staff recommends to adopt the resolution for Laguna West Service Area for fiscal year 2026-27 which will confirm the annual report and order the levy. This concludes my presentation. Thank you for your time. If you have any questions, I'm available.

All right. Thank you for your presentation. At this time, I will declare the public hearing is now open and open up public comment. We don't have anyone sign up for this. We'll call public comment, and I will declare that the public hearing is now closed. Any questions? Bless you, bless you. Otherwise, I'll look for a motion.

Move to adopt the resolution.

We have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Thank you. All right, our next item, please.

I'll move this to section nine, a regular agenda action items and recommendations. And the first item is 9.1, to consider resolution leving the fiscal year 2026-27 special taxes or special assessments for seven community facilities and special districts.

I'm back. I'm here to present the fiscal year 2026 special tax, or sorry, 2627 special taxes and assessments for the city's community facilities districts and assessment districts. The city administers seven special tax districts. These districts provide funding for infrastructure improvements, which may be bonded or not, police services, maintenance services, street maintenance, and street lighting maintenance. The funding is planned to match the service needs of each district to maintain the alignment and to include future projects. The rates are gradually increased annually. There are five community facilities districts, also known as CFDs, within the city. Two of these districts have an infrastructure as well as a service component. There are two assessment districts within the city, street maintenance and streetlight maintenance. Our bonded districts, there are three community facilities districts with infrastructure component located in what is known as the East Franklin, the Poppy Ridge area, and the Laguna Ridge area. These community facilities districts are bonded, which means they are supported by debt. They fund the construction of new improvements, projects such as roadway, sewer, drainage, and public projects, capital improvement projects. Recent projects include District 56 facility, the Nature Preserve, Civic Center, Community Center, and also the Camera Road improvements. These CFDs have different sunset dates that are set by the original formation documents. For services district, the city has four maintenance service districts and two for police and two for maintenance. CFD 2003-1 is Poppy Ridge Police Service, which is within that district, just the Poppy Ridge district boundaries. CFD 2003-2 is police services for the rest of the Elk Grove boundaries. CFD 2005-1 Laguna Ridge maintenance service is for the Laguna Ridge district only. The 2006-1 is maintenance services for the rest of the city and that has 17 different tax zones based on on-site maintenance requirements and projects. There are also two assessment districts that are considered service districts. Street maintenance, district number one, which has five different geographic zones throughout the city, and street lighting maintenance that has two geographic zones. The goal is to fund ongoing authorized services such as police, streets, street lights, landscape of public parks, trails, channels, and other open spaces. These districts are not bonded and are levied into perpetuity. Here's a quick summary of the different districts and whether they're infrastructure or service related. This table shows all the districts and the basis for increase along with the percent increase for this proposed year. And it will just show for single family homes. East Franklin, Poppy Ridge Facilities, and Streetlight Maintenance District Number 1, Zone 1, do not have any increases per their formation documents. Poppy Ridge Services and CFD Police Services are increased by the lesser of the CPI or 5%. The CPI for April was 3.8%. Laguna Ridge facilities is increased by a flat rate of 2%. Laguna Ridge maintenance services is increased by the CPI. 2006-1 is increased by the CPI or 2%. Zone 1 of street maintenance, sorry, Zone 1. One of streetlight maintenance is increased by the construction cost index, and so two through five are also by the construction cost index. CFD 2005-1 Laguna Ridge Maintenance Services last year, or actually this current year, was levied at 90% of the maximum rate. And the staff is recommending to increase the levy to the 95% of the maximum rate for fiscal year 2006-27. The city has added new facilities, new parks, most notably District 56 and Nature Preserve, which We're still building up our reserves as the city continues to add facilities and more parks. The maintenance costs will also increase. Staff recommends maintaining current service levels to provide an adequate revenue stream for projects and services to maintain sufficient reserves for future projects and to mean stable assessment levels for residents. Staff is recommending to adopt a resolution to continue to levy the special tax assessments for seven special districts for fiscal year 2026, 27.

All right.

Any questions, let me know.

All right, thank you for your presentation. At this time, I will open up public comment. Nobody signed up to speak on this. I'll close public comment. Any questions? Otherwise, I'll look for a motion.

Move to adopt the resolution.

All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Thank you. Next item, please.

Take us on to item 9.2, which is receive a presentation on the 2026 Corporation Yard Master Plan Update.

All right. Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council Members. My name is Sean Gallagher, Deputy Director of Public Works, and tonight I will be presenting the 2026 Corporation Yard Master Plan Update. This presentation provides an overview of why the update was completed, what the master plan evaluated, the long-term facility options considered, and the recommended path forward to support Public Works operations as Elk Grove continues to grow. The original CorpYard master plan was completed in 2008 and identified future operational growth and facility expansion needs. That plan included several major recommendations, SINCE THEN, THE CITY HAS MADE MEANINGFUL PROGRESS ON CERTAIN ITEMS THAT WERE IDENTIFIED. ADDITIONALLY, TRANSIT, WHICH ORIGINALLY WAS UNDER THE CITY, WAS ANNEXED BACK TO SACRT, BUT CONTINUES TO OPERATE UNDER A LEASE AGREEMENT THROUGH 2029. AND I WILL NOTE THAT THEY HAVE REQUESTED TO EXTEND THROUGH 2034. ONE OF THE ITEMS THAT WAS NOT RESOLVED DURING THIS TIME WAS PUBLIC WORKS EXPANSION TO SUPPORT LONG-TERM OPERATIONAL NEEDS. AS I MENTIONED THE ORIGINAL MASTER PLAN IDENTIFIED NEED FOR FUTURE EXPANSION. IN 2013 THE CITY BUILT THE SPECIAL WASTE COLLECTION CENTER AND IN 2019 THE ANIMAL SHELTER WAS BUILT ON UNION PARKWAY. And now in 2026, this updated master plan is focusing on planning for the next 20 years and beyond. We have taken meaningful steps since 2008, but the need for Public Works operational expansion remains. In 2008, the original assumptions reflected a smaller organization with smaller operational footprint, heavier reliance on contracted services, limited in-house maintenance capabilities, and minimal fleet and facility operations, and a more reactive operational approach. It is important to note that the original 2008 master plan also projected significant larger in-house staffing levels by 2020 than the city currently has within public works operations. That projected staffing growth did not fully occur because the city intentionally continued to utilize a hybrid operational model. Rather than fully internalizing operations, the city strategically is maintaining a balance between city staff and contractors. Today, public works still operates under that hybrid model, and however, even continuing, the operational complexity and service demands continue to grow beyond the capacity of the existing facility. The city now maintains a much larger and aging infrastructure network and has added or moved operational functions located other places, including recycling and waste, capital maintenance, landscaping, facilities, and fleet-related support functions to the corporation yard. So while staff levels may be lower than 2008, Plan originally projected the operational complexity, coordination needs, fleet requirements, storage demands, and overall service responsibilities have grown substantially. The existing Iron Rock site is physically constrained and fully utilized. The site is fragmented across multiple operational users and includes shared operations with limited flexibility. The SACRT lease also limits available space and impacts long-term planning of the site. Circulation is constrained, especially for larger vehicles, equipment movement, delivery, storage access, and daily operational flows. There is no meaningful room for future growth on the existing site. And the facility itself has been repurposed over time to accommodate changing needs rather than designed specifically for today's public works operations. The 2026 Master Plan was completed to provide a comprehensive evaluation of current conditions and future needs. The analysis looked at three primary areas, operational needs, facility needs, and site and infrastructure needs. The Master Plan established updated space and operational requirements, evaluated existing site limitations, identified current and future deficiencies, assessed long-term operational sustainability, and developed a phased facility recommendations. This is important because the master plan is not just looking at what we need today, it is evaluating whether the city has a sustainable operational platform for the future. The corporation yard needs to be designed to accommodate the needs of today and the future. Public works operations do not just support one facility or a neighborhood, they support the entire city network. As Elk Grove continues to grow and as future expansion is shown on here, the city will need to operational capacity to maintain streets, drainage, traffic systems, landscaping facilities, and many other public infrastructure. The intent is to plan for today, but design and build something that will support us long into the future. The master plan evaluated two long-term facility paths. Option A is to remain at the existing Iron Rock facility and reinvest in that site. That approach would involve renovation and expansion within the existing footprint, but it has limited ability to add space and it would also continue many of the current operational constraints and limit future growth as the city expands. Option B is to develop the disposal lane site adjacent to the City Waste Collection Center, which the City owns. The option provides a purpose-built site that is expandable, supports the City's projected growth, consolidates and improves operations, and enables long-term operational efficiency. This option also supports operations beyond just 2050. When the options are compared, option A, renovating the existing site, would be delayed by the SACRT lease, and would likely require temporary relocation, rental space during construction, existing operational constraints would also remain during the transition, and expansion potential would still be limited in the future. Option B, developing a new site, allows planning and design to begin immediately. It avoids disruption to current operations and can be designed specifically for long-term growth, lowers operational risk, and creates a purpose-built modern facility beyond 2050. The estimated investment for reinvesting at the existing, sorry, is approximately $64 million. The estimated investment for a new consolidated yard is approximately 65 and a half million. So the cost difference is relatively small, but the operational outcome is significantly different. Option A has high operational disruption, likely temporary relocation needs, constrained expansion capacity in the future, and limited long-term efficiencies. Option B has low operational disruption, does not require temporary relocation, provides significant expansion capacity if needed, creates high long-term operational efficiency, and will address current deficiencies in a shorter timeframe. A new corp yard supports multiple city operations and service areas. So the funding strategy is a balance of debt service and cash on hand across multiple fund sources. Staff is evaluating a combination of capital reserve, capital project funds, enterprise funds, internal service funds, and bond financing. The funding sources shown here are some of those identified. At this stage, staff is not recommending a specific allocation from any one fund. This purpose is to identify the range of potential funding sources that may support the project as the city moves into design and refines cost estimates. The proposed Elk Grove Corporation investment is generally aligned with comparable regional public works and operational center investments. The examples show include Roseville, Folsom, Vacaville, and Santa Rosa. These communities have made or are making significant investments in operation centers and public works facilities to support current services. The key point is that Elk Grove's proposed investment is not out of line with peer communities. It is right-sized for a growing city. There's also the do nothing approach, but it increases operation inefficiencies and risk. The existing facility already exceeds operational capacity, continued overcrowding reduces efficiencies and can affect response time. There's no room for future staff, fleet or equipment growth, maintenance and safety compliance deficiencies will continue to increase. The city will have a greater reliance on offsite storage and temporary solutions raising costs in the future. This conceptual layout shows how the disposal lane site could be organized to support public works operations. The layout includes an administration building, shops, areas, storage buildings, fleet and equipment areas, material storage, and circulation designed around the operational use. The goal is to separate public facing and administrative areas from yard operations, improve security, provide better vehicle and equipment flow, and create a more efficient relationship between staff, fleet, shops, and storage. This is still conceptual and would be refined through future design, but it shows that the site can accommodate the core operational functions needed for a modern corporation yard today, but also in the future. The second conceptual drawing shows another way the site can be organized. The purpose of showing both layouts is to demonstrate that the disposal lane provides flexibility. Different configurations can be studied as the project moves into design. The final design would refine circulation, build placement, security, stormwater fleet movement, storage, employee parking, operational access, and future expansion areas. THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM PRESENTATION IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THIS ITEM INCLUDES A RECOMMENDATION TO ADD APPROXIMATELY $1.5 MILLION TO BEGIN INITIAL DESIGN AND PROJECT DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATED WITH THE CORP YARD PROJECT. FUTURE PHASES FUNDING STRATEGIES AND CONSTRUCTION AUTHORIZATION WOULD STILL RETURN TO COUNCIL THROUGH THE NORMAL CAPITAL PLANNING AND APPROVAL PROCESS. The slide shows a preliminary planning and implementation schedule if approved. Design could start in July of 26, design completion in the fall of 2027 with bidding coming after that, and construction is anticipated sometime between 2028 through 2030 with an estimated 18-month construction window. The schedule is preliminary and will depend on council direction, funding strategy, project delivery, and future design development. And that concludes my presentation, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

All right. Thank you for that. At this time, I will open up public comment. We do not have any public comment speakers. I will close public comment and open it up for questions, comments. I'll start to the right this time. Council Member Spies.

I do have some questions, Sean, real quick. In the event that we were to go with option B, what happens to the existing site? I don't know if you had that answered, and maybe I was phasing out, but what happens to the existing corp yard?

At this time, we haven't really decided what would happen. We would evaluate the existing site for expanded other operations for other departments, look at just potential other uses of it, maybe selling it. But at this time, we haven't identified any anything for that site.

Okay. So currently, like the, I can't, what is it called? Evidence lockers, right? Evidence from police that is currently stored in the courtyard as well, right? I didn't, or where is it stored? Is it here? Okay. All right. I just wanted to, I didn't see that in the B option. So I wanted to, thank you. Appreciate it. I'm good. Thanks. Okay.

Council Member Robles?

Thank you for the presentation.

I have no questions at this time.

Council Member Brewer?

No, thank you for the presentation, Mr. Gallagher. Just by looking at both of these options, option B, does that give Public Works more breathing room to operate? Because when you look at the current facility, even though you're housed with other operations, it feels like you have more breathing room, but because Public Works is ramping up, is building up, does this give you more breathing room to operate?

Yeah, so it does give us more breathing room. Right now, we are already using about three and a half acres of the disposal site for operations. So we've already grown out of the size of the current courtyard.

Okay, okay. No, that was the only question I had. Because looking at how everything is tied together, it makes sense. And the modernization for for public works as it continues to become more of an in-house function as opposed to the hybrid model that we currently have. This totally makes sense, thank you.

Vice Mayor?

Yeah, thank you, Mayor. I agree with Council Member Brewer. And when you see the cost comparison and similar costs to do a new site that gives you more efficiency and you're able to consolidate versus just rehabbing the old site at similar costs, but you're not planning for the future, so to speak. So I think... This does make more sense. I like the graphic here. I definitely would encourage the covered parking. I think that I've seen it in other facilities around and it really makes a difference. As well as I like the trees on here too. There's a lot of pavement out there. It's going to get really hot during the summertime. So hope you guys emphasize that. But I would definitely support moving to the newer corporate. I didn't appreciate the conversation earlier with the team. Thank you.

Thank you. Great presentation. I concur with my colleagues. Option B makes the most sense. It allows us to expand as needed. So thank you. Do you need anything else from us? You're good. All right. Thank you. With that, we will move on to our next item.

It's item 9.3, which is to receive an overview report of the proposed 2026-2031 capital improvement program.

Apologize for the number. It looks like I got that one wrong. Good evening, Council. My name is Christina Castro. I'm the Capital Programs Manager with the Public Works Department. Excited to present the 2026-2031 Capital Improvement Program.

Let's see.

This evening's presentation provides a high-level overview of the five-year program, highlights the City Council project priorities, and identifies new projects proposed for inclusion in the upcoming CIP cycle. The capital improvement program serves as the city's long-range planning and budget document for major public infrastructure improvements. The proposed 2026-2031 CIP includes 97 total projects consisting of 74 capital improvement projects exceeding the city's $250,000 CIP threshold and 23 minor projects or studies included for reference purposes. This year's program adds 17 new projects across multiple categories. While seven projects were completed this fiscal year, and staff anticipates completing an additional 12 projects in fiscal year 26-27. The first year of the CIP becomes the city's capital budget and is incorporated into the annual budget for council consideration. The remaining four years are forecasted and refined annually as projects advance through planning, environmental, design, and the funding phases. The CIP is organized into the five primary program categories. Alternative transportation modes, which includes a pedestrian bicycle and transit improvements. Community enhancements, including landscaping, lighting, parks, and public spaces. Drainage projects focused on flood control and stormwater conveyance. and transportation projects such as roadway improvements, traffic operations, and pavement rehabilitation. Together, these programs support the city's continued growth, infrastructure reliability, public safety, mobility, and quality of life. The proposed five-year CIP represents approximately $450 million in planned capital investments over the next five years. The city continues to aggressively pursue state and federal grant funding opportunities to leverage local funding resources and advance priority infrastructure projects. This slide illustrates the distribution of funding across the five CIP program categories. While transportation projects represent the largest share of overall funding due to the scale and complexity of roadway and interchange improvements, the number of projects across the five categories remains relatively balanced. This demonstrates the city's continued investment across multiple infrastructure needs, including facilities, drainage, trails, parks, and community enhancements. Given the size of the overall program, tonight's presentation will focus on the city council priority projects that are either under construction or soon to be advancing through design or beginning in the upcoming fiscal year. One project completed this year was the Ty Lenahan Public Safety Center Monument and City Hall signage improvements. This project was highlighted earlier this month during the campus dedication ceremony honoring Officer Ty Lenahan and represents an important community and public safety investment. Construction of the new Elk Grove Library, located at the former Rite Aid building at 9260 Elk Grove Boulevard, is nearing completion. The project was supported through both state grant funding and local funding contributions and will provide expanded library services and community gathering spaces. The grand opening is currently anticipated this fall. Construction is now underway on the Laguna Creek Multifunctional Corridor Project. This project includes approximately a half mile of new trail improvements and two bridge crossings that will improve regional trail connectivity east of State Route 99 and connects the Camden area to the future State Route 99 overcrossing, which then will connect to this next segment of the Class 1 bicycle and pedestrian overcrossing, which has secured more than $10 million in grant funding and will provide a critical non-motorized connection across Highway 99 as part of the larger Laguna Creek interregional trail system. Construction is anticipated to begin in early 2027. Just around the corner. Another one for this coming construction year is the Elk Grove Boulevard Streetscape Phase 2 project continues through our final coordination for utility and relocation activities. This project will include the underground utility conversion, pedestrian and bicycle enhancements, landscaping, lighting, and roadway improvements intended to improve accessibility and enhance the historic Elk Grove corridor. Construction activities are anticipated to begin later this year following the ongoing utility work by PG&E and SMUD. Design and right-of-way acquisitions are currently ongoing for the Grant Line Business Park Sewer Project. This infrastructure project supports future economic development opportunities within the Southeast Industrial Area and is anticipated to begin construction in early 2027. As part of the city's climate action plan implementation efforts, the city continues transitioning portions of its fleet towards electric vehicle infrastructure. This project includes installation of fleet charging infrastructure at the police department fleet facility and was supported through a $1 million appropriation grant. The project's currently in design and construction anticipated in early 2027. Sneak preview of an upcoming presentation, but just for fun. The fish hatchery site restoration project will restore the site to a more native and environmentally sensitive condition while evaluating future educational and community opportunities consistent with the conservation easement. Environmental studies and conceptual design are currently underway and future concepts will return to council. Earlier this year, City Council identified the preferred site for the city's future permanent homeless shelter facility. The project will provide long-term shelter and supportive services for individuals and families experiencing homelessness. Design and right-of-way acquisitions are actively ongoing. And the camera road extension projects still a priority project identified as a segment a one of the capital Southeast connector will construct a new two lane roadway connection between Bruceville road and interstate five final designer right away. Acquisition efforts continue as a city actively pursues grant funding opportunities to support the future construction and the white lock Parkway state route 99 interchange projects that came to council previously. this year, includes a new interchange, bike and pedestrian facilities, auxiliary lanes, and the state route, on State Route 99, intended to improve regional circulation and support plan development. The city is advancing the project through a CEQA-only environmental process with a target delivery timeframe around 2030. The Lotz Parkway and Promenade Parkway extensions will realign promenade parkway up to the intersection of lots to support the future traffic circulation associated with the Whitelock interchange. Environmental and design activities are underway with construction anticipated ahead of the interchange project to support the overall system. City Hall 10 improvement project remains in design and includes H back replacement roof unit improvements, Evie charging infrastructure space optimization and expansion opportunities to support the city's growing operational needs constructions currently anticipated near the end of 2027. With the relocation of library services to the new facility later this year, the existing library site on Elk Grove Boulevard will become available for future reuse opportunities. Staff will begin a feasibility study this fall to evaluate future uses and revitalization opportunities for the site. And finally, the proposed new corp yard will begin design with this council's recommendation that was taken tonight. This year's CIP includes the 17 new projects listed above across multiple program areas. These projects range from roadway and facility maintenance improvements to trail expansions, accessibility upgrades, park improvements, and operational infrastructure needs. Several projects are positioned in the city to competitively pursue the future grant funding opportunities and support long-term infrastructure resiliency and service delivery. And that concludes my presentation. Thank you for your time. I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. Excellent, excellent presentation. All right, at this time, I will open up public comment. No one has signed up to speak on this item. I'll close public comment. And we'll start to the left this time. Any questions or comments, Council Member Brewer?

No questions, no comments. I want to thank you. Ms. Castro for this great report. The projects that we have that are moving, the progress has been really good. And it's just, I'm very curious to see how things progress on the transportation projects specifically. because as we're starting to really consider as the city's starting to grow, having those main veins of traffic are going to be very important, especially the Whitelock Interchange and how lots plays a bigger role in connecting with Promenade Parkway along with Camera Road and that extension. Those are going to be very vital for us. But yeah, no, this is a really good update. Thank you.

Vice Mayor?

Thank you. Thank you, Christina, for this presentation. Exciting to see all the good work we have going on still. So appreciate the information.

Thank you. Council Member Spies.

Thank you, Ms. Castro.

There's a lot of great projects that are in there. And so I appreciate it. I mean, if folks take a look around, they should be able to see a lot of good things that are improving in the city. And so I want to thank you for presenting those today. Thanks.

Council Member Robles.

Thank you, Madam Mayor, and thank you for the presentation. Excited to see the Whitelock Parkway Interchange Project as it's moving forward. A lot of great stuff happening and looking forward to doing it.

Thank you. Thank you, great presentation, great to get a status report on all the improvements in our city. I actually got to touch on a lot of this. We had an update with, I think, Keller Williams, and so I was one of their guest speakers and got to give an update on some of these projects, which the community was happy to see, so thank you for that. All right, with that, we will move on to the next item.

And that'll be item 9.4, which is to receive a presentation of the proposed fiscal year 2026-27 annual budget.

All right, good evening. Madam Mayor, members of the City Council, It's exciting, that CIP, isn't it? There's so many cool projects, and I'm gonna talk about more boring stuff. They get to have all the fun pictures and stuff. But our public works teams, as you saw from Mr. Gallagher and Ms. Castro, and led by our public works director, they're doing phenomenal things. We're planning for growth, we're planning for all the needs WE'RE EXCITED TO BE ABLE TO MOVE THOSE PROJECTS FORWARD. MOVE THOSE PROJECTS FORWARD. WE COULDN'T DO ANY OF THAT WE COULDN'T DO ANY OF THAT WITHOUT THE BUDGET. WITHOUT THE BUDGET. THE FINANCIAL CONDITION THE CITY THE FINANCIAL CONDITION THE CITY IS IN AND CONTINUES. IS IN AND CONTINUES. I'LL SHARE WITH YOU SOME OF THE I'LL SHARE WITH YOU SOME OF THE DETAILS. DETAILS. BUT THE REASON WE CAN DO A LOT BUT THE REASON WE CAN DO A LOT OF THOSE THINGS IS BECAUSE WE HAVE OF THOSE THINGS IS BECAUSE WE HAVE A SOLID FINANCIAL FOUNDATION to make sure remains that way. And every day it seems like we're hearing more about cities that are facing budget challenges, right? Deficits, revenues are not as much as the expenditures. And so I'm happy to report that that's not the case in Elk Grove. We continue to to manage our expenditures and our revenues continue to remain strong. So I'll go through some of the details. I want to just recognize doing a budget like this takes the whole city to put the information together, our finance staff, all the operating departments. It really is a months-long process to make sure we have everything in here and we're presenting a budget that's fiscally responsible and addresses the council's priorities, the community's priorities. and the needs that we see. And so really a specific thanks to all of them as well and are led by our finance team and our budget team, Nathan Bagwell and Raj Prasad and their staff. So great, great job there. And really just shout out recognition for the city council to set the priorities, set the goals, making sure that we remain in the place that we are. It really takes discipline by all of us to make sure that we can continue to address the needs of our community. So we're gonna start with the overall city budget, which includes all funds, including the general fund. So total budget of almost a half billion dollars now, 491 million. So significant increase over the prior year. A lot of that is CIP related, a lot of big projects that we have in there. There's some land acquisitions. We have things like affordable housing projects, addressing homelessness, some of the big ticket items. There's also a lot of developer-led infrastructure, so when they build roads and trails and other kinds of things, there's reimbursement associated with that, so that does go into the budget as well. General Fund is also growing. Our General Fund expenditure recommendation for FY27 is is 107.5 million dollars that's an increase of roughly 10 million dollars major cost drivers is compensation which includes salary and benefits internal service fees those are the thing that's really driving it this next year is money that's being collected from different funds and different departments to pay for the city hall remodel across the street so we're accumulating funds next year and the following year and to allow us to do that project so you see a relatively temporary spike in that over the course of the next two years, and that will go back down. And then other capital and operating investments that we'll share a few more details as we go through here. And just a note as well, this is kind of an introduction to the budget. You're going to be asked to adopt it potentially at the next meeting. This is really an introduction for the council as well as the community. Those of you that read through the whole budget before tonight, congratulations. It wasn't expected or necessary, but appreciate all of your interest in making sure that you understand what is being presented. So as I mentioned, what we're presenting is a balanced budget, meaning our revenues are exceeding our expenditures. We're continuing to fund all of the city's reserve accounts, which includes $25.8 million on our reserve for economic uncertainty and 5.1 in our opportunity reserve fund. And we continue to put on top of that money aside in our capital reserve, our economic development incentive reserve, as well as our pension trust fund. I'll talk a little bit more about pension, but we continue to be very well-funded. when it comes to our pension in the top 10% of cities across the state. And that is setting us out for future success, not just now. We're putting money aside. So in the good years, when things are humming, we're preparing ourselves so that when things do slow down, that we have prepared for that inevitability. So again, balanced budget, fully funded reserves, and what that allows us to do is continue to invest in the things that are most important for our community, public safety, addressing homelessness, traffic, all the things really on the measure E list, right? Those are the things that the community has told us are their most important things. And so because we have the resources to be able to do that and we're disciplined in how we spend money, it allows us to really focus our investments in the right places. So talk just a few things about some of the budget priorities. So public safety is always at the top of the list as far as our budget priorities. And this budget is no exception. Continued investment there. Continued investment through our Arctic. And some of this is measuring money. Some of this is general fund money. What you're going to see in the budget is really a focus on traffic enforcement. We've seen Chief Davis did a report back in March talking about the increase that we've seen in pedestrian traffic. Accidents fatalities traffic accidents generally huge spike in the city over the last couple years it's continuing to grow and so we're continuing to add traffic enforcement and we're also working with public works on mitigation measures on our roadways but what we're recommending adding in the next year which we haven't done in many years. more red light cameras so there's five new intersection or five new approaches to intersections that you're gonna see come up and and the reason we're recommending that is because we have seen the results are positive at those intersections the the rates the the accident rates and the fatalities are lower where we do see those cameras people tend to moderate their behavior and And so I know they can be controversial. Not everybody likes them, but we have shown that they do improve public safety. And so there is a recommendation for that. CONTINUED INVESTMENT WITH OUR DISPATCH CENTER AND OTHER THINGS OF THAT NATURE. THERE'S ALSO, WE'RE CONTINUING TO INVEST IN OUR ELECTRIC VEHICLE INFRASTRUCTURE. MS. CASTRO TALKED ABOUT THE EV INFRASTRUCTURE THAT'S NECESSARY TO ACCOMMODATE THE CITY'S GROWING FLEET WHEN IT COMES TO ELECTRIC VEHICLES. WE ARE PROPOSING THROUGH our departments and specifically our police department to add two new vehicles, patrol vehicles as a pilot program to see if we can, there are cities across the state, across the country have started to lean into electric vehicles, not just for their whole fleet, but specifically the hardest one is really our patrol vehicles because they have very specific needs. And so we're trying to identify the right types of vehicles that will accommodate their needs and still pursue our climate action plan goals. Increasing our investment in homelessness, we saw some images of a potential future homeless shelter, but we continue to fund those programs at a high level when it comes to the shelter and other related programs, navigation services, other things, roadway rehabilitation, traffic signal operations. ENHANCEMENT AND GROWTH OF OUR YELLOW LEFT TURN FLASHING SIGNALS THAT WE'VE SEEN POP UP AROUND THE CITY. WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO EXPAND AND GROW THAT PROGRAM IN THE COMING YEAR. AND CONTINUING TO JUST LEAN INTO MODERNIZATION, STRENGTHENING HOW WE DO BUSINESS, OUR INTERNAL OPERATIONS, MAKING SURE that we always have the mindset of improving and looking for new and better ways of doing things. And so there's some investments in here to things like new software programs and services that we think will enhance that, allow us to do our jobs more efficiently. So a few charts that I'll show you. I won't spend a ton of time on these things. These are in the budget document. This is total revenues. And you see lots of different items here because that's one of our strengths is we do have a very diversification of funding sources, not just from the general fund. I'll get to the general fund in a minute. But when you look at all funds, you see lots of different things. One of the things I'm really proud of here, you see the biggest – The biggest element here is grants, $66 million in grants. So we really work hard to bring in money from the outside. It's not just coming from our residents, it's coming from the state, from the feds, from other organizations. Then you see development impact fees, you see CFDs, you see lots of other things, including Measure E on here that really make up the totality of the city's revenues. If you look at overall spending, again, this is citywide spending, $491 million. Capital is the largest. So our CIP projects, $239 million. Almost half of total spending for the city next year is coming from our capital programs. You see the next largest is compensation. or it's actually operating costs and then compensation. So here, compensation is only 21% of the total budget. When we get into general fund, it's a much larger percentage because all those other funding sources make up a lot of the capital programs, whereas general fund pays for most of our operating expenses from our department, specifically the police department. It's mostly general fund, and now with Measure E, we have an additional significant funding source. By function, this shows this is, again, citywide, some of the different departments that make up this. And you see here, when you look at the police department total, it seems relatively small, 15%. That's the total city. But when you get to the general fund, you're going to see a significant difference, and that's going to show a much bigger number. But when you look at the totality of what the city does, the city's operating departments are relatively small because that's CIP. takes up such a large percentage of the city's budget. Okay, so now we'll get into general fund. Revenues, $117 million, again, revenues exceeding our expenditures. So property tax and sales tax are almost equal when you look at that, right down the thing. But 60, 70% from those two funding sources. Other taxes, that includes things like our hotel taxes, our utility user taxes, transfer taxes, other things like that. Other, a lot of that's like investment income and things like that in there. and then different programs that generate revenue through the general fund or in the other ones. On the spending side of things, our compensation on the general fund is significant at 67%. Again, a lot of that is the police department, but other city departments that are funded and driven by the staff rather than the building of things, that's generally what the general fund is there for. By function, again, here you go, the police department, 64% of the total general fund budget, which is significant, but it reflects the priorities of our community. We continue to invest there. Again, this does not include measure E. That's separate. I'm going to get into some of the measure E slides in a second. But you see lots of different departments on here. Governance, that's things like city manager's office, our city attorney's office, city clerk, other departments. What's interesting on here is you see the city's investment in nonprofits through like the community services grants, the event sponsorship grants. That's pretty unique for the city of Elk Grove. And I know our staff, when they presented those programs to you, noted that, that not every city does that to any level. let alone the level the City of Elk Grove invests in those programs. Just a quick snapshot. This just shows our projection over the five years. It shows continued growth in our revenues and continued growth in our expenditures. So we're not seeing any kind of structural deficit over the five year horizon that we're looking at. We continue to see that, of course. Things can change. The economy can certainly change quickly, but right now we're not seeing any major headwinds with our revenue sources, and so those will continue. We are expecting, as of tonight, that those will continue to be strong. But the good thing is we have reserves. We have other ways of pivoting. If we do get headwinds, revenues show decline, we can adjust, we can adapt, and we're going to be able to ride out any storm that might be in front of us. Again, right now, we're not seeing a lot of things in the immediate future, but there's always risk. There's always things that will happen. There will be the next recession. We don't know when it's going to happen, but we can guarantee that there will be a recession. They are cyclical, and so we don't know how deep or how long it will last, but it'll come, and we're ready for that inevitability. We're gonna go through Measure E. This was presented to the Measure E oversight committee and they recommended the council adoption. They were pleased with the investment and the adherence to the community priorities. Again, the voter approved in 22. The revenues continue to go up. The revenue estimate for next year is $36 million. We do share the revenues with the CSD for parks and fire-related services. So as we set forth previously, we do set aside 20%. Next year, that will equal about 7.2. 30% of what's left goes to the CSD, and the remaining 50% stays with the city for the programs we've identified as priorities for Measure E. These are those priorities. So last year, you added the four bottom ones on the right, arts and culture, affordable housing, preservation of natural areas and open space, and expanding bike and pedestrian trails. The other ones are the original ones. So you'll see investment in each of those categories throughout the budget. I'm going to highlight just a few things in some of those categories. So hence, policing efforts. We talked about traffic. There's also parking enforcement. We have continued investment in emergency operations, dispatch controls, expanded Arctic staffing, so there's going to be more time when we have people in the Arctic monitoring those cameras, and so expanding and lengthening the hours of operation for that unit, which has proven to be extremely successful and popular with our community. BRICS, you saw Mel Lasher, economic development analyst, I think at the last meeting presented that program where businesses can opt in and have a cost share with the city to add cameras to the exterior of their building that tie into Arctic. So we're excited about that program. Some quality of life things, obviously, and continuing investment in homelessness response in the permanent shelter, traffic, streets, mobility, the middle income housing initiative that we're hoping to get off the ground in this coming fiscal year is a $2 million investment in that. Talked already about the Paint the Grove and public art in city facilities. So some things that we're really kind of honing in on. Here's a few just one-time projects. And I'm going to highlight the top one. This is the southeast policy area called Mendez Park, $4 million. This is a partnership between the city and the CSD. There's some land that the city is going to be getting through some development acquisitions that we are going to then combine with CSD-owned property to make a larger park. So we're adding acreage there along with some Measure E funds. This is the first time we're taking money, we're recommending we're taking money out of our future reserve set aside for Measure E to do a joint partnership with them that we think will really enhance that park, add much more community amenities, also add parking along Bighorn that will take relief pressure off the neighborhood. We know sometimes when there's parks, especially big parks that don't have parking, we get neighborhood complaints, and so this addresses those issues as well. So we're excited and happy to be able to recommend a partnership with the CSD on that. Grant Line Sewer project we talked about, that's in design right now. I-5 Sound Wall beautification, that's, you drive down I-5, you see patched up graffiti and things like that. We're going to try to do a better job of making that wall look a little bit better, and some of those rough patches, they've been Paint it over and various things over the years and so that's a an effort that we're gonna try to do because I think as people Drive up and down note 99 and 5 how they see the city from the freeway makes a difference of how they perceive the city We've got some of these that we've already talked about the Laguna Creek in a regional trail a fish hatchery restoration super excited about that pavement rehabilitation and then trails wayfinding signs and So this just shows you the variety of investments in addressing homelessness from prevention, permanent housing, outreach, encampments, sheltering, all of the different aspects that go into a successful program to address homelessness in our community. We're also setting aside some additional funds this next year for our permanent homeless shelter. So we're up to $7 million that we've set aside for Measure E that's being coupled with other funds that are available from some state sources and some other things we're utilizing. So by the time we're ready for construction, we should have the money we need to build that facility. As far as staffing goes, we are increasing our staffing. We're recommending 11 total new positions, seven of which are in the police department. A lot of these are also measure E positions. Not all of them, though. Forensic investigator is necessary. Traffic, again, traffic detective, as well as motor officer, two traffic-focused positions. A real-time, an Arctic supervisor, two real-time information center operators, and then a parking enforcement technician. a finance, an analyst in our finance department. And then in public works, we have a project manager, a traffic signal technician, and a street sweeper operator. As the city grows, we continue to need more staff to do the work. And the street sweeper is a great example of we've just, we've grown, we've added too many streets in the city that we can't keep up with the demand. Right now we have two. This adds a third. We've been augmenting the two with contracted street sweeping services and we've reached a point where it's necessary to add a third that allow us to do what we need to do on the street sweeping fund. I mentioned just briefly PERS. We continue to invest, setting money aside. Previously, we had done an approach where we sent prepayments to PERS directly, and we'd done $13.5 million today. Over the last few years, we've transitioned our strategy to putting it into a city-owned and controlled trust fund for PERS pension obligations, and we've contributed $15.9 million over the last several years into that trust fund. So those really act together. Our investment in pre-funding are the city's unfunded liabilities. So right now we're at 88% funded, which is again in the top 10% of all cities across the state, and we continue to do that. So again, that's another way that we set the stage for the city's future. We set that foundation that we can rely, when the water gets rough, we can rely on that, and we won't have our PERS pension obligations spike as much as they would if we didn't have these funds available And what the trust fund allows you to do is if you need to in the future, you can pull money out of the trust fund and pay your PERS pension obligation. So even if you don't have it somewhere else, that money is sitting there earning interest that you can pull from in times of need. So the recommendation this evening is to any questions, comments that the council might have, then receive any public comment, provide any input or direction you might have of staff. Any changes or you'd like to see in here will incorporate into the budget when we present to you on June 10th. We'll come back and ask for your consideration of adoption of the budget meeting. If you're not ready to adopt it then, you don't have to. We ask that you adopt it before the end of June. It makes our lives a lot easier if we can get it done by then, but certainly it'll be presented in a manner that you could adopt on June 10th. There will be public hearing notices sent out. and everything will be advertised through our normal social media and media outlets. So that concludes my report, and I'm happy to answer any questions that the council might have.

All right. Well, thank you for that outstanding presentation. I will go ahead and open up public comment. We do not have anyone signed up to speak on this, so I will close public comment and open it up for discussion. We'll start to the right this time. Council Member Spies. Sure.

Let's do it. Mr. Berman, thank you very much for the presentation. I think one of the things that all of us hear over and over in terms of repeated mantras is one, we want to have our neighborhoods safe. We wanna be safe. And so the budget certainly prioritizes that and I appreciate that. So from the public safety perspective, that's definitely important. The other thing is, you know, we constantly hear, look, you know, you got to do something about the homeless. Something has to happen for the homeless. I want to thank you for, you know, putting in the budget document all of the homelessness services, all the expenditures together for one good picture. I think what's unfortunate is that the cost of homelessness is huge. significant, significant, right? And it's easy to levy laws and things on us to make things happen. It's very fortunate that the residents have given us Measure E to help us to do that. It's a problem that we can manage. It's not a problem that we can solve. There's a very big difference between the two. I do want to ask, and here's the curveball, Jason, so you ready? You ready? Okay. There's been a lot of conversations around the region about investments in safer streets. And so what I was hoping is that maybe somebody could kind of – and what I'm talking about, it could be signalizations. It could be widening of bicycle paths. Can you tell me what good things we've got or new things that we've got in the budget that helps us to have safer streets? Because I've got a follow-up on it that you and I talked about a little bit. I don't know if you're expecting it, but we'll see.

There are multiple different ways that we do that. And I'm going to turn to my team over here to help me answer this question. But a lot of times we do look at grant opportunities. Recently, we had some neighborhoods talking about some of the striping that we're proposing to do that kind of narrows the road width and puts some bike lanes and things like that. So sometimes we do it through striping. Sometimes you call road diets where you kind of narrow the width that slows people down, things like that. We do things like flashing beacons and flashing stop signs and flash things that get people's attention to make sure they know there are pedestrians there. We do really enhanced crosswalks. things like that that really make traffic safer for everybody. One of the things we're seeing right now is a real concern about e-bikes, e-scooters, just pedestrian behavior that's really dangerous. And so what you're going to see, I think, at the next meeting is some ordinance changes revisions that we're proposing to hopefully address that the police department's done a great job with education getting into the schools educating parents and so some of it is yes physical improvements that we can make some of it is people's behavior and how do we you know make sure that that that is is addressed and curtailed i'm sure our public works director can talk about a few other things that we're doing to make sure our streets are safer so i'm going to hand it over to him and see or you can fill in the gaps.

You did a great job. I think that all of those strategies apply and I know Bobby and I will tag team this one because he's got some plans of his own to help make our streets safer. So Jason touched on a lot of them and I'm getting comments from my staff here as well. So we're expanding our flashing yellow arrow program. We've got a lot of money invested for measure E. Jason mentioned a bunch of them, flashing stop signs, enhanced crosswalks, et cetera. the ordinance coming regarding e-bikes usage and where and when you can use those. One of the most significant things that we're doing is through a grant and investing in a safety action plan as well as a Vision Zero plan. So that's something that's being worked on by our CIS department and our Our Transportation Planning Program Manager, I believe is her title, Kaylie, is leading that effort. We're waiting on authorization from FHWA to start spending those funds and really get into that plan. I don't know if you're familiar with what a Vision Zero plan is, but that's a plan that cities put together, agencies put together to make efforts towards zero collisions and zero fatalities on our streets. It's a very ambitious plan. It's something that we're very excited about that will fold into and inform our general plan, bike, ped, trail, pedestrian master plan, et cetera. So Jason mentioned a lot of the physical improvements we do. We look for those opportunities. Anytime we repave a road, we look at striping, signage, other needs. Certainly we're reactive when incidents occur and we're looking at those things, but we try to be proactive as well. and I'll turn it over to Bobby to talk about some of the enforcement stuff. I didn't mention the three E's. I'm really remiss if I don't. So education, enforcement, and engineering are the three E's that we look at.

That's the best acronym you could come up with?

He's an engineer. Three E's, that's what I call it. Some people say there are four now. There's a fourth one out there.

Yeah, no, I would say for the police department, specifically working with our public works and actually the entire city, our goal is to provide a safer space when it comes to roadways and sideways, walkways, trails, everything that we have. And whether it's enforcement on the trails or specifically in this case, our streets, at the end of this year, we're going to basically take a year-long study. So we have a chance to evaluate all of our areas. It's going to probably cover the last three years specifically because we've seen a significant spike in traffic. vehicle versus pedestrians, vehicle fatalities, and overall collisions with injury crashes are significantly higher. Part of the enforcement is the additional bodies, but greater than that, we want to study to see where we're having these issues in our community, specifically whether it's related to speed, is it related to engineering, is it related to lack of enforcement, is it related to lack of education. And then we're going to make recommendations based on that with our city partners, our public works team, to see if it's an engineering thing or if it's something that we need to try to address on the enforcement side. We have done a ton of education, and I'll specifically relate it to the e-bikes, which is a significant concern for all of us in law enforcement, not just Elk Grove, but the entire region. And we're working with all of our law enforcement partners here to kind of come up with a strategy with some sort of education region wide to address that. In addition to that, we will have a policy and I believe it is the next city council meeting where we will present recommended changes to our code related to e-bikes on streets and trails. And then if needed, I think that we can look at that and, and, even further strengthen some of the or enhance some of the potential punishments for violations of e-bikes to include us looking at potential working with our DA's office if we educate families and they continue to let their children ride those e-bikes in a dangerous manner there has to be accountability and what does that look like we don't know right now but potentially it's holding those parents responsible for allowing the children to do that and on our streets. We have multiple injuries, significant injuries, folks or young people who are in a coma as a result of that currently here in our city. So that's something that's very important to us to try to address and eliminate if possible. and that's several of the areas that we're working on. I think it's gonna be a collaborative effort. This is gonna be a long study. We've already seen, this past weekend, a citizen struck by a vehicle, which is potentially life-threatening, and it's something that we've continued to see grow, and so we're gonna try to address those with this study along with our city partners.

All right. Well, thank you. And then my biggest point in all of that was to ensure something that you had mentioned in the beginning, Jason, and that is complete transparency in the fact that we have budgeted for five additional red light traffic cameras. Full transparency. Okay. Okay, because it's a priority. We're spending money on making safer streets. It is a combination of enforcement and engineering and I'm sorry, my 30. Education. Education. Step one. Step one is education. Step one is education. I'm really glad that you remind, education, engineering, Enforcement, right? Okay, but it's important. I think it's important to say, again, there's been a lot of conversation around the region about fatalities and about how we should be having safer streets. This budget, among many other things, right, addressing homelessness, addressing other safety issues. Among those, one of the things that we are doing is concentrating specifically on making safer streets, safer place for your children, safer place to drive, and that is a priority. And it takes all of those E's, and we are doing that. That's an important message in this budget. So now that I've pounded the podium here a little bit, the last thing I want to say is last year I had made some recommendations relative to ways that we could help out for low-income seniors or low-income folks. Those have been implemented over the last year. I think that the buses and the trash and I forget what the other one was. What's that? Sidewalk program. Sidewalk program. I want to thank you for implementing those in the last year. I think that's great. So with that, thank you very much. I appreciate you making Elk Grove a safer place to be and I think where people are very happy to raise their children. So thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Spees. Council Member Robles.

If you guys are not motivated after hearing Councilman's piece, then I don't know. Safer streets, folks. Safer streets, yes. And thank you, Jason, for that presentation. A well-balanced budget. We're fortunate here to be having what we're at right now compared to other cities around the region. We get to invest in safer streets and definitely been seeing that a lot as I'm driving down, even on Franklin, when they're repaving everything and they're putting the stripes down and everything. So thank you for that. I'm just excited to see that, again, we're well balanced and that we're continuing to maintain and move forward and to see the collaboration across all departments to make sure that this is successful and that we have a good budget. So thank you for being good stewards of our money.

Council Member Brewer.

Yeah, I just want to pile on to the comments that have been made earlier. Safe streets is very fundamental, but also making sure that we're educating the public on the use of the e-bikes, because the e-bikes have a way of moving a little faster than people anticipate, and they are not a toy. Once you hit two miles per hour when you start your push, it moves pretty fast, and moving in an electric vehicle, much opposed to an internal combustion engine vehicle, is very different. And the safety for riding and having these vehicles should be treated every bit as seriously as a motorized vehicle, just for that very reason, right down to wearing helmets. This is a conversation that has been taking place Across the state, people are trying to wrap their arms around it. Legislation was passed earlier today in the assembly that looks at that very specific issue as part of, it's just a microcosm to the bigger issue of safety in general. But safe streets, definitely in full agreement with Council Member Spieth, because as more people find their way to live in Elk Grove or come to visit Elk Grove, making sure that they can move around smoothly without having any calamities or falling into potholes is very important. But I think more indicative of what we're doing is this whole aspect of revenues exceeding our expenditures. That cannot be undersold enough. And I think that's very responsible and very responsive as we listen to our community. Because the bigger issue, I think, that you've alluded to, Mr. Berman, is There's always risk when you have a healthy reserve and a healthy budget. And how we navigate ourselves through the oncoming wave or dark clouds that can possibly happen is keeping ourselves as bulletproof as humanly possible. And Measure E plays a big role in that, but I think What we've actually shown in this specific budget is that we can actually not rely on Measure E to be our savior, to not be our silver bullet. And that comes through very responsive, very vigilant work that you and Jackie are doing along with Rajnil and Nathan Bagwell and his team that helps us navigate these waters. And the reason why Council Member Soon and I are part of the Budget Audit Committee to help make sure that not only are we responsible We're prudent, but we're also being very diligent in our efforts and vigilant for the community. And this budget definitely reflects that. We have a lot of good things happening. I'm really happy to see what we're doing in the historic Main Street area for the street widening for there because that's a heavy congested area and making sure that new development that's coming in, that we're addressing that in addition to addressing some of our other priorities that we've identified in the five-year capital improvement plan. So thank you very much. This was really good. And I'm very supportive of what I'm saying tonight. Thank you again.

Thank you. Vice Mayor?

Thank you, Mayor. Yeah, just echoing a lot of the comments I've already said, just thank Raj, Nathan, and Jason, and Jackie, and Kara. I want to congratulate you on your last budget. It's a good one to go out on. Revenue is exceeding expenditures. Good outlook for the five years, so congratulations. I like the emphasis on street safety. Vision Zero, I think, is a good one. I remember when the California League of Cities passed that years ago, and here we are. It was just like a blink of an eye, and all of a sudden our community is facing even more so today. So glad to see that Vision Zero being something to focus on. And also glad to see the investment in the personnel for the Arctic, going back to public safety efforts. Jason, I just want to ask, you know, we also have the traffic monitor in Public Works. And will there be more investment in staffing that as well to monitor more of the...

The DMC? Yeah, the DMC.

Thank you. Yeah, it doesn't talk about, it doesn't get much attention, but yeah.

No. We do not have any recommendations for the next year to expand staffing in the TMC. As part of the remodel project, that facility is looking to expand and be modified as part of that. But right now, we don't have any plans to augment that staffing.

Okay. Yeah, it'd be good to have more eyes on that. I think that could help with The signalization, the timing, because I think the green wave is great, but sometimes when things get disrupted, to have a human there to know that somebody pressed the crosswalk button or an ambulance or a fire engine went through and had to use the clicker to mess up the signal timing for a little bit, it might be nice to have somebody in there monitoring as well. Yeah.

So we do monitor that, or certainly when we get a concern, a reported concern, we ask what time, what location, and we can go back to determine if it was a preemption that caused a delay. Okay. Having somebody in there, it's very difficult to modify signal timing on the fly, and we can do it. We can sometimes flush the system. when there's an incident or an event or it's backed up in one direction, you know, significantly for whatever reason, whether it's a preemption or some kind of collision. But, but like real time toggling of the traffic signal timing is, is pretty difficult. And I would say almost impossible. So not sure expanded staffing would address that. We are in the process of recruiting. We actually have, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A LOT OF INTERVIEWS TOMORROW FOR A TRAFFIC ENGINEERING MANAGER, WHICH HAS BEEN A VERY DIFFICULT POSITION FOR US TO FILL. BUT ONCE WE FILL THAT POSITION, WE HOPE TO CONTINUE TO EVALUATE THE PROGRAM, YOU KNOW, DEVELOP STAFF UNDER THE PROGRAM AND LOOK AT WAYS THAT WE CAN BETTER MANAGE TRAFFIC IN REAL TIME, AS WELL AS BETTER PROACTIVELY PLAN FOR HOW WE'RE GOING TO MANAGE OUR TRAFFIC The expansion of the TMC will allow the capacity and capability to add staff there, but we really need to dial that program in and assess what our needs are before we recommend staffing increases.

Okay, I understand. And is investigating AI as a way to help with that too? Is that you guys looking into that?

Yeah, we'd certainly like to do that. We know that AI technology is rapidly expanding and we look at going to conferences and with the ITS conferences in Sacramento this year. So we plan on sending a number of staff to that conference in a very cost-effective manner because it's local. So that'll be good. And we'll look for that type of technology. And we always keep our eyes and ears open for that stuff.

Okay, great. Glad to hear it. Thank you. And then finally, just the diligence on keeping our pensions well-funded. So appreciate that strategy as well. Thank you.

All right, thank you from all the comments here from my colleague. There is something literally in my eye right now bothering me. No, I'm not winking at you, I'm not flirting, sorry. Something flew into my eyes. Anyways, I will try to get through this. Thank you for the presentation. I think the most profound statement happened at the very beginning. We have a solid financial foundation. We have a solid financial foundation. That makes me really proud because we know that that is not the case in the state and surrounding communities. So I love what I'm seeing here. I just want to alert us to... some public safety concerns that we may have to address. The county is looking at slashing the DA's budget by about $4 million. That will have a direct impact on our community prosecutor program. So just in anticipating that that might happen, we just want to be able to at least prepare for that possibility. And then a $14 million cut from the Sheriff's Department. We are grateful that we don't have those issues in terms of cutting positions like that that have a direct impact on public safety. That is not the case for the county and the community prosecutor program, which is working very well here, that could very easily be revoked. I had a conversation with the DA this morning, and he did alert me that he may have to pull back all staff to be in the office, and so we would not have a dedicated district attorney on the program. So that is concerning for us, but as we move forward, hopefully we don't get there, but we might. It's a concern. It was a concern enough for him to call me, alert me so just you know let just best to be prepared for those kinds of things but great work proud of our city proud of the work that we do thank you we'll go on to the next item

That's item 9.5 to receive a presentation regarding microenterprise home kitchen operations and consider a resolution reaffirming the City of Elk Grove's opposition to the permitting of microenterprise home kitchen operations in Sacramento County.

Good evening, Mayor and Vice Mayor, Council Members. My name is Jose Mendez. I'm the Co-Enforcement Manager. Tonight's staff is requesting direction regarding microenterprise kitchen operations, also commonly referred to as MICOs. A little bit of background. MICOs were created through Assembly Bill 626, allowing limited food sales and preparation from private residents. Under state law, counties must first opt in before permits can be issued by the permitting and enforcement agency. In Sacramento County, the Environmental Management Department, or EMD, would serve as the permitting and enforcement agency. Now, this item was previously presented to council back in 2019. At that time, city council authorized opposition to allowing county-issued MECO permits within Elk Grove. This item is returning to you tonight because Sacramento County has recently begun considering a local ordinance that would authorize MECOs countywide, including within incorporated cities. The state has also expanded the program through subsequent legislation, including increasing the number of meals allowed per week and increasing the annual sales threshold. We took a pulse of surrounding cities, and specifically cities within Sacramento County, to identify which cities were opposed or for MECOs. Six of the seven incorporated cities in Sacramento County are opposing the permit for MECOs. The only city that we're not aware of is Iulton, and that's just an unknown position. A couple of concerns with MECOs. Our primary concerns remains largely centered around public health, safety, and neighborhood compatibility. Unlike food facilities, residential kitchens are not designed, constructed, or regulated to commercial standards. There are also concerns with sanitation, fire safety, grease and waste disposal, ventilation, and the ability to conduct ongoing inspections and oversight within private homes. We also are concerned about potential neighborhood impacts such as traffic, parking, noise, odors, deliveries, and waste generation within residential neighborhoods. MECOs have also generated concern among existing restaurants and permitted food businesses, largely around maintaining a fair and consistent regulatory environment, since MECOs would not be subject to the same level of regulations as our commercial facilities. Staff is requesting that the City Council authorize the Mayor to sign a letter to the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, reaffirming the City of Elk Grove's opposition to permitting MECOs within Sacramento County. And that concludes my presentation. I am available for any questions. Thank you.

All right. Thank you for your presentation.

Thank you.

At this time, I will open up public comment. We have one speaker, Lynn Wheat.

Just have a couple comments about this. With our economic development and what happened with Slow and Low, if we'd been able to give them a little smaller pot of money and if they'd started out at home, we might have been able to see if their product would have been worthwhile. Or even now as a resident taxpayer, it sure would be nice to get the commercial equipment that Slow and Low had that we could use for a permanent homeless shelter. So it would be nice to be able to transfer that over there. I don't have any say on this other than I just wanted to make you aware there's another bill, AB 213, that would allow these kitchens to go forth and that local jurisdictions wouldn't have any control over it. It would be at statewide level. So I just wanted to make you aware of that. There's this process going on now. Thank you.

Thank you. I will go ahead and close public comment. Let's see. We will start to the left this time. Council Member Brewer, any questions or comments?

No, I will say that, so last year there was an incident in my district where a home operation was being done. It disrupted the quality of life of the people in the neighborhood, so much so where they actually reached out and we had to go in and, with the help of code enforcement, try to figure out what was going on. I mean, we have food trucks, we have the small trailers that can serve, even West Coast Taco, they have a small footprint, but they have a footprint. And it seems like I appreciate the innovation of some people trying to make money and try to do something that they can to help showcase their talents to the public, but just to have, To have something like this just doesn't really work well for our residents. I fully am approval of this resolution. I would like to make the motion when the time comes.

Thank you. Vice Mayor?

Yeah, I'm happy to second that. Yeah, there's better ways to and safer ways to support micro enterprises. I don't think this is the way to go.

Mm-hmm. Council Member Spies.

Thank you. So I support the opposition. My biggest challenge comes into, you know, we have, we have verbos, we have, what is it? What's the other ones for, you know, staying overnight? You have Airbnb, you have Turo, which is for vehicles that you can rent out in your neighborhood. You know, we've also had, you know, AB9, AB10, all of these things that have made or allowed changes within residential areas without regard for the infrastructure that currently exists. Okay, and so to allow this, I don't even necessarily mind that the food is cooked in the home because that does happen to some degree with like a micro kitchen for a honey company. Let me just, that was used, right? So I'm not opposed to that issue. My issue is the impact that it has on the neighborhood and the underground infrastructure. I don't think it's right. I don't think it's fair. And so I would support that opposition.

Thank you. Council Member Robles?

No comments.

Thank you. Thank you. I am proud to sign this letter and send it to the county. I think this is dangerous. Severe health concerns obviously are on the top of that list, but other public safety concerns as well. I'm not as concerned about Airbnbs, however. It is... that's not directly putting people at risk. You know, it's an alternative. I know when I travel, I love staying at Airbnbs for all the amenities, but selling food out of your house with zero standards and regulatory process, that's a serious concern. So I'm happy to author this. And I did hear a motion and a second. So all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Thank you. All right, council comments, reports, future agenda items. I'll start to the right, any reports? No? Council Member Spies?

Library tomorrow, Metro Compound Cable, television commission next Thursday, that'll be fun. We're gonna discuss declining revenues.

Yes, the reality unfortunately. Looking to the left here, Council Member Brewer, anything to report?

Sacramento Public Library Authority with Council Member Spies tomorrow. 3 p.m. at the county administrative offices.

Steward district today. That's it.

Thank you. We did have STA, I think, last week or since our last meeting and SACRT. For the adjournment, we lost a giant in the Elk Grove Unified family last night. He was a dear friend. He was a champion for communities of color, the underrepresented. Dave Nevis was a dear friend and just had a tremendous impact in the lives of so many, so many thousands of students that he touched, but he also mentored many teachers and administrators. He wanted to make the world a better place, and he did. So I would like to adjourn in the memory of Dave Nevis. May his memory be a blessing to everyone that knew him. Thank you. We will adjourn at 817.