Board of Supervisors - Regular Meeting

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Testing one.

So, she's Good morning. Welcome. I would like to call this meeting of the Napa County Board of Supervisors to order. Uh, it's May 5th, 2026. May I have roll call, please? Vice Chair Llesio, present. Supervisor Ramos, here. Supervisor Gallagher. Supervisor Catrell is excused today. Chair Manfrey here. And I would invite Sheriff Oscar Ortiz to lead us in the pledge of allegiance. Before we do that, uh, Madam Chair, if we could post the colors and then we'll do the pledge. So, Oh, okay.

We can kind of scoot in or move to the side. Legend car All right. Thanks. Present color. Please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Detail left face. Detail right detail dismissed. We won't. All right. We're And now we're presenting the pet of the week. So, I invite uh the pet of the week into the room with her handler or his handler.

Rodney. Rodney and Megan. Okay. I uh before we go with the pet, I'd like to thank the honor guard for being here and Sherfor leading us in the pledge uh in honor of police week this month. So, who do we have here? And um go ahead when you're ready.

Good morning. Uh my name is Megan. I'm the new shelter manager. Um today we have Rodney with us. He is an adorable obviously. Um four-year-old Labradoodle mix. He's got a great personality. I mean, look at him. Um he is housetrained. He's great on the leash, though he looks a little excited right now to be a star. He does great in the car. Um he doesn't shed. These are all pros. We don't have anything really negative to say about Mr. Rodney. Um, he does have some preferences. He would prefer to be the only pet in the home, but of course, he does want to be a star, so who could blame him. Um, Rodney's adoption fees are waved this week as he is the pet of the week, and he's been with us since April 17th, so we're really eager to find him a loving home. Okay, Rodney looks like he's very fun to take for a walk. Okay, thank you for bringing in Rodney today, Megan. Oh, what a good boy. Okay. Okay.

Our next item is item four, approval of proclamations and commendations. We have three proclamations today recognizing police week and um and also May 15th, 2026 is Peace Officer Memorial Day, Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and Provider Appreciation Day in Napa County. Do we have any public comment on our proclamations today? I am not seeing any in the room, any on the phones? No. Okay. Then uh may I have a motion and a second to approve the proclamations? So moved.

Okay. I have a motion by Allesio and a second by Gallagher. All those in favor? I. That passes unanimously. Um so we will start with police week and memorial uh uh peace officer memorial day to be accepted by Sheriff Ortiz. Uh if you want to join me at the podium. All right. Police Week and Peace Officer Memorial Day 2026. Uh whereas there are approximately 750,000 sworn law enforcement officers serving at local, county, state, tribal, and federal levels across the United States, including the current 115 dedicated sworn members of the Napa County Sheriff's Office. And since the first recorded line of duty death in 1786, more than 24,500 law enforcement officers nationwide have made the ultimate sacrifice, including Napa County Sheriff's Reserve Deput Dep deputy James Healey, who gave his life in the line of duty on May 25th, 1980. And in 1962, John F. Kennedy proclaimed May 15th as National Peace Officers Memorial Day and the calendar week in which May 15th falls as National Police Week. Established by a joint re resolution of Congress in 1962, National Police Week pays special recognition to those law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty for the safety and protection of others. In 2025, 111 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty across the United States, including 14 in the state of California. Each loss was deeply felt by families, colleagues, and communities, and stands as a solemn reminder of the risks borne daily by those who serve.

The Napa County Sheriff's Office Honor Guard represents our community with dignity at memorial services across state across the state of California, standing in quiet tribute with the families of the fallen. And it is vital that all members of the community recognize the responsibility, courage, and sacrifice inherent in law enforcement service and the role these men and women play in safeguarding life, liberty, and property in Napa County. Now therefore, let it be proclaimed that this Board of Supervisors, County of Napa, State of California, on this 5th day of May in 2026 does hereby recognize May 10th to 16th, 2026 as Police Week and May 15, 2026 as Peace Officer Memorial Day in Napa County. We call upon all members of our community to honor the memory of those who have fallen, to support the loved ones they leave behind, and to express our enduring gratitude to the men and women of law enforcement, past and present, whose service, sacrifice, and steadfast commitment help preserve the safety, rights, and freedoms we share. Um, Sheriff Ortiz, I'd invite you to say a few words. Thank you, Chair uh Manfrey, and thank you uh board members. Um this is, as you know, is a a recognition, not a celebration. It's a memorial recognition. Um and it it hits hard every year, and it certainly hits hard this year. Um a week ago today, a couple of honor guard members and myself were in Tillery County for the funeral of Deputy Randy Hoert. May he rest in peace. Um an incredible turnout of law enforcement, a very supportive community of its law enforcement there in uh in the city of Iselia and the county of Taller. Um, but I can share with you that it's an honor and a privilege for us to serve in law enforcement here of Napa County because we do have um, uh, lots of support in this community for law enforcement. Um, so I want to thank all of you um, and and remind you to think of the families. I don't think I

have to remind a couple of you whose fathers were in law enforcement. So, Supervisor Gallagher, Supervisor Allesio, um, I know you you as daughters made sacrifices as well um, for all the shift work that that your fathers who I knew both of them well. um and they did over the years. So, thank you for this recognition. Um and just keep those uh uh well actually I want to do thank the honor guard not just for today but um you know those funerals are a gut check. They're really rough. Um and we put the email out when we learn of the funeral and we always have u volunteers from the honor guard to go attend those funerals. So, thank you to all the members of the olive guard, honor guard, the ones that are here, the ones that couldn't make it today um for always stepping up for those for those ceremonies so the families can um can really u put some closure the loss of their loved ones. So, again, thank you and it's an honor to serve.

Thank you, Sheriff Ortiz. I would like to invite my colleagues to the well for a photo. Bring my chair. very much. It was a pleasure. that day.

All right. Um, next up I invite my co my colleague Bellia Ramos to present the A&HPI proclamation.

Thank you so much, Chair Manfrey. Um, and I we have some very special guests here that are going to receive the Asian-American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month proclamation if they can join me up here. Come on. And you got to come close. Come close so everyone can see all your beautiful, beautiful blouses. Excellent. Come close. Okay. Excellent. Excellent. Okay. Um, it is an it is an honor to be able to present this proclamation on behalf of the board of supervisors. Whereas the Napa County Board of Supervisors proudly recognizes May 2026 as Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in Napa County. We celebrate the vibrant heritage of the A&HPI community and their vast achievements and contributions in healthcare, technology, the arts, agriculture, and public service that have significantly advance the progress and prosperity of Napa County. And whereas this year's national theme, power and unity, strengthening communities together, reflects the enduring spirit of ahpi communities who have long understood that collective power, the courage to share their own stories, and the willingness to serve as bridgebuilders across cultures and generations are essential to creating thriving inclusive communities. And whereas Napa County has been shaped by Asian immigrants since the mid 1800s, beginning with the Chinese immigrants who were foundational to local agriculture, infrastructure, and vineyard development, and who established some of California's

earliest Chinatowns and Napa County cities through the vibrant community. Though that vibrant community was displaced in, its cultural legacy lives on through historic sites like Chinapoint Overlook Park, the Sam Key Laundry building, and plaques near the former Chinatowns in Napa and St. Alina historical societies and groups like the Valo Napa Chinese Club have worked to commemorate these historical sites to raise up the stories of Chinese immigrants in Napa Valley. And whereas Japanese immigrants made lasting contributions through farming and vidiculture often under difficult and unjust conditions including forced incarceration during World War II, yet continued to rebuild and strengthen the Napa County community post. Filipino immigrants arriving largely in the early 20th century played a vital role in vineyard labor and community building laying the groundwork for civic and cultural organizations that endure today. And whereas the spirit of community building is carried forward by the next generation, including the Filipino clubs at American Canyon Middle School and American Canyon High School, whose student members proudly celebrate their cultural heritage, share their stories, and serve as bridgebuilders among their peers, embodying the very principle that unity and cultural pride are sources of strength for the entire community. And whereas preserving and honoring the rich heritage of AAHPI communities enriches the cultural fabric of our region, promotes mutual respect and understanding, and reflects our shared commitment to equity and inclusiveness. Therefore, be it proclaimed that this board of supervisors, county of Napa, state of California, on this fifth day of May 2026, does hereby recognize May 2026 as Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in Napa County. And we encourage all community members to celebrate and amplify the

stories, achievements, and contributions of the AA NHPI community and join together in advancing our shared vision of a just, equitable, and prosperous Napa County for all. And at this time, I would like to present this to members of the Filipino clubs at American Canyon Middle School and High School who are here to accept and to say a few words. So come on up, mandang um uh and salamat for welcoming us. Uh my name is Jen Ferrer. I am one of the two adviserss for our Filipino club, the Kabayan Wildcats. And um I'm it's my pleasure to introduce our incredible students. Um we actually have five of our members here today. We have Juliana. We have Rananiel, Camila, Ezra, and Alo. I would like to welcome Alo and Ryan to welcome our club. Come on up.

Good morning. My name is Real Mawas and I am Allejo. On behalf of our Filipino club, the Cababayan Wildcats at American Canyon Middle School, we are deeply honored to accept this proclamation for AsianAmerican and Pacific Islander Heritage Months on behalf of all AAPI students, families, and community members.

We are proud to come from one of the most diverse school communities where people of many cultures, backgrounds, and traditions come together, learn from one another, and celebrate what makes us unique. As ACMS students, we are proud to represent our families, our cultures, and to help build a school where everyone feels seen, valued, respected, and included. Kabayan Wildats po. On behalf of our Cababayan Wildcats, thank you very much. Okay, let's go everyone.

I I invite you all to the well for a photo. Okay. Okay, we have a couple more from the My mistake. We'll we'll wait on that.

Good morning everyone. My name is Devin. Um I am president of the Filipino American Culture Club at here at ACS and I'm proud to recognize AAHPI Heritage Month. This month is about celebrating the cultures, histories, and contributions of Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. It's also a reminder to learn from one another, challenge stereotypes, and build more inclusive community. With PACC, we are able to build community, listen to one another, and learn new things about our culture. Thank you. Hello, I'm Sevel Cosmi of the Pack Club and I just want to say being Filipino American is more than eating ketchup made of bananas. It's banana ketchup and I hope you guys understand what that means. Um, in a sense, it's cultural fusion. Uh, being Asian-American means to struggle and feel so loud, different from the crowd. And I'm grateful for this loving and supportive community. So many opportunities for Filipinos to celebrate with each other. But that wouldn't have been possible if not for the p the protest of the past. Our community was fighting for a place in this country saying we're here and we belong and we need to celebrate those who stood up. That's what Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month is about. Not just celebrating traditions, but also celebrating those who allowed us to let our traditions be celebrated. So, I just want to say thank you for fighting. Thank you for living. And thank you for being here celebrating with us. Thank you. Okay, we're all going to walk up. Come on. Come on. Excuse me.

There's my All right. Thank you all so much for being here. I'd like to invite uh Vice Chair Allesio to uh present a proclamation uh to uh on provider appreciation day. And I understand Erica Leensky is here, executive director of community resources for children to accept this proclamation. Yeah, please come forward. And um and thank you, Vice Chair Allesio. Go ahead when you're ready.

Thank you. And um thank you for letting me read this. This, as you know, is near and dear to my heart, as these all are. I mean, what a beautiful touching morning we're having. Um, but I also want to invite uh Jeannie uh Fredovves with the local child care planning uh council program and early childhood services with Napa County Office of Education. And anybody else who's here uh from our uh early learning child care community, please please come up. Thank you. Um this proclamation uh board of supervisors Napa County, California uh appreciation day uh provider appreciation day. said that's childcare provider, not healthcare provider on this one. Uh May 8th, 2026. Whereas provider appreciation day is an annual celebration on the Friday before Mother's Day that recognizes the work of childcare providers, teachers, and educators of young children established by the National Association of Family Chare in 1995 as a way to thank family child care and center-based providers. Provider Appreciation Day is now celebrated throughout the United States and around the world as a thank you to the people who educate, support, and spend a tireless amount of time with our children. And whereas child care providers are foundational to children's early learning, development, and well-being. And their work makes it possible for parents to participate in the workforce and for businesses to thrive. And whereas child care providers cultivate safe, nurturing, inclusive, cultural and lingu linguistically responsive environments that honor the identities, strengths, and lived experience of children and families. And whereas the child care workforce is diverse and disproportionately composed of women, immigrants, and people of color whose labor has historically been undervalued despite its essential role in promoting equitable outcomes for children and families. And whereas

advancing equity in early child care and education requires acknowledging the obstacles many childcare providers face such as economic pressures, workforce challenges, and barriers to accessing resources and support. And whereas Napa County recognizes child care providers as an essential workforce crit critical to a strong local economy and ensuring access to high quality care for families and joins families, organizations, and communities nationwide in honoring family childcare providers, teachers, and early educators for their dedication, professionalism, and commitment to enriching early childhood experiences. And whereas members of Napa County community are encouraged to acknowledge and celebrate child care providers for their indispensable role in advancing opportunity, well-being, and a strong future for our children and community. Now there therefore be it proclaimed that this board of supervisors, county of Napa, state of California, on this fifth day of May, 2026 does hereby does hereby recognize May 8th, 2026 as a provider appreciation day in Napa County. We call upon all residents recognize, honor, and support childcare providers for their contributions. And Erica, would you like to say something as I present this to you? and anybody else, you're welcome to say something, too. Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Eric Alabinsky. I'm the executive director of CRC. On behalf of CRC and the many childcare providers we serve, thank you for this proclamation and for the leadership you show by recognizing provider appreciation day. Today, we are proud to join Napa County in honoring the extraordinary childcare providers whose dedication makes it possible for our children, families, and communities to thrive. We're especially grateful to this board who has consistently championed child care as an essential service and has demonstrated support for child care who make our system work. At CRC, we work with childcare providers every day, and our county is home to 150 licensed childcare sites, offering more than 3,200 licensed childcare slots. Behind these numbers, there are approximately 360 early care educators, including more than 260 in the private child, the private sector. They're small business owners, teachers, and caregivers, and they form the backbone of our childare system. Thank you again to the board of supervisors for your leadership, your advocacy, and uplifting childcare providers today and throughout the year. On this provider appreciation day, we encourage the community to take a moment to thank a childcare provider for shaping the future of our entire community. And we have a couple of childcare providers here who has graciously come and to give you a little bit talk as well. I don't know what's going first. Jackie,

good morning. Um, thank you for the opportunity to speak today and for recognizing our provider appreciation day here in Napa. My name is Jackie Wiznaskki and I operate a large family daycare at my own home, Soaring Wings Infant Care and Preschool. I currently have eight children enrolled. We are still trying to fill four spots out of 12. Um, we provide a rich learning environment where children explore, create, learn, and grow. Our program blends Waldorf, Montisuri and Rio Emmeilia approaches creating a diverse and engaging experiential learning environment. I have been licensed childcare provider in Napa County since 2014. We were open during pandemic in full capacity to help essential workers. I currently have uh two teachers who has been with me for three years and is truly outstanding. Child care is far than um supervision. It is early learning, emotional support, and a stable, trusted environment for children and their families. As a mother myself, I know how vital it is to surround children with love, attention, and a safe, stimulating setting. I adore children, and I'm fiercely passionate about this work. Support from organizations like CRC has made a real difference for me over the years. True. Quality training and professional development guidance as my program has grown in connection with other homebased providers. My primary concern for the future of our industry is that temporary hold harmless funding which protected providers from enrollment declines. It is set to expire on June 30, 2026 2026, risking further closures. Expansion of free public TK has created competition for private providers, causing

enrollment drops and instability for younger age care services. Childcare providers typically operate on the slimmest of profit margin. As a heavily regulated industry, childcare providers must meet a wide variety of requirements such as staff to child ratio, fire safety code, and CPR requirements, and the facilities themselves must comply with state, local, and federal standards. This leaves little money for providers to increase staff wages, leading to high workforce turnover and shortages. There is a clear mismatch between the level of skill and training required to be a childare worker and the compensation they receive. Childare workers often possess specialized knowledge and skills critical to providing safe and quality care. Over 60% of homebased provider have more than 10 years of experience and a third have achieved an early childhood related degree. Despite playing an integral role in the education and development of young children, child care workers remain some of the lowest paid worker in our economy. Thank you to the board of supervisor and to CRC for recognizing homebased child care providers and the essential role we play in supporting families across our community. Have a good day. Good morning and thank you for for the opportunity to be here today and for recognizing a provider appreciation date. My name is Maria Perez and I have a family child care program since 2021 running from my home. When CRC helped me to start my business back in 2021 when pandemic was still happening over the

five past five years I have the owner supporting 66 family families and a child as a childcare provider. What that number is meaningful, what matters the most is the trust and connection behind each one. I became a childcare provider during the pandemic when the care for my the care options for my own child were very limited. What began as a necessity, it quickly grew into a purpose. By creating a safe, nurturing, and dependable environment, I have helped parents to go to work with a peace of mind knowing that their children are truly seen, supported, and cared for. The stability strengthens not just the individual's families, but the entire community. My background and admin and hospitality shapes the way I approach my work. I bring organization, clear communication, and a warm welcoming presence every interaction. Whether I'm supporting a parent, caring for a child, or connecting with my fellow providers, CRC has been important part of my journey, helping me to start my own business, offering training, business practices, and creating connections so providers don't feel isolated in this work. Like many providers, I also have concerns about the future with my daycare, including fair compensation, immigration challenges, maintaining a stable workforce, operating costs, increasing regulations, and access to affordable trainings, and mental health. Continued support, it's essential so we can keep serving our communities. Caring for children has been more than a job for me. It's a purpose. Today I stand not only for myself but in

recognition of all early educators everywhere and last and the lasting impact that we have in our children's and our communities. Thank you to the board of supervisors and also CRC for valuing the child care providers and recognizing the vital role we play in supporting our families and our local workforce. I also want to thank the families who trust us with their children every day and my fellow providers who show up with dedication, patient and heart. It is an honor to be part of this community along all of you. Thank you. Gracias.

Okay. Thank you. I'd like to invite Are we Nope, we're good.

Yeah. Um I'd like to invite everyone to the wall for a photo. Thank you. Thank you for being here. Thank you so much for being here. glasses right here. All right, moving on with our morning.

We are on item five on our calendar, which is consent items A through W. Do we have any board comments or items to pull from the consent calendar today? I am not seeing any. Is there anyone wishing to make public comment here in the room? If so, please appro approach the podium about about the consent calendar. Anything on the consent calendar specifically? Okay, I'm not seeing anyone. Is there anyone on the phones? Okay. Um, may I have a motion and a second to approve consent calendar items A through W as amended? And and please note that there was a correction memo on item 5V. Second.

Okay. Okay. I have a uh moved by Ramos and second by Supervisor Gallagher. All those in favor? I. That passes unanimously. Um okay. We are now on item six, which is public comment for any items not on the agenda today or in our closed session items today. So, anyone wishing to speak on items not on the agenda or on closed session, please approach the podium now. Welcome.

Thank you. Good morning. Michelle Ben Nino Wingers of Napa County. I want to first thank the board for your thoughtful deliberation last week on the Arrow and Branch appeal. That hearing daylighted issues that deserve broader attention. Water Audit California is a for-profit corporation, not a nonprofit, not a charity. It's a privatelyowned and funded. It's privately owned and funded through attorney fees and settlements it extracts from appeals it files. And while they routinally invoke transparency as justification for their actions, private settlements are part of their playbook. The Arowin branch terms were only disclosed because of the board asking for it. This is a troubling pattern. An appellant pays a $2,000 filing fee. The applicant, Napa County farmer, a winery owner, absorbs every cost that follows. Legal defense, consultant fees, staff time, and carrying costs on a project that might sit in limbo for months or even years, regardless of whether the apparel appeal has any merit. For water audit, prolonging the process costs nothing. For a family business that has already invested money and sometimes years in the permitting process, the additional costs are real and can destroy the viability of a project. This is not a level playing field and not consistent with the board's commitment to a regulatory environment that supports sustainable agriculture. So, where do we go from here? The board already increased filing fees and it had no discernable impact on the volume of appeals. So, we believe there might be better tools such as allowing prevailing parties to recover costs when an appeal lacks basis, requiring public disclosure of any financial component of a settlement, requiring an affirmative affirmative finding on the record when conditions of approval exceed Napa County's policies or standards, and giving the county a seat at the table in

any settlement that creates obligations in its name. We will be following up in writing and look forward to a more transparent and tenable path forward. Thank you. Thank you. Is there anyone else in the room wishing to make a public comment? Go ahead.

Hi. Uh I only came uh regarding Lake Beressa. Can I get your name first, please? Jim McNamera. Thank you. Go ahead. Uh can I talk about Lake Beressa? Uh we'll be talking about that in item 11A. Oh, okay. Okay. So, we will get to that today. If there's anything not on the agenda that anyone wishes to talk about, we are taking those comments now. So, we'll uh 11, we're on item six now. So, I can't talk about it today. Well, you can talk about it when we get to item 11 A. Okay. which is that uh that subject will come up and we will all discuss it. I'm sure

but I appreciate your enthusiasm. Um and is there anyone else uh here? I'm not seeing anyone else in the room. Is there anyone else on the phones? No, no one on the phones. Okay, then we are going to move forward from item six to item seven, board of supervisors reports and announcements. And before we begin our board announcements, I would like to invite Treasurer tax collector Bob Minahan to provide a brief update on the recent property tax fraud incidents and uh any guidance that he has for taxpayers. Thank you, Mr. Minahan. Welcome.

Thank you, Chair Manfrey and members of the board. Um, yes. I'm here to give an update on kind of the fraud network that has been targeting Napa County taxpayers for the last couple of months, specifically with the second installment of property taxes. To date, we are aware of about $1.5 million worth of taxpayers checks that have been stolen, washed, and fraudulently presented for deposit. Uh most of the checks are very large dollar amounts ranging from $12,000 to $225,000. Uh additionally, we've observed a an incredible increase in the number of checks that are quote unquote considered lost in the mail. Um typically in an installment period, we're looking at numbers of about 10, maybe 10 to 20. And so far this year for the April 10th due date, we've seen between 200 and 300 checks that have been uh quote unquote lost in the mail. We anticipate these checks have been stolen and disposed of as opposed to being presented. Our top priority has been assisting our taxpayers. Uh we've worked closely with financial institutions uh to ensure reimbursements for those impacted by this fraud network. um with a huge assist from the notary division of our CEO and our clerk of the board. Um we've been working with each financial institution to ensure reimbursement. To date, we have only one financial institution in the county that has reiged on uh reimbursing the taxpayer and that is Chase. JP Morgan Chase has one uh taxpayer that they're refusing to reimburse. The issue that we have is some financial institutions have a time period where they won't honor a fraudulent check

report, but that does not work for property taxes. Most taxpayers have no idea whether their tax uh payment has been stolen until they receive a delinquent reminder. So, in the case of our taxpayer with Chase, they paid their taxes early um making payment in January. Their check cleared the bank. They had no indication that it had been stolen and and not until we issued their delinquent reminder a couple of days after the due date did they realize there was a problem and only upon getting down and visually inspecting a canceled check electronically did they realize what had happened. Um given the circumstances, I've authorized relaxing the standard uh documentational requirements for penalty waiverss uh for taxpayers whose checks have been either stolen or lost in the mail. Um we've waved the 10% late payment penalty and any associated fees. While this approach may have extended relief to a small number of ineligible cases, it allowed us to respond efficiently and reduce the amount of stress that has been placed on these taxpayers. The investigation part of this um network remains active uh with help of local, state, and federal agencies. We're receiving strong support from Napa County Sheriff's Department, um the FBI, and the United States Postal Inspectors. We have we've identified kind of where this is taking place and it is taking place somewhere between the Oakland Postal Service Facility Processing Center and my office. We have a suspect, one suspect of the

network in custody in Phoenix, but there are plenty more out there, and we will continue to do the work to try and catch them. In response to this fraud network, uh we're making some changes moving toward the future that'll make it harder for um fraudsters to identify tax payments. Uh we will be discontinuing the use of green envelopes. All counties in in the state use colored envelopes for remittance envelopes. Um based on this experience, we think that we've made it way too easy to identify envelopes that have checks in them. Um we will be replacing those with just generic white envelopes. And then additionally, we're finalizing a contract with a new enhanced electronic payment processing system that will allow taxpayers to not only make payments easier online um electronically, but it'll also allow them to receive tax bills electronically as well as reminders of when due dates are moving forward. We hope to have that in place by July. And so I'm here to answer any questions you may have. Thank you. Are there any questions from the board? Go ahead. Supervisor Romas, when you're ready.

Thank you so much. And um first, I would just want to acknowledge the efforts on on your behalf and um the sheriff's department in being able to help our residents who are navigating this horrific fraud. Um I I do want to um I do want to ask if you could tell us a little bit about how you are doing the outreach efforts um following these default notices. Um I will share with you I was a um the commission on aging last week. one of our commission members check lost and and found the uh the forms uh kind of cumbersome and also uh found out about it in in a circuitous sort of way. So I'm wondering could you touch a little bit about the outreach efforts and and how we're going to go ahead and and reach everyone because I can imagine that our default notices are through the roof as compared to prior years.

Um yeah, great point. Um, we've issued uh two press releases out to warn everybody about what's going on. Typically, when somebody receives a late, we don't know who this is affected until they come to us. And that's kind of the hard part. Um, we've asked people to make sure once they receive their late delinquent notices to come directly to our office or contact uh either my staff or myself directly so that we can deal with it. Um, typically when somebody has quote unquote a loss check um, issue and that results in a delinquent payment, we ask for an affidavit uh, to be signed as well as additional documentation showing us one that they had enough money in the bank to pay cover the check at the time and that three checks on either side of that check have been presented in a timely basis and and cleared. We've taken care of all of that, relieved that. The only thing we ask for taxpayers to do, which we do with all delinquent uh penalty requests, is to fill out a request form that says, "Hey, look, our check was lost." That's all we're asking for at this point in time.

Thank you. I I do appreciate that. I know um certainly we have um gone ahead and published the information and if there's any way in which we can support the additional outreach and I think it would be helpful to hear from your office 30 days from now how our defaults are tracking as compared to prior years um so that we can kind of narrow that scope and and see what we need to do to to help this along.

Yeah. The hard part about this really is we don't know until our taxpayers notify us. Um and so I guess the good trend is the number of um instances that are being brought to our dead is rapidly declining. The first week was you know chaos. Um but now you're in the single digits of people that are coming forward. Doesn't necessarily mean that the numbers the dollar amounts are small. I think last week we had you know a handful less than 10 people come forward but the dollar value is still oh quarter million dollars. And so we're still seeing those transactions coming forth. It's just the sheer volume has has decreased dramatically.

Thank you. And then my my follow-up question to that and maybe this is for a later amount um cash on hand and how it affects uh investments and interests and and the money that uh is not deposited in in the treasury. Right now, as we know, we we get two paychecks a year. Um and so I think having that information so that we can understand that um and if it's going to have any significant impact on our budget would be helpful.

Uh it it any impact it will have will be negligible for a couple of reasons. Uh one as we've said most of these taxpayers have been reimbursed and are making payment. And so really the outstanding um balance related to this specific issue when it comes to property tax is relatively small. Second piece is we're at Teeter County and so the effectively the Treasury makes all of effective taxing agencies whole when it comes to uh delinquent property taxes. So from a budgetary standpoint leaning into next year, zero impact whatsoever. Uh from a Treasury standpoint, you know, we're missing an opportunity to invest currently. rates are kind of going up currently. So, it'd be nice to be able to stick that money into and put it to work uh on a long-term basis, but the the real impact will be negligible.

Thank you for sharing that with us tonight. Oh, go ahead. Yeah, Supervisor Gallagher. Um, thanks so much, um, Treasure Minan. And I was just thinking that um perhaps as a prevention measure um it would be good to help people to learn how to do the online payment. So we do have a lot of contracts with community- based organizations and perhaps we can bring people together to train them um so that they can help their clients actually make those payments online. Um, a lot of people go into homes and are, you know, work very closely with their clients. And so, um, maybe they can, you know, kind of wrap that into some of the work they're doing directly, uh, with people to sort of move our community in the direction of of trusting the online payment system and learning how to use it and feel confident with it.

100%. Um, one of the things that we're working on in the new contract is an extended marketing campaign. um not only from the county side, but also from our thirdparty um contractor side. They're going to help with the marketing of the of the outfit. And so that'll be I don't know that they've considered something like that, but uh I definitely would be open to it. Okay, very good. Yeah, thank you so much for this update. I appreciate all the work that's gone into this and echo the comments of my colleagues. So,

thank you. Thank you for your support. Thank you, Treasurer, Tax Collector Minahan. Uh, and I will go ahead and move us uh forward in this item to board announcements. Uh, who who who would like would anyone like to do an announcement this morning? Okay, I see super uh supervisor Ramos first and then after that, Vice Chair Allesio. Um, thank you. Um, all I want to um first just thank you to the honor guard for joining us. Um, we had this opportunity a few years ago and it's always a a great reminder for us to showcase the work that um they do in representing um the county and at some some very um uh unfortunate events, but making our county proud and and being able to honor um those fallen officers. Um the one thing I just wanted to um uh two things I just wanted to add. We h I haven't had any meetings to report out, but there is a Kumsville Wild Horse Valley Fire Safe Council meeting at the Graange on Thursday at 5:00 p.m. And uh Supervisor Manfrey and myself will be there um on on that day. And also there is the accessory dwelling unit forgivable loan program event at American Canyon City Hall on May 13th. And so just as a reminder, the county does provide forgivable loans for the creation of uh accessory dwelling units, junior dwelling units. Um it's a great opportunity for those that have a a home that's not fully utilized or that your footprint is just a little too big. I will be there because I'm one of those people. Thank you. Thank you, Vice Chair Allesia. Uh, thank you very much. Um, so I want to on Sunday morning I attended the Mount Beer Fire Council and it was their 25th anniversary. Uh, they're the oldest

um, fire council of the 25 fire councils here in Napa County. Um, it was a pancake breakfast. It was a great celebration. It was great education. Um, all our uh, fire agencies were there to provide information, updates. um for these property owners. Um and Napa Firewise was also there. So I want to thank everybody for that and congratulate them for their 25th anniversary. Um also uh Napa Open Space District is celebrating their 20th anniversary. So I want to recognize them. They had a small event that was also very well attended. Um this Friday the Napa Valley Grape Growers is going to be recognizing the grow grower of the year which is a childhood friend of mine uh Jim Reguchi with Reguchi Winery. So, I want to congratulate uh Jim Reguchi, uh his wife Laura, and uh they have a big a big uh team family effort there. Everybody's really dedicated um to really practicing best practices and being an example and a lot of give back to the community. Um and then um on Saturday for all those historians like me that love the history and we heard a little bit about today um as we did um a proclamation, the Nappy County Historical Society is having their annual meeting this Saturday. Um all are welcome um at 11:00 a.m. It's going to be at the American Legion Hall from 11 to 1. Um this year there'll be a a special panel talking about um industries of Napa history and that includes um immigrant communities, the 19th century, who drove uh the su success and excellence of Napa Valley to present day. It should be a very um interesting panel discussion. If you enjoy history as much as I do, I do have a referral um and this this stems from our last meeting and our CEO who's not here today um knows about this um and also stems from public comment today. Um I think it's important that we continue

uh transparency um when it comes to appeals on um winery applications or development applications by water audit. Um, as I expressed last week, I'm seeing a pattern and um, it's a it's an alarming pattern and I don't think we should just brush by it. I think that we need to continue to understand it deeper and provide that transparency back to the community and and um, and to this board. So, um, if we can go ahead and move forward with that referral, um, in regards to water audit, including the number of appeals, the merit of appeals, and the financial payout gains to water audit, I think that would be a fair, um, transparency back to this uh, back to the public and to this board. Chair Manfrey, if I may. Um, friendly amendment. I'd recommend we look at all appeals over this time period and we'll bring back all of that information.

Better. Thank you,

Supervisor Gallagher. Oh, wait. Are we? Yes, we're on. Supervisor Gallagher. Go ahead. Um, thank you. I did have a meeting uh one meeting after uh our last meeting um at the air district. Um we did our budget hearing um the first budget hearing uh for next year. Um tomorrow uh the air district will be meeting. We will be hearing about um flexibility amendments to rule 9.6 and so I will bring you back um additional information after that meeting to give you an update on where we are uh with those with those rules. Um, also wanted to mention, uh, just for for everyone's, um, information that, uh, as you probably know, the Valero refinery is closing and there has been, um, some talk of it being a marine terminal to store gas. So, that's kind of interesting. Um, and we'll be following along to see what happens there. Um, and then I did want to say that we had a great uh Careros Fire Safe Council meeting last week. Um, that's moving along well and please uh if you are in the Careros area um please let us know so that you can be part of that uh group and discussion and and help us create that plan for Corneros. That Thank you.

Okay. Thank you, Supervisor Gallagher. So, I'll just say that the Kumsville Fire Safe Council meeting is coming up at 5:00 p.m. on May 7th at the Graon Hagen. If you're in the Kumsville Fire Safe Council area, please join us there for information and to connect with your neighbors and to be sure that you are as fires safe as possible. Um, and we also have the Beressa Highlands Community Picnic coming up on Saturday the 16th of May from 10:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Capel Valley Fire Station off of uh the highway just north of Moscow White Corner. So, I'm looking forward to both of those events in District 4. Um and uh I I will I I would like a little bit of clarification from council on um just the nature of the appeals process and people's right to make an appeal. Um if you don't mind.

Um could you clarify your question? Well, we've had a we've had a referral to um to in evaluate uh the appeals and I don't know going back over what amount of time um you know or or what might be included in that but you know it's my understanding that it's a part of our process. it's long been a part of our process and that it's a it is a quite transparent process overall with um you know all action taking place at public hearings and it being uh uh an important part of the civic process of planning and decision-m and so you know I don't think that appeals themselves are any kind of problem it is simply part of the process and it does occur to me that uh if people proposing projects wish to avoid appeals the the burden of diligence is on them to make sure they're checking all the boxes. And so, you know, I just I just want to kind of follow on with that. So, I mean, maybe I provided my own clarification there. I don't know, but um but if you have anything to add on, it's welcome. Um well, you might ask for a vote on the referral. That is an option of the board. Um and the other um alternative to on a referral is the CEO's office working with planning could bring back kind of the framework of of what they want to look at and then the board can react to that and help shape it before the the actual information comes back. So, uh, if there's, um, concern about exactly what's coming back, uh, that's probably my recommendation to the board as for a motion and then take it in two steps.

Okay. Yeah. And I mean, as somebody who has followed land use planning pretty closely in the county for many years, like I I just like I feel like I do have a good sense of what that process is like. I understand not everybody may, but it has been, in my experience, a very transparent process. So, um I I want to protect staff time, of course. Um and I I also just want to uh kind of I just say that, you know, like it it has been a really open process and I'm not sure where that Yeah. Super

chair. Thank you. If I can make a suggestion in this so that we're not having conversation here because I think the scope of this is changing. We did have a prior referral last week uh in regards to the industry letter that was made. I think if we add on to that referral and have it come back more as a as a a workshop item to to go over the recent changes u back three years that we made to the appeal process including the preliminary hearing so that we can track the changes of those processes and then um that could give us the opportunity then to help shape the direction of where we want to add that. But I think all of this together um and I do believe it's not just uh in regards to the appeals that were filed to the appeals addressed in the industry letter but to all appeals that are coming before the board and for us to use it more as a as a study session as to where it has gone. And it also gives us an opportunity to hear from the planning director in regards to uh potential changes in regards to the scope of the zoning administrator and how we may want to utilize a zoning administrator to handle some of those um those issues that are far more administrative that somehow seem to still be coming up to this board.

Okay, that makes a lot of sense to me. I'm seeing agreement over here and Okay. So, I'm seeing I'm seeing unanimous agreement among my colleagues. Is that enough clarification? Yes.

Okay. Wonderful. Thank you. Uh we will go ahead and move on to where are we at? 10:07. Um we will go ahead and move on to item 9A. We don't have anything in item 8 items pulled from consent because there was nothing pulled from consent. So item 9A, administrative items, receive a presentation on wildfire preparedness from the Napa County Fire Department and a report from the county coordinator on fire safe councils. I would like to welcome Matt Ryan, fire chief J.R. Rogers, and there is there are quite a few of our fire representatives here today and I'm so happy to see all of you. Um, yes, go ahead when you're ready. Uh, that'll be for Eric.

Good morning, Madam Chair and members of the board. Uh thank you for having us here today to highlight the wildfire prevention month and the preparedness of your fire department. Uh first I'd like to begin with a 2026 fire year outlook. The 2026 fire year is starting early and signaling to be an above average fire above average fire danger due to the early heat waves. Our growing season started early. This will will result in our grass shrub and brush drying earlier than typically expected. The fire fire season is expected to be influenced by a strong El Nino presence which will be connected to well above average temperatures and higher than average thunderstorm activity with a higher potential for dry lightning events. As of April 2026, the fire season outlooks look similar to the 2020 2015 fire season. The largest variable to this outlook is the expected moisture is if it's going to come as wedding rain or short uh rain events with thunderstorms. So the preparedness of the Napa County Fire Department. Um our posture remains strong here in Napa County and we are well prepared for this upcoming fire season. The strengths of our Napa County volunteers remain strong at 150 and in two weeks on May 17th, we'll be graduating 15 new volunteers uh to our ranks. For uh apparatus that is coming in this year to support fire season is that we uh have three new type sixes coming online. These type sixes are uh compact, highly maneuver units designed for wildland initial attack. We also have one additional water tender coming this year which will expand our fleet to eight total water tenders within Napa County to support water delivery for those wildland incidents. And we also took possession of two type 1 engines u which is for you know our structural response and structural um defense.

Our volunteers have just completed their annual RT130 annual wild wildland fire safety refresher. This reinforce fire behavior, risk management, and firefighter safety. This is also mandatory for our volunteers uh to to require this training to go out on wildland incidents this summer. We continue to collaborate with our Napa County Sheriff's Office for response criteria alignment, evacuation, and repopulation planning. And we are committed to uh unified command during incidents requiring evacuation warnings and orders on the Cal Firef front. Sonoma Lake Napa unit. Our peak staffing is we are currently at peak staffing through a new uh peak staffing period of March through December. We currently have 31 engines staffed, eight here in Napa County. Six bulldo dozers staffed um and nine hand crews. Um eight CDCR hand crews and one firefighter hand crew out of Sonoma County. Our aviation resources are strong. Sonoma air attack base currently has uh two S2 tankers in the OV10 air attack platform which just came online this week. Bogs Mountain Helell attack base is staffed with our S7i Firehawk and Helell attack crew and also has nightflying capabilities. Um to include in the CalFire aviation fleet this year, we've uh introduced the third C130 air tanker which carries 4,000 gallons of retardant with the fourth air tanker to come online. um sometime this summer. Um much like last year, we are continuing with our exclusive use helicopters. We'll have a CH47 Chinook here at the Napa County Airport uh capable of 2,300 gallons of water delivery and also is a night flying capable which will protect our homes here in the Napa Valley. We have two Blackhawks on on contract through emergency cont or through emer exclusive use. Uh, one Blackhawk will be stationed

out of Sonoma Air Tac Base in Sonoma County and one through our Marin County partners out at NOS Field. Uh, each carrying 1,000 gallons of water delivery. CalFire is currently undergoing the most significant transformation in its history. Uh, we are transitioning to a traditional staffing model which um each engine will have now a fire captain, engineer, and firefighter on it which is different from years past. We are expanding our permanent year-round staffing through legislator support. Um within the Sonoma Lake Napa, we'll have 10 permanent engine staff this winter, three here in Napa County to support fuel reduction projects and prescribed burning year round. To support those efforts, uh, CalFire Sunnap has established a new position, a deputy chief of community risk reduction, and we've been successful in that, uh, hiring, uh, with our very own Napa County resident, uh, Chief Ryan Aisham, who's behind me. Uh, this new position will focus on advancing wildfire resilience, fuels management, and community protection, and also leveraging technologies. Um, as of last week's presentation, we continued to advance our tablet command system, which provides real-time situational awareness, resource tracking, and shared operational pictures to all of our company officers and resources responding to those incidents. It's enabling faster, safer, and more coordinated incident decision-making. Um, we've been working with Alert California to establish a new camera system up on Atlas Peak um at uh in the Fossa Valley area to really we we identified some gaps of our camera systems and uh saw that that Foss Valley Soda Canyon drainage uh needed a camera and we're working to get that camera installed in here in the near future. Community preparedness is always a priority for us in Napa County. Uh we want to just communicate this to all of our community members today. Um it's a critical component of wildfire

resiliencies. So you know for our community members and our and our property owners, home hardening is the first line of defense. Um creating a good defensible space around your infrastructure and homes is only going to protect you and your neighbors. Um please sign up for Alert Napa County to get all those emergency notifications. Um, also know your zone through the Genesis Protect app. Uh, um, also uh provided by our Napa County Sheriff's Office. And please follow us at CalFire LNU and visit ready for wildfire for all your preparedness resources. In closing, maintaining a fire resilient Napa County requires a shared responsibility. With strong partnerships, enhanced resources, and and informed communities, we are positioned to meet those challenges this year. Thank you very much. Thank you. Uh, thank you so much. Welcome.

All right.

Good morning. My name is Eric Hernandez. Thank you, uh, Chair Manfrey, Board of Supervisors for the opportunity. I'm speaking, uh, during wildfire awareness month here in Napa County. As Chief, uh, Ryan just mentioned, uh, our crews and including our career and volunteer firefighters are ready to respond to any type of emergency. And as an all-risk fire department, one of the emphasis that we focus here in Napa County is on preparedness. That's where we work closely as part of the fire marshall's office. As your deputy fire marshal uh that oversees the vegetation management program, I'm here to provide to you some uh some return on investments from US board of s uh supervisors. Uh I was hired in 2019 to conduct defensible space inspections and to strengthen our program. uh turning point in my career was in 2020 when the Glass Fire destroyed many homes of people that I that were I considered neighbors. I actually lived in Deer Park when I came to Napa Valley from Los Angeles. Uh the fire hit right at home. Um, following the fire, um, Chief Greenberg, our fire marshal, Jason DS, uh, our deputy chief, uh, Ryan Aisham, and myself, we went back and we started, uh, putting our heads together on what we can do to elevate our preparedness throughout the county. And so, uh, in so, uh, this I want to share with you some numbers of some of the some of the progress we've made since 2019. In 2019, we conducted 500 inspections. In 2020, we did 900. Uh 2021, 1,923. 2022, we did 2354. And uh in 2023, we conducted 2522. Your uh one of your investments was to add the addition of one uh defensible space inspector to assist me in conducting those inspections. In 2024,

we added uh four defensible space inspectors and we upped our numbers to 45,529. And thanks to your direction, investment, and trust, in 2025, our meaningful work consisted of 5,49 defensible space inspections. Uh this was uh thanks to your investment, we were able to hire uh six defensible space inspectors. And what that work consisted of is wasn't just inspecting homes. We worked one-on-one with residents to reduce vegetation and improve home safety. We help build awareness and share responsibility at the neighborhood level. We continued our defensible space compliance certificate program. So, uh just to help out with that, uh we help these certificates are meant to assist property owners with their insurance needs. We know that's a big issue now throughout the entire state of California and I proudly say that we are the first county in the state of California to implement a certificate program. This is a reward to those property owners that take uh prevention serious but more importantly understand the need for defensible space. We also continue with our our very popular consultation program. What this program, consultation program is, is those property owners that are have met their defensible space requirements, but they want to do additional work or need additional guidance on what to do. So, they can contact us. We come out and we do a one-on-one session with them. Whether it's a 1acre property or 5,000 acre property, we're there meeting one-on-one. Uh we have had numerous fire departments reach out to us to come to Napa County to learn about our programs such as Madera, Mariposa, Solano, Lake County, Contraosta, Sunless Abyispo, and Napa City. The sex uh today I would like to introduce to you our 2026 defensible space team. Please step forward.

That effective tomorrow, they will be knocking on doors and working with our within our community. Our team of educators to my knowledge are the only team in the county that are going throughout the communities knocking on uh doortodoor and working with our uh community members, our stakeholders and our partners. Our mission is education. We are here to work with our community members and any preparedness and home hardening needs. Um, every visit is an opportunity to answer questions, provide guidance, and help residents take practical steps to protect their homes and their neighbors. When I spoke to my team last year uh last week about the 5,49 inspections we performed last year, they told me that they are committed to increasing that number, but more importantly, increas increasing the level of service. We're not here just to look at numbers. We're here to provide a service. And as a government entity, that's what we are here for. We have a responsibility to provide the highest level of service to our community members. I want to thank you uh board of supervisors for your continued support, our uh for your investment and then also for Napa County Community Fires Firewise Foundation and and to our fire marshall and to our chiefs for the continued support and investment in our county. Thank you. Good morning, J.R. Rogers, fire administrator. Uh last week during our our annual report, we got to spend a lot of time talking about a lot of the great work we're doing. Uh and specifically uh admiring some of the fuels reduction work. Uh and as we mentioned uh our partnership with the uh Napa Communities Firewise Foundation, who I'll invite up to the uh table. um doing a lot of great work for us in the fuels reduction world uh which is most visible to uh to everybody doing a lot of roadside clearing and things of that nature. Uh but one arm that we don't maybe necessarily hear or understand about all the time is out of wildfire

preparedness. Uh, and one of the things that, um, NCFF does for us, obviously working with our fires safe councils, a lot of great public messaging, um, but also helps uh, us with a, uh, partnership with the California Fire Safe Council in utilizing a California uh, county coordinator grant. Uh, and as a part of that, every year they come to the board to provide a presentation on what they've done uh, for that particular position. And, uh, Lori Clip from NCFF, she's the uh, director of welfare preparedness is going to uh, give us that report. Good morning. Thank you so much for having us here today. Um Lori Clip, director of wildfire preparedness. As uh J.R. Rogers said, Napa Firewise plays a pivotal role as the county's dedicated wildfire resilience organization. Um, it acts as a community connector by uniting fires safe councils that we've heard about today with local agencies and funders to come together as a cohesive network. And the foundation leverages investments by the county to attract additional grants, which I'm going to talk about today, and together with volunteer efforts amplify the impact of every dollar spent. Our focus is continually on how do we maximize and minimize duplication. So, for every dollar, how can we stretch it? How can we think more about what we can accomplish? Um, the wildfire preparedness group is a mighty group of two. Uh, we have our county coordinator Sherry Gardner and myself. But we really are impacted um and make an impact in the county through our fires safe councils, which cannot be uh stated enough the importance of their role in the county on wildfire preparedness. And people often think of Napa Firewise for the projects and partnership with the county on wildfire resilience on on the strategy and the fuels reduction the vegetation management but along with land stewardship

community engagement is critically important. Just like vegetation grows back complacency can take root and so that's really our focus. um prepared communities with Napa Firewise where as we mentioned the community connector um those investments are so incredibly important and so rooted in Napa's landscape. So when we think about Napa Firewise when we're talking about resiliency we think about the communities we think about the natural landscape and the ecological value of Napa. We think about the agriculture. All of those things together are what we're thinking of when we're talking about resilience. Not just to maintain firereaks but to think about the overall county. the reason that people want to live here, the reason that people worldwide want to visit, all of that is tied together in in creating, you know, and stewardship for the lands. So, specifically, um, as Fire Administrator Roger said, one of the things that we are tasked with doing each year is to provide you with an overview on one of the grants that we have called the California Fire Safe Council Wildfire County Coordinator Grant. Um, it's more fun to call it the Coco, which is what we do. Um, the Coco grant is really important because I mentioned earlier we take county dollars, investments, and then we use other grants and we we multiply that together to really make a difference. And the county coordinator grant and the county coordinator role is critical in advancing our wildfire resilience initiatives. Um, so it's a funded program about 150,000 per county. 48 of the 58 counties in California participate in this. Why that's important is this is a CalFire funded grant with the idea that we're raising up all of the counties to a level. So everyone together and not everyone has a Napa County Board of Supervisors and Napa County Calire Fire um support. And so we are very fortunate here. But the idea of the county coordinator grant is

to bring everyone up to that level. And one of the things that's important with this coordinator grant and one of the reasons that word coordinator is in the title is it's expected that we are coordinating with our our partners here at the board of supervisors with CalFire that we have as many conversations as we can with our fire marshall with the fire administrator and with all of our battalion chiefs. In addition, there's an expectation that we're partnering across the county. So Sherry Gardner, our county coordinator, works regularly with YOLO, with Salana, with Sonoma, with Kousa having those conversations. Again, maximizing the understanding of what can we leverage, what can we repurpose, and minimizing duplication of efforts. So we have very specific coordinator deliverables for this grant. And we do not have as as a grant-f funded organization, we do not have a check the box mentality about grants. when we get a deliverable again, we look at it and we determine how can we maximize the impact for this county. So, for example, we were to um attend a defensible space assessor training. The idea being is that we'll send our county coordinator to Sacramento to learn about defensible space training so that she can go out into the community with people who might be a little nervous and educate them about their property. Instead, what we did is we offered to host that training. We brought in county coordinators from multiple counties that surround us. We brought in members of their fire safe councils from nearby counties and our own fires safe councils, members of other agencies. We train them all to have that impact more broadly. That's the way we try and look at everything we deliver on for this grant. Um, and one of the items that we mentioned was presenting to the board of supervisors at this meeting. I really appreciate this opportunity, but what I can say to you is much of what I'm telling you today you already know about. And again, that's not the standard for other counties. you are at our fires safe council meetings, you are attending, you are listening, and you are amplifying their voices by talking about it at your meetings. And so we are eternally thankful for that and know that this

partnership with the fire with the board of supervisors is what's making Napa County stand above many of the others. And the reason I get phone calls to talk about the programs that we have. So what does it mean for Napa County specifically? Along with the required deliverables, we also have a number of specific deliverables that we get to sort of choose like what's the menu of how can we make this the most impactful. And really our focus is on servicing our 25 fires safe councils. We provide core services as an organization. So they don't have to act as individual 5013C's. We are that umbrella. So providing them financial management services, marketing and communications, helping them with speakers, helping them through um county funds to get their CWPP and become a Firewise. But where the county coordinator comes in is once we have that great certificate that yay, you're an NFPA firewise community, there's an annual renewal every year. And this being, you know, Napa County Fire Safe Council, they're all overachievers. So instead of, you know, the minimum 10 items, we have 31 deliverables on each of our 21 fires safe councils to be able to re, you know, annual up our firewise, which is what makes us a more resilient county, that level of engagement. So what this means for Napa is coordinating across the county, across other counties, working across our fires safe councils who partner together. We engage in new communities. We were up in Beressa and Knoxville. We were down in Caros. We've just been speaking with American Canyon and Hot Off the Press. We have a fire safe council lead willing to take that on down there. Um we are having conversations in the next couple weeks with some folks in Napa City. Um our goal is to cover the entire county with fire safe councils and I can tell you um we have 20 we're divided into 30 that predates me. The whole county was divided into 30 fires safe councils and we try to flip each of those fire ways count fires safe councils into also becoming a firewise community. that allows them, among other things, a

potential discount on insurance. And I was just at a Marin wildfire meeting because, as I said, we we talk with all of our neighbors. And they were talking about the fact that they have 91 firewise communities. And I was very impressed by the number, but it's what I would call a pepper program. There's they're peppered throughout. And when I was recently in Carneros talking with um the Carneros team about their fires safe council and we were looking at the border for projects and we were looking in Sonoma County and well this group is covered by a fires safe council and this group isn't. So who do we work with in Napa County? No one will ever be left behind. We will have empowered fires safe councils across the entire county. Our goal is to have everybody covered by that firewise designation. And what that does is not only does it signal to everyone in the county that, you know, they're covered and there's someone they can speak to locally, but to insurers and others, they're going to look at us as a county and see the impact and to see the dedication that the community members have because again, fires safe councils are communitydriven. Our history in fire of our of our fires safe councils is also very impressive. Remember, these are volunteer-led organizations. These are working parents. These are people who are traveling for work, who own their own businesses, who have failed at retirement. You know, all of these folks, you know, are really engaged. And so we go back to Mount Ver, which was mentioned by supervisor Allesio earlier and full 25 years. Uh the pancake breakfast the this weekend was amazing. I've had a chance to speak with the the founder of the fire safe council, Bill Robertson, and he was telling me that um he's retired Calire and he went to a meeting back in 20120 down in Southern California hosted by the founder of the California Fires Safe Council. So, coming full circle and while he was there, he was so inspired by the idea of what the community could do. And I think the quote he shared with me, if I have it, was that um the fire threat is not a

fire department problem. It is not a government problem. It is a community problem. And I think you see here in Napa that all of these elements have come together. But our fire safe councils are so critical in underscoring that. They are the um engaged owners, if you will, of each of their community, planning events, talking to their community, engaging with their board of supervisors, raising issues, and talking with uh Napa Fire. And so, if you look at the history, you can see we've made great great progress in covering the entire county with fire safe councils. And just some of the things they engage in, I think you already know. Again, this is that partnership with with Napa County. Um, Napa County pays for CWPP's community wildfire protection plans at the fires safe county level. What this means is when we uh redo the Napa County level community wildfire protection plan, we're have already going to spoken with a lot of areas across the county and have those projects roll up. We'll continue to do more outreach, but it gives us a great starting point that other counties don't have. I know Marin was struggling a lot more because they had to go out and do a lot more research for a lot more period of time. We already have engaged communities who've already identified their landscape working with Napier, CalFire to say what is the work that we should invest in. Um they also work on outreach and education. They are out there in their communities. They are hosting picnics and pancake breakfasts and cleanup days and defensible home tours. Um they're engaging with new residents which we cannot underscore the importance when it comes to people moving in for a reason for this beautiful landscape for this incredible place. not maybe fully understanding the other aspect of being um a resident here and that's the vigilance and the continued engagement on keeping their property safe. So what does all this mean? um the engagement in the community um fires safe councils boots on the ground getting this work done you see it um and what I would like to

comment on on every single one of these events whether it was the Poke Valley community meeting or kicking off Knoxville's FSC or Diamond Mountain year after year having a community event at every one of these events you can't see in the picture but either one of the members of the board of supervisors was there deputy fire marshal Eric Hernandez is almost always there we have, you know, fire administrator J.R. Rogers is there, battalion chiefs, groups in we had all of Yville at, you know, it's just amazing the the partnership and the collaboration and the support that these fires safe councils feels. And in turn, it empowers them to do the work we need to do. And this is what it looks like at the end of the day. Preparedness, not just from the vegetation management, but also from the support of our community that makes a difference in driving resilience work. And we've seen that across these these these fire um these recent fire history. But again, vegetation grows back. Complacency can take root. And having our fires safe councils acting on behalf of of all of us across the county with support from Napa Firewise and this county coordinator grant, specifically a county coordinator whose role is dedicated to supporting these fires safe councils and helping them engage with their communities is really what's setting us apart. and I think is really working with us. I foresee in the near future that we will be covered by fire safe councils across the county and we will have firewise across the county. But more important than that, we have continually engaged communities who are willing to continue regardless of the fire history of that year to battle complacency in their area. And um with that, I would just like to take a moment and say that all of our fire safe councils are making a difference every day. But I don't think we would really be here and this far along if Mr. Robertson hadn't gone to that conference in Southern California and he hadn't heard that message and he hadn't decided to come back and make a difference. And

so with that, I would like to take a moment to just not just congratulate them on longevity, but on the impact that they've had every year over the 25 years of engaging with their community, of helping neighbors in need to get the work done and acting as a voice that then turned into from one to five to 10 to 25 fires safe councils. So with that, I would like to hand it over to um J.R. Rogers. Thank you.

Thank you, Lori, for that. And I'd like to invite Chief Ryan and um actually that founder Bill Robertson up to receive the certificate that you saw in front of you in honor of celebration of 25 years of dedication to the safety and resilience of our community. Uh and thank you so much to uh Bill and I see some of his compatriots as well uh that have really helped us and just really thank you for their support. I'd like to give them a round of applause. So, thank you for your time uh for allowing us to present the message of wildfire preparedness as we head into peaks fire season. Thank you to uh the fire department uh to the fire marshall's office and NCFF for uh their time and uh appreciate this opportunity. Thank you all so much.

Wonderful. Thank you for those thoughtful and informative presentations. Uh I would like to take any public comment in the room. Is there anyone in the room wishing to comment on the presentation we just received? Welcome. Good morning. Hi, I'm Yvan Beginsky and I am um I this is just off the top of my head after listening to the presentation. I am going to ask whether or not members of the public as well as members of environmental groups are also welcome to join these fires safe councils. I'm very concerned about some of this the terms that were used. Um, vegetation removal is habitat destruction for wildlife. Vegetation removal done indiscriminately can cause a lot of destruction. And I'd like to have the environmental community more involved in some of these fires safe councils and their decisions. Thank you. Thank you. Is there anyone else in the room wishing to speak? I am not seeing anyone. Is there anyone on the phones?

No. Okay, then I will go ahead and ask if there are any board members who wish to comment on this agenda item. I see uh Supervisor Ramos, go ahead.

Thank you so much. Um and thank you for for the presentation and for really highlighting the work that's begun 25 years ago in Mount Ver and has been really a culture shift here in Napa County. And um those of us who um were here on on the county side of things and in 2017 know what a different place we are in. And um it is because of this collective effort and the tremendous investments that that this county um has made. And so I think one of the things that um that is important is for us to be able to um I will say year over year there have been incredible asks of this county of this uh of of predecessor boards and investments in wildfire mitigation and fuels reduction and um I think it's important to be able to showcase to um the residents exactly what they what they are getting um and so in those places. If you are driving uh up along Deer Park and you go into up along Hal Mountain, you definitely see um the benefits of it. Um but I think it'd be really great for us to kind of have an overview of of what's been done, what we have been invested in. And so um I'm going to go ahead and ask by way of a referral that um through our fire administrator um that we have an audit done of the investments that Napa County has made. We do this every um couple of years. And I I don't know what the schedule is, so I'll leave that to um to uh our our staff uh to be able our chief budget officer to be able to work with the auditor controller. Um so, I just wanted to give that by way of a referral. The next one, I'm going to ask Eric Hernandez to come up because you said some things that um I liked. Don't be nervous. I said you said some things I liked.

I see the posters. I know they're good postits. They're good postits. Okay, smile. Smile. Um, you talked about our defensible space certification programs and the investments and why we started this, right? Um by by way of background for our colleagues, we had underwriters um from the UK actually come out here through um a presentation that was made through the Nap Valley Venters and uh they said that they wanted to see what was being done on the ground to be able to reassess uh the risk that that appeared from an aerial standpoint, it appeared um pervasive and um and indiscriminate in between properties. And so what we wanted to be able to show through the defensible space program is that we are in fact making those investments. It's making a difference on those individual properties and on their neighbors. And so that's where the certification program came came forward. And I I will say I think one of the things that is credit to our fire staff. Uh we were the first county out of the 58 to have a CWP. We were the first county out of the 58 to have a defensible space program. So, I look forward to whatever you're going to come up with next because it's going to be the first of the 58. But back to the defensible certification program. The purpose of this is to be able to um maximize access to insurance. We understand the the the incredible pressures that the fair program is is under. And so my question to you is, are we tracking the insurance? Are we tracking once we give that certification over? Are we tracking? Are we following up with the residents to see were you able to step out of fair and into the marketplace program? Were you able to receive at if not were you able to at least receive a reduction um in in your cost premiums? Um so I'd love for you to share a little bit more about that.

Yeah, thank you supervisor Ramos. Yes. So we actually just changed into a new software called Fireside and one of the things that we're building into that uh that software is the consultation program. So, you know, just to take it a little bit step further, one of the things that we're we started doing this year is not only are we issuing a certificate. So if a property owner has questions or any concerns about insurance, part of our consultation, I personally come out now that I have six uh six team members, I focus on individually meeting with these property owners, wineries, commercial, residential, industrial, and not only do I issue a compliance uh certificate, I also work with our fire safe councils and I also provide in an email a copy if they belong to a firewise recognized uh community. I provide that certificate as well. But I this is uh one of the things that we're doing new this year is I also provide a written letter by myself. So I highlight um critical fire infrastructure. Do we have a do they have a water storage tank, a wet draft, any sort of hydrants? Um have they gone above and beyond the minimum 100 ft of defensible space? Are they doing 200 feet? So, I include all that information in the letter and I into a packet and I provided that to the property owner and I asked them in return to follow up with me so that um I could hear whether it's working or not. That way we're making a a better investment and some changes.

Thank you so much. And Administrator Rogers, do you have something to add?

If I may, uh I'll just make uh two notes and responses. The fire safe councils are uh open to the public and available for anybody to attend. Uh all of our fuels projects uh are environmentally reviewed and SQA uh compliant is what far as what we do uh throughout this county. Uh and so that's something that we work uh very closely with our partners to do. Um and secondly uh as far as the the reviews uh concerned, we'll take that and and and do that for you um for this board. We completed one uh in the fall of 2023 when I first came on was a part of completing that uh and actually with the auditory controllers office built monthly review processes for all of our outgoing funds and all of our projects as well. So happy to bring that back for you.

Thank you. you might want to stay there cuz you preempted my question which was in regards to um the CWVP does have a SQA on at a programmatic level and if you could just share a little bit if there are where someone can access at the project level where they can access any documents available um about environmental review that's been done please.

Sure. Um, Nava Communities Firewise uh actually hosts for us kind of their project dashboard that shows all the things that they're working on both with our dollars uh grant dollars they've received and maximized on our behalf. Uh so that's a great place to look at that dashboard if you haven't done that to see what projects are going on completing and have been happening. Uh as far as you know specific detailed uh SQA items uh that can be uh requested through the office to uh to see those items as well.

Thank you. And then uh on the mapping tool, the mapping tool gives you an opportunity to be able to even snoop, is that the right word, on your neighbors and what work they have done. And so I'm wondering if you can talk a little bit about the benefits of utilizing the mapping tool because I think one of the things that we have noticed over the years, it's not necessarily that people don't want to do the work. Maybe they don't feel like they have the ability or the wherewithal to do the work. And so neighbor encouragement um is certainly um a great way. I know that's worked incredibly well out in Berasa states to have neighbor encouragement. So if you could talk a little bit about how you can use the mapping tool to kind of um be a catalyst of change in your own community.

Yeah, neighbor helping neighbors is a is a big thing that um you know both in disaster and obviously in fuels mitigation. Um so understanding where those projects are um and uh bringing a lot of that information into that mapping tool. Uh you can definitely look and see what projects are happening and what what's going on. Um NCF uh has done some great uh projects and currently uh have a grant working to be able to do uh defensible space uh cost share programs to be able to uh leverage your funds to be able to do work around your property uh which I actually took part of as well uh for my space in England. Um and really just to have that visibility to your point I think to see um what exactly is going on. There is an inordinate amount of work that's been going on uh both from dollars that uh the county has given from dollars that they have sourced and obviously the resources uh that CalFire brings to the table. Um I dare say no one can touch what we've done.

Thank you. That's all. Okay. Uh thank you super uh Vice Chair Allesio. Thanks, Supervisor Ramos. Um, you know, listening to you ask those questions, I have a flashback to 2017 when you were the board chair and our whole valley was on fire. It was a it was a bowl of fire and the communities and the residents who lived in the center of that fire were depending on our fire agencies or our heroes in this room and beyond the community members who were there. the fire the volunteer firefighters. Um it was all hands on deck. So thank you for your leadership on that. Um I always get choked on that one. You know, a lot of loss. And the loss isn't just um you know the homes and everything those that was in those homes, but it's also the environment and all the the wildlife that is lost in those horrendous firestorms at the same time. So, as we um work together with the community, it's all creatures. It's it's all of us. It's all the homes and and the environment that we're we're protecting here. And I think, you know, we we often focus on homes, but we're also protecting our biodiversity here in the valley. And so, that's critically important. So, the um you know, that prevention and intervention um that ongoing work is is critical on all aspects. Um I just want to give Bill um Wright another shout out. Uh Bill and I went to school forever ago. We were just talking on Sunday like who would have thought. Um and so Bill, thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. I'm going to do something for you also on behalf of the board of supervisors for your uh for this 25th anniversary, your leadership and foresight um when really nobody else was. They're probably

thinking what? Why? Um and maybe that's not even necessary. and yet you saw it. You saw you saw the need ahead of many many others. So, thank you for standing strong and continuing that for 25 years. Um I do want to um you know commend just the ongoing work. It's one of the probably the um for me new to this relatively new to this board just over a year um and formerly from uh Napa City Council I have a a renewed or new um appreciation understanding of the work that we do for all communities in the incorporated and incorporated areas in this county. And um I think it's really important that we continue to do that work. uh the fire councils that connect into the cities. We know there's some really vulnerable areas that are within the city limits. We also have seen what's happened with, you know, communities like Paradise and how close we are to have to have that happen to us um even in the city of Napa, but certainly in Kalisoga and Anguin and those more rural areas. But this is um this is a real threat. I appreciate the heads up and the forecast um in terms of this high high risk fire season um on that. Um did you want to say something?

Oh, okay.

Okay. Thank you. Um on that. So I think that you know in terms of the continued you know I unders if I understood correctly um 30 firewise councils which is all volunteer based each of those members are leaders in each fire council that are there to protect their neighbors in this countywide in partnership um and so does that also include fire councils within the different you know city jurisdictions cities and towns because I know like out the heights is very you know they there's a lot of concern in out the height about the potential of fire encroaching very quickly there. Browns Valley is another area that I know within the city of Napa. North Napa where I live, right next to Austin Park, I'm always kind of looking and concerned about if something was to happen there and how fast that could move depending on the on the weather situation. Um, but are the 30 fire councils is that the optimum? So, if we looked at a map and one day we did all these circles that covered different areas across the county, would 30 be enough or is there kind of a or is that too hard of a too ambiguous to even and again it's not just quantity, it's the quality and the outcomes that are coming out of there that we're seeing?

Yeah, let me I'll invite uh Jordan Linger to speak on that since they over he oversees the fire city councils.

Hey there. Uh yeah, and thank you for the opportunity to speak to that. So we you know some time back we developed a territorial map that contemplated 31 fire safe councils. Since then we have firmly established 25 I believe. Um part of that included us helping Napa city to develop their community wildfire protection plan which contemplates them developing some number of fires safe councils. Could be one large city, could be two, could be more. So that 31 number is not an objectively, you know, rigid number. It could change and it's entirely possible that within some of our existing fire safe councils. In the future, we might decide, hey, we actually want to split this into two fire safe councils. So 31 sort of covers the entire valley. It u the entire county. It considers the valley floor, too. But the 25 that are established, it's entirely possible that that that those could be adjusted in the future. We just recently as part of starting the um Carneros fire safe council decided to adjust the border and move the Mount Ver fires safe council border further uh the southern border further north and the the Carneros fire safe council northern border further north to Patrick Road. So, you know, these things can adjust over time. I hope that answers your question.

It does, but now I'm confused. Um it answers what so are you saying that um Patrick Road is now part of the Carneros or are they still part? Yeah. So the so part road now is the southern boundary for the Mount Veer fire safe council and it's the northern boundary for the Carneros Fire Safe Council. It used to be that Mount Ver went all the way down to Carneros Highway. And so as part of the that we wanted so we pursued a firewise designation for Mount Ver and now in adjusting that border we want to be sensitive because those residents that exist between Carneros highway and partric we don't want them to lose their firewise designation. So anytime we adjust a border we want to make sure that we sequence it so that anybody that's within the changed area doesn't lose their firewise designation if that makes sense. It does make sense and honestly and is knowing how this community works growing up here. Um how there's micro communities within every city.

The smallest fire safe council is Hagen Oaks. Okay. I mean so we you know there are there are fire safe councils that can be incredibly small and there can be ones because I could see Browns Valley with Patrick Road being another fire safe council because it's it's not Carneros. I mean in terms of how people look at this their town

part of the city. Yeah. When we worked with the city on their CWPP, we contemplated a a Napa City East and a Napa City West fire safe council. Okay. But the city is going they're about to ratify their CWPP and then the city's going to make some decisions. We'll probably help them to make those decisions. They might split and they might do three fire safe councils or five. There could be Alta Heights and you know we we're working with them on that. So that 31 number could change. That's great. And in terms of that CWPP by the city of Napa, which I'm very excited about and happy for them. Yeah.

Um, so they'll also be benefiting from the prevention intervention, the work that's being done, the investments that are being done on behalf of Napa Firewise and all our agencies. Yeah. All CWPPs roll up into the countywide CWP. So, we're in the process of working with American Canyon to develop their fires safe council and their CWPP. When that's completed, it will roll up into the countywide CWPP. And so any of these cities, you know, at Napa Firewise, we don't think about the world in terms of county and city. We just benefit and work on behalf of all the residents, whether they're city residents or county residents.

Okay. And for for the sake of time, um, is this information available to the public somewhere? And are you available for questions at any time? And where might somebody look for fire safe council maps? Or you can go to our our website nap fireweise.org. There's a there's a a map that shows all the fires safe council boundaries. You could reach out to our wildfire preparedness team, Lori Clip and Sher Gardner. And you can always reach out to me. Okay. So, I just want to let me just finish with a closing statement. You could make it quick, please.

Yes. My closing statement is that there's there are there are no boundaries here when it comes to fire. fire doesn't recognize fire councils or areas of the countywide and the cities and I know we knew know this but as a former member on the city council and of course a resident sometimes we think we have this invisible divide in our mind but there it it doesn't exist when it comes to fire so um I know we also need continued investment on this um we need a sustainable uh re financial resources to continue this work and expand it so I just want to say that and thank you again Okay, thank you. Um, it looks like I'll be concluding this discussion by saying thank you for your continued efforts in keeping us safe and motivating residents. And I'd like to acknowledge that at this point we've been a Fire Wise community for so long that it is intergenerational. I brought this 2010's era handout which I found in my family archive just to um to say, you know, we've been doing this for three generations on our property and I'm starting to teach the younger kids how to stay fires safe. So, thank you. That's really the right way to do it. and um and we're getting there. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Okay, I'm going to give us a fiveminut break. If we could please be back here at 11:00 a.m. to continue the meeting.

If everyone could take their seats, please. We're going to go ahead and resume the meeting. Okay, we're going to move on to agenda item 10, which is approve and authorize three agreements related to the proposed annexation by the city of American Canyon of the Poli Watson affected territory and hes affected territory that would effectively extend the city of American Canyon's border north to a portion of South Kelly code. These are number one, agreement number 26037B, an urban limit line and regional housing needs allocation agreement with the city of American Canyon. And uh item two, agreement number 260379B as tax sharing agreement with the city of American Canyon and the American Canyon Fire Protection District for the Hesair affected territory and agreement number 260 378B attack sharing agreement with the city of American Canyon for the Poli Watson Lane affected territory. I welcome a staff report from legislative analyst Andrew Mai and Deputy County Council Sabrina Wolfson. Welcome. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Andrew Mai. I'm the legislative and policy analyst for Napa County. Today, I am before your board to discuss two proposed territorial annexations. Uh specifically, the Napa County Local Agency Formation Commission, LAFCO, has received two applications for the annexation of territory currently within the county to the city of American

Canyon. One application for a territory called Hess Leairard has been filed by the property owner. The other application for a territory known as Powi Watson has been filed by the city city of American Canyon. The staff's requested action today is for the approval of two agreements with the city of American Canyon and one agreement with the city of American Canyon and the American Canyon Fire Protection District. Approval by your board of all three agreements is required for LAFCO's consideration of the actual annexation applications. Let's start with the first agreement which is the urban limit line or UL and RENA agreement. Uh reena is regional housing needs allocation. Uh first some history and a bit of uh table setting. An urban limit line is a locally established geographic boundary that represents the outer limit of future urban development. Urban limit lines are often established by voter initiative. A city's urban limit line sets the boundary beyond which no urban development can occur. This boundary differs from the city's jurisdictional boundaries and from its sphere of influence, both of which are established by LAFCO. In 2008, the city of American Canyon and County of Napa entered into agree an agreement where the city agreed to establish a UL in exchange for the county support for the city's annexation of certain parcels. As part of this agreement, the city also agreed not to change the UL before January 1st, 2030. So, on to the proposed agreement. As previously discussed, the owner of two

parcels totaling 281 yards just south of South Kelly Road seeks the 281 acres.

Sorry. Yeah. 281 acres. Thank you. Uh just south of South Kelly Road seeks the annexation of the parcels to the city of American Canyon. This parcel of the Hess layered affected territory is outside American Canyon's urban limit line. Thus, an expansion to the urban limit line is required to affect the annexation. The annexation of Heslair by American Canyon reduces the amount of developable land from the county's uninorporated area. Thus, in exchange for the county's support of the city's expansion of its urban limit line to include the Hes parcels and the city's annexation of the parcels, American Canyon will agree to assume part of the county's reena allocation beginning in 2031. Critically, the proposed agreement amends and supersedes the 2008 agreement to the extent that the 2008 agreement would prohibit the extension of the UL to include the Hess layered property. Specifically, American Canyon will assume 15% of the county's reena allocation in their seventh and eighth housing element revisions, covering the approximate period from 2031 to 2047. And beginning with the ninth revision in 2047, American Canyon will assume 10% of the county's Rena allocations. In addition to the benefit of residents, the UL and Rena agreement provides that the city shall condition future development within the expanded city UL to provide right of way for the extensions on New Drive and South Kelly Road. Let's shift to discussing the next two agreements which are property tax revenue sharing agreements.

So the Cortezy Knox Herzburg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000 governs annexations. The act requires that before LAFCO can consider the annexation applications, the county and city must enter into property tax sharing agreements in accordance with California Revenue and Taxation Code section 99. That's what we're here to do today. Um, these property tax sharing agreements allocate the county's existing share of the annual 1% tax increment generated by the territory to be annexed between the county, the city of American Canyon, and in the case of the Hesair parcel, the American Canyon Fire Protection District after the territories are annexed into the city of American Canyon and the Fire Protection District. Tax sharing agreements may be limited under section 994 of the revenue revenue and tax code to an exchange of property tax revenues from the annual tax increment generated in the area subject to the jurisdictional change and attributable to local agencies whose service area or service responsibilities will be altered by the proposed jurisdictional change. The final exchange agreement must specify how the annual tax increment shall be allocated in future years. So let's move on to the territories at issue today. The first is PI Watson. Uh, Poly Watson is the territory name for 15 parcels comprising about 74 acres on the eastern side of the Napa Vallejo Highway along Pali Loop Road which is on the same latitude as Green Island Road to the west and this extends south to a point just south of Watson Lane. Uh this territory is located within existing American Canyon urban liine limits.

As the territory is already served by the American Canyon Fire Protection District, the district is not a party to the Pi Watson agreement. Um to the the clerk um are we able to show the visual? Perfect. I've got I've prepared a very amateurish map using the assessor's website to kind of show the general locations of these two.

All right. Again, I am not a graphic designer.

So, um what please Yeah. Yeah, I think that that should be good. Yes. So, um what we've got on the graphic before you is the um Hes parcel in yellow and the Pi Watson parcel in green. So, that's kind of the location we're talking about. Eagle Vines golf course is just north of the Hesslayer property. Uh so upon annexation of the Paliwatson territory, which is not what we're doing today, we're just approve we're just asking for the board's approval of the tax sharing agreement. The county's share of the 1% property tax rate increment attributable to PI Watson will be split 50/50 between the city of American Canyon and the county of Napa until the year 2031. In 2031, the city's share will go up to 75%. And will remain there so long as the city assumes the portion of the county's RENA alloc obligations outlined in the urban limit line and RENA agreement that I just discussed. If for any reason the city does not assume the county's reena obligations in the future, the city's share of the Poly Watson property tax revenues will revert from 75% back to 50% and the counties will revert also back to 50%. So that's Poly Watson. Uh let's finish up with Hessair. Heslair is the territory name for two parcels comprising about 281 acres extending south from South Cali Road to Poly Loop Road on level with Green Island Road to the west.

The territory is not currently served by the American Canyon Fire Protection District. If approved by LFCO, the territory would be annexed into the district. The territory is located outside of the existing American Canyon urban limit line. So upon annexation of the Hesair territory, again this is not the annexation agreement. This is a property tax revenue sharing agreement. The countyy's share of the 1% property tax rate increment attributable to Hesard will be split with 47.5% going to the city of American Canyon, 47.5 to the county of Napa, and 5% to the American Canyon Fire Protection District. In 2031, the city's share will go up to 70% and will remain there so long as the city assumes the portion of the county's reena obligations outlined in the urban limit line and reena agreement. The county share will reduce to 25% and the districts will remain at 5%. As with Poly Watson, if for any reason the city does not assume the county's re obligations in the future, the city's share of the Hesair property tax revenues will revert from 70% back to 47.5. The counties will also revert from 25 to 47.5. Uh, importantly, American Canyon Fire Protection District share will remain at 5% regardless of RENA obligations, reena obligation assumptions. They're at 5%. Uh, some concluding remarks. Approval of the three agreements before your board today is required for LAFCO to consider the annexation applications. These are

not the annexation applications. Uh following this approval, a revol a resolution for LAFCO to uh a resolution for presentment to LAFCO on each of the annexation applications will appear on your board's 5/19 consent calendar. Uh Sabrina Wolson, Deputy County Council, joins me to my left today for your legal questions. In the event that you have questions about the tax revenue sharing agreements, Tracy Schultzy, under controller, is available. Uh PBS Director Brian Bordona is available should you have property related questions. And finally, American Canyon City Manager Jason Holly is available should you have water infrastructure related questions. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mai. Um, I mistakenly said we were on item 10. We're on item 9B. So, just to correct that. Um, and I think I'd like to go to public comment first. So, if there's anyone here from the public wishing to speak on agenda item 9B, I welcome you to the podium now.

Good morning, supervisors. Um, I am here in regard in in regards to this situation with American Canyon, but not regarding to the exact financing agenda. I'd like to propose something else. Um, I'm here representing both the Autobon Society and the Napa Wildlife Coalition. I've been attending Napa uh City of American Canyon land use meetings for the past three years and they're not always really happy with uh the governorship of Napa County uh telling them what to do. Heard a lot of comments, but I would like to make a following recommendation. The current city council is very pro-development and developers have a very significant influence on their elected officials. The only way they want to grow American Canyon is to extend that urban limit line and they want to grow it. They want to build more and they want to collect more taxes. And for this, they're going to need more roads, more industrial parks, and more housing, which actually flies in the face of recital A, which states the parties recognize the importance of agricultural preservation and open space in Napa so as to maintain a viable agricultural economy, preserve open space, prevent urban sprawl, direct growth and development into cities, and to implement the planned development of the city. So I read this thinking of course that this is going to continue on in that vein. However, it looks like is going against that grain. The county has made conditions that have no requirement to preserve any open space or agricultural land. This is a financial agreement. The county has made the conditions of housing as part of this contract with American Canyon, but there is no condition of wildlife conservation or open space on any part of this property. If you take a look at the map in your folders, which I had passed out to all of you before this meeting, this land is primarily unprotected. It is also home to the endangered red-legged frog, theric-colored blackbirds, the swans and hawks, and numerous raptors. I'm told

that the EI reports and squa protect and provide mitigations for these special species animals. But over the past three years, I have reviewed many ERS and biological resource reports, and most display inconsistent findings and a lack of locally sourced wildlife data. Furthermore, the City Council of American Canyon has established a precedent with their actions. They approved Measure J, Measure K, I'm sorry, a SQA workaround which paved the way for a ministerial approval of the largest warehouse project in Napa County. Based on the history with Measure J, the public would most likely have declined Measure K. I'm asking you to please renegotiate this contract and include wildlife habitat preservation as a requirement for a portion of this property before you all sign on on how the finances are going to be split out. This property is a major habitat for some endangered and special status species. And who's going to set aside land for these animals? Land negotiations are always about the finances. Let's change this to reflect reality. American Canyon is one of the top biodiversity hotspots in the Bay Area. You're taking that land away from these animals. But most of all, when you ne negotiate only financial terms of these contracts, you forget about all the other significant things that need to be considered. Please renegotiate the terms of these contracts to include guard rails for wildlife conservation and open space. Thank you, Miss Bitsky. Is there anyone else in the room wishing to welcome? Come on up. You'll have three minutes. Good morning. My name is Janette Goyich. I'm from American Canyon. Lived there for about 38 years. Um I guess I'm going to speak about this agreement between Napa County and American Canyon. um as when I read the um agreement at least what I understood that it was for the preservation of

agricultural and open space prevent urban sprawl and direct growth and development into cities. Um what I don't understand I guess well what I do understand is that um these agreements were made in exchange uh between the two parties. Um I'm kind of the obligation was for between the agreement for housing to be put in that area. what um that has property um for low income, moderate, low low income, whatever that is. Um I understand the above development of housing is on the east side u that's on the east side of 29 uh where there once was vineyards, open space, agricultural land, and beautiful um and it's there aren't any vineyards there anymore, but it is a beautiful spot to look at. um refreshing for American Canyon residents and those who are on their way to Napa. Um I'm not against providing housing, especially low-income housing. I think there may be other areas in American Canyon that may be worthy of that. Um I feel it's it's it's wrong though to build there and and what Ivonne has just spoken about the environmental impact on um the the wildlife there. Um I'm asking you to please um keep this as agricultural true true open space. Um no no buildings. I hope no warehouses. I pray no warehouses there. But um anyway that's my my say. Okay. Thank you for your comments. Is there anyone else in the room? I'm not seeing anyone. Is there anyone on the phones? No. Okay. Then um I will ask if

there's any board questions for staff about this item. Supervisor Ramos and then Supervisor Gallagher. Thank you so much. Uh thank you for the presentation, Mr. M on the county structural fire portion. Um I don't believe you touched upon that. I believe that that as part of the agreement also uh transfers over to the fire district. Can you just touch upon that please? I'm happy to answer that question. Yes, under the Hesair agreement, 100% of the county's fire structural tax will go to the American Canyon Fire Protection District and that is consistent um with prior agreements related to prior annexations.

Thank you, Supervisor Gallagher. Yeah, I have a quick question. So, um I understand the 2008 uh agreement around the uh urban limit line. Um but there is also, correct me if I'm wrong, some kind of a reszonement clause that does allow to the land to be reszoned. Um and this is in conjunction with the new drive extension. Is that true?

The neither the 2008 agreement nor this the UL Reena agreement address land use of the private properties. Those properties are privately owned. They're not controlled by the city. And um once the developers submit applications to the city, if they are annexed into the city, it will be the city that will have um authority over those developments to entitle them and then to impose any conditions of approval related. Okay. I just thought there was something about reszoning from act industrial in conjunction with new drive.

Chair, if I may, I can actually answer that for you. Uh policy AGLU40 of the two of the general plan of the 2008 general plan says the properties known as the Hess Hess vineyards shall be designated agricultural watershed and open space but shall be considered for redesation to an industrial designation if Flawen New Road is ever extended north of Green Island Road through the property which is exactly this portion that we're talking about and right that's what I thought an image AGLU23 indicates that. Okay. Thank you. I just wanted to um I think bring that to everybody's attention.

Okay. Thank you. Um did did you have another comment, Supervisor Ramos, or was that okay? Um Supervisor or Vice Chair Allesio? Uh just a comment. Um we will do comments after doing questions. Sorry, I said comments, but my bad. Okay.

Okay. So, questions. um that you answered one of my questions, Supervisor Ramos, which was what is the existing zoning? So, thank you. And um I would like to ask uh city manager Holly to uh answer a few questions. So, I um I would like to ask like what the current estimate of water use on the properties are, and I would like you to speak to the situation American Canyon was in at the end of the 2012 to 2016 drought with relation to its water supplies. Thank you, chair. Uh, great questions and happy to answer it. Jason Holly, American Canyon, uh, city manager. Uh, currently the property doesn't have any water demands on it. So, um, you know, the answer right now is is zero, but that's important in the context of your second question about our water supply situation. And one of the ways that we address uh water supply is through our um award-winning zero water footprint policy. And what that requires is that any development activity within our service area, which is bigger than our city limits, offsets their demands by reductions elsewhere in the system. Um in very real terms, over the last 13 to 14 years, we've had about a 40% reduction in our uh water supplies that we've u brought in through the state water project. um 3,600 acre feet in 2013, 2000 and less than 2,100 acre feet last year. And in that time, we've grown our population from about 18,000 to about 22,000 and added about 10 million square feet in uh commercial and industrial users. So, it's that very program that requires the offset. We do that by fixing leaks, converting parks to non-pottable uses. We actually um the Napa Junction 3 which is the uh tractor supply for anyone that is familiar with our commercial area. That product is probably the biggest uh story for this. So they actually brought recycled water infrastructure in uh they connected their neighboring property to offset

those demands and they actually started plumbing the buildings, the apartments there, the Canyon Ridge. You actually if you live in the Canyon Ridge, you flush your toilets with recycled water. That's the kind of uh demand conversions that we're doing and that explains our our change in our trajectory. So um we are um during extreme situations right if if state water supplies uh go to extreme situations then we are in the marketplace sometimes looking for demands but we primarily do it through demand hardening which we've done done an amazing job. We're also participants in the sites water uh reservoir project which we don't use as any part of our planning at the moment. uh we're going to participate in the project should it go forward, but that's kind of like a longer term project that we're involved with. But um the 2016 MSR that LAFCO did for the South County area included uh all of our uh service area which included this property uh as did our water management plan from 2020 and our currently draft but soon to be approved from water management plan like next month also includes uh assumed uses for this property. Should the uses um be more than they are today, which is zero, then developers will be offsetting those demands through reductions elsewhere.

Would you remind me because I I I legitimately do not remember um what the curtailments were for American Canyon's water supply at the end of the 2012 to 2016 drought cycle.

Yeah. So, uh curtailments came uh primarily through the state water board action. So, one of our uh part of our portfolio relates to uh a um an appropriative right that the city of Lao has. We essentially acquired about 500 acre feet of that appropriative right that was curtailed for the really the first time in history. That was in I don't remember the year if it was 2016 or 2015. Uh so that curtailment happened and that uh we had to go back through the process of buying some additional water supplies. um state water project wasn't curtailed. But the issue there was uh the Department of Water Resource at one point um was going to give 0% allocations, which was actually okay for us. We had enough supply on the books, but operations staff at DWR assumed a 0% supply meant they were going to be able to weren't going to be able to transmit any of the stored supplies. And so that became kind of an operational issue that we had to sort through. We have both advanced table A, which is kind of a forecasting tool. We had um existing carryover that were on the books that we had. Again, I use the old analogy, no one's going to remember this anymore, but when you used to have a cell phone, you'd have carryover minutes. Remember that? So, we have that in our state water project. So, we have those carryover uh acre feet, but the operational supply, they were saying 0%, which mean they weren't going to operate the pipeline. And so, we had to work with them to say, well, we have supplies on the books. It's not current year. It's saved water in future year, which we can access, but you got to put it through the pipeline. And so, that that took a lot of heightened urgency. Uh the North Bay aqueduct is part of the state water project system, but it's such a small piece of it that it gets very very little attention from state department of water resources. They tend to focus uh on their their main customers, their bigger customers. And so getting their attention, understanding the operational issues took a lot of a lot of leg work.

Okay. And I understand there was litigation from the city of Valo following on this situation. Oh goodness.

Am I remembering that right? Um we are involved in four different matters uh with the city of Valleo. Uh we have a contract with them for water supply. Uh we believe they've breached that contract and we're in Napa Superior Court explaining our case there. Um in response to that for reasons that are I'm going to call it charitably strange. Uh they decided to file a number of sequel lawsuits against us. Um they're meritless. We're victorious in all three cases at the superior court. Victorious at the appellet level and two are pending at the appellet level. So, um not sure why they decided to do that. That's its own little set of circumstances, but um we're considering we're still proceeding with the breach case and we're confident of our position there, too.

Okay. And my understanding is that the North Bay aqueduct is relatively at risk as a water supply source due to low water quality, salinity intrusion and drought situations, potential natural disasters in the North Delta, and uh now golden muscles. And are you making any efforts to improve the security for water supplies through the North Bay Aqueduct, which is absolutely instrumental in supplying water for your community?

Uh yeah, I mean I don't know how to characterize the phrase at risk. The things that you describe are definitely challenges. Uh we're used to it. Some of the other water providers change uh sources. So sometimes they operate off their Lake Beressa water which has a different quality and they alternate back and forth. All we do is operate with that water. So, we're accustomed to it. It requires using coagulants. It requires knowing how to how to operate our particular treatment system. Um, again, we're a subcontractor to the Napa Flood District who's the contractor, who's the contractor of the state. So, our our role in being able to affect change and improvement on the North by aqueduct is limited to the fact that it's not our pipeline, right? And so, um, but we are working with the entire group. There's some long range plans to, uh, to move the inlet. One of the challenges of the DCP, the Delta conveyance project, uh will be you what does that mean now for the Barker Slooh and for the cash flow and for that inlet there and what is it as you start to restore those areas, what does it mean for that inlet and what does it mean for the water quality coming out of it. Um you know fortunately um those groups are working together. We are looking at a project that would move the intake uh the long-term solution is that intake in a different location um something more along the uh the Deep Water channel and Sacramento River. Um but that's you know it's going to be an expensive project and take a little while to do.

Sure. Do you have any idea the cost or any kind of timeline like how far would you say those talks are?

Uh again it's a kind of a difficult thing when the department of water resources is focused on DCP and they're focused on not their small customers. They're focused on their big customers. So I don't I don't have a timeline. It's not a project that we're that we're leading. But um it's something that we're participating in. There was a draft. You're really asking me to go back in my memory baits here, but there was a draft EIR that was prepared. Um, part of the issue is again this would be a a Department of Water Resources project. Uh, and as their focuses on DCP, they're not trying to focus on on this area. And so, um, you know, advancing an environmental document that, you know, maybe kind of highlighting the interplay with DCP, for example, is not something they're all that interested in. So it will definitely be whatever moves that project forward isn't going to happen before DCP and it's probably going to be on the heels of it.

Okay. And any estimate on cost in current dollars or I would honestly I didn't prep for that question. So I would have to go back and look um as a part of the drafts I I don't recall the cost. I mean um you know north of 100 million would be the cost of that and that was probably a late teens kind of estimate. So more than 100. My recollection it was sever several hundreds of millions and that was many years ago. So yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Okay. Um thank you. Uh uh anything else you want to add about like your perception of how the site's reservoir might um improve or in what situations it it may or may not function as a water security for the community.

Yeah, I'd I'd love to love to talk about sites. Um it's an extraordinary project. uh both Napa and Solano counties are all in place of use and so it's an opportunity for everyone living in those counties with the exception of the folks in around Berasa technically Bas is not part of place of use but almost all of the valley here and all of Solano County is in that place of use and so assuming uh the water board goes forward with the with the final decision on the water right this summer then uh groundbreaking is expected in first quarter of 27 uh it's a new reservoir located uh Kousa County area north of uh north of here uh it's an offstream reservoir built in an area where there's not much house. Um, it will use existing diversion facilities from Sacramento River. Uh, put water in a lake that's roughly the size of Lake Beressa and we have a small share of that. Uh, and we're excited to to partner with what is a statewide consortium between Metropolitan Kern County Water Agency, Zone 7, you know, in our area and and Valley Water and and some smaller folks. Uh, it's a locally driven project. So, uh, using existing facilities from the agricultural interest there that during the time of year when you have high water flows in the Sacramento River aren't operating, that's not when the the rice season is. That's when they're using their facilities. So, these sunk assets are going to get repurposed uh in this new reservoir. And so, tremendous opportunity uh for us as well as anyone uh in the valley and and in Salon County.

Okay. And would you uh anticipate that they're going to be able to fill sites reservoir from the Sacramento source in every year?

We've done a ton of modeling. I said we this the sites team has done a ton of modeling. Um we've gone about 100 years back into the hydro and um you know it it varies. Um I think the important there's a lot of huge benefits to the sites project. It's not necessarily how often it refills. The reason the state uh through prop one and the and the bureau is is participating is the ability to have uh preserve your cold water pools up in in Shasta and Orville. Right. So, we know fish need certain temperature water and when you're releasing water uh during certain times of year, you then have less amounts to release during those periods when cold water is needed. And so, being able to park essentially those project waters over in sites means the reservoir levels will be higher in Shasta and Orville at the right time so they can release those cold water pools that will help those fish. That's their interest. It's not new supply for state water project or federal uh for uh for those two projects, but it's different place to park it so they can preserve some of their cold water releases. So that's the piece there and you know as far as um you know our share of it. Again it's it's a small piece of it but

yeah. Okay. So kind of what I heard there was that this is a a buffer against uh climate impacts uh that Shasta and Trinity can help avert potentially but not that it's really more water because if they're allocating that water for the cold water pool for fish instead it's you know it it may serve multiple functions as it makes it way down its way down the Sacramento River channel. that this is, you know, it's um yeah, I

what I what I what I said was and I'll try to be more clear. Um it's not new water for sites and for the central for for the state and for the central valley project, meaning their water available to their contractors is increasing. They're going to park it in a different place. For the member agencies like city of American Canyon, like uh Kern County and Metropolitan, it is very much new water. So the state and feds component combined I want to say is about 40 to 45%. Um whereas then the program participants um are the the remaining balance of it. So for agencies like American Canyon and others very much new water.

Okay that was an important clarification. Thank you. And it's my understanding that it has a relatively small drainage area and is in the rain shadow of the coast ranges. So it doesn't receive a lot of preip. Right. Which is why it's a diversion off of Correct. Yeah. Correct. And it's not there there's a small creek that that will be sort of covered up by this reservoir, but the rest of it there it's not damning any reservoirs or or any creeks or anything like that. And last question on water. Uh I love it. Keep it going. I love it. I am going to have my colleagues raining me in for going on too long, but um but I I do think it's really important to look at the water availability situation with the North Bay aqueduct and the state water project generally in planning. So, um, where is American Canyon at on groundwater banking?

Um, at the at the moment we don't do any groundwater banking. We don't have any municipal wells ourselves. Um, as generally as a part of the state water product, there are groundwater banking options that that come and go. We haven't um to my knowledge recently participated in any of that. But um it can be a super effective way of of storing supplies, right? Particularly in sometimes in comparison to new uh reservoirs, right? So there's it's kind of like you you got to have a tool kit. You got to have all these tools in in the kit. So, groundwater ging is is a piece of it and there are, you know, parts of the state water project that do that and we have opportunities there, too. Thank you very much, Mr. Holly. Of course, I'm happy to questions if there question. Uh, Vice Chair Allesio, do you have And then I see uh Supervisor Ramos. No, super.

Um, I can put this this is kind of a qu I think it's just a confirmation. It can come from um city manager Holly or from staff. First of all, great job answering those very technical questions from my expert here. Um, my understanding and and I really got a lot of this understanding because I did watch your council meeting on April 21st that helped me. I was looking at the board packet and I'm like, I need a little bit more narrative here. Sure.

So, that was that was very helpful. My understanding is this has been kind of a um from the property owner, especially with Mr. Hess um that this has been kind of long coming that he's been waiting for this for quite a while that um there's this is uh one of the boxes and steps that need to be checked on in the pro in this process that will continue through 2030 2031. Um and if I understand correctly because um well there was one concern regarding um this is tied to a ballot measure um not moving the urban limit line but by the time that this process is through the next steps of NEPA squa the LAFCO complete process which probably take four years I'm guessing um that's so it's going to be a while before this is actually all the way through and there is a process um that started with American Canyon and Then it's the county um board of supervisors and it's the fire district and then LAFCO that does all the NEOA sequa. Is that is that an accurate summation of of this process and kind of the back and current and then future story line?

Yeah. Um a couple of things there. So um SQA has already been done for the Watson Lane area and so uh that process has been completed. um SQL has not been completed on on the Hes piece and and would happen at some point uh if there was a discretionary act that's that's being asked of assuming annexation goes forward being asked of the American Canyan uh city council. Uh what we do know um and I forget the government code citation but there is generally a two-year lag between annexation and a zone change or a general plan change in the designation. So at a minimum we're talking about two years we're talking about a robust community you know process or planning process of what's what's going to happen there. So, and we don't know uh currently it's zoned uh industrial the board uh reszoned the property 2 or 3 years ago I want to say uh and so that's what it's being brought in as uh and um then SQA in the event we got an application would start that process but you all are familiar with the durations of those processes and yeah they can they can take a while um what is always happening though is Reena right that process that process never takes a long time and it always keeps coming right so we're in sixth cycle now seventh cycle starts in 31 one uh and our willingness to partner with the county uh to take on those housing obligations u because I don't think we want thousands of units in Anguin or thousands of units at all kind of different places right putting them inside of cities uh is the place where that's what we've all sort of agreed to right and we're sort of taking on that role and saying yes we're going to take that obligation it goes on in perpetuity six cycle seven cycle 8 cycle uh probably none of us will be here as we're talking about some of those latter cycles um but we're willing to do that because that's what we've always done. It's actually been the the story from American Canyon's sake when we incorporated as a kind of small piece and we've we've grown over time to take on housing obligations in the past and we're kind of continuing that pattern. There's a lot of win-wins here particularly on the focus of like New Drive for example. We have a we have an interest there and we'll absolutely be uh doing our part to make sure those road improvements happen to serve

everyone. Uh and so it's it's a key piece of what's going to be on the table. Um and yeah, so there's a lot of win-wins. Yeah, the new drive is also it's a big benefit to everybody, not just the American county residents, but anybody traveling through. So, okay. So, you so it won't have to the timing will not require this to go back to uh the residents for a vote in terms it'll kind of happen. This is the timing. It'll happen when that measure expires, which is either 2030 or 2031. Yeah, this this doesn't have to go back to the vote. Okay, perfect. That's all I have.

Okay, Supervisor Romas, thank you. And I just uh was hoping Mr. Holly could talk about um your water service area um extends to the portions of giving water to actually the county of Napa in our airport industrial area. And when the curtailment happened with DWR um we got our health and human services water um uh warning that actually interestingly enough if you could talk about I was going to be able to keep on the water on at my house but the county wasn't in its industrial and commercial uses and so um I think if you can talk about um you know the the areas that go beyond in the water service area and really the the tremendous amount of industrial um serving water that you have. That would be helpful to kind of paint the picture of where those uses are going and and what's at stake if we end up in a position of cur curtailment and you make me get recycled water delivery at my house and use a pot to water my plants again.

Um yes, certainly. Um happy to talk about that. Uh we are your water provider uh at the sheriff's office, at the airport, um all of the airport area. Uh we provide water. It's been that way since the 1950s when the American when the former American Canyon County Water District was formed. Uh we have facilities in that area uh and have been serving that area for a long time. It's been part of our urban water management planning, part of LACO's municipal service reviews. Uh and so I think what you're referring to during the the curtailment there in the mid- teens um the water board came up with what they were considering their health and kind of their health safety water sort of a minimum 50 gallons per capita as sort of a standard. waterboard staff hadn't actually contemplated what it meant for uh uh other commercial and industrial users and so they were only saying okay for residential you know here's certain a lotments they hadn't contemplated what it was going to be for uh for commercial and industrial users so we had to kind of work with them educate them uh and we'll continue to do that um the important part is that we do planning we have supplies and in fact actually this year the nature of our supplies we actually sold water uh we have a bit of water that will have an expiration to it and we actually are in the process of selling selling it to others. So, um there is a limit to how much we can carry over and so um to the extent all we really need to be able to do is access those things that we've already stored and carried over um and then then we're in good shape. So, um being able to educate, you know, waterboard staff on the fact that there are other users besides residential and and they recognize that they just didn't have it's easier to just say 50 gallons per capita a day and if you're trying to do these really big large kind of statewide things, it's much harder to then go into these other uses. So, um, hopefully that answers your question. So, Rome was

Okay, thank you. Uh, I see no one else on the board in the queue. Um, so I would ask my colleagues if there is a motion. I I think I would like to provide some comments before before uh Okay, I was going to go for motion motion deliberation, but Okay, I will go ahead. We can we can do

I will go ahead and do it as the chair asks. I will make a motion that we approve and authorize the three agreements. Agreement number 260377B. Agreement 26378B. agreement 260379B and all related uh all related documents uh for the proposed annexation by the city of American Canyon of the Poli Watson affected territory and the Hessair affected territory. I'll second.

Okay. Um, and then if there's any deliberations about this, I guess I will just offer that I I really don't believe we're ready in terms of water planning to move forward and that this is in a way a tacid approval of the concept and um I I do have reservations about that. But is there any further? Yeah. Go.

Thank you so much. Um I I will um say you know I think there were some in there's some great comments that were made in regards to how in fact does this agreement um this tax share agreement and this reena agreement further agriculture and uh growth in our urbanized areas. And I I want to start there and say that uh in our last housing element um the properties we were considering for meeting our housing uh element were Hedgeide Avenue uh the Bishop property that was a 5 acre site identified for 100 to 125 uh units out in a country road area. We were looking at the Altameira site on Atlas Peak Road, an area that we have known has been affected um by wildfire um not once, not twice, not three times um multiple multiple times. Um and that was being considered for a 58 units. The Moscow White Corners um up in Beressa always makes an appearance in our housing element. And we were also looking at Spanish Flat at 10 acres, Foster Road. Um, and that is all to say these are areas that are not accessible by public transportation. These are areas that um uh do not have uh that are not within water service areas. These are areas um that have a tremendous amount of wildfire risk. Um and these are areas that are not contiguous to urbanized areas. One of the reasons in which we look at um I certainly have looked through this parcel and its potential to assist the

county in Reena is uh by way of reminder through the Napa pipe agreement with the city of Napa we have an 80% shift of our a negotiated shift of our reena allocation. um this agreement would take 15% for two cycles and then 10% in perpetuity. And so what that does is that that leaves the county with only having to account for um those smaller numbers in areas that are safe and regardless of one there is no project pending before us. So I I I I I I can't consider how a project would be developed. I can't consider where those infrastructure uses are are going to come before us because that is not the determination that is before us and I can't use that as a grounds. But what I can use as a grounds is to know that um we have struggled at this county to meet our housing element in a meaningful way um for decades. And it is not going to get any easier for us. And this is an opportunity for us to recognize that this property is adjacent to Highway 29. There is a bus stop at the intersection. Um this is already um by this board in November of 2024 utilizing um a land use policy 40 has already designated it as industrial. Um and so there is an opportunity here without prejudging not knowing that there is a project there is not a project before us. There is an opportunity for something other than a warehouse to to be here. there is an

opportunity for um a city who has um a proven track record. I believe the only jurisdiction in the county that has always met since its inception its housing element goals um to be able to assist the county in meeting the moment of incredible need um for housing. To put it into context, if we were um if we were to assume a 15% increase in Reena, um our our allocation um this past cycle was 1,14 units and that would move up, you know, to about,00200 units and that shift would be 933 units to the count to the city of Napa with 688 88 units shifting over to the city of American Canyon. That means that this county instead of having to plan for,00 units in the unincorporated area would only need to plan for 58. Um, for me, this is um an opportunity for us to be able to prioritize um what this county has not historically done well in the spaces of housing. I certainly, as someone who grew up in the unincorporated, I was out in Beressa states. We cannot be using those areas of one way in, one way out. those areas that we haven't been able, no matter our best efforts to be able to secure from a fire mitigation standpoint, um we can't be placing this burden of of housing in in areas such as Anguin um or up in in the highlands and the estates. That that

doesn't create a better sense of of community. When it comes to um the water uses, I I I will say um as someone who's had the opportunity to serve in American Canyon in the city, um uh American Canyon was the first jurisdiction um to have a zerocaping policy. Um you are not allowed to have a lawn in your front yard in American Canyon. We have in we have incredible um participation in our recycled water programs. We have incredible um a a community shift into how we make sure that um our water stays turned on and we are prioritizing the uses um for for the humans um and and thereafter for the commercial and the industrial. Um, I do I do know that um the work that the city of American Canyon does in being thoughtful and and keeping sustainability at the forefront of their mind will yield um what will be uh a great project for them. But what I will say for us and and the decision before us and and why I ask for your consideration in this, this is about preserving the county and being able to prioritize our state mandate of housing in places that are better than others. Um certainly I understand the desire of persons to to continue to have the existing uses. Um but when state law does not let you do that, we have to we have to make um different considerations. I certainly do not want to see the uh Hedgeight Avenue as our

only option. I do not want to see the Atlas Peak Road as our only option. I do not want to see Anguin as our only option and I certainly don't want to see Beressa Highlands and the estates as our only options for providing housing. Um, in addition, and this is incredibly um near and dear to my heart, um before you all were my colleagues up here, um on four occasions I was not able to make it to work here in American Canyon. And that's because the highway flooded. and the highway flooded because of um of subsidance that had happened with a a a culvert on the highway and it plugged up and residents from American Canyon. We are Napa County residents. We were cut off from the rest of the county. And it wasn't until we were able to open up Devlin uh road and the connect the connection over Fagen Creek Road um in March of 2020 that we finally had the ability to take Poli Loop Road, go underneath the highway, get onto Green Island Road, and head on over. Um, and that was in that was a gamecher, but it requires us to be able to access the east side. This is an opportunity from a public safety standpoint that our our firefighters, our police officers, which are really just sheriff deputies in blue, are able to access those northerly parts for all the responses that happen um along Highway 29 uh between Napa Junction Road and Highway 12. It's imperative that we be able to have that north south uh access point. And the truth is we don't do roads in the county um in order to be able to make roads pencil out. These are the type of

agreements that are at stake. While this tax share agreement is less than the is slightly less and we normally receive uh 15, this is going down to 16th of a portion. the value of the Reena transfer agreement and being able to lighten the load for the county in perpetuity beyond us being here um is well well worth that sacrifice um for me and that is why I am voting in favor of this. Thank you. Okay, Supervisor Gallagher and then Allesia. Thank you. Um so I just want to remind everybody that we are voting on the property tax revenue sharing agreements and um the the Rena transfer etc not about annexation. So that's just really important to understand this is a uh one part of the process that has many more um pieces to it. Um I think that it is very important for um for our housing goals. Um I agree with Supervisor Ramos in terms of uh you know the struggle that we had looking at those other sites uh during during the last cycle and how difficult it was to really make uh many of those make sense which is why a lot of them didn't end up in our housing element. Um and also that there is there are no projects at this point. So there will be opportunities to look at the environmental impacts in terms of wildlife, in terms of water um down the line as we see what is contemplated. So at this point um I am supportive. I think this is um this is a a piece of the process. This is not something that is finalized in any way, shape or form in terms of what will be there and what will be needed. Um, but I I think that this is uh well done in terms of the arena sharing agreement and of and fair in terms of the property tax revenue uh

sharing piece and so I can I feel comfortable moving forward now. Um and I know we're running short on time so I just want to say thank you supervisor Ramos and Gallagher. I complete I I agree with both of your points. I want to thank staff and um in terms of the work you did in negotiating these terms, the Reena, the property um the property tax share um the overall benefits as that was mentioned from Reena, I think New Road is very is critical and key um to not just American Canyon but those uh traveling through. So I see I see that the benefits outweigh um anything else that I'm going to that's why I second.

Okay, great. Well, I'll just close by saying that I I fully understand that we're looking at the tax sharing agreement and that there's substantial gains with this proposal for our arena goals. I do also see that there's an inherent conflict between trying to meet our arena goals and developing locations without secure water supplies. And I think that's something that occurs in specific locations across the state because of the way this whole thing is structured and that they don't they aren't required by the state to be in concert with each other or considerate of each other as these things move forward. Um for me that's a problem here because the position of American Canyon with respect to water has not substantially improved since the end of the last drought and the kinds of investments and conversations that we need to be having to ensure that our community members have the water supplies they need. I think are just in uh kind of an infancy kind of stage and we need to really start having meaningful conversations about that. You know, it's the Steinbeck thing of you know, you forget about the bad times when it's a good time, but I have not forgotten that we also have uh shortages of water supplies and that that's one of the most important things we can plan for moving ahead. So, I I look forward to participating in those conversations. I hope this is a Kickstarter for that. um and that uh that you know in my view we are this isn't fully baked yet in terms of the security of resources for the residents. So with that um we have a motion on the floor from supervisor Ramos a second by vice chair Allesio. All those in favor

I I nay. Okay. We have two more items on our agenda today. It is noon. I'm looking to my colleagues to see if you want to push through these two items or Yes. vacancy. That's two seconds. Wait. Uh you want to push through on the beress item too? Um I'm Well, I'm I'm asking what the appetite here is for lunch and also these items. So, I'm supportive of of continuing through and being mindful of the time.

Okay. Being mindful of the time. Okay. Thank you. Um, so we'll go ahead and move on with item 10A, receive a presentation on the status of Napa County vacancies and recruitment and retention efforts for the 2025 calendar year. I would like to open the public hearing and note that staff are not available today to present the item. So, we'll be continuing the hearing to May 19th, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. Is there anyone here today wishing to speak on this item? You may approach the podium now. I don't see anyone. Uh, is there anyone on the phones? No. Okay. Then I will request a motion to continue the hearing to May 19th at 9:00 a.m. So moved. Second.

Okay. I have a motion by Vice Chair Allesio, a second by Ramos. All those in favor? I. That passes unanimously. We are moving on to item 11, administrative items continued. Uh 11A. Receive a status update on each of the Napa County controlled resorts and approve agreement number 8708 with Wild Haven LLC to conduct environmental studies, site investigations, prepare environmental documents, and enter into negotiations for a long-term agreement for development and operations of resort concessions at the Spanish Flat Resort area.

Uh thank you, Chair Mey, the members of the board. Um Steve Letterer here, uh director of public works with Lee Sears, not Lee Sharp, but Lee Sears, um our uh Lake Beressa resort manager. Um Na, if you could bring up my 25 slides, that would be great. Yes. So, um, maybe make it a little bigger if we can.

I know it's a big lake, but maybe we can make it a bigger map. Um, okay. We'll we'll go with that. We'll go with that. So, I just want to use the map to um set the scene um partly for the board, but also for members of the public, just as a reminder. So there were seven uh uh resort sites at uh at Lake Beressa. Um three of them uh Markley Cove, Pleasure Cove, which are the two at the bottom and right and Puta Canyon which is at the top left are under the uh control of the uh federal government, the BO. the other four sites. Um the board will remember back in um I believe it was 2018 or 2019 um this board signed a managing partnership agreement or an MPA with the federal government again the BO to allow the uh county to try and develop those four sites. Those four sites being um going from south to north, Steel Canyon, Spanish Flat, uh Monaceel and Beressa. Actually, Beressa and then Monaceel going from south to north. So, um we're here today to give a brief status update on the four sites that um um Napa County has um through the MPA. Um, I'm actually going to address um Steel Canyon a little bit first and then I'm going to have Lee talk about Spanish Flat and uh and the other two sites. Um, the actual action here for the board is to approve a um should the board so choose um an exclusive negotiating agreement um with a developer for the Spanish flat site. So, as I mentioned, Lee will Lee will talk about that. So, um just a brief update on Steel Canyon. Um again, as the

board knows, um we are in um an exclusive negotiating agreement, an ENA, uh with a local developer, Tim Wilkins, for the the development of uh of the Steel Canyon site. Um the developer has proposed a project um but has also um told us that um that project would not be possible without an extension of the um the agreement uh the 55-year agreement with the BO. So um we're in year five or six of that agreement. So, they're only now 47 48 years left and Tim has told us that he needs a 99-year um lease in order to develop the project. Um we've given the developer time to work with the federal government to um see if that lease extension is possible. Um, we've had a lot of discussions with local folks, um, local as far uh, as far east as Denver, if you will, because the local BO is, uh, uh, headquartered out in Denver. They've all said no, can't do it. Um, but they did say they would do it if they were directed by Washington to uh, do so. So, um, Tim has been diligently trying to pursue that extension. Um to date it's not dead, but it also hasn't really made a tremendous amount of progress. Um and we don't really know exactly when that might process might end. So um um so basically that's that's where we are with that site. Um we are not asking the board to make any decision um today. Um but um Tim has made it quite clear that he can't move forward with his project unless the extension is given and there's really no indication when and if an extension might happen. So, we might be in a

position where um we need to move on from the current project um and perhaps look at something that um can be built um can be financed, can be built given the 48 years, 48 49 years that we have left on the lease. Um and um so that's pretty much where we are on Steel Canyon today. Um that's really all I have. Like I said, there's no board action needed on that. Um maybe I'll let Lee finish the other three sites and then if the board has questions on any of the sites, we can go from there. So the first one There we go.

Now, so first I'll talk about the other two sites before we talk about Spanish Flat and its proposal. Um Monaceel Shores is in their beginning phases of their ENA agreement. So they're working on their due diligence for their NEPA sequel process. So they're sort of riding right along within the terms of their ENA agreement and the milestones they have to hit. Um the next site I've got up is various a point. It is still in sort of the development phase. I'm still looking for someone to develop that site. We do have a few potential possibilities there for that one. And the next is uh the Spanish flat proposal to go into an ENA and I think you guys all have a copy of it. It's very similar to the proposal of Monaceel Shores where it's sort of a smaller uh development with I think a total of about 80 to 100 either cabins and tents. I think about 60 tents and 40 cabins is what they proposed. They also have about a 75 slip marina at Spanish Flat. Um a lot of the work they will do will be on the island portion of Spanish Flat as well. The nice thing about this site is they also will tie into the Spanish flat water district which is quite helpful for that district as well as a customer. Um let's see the other good um proposal is they will also have um a restaurant lodge and then event space that they will be developing on that site as well. Um, let's see what else. Is there any other anything else you think we should discuss?

No, I think that's good. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There there's a four-page um proposal presentation package that's attached to the board item. Correct. So, to give you an overview, I think there's a map in there then. And this is just a proposal as well, just sort of same as Monosel, but the definitely the same sort of concept as Monaceel. And we're happy to answer any questions. And I I do believe there are members in the public here who would like to speak on this. Okay, wonderful. Thank you for that report about Lake Berry ESSA uh status update. Um are there any members of the public present wishing to speak? I welcome you to Yeah. Yeah. Come on. Come on down. You'll have three minutes, Mr. McNar.

Uh anyway, uh you learn a lot. I've only lived here 50 years, but you learn an awful lot listening to people who've lived here their entire lives when you sit here or at city hall. Uh I I'm kind of semi-retired and uh when I have a day off, I love nothing more than getting leaving the big city here and going up to Beressa and fishing, you know. Uh that's a beautiful lake. It's a paradise, especially at this time of year and in the springtime. In the summertime, I wouldn't go near it. Okay. Pleasure Cove is where I go. It's very nice people who run it. Very nice people. They put in an incredible amount of work to expand that boat storage area up there. You know, I'm not I'm never going to see it come to fruition. The development of Lake Beressa like you guys are talking about zip lines and this and that. What are you going to make it? An amusement park right now. I was up there the other day. They have a what do they call parasailing? Parasailing. They have speedboats pulling parasailors down the lake. They're noisy, gasoline powered, you know, uh kind of annoying when you're trying to relax and fish, but no big deal. It's a big It's not a big lake. It's really not a big lake if you spend a lot of time on it and you become very familiar with it. It is not a big lake. It's a beautiful lake. bald eagles, nice fish. You know, if you develop it too much, you know,

fire, learned a lot about fire. I happen to be working at Los Alamos National Lab quite a few years ago when the Los Alamos fire broke out. You may or may not have heard of that. It was a It was a nightmare to get out of there and get down to Santa Fe when they evacuated Los Alamos. I was I was in the middle of it. The guys I was with, we were doing survey out in the wildlands. It was crazy. How How in the heck are people going to be able to you bring all this tourism into Lake Beressa? What if there is a big wildfire up there? How do you get them out? How do you get them out? Come down Mosello Road like this. It It makes no sense what you're talking about. It really doesn't. You're all environmentally conscious. Are all the boats going to be EV? Are they all going to be electric powered boats? I work in Salelo on a boat. Every day I see electric boats being towed in by toeboat us. It's not going to work. That lake is going to be overwhelmed with speedboats. Hey, thank you for your comments, Mr. Max. Thank you.

Thanks. Thanks for Yeah. Enlightening me on a lot of things. Thank you. Is there anyone else uh here wishing to speak from the public? Oh jeez. Okay,

welcome. Good morning, Ivon Beginsky. Once again, the baseline data report was just completed. I just haven't read it yet, but I have seen some of the contributions. There is new environmental information to consider now before we make any further land use decisions in Napa County. This is tr truly true most expensively true and the general plan. The times have changed. We are in a climate crisis and there are noted changes in vegetation, wildfires, heat, weather and we are forewarned it's only going to get worse. This consideration needs to be the priority in our land use planning especially at Lake Beressa. Lake Beressa is a high value area for wildlife connectivity and biodiversity. It is one of the few areas left in Napa County where mountain lions, bear, deer, and fox still roam. It is currently an area that is unprotected for conservation or habitat restoration, but it is an area that is visited by hikers, campers, and wildlife enthusiasts just because it's still an area that's somewhat wild. I am asking that you reconsider these resort contracts. The resorts will destroy the ambiance of the nature-based recreational area. The resorts will disrupt the wildlife habitat and create further species decline. The human impact, the lighting, the roads, the infrastructure, the pollution will have a disastrous impact on most of the larger animals in the area. Road kills will significantly increase as will habitat destruction. The Beressasa range and the land around the lake is one of the highest value wildlife connectors in a county. The Beressasa area is home to animals no longer found on the valley floor. This resort will further extricate these animals from our county. Salano County is experiencing a development boom as well. It is also connected to the lake beressa. Where are the animals from Solano County going to live? This is a regional issue and needs to be considered as such. Other counties

bordering the lake should be brought in for consideration of this decision. It's a shared responsibility to care for nature, wildlife, and each other. Let's not jump into these resorts until we have a general plan that includes a habitat conservation plan for Napa County. We need a map of the wildlife areas, the crossings, and the habitat. We need more information on where the animals are going when there's a wildfire. Where do we need to restore, conserve, and put in wildlife crossings, fencing, etc., and what impact are the weather and vegetation changes going to have on these animals? There's an urgency now to protect the land that we have left before more decisions are made on the past reality rather than what the future will bring. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Is there anyone else in the room wishing to speak? Welcome. I'm Carol Kunzie. I live in Beressasa Highlands, so I live at the lake. Um, I what I would like to see is that you would provide us with some opportunities other than destination lakes. I think that you have a conflict of interest and I think that it's really a problem. Um, despite the fact that I have given you information indicating that other lakes the size of Lake Beressa have been able to generate spending by their visitors of $65 million a year. And we need some of that to help us basically rejuvenate the economy that died. That death starting slowly when the lake

was a trailer park lake and finally dying just after I got there in 96. Um we cannot rebuild we cannot rebuild a uh economy on the basis of destination resorts. I've spoken with all of you about that. Destination resorts keep their guests in the resort and that's it. Um, and I think that you have a conflict of interest because the destination resorts are going to be more expensive and so consequently transient occupancy tax will be higher, sales tax will be higher. But also, I understand you have an arrangement with the Bureau of Reclamation to um get a percentage of the profits. And I've been wondering why nobody is interested in this $65 million lake and possibly how that works. And I frankly I think that's it. You're not considering any parks. It's just destination resort after destination resort. And this is not working. None of it is working. We have had plans come in, entire plans for three and four of the the the uh resort areas and none of them none of them agree to do it because I think it's just too expensive. And what we could use is we could use a park that would help us finally get more retail business. Well, any retail business at Lake Beressa, which would then help us possibly bring in more people who would be

willing to live at Lake Beressa, but I'm not seeing any excitement about that from any of you. I'm done. Thank you, Miss Kunzie. Is there anyone else in the room wishing to speak? Yeah, come on. Come on up. Welcome. I was going to say good morning, but I think I'll say good afternoon.

Rich Richardson with the Sierra Club. Um, I had a speech more or less written out, but these ladies were so eloquent what they said. I'm just going to summarize it real quickly. Um, and for the sake of time, I'm involved in a lot of environmental organizations. I attended a cow trout event on uh Friday in San Francisco, which was amazing. And what concerns me the most about all of these discussions, and it it was so fitting to see the younger people honored with cultural diversity today. I love to see younger people get up and speak. But I never hear about an enduring environmental legacy for future generations. I never hear that. to give younger people the opportunity to enjoy and appreciate what I've enjoyed, many of us have enjoyed past generations. It's always about money, annexing land, taking land, taxes, but I never hear talk about future generations, younger people being represented. And we also have a a a critical shortage of younger people, if you listen to them, not involved in a lot of things because they feel hopeless. So that's that's how I'm going to end this is we need to consider younger people above everything because that is truly the future. Uh thank you for your time.

Thank you so much for your comments. Is there anyone else in the room? Is there anyone on the phones? No. Okay. Thank you. That concludes public comment for item 11A. Does the board have any questions? Oh, wait. We did. No, we didn't. Um does the board have any questions for staff presenting today? I see. Uh, Vice Chair Allesio and then Supervisor Gallagher. I have no questions. I think that must be from four. Oh, okay. Great. Did you have anything? Yeah. I wanted to see if our fire chief could uh address the issues around fire protection in the Beressa area.

Good afternoon. Uh, yeah, so fire protection Lake Beressa. We currently have a career station at Spanish Flat uh that houses two type 3 engines uh CalFire engines and also an AMOR agreement cooperative agreement with uh Napa County and uh with the presentation before we will have two engines there year round. Uh we also have station 14 and 214 which are two volunteer stations that are also staffed with a robust membership um there as well. Um for the comments of evacuation areas, I think the biggest thing to consider is that, you know, evacuation is a coordinated approach through the fire department and the sheriff's office. Um really we're going to look at the fire behavior, the fire direction of travel and identify those routes of travel to a safe means of egress. Um the other things if if there is development in the Lake Beressa region um we will work with our firewise communities um local community members to identify those community refuge areas um which are safe places where the community can go in in in case of an emergency uh to kind of hold out until conditions warrant where they can now evacuate. Um we've done that in the various estates area. Uh uh we do it across the county and across the Sonoma Lake Napa unit identifying those community refuge areas for uh areas where communities can go to be in a safe place before evacuation occurs. Any other questions or comments?

No, thanks. I just wanted to get a quick overview and I think that's good. Do you think I I don't think we can do audience questions. Yeah, it's not really how the structure is set up, but thank you. Yep. I could talk to you afterwards. Yeah. Yeah, that that'd be great. Thank you, uh, Chief Ryan. Um, Supervisor Ramos,

uh, thank you so much. Um, thank you, um, to staff for this presentation. I just have a few questions regarding timing. So, with Camp Margaritavville, we have our exclusive negotiating agreement. I get it. they they're wanting a a longer period of time. Um it would be helpful to understand at at you know what's the termination date of that exclusive negotiating agreement? At what point do we have a decision making before this board? Also, um what is I I guess it would be helpful to understand what is the desired length of time on that agreement? Um because having just dealt with um the airport fixed-based operators and their ability to capitalize on long-term agreements, it seems like this where we it seems like this is desiring a much longer term, right? Um, so why than we had on the airport and so I'm trying to understand why is such a longer term necessary on this type of a development where we have uh millions of dollars of investments um on a much shorter lease over here at the airport. So, um, help me remember your questions if I miss any. But, um, on the, uh, the ENA, um, it does expire in the next couple of months. Um, uh, we've actually got council looking at that because we did pause it at, um, at a time to give the developer time to work with the the BO. So, we're we're looking at, um, the exact date. Um, but it it is expiring here in in the next few months. Um but I

think more more to the point um um the developer has said um the the proposed um investment is is around $350 million right now which is actually three times what each of the FBOs's put in. Um so the desire is a 99-year lease. Um the FBOs's I believe are at 50. um the current agreement is is at about 50, but that gives you a sense of the the scope of the investment and and why the longer time. Um but again, as as I as I mentioned and um you know, Tim has told us this before and I think he's he's right. Um at that size of investment, he does need the longer time, but if we can't get the longer time, then that then the project that's proposed simply isn't buildable. Um, I'm sorry. I think you had another question, but I don't think I remember it.

Um, no, you you you conflated the two and you got there, so thanks. Okay. Um, the uh the next question I have in terms of um we've been at this for a while. Um and um I'd like to understand in terms of of timing on Baressa Point, it just that is, you know, it's it's being marketed. Um how long are we just going to put it out there? Is this like a does it end up being like a house that's been on realtor.com forever and nobody wants? We can't discount the price uh much because well, it's it is what it is. So at what point do we go before this board? And I and I'm asking this also in the sense that this board collectively has not ever I am the only one that has seen the whole scope of the proposal of all of the resorts. Um nobody else has. And so, um, I I asked that in terms of, you know, when do we get to look at this holistically, um, from the from the real estate point of view, not the concessionire point of view, but from the real estate point of view. Um because I I certainly have the benefit of of knowing how long we've been at this and and what's where we've gotten some little bit of interest, but my recollection is Barry Point isn't one of those where we're getting interest. So yeah, let me

a point was under an ENA with SUNTX for that large marina because I think back in the day that was the largest marina on the lake and that site for me particularly is can be sort of split up where someone could do the hospitality end. It's only about 56 acres and then the point would have a marina. And so I'm looking at the way to sort of market it with someone that would do maybe just do the marina to start with. The land part could just sit with nothing and that takes a certain type of either operator or developer to do especially from a marina standpoint. Um that that site someone will will be interested in. It's already It's one of the few sites that the B did not completely demolish. It still has a functioning launch ramp. It still has paving parking. So, it's it's got a lot of amenities that some of the other sites need complete redevelopment.

But since Sunex, has anyone been interested in it?

No, not we've looked at a few companies. Right now I was focusing on getting Monosella under ENA and now that we have Spanish flat under an ENA now at least those two are sort of locked and loaded hopefully then the next will my focus will be on Baras a point to at least like I said work on the marina aspect to start because that that could be a a real sort of positive on that lake. I think it would be very helpful um for all of us to be able to collectively look at and to have a chart that says you know which resort when it was under an ENA when that who was the interested party when that ENA expired what other agreements have flown from there and and what of the current ENAs that were in of three that when those expire because at some point I mean it's time to call the question of what's going on here and and we can't do that without the benefit of the entire board knowing the the history and um I I I'm I'm certainly am starting to feel that this is incredibly strained that we are looking for something that um that the market is not interested in. And if that's the case, we we need to we need to reassess, right? We started this all before co um recreational practices have certainly changed since that since that time. Um and we also have um had a tremendous amount of of of wildfire impact um since we started this process uh long ago. Thank you.

Thank you, Supervisor Ramos. Chair, if I if I could, I' I'd like to

go very much sort of where super supervisor Ramos was going from a very big picture. Um the role of staff here is to implement the vision of the board and that vision was created again back in 2018 or 2019 um with the managing partnership agreement um in conjunction with the BOR. So there was an agreement between the county, the federal government of of what the vision was to create um out there. Um and it was largely in response to um what I'll frankly call the economic disaster um that was wrought on the lake when the um the existing resorts closed in in 2008. Um for those who have been out there, I know probably all all of you have. I mean, when those resorts were operating, there were restaurants out there, there were stores out there, there was a gas station out there. All of that is gone. Um, and it's not coming back unless, you know, something changes out there. Um, so the the point I was getting at that well also and to repeat a little bit of what supervisor Ramos says that vision was created in a time precoid pre-fires lower interest rates straight of Hormuz was open um you know just um the environment has changed. So the the so if that vision if the board would like to revisit that vision um that's very much a different agenda item of than what we're doing today. Um but um the the market studies we had from back then said that this lake would support you know these four resorts. is that the you know I I think it's reasonable to question is that still true because if

they could the market would have told us that um nobody has come to us and said oh the county process is too hard or oh you're getting in the way or oh what they've said is so far is they can't find a business model that works. That's the market talking. So, um if the board desires to change that vision, I think that's a discussion to have. Um keeping in mind that um we have a partner here, right? We're we only get to do this because the federal government um agreed that we could. So, they ultimately would have to also agree with our vision or they'll simply take the sites back and they'll do what they want. You know, they'll develop them themselves to the best of their ability. So, um I think that's what Supervisor Ramos said, but I think I said it longer.

Okay. Uh thank you for those um those replies. Uh okay. So, uh before we continue with the questions, I just want to check in here. So, we're getting an update on how things are going at different locations around Lake Beressa. And then there's also an item before us here, which is a a a disposition disposition and development agreement for the Spanish flat area. Right. And so, um, I just want to kind of distinguish those two things as the conversation continues. And, uh, I believe Vice Chair Allesio is next.

Thank you. Um, thank you for the history lesson. Once again, thank you staff for your work on this. Um I you know growing up here as as Chair has and others have I remember the day when the when Beressa was really a place that families went to my family went to to swim to fish to just enjoy the beautiful nature out there. Um and to me it's it's it's quite sad to see what's happened to it over time. Um and we do need one win that is palatable that works with the environment that is economically uh accessible for whoever has the courage to do this and be that first person. We need one to win. We need one to to happen to bring the others in. Um and that you just see in all different kind of communities and situations. Um and so you know this one here in particular um which is glamping I think that this is the soft um approach that's both financially feasible um that is environmentally um thoughtful. Uh I think you know all of them have to go through stringent environmental um processes. Um but I feel like this is the one that can get it started. I believe in that area. Uh, I believe that the people who live in that area really need to have a grocery store or at least a small market um and a gas station and they need those basic uh those basic needs for their um for that area up there for them. Um I don't see this as being exclusive just to the glampers. I see this being a benefit for the families who live up there. Last week um after our board meeting, there was a resident here that said, "I live up there. I have six children and we don't have one park. This includes a park, includes other amenities that I think

that will also benefit the residents, that will benefit the economy and hopefully will will be that first domino for the others to continue and show that it can happen there. Um because right now it's um it's pretty barren. The people that go up there are not the best patrons for that area. And um you know, we we need to do something and support something um that's going to get the right the ship and get us on on the course, whether it be the 28 vision or new vision. Um I'd like to see some some life up there and vitality in this way. Um so for me, it's it's one comment was about, you know, it's all about toot and tax dollars. It's not really about that though it will benefit the residents who live up their their property taxes. Um in terms of fire, we are in a completely different situation. We have, you know, we have the resources, we have um the coordination now. Um there's just it's completely different um situation when it comes to fire mitigation, fire response. Uh there's not a fire counsel up there. Is there a fire counsel up there? I'm expecting there is then there needs to be and we can make that more robust. Um but I'd like to see it move forward. I I think that protecting the environment that being a wildlife enthusiast as I am, I'm a big hiker. Uh and also creating some economic vitality for that area is not exclusive to one another. I think that they can cohabitate very well. So, on that notion, um I'll be making a motion to approve uh the recommendation by staff. Thank you.

Thank you, Supervisor Gallagher. Um yeah, thank you. I think that um we definitely should do a reook of the 2018 vision. I think that's a a good recommendation. Um and you know it's important for us to to re-evaluate now that we have been through co um it there's a very good chance and I think as as director Letterer said you know the market is telling us um that maybe our vision was off um but I do uh want to make sure that everyone understands and and you mentioned this that we do have an agreement with the federal government that they can come in and do whatever they want if they don't like what we have. Um, and I don't want to see a golf club and XYZ Tower in Beressa. So, um, I think we're going to have to be really cautious around that. Um, I don't think re-evaluating means that we can't give Wild Haven an opportunity to look at the viability of a glamping site. Um, I agree that's a a much less impactful approach than a Margaritaville, for example. And um glamping is actually something that um the market has really taken to and is very successful in other areas. So I think that that is it's okay for us to move forward with that. That really is the only decision before us today. Um but uh it would be great to take a a much broader view at another time. Thanks. Okay. Thank you, Supervisor Gallagher. So I have a motion on the floor. Are we I'm going to make a second with a friendly amendment that this matter comes back to us for a full uh presentation to the board of all of the entire master development agreement for the sites um including um the history of engagements that we've had with each one of them.

Okay. Okay. And then for clarity, the time frame here is a 28th 28-month uh agreement where we're four months for the company to investigate, 24 months for the approval period. So, it's a pretty lengthy span of time if we're looking at um wanting to reinvision things. Uh I just hope that's not out of step. Um but I'm willing to support. So, I have a motion by Vice Chair Allesio, a second by Supervisor Ramos. All those in favor? I I

That passes unanimously. Thank you. Uh we have concluded item 11. Um and we will be going to item 12, close session. We will be taking up items 12A and 12B in close session. Those are 12A, conference with labor negotiators under government code section 54957.6, agency designated representatives. Christine Bceno, director of health and human resources and Napa County Probation Professionals Association Non-Supervisory Unit and Napa County Probation Professionals Association Supervisory Unit. And item 12B, Silverado Community Services District Conference with Legal Counsel about existing litigation uh government code section 54956.9D1 and the name of the case is Bana Wilcausi versus County of Napa Public Works at all Napa Superior Court case number 24 CV00001696. And we will recess to close session now. I anticipate we will return by 130. What do you think? Two.

Yeah. Guidance there. I would say 140. 140. Okay. Around 140. Thank you. Thank you.

You're live when you're ready. Thank you. Uh we have returned from close session and I would like to ask council uh to report on any action reportable in close session.

Thank you, Chair Manfrey. The board met in close session today on item 12A, conference with labor negotiators. Uh the board gave direction to staff. There's no reportable action. The board also met in close session on 12B um as the Silverado Community Services District Board regarding existing litigation in the case of Wauski versus the County of Napa Public Works. Uh the board gave direction to staff. No reportable action. Thanks.

Thank you, council. We will now adjourn to the next board of supervisors meeting on Tuesday, May 19th, 2026 at 9:00 a.m.