City Council - Regular Meeting

Mr. Mayor, it's now 6:00. Are we ready to begin? We are ready to begin. Recording in progress.

Well, good evening everyone and welcome to the regular meeting of the Paluma City Council and the Pedaluma Community Development Successor Agency and tonight the Pedaluma Public Financing Authority and our meeting of Monday, April 20th, 2026. Um, as you know, if you wish to provide a public comment on anything on tonight's agenda, um, please fill out a speaker card. Those are located at the back of the room and bring them to our clerk who is right up here in the front of the room. Uh, also note that we um enable concurrent translation services for these meetings in Spanish and a variety of other languages. And to access the translations online, please use the link in the agenda to access the translation if you're in the room. There's a QR code on the back door there. And with that, I'd like the clerk to take our roll call for the evening. Barnacle absent. Uh, Kater Thompson

here. D Carly here. Now here. Quint here. Shri here. McDonald here. We do have a quorum. Wonderful. Let's stand for the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all.

And a moment of silence, please. And um from time to time the council uses this opportunity to honor a member of the Pedaluma community who's contributed to the fabric of Pedaluma through their efforts and um who has recently passed and uh tonight is such a moment. We recently lost Rick Lefranki, the West Marin dairy rancher and cheese maker with strong ties to uh regional ties and pedaluma ties. He also happened to own silver screen um video and he's a longtime video store owner uh before they became a thing of the past closed in 2019. But for over a century, the Lefranki family has had ranching, milk production, organic dairy, and later artisan cheese um production. They've all been part of the North Bay's uh dairy network, which historically centered in Pedaluma uh as the processing and distribution hub. Rick was involved with Nassio Valley cheese company, which is part of our historical agricultural economy. Rick was a big part of this. He will be missed. Mr. Mayor, could I ask that we also close the meeting in honor of Jim Drosski? He um he was a great member of our community. He was very involved with the Laferty group and he did a lot of pro bono work for them. He worked with Sherry Cardo, myself, and uh and Doug Daly um um by preserving the water rights for Laferdy Ranch. And there's just a lot that he's done for this community. and he was a real caring person. So I just want to also add Jim to that.

Thank you very much for adding that. At this point I look up and down the DAS to see if any of the council members wish to make any agenda changes or deletions and not seeing anyone um wishing to change the agenda. We'll adopt it as it's written and as you have in your hands and tonight we have several proclamations. Uh our first one is for Arbor Day and I'd like to invite Charles Little and Eric Leland of Relief and Darren Rack is in the chair of the tree advisory commission to come to the podium to accept and I'll read Arbor Day April 246 whereas in 1872 J Sterling Morton proposed to the Nebraska Board of Agriculture that a special day be set aside for the planting of trees and whereas this holiday called Arbor Day was first observed with the planting of more than a million trees in Nebraska. And Arbor Day is now observed throughout the nation and the world. And whereas trees enhance economic vitality, reduce erosion, moderate the temperature, clean the air, provide habitat for wildlife, and bring beauty and joy wherever they are planted. And whereas on March 16, 2026, Paluma City Council approved both the urban forest management plan to better understand and guide the city's efforts regarding urban forest management and an amended tree preservation ordinance and associated municipal code to further protect Paluma's urban forest. And whereas the city of Paluma has been recognized as a tree city by the National Arbor Day Foundation and desires to continue its tree planting practices. Now therefore, be it resolved that I, Kevin McDonald, along with all the Pedaluma City Council, do hereby proclaim April 24, 2026 as Arbor Day in the city of Paluma and urge all residents to support efforts to protect our trees and woodlands and to plant trees to promote

the well-being of this and future generations. Thank you, gentlemen. Care to say a few words? On behalf of relief, I'd like to thank the council for this honor and uh applaud the idea of having our uh celebrating Arbor Day. It's so important that what you guys have done has been terrific to moving us toward more tree canopies, protected trees, and a happier, healthier city. So, thank you so much. I also want to say that the two of us for Relief standing here are standing in for a whole lot of other people who work for Relief. the people who plant the trees, who do all the organization. There's a whole lot of folks that are standing behind us that do all the work. So, thank you for them. And also, thank you for tree protection ordinance and the management unit uh urban forest management plan. You are really moving us into the future in terms of protection of our trees and the the happiness of our town and uh and protect the environment as well. So, thank you again.

Thank you. And I'll just say really quickly something similar. I'm up here for tree advisory committee, but obviously there have been so many other people on different CCBs on council. Of course, council member Shribs who have really pushed tree policy forward. So, what you guys did on March 16th to pass a tree preservation ordinance and urban forestry management plan sets kind of a new charts a new course for Pedaluma in tree preservation. now the hard work starts including one of your items tonight. Uh so I'm excited to see kind of how this evolves and just thank you for all the hard work and to all those people who couldn't be in the room with us tonight. Thank you.

Thank you. Just one more quick thing to say. Um, I wanted to thank uh in particular in the tree preservation ordinance, city staff in particular, Heather Hines, who um just did a terrific job on a grueling kind of effort to uh make that a much stronger uh piece of policy. So, thank you. We also tonight um are uh have a proclamation for Earth Day and I'd like to invite up um Pranav Krishna for the youth climate action commissioner to help accept um this proclamation and um Earth Day April 22 of 2026. Whereas Earth Day is an annual event that brings people together across the globe to celebrate, protect, and restore the natural systems that sustain life. And April 22 marks the 56th anniversary of the first Earth Day. And we're whereas the Earth Day theme for 2026 is our power, our planet, focusing on the pillars of resilience, institutional continuity, shared interest, and interconnected outcomes. And whereas advanced sustainability and community resilience involves policy and infrastructure improvements along with the collective efforts of residents, schools, businesses, and community organizations guided by the Pedalum City of Pedaluma's 2024 blueprint for climate action, our comprehensive framework for coordinated action across key sectors. And whereas the city is strengthening resilience and stewardship of natural systems through water innovation, planning for future climate conditions, advancing urban forestry, habitat enhancement, and regenerative land management practices. And whereas the city of Paluma's climate ready web page highlights the blueprint for climate action, upcoming future fest on May 3rd

of 2026, and opportunities for community members to take part in shaping a more sustainable future. Now therefore, be it resolved that I, Kevin McDonald, mayor of Pedaluma, along with the members of the Paluma City Council, do hereby proclaim April 22nd of 2026 as Earth Day in the city of Paluma, and invite all members of the community to participate in local events, explore available resources, and take meaningful steps to reduce climate pollution, conserve natural resources, and strengthen community resilience. Thank you. I would just like to thank the council so much for making this possible. And it's really amazing to me that Paluma is able to take such definitive action to fight climate change and continue to make this city like so great and beautiful for our residents. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you all. It's a big night. We have a third um proclamation as well tonight. Our third one tonight is National Historic Preservation Month and I'd like to invite Stacy Ashley, the Pedaluma Museum executive director, to the podium to accept. And uh it reads National Historic Preservation Month May 2026. Whereas in 1973, the National Historic Trust for for the Trust for National The Trust for Historic Preservation established a national preservation week to promote historic places for the purpose of instilling national and community pride, promoting heritage tourism, and showing the social and economic benefits of historic preservation. And whereas in 2005, the National Trust extended National Preservation Week to National Preservation Month to provide an even longer opportunity to celebrate diverse and unique heritages. And the Paluma Historic and Cultural Preservation Committee, the Pedaluma Historical Library and Museum, and other organizations, groups, businesses, and residents support this event and work hard to preserve Pedaluma's past for future generations. And whereas the city of Paluma has several policy programs and ordinances in place which seek to protect its historical resources, including the central Paluma specific plan, the general plan, and chapter 15 of the implementing zoning ordinance, whose purpose is to promote public health, safety, and general welfare through the protection, enhancement, and perpetuation of historic and archaeological resources that are reminders of past eras, events, and individuals important to local, state,

and national history, and that provide significant examples of architectural styles which are unique and irreplaceable by developing and maintaining appropriate settings and environments for such history. Whereas the city of Paluma has Native American and historical cultural resources sites that contribute to the unique character of Paluma, including two locally designated historic districts, the Oakill Brewster and the A Street Historic Districts, and one nationally designated historic district, the Pedaluma Historic Commercial District. And whereas historic preservation is an effective tool for managing growth sustain and sustainable development, maintaining community character, revitalizing neighborhoods, fostering local pride, and promoting knowledge of the living heritage of the past. Now therefore, be it resolved that I, Kevin McDonald, the mayor of Pedaluma, along with members of the Pedaluma City Council, do hereby recognize and celebrate May 2026 as National Preservation Month and call upon the residents of Paluma to celebrate National Historic Preservation Month by viewing historic resources throughout the Pedaluma throughout Pedaluma and through exhibits organized by the Pedaluma Historic Library, Museum, and other organizations that promote historic resources. in the city. Thank you.

Good evening and thank you, Mayor McDonald, members of the city council for this enthusiastic recognition of National Historic Preservation Month. I'm honored to accept this proclamation on behalf of the Pedaluma Museum and our partners. One of the most special things about Pedaluma is that history isn't confined to textbooks or archives. It surrounds us. It lives in our buildings, our streets, and our shared spaces. It's what we like to call the power of place. Historic preservation is not just about looking back. It strengthens our local economy, supports sustainability, and fosters a deep sense of community pride and stewardship. This past year, we invited the community to reflect on what the power of place means to them. And their responses were inspiring. I'd love to share a few examples with you. One resident shared, "History is tangible with historic preservation. It's meaningful to stand where people of the past stood." Another told us, "Historic preservation fills our city with stories, providing anchors as we navigate the present." And another reminded us, "We can only grow if we know where we came from, allowing all voices and cultures to be heard." These reflections make something very clear. Preservation isn't just about buildings. It's about belonging. It's about ensuring that everyone in our community can see themselves in Pedaluma's story. We're also seeing that sense of connection come to life through projects like the Pedaluma Science Project, which is a a project by our partners Katherine Reinhardt and the Pedalumans of yester year. And it sparked real community enthusiasm by documenting and celebrating the stories behind our city's historic signs. It's a reminder that everyday elements of our built environment can carry meaning and memory. But these community voices also remind us of what's at stake. When

historic places are lost or when we care delay for caring for them, we risk losing the stories, identity, and sense of community that make Paluma so special. Caring for our historic buildings requires ongoing commitment and investment. From seismic upgrades to adaptive reuse, this work ensures that these places remain safe, accessible, and relevant for future generations. It's not just preservation, it's stewardship. At the museum, we strive to bring preservation stories forward through exhibitions like Pedaluma Chinatown Unearthed and through programs and partnerships that connect people more deeply to this place we all share. And as always, our own building, Pedaluma's 1906 Carnegie Library, is a living example of preservation in action, demonstrating how we can honor the past while connecting people um through a sustainable and vibrant future. National Historic Preservation Month is an invitation to visit, to learn, and to engage. And throughout May, we're excited to welcome the community to a range of preservation month programs, including a tour of the Paluma Women's Club, which was recently added to the National Register of Historic Places, and a conversation with celebrated Victorian House expert Dr. Color, followed by a reception at one of Paluma's most colorful residences. So, I invite you all uh to join us throughout May for these programs and many more that celebrate Paluma's history and help shape its future. Thank you again for your continued commitment to preserving the places and the stories that make Paluma so special. I hope to see you at the museum soon.

Thank you. Thank you. Uh tonight we also have a presentation and um I'll remind the audience that uh at the end of a presentation we um often council may have comment or question for our presenter and um we allow public comment during public comment on that. So our presenter will um no doubt stay in case a question arises during that period. And tonight our presentation is from the blue zones. It's an update and we have uh Nicole Wartwick um our executive director of the Blue Zones Project Pedaluma to help us out. Welcome Nicole.

Thank you so much. Um it's a great joy to be here with you council members, city staff and community. Um first I want to just acknowledge that what I want to present to you this evening is sort of very high level data oriented. So, forgive me in advance for all the numbers and the data that you're about to to receive. Um, and as a reminder for the community, we are part of Blue Zones Project Paluma. We are working across multiple sectors of our community to advance health and well-being for the city of Paluma with the ultimate goal that Paluma becomes a certified blue zones community. We are here because of our sponsors. Healthy Pedaluma District 10 and Foundation were the visionary sponsors that partnered with Blue Zones. They collaborated with the city of Paluma and with Pedaluma Valley Hospital Providence. I want to lift up and thank the city staff first before I go any further because so much of the work that we do we do in partnership and collaboration with the city staff across multiple departments. For example, um at this moment in time, we're working with our police department and to to build a cross- sector peer-to-peer education with Pedaluma High School's Trojan Broadcasting Company to talk about the ina impacts of social hosting and and youth and alcohol consumption. So, that's one example of the way in which we're partnering to build a strong fabric across this community. There are countless examples across almost every department of the city and it's wonderful to be able to have such strength um in collaboration to do this work. As a reminder, our purpose is to empower everyone everywhere to live better

longer. We can advance this slide. Thank you. There's our sponsors one more time. We can advance and now we'll get in my cadence of that. Thank you. Um we could change the slide please. Um to set the agenda for what I'd like to share, I want to give you um a progress update towards our blue zones project community certification and then break it down um the pedalum certification criteria, what that involves and then a highle next steps in some of what we're orienting towards future planning. You change the slide please. This is a nice imagery that gives you a snapshot of where we were when we began this. Our community assessment happened in 2021. Our foundation and planning began in 2023. That's when I joined the project as the executive director. And since then, we've been building this community transformation across the community, activating people in the places where we spend our time and the policies that influence food systems, the built environment, and alcohol policy. Let me change the slide. As a reminder, this is Pedaluma's certification criteria to be officially recognized and designated as a blue zones community. We need to achieve completion in these three pillars. You can see here the pillars are the work that we do in people, places and policy. Then we have a selection of community measures that our steering committee and partners helped us identify that in their understanding as we demonstrate

progress in these community selected measures that would validate um our impact across community. Then we have the final Gallup well-being index measurement which I'm going to share with you this evening that we leverage Gallup well-being to be able to give a snapshot of what is really happening across health and well-being. And so as an accountable model, not only are we saying here's what we're doing or here's the the fabric of what we're building together in community, but also here's the data that demonstrates the impact of what we've been doing. It has been two years since our community kickoff and I'm really happy to share with you that we're making really strong progress in all three of these certification criteria. Can change the slide please. So we'll start with um our pillar progress. We can advance again. Forgive me for all the data, but I know I get one chance to be able to get this in front of you. So, I'm not going to belabor every single detail and point here, but I will share with you this across that people sector. Um, it's indicated here things are in progress. Our target goal is 15% of the pedaluma population over the age of 15 is engaged in a meaningful activity with blue zones. That meaningful activity looks like either a purpose workshop, a community volunteer engagement opportunity. It could be a story speech and a pledge or commitment that they're going to take action in their own lives. It also looks like um cooking demonstrations and other ways that we build volunteer

capacity and strengthen um across all the nonprofit organizations. We've actually exceeded our certification goal as of last week. Um, a highlight for the engagement work I'll share. Over this last month, our team has provided purpose workshops for nearly 900 high school students across both of our major high school sites. Then after we conducted the purpose workshops with them, helped them identify their sense of their gifts, their strengths, we brought our community's nonprofit organizations on campus. So at Kasa Grande High School, we had 20 nonprofit organizations that have direct service opportunities for our youth. and we set them up in the multi and we were able to have 900 students come through, learn about the nonprofit organizations in our community and directly sign up to be able to bring their own gifts and talents into meaningful service in our community. In doing this work, we hope not only to help strengthen our youth sense of purpose, but their sense of belonging in community. And this helped meet a need where our nonprofit sector wanted to build bridges back into the educational system postcoid. So that's just one highlight of what we're doing there. I mentioned the schools. Our goals are at least 50% of our schools become blue zones approved and we're making strong progress towards that. You might also notice in community you see a restaurant that says Blue Zones approved or you're looking at a menu item and it has a little icon that lets you know this is a healthier option. We're also advancing that work across grocery stores and work sites. And I know that Paluma likes to be um leaders in initiatives and I will tell you we

are on track to become the first Blue Zones approved farmers market in the nation and we've been catalyzing some collective impact work there with the farmers market not only providing education and resource cooking demonstrations but also helping to strengthen the market match program that provides double up food bucks for our SNAP recipients. in the community. Over the holiday, we did a triple match. So, we matched the match to help bridge some essential food needs for some of our most vulnerable community members at a time when we know budgets are tight. So, just an example of some of the collective impact of what we're doing as we're advancing this work. Okay, next slide. Here we go with our policy work. I'll lift up again some gratitude. Being able to work cross- sector in our community, we advanced wayfinding signage from the east side to the west side along Lynch Creek, providing essential signage in areas where there was gaps and helping to bring greater clarity um as our community wants to engage in cross- sector work. So, we want to thank Mayor McDonald for his support in that, but also Safe Streets Pedaluma, rebuilding Paluma, and the city staff. Um, so that's an example of some of the work that we were able to accelerate across the policy. One other I'll lift up that we activated last year. The community let us know that food recovery and equitable access to healthy food was a priority for them. And so we built two different collaborative initiatives. One with Pedaluma Bounty and Pedaluma Healthc Care Center where excess produce from Bounty Farm and the Farmers Market

gets collected by uh volunteers, taken to our health center where the health center packages it up and redistributes it to some of their more vulnerable community members who are coming in for services. The other thing that we did to strengthen um our food systems is as Unavita had been distributing food at multiple sites that was creating operational burden. We helped them to consolidate their services at one core site and provide them the walk-in refrigeration that they need to be able to safely store food while they're waiting for their distributions to happen. Um I can advance now. Okay, let me catch my breath. I told you I was some good stuff. Okay, Gallup, you can advance. We use Gallup well-being index to measure our impact here in community. Gallup measures well-being in these five core areas. Career, liking what you do each day, being motivated to achieve your goals. Social, having supportive relationships and love in your life. Financial, being able to manage your economic life to reduce stress and increase a sense of security. Community, liking where you live, feeling safe, and having pride in community. And physical, having good physical health and enough energy every day to get things done. So we're advance the methodology. We did this. We conducted this study from November to December of just this last year. We sent out 5,100 mailers. There is a $1 incentive. I'm certain there are people in this room who have received it. Um we

had a really strong response rate, 20%. We can advance slides. And so here's the high-level index. There's a lot of subset of data. I sent you a concurrent document that has the full Gallup well-being index findings that digs in and has even more deeper details in specific areas that we're measuring. But for the purpose of our time tonight, I wanted to just focus on a couple high level. This one you'll notice from 2023 to 2025 is relatively unchanged. However, you'll notice when you look at the column in Pedaluma 2025, we are noticing observable declines in our financial well-being. While we're seeing considerable gains in our community well-being, so those sort of balance out when you're looking at the overall index reading. Now, I will say this after meeting with Dan Witter and learning from his team and they're conducting this research across the nation right now across the United States, we're seeing a steady decline in well-being across communities. So, maintaining health is a strength when we see these indicators and in the areas where we're gaining in community health, it's actually an indication of resilience. So I want to lift that up first before we dig into more of the details. We can advance

and I think we're heading home stretch. We are

high level overall wellbeing remains strong in Paluma considering the financial headwinds. We would we would expect to see declines in healthy behaviors and healthy career metrics given that. But we're seeing that exercise is holding steady, produce consumption is declining, but staying active and productive um are also kind of lagging, right? We that's kind of to be expected given that financial decline. We can advance. It's interesting to note depression is down. Significant daily stress and worry have both improved. While we are seeing an increase in people who have at some point in their lifetimes had a cancer diagnosis, the awareness of our project is really strong and actually improved at 25%. We have high favorability amongst the community and high comm community high favorability amongst our leadership. We're noticing trends up in volunteerism which is wonderful. there's consistence consistency in that and that contributes to that sense of community well-being most likely a blue zones effect and then to note that alcohol consumption is directionally down. We're not seeing the same level of um high level consumption amongst young adults but we're still outpacing national levels in our consumption. We can advance. Final thoughts. There's a lot to be um grateful for in this community and our health. When I mentioned the financial declines, I don't think anybody is surprised by that. We're observing that in cuts

across the community. Everything from our food distribution to our education services to mental health services, physical health services, their declines. We're seeing the pinch across our nonprofit sector and these are early indicators of what that can look like. This is the moment we have to lean in and continue building up where we can strengthen community health and other areas to buoy us as a community while we navigate things that might be beyond our influence. We can advance. These community selected measures are just data I want you to have a highle look at. We're going to go through it quickly. Mostly look at the right column. We'll advance. We're seeing improvements. Improvements in volunteerism, improvements in people spending time outside. We're seeing improvements in the number of food and uh produce being distributed across the community. Next slide. We're noticing an unchanged in our diet. We had a really high diet quality here. Anyway, most noticeable in a decline are uh percentage of adults with current high cholesterol. We can advance. And these are the measures that um were particularly important to our steering committee as we were tracking what's happening with our students sense of belonging and having trusted adults in community. And we're seeing improvements across time. This slide and the next slide will indicate those improvements. We can advance. All right, here we go. The moment where we all collectively catch our breath. Sometimes in the midst of the busyiness, it's really important to invoke a pause, assess where we've been, the good work

we've done together, and to align on where we're going forward. We're not done here. We're making great trends, great strides, building strong relationships, but change happens at the speed of trust. And it's taken time to build these relationships and trust. So here we are at this moment where we're seeing the most fruitful impacts of the project coales and have deepening impact across the sectors that the community told us they wanted us to lean in and support. So as we move forward, next slide, know that Healthy Pedaluma District and Foundation are having discussions about what a potential phase 2 blue zones could look like. And you are all invited to participate in those discussions, whether you're attending their board meetings or sending them letters with your um your insights um and impacts. We'll do a final Gallup well-being survey at the end of this year and our goal is that we're going to have one great big community celebration in December where everyone is particip is invited to participate with us as we celebrate all that we've done together to build community health in Paluma and also to be able to set that trajectory to what it's going to look like in the future. So that is part of what we do as a community together, right? That next step and deciding it. So I'm happy to answer any questions that you might have. Wonderful. Thank you for all the good work. I think we are looking forward to uh December and celebrating what's been achieved. Any questions uh before we go on? And Council Member Carly. No, thank you very much for your presentation and I think that uh health and well-being is something that people often overlook especially today. So,

it's nice to see an active interest in it. Um, but I do I do have some questions about, you know, one one of your principles and I think it's part of your foundation is, you know, a plant-based diet and here in the city of Pedaluma, you know, we're very proud of our agricultural heritage, um, which includes, you know, beef and poultry, eggs, and dairy products. Um, so how, you know, how does uh how does Blue Zones feel about that? And and you know,

thank you. I think that's a great question. It's really important to acknowledge that we emphasize a plant slant diet, not an exclusively vegetarian or vegan diet. And based off of the lifestyle practices of those observed in the original blue zones, all of them except one community had moderate consumption of plant of animalbased proteins in their diet. Coming back to the roots of what pedaluma is as an agricultural community, I too come from a family of cattle ranchers and know the importance of the relationship and what it is to be in the land and the legacy of our farming community. That's why we've leaned in so strongly with our farmers market because sometimes that's the most direct place that our community gets to interface with our local farmers. Uh we were able to expand some of what um community members could utilize their double up food bucks for to be able to support additional um ranchers and farmers in particular purchasing eggs where um I think it's important to to know that in the work that we do around health and healing all of it is meeting the community where they're at. And this community is strong in its agricultural heritage and our and the way that our farmers and our farm workers come together in community. So we're not saying don't eat anything. What we're saying is in addition to that, we know we will benefit if we can increase more fresh fruits and vegetables in our diet. We just have a deficit of that. It's not um necessarily um built into all the habits for people to cook as well with vegetables as they do with some of those main animal proteins like we're accustomed to here.

So, we want to build the community's capacity to eat a wide variety of um foods. Local farm farm raised are ideal. No, thank you. And I think it is often overlooked, you know, vegetables and fruits, um, usually an afterthought for people. So, it's good that you promote that, too, because it's it's part of a healthy diet. It is. Um, and then, uh, you know, kind of going back to your, um, uh, you know, sponsors and partners, um, is is that the primary source of your funding? Our funding? Yes.

And is the city one of those? Does the city help fund blue zones? So our primary sponsor is healthy pedaluma district and foundation. They engaged in the initial contract for the readiness feasibility study and then engaged in contract with blue zones. At that time this well actually all along the city has been an active partner in that. It's my understanding that the city had a financial contribution to that in our first year in alignment with our community kickoff and that in subsequent years our sponsorship with the city has been in collaboration in staff time and being able to learn together and build programming together. And at this time it's it's my understanding there there is no additional financial contribution from the city.

Okay. Thank you and thank you for the presentation. You're welcome. Thank you very much for the great presentation. Can I see something? And I'll council member now.

Um, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Real fast. Thank you for your presentation. I couldn't help but look at you and then look past you at the members of the community that are sitting behind you in their blue Youngstown shirts. They are symbols of our community that have aged and have led very full lives or giving back to the community are stressed in their current situation and um they have a lot of history to share. I would love to see the blue zone and healthy pedaluma um partner with the mobile home um communities all of them because they have a very rich um history and we want to have a rich future for them. Um the other thing I wanted to mention the other part of my um discussion here I would like to bring out is our youth. I am concerned about our youth. They're not as active as many of us were in our youth. Um they are riding ebikes. They're sitting in front of screens. They're they're doing seditary things. Instead of getting out and breathing, they're also not eating the healthy plant-based or local food sources of meats and vegetables that they should because they're they're looking at convenience packaged food. So, I would like to see us maybe work on that. I know alcohol is very important, but so is vaping, and I'm seeing that as a huge problem in our youth. So, um, those are my comments and I would just like to see going forward into the future some improvements in those areas. Thank you.

Thank you for those comments. And thank you. Um, you know, I think we're real lucky to live in Paluma where we have so many different groups approaching all of our problems from all of the issues. Um, I I appreciate your collaborations with the schools and um, and and seeing what the schools are doing in their own food programs. uh that matches up and independently but matches up. So much good is going on in this community because of so many nonprofits and um

also the climate blueprint that we talked about earlier uh brings all together and so it's uh it's like we're all pulling in the same direction and that's when we can really achieve. So I hope you stay for a few minutes while we have public comment see if there's anyone who wants to engage on this topic. Thank you very much for your presentation tonight and um we'll move into our next item on the agenda. Thank you. Okay. Thank you.

Our next item on the agenda agenda is general public comment. And uh during general public comment, the public is invited to make comments on items of public interest that are within the city council's subject matter jurisdiction and that are not listed elsewhere on the agenda. Public comments are limited to three minutes per person and depending on the number of persons wishing to address the council, time will be allocated in equal shares, no more than 20 minutes. If we have more than 20 who wish to speak, uh the additional comments will be heard after the last business item on the agenda. I'd like to pass it over to our clerk now and fill us in on the details here.

Uh we did receive 12 public comments. Oh, sorry. 11 public comments for general comments. Uh, and those are posted on the website. At this time, I will start a 30 second clock. And during these 30 seconds, members of the public should bring their speaker cards to my desk if they have not already done so. Speaker cards received after this time may not be accommodated. So, we have 11 card speaker cards tonight. And so I'm going to ask the clerk to set the timer at two minutes per and uh we start with Tina Yoners and move to Jorge Orango Garcia second.

Good evening and thank you very much for being here and I'm happy to be here as well. Uh tonight what I wanted to bring to you was this uh paper that I received at my doorstep on Friday afternoon. It was handd delivered and um of course you can't see it from here, but it's from Harmony Communities and it's regarding Jod Johnson, a very good friend of mine and also a real leader in our community. Anyway, it was kind of interesting because I was like, what the heck is this whole thing about? So, I got in and I started reading it and you can see it's all highlighted. It's it's an investigation report and it gets you right away because it's got these um case types, state felonies, felonies, criminals. And of course, I was taken in from this and I was shocked. I was like, what the heck is going on here? And then suddenly I came to my senses and I was like, let's take a better look at this. And it says here that the client provided information forwarded to him by another individual who believes this information to be connected to our subject, Jodie Johnson. And it's actually from Harmony and was delivered by our park manager who apparently doesn't work for Harmony, but she brought it around individually to everyone's doorstep. Anyhow, the interesting thing about this is is that this assignment was carried on by this investigation and right away you say the the assignment findings are from Franco Jodie and she lives in Winto Nut something or other Ohio and she's there from September 1st until current. It's September 1st, 2019 to current. That's

her address and most of these findings are regarding Jodie Franco. Thank you very much. Our next speaker is uh Jorge Orango Garcia to be followed by Bert Ba.

Uh good evening measure uh council members. My name is Jorgeang Garcia and I have lived at Capriilla for 23 years now. I'm here to clarify what was inside the same packet that she received, we also received it at Capri. Uh u every resident got it this past Friday and as a resident I can assure you that all the decisions regarding Capri Villa are made by the residents and for the residents. Uh we vote we vote on issues that when we attend meetings to stay and also to stay informed. This packet also illustrates the true nature of what we as residents of Capabia have to go against. Yeah, these new owners claim they have they want to interact and negotiate with the residents, but all we know from them their track record are eviction, evictions, illegal rent space increases, reduced utilities and parking is at at Capri Villa and harassment. People are constantly taking pictures of our yards for no apparent reason and we don't know why. I believe this packet is is to set aside the constant help and leadership that that some people provide unconditionally. We at Capria we are extremely grateful for you mayor and council members for all your time and support but please keep in mind of how hard these last two years have been not only for Capri restaurants but Littlewoods and Youngtown residents as well. Thank you.

Thank you. Bert Boda should be followed by Linda Rainey.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor and council members. Uh, I just want to congratulate Mr. Mayor and those who partake participated in the um butter and eggs race down Main Street. Thank you so much for contributing to the blue zone element of our community. The background. For three years, we senior residents of Youngstown Mobile Home Park have been fighting attempts by park ownership to raise space rents by over $1,000 per space. Increases that would force many of us from our homes. With the help of this council and our community advocate, Jod Johnson, we have successfully held these increases off. Now, someone operating under the name Patriot Chris has appeared in our community. We believe he was hired by the parks ownership or management to do what three years of pressure could not. Break our community apart from the inside. The tactic, manufacture distrust, target the advocate. Patriot Chris is not raising genuine concerns. He's running a disinformation campaign with one goal. To destroy the resident's trust in Jod Johnson, the one person who has organized and led our defense for three years. His method is straightforward. repeat accusations loudly enough, often enough, and make them sound like reasonable questions. What he's actually doing, each line in the email is designed to hurt us, not to inform. Here is what's really happening. Documented past of defrauding people. This is the main smear. It's presented as fact, but it's an al allegation with no verified basis. This is how a professional agitator operates. State the accusation as though it's settled. repeat it and let suspicion do the rest. Why is Jodie soliciting to her personal account? This implies financial wrongdoing without providing a single piece of evidence. It's a question engineered to sound reasonable while

planting the idea of theft in reader minds. Thank you. Linda Renie to be followed by K. Poland.

It smells very fishy. This is a vague insu insinuation. Is a classic tool of intimidation. Nothing specific is alleged. Nothing specific can be disproven. The goal is not accountability. It's to make seem like Jod's dishonest in the eyes of us, her neighbors. Why is it so upsetting to you to ask for accountability? But when we push back, he reframes our defense as proof of guilt. This is a manipulation technique. Any denial becomes evidence of wrongdoing. There's no acceptable response. That is the point. Why is this dangerous for our community? Seniors on fixed incomes have spent three years fighting to stay in our homes. That fight has dep has depended on trust. Trust between neighbors, trust in Jod, who has volunteered her time and energy on our behalf without compensation. Patriot Chris is systematically attacking that trust. If he exceeds our organizing collapses, our defense weakness weakens and the park owners get three years of rent pressure could not deliver. Our comm community, a community too divided and demoralized to fight back. Not coincidence, it's a strategy. What are we asking of the city council? Acknowledge publicly this kind of coordinated harassment of mobile home park residents is unacceptable. Help connect us with additional proono if possible legal resources. document and where possible hold accountable those behind this smear campaign. Continue the support you've already shown us. It's uh made a huge difference in our fight over the three years and had we're very grateful for that support. Help us identify whether the park's ownership has any legal exposure for what appears to be hired harassment campaign against rent stabilized senior residents. We're seniors. We're on fixed incomes. We have nowhere else to go. We're not asking for charity. We're asking for the city of Paluma to continue to stand with us as we fight to stay in our homes.

Thank you. K. Pollen should be followed by Jennifer Bole.

Good evening. In light of the smear campaign that Harmony and Three Pillars have initiated, I feel more than outraged. Jod and I have shared her residence for seven years and I must say that since I spent so much time with her, I believe I'm best suited to speak about her character given the smear campaign obviously. I have never seen anyone work so hard days, nights, weekends, even holidays, Christmas even. And that's without receiving any personal benefit. We barely have time to do anything together other than mobile home work. Well, she does. I don't always do it, but I I try to support her as much as I can. We um It amazes me that she continues to support us despite all the attacks coming from the outside as well as from a few dissatisfied residents within our parks. She continues to persevere and move forward, rarely taking time for herself. I can't say enough about her will and tires tireless work, and she does whatever it takes to defend our homes. We as residents of these mobile home parks under attack may not always attend city council meetings or other park events due to life's ups and downs, but we know that Jod is always there fighting for us, and we deeply appreciate her efforts. It truly appears that no good deed goes unpunished. We, the residents, stand by her. While we can move forward to achieving our goals without her, we would rather have her. Obviously, she is our warrior and our shield. It must be difficult for these unscrupulous park owners and a few other hateful people to believe that someone would help just because she sees a need. She's a force to be reckoned with for good. They must be desperate to look up this dirt and and try to take her down.

Thank you, Jennifer Bole. be followed by John Robas. Good evening. The last three days have been a real eye eye opener for me and so many more in our park and actually all the parks in Paluma and more. But life on life's terms. The day that patriot Chris, who's not here tonight, of course, but used to attend all the time, walked in with me all the time. I'm calling her out and um I'm furious. People say I talk loud. Well, it's just that I've been putting all my friends and neighbors in training because we're going to talk louder, clearer than we ever have before. This is my home and so many others that this excuse me, BS isn't going to continue. And I don't care who these park owners are. I don't care. We'll fight them to the very end. And you know who else will? Jodie Johnson. She has absolutely nothing to feel as though she has to defend herself. Nothing. I have seen her because I'm also a friend of hers and I'm not a pushover. I do I I'm just a little scattered right now only because I'm I am so I I haven't been this mad in a long time. I wish I could express everything I have to tell everybody.

The day that patriot Chris came out from underneath the rock that she It's not a he. I know who it is very well. Very well. She her intent was to burn this park down. not literally, but get everybody separated and angry with each other from the inside out. So much more to say, but thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is John Robas and um to be followed by Angie Cruz. Uh I certainly appreciate what this city has done to help us uh maintain the existence that we have. And I think with this episode with this flim flam kind of a piece of trash that they put on our uh steps just shows what kind of people run these corporations that are trying to just gouge everybody they can possibly get, you know, get the max that they can. Well, I think the result of this uh piece of paper coming across our tables strengthens what we feel about Jodie. She's a great woman. I mean, she's like in a way she's like a guardian angel the way she's taken care to moved to take actions that none of us would have probably had the capacity to do. and she just figured out how to do it. So, I just say thank you for once again for the support that you've given to us. It really means a lot. Thank you. Angie Cruz to be followed by Chantel Rogers. I don't think this is very clear, but this is the person that came to Little Woods in case this look face looks familiar. Um, I'm happy to email it over to, but everyone in Paluma should be for accountability. But unfortunately, the park owners Harmony three pillars and their allies demonstrate hypocrisy through the defamation packets. I speak today to make it evident to speculators that the bad actors in our fight are

harmony three pillars and all of their allies. We, the residents at Paluma Mobile Home Parks United, trust and are grateful for the advocacy and commitment of Jod Johnson that helps strengthen the well-being of our communities. While we may not all be upfront and on a mic, we all fight towards justice against the injustices thrown at us constantly by these investment groups who are terrorizing the most vulnerable. What some may see as some people speaking for all, we see as the strengths of all our members to move our mission forward. We can hope people can listen, but listening is a choice. Every step of the way in this fight, the fight has to stay the fight to stay peacefully housed has been through democratic processes. And we are unanimously in agreement on how we want to take action. What harmony and three pillars want is for people to be illinformed and to trust their self-interested tactics. It will not work. We ask for continued support of the rest of the our community because we too are your neighbors. Defamation and fabrication are crimes and unfortunately they're not the only crimes these investment companies and their allies have committed and will continue to commit. They continue to underestimate us and we cannot be bought or intimidated and they cannot take that. We know who supports us and who fights for us. These companies can't tell us otherwise. These investment groups and their allies are and will try anything legal or not to get what they want. But they have not been successful. So they will try to find any loop or angle to bury us to silence and compliance. But we will stay resilient together.

Thank you. Chantel Rogers to be followed by Sier Morant.

Good evening. Um, tonight I wanted to ask you if you might consider adding a transcript of these meetings to the videos that uh show up on archived city council meetings. Um, I don't know if you've ever gone back through a videos trying to find something somebody said at another at an old meeting or even when which meeting it was at, but it it takes a lot of time. you scroll through. Um, and it would be so much easier if we just had the transcript. We're we're being transcribed. My my words are being printed up there um right now. So, I would I would hope that it wouldn't be too difficult to add that through so that when we go to to look for something in archived meetings, we have that all printed out and scanning might be a lot easier for us to find it. in addition to um hearing impaired community members who might want to look something up. Um and so uh I just wanted to put that ask out tonight to see if it's something that might be feasible that you might consider. Thank you.

Thank you. Sierra Morance to be followed by Tim Portius.

All right. Hello. You've all received my written comments and know my case, so I'll be brief. I'm here in person to make sure you follow up on your ongoing responsibility for my case, public safety, and animal control. MBAS may have failed me, but the city fell short, too. Moving forward, I expect Marine Humane to be a better partner, but it's important to create a mechanism such as an ombbudsman to address these issues. This will assure ensure that others don't have to go through what I have. Please add a follow-up to the state of animal control to the agenda for the May 4th meeting so that we can address it in the detail it deserves. Thank you.

Thank you, Tim Portius. Hello again. This is my angry coat. I'm very angry. They're pulling her out, focusing on her. And that really angers me a lot. There's a lot of us. We went around last night. There was three of us to talk to people and get signatures of what you have. Of the people that I spoke to, they were vehemently just crazy. They're bullies. They're bullying us. Is there anything that can be done to slow or stop because they're getting away with really torturous methods and attacks on purpose with a determination to stop people specific people. Jodie has been a major pain in their side. A wonderful pain and I love it. It's great. Always I will support her always. I have. I listen to her always. And anybody that has been going to our meetings, they know what the financials are because Jod tells them all the meetings you can find the information. It's there. until other things that you're being told not true. And this uh Chris Chris fellow or whatever he is,

Jim Bob. Jim Bob, they uh they have meaningless. They're just useless words that they're throwing like eggs and hoping something will stick. But I'll tell you, they're not sticking on us about Jodie. Thank you. Okay. Thank you very much. We appreciate all the comments from all the public. And that closes public comment for the evening. General public comment brings us up to our council members. And um and while we all do quite a few things, I'm going to ask the council members to kind of try and keep it uh quick tonight as we're to move right through things. I'd like to lead off with council member Shribs.

Okay. Thank you. Okay. Uh so several uh visits to several uh places and people at the North Bay wershed association had their bianual uh conference all day conference very high level lots of um folks u the VIPs of the industry sort of came in and uh uh what is the most interesting that I learned is that other counties are now using AI for flood management and fire management and that there that's being proposed is that uh there's actually going to uh they're actually in development. There's a sea of drones that would carry water to fires and also for the management of flooding to actually have all the gauges and actually manage where the water is going. Um so any so that was uh interesting technology from that meeting. Otherwise a lot of folks are going after uh really important freshwater and uh a treatment plants uh and sea level rise. Everyone is working together. Everyone's doing this at the same time all over the entire Bay Area. So all all good news of the cooperation that's happening also including groundwater. Um at the museum we I was able to go to the opening of the uh pedalum wetlands portion that there's a big dist uh exhibit downstairs. Um I've got a couple items in there as does PWA and a few others. Alan Butler put a large effort in. Um so yeah, go visit that. It's going to be there till June. Um I went to the pedalma high school uh uh there's a um a politics class or policies and the like and the students had to present or did present their um projects. So all the students are required to actually have a project community effort of what they did. So I was able to interview several of the students provide feedback to them and help them out as well as listen to what they did. They did phenomenal. So I've got hope in our future now listening to all these kids. Um and every one of them was was as excited that they did the the community service and really got something out of it. So that was really nice. Um there there was a webinar on

the Spartina project. That's the invasive Spartina which is a grass that's invades our wetlands and all over the bay and that's still ongoing right now. And mostly Pedalma River is actually one of the better uh locations that it's been removed from. Um but we still have a little bit in in the north end um the upper river area and so I did offer uh help since I have contacts in some of the nonprofits here that work on the river that uh should they need some help we can work on that. Then on the um uh I did visit uh one of our um uh property managers did asked me to come out and and visit and and show me a demonstration of there was a case. He said very few cases. 98% of the tenants are really good about dealing with issues and working with the landlords and and so forth. But there was this one case that was shown uh where the landlord is losing over $60,000 right now uh because of a situation um that is something's not right with it. So anyway, whether it was the city or the state or the county, but anyway through the legal something to be thinking about. We need to kind of review and work and and maybe figure out what what went wrong there. And that's one of the things we may have to work on because those are the type of cases that ruin the system. Um, another thing I talked to, uh, Damon Connley at the parade, butter and eggs, uh, which I think we all participated in and, um, he's saying right now that, um, ebike rules are being worked on right now at the state level and are in various committees and going through with the process. So over the next two months, uh, we have the chance to put our input in. So whether or not we want to have a our our committee, our bike and ped committee or or this group um our our council or and staff work together somehow, but if we want to have an input, now's the time to put the input into the state to make those rules to make sure that we get what we want. And hopefully um if we want more than what the state is also prepare for uh the additional things

because lots of cities have been tracking what's going on all around the world and there are lots of cities all around the world dealing with this creating their own rules and regulations. It'd be nice if the state sets a level and then we follow through and add on whatever we feel was necessary for our community to save our kids from getting injured and and and the adults um and and solve some of the problems that we have because we do want to move ebike safety and and use along. Anyway, those are my things for this last couple weeks. Thank you very much, Council Member Quint. Thank you. In the interest of time, I'll forgo my comments. Thank you. Thank you very much, Council Member Now.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. in the past two weeks have been full of community spirit. From moving sheep down D Street from the fairgrounds and the history week kickoff at the museum to the Sonoma County Mayor and council members dinner that most of us um attended. And I also attended the Pedaluma High government class projects day and the fire department badge pinning staff recognition event that we held at the Alukes. Pedaluma wrapped it all up with a fantastic 44th annual Butter and Eggs Day parade. A big thank you to everyone who sponsored, participated in, attended, and volunteered to make Saturday such a special day. And a special appreciation to our Pedaluma police officers for helping ensure that our beloved tradition celebrating local agriculture was safe and fun family event. Next up, Pedaluma's annual spring antique fair. Sunday, April 26 from 8:00 a.m. to 400 p.m. downtown. After exploring the antique fair, take some time to enjoy our beautiful downtown shops and restaurants. Um, on the public comments, um, transcripts. I think we do have the transcripts on the meetings on the U website because I know I've had to go and look things up that people said I said and I had to go back and say no, you didn't hear it correctly. I said it this way. So, um but city staff is going to have to confirm that. Also to um Mr. Danley, maybe um we can have a council update on dog bite protocol and what we're doing in the future and what we're going to do to um help um the public commenters situation get finalized and closed. Thank you. That's all I have. Mr. Mayor,

thank you very much. And bring it around to Council Member Kater Thompson.

Thank you. Um I too would like an update on dog bites. Um, I've been had a lot of conversations with Sierra. She's very reasonable and great to talk with and I would like to see where we're going to go with this because I'd like some resolution. Um uh this last week I went to Sacramento and I was at an HCD meeting hearing which was the housing community development and we talked about the increase fees for mobile home parks and they heard a lot and these meetings are very long and you you know when you're third on the agenda and then you have to hear two others you really learn about housing and what's going on within the state. So, it's real valuable to listen to, but I thought it was really successful and I do understand that um costs are rising for everybody, but we basically asked them to we posed it, but to go back and look and see what else could be done because just explaining how the fees um always trickle down to the mobile home park residents and it was specifically on mobile home parks. Um so and I really thanked um Jod Johnston and um and I'm your name is just not there right now in the red jacket Tim. Yes. And and others came and it was just really nice uh being there together. But I also met um people from like Oakland Housing and so you know you get a real understanding of the how precarious it is right now with the federal administration and what's going to be happening with funding and that goes back to the blue zones also talking about those cuts that are going to be happening. Um and butter and eggs day was a lot of fun. Um, but I do want to say something about the letter um that everybody received for JOD. I mean, what the city what we did um we strengthened the mobile home park ordinance and strengthened it more than one time. Um the the overlay for senior parks was

really important and to do this type of um um it was just a political move is what it was. and it's really to pit people against each other and it's not going to work. And so I hope that they know that. But when we really want to talk about history, I also have letters that I could send to Harmony on people that are owners of Harmony legal issues, but we're not doing that. But they're doing it. And so, but you can get online and ask me a name and I'll have be happy to let you look it up online anytime. Um, and I just think it's despicable what they're doing. And I just want to thank everybody that came tonight and I want to thank Jodie for all the work that she has done. Um she had a large you know a long learning she had a big learning curve there and boy she's really sharp and a lot of what happened would with um losing cases which they have lost every case would not have happened without the help of our city all the attorneys the proono attorneys and everybody that's participated. And so to go after senior citizens in this way, as a politician, I expect it cuz I know that happens. I can look in the room and see people that have done it to me. But I do not expect people to attack senior citizens in this community in this way. It is just disgusting and I stand with all of you. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Um, Council Member Darly,

good evening. Um, last week at Parks and Wreck, we received a presentation from the Sunrise Rotary Club and they I found out since I think 2018 have been hoping to put botchi ball courts out at McNeer Park and so they're that's kind of druming up again and they're excited to do it. So they gave us a presentation of what they intend to do and um not sure where that's going to go and how fast it's going to go now, but they are trying to do it and working with the city on it. So, that'll be a neat thing for the district and anybody that likes botchi. Uh, butter and eggs, I think probably everybody here went. Um, it's a great turnout this year and I don't know the statistics yet, but I think it may have been the one of the longer butter and eggs parades. Um, must have been close to two and a half hours before it was actually done. And then there were lots of gaps in between. So, I think there was a lot of false endings. So, it just kept going and going and going. But um and you know it was great to see the the community turn out for that. And um you know one in particular is a nonprofit communities for food and family farms that put on um a huge agriculture display downtown with calves, rabbits, goats, lambs, chickens, u baby chicks hatching um couple other animals and uh got a lot of the community involved. Thousands of people came through and they were serving ice cream at the end of it. So that was really great to see. Um last week out in Point Rays, there was a uh a giant community kind of town hall where um it was all about what happened out in Point Rays with the farms out there, the farms that were kicked off their land. And so you had both sides of it there talking about, you know, what was going on, what had happened. And it was really cool to see because there was such a tremendous amount of support for the farms and for that community and um you know everybody that was affected by it. And that's all I have tonight. Thank you.

Wonderful. Thank you. I think everybody had a I hope you all had a wonderful butter and egg parade. Um I know um I got involved with the opening ceremonies and the good egg and it really fun to have the grand marshall be an international dignitary and when she arrives we get to meet the vice consul of India, Japan, Vietnam. There's just a whole litany of what she's putting she's putting Pedaluma on the map internationally with her efforts to peace in the world. um the cow chip contest. I'm only bringing this up because our police chief won first, our fire chief won second, and in a throwoff with a beauty queen, I took third and got this wonderful prize. The council member wouldn't let me finish my remarks without noting that. Um but um one thing I did want to say here is uh Smart uh served us so so well. Uh they had their largest Saturday ever. They were running I'm not sure, do you have the exact details? Yeah. Uh we were chatting with the um G general manager of SmartRT, but they're running three call free car trains all day and the platforms were full all day. So we wouldn't have been able to do things without them. Um I spoke at the transhumanistance festival, the sheep running festival, which was kind of a fun thing to have in town. I got to speak at the newest public art that we've got installed now in town. And um that was a a really fun event. um uh attended a flood zone meeting on on that board and uh were working on uh helping reduce the flood risk within the city and um uh um we also attended uh attended with council member uh Cander Thompson uh a transit conference put on by Santa Rosa JC students and here we are at a time where we're worried about cutting uh our transit funding and budget and the JC students are noting the need for it and the demand for it. So interesting that the youth are pushing for that element. Um I also participated in a housing forum hosted

by our congressman's uh two congressmen uh Jared Huffman and and Mike Thompson. Uh they recognize the housing need that we recognize and they've got a lot more money to bring to the party than than we have. So I'm anxious to see what their work is. Did attend um the awards ceremony for the firefighters. uh also um attended an awards ceremony for um the police dispatchers here this past week and um was invited to join a days at Dunham School and Dunham Schools out of the incorporated area and uh Blue Zones was represented there. Um and I said to the principal, why are you inviting city officials out to the aferal students? 150 children from Paluma transfer into that school because it has such a focus on a. So really, it's Paluma kids wanting to retain that connection to agriculture and and and if you've been to an egg day or the fair or what was going on downtown this weekend, you really appreciate um that people are preserving that heritage um and having good local organic sources. Um, I also we we had another Eagle Scout in town, which is the uh one of the fun things the mayor gets to do is confer one of our proclamations to them and uh spoke to the leadership class of the Chamber of Commerce. That's in case a plane takes all of us out. There'll be somebody in town who knows how the city runs and can run for council. But uh it's a really wonderful program. I hope you all sign up to do that. And um and that's me for this past week. And of course uh we've we got pins for the butter. We are promoting hard even in a rears. This is a collaboration with merchants. So when we talk about economic development, it's us being out there with the merchants and the merchants uh doing their work to make Paluma a better place too that

so you can get a discount in the pin. Okay. So and uh the pin is worth a discount of many of our businesses in town. And with that, I'll pass to the city manager.

Thank you, mayor, council, and community. Um, two quick highlights for celebrating Earth Day. Um, Earth Day planning at city hall. Join us this Wednesday, April 22nd. Drop in anytime between 10:30 and 3:30 for community planning day with daily acts to complete our new lowwater habitat friendly landscape out here in front. All are welcome and lunch is provided. So, don't miss that. And then uh save the date on Sunday, May 3rd from noon to 4:00 at the community center for FutureFest, our annual climate festival with Cool Paluma featuring student projects, local organizations, and Spanish language accessibility and presentations by Cafe Poente. Um and there's more information on our climate ready website at city of pedaluma.org/climate ready. Um, also this uh week at the fairgrounds, fairgrounds is hosting a annual 4 and FFA Sonoma County youth livestock judging contest on Saturday, April 25th. Um, this event includes team and individual competitions for beef, sheep, swine, and goats. And then Sunday, the public is invited to uh join a Mexican heritage event with um a rodeo and live music and entertainment. All that information and more is on pedalumafairgrounds.com. It's a new website, pedalumafairgrounds.com. It uh lists all the different events that we are holding at the fairgrounds as well as the uh fair itself. and we will look into the transcript, what we can do, what we can provide, and make sure it's accurate. And um and Miss Morance, I know there you are. Um we'll circle back with you for sure. Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. I have that number.

Thank you very much. Yes, I have that number. Uh SMART for Saturday, the preliminary report is 7,230 people. That's a lot of people. So that's fabulous. That is really great. Thank you very much. And um that brings us to our consent calendar for the evening. And uh at this point I look up and down the dis and see if any council member wishes to remove an item. Seeing none that uh need to be removed, I'll ask council member Kater Thompson.

I will recuse for with item number four. So, we will uh break the voting into two, but we will continue the public comment and also the uh council deliberations together and I think I'd like to move on questions.

Okay. Um so I'd like to go to public comment first on this tonight. I think we'll find out if that accelerates the evening and um does so on public comment on the consent calendar. I'm asking our clerk if we'll read the messaging and move that direction. We did not receive any comments ahead of the meeting, but we do have one card. If anyone else would like to submit a speaker card on consent calendar items, now is the moment. Not seeing anybody moving forward. Uh we will now open um this and we have Steve Harris to speak on the uh consent calendar items. Welcome, Steve. Yeah, I think I'm speaking on item number six. Um, good evening, mayor, council members, and staff. My name is Steve Harris. I'm with the North Coast uh carpenters union. Uh, I'm here to bring awareness about the Danco communities. They have committed to multiple uh labor violations from wage theft violations to delinquent payroll. One project, they owed 14 workers back pay. on another project, the OSHA, they had four violations. You know, these workers are being taken advantage of. That's one of our things is w working with these uh non-union uh subcontractors, talking to him, getting information. Uh in one case, one of the workers uh brought up question of his payroll, his punishment was he got fired. So that it's a big issue in the construction. Everybody sees a construction fence up there and thinks, "Oh, yeah, there's construction going on." But really, behind those fences, there's a lot going on that nobody knows about. And onea in one of the cases, uh, his contractor worked uh, like four

projects up here in Soma County. And actually uh the general uh Bont filed 31 criminal charges on the contractor ranging from grand theft, payroll tax evasion, pay uh prevailing wage theft and filed a false documents with the state of California or the state. Uh that makes this project a crime scene and I really wouldn't like to see a crime scene come to your uh neighborhood. So that's my thought. Thank you. Thank you very much. It was our only speaker. So that'll close um public comment on the consent calendar tonight. Bring it back up to the dis. And vice mayor, you have uh questions?

I do. I have questions on item three, but um going to item six, what the speaker just brought up. Um Eric, is there anything that you can speak to, you know, since since this item we're voting on is is helping this developer?

Um so that's new information for me. Um the um the city is a is a financial supporter of the of the housing development um as is the um department of housing community development at the state. Um smart is is is as is part of the overall project. Um it is it is not it's it's private construction but it's prevailing prevailing wages apply. Um we know that. Um, so the city's an interested party. Um, if there are complaints about compliance with the prevailing wage laws, we can bring them to Department of Industrial Relations attention and so can others who are aware of those concerns. I've heard of nothing yet directly. So, um, if there's if we have information about work site concerns or whatever, we're happy to um, receive those, but I've received this is the first I've heard of any potential concerns. I didn't it it was hard for me to tell specifically what entities that might relate to. If um the attorney general brought actions like that against a contractor, I would think they they might include debarment and they might not be eligible. But I but again, I don't know to to what contractors or subcontractors the speaker was addressing. So if they have that information, we'd be happy to receive that and and and let the council know what we see.

Thank you. Mhm. Okay. Thank you. And then um are there any staff that could speak to item three? Good evening uh council member. I'm I'm here on Zoom uh and able to answer any questions. Hi. And this is Bejorn and Grieffinberg. Hey, sorry. Thanks.

So um what um what does designating a street as a safety corridor really what does that really mean or do for the street? So um in the last couple years um the state has adopted some new legislation around how speed limits are set and they have provided um agencies with greater flexibility on a limited uh number of streets. Um uh typically typically what they're looking for or what what they're looking for cities to do is identify up to 20% of their street networks that they would consider to be uh safety corridors with either due to high um collision rates and collision uh severity uh or uh uh due to kind of surrounding land use characteristics. So on on corridors that may generate a higher volume of uh bicycle and pedestrian activity for example. Um so as a city we have not actually undertaken that exercise yet. Um we were our goal was to bring our safety corridors to council uh by the end of the year on city streets. Uh however this item pertains to uh the CALR owned section of Lakeville Highway. And so there's been some some state legislation uh that provides similar guidance to CALR on their roadways. And uh we've had conversations with CALR uh around what it would take to designate Lakeville Highway as a safety corridor um to provide that that greater degree of flexibility uh when they are setting establishing enforcable speed limits out there. and they asked us to bring uh this item to council uh and then go back to them basically with an approved resolution uh in order to uh uh and then

they'll they would consider basically that designation uh once they have a resolution from our council.

Okay. So, but I'm still not quite sure what that exactly means for the city or you know we could why we need to do that and what what we would be getting out of it in the end. So at the end at the end of the day uh the infor the the speed limits that CALR sets on Lakeville Highway are completely up to them. Um obviously there are uh procedures around how speed limits are set. Um they are grounded in uh data that's collected on the corridor that's that uh you know obviously gives them a good idea of how people are currently driving it. Um, and then they they also there's a there's there's guidance um beyond just how people are driving it. Um, uh, there's an ability to kind of to to round down. Um there's an it's it's a it's a pretty nuanced um process where basically they look at the 85th percentile of of speeds and then they can round down or round up 5 m hour uh to basically or to the nearest 5 mph interval uh to determine the enforceable speed limit based on their judgment uh what they think is appropriate. And so by us asking them to designate Lakeville a safety corridor, it would allow them a greater degree of flexibility where they could actually round down an additional 5 m an hour uh beyond what they can currently do out there. At the end of the day though, it is it really is ultimately up to them uh what where they set the speed limits.

Is CALR looking to the city to make a recommendation for that or why wouldn't they just do it on their own? uh this was the this was the guidance that they provided us. Uh I I had a similar question and and ultimately they this is I guess uh sort of the internal um uh procedure that they've they've established is asking uh cities to bring forward these requests where uh CALR operates a state highway within city limits. in in the staff report, it talks a lot about um adding adding this being a way to add bike lanes um to Lakeville. And you know, it seems that I mean, Lakeville is is a highway. You know, it's a trucking route. It has a tremendous amount of traffic. And I think that, you know, for this city to to encourage bike lanes along such a busy and what is a dangerous road, um kind of regardless of the speed limit, I think, you know, it um I don't know. I I wonder if we should be doing that. Um you know, encouraging people, children, um to be riding right next to to vehicles on something that's so dangerous. Um, so I I, you know, I think that we should be using calmer streets to encourage people to ride on. Um, you know, to get to different trails and access points where they can ride in, you know, non-traded areas. Um, you know, so I I don't know that we should be encouraging that along Lakeville. I mean, it again, it's it's literally a highway. And um I'm not sure what the effectiveness of reducing the speed limit would be because in the report 60% of you know the accidents on there were from excessive speed. So that's ignoring the posted speed limit. Um and then at the same time um a portion of that was right

ofway issues. So to designate it a safety corridor and lower the speed limit 5 miles an hour. I'm not sure how that would significantly change things when 60% of the accidents um you know happen for other reasons essentially. So do can you speak to that at all?

Um yeah, I know I know bike lane I'll I'll kind of go back to your uh point about bike lanes on Lakeville. Um, I know that's not uh what's uh being asked of council tonight and and ultimately again it's not it's not our call because it's not our roadway. Um, I will say CALR has uh, you know, very similar goals I think to the city as far as um, improving mobility options, trying to make uh, their uh, state highways um, especially in more urban or suburban environments. uh and even rural envi rural environment environments where they go through um smaller towns um making them uh safer for people uh walking and and biking. Um they do have a project coming up. They will be paving Lakeville Highway in 2028. Uh they have shared preliminary plans for that project with us. They are showing class 4 protected bike lanes as part of that project. Um, which would be accomplished by uh basically narrowing the vehicle lane slightly that they'll still be plenty wide to accommodate all of the freight traffic out there. um uh but they have identified that opportunity through their their upcoming paving project and and that is consistent with um the the direction that they are moving in uh for state highways in in these types of settings. Um, obviously you're not going to see, you know, bike lanes on on US 101, but um, you would I think you will start to see more uh complete streets design elements on CALR right of way uh in in settings like this one. I'll al also note just with um with a corridor like Lakeville, yes, it is a state highway. It is moving a lot of people and it is and and we do see a lot of freight activity out there. Um,

but at the end of the day, it is sort of this hybrid between a a a state highway and a street that does serve some, you know, some local traffic. Uh, you know, there are a lot of people who um will need to start or end their trip on on Lakeville, right? And so they would uh even if you have a parallel bike way available um on a lower stress street or on a on a parallel trail at some point in someone's trip they may need to be on Lakeville Highway to get to to a a business or a place of employment. Mjorn at at this point um I'd like to invite our police chief who has stepped up to the podium to weigh in.

Yeah. Uh thank you Bjornne for the opportunity. I I heard the question earlier about whether Calransit specifically asked us for a recommendation to lower that speed limit and I just wanted to just add um through those continued conversations and Bjornne's been a participant in many of those as as well as my staff consistently. One of the questions has asked of city staff from Calrans has been would we like the speed limits to be reduced in those areas and what measures would be helpful and we do see speed and especially excessive speeds consistently being one of the primary collision factors through the entire Lakeville highway corridor from the city jurisdiction through the state highway corridor. And so we constantly have been advocating for years and continue to advocate for those measures for any speed reduction and speed limits to be reduced along the entire roadways. So we're constantly advocating for that. Um as Bujorn mentioned, one of the ways to accomplish that is through a calculation. The other way to accomplish that is through this designation. So this would allow us to do it without that calculation, which is the most advantageous way to for us to do it. And then most importantly, I think they're looking to us because in the city's jurisdiction areas, my team, myself are specifically responsible for doing the enforcement action over enforcing those speed limits. So, we wouldn't have to do the calculation. It doesn't require some of the speed surveying to designate that speed and it makes it much more cleaner for us to do the enforcable um speed limit enforcement and establishing that speed limit at that lower speed designation. So I just wanted to offer that for some of that context to support.

Appreciate that. Thank you. Any other fellow? Um I I do. Um let me think here. All right. You want to take the second? Will someone else have a question on it? Everybody. Okay. So I'll come back over. Did council member now?

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And and before council member Quinn wants to jump in here, Bjon, can you um remind the community and the council about the open house that we held recently at Miwok school regarding um Lakeville and all the community members and their input and staff gave their input and it echoes a lot of what um police chief Brian Miller said about speed collision factors out there. And we do have bike riders that do have to cross Lakeville to get to Scholenburg and um that you know Lakeville goes right through district 3. So it's a big concern of my district and the neighboring community. So can you work on u explaining real short cliff notes of what we did at that workshop?

Yeah, thank you. So, we um we are partnering right now with Sonoma County Transportation and Climate Authorities on a grant-f funed corridor study of uh of both Lakeville Street on the the city side, which is from Pilma Boulevard North over to US 101 as well as the Calrans portion um southeast of 101 out to city limits. And through that uh we are developing near to long-term uh recommendations on different um safety and uh congestion relief improvements for the entire corridor. Um, so examples of of near-term improvements would be, you know, simple things that can be accomplished through an upcoming paving project like we have with the Calrans project I noted or other kind of um minor striping signage type improvements. Long-term improvements would be um things that we haven't necessarily identified funding for, but could include um you know, installations of of roundabouts at intersections um or more robust um signal improvements, uh more robust streetscape improvements, uh or or uh reconfiguration. Um right now we are at the kind of the conceptual design level. We've um we've got a couple different ideas for people to give feedback on and that's all available on the um the city web page. We've actually got some surveys that are uh uh we just wrapped actually I think we may have just wrapped up the Lakeville surveys. Um but we'll have more on that and we're happy to come back to council

further along in the study. Yeah,

thank you very much. I do think the workshop was fabulous. It was well attended and I think uh it proved that uh this council, this city stands for safety in improved safety. So um thanks for hosting that and having CALR and everybody in the room. I know that um when I took my first police ride along, the officer said, "Let's go out to Lakeville because that's the easiest place I can offer you to show you how to get speeding tickets." And um and it was a rich environment for that ticketing. Um and uh I note that the lane narrowing is a acknowledged traffic uh uh effort to to reduce speeding. So all these are uh good steps in in this effort. Um and I note that uh people not only need have that need for improved crossing but they have the improved need for um uh cycling along the shoulder. Even though what we're trying to do is reduce speed and speed and vehicle accidents. it. This provides an opportunity for that shoulder improvement where it's separated and that's kind of, you know, that's the way to get safety. Council member Quint.

Yeah. I just wanted to make the point real quick that uh we're not asking um you know what we're being asked here is not to um put bike lanes on Lake Bill. uh the uh as what was just talked about uh there's a corridor study going on where CALR is taking public input uh and baking that into their design plans uh from someone with real lived experience. Um I happen to live um near Lakeville uh and my son went to school. There are two schools in the business park uh River Monastery and uh the um the other school escapes me at the moment. Um but uh that in addition to going to Scholenburgger uh families trying to cross Lakeville on anything other than a car is a nightmare and putting speed limits on it is not a bad thing.

Thank you. Uh, Council Mayor Shribs. Um, yeah. Uh, I cross Lakeville bike. I go to Scholenburgger Park very often with my bike and trailer and gear. Uh, I also go to Ellis Creek. I also go to the Kaiser. And, um, just having be able to get across and get onto Lakeville through that section is really important to me, I know, and to others. Um, I've even taken my bike with a trailer with my kayak all the way down to the mid river uh, to where the docks are down there. and would be really nice if I could actually do that much more safely now. So, I'm all in favor of of uh CALR making those safer in any which way they possibly can.

Thank you. So, that is both our input and our questioning on it. Um I think that's that's the deliberative stage of this conversation. Um and so do you wish to add more on the deliberative effort? Um well I'd just like to address some of it you know in conversation here and so you know while tonight we might not

we put things on the consent calendar because of the modest nature of them so that we can achieve the bigger items later in the agenda and and uh I just want to note that we are moving to a zoom input here in the next two months and um that public participation will uh add to our evening's workload and we have to find ways to be efficient and so I'm kind of leaning and on yet to maybe make the consent calendar part the more direct question and less in more specific uh succinct and you can pull it and vote against it

and thank you right but it all all these items whether they're consent or public hearing they're all important and I think if any of them warrant discussion they should get it so you know I mean I I would like to pull it just because um I don't so we have a council member asking to pull the item. Let's have the item pulled and we'll uh vote on that as a separate issue. And we already have item four as a separate issue. Yes, but I would like to give my reasoning behind it. You know, it's it's take one minute to do that.

Thank you. So, um you know, it's it might not be um adding bike lanes tonight, but it's a step towards that. And again, I think that's a great safety concern. And I believe that that's not something that the city should be encouraging um to have children, people, anybody, you know, that close to freight traffic or any traffic going that fast. Um and putting bike lanes in areas where it was brought up before around 40 m hour, it's significantly much more fatal if there's an accident, you know. And at the same time, um I don't think we should be reducing lanes on what is a highway or a major street. and um cuz that's that's D Street all over again and people don't like that. So that's why I don't I don't think I can support encouraging this down the road. Though tonight we're not making any recommendations other than to make it a safety corridor.

Okay. Council, I'm going to just make one quick comment. We've heard these comments before a council member doesn't support bike lanes and that's pretty clear. But when I look at safety, people are complaining about Reineer and everything that's happening here. What I tell people is I personally don't want to ride on McDow.

And so now we have an actual route to three different schools by what's happening on Rainineer and down Maria Drive. So we're always looking at safety because if you get hit by a car at 40 miles an hour, you'll be killed. And Lakeville is part of our system. And it seems as though our entire system, we're trying to make it safer. whether it's D Street, Reineer, or any other street, it's to make it safer for our community. Thank you. Thank you very much. Well, that said, I I do actually support bike lanes, but on calmer, safer streets and not busy ones where there clarification, high fatality rates.

And I might add that on Lakeville, a lot of Lakeville, there is existing bike lanes. So, it is not that we're adding like um bike lanes in all locations, perhaps some, but um we're adding protected protection to make the safety of the existing where they exist. And um now looking to get to conclusion on some of this. We have three voting opportunities here. Who wants to make the first motion? Mr. Mayor, I'll make the motion um one through two or one and two and five and six. We have a motion for one, two, five, and six from now. Do we have a second? Second. And a second from Shribs. May we have our roll call vote, please? Kater Thompson. Yes. Yes. D Carly, yes. Now,

yes. Quint, yes. Shri, yes. McDonald, yes. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you very much. Now, we're looking for the next motion, which is I'll make a motion for item number three in the consent calendar. And we're looking for a second. Second. Second. We have a motion by now and a second by Kater Thompson for item three. Kater Thompson, yes. Darly, no. Now, yes. Quint, yes. Shri, yes. McDonald, yes. Motion carries with one though. Thank you very much. Now, the item that council member Kater Thompson has elected to recuse from. I'll recuse because I live close by.

That's item four. We'd like a motion for four. Mr. Mayor, I will u make a motion for number four of the consent calendar. Thank you. Second. We have a motion from now and a second from Shribs for item four. Uh Gator Thompson recused. D Carly, yes. Now, yes. Quint, yes. Shri, yes. McDonald, yes. Motion carries unanimously with recusal.

Fabulous. Thank you so much. And now we'll move to item seven. And uh item seven is a public hearing com uh regarding compliance with Assembly Bill 2561 reporting on vacancy rate and recruitment and retention efforts. And to help us with this, we have uh Linda Lee, our deputy city manager.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor and the honorable council members. It is my pleasure to present the annual Assembly Bill 2561 which requires public agencies to report to their governing bodies on vacancies as well as recruitments and retention efforts. As of April 1, 2026, the city's overall vacancy is 7.68%. There are currently candidates at various stages in the pre-employment process and we anticipate the vacancy rate will decrease to 5.08% by the end of May or early June. This reflects the city's continued commitment to a comprehensive workforce strategy grounded in effective recruitment, retention, and long-term organizational stability. As outlined in the staff report, human resources has implemented a range of coordinated workforce management efforts contributing to this outcome, including workforce planning, talent management, and learning and development. That concludes my remark. I am available to answer any questions.

Thank you. Um again, I I think we'll uh go to uh public comment on this first and then bring back questions and comments uh from council. Please uh read the messaging. We did not receive any requests to speak and we didn't receive any comments ahead of the meeting. And o'clock. What this is the moment if anyone would like to speak and not seeing anybody move uh towards the diet. So I'd like to close public com comment period. Ring back up to council for any comment or um council might have any comment on this item? No. And with that, I'll be looking for a motion. Okay. I'd like to move item number seven. I'll second that.

We have a motion by Shrebs with a second by Kater Thompson. May we have a roll call vote? Kater Thompson? Yes. D Carly? Yes. Now, yes. Quint, yes. Shri, yes. McDonald, yes. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you very much for the presentation and for being here with us this evening. And uh we move to item eight which is a resolution recommending an appointment to the mayors and council members association to fill a vacancy on the airport land comm land use commission and uh that's I believe our corly the city clerk to present.

Yes, this will be another quick one. Um the mayors and council members association of Sonoma County fills various vacancies on local or regional boards when the terms expire. And so we do currently have one vacancy on the airport land use commission. It's a 4-year term beginning in May. And tonight we're asking council to recommend uh an appointment for this vacancy which Mayor McDonald or his design will vote on at an upcoming uh Mayor and council members meeting. Um I think this will be a very quick discussion. There was only one letter of interest for this seat which was Ariel Kelly from Heelsburg. And I'm available for questions. Thank you. And uh uh let's open it to public comment.

We did not receive any comments ahead of the meeting and I have not received any cards, but this is the moment. Not seeing anyone rushing forward. We'll close public comments on this and bring it back to the council. I'm happy to make that motion. Um supporting Ariel Kelly. Thank you. Second motion. Thank you. We have a motion by Kater Thompson, a second by Shrebs. Roll call vote. Kater Thompson. Yes. Darly, yes. Now, yes. Quint, yes. Shribs, yes. McDonald, yes. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Brings us to our item nine, which is an introduction first reading of an ordinance to authorize utility easement to Pacific Gas and Electric for electric infrastructure improvements associated with the fire station number one project. And to help us with this, we have a Paige Bulock, our project manager. Welcome.

Thank you. Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Paige Bullock. I'm a project manager in the public works department. I'm here to introduce the first reading of an ordinance authorizing a utility easement for Pacific Gas and Electric Company PG&E for the Fire Station 1 project. So, the easement is located on city-owned property at Fire Station 1 at 198D Street. The easement will accommodate a new underground transformer vault and associated electrical infrastructure. So this improvement is needed or is necessary to provide sufficient electrical capacity as the city converts the station into its first all-electric facility. The easement area is approximately 355 square ft and was carefully cited in close coordination with the fire department to minimize any operational impacts. While it is located near an apparat apparatus bay, that bay is designated for reserve vehicles rather than primary emergency response. Staff work closely with fire to ensure that emergency response functionality is not affected both under normal operations and in scenarios where reserve apparatus may be in use. In terms of capacity, the upgraded service will provide approximately 800 amps total with about 120 amps of additional capacity beyond the building's full connected load. Because actual demand is typically lower than connected load. This leaves additional available capacity for future needs, including accommodating at least three level two EV chargers. Um, as with all PG&E easements, this allows them access for maintenance and emergency repairs, as well as standard restrictions within the easement area. Staff have worked to ensure these rights are appropriately limited and do not interfere with the long-term use of the site. Um, this is a nocost easement and

it is necessary step to keep the fire station one project on schedule. So granting this easement allows PG&E to install, operate, and maintain the infrastructure needed not only to support current building operations, but also future electrification needs of Fire Station 1. So if you have any questions, I'm happy to answer. Thanks. Great presentation. Um, let's uh go to the public comment on this. We did not receive any comments ahead of the meeting and I have not received any cards, but now is the moment. Seeing no one rise for public comment on this item, we'll close public comment, bring it back for questions and and or comments from councel.

I'm happy to move this.

Um, council, let's Okay, so we have a motion from Kater Thompson, second from now and question from Shrebs. Um yes just checking on the electrical capacity having just done that over uh for my ADU and house u increasing adequately very difficult to get it to the adequate level and extract um so um we will just how what's the difference between just meeting the current needs of all electric facility which is fantastic to where where we might end up later on if we happen to have an electric fire engine eventually 20 years from now or whatever it takes. And the other part of that is um are we also hopefully being able to hook up there's some parking uh spaces right outside of the fire station. I think I was on First Street and there's like uh that are designated for the fire department basically for use. And I'm hoping those are well each one of those are going to have electrical charging station on them. Is that going to be included in this package? And then how much more capacity will we have to actually get to a will we ever be able to have a fire engine electrical down the road here? That's a great question. Thank you. So, currently in this project, we don't have any I guess parking in that front section where um the police or the fire chief and um the fire reserved parking that is not a part of this project to add the um EV charging there. But the 800 amps is honestly beyond like it's it's at the right amount of capacity to be able to serve electric engines in the future. So about 120 amps is generally your residential house and 200 to 400 I think is like a small commercial building and 800 amps will support the 24/7 use of the fire station and yeah potential electrification needs like

electric engines. So, right, because I see a future for um a combination of uh first responding drones, also first responding mini ambulances and paramedrics who can get there on very small vehicles on sidewalks in indoor in indoors also with all their equipment. Um whether it be like upgraded ebikes all the way up to small drones. So I'm looking for that capacity and make sure that we have enough space and station

and I appreciate that and and I and I we have heard uh that vision of the future and um again I think it would only be fair for for me to note that I am trying to accelerate these because in a month or two we're going to be pressed for time and um so and point taken. Thank you very much. Uh my question first presentation to council. Yes it is. Yes. Thank you very much for being here. Uh we're a fun bunch. And um wi with that I'd like to uh we have a motion in a second on the table. So a roll call vote, please. Thank you.

Okay, we're having technical difficulties. I'll do it old school. Gator Thompson, yes. D Carly, yes. Now, yes. Quint, yes. Shri, yes. McDonald. Yes. Motion carries unanimously.

Thank you very much. That moves us to our item 10, which is a resolution to add new fees to the Pedaluma master fee schedule associated with implementing the new tree preservation ordinance. And to help us out with that, we have Heather Hines, our special projects manager, and Brian O, our um community development director. Take it away. As soon as we plug in and fire up, etc. Good evening, mayor, council members. Um, I'm back for another meeting to talk about trees. Um, so we're on a little bit of a tree roll. Um, and what better

evening to do this when than when we also recognized Arbor Day. So um so tonight we are um the item before you is uh adoption of new fees and some modification of existing fees for implementation of the recently adopted um tree preservation ordinance. So, a quick background. Um, on April 6, this council um adopted an ordinance updating our tree preservation ordinance, which is chapter 17 of the implementing zoning ordinance, as well as some modifications to the municipal code. So, this new TPO, tree preservation ordinance, creates um some new regulatory framework for processing um applications for the removal of trees and requirements for tree replacements. Um and this is all in an effort to maintain and increase the city's tree canopy. So during adoption hearings um there was uh a recognition of the need for associated fees to implement the TPO. Uh additionally there was mention and feedback to keep fees low um and minimize impact to um homeowners um related to the associated fees. So this evening uh we are back and there are five fees that are outlined in your packet. Um an analysis is included as exhibit to the resolutions and um will be the focus of my presentation this evening. So starting with the tree removal permit, this is called for in the new TPO. Um, we

looked at this kind of in magnitude of what it could be in terms of the number of trees that would fall under a single tree preser or tree removal permit. Um, a lot of jurisdictions require a permit for each tree proposed for removal. So, we looked at that. We looked at the way some other jurisdictions did it and we ended up um proposing to break it into two tree removal permit fees. One being a flat fee. Um this would be for one to three trees on a property. This is a new um permit fee on our master fee schedule. There is no current tree removal permit um established on um the fee schedule. Uh we are proposing this fee at $381 which would be a flat fee for one to three tree removals. Um and this is to cover the costs associated with processing this permit. Um so that there would be no subsidy for um the re view of these permits. We looked at this following um of a a format that is used with all of the city's fees and was part of um the work behind the last update in 2024 to the users fees. Um, so one of the things you may remember is when we were here before you, um, and talked about establishing these fees, our hope to keep this fee low, to keep it in line with other flat fee permits such as a sign permit fee and um, a fence permit fee. Um, so we started with the structure of the fence permit fee. Um, we recognized that

we needed to build in um time for a consulting arborist to do at minimum a desk review of 15 to 30 minutes on all of um the permits that come in to ensure that the information is um adequate complete. Um and so we reduce some of the associate planner um time that you see in a fence permit. We reduce that down knowing that we would be working with the consulting arborist. Um you might think why why four people touching a tree removal permit. Um these are the positions that touch permits as they come in. An analyst would be looking at um the application coming in the portal. Did we receive the fee? Do we need to reach out and contact the applicant for the fee? um any kind of um following feedback once the um permit is issued. So that's that role. Associate planner would be looking do we have everything we need? Uh did they respond to all the questions adequately before sending it to the consulting arborist? Consulting arborist would look at it uh send recommendation back. planning manager um ultimately would likely be the design of the director to um review those recommended findings and um approve or deny the permit. So we came up with $385.50 50 which um is very close to that 381 um fee that is proposed to kind of place it consistent with other administrative fees that come through the community development department. The second um approach to the tree removal permit is for four or more trees. So the proposal here is that this would be a 100% cost recovery with a

$1,000 deposit. This would typically be associated with development review projects. It would also be cost recovery. So the tree removal permit would be looked at as part of the entitlements um or um if a permit came in, a permit request came in where a larger number of trees were being requested for removal. So again, this is a new a new permit, not on the current um master fee schedule. It would be 100% cost recovery. And one of the things I want to point out is the way the ordinance is written is the findings that are in the ordinance need to be made for each tree. So once you get up to four trees and you're looking individually at four or more trees um you know the health or the reasons that the removal is being um requested and the findings that are in the ordinance that's why we decided on this as a threshold tree on-site consultation. This was something um that if adequate information does not come in with a tree removal permit recognizing that a site visit may be required by the consulting arborist. Um, alternatively, this is an opportunity for homeowners to voluntarily request um, the consulting arborists come out to review um, a tree situation on site um, perhaps before an application even is submitted um, to discuss options. So, this is again a new a new fee, a flat fee of $240. This was based on the consulting arborist's um hourly rate and um the input from the arborist that generally this ended up taking closer to an hour than a half an hour um given the dialogue that

generally happens on these site visits. So that is where we propose this fee to come in is to recover that cost uh tree replacement in lie. This is also a new fee. Um this would be if um a homeowner for instance removed a tree and did not wish to replace it on site. Um they could pay a tree replacement in lie. This could also be used with development projects. um should the number of tree replacements not be able to be accommodated on site in Lou fees could um be paid into the city's urban forestry fund to support planting elsewhere in the city. Um this proposed fee is $300. That's based on material and labor costs to plant a 15gallon replacement tree. You may remember that the way the ordinance was um ultimately organized all of the replacement ratios are based on a 15gallon replacement tree. So this simplifies um uh having a single inloo replacement fee um to apply in a in a number of different situations. Staff looked at tree replacement inloo fees in a variety of other cities. um they range significantly um upward of over $2,000 in some jurisdictions. Um so this is a um a pretty moderate um inli fee. Um but also based on some estimates locally of 15gallon tree and labor costs, it it was a um a good estimate of of the fee to um ensure that that could then go into the city's urban

forestry fund and it could be used as the city's discretion um for urban forestry um priorities in the city. Um encroachment permit. This is a revision to an existing um permit fee. Um currently encroachment permit for tree is $268. Um and you may recall in those of you that were on the council in 2024, there was a proposal um for the encroachment permits for trees to actually come in closer to $1,000 um based on the way things are currently structured. um with the process of the encroachment permits being a review of um of the street trees being requested to be removed. So when we modified the pro the ordinance so that there's a single um tree removal permit um then the encroachment permit for removal of a street tree comes down to looking at um uh traffic safety uh insurance those kind of things and not um the removal of the actual tree species um that will be done through the tree removal permit itself. So, um, actually the proposed fee here is reduced and is proposed at $122 to recover, um, estimated staff time to process that, um, abbreviated process. Uh, the second resolution that is before the council is a modification to the city's administrative citation fees. This was last updated. I believe it was 2015 2016 is um the date of the resolution. This establishes citation

fees consistent with the municipal code. Um current citation fees specifically for um violations related to trees are $100 for the first violation, $200 for the second violation, and 500 for the third. Um, the proposal is to increase those to 500 for the first, a,000 for the second, and 1,000 for the third or subsequent within a 12-month um period. This was really to um better align those citation fees with the city's um values and priorities around tree protection um and maintaining the tree canopy. So noticing was done in compliance with California government code. Um we did um send notice 14 days prior to tonight's hearing to those um that had submitted um interested persons who had filed a written request with the city clerk. We also 10 days prior we posted um um the estimated cost and analysis for the fees being proposed both for new fees as well as modified fees. And finally um SQA findings um consistent with adoption of the tree preservation ordinance categorically exempt um sections 15307 and 15308. And then also finding that the adoption of new fees and modification of existing fees um do not um are not seen as having uh the possibility of um a significant effect on the environment and therefore being exempt. And so the recommendation, it's recommended that the council approve a resolution that would add new fees and

modify existing fees on the Pedaluma master fee schedule associated with the implementation of the city's newly adopted tree preservation ordinance and also approve a resolution that would modify the city's administrative citations related specifically to trees. And that concludes my report. I'm happy to answer any questions. Thank you very much. Um, let's again go to public on this and I'll ask the clerk for their her.

We did not receive any comments ahead of the meeting, but I do have one card. If there's anyone else who would like to submit a card to speak, now is the moment. Uh, Bryant Moahan.

Good evening, council. Thank you, mayor. Uh, thank you all, by the way, for coming and sitting down for a meeting. Uh, it gets awfully late, I know, and even those pretty cush seats, they they get a little long or a little old after a while. Um, I'm here to kind of offer a different perspective. um you have a choice really of seeking a 100% cost recovery or providing community service. And this is a good example. Fees and charges like this harm the community. The public property owners that have to endure street trees that are often planted by the city that disrupt their sidewalks that the city tells them they must repair is not being a good neighbor. The city should absorb 100% of the costs associated with all the street trees. Hiring arborists, you know, to trim a tree is ridiculous. The property owner wouldn't normally hire an arborist, but it's mandated by the city. That is also ridiculous. Encroachment permits are stupid. There's no need to get an encroachment permit, right, to fix your sidewalk or to deal with the tree. And you know, I know that your council is very concerned about litigation, but the reality is you're self-insured and to put the owner to buy, you know, to go through the process is tough. I have a sidewalk guy who patches sidewalks. Um, he's a real nice guy. His name is Sergio. Sergio cannot get through your encroachment permit process. You have to go online to do it. They don't allow written encroachment permits anymore. You can't pull an application

from city hall. It is totally unfriendly and it's just it's not serving the public. adding these fees on top of it is going to discourage people from planting trees or paying for them if they knew what they're up to. And you're going to see more people cutting trees down illegally. It's been happened in the past. It's going to continue to happen simply because they're so frustrated with the process and they have no option really to to vent it or to work with someone in person to deal with it. Your public works guys are good guys. They come on down and they talk to you, but all they're trying to do is enforce the policy. Pick up 100% of the cost of all street trees and 50% of the cost of sidewalk repairs. Other communities do it. Why can't Paluma? Thank you.

Thank you very much. And that closes u public comment for the evening and um bring it back up to council. Does anyone want to weigh in on the fee structure tonight? Council member Shribs.

Uh thank you. Um first off to uh for fees they uh I've always I look at them and as a homeowner and that uh I might actually have to do this myself uh go through this process. Uh yes the fees start looking a little bit high from a homeowner's perspective they they do look a little on the high side. However, we do have a policy of moving toward 100% recovery of the actual cost to the city to do this extra work for for the citizens. So I'm willing to go along with the extra cost there. However, if if there's cases such as um there's a homeowner with a single 8 inch tree, not a six inch 8 inch tree, just over the border of of requirements and they can even it's still and they're capable of actually removing it themselves. In fact, I I've done that recently myself. I had one I'm building a shed and I needed to get a tree out of the way 8 in. I just did it myself. Took down the tree myself. So this process uh for talking about adding all these costs in um um my total cost is like 50 cents of electricity for use equipment to chop down the tree and cut it up, put it in the green bin for the most part. Cut all the logs up, put in the green bin goes to reef cycling. But now I'm looking at close to $500 fee to take down this one tree which I did myself. So there is there is a concern Mr. Morning who as you I think believe has sat in these chairs or the prior chairs. Um so this is a little bit of a concern that that I've had all along but I'm willing to go along with these fees but we're going to have to be generous in allowing folks a little bit of leeway. So if there is someone coming to the desk with a single 8 in tree, it doesn't really um and it's a very quick hey it's it's I mean within the person at the desk our our our folks who are there who understand this this uh what's the requirements are and what's needed can look at it and in 10 minutes go hey I understand your situation I can deal with it um and it

it's it's not a complicated thing. It's a very easy easy five minute decision. Not a half hour of four people making this type of that is very inefficient for four people taking a half hour to an hour to make a simple five minute really only a five-minute decision. So I would like to go with giving staff the ability to reduce the costs in those cases so that if there is a case of very fast, easy, quick, it's only costing the staff a total of 15 minutes. see it.

Okay. Um, got the concept. Um, we're gonna push it back at staff and ask if fee structures have that kind of latitude or counter has that kind of latitude to make the determination of a flexible fee. So, um, one of the things the council talked about, um, with the adoption of the ordinance, there was some consideration of whether or not there there should be, um, an exemption for trees up to 12 in on single family homes, um, which was an option, uh, for a little bit of wiggle room for individual property owners. That's not what ended up um being voted on and supported in the ordinance. So, it does say at 6 in diameter, you need a tree removal permit. If there is a flat fee required for a tree removal permit, staff doesn't have the authority to issue that permit without assessing the flat fee that the city establishes for that for that permit. So, I just want to be clear because I don't I don't want it to then be a situation where a staff member is in a situation that, you know, they they don't have the authority to wave the fee. Um,

so, um, at last meeting we discussed the ordinance and and that was the big crux between a six and 12 and we went six. Um, now we're discussing fees. In the fees, can we put in an exception that addresses that? because we're dealing with fees tonight. Can we say the fee it does not apply a single tree single family dwelling? Um less than it doesn't apply to six. So we're saying less than 12. I'd say less than uh to 12 in. Let's keep it standard within our system. This is going to get uh legal before long. Yeah.

So So and Brian might grab the microphone from me. Um so the the council is the the policy maker in this situation. So um uh if there was no fees, no fee cost for single family homes, let's just play out a scenario, then the city is not going to recover the cost of the staff time to process that application. So that is a budgetary consideration uh for the council um that that would need to be considered because the city has typically um that's how the fees are established is there's an assessment of what work goes into the receiving the the processing the reviewing the closing out the you know issuing the permit. there's an estimate on the cost of that and the city has typically um assessed those fees as covering the full cost of the processing of the applications. So, if there's a different way the council wants to do it, I think that the question is a budgetary question on how to cover those fees. If I could follow up, um while we can wave a fee and a fee conversation tonight, we can't wave the uh consultation or um I think what you call sufficient documentation part. So costs will incur.

Um correct. So there's the time for staff and then there's a time for consultation, right? The consultation for the um consulting arborist. there is going to be those costs associated with with the review,

right? Um what I'm concerned about efficiency of government at this point. Um this application should be a half page with a picture. It should take five minutes or less, even one minute to read. And with even if four people touch it from efficiency, from a government point of view, I could see this process start to finish if if it's done correctly electronically and it's just okay, I'm just going to uh I look at there's 10 or 20 applications today because there's lots of arborists out do it as well as homeowners. Arborous is where we really they do 90% of it is that's where we need to put our emphasis. I'm saying for the single homeowner who would like to comply that the process should be very efficient. Not a half hour per person, not an hour of looking at things. It should be five minutes to take care of to look at this, make a decision, and move on. So, I'm concerned about the hours and and times you're putting on the staff time to come up with $385. I think we can be much more efficient than that on staff. Um, so council, couple quick thoughts. Um, and and some of this will be to reaffirm what the mayor and Heather said.

Thank you. Um, for our listen our at home audience. Um, our attorney Eric Danley is weighing in.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, this is um, as as has been noted, the council has already made the policy decisions um that, um, are reflected in the uh, tree preservation ordinance. And this is the follow-up action that the council directed staff to come back with for fees to implement those policy choices that are reflected in the council's ordinance and what staff have presented. Um, and I think it's helpful if um I'm sure the council's looked at it in reviewing the package in exhibit B. Um this is the fee we're talking about now, the fee that's being presented for consideration as um authorizing the removal of up to three trees. Um and the analysis um as as should be done and as we consistently do to reflect the actual cost of doing that work is laid out in exhibit B. Um it sounds like council member Shribs and and I think the council would have this flexibility, but staff, you know, indicate if there's a conflict. Um it's conceivable to me that it wouldn't have to be that there could be a single tree removal. I think what council member Ships is arguing for instead of up to three. Um I think we'd need to come back with the revised, you know, analysis for that. But we could do the math and and sort of anticipate what that'll be and it presumably be less time. I I think I don't think much conclusive and thorough work can happen in five minutes even though it sounds like it's a simple process. So I just like to offer that and staff can can um provide for more detail about what what actually is involved. Um, so if if the council doesn't like this kind of bundling approach for up to three trees, I think that might be an option that um I don't think would disturb the policy choices, but staff are the ones that do that work. We just help from the legal department when they have questions. So

that that's my what I wanted to share. Thank you. Okay, Council Member Shrebs.

Um, yeah. So maybe a a scale that a little bit less for a single tree for single family home where where they are applying it for themselves. Um in those case I think a reduced fee would be much more appropriate. That way we actually get people if it's $385 as a homeowner. I'm never going to apply for a permit at $385 if I have to come in and make up a paperwork to take out a single 8 inch tree. I'm not going to do it and I don't think anybody else is going to do that either. So, for a single tree, for a family to do it themselves without the professionals, um I'm I want to be a little more lenient on cost. And um can I ask staff um is the um tree protection ordinance due for second reading?

It's adopted. Yeah, it's adopted. You did We did that. So, that that flexibility is off table.

Mayor, just one one sort of suggestion just I'm hearing the back and forth. um there. So if we end up one option we could unless I hear an objection from a legal perspective we have flat fees and we have cost recovery. Um cost recovery is typically for development review um longer um processes, but it potentially could give us the flexibility to let's say we set a relatively low deposit. You know, we collect 100 bucks up front. Most projects we would expect to to um as Heather described it would take that amount of time. Could we potentially get it down through some process improvement? Um perhaps this is our best guess at this point. So I think switching to a cost recovery model would give us that flexibility. I also want to point out I don't think the intent of what council had adopted um can be done in a five minute exercise. Um we'll certainly try to get there. Um, but I offer up this suggestion uh to start with if there's a level of comfort and we'll um be hawkish in looking at how much that um application or that permit gets generated. If we need to adjust and come back um we would do that um expediently. So that's just one offer.

Thank you. Uh council member Quinn. Uh thank you. Uh, I just want to Are are we in question and comment? Yes, we are. Okay. Thank you. Um, do we know how many permits are issued for fences a year? I don't I don't have that off the top of my head. No,

thank you. I didn't um I mean I think it would have been a good question ahead of time. I didn't think about it, but I'm asking it because it it's relevant. We're using it as a comparison point for this. And I'm wondering if uh what I'm wondering is how many permits for fences um do we sell versus fences that get built? Uh because uh

yeah. Um, I feel like three and a half hours of city professional services for a permit is excessive. Um, I'm not going to go down the path and say it should be done in five minutes. Um, but I don't think it should take three and a half hours. Um, and staff, I mean staff is, you know, your job is to come here and say, "Well, this is kind of how long we think it's going to take." And our job is, you know, being the representative of other people is to say, well, I I think it's natural for us and we should kind of push back on that a little bit and say, um, we think you can do it quicker. And I would be, and I wouldn't I'm not a fan of the cost recovery for the smaller permits. I would be um I would challenge staff to be more efficient with it to make it something less than 385. Um I would go so far as to say, you know, half of that and give it a year and if you come back and tell us you're getting killed on tree permits, then uh you know, maybe we look at increasing it next year. Like that would be my my thinking. uh just to kind of make it simple and get something across the goal line. Um I like the revision of the encroachment per the yeah the revision of the encroachment permit pricing. Uh and I would like to see um so I want to make it easier for people to get permits and I want to see the penalties stiffer for people who violate the law and I would advocate that escalate that I'd like to see the escalating pen penalty stretch out over 36 months rather than 12 months. That's what I have to say. Council

member D.

Um, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, the property owners um for sidewalks, we as a city provide them some financial aid right now. Correct. I see shaking of heads. I believe there is a um sidewalk repair program with with public works and I'm wondering if we could maybe also do that for some of our tree um especially the ones that were planted in front of properties like on Kentucky Street. The property owners are responsible for them and they have ruined the sidewalks. They are growing up into the buildings. um the rodent problem, you know, they need to be trimmed back. Some of her are not the right species for that particular um ground to be inside the sock a sidewalk. So, um I'd like some discussion from staff on what we can do to help those property owners. Some of these fees I can see um there's a property owner that wants to develop their property and split it into maybe three different um they have a big lot in West Paluma and they want to maybe remove some trees to build some housing units. We need more housing. So, you know, I can see there's going to be some staff time in my neighborhood today. someone was cutting down a redwood and I I I didn't know what to tell him. I just said call code enforcement and I gave them all the city connections and website information because I don't even know that what you do if you see a neighbor, you know, and not very many neighbors do it for fences, but people do it for they see a tree being cut down. And I do know that arborists are

not aware of our new tree ordinance and that we're even discussing it. So we are in the process of drafting a letter that will be going at and and developing a list of all the um tree contractors both with business licenses in the city and we have kind of a running list from people who have gotten permits over time and we'll be sending something out in the in the short near future. So we are working on that as a notification. Great. Vice Mayor,

thank you for your presentation, Heather. Uh, do you know how much staff time you anticipate this will take annually based on the projected number of permits you might receive? So, it's very hard to um project how many permits we're going to receive because um so much doesn't require a permit now that the number of tree removal permits that are do come in and are processed are very very low and I can't remember the number off the top of my head but I feel like it was something like five or eight last year. something very low. Um because the previous the current for another few weeks um ordinance doesn't require a permit for removal of hardly anything. Um so it's very hard to know how how many tree removal permits to estimate since we don't have that background. So there is no projection as far as numbers go or is there

there is not a projection in terms of how many tree removal permits we expect to see in 2026. Do we expect that we have the amount of staff available and resources on hand to handle that? Um we do and we have been able to flex up and flex down to um when additional permits come in we have been able to flex up and flex down to cover cover the additional or the reduced um activity in the department.

How close to cost are we with the fees? because um the the numbers for the fees seem very um round, you know, or arbitrary. Um, so what we went off of as a starting point for the tree removal permit fee was based on quite a considerable amount of work that was done by the city in 2024 when the city did a user fee um update to look at all of the fees citywide. So that's what we used as a starting point because there had been so much time put into that recently. Um, our attempt also was not to come out with anything more expensive than those um, fees. So, we actually reduced the time. I feel like if if I'm remembering correctly, a fence permit was an hour of an analyst and three hours of an associate and a half an hour of a planning manager. So, it was more more time and in an effort to get keep the cost down at 381. um and knowing we had to work in time for the consulting arborist, we reduced the time um in an effort to keep that fee as low as possible. So that's that's what we were working off of was a considerable amount of work that the city had done in 2024 across all the fees,

but we're talking about keeping it as low as possible, but we don't know what cost is. Well, that's our best estimate of what the cost is is based on the hours and the positions um that are in the exhibit B.

Okay. So, there's um there's three things that come to mind for me. You know, where I think we need to be consistent with things. You know, we did just hear a presentation on the blue zones and how or from blue zones, excuse me, and how high financial stress is in Paluma right now and how much of a concern that is to people's health and well-being. So, I think adding something like that contributes to it. Um, it doesn't lessen it. And um you know I think too we we just recently talked about public transit and you know to to keep the transit system fair free you know to help people to entice them to ride to you know um make it easier on people. Um and you know it's with the tree ordinance. Um I like the ordinance. I mean we all supported it. you know, we want to protect our trees here, but um with uh with the trees, you know, if we're going to start charging a fee, that's that's going to I mean, it's been mentioned it's going to people from wanting to come to the city and apply for a permit. So, we're kind of contradicting ourselves with that. And then at the same time, if we're trying to make it easier for people to be homeowners or first-time homeowners in Paluma, this this is not helping that situation either. So, you know, I think we all we all supported the tree ordinance and and you know, for me to kind of restate what I said then. Um, you know, we have so many trees that are just as old as the city or older that everybody loves our downtown and how old that is and and the trees are actually a big part of that that people don't always consider or realize. And so, while the ordinance is great, I think I think the fees are just they're they're too severe. um they don't incentivize people to to do the

right thing in protecting their trees and um I think we need to I think we need to streamline things you know again because we are doing this for the community so we need to streamline things um make it make it an easier quicker process for staff so that the cost for staff is lower and at the same time we need to figure out what the minimal cost could be in this entire process. So, I think the rest of council is kind of going down that road, too. Um, and I think that's what we would like to see. Okay. Council member Kater Thompson.

Um, so we're just we're talking about all trees. What if we differentiate between like a front yard versus a backyard because that's where you're going to get more of an visual impact if somebody takes trees out on the front yard or in street trees. So, I mean, I definitely would want to have review if it's a street tree or a front yard tree. And so, the the ordinance that was adopted requires the review the tree permit to be issued for all the trees. Um there, you know, the city could decide that there needs to be a subsidy of the fees associated with processing the application or um a subsidy for the first year and we can track it and come back and modify. um we can reduce the fees um and track it and come back and say, you know, there was a default subsidy, if you will, um of of that fee. So, this was the best estimate um based on the work that the city did with, you know, other administrative fees in the department. Um there are quite a few findings and requirements that um are in the ordinance. So we need to make sure that we are reviewing them consistently. Um so I'm open for um suggestions.

Okay. On a different way to to approach that. Any any more on that? Um well, I'm thinking about what council member um Quint said and kind of agree going in that direction. and reviewing it so we can, you know, Okay. manage it and look at it in a year. Yeah.

Yeah. I think that um that's kind of where I'm I'm interested. Um I I first think that we when we adopted this tree protection ordinance, we noticed what a substantive thing it was and we noticed how we were driving it down to the 6-in tree. I mean, we noticed it was going to be a big deal and a big change. So we can't now be surprised to say that there's fees involved and you know and it's going to be cost at staff time or cost on the individuals. Um the question is is like do we want to hold on that and do we believe the process takes as much as this the staff consultation point. So to try and sync this up I I kind of support what what uh council member Quint is saying. Uh a the point is to keep trees and that's what the member Carney was saying too. We want to preserve trees. So, I like the 36-month part and then um the uh other part when you know we don't really know what this process is going to take. I'd propose that for single tree not and not the two and three but the single tree we drop it to 150 more or less half go one year. We do fees every year. So, we track the one tree uh thing and see what we get. So, does that have some support on council? Council member um Shrebs. Um, yes, because I can see in a single tree for homeowners to do it themselves, it doesn't go to four people. It just goes to one. The permit process go should be for for for that type situation should go straight to the arborist. Could be online. He makes looks at it, makes a decision. Yes, no, he can do it and I know he can do it. The one we have can do that in 15 minutes just having a little bit knowledge about if there's something about in the planning process. But I don't see four people making a decision on this. It should be just the one if it's a single tree

and and I think what you're hoping to do there is is drive a staff policy but I don't think that we can quite do that from here. I think we express our direction and and you know ask them to come in at an effort that requires that consistent with the ordinance. So I think it's like point taken and then shifting over to our attorney.

Thanks Mr. Mayor. Um, right. That's um um that kind of detailed administrative direction is not really what we're here from the council to receive from the council tonight. We're here to receive from the council policy direction about the fees to go along along with the policy direction about the ordinance. Um there's also a legal framework that Heather's tracking to in her comments to you and that the package is structured to do and that is a few things. one um these fees we treat them as service fees under government code section 66014 which is part of the mitigation fee act and like the rest of the act it provides for um for us to establish the city to establish a sufficient record that it's not overreovering the cost that it's charging for the providing the services that it's providing. Um, and the structure of this package is consistent with that. And we gave 10 days notice of the support and the facts and the analysis to justify these fees. Um, so if we change that too much, we may have to renotice and come back, which if we have to, that's fine. Um, that's the council's prerogative. Um, there's nothing that says, and the council has touched on this, and staff have too, there's nothing that says we have to recover these fees from those that are receiving them. The the council could choose to subsidize those staff costs from the general fund. Um, and if the council gives that direction to discount them and not fully recover, um, then then we'll follow that direction. I don't think we need to renotice because we've given the upside notice already. Um so so the council can do that but that's something the general fund will have to absorb. Um

I think the council could direct that we come up with a single uh tree removal fee using consistent with the analysis that we've provided because remember it's this is not really this is not arbitrary what's being provided that those staff cost rates are accurate. Um the math is accurate. Um the question mark is how much time it actually takes and it's going to vary but um the the estimates are reasonable. So um the council has that flexibility but that's kind of the framework within which we need to Good point. Okay. Gotcha. the city manager want to weigh in or

I was just going to ask for staff to pull that that hourly rate up and I think for a single tree we probably can cut out some of that staff time and and and try to get the cost down for the single tree because presumably what's provided on for up to three trees is up to three trees and one is you know at maximum will be even by English major math would be a third right oh I I'm happy to take a third I don't I know the analysis is linear, but

so a couple things and I will pull it up. I was just looking at it. So the um to council member Shrib's point, there was a conversation with the consulting arborist trying to think about this, one of the things that was said is he can likely keep things to a desk review of 15 to 30 minutes if what he is receiving from the city is thorough. And so part of this time that staff needs to spend is looking at what is submitted. We can we can do a lot to have a robust application form, ask questions, ask people to add things, but one of the things that takes more time if what goes to the consulting arborist, who is the more expensive charge on all of this, if the information isn't thorough, if there's not pictures, some of those kind of things. So, some of that is a a a city staff person reviewing what comes in, following up with the applicant when if it's not thorough um to make sure we get the additional information to send it to the consulting arborist to keep it as low as possible um of his time, which is one of the more expensive um the most expensive hourly rate. So, that was some of the thinking there. Um, we can, um, to Eric's point, we could do, um, a single tree. I don't think it's going to go to a third of the price, um, because it is still going to require the consulting arborist review. And so that is estimated at 120. So we can't get there's only so much you can do there. And that is going to be a bill that is coming to the city for the time spent. So that is a a limitation on how low that fee can go in and of

itself. But I do

we're kind of in a in a in a thing here where we're uncomfortable with the fee, but you know, we need to figure out do we want to just say that we're going to set it at a flat fee and and find out later and if need be that's a subsidy or do do we want to propose to reanalyze this and send it off which I think is bad government to send it back off and come back again. So uh when are you comfortable proposing something here? Okay. But um because then you're also adding in the u um the encroachment fee and everything, but I'd see a total fee of $200 for someone to submit and get the work done for one to three trees. Let's start with the 200 flat fee for that and encourage folks to actually do the process because um there's a lot of homeowners that will do a lot of single trees, but the area that I think is the most impactful is going to be the not the arborist. The arbors are going to be following the rules, the bigger arbors. It's the landscape crews, the small crews, the one and two truck crews that go in and do all the small trees. And those are the ones we really need to bring in the fold to cooperate with this. So, I think keeping it down to $200 total, wherever it is on the property, should work. Anyway, I'll let Councilman Quinton.

Yeah, I would I would uh I um if he was if that were a motion, I would second it. Can I ask a clarifying? Um, well, I guess we don't have to to your point, Eric, we don't have to recover the whole fee. I'm like looking at the numbers. So, if we want to say a flat fee for a single for a single tree removal to be 200. Is that what I'm hearing? Even if the even if we play with these numbers and it comes up with 220, we can still have a fee of 200 because we don't have to recover the

legally. we can and and and and the important thing is the this is staff's best estimate about the staff time costs for doing this work. Council does not have to fully recover those. So you're making some choices about that. Appreciate it. Let me further on the clarifying thing. I think you said and encroachment and and right the total total fee for the whole package in order to a permit to do to remove age would be just $200 flat total period if in including the encroachment and everything just $200 fee and the other point that you made was for the whole one to three rather than we were parsing for one previously

I just go with just the one just for one single tree for the three if it's three trees we can charge that much I think so single tree removal. So what you're doing is parsing out the one and leaving the two three all as per shown. Yeah, if I can get something if I can get that I'd be happy. So So can we can confirm that to just confirm what the direction is? Um, what I'm hearing is for removal of a single tree, $200 flat fee, that includes the tree removal permit cost and the encroachment permit cost if needed for the single tree. Yes.

And and and so that'll mean some revisions in this structure that has been presented to you to reflect that. But the direction is clear and that's less than what we notice to the public. So it's not a legal problem. Um so if that's the direction there is no second reading on this. No. And so you're crafting on the fly here. Am I also hearing that keep two to three trees as as at the 381 we're creating um a difference for a single tree removal. Right. I think for for getting cooperation from both landscapers and I'm going to accept that. That's I I'll make that as a motion and let someone set that to

We have a second from So we have a motion from Shrev. A second from Quint and was there to have a comment to add. Any other comments? Mayor, can I ask a clarification please? Are we also changing the time period on the administration citations to 36 months? We can ask the motion maker if that's included in his motion. Yes. Let's please include that in the motion. And that works with the second. Yes. And uh vice mayor,

um I'm curious with the inlua fee, you know, they I don't know. I mean, is that that necessary too? You know, to they're going to be planting a 15 gallon tree already. Is that I forget. Is that the city sponsoring a 15 gallon replacement? No. If there is a if if a a property owner is planting a 15gallon replacement, there is no inluff fee. That's if they don't want to replace um the tree. Okay. Thank you. Good. And with that, we have no further questions on this. We'll go to a roll call vote on the motion. Well, could Excuse me. Could we restate what we've done?

Please restate. Sure. So, the motion is to um create um a tree removal permit for a single tree. that would be um set at $200 inclusive of the encroachment permit if needed um to remove a street tree um and to keep the 380 tree any one tree. Well, you don't need an encroachment permit, right? Except for a street tree. So, what I'm saying is it would be a tree removal permit for a single tree at $200. If that single tree is a street tree, that is inclusive of the encroachment permit fee. Okay.

Um keep two to three trees at the 381 and um ex with the administrative citations um replace the 12 months with 36 months. Great. Thank you for that readback. And now our roll call vote. Peter Thompson. Yes. D Carly, yes. Now, yes. Quint, yes. Shribs, yes. McDonald, yes. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you very much. Thank you, staff.

Appreciate all the help on that one. Uh item 11 is um introduction first reading of an ordinance for the Rancho Aoyo business park and planned community development zoning district regulations to add outdoor recreational vehicles as a permitted accessory use and minor associated amendments and making the findings that this is categorically exempt squ. And to help us out, we have Lissa Alchin, our senior planner. Welcome.

So, um, we, um, we want to offer an opportunity to fasttrack this and so I will, um, prior to presentation poll, uh, council. Uh, are there any concerns that are going to be raised here?

I think we should hear the presentation. Well, fasttracking would mean not and, you know, help us get through our agendas and part of what we're going to need for streamlining on future items. This requires a hearing, but it um it need not require a full presentation if we've read the packet and don't have uh particular concerns. So, maybe I'll lead with if you share a particular concern, the presentation can lead to that point and and we can narrow our concerns. Well, I mean, I think the presentation may differ from not differ but give more insight to the material provided. I think we should hear it. Um, okay. Do we have to be tonight?

Um, I think you feel the uh um sense of the council, the broad sense of the council and can adjust in accordance.

Thank you, mayor and members of the council. Um we will go quickly through this presentation. It's quite short. Um so tonight you tonight uh this is the first reading of an ordinance to amend the rancho royal business park planned unit uh planned community development commonly known or referred to as the PCD in order to add the outdoor recreational vehicle storage as a permitted accessory use.

Um perfect. Um this this slide here in front of you is just depicting the parcels that would be subject to this PCD amendment. Um they are generally con uh consistent with um between the Pedaluma B or Peluma River and Highway 101 in the northern part of the city. Um there are two parcels that have no frontage on industrial. That's 85 Corona Road and um 1118 uh Auto Center Drive. Uh next slide please. Um this is in um response to an application that uh the plan division received. It also um addresses a community need. Um please state verified and identified 358 um RV related calls for service over the last three years. Um many of those situations um involve un unhoused individuals living in RVs, but that also involves um RV um owners parking uh their RVs in un uh permitted places such as in the public rightway uh in in yards not uh surfaced for parking. Um, I did want to be clear that this is a PUD a PCD amendment that would only apply to those specific parcels, not throughout the whole city. So, it's limited in scope. Um, next slide, please. Um, so as a project overview, this is the first reading of the Ranchro business Rancho A Royal Business Park BCD amendment to add the RV storage as a permitted accessory use. Um it also adds a section N to that PCD um to uh standardize the uh development standards for this particular use as well as

established management and operational requirements. Next slide. Um some of those standards include hours of oh sorry wrong slide. This is um a a brief slide about the planning commission action. Um the two topics that came up during that um meeting were hours of operation and the um the classification of the use. So um I will briefly talk about both of those topics on a future site so we can skip ahead. So this use classification um and why we uh decided to go with the permitted accessory use rather than a permitted by right or an conditional use. Um we will um we went with the permitted the accessory use um to limit the size and kind of limit the the operations to being accessory to a permitted use. Um so um that's why the permitted accessory use land use classification was chosen instead of the cup which is a discretionary review process um which requires um sometimes a public hearing but public noticing always um it may be denied and it provides um it doesn't provide the um certainty for an applicant when they come in. Next slide please. Um some of the other performance standards um that were written into the PCD around this particular use for were setbacks um landscape buffers, screening, lighting, um nuisance mitigation um and um vehicle condition. Um that would include um requiring the vehicles to be drivable, registered um not derelict um so they could be moved if needed. Next slide please.

Um and this is a slide on the U general plan and ICO findings to make this PCD amendment. Uh the findings are the same for adopting a new PCD. Um so those include um thoroughare adequacy um natural scenic qualities um public welfare and uh unified arrangement of the use. Next slide. and then environmental review. Um it was determined that the project or the PCD amendment would be cate categorically exempt um under 15303 was an existing facilities exemption and the common sense exemption. Of course any future projects would um likely require a spar um if there was development happening uh building permit. So that future development would go through a process for review. Next slide. And so staff's recommendation is to introduce this zoning amendment ordinance um to uh amend the PCD. It would add the recreational uh RV storage as a permitted accessory use. Um it would authorize uh some minor associated administrative amendments to the PCD um that were identified when we reviewed it and then make uh the findings that the action is categorically exempt. Next slide.

And that's the end of my presentation. Happy to answer your questions. Wonderful. Thank you so much. Um, let's go to public comment. That is seemed to be a streamlined process. How we doing with public comment? We did not receive any public comments on this item ahead of the meeting and I don't have any cards on this item, but this is the moment. Seeing no one stepping forward on this item, uh we'll close public comment, bring it up to the council for its deliberation. Um council member Darly, uh any any thoughts on this one? No, thank you.

Anyone want to council member Shribs? A couple questions. Um first one, um I've ridden my bike over there and driven over there for for the autos and sales and I don't remember a residence anywhere near that those sites. Where is the residence that you're talking about? Can you bring up the map and point to it? It's on Corona Road. Yeah. I'm not sure if my computer's pulled up. It's right be behind 85 Corona. It's It's on the Corona frontage road when they move the overpass in behind the barber shop. It's right down at the south end. Oh. Um Okay. I realize that's across the road industrial. But that's across the road, not a budding. It's tucked in the back. It's It's almost to the freeway.

Yeah. Right. We're the um old athletic club, the valley. Um see how the property Yeah. And the map is pretty small in this presentation, but and and you and does that satisfy you? Do you have another point?

Yes, I have other points. Um the second one, when I asked the question, um who is actually thinking about putting in the RV storage and where and looking at that? bring the map up again, please, because it's the map is important as where. Um, and I was thinking of the possibilities of where the best storage might be on that site. But what was when I got back when I asked the question and what got it back was the actual blank spot, not the green spot, but actually the blank spot between um that's down there between the um where the sign says industrial and auto center. There's the the land which is right next to the storage unit, the new one. That's is that the land that we're actually talking about that's going to get uh that someone wants to put RVs on?

Uh council member, no not the uh vacant parcel that s that fronts industrial. It's actually the parking lot of the former Paluma Valley Athletic Club. So the club is being repurposed for a self- storage facility and then the parking lot which would accommodate anywhere from 30 to 50 vehicles when the athletic club was was open for business would then be repurposed for the outdoor RV storage. Right. Would that also include there's little like a side road between the dyke and and then the building that a lot of folks have parked in. Is that included in that? Because that that's also not No, because that's old Corona Road. So that's a a um public rideway.

Can you show it with the cursor just so council member?

It would be right there. Just the parking lot that's in front of the former athletic club only. Okay, good. That that's a lot smart. I thought we were talking about the vacant lot that was on the map, but it's not the vacant lot. It's just the parking lot that we're talking about because the other area that is possible I could see in that area um where the um on the auto mall folks there's a lot of storage between there and what's now Chick-fil-A. There's a large piece of property that was used for a lot of RVs for sales and storage which are no longer there. It's now u pretty much unoccupied land. Um that's a second spot. And is is that spot also on this map? Because I couldn't quite tell.

I'm I'm not sure. I don't think it is because I think that side is under a different PCD. It's under center that's closer to the freeway that's not in not marked here. So So that's that's the second area that I can see as potentially usable for RVs. So is there any way we can get that included? That PCD would have to be amended. We would have to take it back through a public review process in order to amend that PCD. Okay. So the end result is there's only one small little piece of property on on this all the gray area that that would be applicable really.

Well there one of one of our goals was to prevent so so for instance going back to the vacant parcel fronting industrial avenue that you thought was would be the right so what we're trying to do is prevent the conversion of vacant land or underutilized land to outdoor RV storage. That's why we're doing it as as a use accessory to a primary use. So, um the auto sales and rental uses, if they have parking spaces that that aren't being utilized, they could propose to convert those to to the uh outdoor RV storage. They would have to be secured and screened, but it it would preclude establishment of a um storage only use on any of the parcels.

Right. Yeah. I just want to uh the points I'm trying to make is is yeah, we don't want to use the vacant lots immediately that that could be used for more useful things. Uh not just for RV. We need RV storage. Yes, you're finding the right spot and now now that you've described it is, oh, I I can see it now. I can believe in it and I can go for it. Um but I wasn't sure before cuz I wasn't quite what it was what we were actually talking about. So the other area um what I'd like to see is more of this being done throughout the city if we can, especially in the industrial parks. And so I just would like to promote that. Yes, we need to RV storage in areas like this. If we can do more of this, I would support that. I just want to make sure where we're doing, what we're doing, and why we're doing it so it's clear to to the folks.

Sure. And one of the one of the benefits of this PCD amendment is we really modeled uh how we would approach creating a land use in the uh implementing zoning ordinance as part of the zoning reform project that would allow for um outdoor RV storage to be in the standard zoning ordinance where it could be allowed in other locations throughout the city. So, I would I would look at this PCD amendment as being the language that that we would bring over to the zoning reform project and expanded in the standard zoning districts and uh that would be subject then to to uh community input as well as public review by the planning commission and city council. The other comment that I when I put a question in and got a response back again in the letters after uh the reports um was that we have a lot uh having an RV and having stored it and looked at other RVs in the storage areas. There are a lot of dilapidated older RVs that are just kind of sitting there because people didn't don't use them and they're sitting there for years and years because that's easier to do that than try to sell them or get use them or get rid of them. So, we also need a second program of let's open up current RV storage that already is full. Let's see if we can get some of those older unused vehicles out to somewhere else or sold to someone who is going to use them and and be more effective and efficient in our RV store space.

Good feedback. Thank you, Council Member Quint. I'd like to make a motion to accept the ordinance. I'll second that. So, we have a motion from Quint and a second from Kater Thompson. And seeing no other voices, seeing uh wait one second here. We've got council member now. Hey, you skipped over me. Um going back off of council member Shribs. Um the there is an existing RV and boat storage and there doesn't seem to be any enforcement. So, who's going to be enforcing that? they're going to be doing everything that we're asking.

Sure. So, that's a great point. Um, with this PCD amendment in the Rancho Royal PCD, we'll have operational standards that can be enforced by code enforcement. Part of the issue right now is because we don't allow outdoor RV storage, we don't have any standards to enforce um where we have existing storage facilities. But we do have one. It's on Lindberg Lane diagonal around the corner from Sure, you have a facility, but the but the zoning code doesn't have any standards for how to how to operate it.

Okay. And will this one also have boat storage? Well, we've described it as as RV storage. The applicant is here if you'd like to ask that question at the So, will it also include because we have a lot of boats that are sitting on residential streets? I think it just suffice to say, what does the code allow? Does code allow boat storage? Yeah, it would. So, that's the answer. So, yes, if he wants to do that, he can do that. Oh, so what's the description again? Well, I think it's in the staff report. It's in the staff it we just asked. Does what what we're permitting allow boats? And the answer was yes from staff. Okay. But it doesn't say boats. It says says recreational vehicle but it includes boats. Yes.

Okay. So see the general public doesn't and good point. Good clarification. Council member Dater Thompson. Did you have something? My only comment is I'm really looking forward to the U parking ordinance coming so we can deal with this because that's why we're having this conversation because we don't have any storage for boats and recreational vehicles and they're all over streets. Good point. Really happy to support this. Council member Darly. Um Andrew, what what's the red boundary again in the map or the overhead view? Let me pop the map. The the red boundary the map. Yeah. Oh, the

Oh, that's the city the city jurisdictional boundary. Oh, I see. Between the county and city over there. Okay, that's right. Um, yeah. And the and the and the blue areas are all where this would be affected, right? That those are the areas that are subject to the current PCD. Okay. Are there any environmental concerns with, you know, if say some of those are fields right now, if they get paved, um what that's going to do to water that's not recharging the ground but getting run off into the creek?

Well, those if if development is proposed, it would be subject to environmental review under SQA. And so those um potential impacts would have to be mitigated if they're found to be uh if there are found to be environmental impacts for the for the project right now that is initiating the PCD amendment. No, because that's a previously existing development. Correct. Just the athletic facility, right? But then um you know if you're looking at that corridor right there and all those areas right along the creek are potential sites um why wouldn't you include the one at the corner of Stony Point in Old Redwood?

Well because that's not included in the PCD. So So we're only amending the Rancho Aoyo PCD and when we go up there to Stony Point and Old Redwood that's not within a PCD. It's a standard zoning district. It's zone C1. So, uh, and we're not amending the ICO, just the PCD. Thank you. I think that brings us to a roll call vote.

Kater Thompson. Yes. D Carly, yes. Now, yes. Quint, yes. Shribs, yes. McDonald, yes. Motion carries unanimously.

Thank you very much, team. Thank you for being here. Um, and that brings us to item 12, which is a public hearing regarding resolutions of the public pedaluma city council in the Paluma Public Financing Authority authorizing the issuance of state tax bonds by the city of Paluma and issuance of le lease revenue bonds by the Pedaluma public financing authority to finance the cost of constructing the new Pedaluma public safety facility and approving uh related documents, agreements, and actions. And um wow, we're teed up already. Okay, so um um to help us out with this today, we have our assistant city manager, Brian Cochran. Take it away.

Great. Thank you, Mayor and Council members. Uh tonight, we are pleased to be here to present the financing plan for the new public safety facility at the fairgrounds. And I'm joined here tonight by several members of our financing team, including Steven Gordeler, the municipal financial adviser for the city, as well as uh James Warsak with the law firm of Jones Hall, serving as bond counsel on these transactions. This project will bring together several important public safety functions into one modern facility, including a police station, fire station number four, fire headquarters, and an emergency operations center. It adds a new fire station location number four, which will help improve emergency response coverage across the city. The existing facilities are outdated and antiquated, and this project is intended to replace and improve on those conditions while supporting long-term public safety needs as outlined in the public safety facilities master plan that came to council just over two years ago. The total construction cost proposed for financing is $55 million. And that is divided into two main components that we'll be talking to you about tonight. The first is a 30-year taxexempt sales tax bond for about 56% of that $55 million total or just under $31 million. The second is a 30-year taxexempt lease revenue bond uh for the remaining 44% or approximately 24 million. in addition to construction. So the 55 million is just construction. In addition to that, the overall project budget including design, site work, uh related drainage improvements at the

fairgrounds, etc. is a total estimated budget of about $71 million for the full project. So bit more detail on each of the bond issuances individually. The sales tax bond would be secured by the city's allocation of Measure H revenues only. No other city revenues would be pledged to repay that bond. And just to remind everybody, Measure H is the countywide halfsent sales tax that was approved by Sonoma County voters in 2024 specifically for local firerevention related services, facilities, and equipment. Paluma receives uh just over 7% of that tax and that is dedicated to Paluma services and facilities and the revenues are distributed to all of the other participating cities and fire uh districts and agencies throughout Cinema County. Based on the most recent 12 months of data that we have for the period ending December 31, 2025, the city received about 4.5 4.5 million from Measure H revenues. And the annual debt service for the sales tax bond itself would be about 1.8 million. So less than half of our overall Measure H revenue is being taken up with the debt service. The remaining half or more will be allocated to other uses such as staffing costs for the new station. Moving on to the lease revenue bonds, the other half of this proposed financing plan that would fund the remaining share of construction, as I said, about $24 million. Annual debt service for the lease revenue bonds would be 1.3 $1.4 million. uh for the first 26 years of the bonds, the the last four years, there's a bit of a wraparound component once our 2021 lease revenue bonds drop off of the schedule.

But together with the 2021, so if you look at our 2021 and our 26 lease revenue bonds combined, that debt service is about 2.3 million over that 30-year period. Uh staff have reviewed both the current and projected general fund revenues and expenditures and have built those debt service payments into the fiscal 2627 budget that council will be uh reviewing in a few weeks as well as our 5-year general fund forecast. And we'll continue to budget for the lease payments over the life of those bonds through our general fund and our measure revenues. And speaking of measure UU, as part of the original MeasureU implementation plan uh adopted or proposed back in 2021, measure UU reg uh revenues have been designated for this purpose and have been included in the city's long-term forecast uh since that time since 2021. A few additional points on the financing structure. So both bonds are fixed rate, no variable rate debt here, and they're callable after 10 years. Meaning that if at some future point after 10 years interest rates are significantly better or lower than the rates at which we issue the bonds, there may be an opportunity for the city to refinance the debt into a lower interest rate to save overall interest costs. And additionally, I wanted to note that the bonds are not issued immediately upon uh assuming council approval tonight. They're not issued say tomorrow. There's a process that we go through and we will be monitoring market conditions along with our financing team, evaluating the project bids. They'll come back in uh mid to late May and then size and time the final bond issuance accordingly uh once council has signed off on the final bid award for the construction of the

project. uh in the event of uh something crazy happening in the market or we need to retract, we also have the ability to delay or cancel the sale. So, we have kind of the full suite of options uh after this approval if if uh something changes. In terms of issuance costs, uh estimated issuance costs are about $364,000 for the sales tax bond and about 294,000 for the lease revenue bond. And the vast majority of those, say 95% of those costs or so, uh, would be paid from bond proceeds only if the sales go through, only if the bond issuances are actually executed. If they are not for some reason, then most of the issuance cost is not due and payable from the city. Uh from a process standpoint, this item is before you tonight as a public hearing and the authorization of the financing and the public notices uh were published in the press democrat and the Argus courier. So the recommendation before you tonight is to hold the public hearing and adopt the resolutions that are before you needed to authorize both of the financing components that we walked through. And I will note that for the sales tax bond, there is one resolution of the city council. For the lease revenue bonds, there is a resolution of the city council as well as a resolution of the Pedaluma public financing authority. So that's a total of three resolutions that you would be adopting tonight uh if you move forward with the recommendation. And so that includes my introductory comments and staff are happy to answer any questions.

Uh thank you very much. U obviously a big day. Uh this biggest project the city's undertaken in some time. So um a lot of important steps. Um I'd like to uh invite public comment. Will you please uh fill us in on that piece?

We did receive one comment ahead of the meeting on this item and that's uh Thank you. Uh that's attached to the agenda on the website and I'm getting some cards in now. Thank you. We have uh two cards tonight to uh speak on the matter. The first is Shantel Rogers to be followed by Bryant Moahan.

Hi. Um so somehow uh we have taken on this incredibly expensive project um that requires issuing bonds and paying over $4 million a year for the foreseeable future. Um I think sometimes we think that um measure bonds, measure H, measure U is like free money. Um and it's not. Um other cities who are receiving measure H funds are not building um giant um facilities. They're using it to um upgrade their uh current infrastructure, to pay for their um uh safety personnel, um to do fire uh mitigation. Um and we still need to have all those things done. And yet we're um committing half of our funds to a giant new facility which is going to bring us incredible amounts of expenses going forward. Um we have the 55 million in bonds. We have another 16 million apparently. Um we have staffing needs when that comes up. there are going to be ongoing um inevitable expenses that are going to be added on. Um and we all know that our city budget is looking a little grim. So

um you know we have these $55 million in in bonds. Um, and I was my understanding we were going to do some additional bonds for um, road repair after this $20 million bond that we have um, is expended. And I don't know if that's going to happen anymore. Um, and so I hope that at at the very least going forward that we re in some of these other expenditures. We've done firehouse one with a uh temporary facility. We've done, you know, incredible in, you know, improvements in firehouse 2. Maybe we could rein back, you know, some of the expenses that we are putting forward and and and have some of those improvements and deferred maintenance more over time. um instead of committing sort of all of our expenses um and our available funds towards that.

Thank you, Brian Moahan.

Thank you. I appreciate those sensible comments. Um I don't think this item is properly agendaized. It says whether or not we want to issue bonds. And yet what I hear here is how we're going to fund the new public safety structure. And I assume that when you say yes to the bonds, you're saying yes to the project. And I hope that's not the case because a lot of deliberates should occur. There's a letter in your packet from a fellow named Nick who points out that you have a lot of capital improvement projects and other funding priorities like fixing our streets and you're not weighing that tonight. It suggested this is a $55 million project. It doesn't suggest that the bonding costs and interests are included in that $55 million. You're looking at $100 million. A $und00 million boondoggle. Do you really want your name associated with that when you vote yes on this or are you going to vote no? You have four stations, fire stations in Paluma. Three are active. One is down on pay. You could rehab that for a fraction of the cost. You have the fair administration building. You could use that for your fire administration. You could move those tents from Pedaluma Boulevard down next to the pay station. Or you could build a couple of new wings for the ladder truck and the engine trucks and you could do it at a fraction of the cost. Alternatives, no bond issued. What about other alternatives? doing other capital improvement projects. What about leasing? What are you guys paying now? 10,000 a month for your public works to be up in the Redwood Business Park on Redwood Way. Why can't you lease? Why can't you buy a building? You could buy a building, any office building in town for 300 bucks a square foot. And you could buy that and be available

today. How many years is this going to take as a project? It's not well thought out of. It's terribly expensive. You guys lease uh space at 1301 South Point for years and you house city administration there. Why not buy that building? It'd be a tenth of the cost of what you're proposing tonight. You're not looking at alternatives, you know, and you could also buy a building for conventional fi with conventional financing. You could use your existing measure U funds that you're getting a sales tax revenue approximately$ 18 million a year. You could go a long way to fixing the streets and pay for a new building with conventional financing. That's not being considered. Measure H funds can go to salaries and benefits the fire and police. It also going to buy equipment. You guys going to, you know, want another fire engine. Do you know how expensive fire engines are? What about another ladder truck? I mean, the boys down at the firehouse are not going to be content picking just the lowhanging fruit forever. They're going to want that higher fruit a second ladder truck would require.

So, thank you. Okay. Um, thank you very much. Um Um, let's uh go to public comment on this. And that was and we're closed. And now we're back to council for council deliberations. Uh, who would like to comment first? Um, Council Member Shreb, thank you.

So, first from the uh efficiency of operations, um, I'm seeing that the the new facility is actually going to save us money down the future, not cost us money, just for efficiencies of operations, meeting our needs, uh, much better than everything that that was just proposed. So, I'm I'm quite happy to put my name on this project because I think it's going to save us money in the long run for for our future needs and it's absolutely been essential for 30 years. We've been wanting this for 30 years. So, it's time. The only question I have is again it comes unknown the money but uh being that the measure H is county run and county controlled. So, um, is the county of since we're depending on that money to pass through the county to us to pay for this, do we have guarantees from the county, uh, like a co-signer, like a on a house, uh, that we're going to get that much money every single year, uh, from here on out, uh, from do we have a guarantees from the county that we're getting that?

Yes. So, Paluma in the measure is guaranteed 7.19% of the total sales tax receipts. So, that's the 4.5 million that I mentioned that we received in the prior 12 months. And typically, uh even if there's inflation only and no additional economic activity, you would expect to see that continue to grow. Um but yes, we are guaranteed that 7.19% that cannot be changed at this point.

Good. So the other part of that is um projections for the future 30 years um right now given the situation that things may possibly collapse economically globally. We may end up with a huge depression. Is there any um is the bonds completely tied to measure H? So that measure H collapses because the whole economy collapses. Uh does that put the burden back on the city to pay for it all or or does the bonds folks take the burden? So the obligation on the measure H sales tax bonds is only for measure H revenues. So if some calamity occurred and we no longer had measure H revenues to pay those bonds, the city would not be under an obligation to use other revenues to pay the bonds.

Okay, that says so that says to me low risk overall uh for this and opportunity and we need to go for it. Anyway, that's my comment. Thank you very much. Well, I'll just make a comment. Thank you, Council Member K Thompson.

That um you know, if people actually went and toured the other facilities, they'd understand the needs. Um our old fire, you know, our old police station was a mortuary before. It's been outdated for the last 30 years and cities have a responsibility to keep police and fire services. And this is in the center of our town. It's been something that the city has been talking about for many years. The property is our property, so we're not purchasing it. And so, it's on city property. And I'm pleased that this is finally coming to us. And I'm looking forward to the final stamp and the day that um you do um the ribbon cutting to start this project. And I'll make a motion. Keep that thought and I'll come right back on that. Council, Vice Mayor Narlin. Um

Brian, I think you had said, excuse me, previously that we won't know what the interest rate will be until we, you know, go for a bond. Um is that I mean is it anticipated how much extra money this is going to cost us in just interest alone on top of the 55? We will have that number once we know the final interest cost. the um the current estimate is about 4.3% plus or minus would be the interest rate. So then we could do the math on what the total interest will be. And Stephen, I don't know if you have that number handy that you could speak to the total amount of interest that'll be paid over the 30 years. I think that's the question.

Total the total amount of interest expense on top of the $55 million borrowing.

Yes, it's a it's a it's a high figure. um including the 55 million, there's about another $40 million worth of interest that you'll be paying over 30 years at today's interest rates or you know interest rates as of a couple of weeks ago actually. Um there has been some improvement in interest rates lately. This whole situation with the Middle East and the war has raised interest rates quite dramatically, but there seems to be some sort of hope that um that that situation will remedy itself in the next few weeks perhaps. So, a couple of months from now when it comes time to sell the bonds, there's a strong hope. It may not come to pass, but there's a strong hope that interest rates will be lower and maybe that, you know, $40 million of interest costs will be closer to 35 million or 30 million, something like that. You know, we'll we'll find out when the time comes.

Okay. But in in total, this facility could be 85 to $100 million, and we'd be obligated to that for the next three decades or so. Well, um, as was mentioned, the bonds can be refunded at lower interest rates in the future. So, there is a good chance that there'll be a lower interest rate when the time comes. But in the intervening period, the 1.8 million and the 1.3 million, those figures, those are pretty good estimates. You know, maybe it'll be a little bit lower, but it's a considerable financial obligation that the city is undertaking. And and I would just add that, you know, this really is the way that public agencies are able to finance large capital improvements that are going to serve the city for 30 to 50 years. Um, if we only were using our annual aotment of measure H, we would really just have to stockpile it in the bank perhaps for 20 years before we were able to afford a facility. Uh this bonding allows us to front the money, be able to construct the facility, and then we are able to get the use out of that facility for all of those years right away as soon as it's constructed instead of having to wait until we're able to cash fund a large type of investment like this.

Thank you. So if, as you just said, this facility lasts 30 to maybe 50 years and and it takes us at least 30 years to pay it off, I mean, it's I mean, the building's potentially done by the time we're paid off and then we're on to the next one and it's just snowballing into

Yeah, I believe we're envisioning this as at least a 50-year asset, but typically it's good practice to finance a facility for less years than the the total useful life of the facility. So there will still be a significantly or a significant asset of the city on the fairgrounds once the bonds are completely paid off that we will be able to continue enjoy and getting a lot of use out of for many years. Um you make a good point. That's exactly how major municipal infrastructure is built. Whether it's the sewer plant or things you you need to do them all at once and you need to fi finance them. Um it's akin to buying a house. I mean, if you've ever bought a house and you you go to the title company and they show you what you're paying over the 30 years, you say, "Oh, I thought the house was $700,000." And and but no, no, it's actually triple that when you count in all the interest. But it's a value of money over time. It's a value, you know, um you need to present value these things and you need to make a decision about whether this is the thing we need to do. the priority conversation we've been having for the last two years longer longer and um and then of course this has been in the general plan and all our plans for the last 25 years that we know we need plus we've done the justification for this location. We've had the many many conversations about why this is the thing. So, the question is, is this the right financing for it? And uh and and we were looking at sinking another $5 million into the police station just to keep them in that shoe box over there. And um and then we rethought about this and said, "No, this is the opportunity to do the whole thing, right? It's more efficient to have the both programs in the same building." I kind of like that we're throwing the firefighters under the bus more often, but they did bring their own cash with um I just But the chiefs uh around the county got together and said, "What's our most important

needs?" And each of them had differing important needs. Pedaluma went at the table and said, "Our firehouse is the thing we need and that's going to take the plan was established just the way it's going down now, just the way the public voted for it." Um, so, um, you know, I'm, um, really glad that we're we're getting to this point. And, um, you know, if we can buy, uh, a building at $300 a square foot, we have other buildings that are in, you know, other employment needs that could be maybe better served if we got them out of uh, and consolidated into single facilities if we could buy for 300 a square foot. So, um, that's an entertaining, um, ad adventure forward. And, yeah, you know, if you live in a house for 40 years, you're a model sometimes. So, there's there's no question that the tech we put in this new building will all be outdated in 10 minutes. But, I mean, you know, we know we reinvest like our sewer plant right now. You know, it was the the um state-of-the-art when it got built and it was bonded. And are we still we might still be paying on the sewer plant bonds? we refinance them to a better rate over time. Um, this is exactly how the process works when you have a real big need like this. Council member, uh, now,

thank you. And I want to take you on a little history lesson. 20 years ago when I was on the council, there was a groundbreaking on Boulevard for a fire station that I voted against. It's now our temporary for fire station number one being done. And um I was very frowned upon at re-election time for not uh approving that fire station. It didn't get reelected, but it wasn't the right spot. It wasn't big enough, I knew, for a fire station. And I had been advocating for a police station to be built modern. We need a modern facility. We've got male and female officers. We've got male and female prisoners. We've got male and female victims and their families who need interview spaces that are are the right size and not a broom closet. The fairgrounds is the perfect location. It's the corner of the fairgrounds. I'm going to get my voice is going to get higher because I'm so passionate about this. It's not being used. It's a parking lot for the speedway and overflow for the one weekek fair. I understand we need parking, but we can find parking. But the new safety building will also have an our emergency operations center. When the fires happened in 2017, we had an EOC office that was in the breakroom at the police department on Paloma Boulevard. That is not appropriate when you have a natural disaster like a fire. The fairgrounds are is our evacuation site for the county pretty much because they depended on Paluma because we've withtood the s the San Francisco earthquake. We res withstood the fires that were up north. Paluma was where everybody came with

their trailers when they had animals. They needed to evacuate out of agricultural areas. We need to have the police and fire and the EOC right there working with the community at the evacuation center. I also asked in our council questions tonight and I hope everybody gets a chance to look at the answer because it was published after 3:00. We have surplus land once we move into the that new facility. The the um Pedaluma Boulevard at the police station will be sold. I think it's 55 million is what we hope it's going to be what it the contribution.

No, I'm sorry. This is why I need my glasses. Five million contribution to the project. Oh, sorry about that. That's why I need glasses. And then we also have the surplus land where the um the little parcel where temporary firehouse number one is um located right now. So that is property that we can use to pay off this loan even sooner. Correct. So, I will be going forward with this and I don't like debt any more than anybody else, but it's very very much needed for the community and the county. And there's going to be three resolutions, Mr. Mayor.

Yes, indeed. And um are we and we let me explain uh the voting and ask a question of the council. Uh as Mr. Cochran explained um there's a resolution for the sales tax issue that bonds that we're talking about. There's a resolution for the city on the the lease uh bonds that we're talking about and then there's our our financing authority. We sit as a financing authority uh tonight's meeting and there's a vote there's a resolution there. So uh if anyone would like to vote differently on any of those three, we'll break it out. But if you're in a sense that you're of the same mind on all three, we can do one motion for three resolutions. So, um, let me let me poll kind of straw poll. Is anybody feeling they're going to vote differently on any one of those three resolutions? So, let's move towards having a resolution. And I think were you there on this already looking for you were? So, would you like to make a motion on three resolutions?

Are we going to do all three in one? Yes. With all three resolutions in one vote. Thank you. We have a motion by Kater Thompson. Second. And we have a second by Quint. And then we have a roll call vote. Kater Thompson. Yes. D Carly, yes. Now, yes. Quint, yes. Shri, yes. McDonald. Yes. Motion carries unanimously.

Wonderful. Thank you very much. Thank you staff for this big day step forward. I mean, it's it's not the same as approving the actual building, but it's getting us all lined up for that big day. Uh that was our last agenda item and so I'd like to remind the council that and the public that we're uh joining the meeting in memory of Rick Lefranki and Jim Donoski tonight. Thank you very much. This meeting is adjourned.