City Council - Special Meeting

Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.

Hey, hey, hey. Hallelujah.

recording in progress. Good evening everyone and welcome to the city council special meeting this Monday evening, March 16th. Deputy City Clerk, can you please call the role? Certainly, Mayor Luring. Council member Diaz Nash here, Council Member Speritzki here, Deputy Mayor Fernandez here, Mayor Lorine here, and Council Member Num

here. Thank you and welcome. We're excited to be here in person with options for those who choose not to be here in person to still participate virtually. Thank you for your cooperation and for helping us maintain an efficient and accessible meeting environment. There are several ways to participate. For those attending in person, please, if you wish to make a comment, you can complete a yellow request to speak slip and hand it to the deputy city clerk as she's waving it. Thank you. If you're participating remotely, use the raise your hand feature in Zoom and you'll be called upon at the appropriate time. If you're calling in via phone, please press star9 to raise your hand. And when you're called upon, you may press star six to unmute. These options for public comment will remain available until I close public comment periods for each specific item. And for members of the public who might be watching us on YouTube, just a note that we don't currently have a public comment option available on YouTube directly. If you wish to give public comment, please join the meeting through the Zoom webinar instead. We have access information for that listed on our meeting agenda which can be found on our city website at city of samonteo.org. Thank you everyone. We now have a study session item city council smart activities priority list adoption. Um, but before we move to the presentation, uh, I understand council member Spirro Giddiski has a brief statement she would like to share.

Yes, thank you. I will be recusing myself from discussion about the 19th Avenue Fashion Island project due to proximity to the project of a source of income from the last 12 months. Thank you very much. All right. So, she will depart briefly. We'll uh we will focus on just the item uh from which council member is uh recusing and then we'll ask her to return so that she can join us for the rest of the session. So before us uh we we have Zachary Raa, senior management analyst. Zach, do you have anything you wish to add to kick us off here?

Yeah, thank you Mayor Lorraine and good evening. My name is Zach Raa, senior management analyst in the city manager's office. And just really quickly, this we have this one slide here um on the uh 19th Avenue Fashion Island multimodal project. Essentially, we're looking for feedback on a list of smart activities tonight. And uh this number 16 complete 100% design and secure CALR authorization to proceed forward to construction for the 19th a fashion island multimmoal project by June 2027 under the transportation priority initiative is uh before you and we're seeking feedback on this specific item before we jump into the rest of the presentation.

Very good. And I suppose just looking at staff that it might be um appropriate to ask for public comment on this particular piece. Sure. If you wish to do that, that's that's completely fine.

I think that might be appropriate. So, I'll just quickly check to see uh with the deputy city clerk if we happen to have any public comment on this activity specifically. Just this one right now, please. Mayor Lorine, we have one request to speak on this particular item only. Um, and per our rules and procedures, the timer will turn to three minutes. Uh, and our first and only speaker is Lori Watanuki. Mayor Lorraine and members of the city council. My name is Lori Watanuki. The Central Neighborhood Association actively promotes neighborhood safety for pedestrians and bicyclists. We are in support of proposed strategic priority number 54. We do need a less complicated and faster process for traffic calming and we need funding with grants. We continue to advocate for speed humps for speeding and for cut through traffic.

Lori, please pardon me. I apologize, but um I uh if if you're speaking to the whole item, uh it might be best to allow you another attempt when uh council member Speaker Gadiski is back in the room. I just wanted to ask if folks had any public comment on this one item uh from which she's recusing herself. Oh, okay. I It's It's a little different than we usually do. I apologize, but Oh, okay. You want me to go back unless you Yes. Thank you.

Apologies. Thank you all for indulging me. I just wanted to try and make sure if anyone had a public comment that we got it. Um but at this point, I will close public comment for this piece, just this piece, and we'll return and and have Lori and anyone else speak on the broader item. Um thank you. And just asking my council colleagues if they have any questions or feedback related to this specific item here before us. Council member Newsome.

Sure. Just one question. Um, this is a pretty long corridor and I'm curious, is it possible that not now but going forward when it's brought back to us if we could separate it into two chunks meaning like west of west of Delaware and east for example um so that we could have council member Sorco could he be participating? Uh no because uh while you can have decisions that can be segmented um this is one project and there's one design for this project. This project's being funded in one uh as one entire project and not in segments. So uh no I don't think you could divide up the project in that way.

Okay. Thank you for clarifying. Thank you.

Of course. Okay. Seeing no others, I'll just note that I uh agree that this is a good smart activity and and support it. And uh with that would like to conclude the review of this item and then allow for uh council members to join us for the rest. All right. Well, thank you very much. I'll get started. And again, uh tonight we are looking at the city council smart activities priority list. So, the direction requested tonight, uh, this is really the the final opportunity for the public and council to provide any, uh, revisions to, uh, the smart activity priority list. So, prior to adoption in June with the budget. So, uh, we're not doing a final adoption now, but we're really gathering those that the last, uh, feedback prior to adoption in June. So the the questions before you uh do you have any final revisions to any of the priorities and are are there any priorities you wish to remove? So there's a three-step goal setting process that uh the city is undertaking for this uh process. First was the February 7th blue sky meeting and during this time uh the community and council reviewed and discussed existing and propo proposed priorities and other staff work items and had an opportunity to add modify and remove priorities. Step two is tonight. We're reviewing the smart activities priority list which is attachment one and two of the uh agenda report and uh asking for direction on

further revisions or removals followed by step three in June June 15th which is the adoption of the final list with with the uh feedback we received tonight along with the city budget and then there will be a time probably November December time frame where we will bring back the list with progress made so that we can be um transparent and accountable to the community. So, quickly just as a reminder, we passed uh we we adopted our first strategic plan last year and um these are the the elements of it and these are really important for the uh council priority list moving forward. So, at the top here we have aspirational items like the mission and and values. So the mission is kind of that guiding benchmark for the city and then uh the values are the guiding standards that we really want to embed in all of our work. Then we have our initiatives the strategic initiatives and priority initiatives which are kind of those 10 big big areas where we want to focus our efforts. Under each initiative we have goals that are subsets of each of these initiatives that provide a little bit more detail of different areas we want to focus in. And then lastly, we have these smart activities which are the most specific and actionable. SMARTT stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timebound. And these are the items that we're we're reviewing today and and looking for feedback on. So, notable edits during and since blue sky. Um, so, uh, staff converted city council priorities into smart activities. As you may remember, in past years, we had the council priorities divided by one year that will be completed in one year then the two to fiveyear category and five plus year category. Instead we're transitioning away from that and into

smart activities that are achievable within the upcoming fiscal year. And um additionally we created a 2 to 5year objectives category. Uh we heard from council there was some confusion around the parking lot. So, we want to make it really clear two to five year objectives that are um projects that we want to work on, but we we are not necessarily getting to in the first year. So, we'll revisit them at future blue sky workshops and we're not going to forget about them. We also added total project costs for the proposed smart activities and we combined two city council proposed actions on child care benefits and employee housing assistance into one smart activity. So there are 56 smart activities. So I'll go through them quickly and and then uh leave some time for questions and uh and discussion. So uh our first priority initiative is climate resiliency and our uh first smart activity is by spring 26 complete the first four elements of the sea level rise adaptation plan. Number two, by October 2026, complete the Marina Lagoon spot dredging project, removing 2,000 cubic yards from the lagoon. Three, install electric vehicle charging infrastructure at the Corpyard by January 27 to enable the transition to a green city fleet by 2035. Number four, once approved by the CEC and BSC in 2026, implement and enforce reach codes. Number five, conduct community and business engagement to educate the community community about the prohibition on gas leaf blowers that begins in January 27. And then we have four items in the 2 to 5year objectives category. So uh number one, once the sea level rise adaptation plan is complete, we are going to seek funding for the actions that are laid out in that plan. Number two, uh by summer of 27, initiate implementation of

two high priority storm water flooding and drainage capital improvements. By 2032, implement five of these improvements. Uh next, conduct a marina lagoon large-scale dredging project. And uh number four on here, expedite efforts to provide highquality effluent from the wastewater treatment plant upgrades to support the future production of recycled portable water. Moving on to infrastructure. Number six, complete the design to rehabilitate two sanitary sewer pump stations by spring of 27. Number seven, advertise, complete and close the phase 4 high voltage street light conversion project and complete and close out the project by the end of fiscal year 2627. Eight, by winter 26, procure consultants to initiate design on a subset of very high priority storm water capital improvements such as the 42nd a pump station. Nine, initiate feasibility studies for the Marina Lagoon pump station upgrades by spring of 27. 10, complete installation of the Gateway Park pedestrian bridge by summer of 26. and 11. Close out phase four of the citywide street reconstruction package three by winter 26. Initiate construction of phase five by spring 26 with anticipated completion by November 26 resulting in a total of 19 miles of street reconstruction. We have a few more for this infrastructure section. So number 12 by June 27 complete the Kingpool and resiliency resiliency center conceptual design phase. 13. In the upcoming fiscal year, initiate design phase for a new fire station 27. Number 14, citywide facility waterproofing improvements throughout the fiscal year as part of the implementation of a citywide facility waterproofing program. Improvements will be made at the central

parking garage and at the second and El Camino parking garage. Number 15. throughout the fiscal year. Replace the facility roofs at the senior center and at the Barisford Recreation Center and develop a routine maintenance plan to extend roof life by 20 to 30 years. Moving on to transportation. We spoke about number 16 already. Uh, and number 17, complete 100% plans, specifications, and estimates for the Hillsdale High School 31st A pedestrian safety improvement project by June 27 and have the project ready for construction. Number 18, complete construction and closeout of Peninsula Delaware intersection safety improvements by March 27. 19. Complete construction of the Hillsdale Boulevard and Alama Deas Pulgus signal project by June 27. 20. Complete construction and close out the Delaware safe routes to school corridor project by September 26. 21. Complete 100% design and secure authorization from CALR to proceed with construction of four of the top 10 projects identified in the local roadway safety plan by March 27 and advertise the projects for construction by June 27. Two more in the transportation section. We have number 22. Expend your mark or allocate 40% of the total available quick build mobility program funds towards eligible eligible products such as projects such as protected bicycle lanes, bicycle access gap closures, safety improvement projects, and traffic traffic signal improvements that will advance safety in the city by June 2027. and 23 reduced the routine noise of train horns by establishing a train horn quiet zone by May 27. On to housing, we have preserved the 24 affordable very lowincome units at

Bridgeoint Condominiums by extending the affordability terms by 55 years and bring the item for council approval by June of 27 25. hold a study session regarding the city's affordable housing funds and options for deployment by September 26. And number 26, amend the city's inclusionary housing ordinance and update the below market rate guidelines to increase the number of affordable units produced overall and to incentivize production of larger units and deeper affordability by December 2026. And our one housing 2 to 5-year objective is explore the development of an affordable housing project on a city-owned site on 42nd Avenue. Moving on to economic development number 27. Implement a coordinated year-round downtown activation program as a core city service to enhance vibrancy, support local businesses, and increase foot traffic in partnership with the chamber and the DSMA by June 27. Number 28, launch the downtown area plan project by January 27. 29, bring forth a study session providing background and approach to develop a revenue generating digital billboard pro program by July 26. And then our two uh economic development two to fiveyear objectives are explore a potential business improvement district on 25th A and hold a study session exploring the possibility of retail cannabis storefronts in Sano. Next we have the strategic initiative healthy community for all ages. Number 30 is complete the marina library renovation by February 2027. Number 31 complete phase one implementation of central park master plan development of the new playground by fall 2026. Number 32. By fall 26, partner with at least two community sponsors to bring additional programming and outreach to

the senior population at both Barisford and MLK community centers. And number 33, by May 27, engage a third party to conduct a feasibility study of recreation and aquatic facilities with a focus on the Barisford Park complex of facilities, the senior center, joinville pool, and the shore view recreation center. And we have our one healthy community for all ages two to fiveyear objectives which is explore how the city can partner with the school districts and other public private and nonprofit organizations to support empower San Mateo public safety number 40 34 is collaborate with uh SMC fire to update the emergency operation operations plan and bring forward to council for approval by summer 26. 6. Also update the hazard incident response guides that accompany the EOP by December 26. Next 35, develop an emergency preparedness training schedule by summer 26. Train field and EOC staff to increase response readiness in case of an emergency by May 27. 36. Work with SMCFD and the county to align on a communication platform for emergencies by April 27. Number 37, complete a standard of service cover study for police and fire services that takes into consideration future development growth. Present the study and its findings to council by June of 27. And lastly, maintain readiness and preparedness to implement a SRO pro program and supply a school resource officer should the school districts choose to pursue SRO's during FY2627. Next, land use number 39 is develop and complete the comprehensive zoning code update project which include zoning map amendments to be consistent with the

general plan, housing element, and state law. Bring the city council for adoption by June 27. Number 40 is present a report on the implementation of council directives regarding food vendors by December 27. And then moving on to organizational health and good governance. Number 41 is by summer 2026 begin implementation of the recruitment, marketing, and outreach plan to expand recruitment, marketing, and outreach activities by 80%. 42. Research and develop a policy for equitable use of city facilities used by nonprofit and not for-profit groups during non-operating hours. Next, community engagement and communications. We have number 43. By March 27, audit and update city web pages to make public information more searchable, accessible to a wider audience, and easier to comprehend. 44 is develop a public process to engage the community in prioritizing $50,000 in measure CC funds in fiscal year 2627 so that the capital imp capital funding is approved in June 2027 as part of the CIP budget process. 45. By June 27, the city manager's office will create and organize relevant trainings on topics such as media relations, graphic design, and internal communications to support staff, leadership, and city council members in understanding current communications best practices. 46. By May of 27, establish an outward-f facing engagement program and develop analytics to more effectively and comprehensively reach underserved residents, improve community relations, and strengthen connections and trust with diverse communities. So, this is all of the smart activities that were converted from the the the current priority list that uh runs through June of this year. Uh and now

we'll move on to the city council proposed smart activities that were brought uh forward during the blue sky meeting uh in February. So number 47 is in fiscal year 2627 explore a policy of evaluating cost effective energy efficiency production and storage for example solar and battery upgrades with each major construction and renovation of municipal municipal buildings and facilities. explore funding options that would allow the city to prepare to include such upgrades anytime they're found in the long term to either be costneutral or even save the city on future energy costs. 48. By fall 2026, evaluate expansion of the senior rides program on Humboldt Street between Second and and Indian to provide transportation relief to seniors and hold a council study session to summarize findings and seek further direction. 49. By fall 26, after engaging the community and holding a council study session, begin work to implement a residential permit parking program in the north central community focused on providing relief to residents directly impacted by parking removal on Humboldt Street. 50. Throughout the fiscal year, attempt to bring the Carpenters Union into project labor agreement negotiations alongside the San Monteo County Building and Construction Trades Council. Report back to the city council on progress. 51. Research zoning code and policy options for regulating food vending and related temporary uses on vacant lots and present findings and options for implementation during a study session by February 2027. 52. Research examples of how other cities provide child care benefits and employee housing assistance to their employees and present findings and options during a study session in May 2027. 53. Submit a ballot measure to the

voters in November 2026 that propo proposes amendments to the city charter reflecting the transition to direct elections and sorry district elections and addressing other non-controversial matters. uh 54 by June 2027 revise the neighborhood traffic management plan to streamline the application and approval process increase installation of trafficcoming measures and increase transparency for applicants. This effort will include clearly documented eligibility criteria divine defined review timelines and will integrate application tracking on the citywide customer service system where appropriate. 55. Rem review permitting procedures for single family projects, modifications, remodels, and new construction, and identify ways to speed up the process, reduce costs for homeowners, and create efficiencies for city staff by simplifying and streamlining lining requirements and the permitting process, and present findings and options for implementation at a study session by January 2027, and work with the city's economic consultant to conduct a citywide economic assessment. ment of the city's commercial retail and service areas and nodes with a focus on how to m maintain a full range of community serving businesses and services around the city. Assess commercial displacement and identify options for supporting small businesses when they are displaced due to redevelopment. Present findings at a study session in May 2027. We also have four uh actions that fall into the two to fiveyear objectives. Number one, continue development and implementation of an art mural policy and work with public works to develop a policy and application process for painting on utility boxes and retaining walls with an approval process via the Civic Arts Commission. Two, engage a consultant to conduct a

feasibility study to identify possible bandstand location options in Central Park. Three, evaluate the useful life of the pedestrian mall mural and explore options for maintenance and upkeep for at least 5 to 10 years so that it can continue to energize B Street and the downtown until the next phase of the pedestrian mall improvements are ready to be implemented after completion of downtown area plan update. and four, partner with the Elders Action Network to host a future design event for the city of San Monteo in 2027, using the principles of future design to help visualize future local challenges and opportunities related to climate resiliency, as well as maximize participation in related city planning efforts, for example, blue sky and strategic planning sessions, general plan 240, and master plans. If the event is wellreceived, consider making it an annual exercise before future blue sky and strategic planning sessions. So that is all of the SMART activities and and items in the two to five-year category. So again, this is really the the the final time where we can incorporate final revisions to any of the priorities or any opportunities to remove any of these items prior to adoption of the blue sky, I'm sorry, uh smart activities priority list along with the budget on June 15th. So with that, that concludes my presentation and I'll pass it back to you, mayor.

Thank you. And now I will open public comment for the broader item and uh ask the city clerk or deputy city clerk uh for a tally of public speakers on this item. Please if you wish to speak on this item and are participating virtually, please raise your hand. Now, if you're joining us in person, please uh provide me with your request to speak form. I will now close public um the opportunity to speak and we have uh two requests to speak one in person and one remote. Uh we'll begin with the in person per rules and procedure that will be three minutes and our first uh person and only person in in chambers will be Lori Watanuki. Welcome back,

Mayor Lorraine and members of the city council. My name is Lori Watanuki. The Central Neighborhood Association actively promotes neighborhood safety for pedestrians and bicyclists. We are in support of the proposed strategic priority number 54. We do need a less complicated and faster process to qualify for traffic calming. We need funding with more grants and we need the assistance of more co-ops to assist staff. We continue to advocate for speed humps for speeding and cut through traffic. We also advocate for green pedestrian street lights and sidewalk repairs to increase safety for children, seniors, dog walkers, the handicap, and all residents of Sonteo. Please give strategic priority number 54, strong consideration to reduce vehicular speeds, cut through traffic volumes, and severe crashes. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is uh in Zoom. It would be Mike Zwire. Please Mike, unmute your mic.

Yeah. Hi. Um thanks so much council for um holding this session and and thinking about the long-term priorities. Um I want to echo everything that Lori said. I was able to meet with Lori and David from the Central Neighborhood Association because I know that their community is especially concerned about um how we can quickly cost effectively um get traffic coming on our streets. It's um it's frustrating that um you know if you call a police person and say that there's a dangerous person in your neighborhood, somebody comes right out. But if you tell the city, "Hey, I've got a dangerous street that needs to be slowed down. I need to call up all my neighbors, start a campaign, and get what is it 60% of them to respond via mail before something happens several years down the road. Um there's no reason that should be the case. Um traffic coming, especially via speed humps, is cheap. It's relatively quick. It's almost universally accepted. This is one of the the ways that I think the city can really move forward more quickly. uh in addition to some of the bigger uh multi-million dollar projects that unfortunately take so uh long to implement. So I'd uh urge the council to um set up a new process and funding as Lori said that will help us get more of these projects done more quickly and without as much pain. Um on the residential parking program um thank you again for um protecting the humble bike lanes. I think residential parking program uh permit parking program will do a go a long way to improving parking efficiency. I would encourage the city to think about it more than just humble plus or minus a couple streets. You need to be proactive. We got into this mess because we were not uh proactive in the first place. Why don't we think about the whole neighborhood or any other neighborhoods that are really crowded before we have similar occurrences? It's only going to get more crowded down the road. Thanks so much.

Thank you. That concludes public comment on this item. Thank you. And I'll just close public comment at this time and ask my colleagues for questions and feedback. Council members Fuk Giddyski. Thank you. Um I'll try to be brief. Um so one of the things I observed is that the list is largely dominated by infrastructure and there's only three items on economic development. Um, and I'm just I guess this is more of a count council related question, but I just feel like we should probably put more focus on long-term revenue generation and economic resilience.

Yeah. Um, so I guess um would this be an appropriate time to kind of talk through some of that? This is this is your time to talk, but I also want to let you know that we are working through an council approved economic development work plan as well. This is just the council priority items from blue sky that you have previously brought up over the years. Yeah.

So when we look at and also when we look at categories, we also have to think about the staffing capacity. Whereas infrastructure, you have a lot more staff than your economic development team as well. And so yes, you might want to balance out everything, but we also have to look at the staff resources in order to deliver uh the the items. And so looking at I totally hear you. I'm on we're in alignment on revenue generation and really making sure that we have economic vibrancy in our community. And so love to hear, you know, if you have further discussion on items, but I think we'd also want to think about the economic development work plan in addition to the plan that we have. When is that coming back to council?

The economic development work plan, this came to council, I think the second meeting in December. And so we're beginning to work through that and we'll provide an annual update of where we're at on that. like you'll see one of the items is going to be coming up next meeting which is the billboard item that we had as part of that ED work plan. And so we're going to be methodically working through that plan um over the next 3 years and so just got to make sure our staffing capacity, you know, aligns with the workload that we have. Is there anything we can do to help with the staffing capacity?

Well, that's your feedback. You know, it's your guys' budget overall and so I look to your direction overall. Um, I know that we're we're looking through just overall just from a resource standpoint, we're limited right now, understanding that any type of staffing capacity that we do add impacts our general fund bottom line. It's not restrictive funds. And so, we have to look at the uh cost benefit, right? So, if you add staff, what are we getting in return? Because they got to also create a return, right, to pay for that position and then some.

Yeah. The reason I just bring this up, and again, this is just more general council feedback is I think we do need to potentially bump this to a higher priority overall for us because there's so many changes coming to the city of Sanonteo. Um I just feel like we have to discuss it a lot more and having three out of 56 items, it it gives the perception that maybe it's less important to us as a council than it really is. So, um I'm I'm just going to move on unless there's a comment or anything. Can I is there I'm sorry, Mr. Mayor. I apologize. Another

uh council a colleague. Um can you tell me if the rest of your comments are around ED or if I had a if I had a followup to your comment would now be the appropriate time.

Um they're not around ED. So go for it. So a couple of things that um I want to just bring up in uh thank you for bringing up that important topic, council member. And um council member Diaz Nash is our economic development queen. So, I really appreciate the stronghold that she's taken on this item. I want to talk a little bit about the fact that it does feel like it, you know, we do have very a few number of ED related priorities and we are the largest city with a very vibrant downtown district. I want to bring it back to a couple of things. one, um, we do have a potential revenue enhancement measure that is going to be coming in front of us and I think that that has a lot um, if we wanted to bump up our beef up our um, economic development staff which I believe is right now a team of one that might be essential to what we are doing. Is that accurate?

So, it's part of the assistant city manager oversight and also a team of one full-time equivalent. Um, yeah, that's what we are right now. And so that revenue enhancement would help us in attempting to expand that and other staffing needs. Perhaps it's actually just to maintain at this point in time. Um any type of but if we were looking at if the council wishes I'll take the feedback and we can see you know from a budgeting standpoint if there's one time funds or something like that. Just an observation council member and I are the um subcommittee on that item and I just want to reiterate the importance of us engaging in that process.

Yeah. All right. Um I just I mean similarly on this topic so there are 56 items on the list and I appreciate that we move to smart goals and thank you for the presentation but I just for the council do wonder if it's still too many priorities and I think that just general feedback we should really think about the outcomes that have the greatest impact and focus there. Um especially because we are budget constrained. So, just wanted to put that on everyone's radar. Um, and then just another question, and this is probably for Zach Dah, but on housing, I'm wondering if the activities that are listened listed fully position us to meet the city housing element commitments. Um, and if there's any other activities that need to be added for this year.

Aloha, Zach Doll, community development director. Um those specific smart activities don't encompass all of our housing element activities. Um we are moving forward with um I think we have approximately 150 programs in our housing element. Some of which are completed, some of which are ongoing annually. Um and we do have a number of other um objectives. We put smart activities to kind of the highest profile and biggest resource intensive lifts for this year. Um but they're by no means the only things that we're going to be working on for our housing elements. So, we do have a larger suite of activities with the housing element. Um, and that I think the other big piece on the production side is continuing to move forward with our our comprehensive zoning code update. Um, and then there's associated policies that will be going with it. Um, so if there were specific areas, happy to answer those, but I don't know if that kind of got to what your question was looking for.

Yep, that's it for me. Thank you. Oh.

So, so just really quickly, what I'm what I'm starting to notice is just overall, so when we had the blue sky, we also had the list of all the other work that we're doing with all the other departments. And so, you're not seeing that in the smart activities because it's just all the other work that we're doing in the other in the departments. And so, like for example, the economic development work plan or the housing stuff that are those are goals that you'll see in the budget under each of these departments of work that they're doing. But what we're seeing here is just the smart activities are in alignment with just the blue sky priorities that we've had in the past that are linking to and something I'll take back and think about a little bit more about how can we show a comprehensive view of all the great work that staff is doing um for all and you guys are doing as leaders uh to really you know make progress in all these different areas. So I'll take that feedback back.

Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Council member Diaz Nash. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, and thank you, Zach. Um, a couple of questions. The item number two, the Marina Lagoon spot dredging project, is the timing of that impacted by the fact that we we have to go back out again and do more negotiation on the contracts.

Good evening, Matt. favorite public works director. Uh we believe that we can uh put the project back out to bid and assuming that we are successful in getting uh responsive bids, uh we still think we'll be able to meet that timeline. Okay, I wish you luck. Don't leave yet. Um going on to priority number 11, the close out of phase 4 by winter 2026. Is that done or are we still doing the dregs of phase four of the street reconstruction? Uh yeah, I believe we are still doing some of that. Uh some of our work gets paused during the wet weather, although we haven't had much wet weather. So I think that we are still finishing that up. Okay. So winter is defined as

uh well we'd go through, you know, I guess technically it would be through the next week or so before spring starts. Um okay. But I can double check with staff. I'm not sure. Just generally. Yeah. Great. And then do you feel pretty confident that phase five will be completed by the end of November? Uh I feel pretty confident the big caveats are if we run into any serious problems out there in the field, you know, similar to some of the challenges we've had on some of the um streets where we've had really bad soils in my neighborhood. Yes.

Yeah. So if we run into uh situations like that that were unexpected, it could cause things to be delayed. But otherwise, I've talked to staff and they feel pretty confident that we should be done from a construction standpoint. We may still be closing out on a paperwork standpoint into early 20 27, but we should be done with the construction side of it.

Great. I would just ask if any of those things happen, the earlier you can give us an update, the better because there are so many people who are so excited about this and they're they ask me about the map like once a month. I get a check-in. So, thank you very much. Um then let's see. Oh um well I guess it's it's you again. Um we we are just very happy. Um item number 21 which is complete 100% design and authorization from Calrans. Does 17th and El Camino fit into this at all or is that just an a different project altogether? It is not part of this package of projects that we are applying uh housing incentive grants to. Um but we are meeting with CALR separately to talk specifically about that intersection next month.

Right. And when next month is the beginning, the middle, the end. I think we're meeting on April 13th. Okay. Okay. Great. And there's nothing in any of this about grade separations. I'm assuming that's somewhere in some other plan. So grade separations, it's something that we're looking at. We actually are looking to plan to hire a consultant to review the 2009 study and provide a better approach. And I believe that's over the next couple of years of work that we will be doing. Uh so that we not starting fresh from right all over again. We're picking up where we left off. Right. But being more taking 2009 and say what does it look like in 2027?

And it still in my my initial review looks like it's probably the same. Yeah. Unfortunately. Okay. Well, we can keep trying. All right then. Um Okay. I think have a nice seat, director. Thank you very much.

Um when it comes to let's see um got all that. Uh item number 32 under the healthy community for all ages talks about um bringing additional programming for the senior population both Barerisford and MLK. Does Barisford mean sort of the bigger umbrella Barisford? So that's the senior center and I see director McGrreeny coming down. Thank you so much in your St. Patrick's Green. Yes. Good evening. Joanne McGrainy, director of parks and recreation. Yes. Um the bigger picture of Bearsford, we have uh botchi courts over there as well as new pickle ball programming and tennis. So it's not just limited to inside the building.

Great. Great. Thank you. And but the senior center as well. The senior center as well. Okay. Super. Thank you very much. Okay. I think that was my only question for you. And um oh in number 43 the web web pages. This is something I'm always going on about. So I'm really happy to see it this way. And just put in a request that I'd love to do some focus groups with residents when we do get to that because a lot of the people who talk about having problems getting the web pages, they're perhaps less sophisticated users or whatever. That's more of a a note.

We'll note that.

Yeah. Okay. Um and then let's see. So item 54. I was so happy to hear public comment about that. Really important. And I'm assuming that when we say streamlining the application approval process, that includes seriously looking at reducing some of the the the targets because that's what we've heard that you have to get a certain percentage and maybe it doesn't need to be quite as high or quite as fast. And then how do we you know you've run into lots of problems with the USPS. How do we help you not waste your time on those things? Yeah, we'll be looking at uh overall comprehensively we'll be looking at both sort of the the uh thresholds that have been adopted in the by council and our existing policy in terms of what meets the the threshold in terms of when we can say that it's warranted to do traffic calming as well as the overall process to do it. Um and the only you know caution I would say is that the um the easier we make it to uh meet a threshold in terms of installing traffic calming is the you know if we don't increase the resources that we have available to it we'll you know go through it

more quickly. Yeah. So unless unless we expand the resources that are available to the program um making it easier uh doesn't necessarily speed up the the pace of implementation since that's our real limitation. And I agree with you 100%. And that's why I would want when we come back to talking about budgets, I think this is one area if we really want to improve traffic calming, we are going to have to increase the budget on this. Yeah. But it's just making it so it's not a fool's errand that people go through the exercise and I know your staff spends lots of time with the residents. So, thank you very much.

So, so just really jumping in here on this one. So, I think really when we're looking at probably the most uh economically uh efficient I guess um way that we can look at the traffic caling would probably be doing speed humps, right? Looking at focusing more in those areas and it might not be doing the asphalt speed humps, it might be rubber speed humps. Absolutely. Overall, um it's more of the quick build um approach overall. But I also want to just just put it out there that we look, you know, we'll focus on neighborhood traffic calming, but it's also a balance of looking at all your bigger transportation projects at the same time because it's the same stuff and we have limited resources overall.

I completely appreciate it, but I'm speaking on behalf of the residents. So, yes. So, thank you very much. Um, and just on the last page on the two to five year objectives, the one about the pedestrian mall mural, it was I was just a comment. Ours our mural seems to be holding up a lot better than San Carlos's mural, which is much newer. And I don't know what they used in terms of materials, but I was down there last week and they're big patches that are already like gouged out and and worn out. So, it' be interesting to see what what they did, what we did.

So, h happy to happy to review that. But at the same time, um when we looked at the the life expectancy of our murals, it's at five years, and I think we're at two and a half years so far. So, we're halfway through that, right? But I'm just saying ours is doing a lot better. Yes. That's been out there longer. And we have a comprehensive mural maintenance plan that we worked on with the artist and we're happy to talk to our our other jurisdiction colleagues and talk them through it. Yeah, let's share if there's something we we've we found that that's it. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Nome.

Thank you. Thank you for a great presentation. U some general comments. one, we have several electrification initiatives, and I don't know if this is a Matt Fabri question or a city manager question or maybe a little bit of both, but have we as a city looked at companies that do full uh full proposals that incorporate carport, solar, battery, backup, storage, and charging stations. And often they will come in, make a proposal, and also help with uh getting grant implementation. And I see that we have several several things in our priority list that fall under that bracket. I'm just wondering, have we done or explored using one or two firms to do a kind of comprehensive overview and proposal?

Uh I can start off maybe Christina may have something to add uh from the city manager's office, but uh I think we are taking advantage of uh the programs that have been made available to us through uh both uh PG& as well as uh Peninsula Clean Energy. And so they do have some of these folks that are looking at things like that for us in terms of the whole picture. Um but that's sort of the extent that we've gone. We haven't gone out directly soliciting companies to come in and do a comprehensive look at all of our opportunities like that as far as I know.

Thank you. So, I know that our sustainability analyst has looked at the approaches that you're talking about overall and I believe we've had a review previously. Uh, but she said at this point in time didn't make sense to go down that path uh based off of everything that we have, but it's something I can circle back with with our sustainability analyst. Yeah, there's a there's a one one company in particular that I know of Yeah. that that's doing a lot of work for the school district and that you know the school district what they try to do is position themselves so that they can remove a lot of the costs by you know figuring out ways to pay for itself. So yeah, saving the money and then that pays for itself in the long run.

Okay, so that's my first one. Um second one is item 56. Um we're seeing very rapid uh development in right now which is is both good and concerning in certain ways. Uh, I am particularly concerned about potential future food deserts. When we go into a neighborhood and remove the neighborhood's one and only strip mall where there's a small grocery store and two restaurants, as we remove those, it becomes uh highly unlikely that you have anywhere to walk to or bike to or have a local neighborhood um uh place to get food. And so I want to make sure that um I'm okay with the fact that we have an implementation of May 2027, but my comment would be that um I would I would ask that we try to make sure that this is an ongoing process and not something that we're not starting for another year. Um I echo the two public speakers comments about traffic calming and I totally understand that. Um and also appreciate what council member Diaz Nash said and I understand that there is um only so much bandwidth that we have. I wonder if we couldn't look towards an idea of having like a rapid implementation type team where we have one or two people that that's their focus is to is to work on traffic calming and obviously once the budget was gone then they would have to disperse until we could replenish the budget. Just a thought there. And the last thing as a comment was, you know, we we really do need to look at economic development. Um if we look at something like the loss of the Sanonteo Marriott, that project alone is costing us, you know, several million dollars a year in tot. So I would recommend if possible that we look at even if we had to have a consultant come in for these types of opportunities where we could study and say where where are our hotels now? how are we

maintaining them as opposed to losing them? I think there's at least one more hotel that's already talking about um entering the hotel space. Uh I also know that the county has talked about putting a hotel on the county fairgrounds and expo center. Um and while that might be good for them, it's not great for us because that means the tax would go to the county as opposed to the city. So I'd like us to make sure that we're looking at uh in the big picture if we were to put a small hotel or two where those would be. uh again because it all goes back to that economic development engine of and and whatever we spend we will make back you know four-fold. So um those are my comments and thoughts. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you deputy mayor. Nothing at nothing at this time. Mr.

Okay. Thank you. I just have a few questions myself. Thank you, Mr. Raa. I guess I'll I'll see if I need to direct the specific questions I might have to department heads or staff. Um I did want to ask about I believe it's number 19 about um let's see if I can locate it. It's about the Hillsdale Alamita traffic light project. Um, when I read it, let's see, it's Yeah, number 19. It says complete construction by June 2027, but uh I was under the impression earlier that we were hoping to complete construction by June or summer 2026. And so I was just going to ask about the, you know, whether whether this date has changed and and why, if it has, and and what we might be able to do about it, if anything. I'm happy to take that one. I talked with staff about that uh this evening and uh we will be putting the project out to bid probably in the beginning of April time frame. Uh we anticipate that we would then be able to come to the council for with a construction contract in the June time frame. Uh so we would be able to get started on construction in the summertime, uh which is what we've anticipated. But the challenge that we're facing is that the lead time for getting traffic signal polls is on the order of 25 to 30 weeks. Um so that's the big piece that's going to be the uncertainty is how long does it take to get the new traffic signals. Um so uh we'll get started on it and move as much as we can. We don't want to necessarily uh construct things and tear things apart and leave it in an unfinished condition while we wait for the traffic signals. So we're going to have to

balance that piece of it. But that's the piece that's the most challenging from a schedule standpoint. I see. I appreciate that. Um, let's see. Yes, Mr. Fabri, I think I have at least one other transportation related question. Um, in the 2 to 5 year uh section of transportation, I noticed we we don't currently have anything listed, but um it would it would seem to me that the the council priority of completing all high and medium high bike ped projects um could fit there. And so I was just curious if you agree and if so like whether we might be able to put in something.

Uh yeah, we're happy to put something in there. I think as was discussed previously, we we focused on sort of translating uh existing council priorities and so we tried to put in the high priority or high visibility projects that were going on in in the near term in terms of what we put in there for smart activities. But there's definitely plenty of stuff that's going to be going on in the two to five year range. So, we're happy to either put in some additional specific projects that we're going to be working on if that's council's uh preference or we can put in something that is more uh high level as you mentioned in terms of continuing to work on getting high and medium high bike master plan projects done. Um, but we have definitely other projects that we're be working on. So, we could put some specific bullets into that section if that would be council's preference.

If I may through the mayor. Sure. Yeah. I just want to um call out too that there are certain projects underway this year like the speed surveys um should be coming to council later this year. And then I know that we're doing a ribbon cutting for the new Third Avenue and Norfolk intersection um April 25th. So those are some bike and ped upgrades happening right now.

Yeah. And we didn't include the third in Norfolk because that would be done before the fiscal year starts which was this was looking at 26 27. Yeah, that's fair. I and I appreciate that. And I guess, you know, I I can see if if council members have a an issue with this proposal as a suggestion. I I to me I think it seems that we've we've taken effort to try to find like what the next fiscal year's worth of work on a number of projects would look like as a smart activity and put it in. And so to me, um, you know, if we have a sense at at the time that we're undergoing this annual process of like what we think on the list, if you will, we we may be able to uh achieve or target, then we could put them there. I actually don't know if it's that important. I I I guess I just think like as I'm talking through it that maybe it's more like Yeah, I guess I guess just some reference would be good. and and and to me I think something that that gives us a sense of uh progress um that's that's enumerated you know beyond simply like the previous item which might say something like at some point we wish to have this done um to give us a sense of the progress we're making and I'm I'm sensing a

if I may um I really appreciate your comments I do think that we have really prioritized traffic calming measures especially given the recent incidents in Sonteo and I think there is a lot of great work happening. Um so I I do like to Alex's point earlier it's maybe it's not on the list right now but it is in the background occurring if I'm not mistaken.

So there still is departmentled initiatives and stuff that we're working on outside of this was specifically from previous blue skies. These are the items that council members have brought up specifically and that's what we're here capturing. But outside of that there's a lot of departmentled and organizational items that you'll see. So if you look at our budget book annually under goals there's also ton of other items um that we're working on department specifically in addition to this. So, it's something I'll take back the feedback about how can we marry this all together so you can see a more comprehensive view of just the web of work um that staff is doing overall within these strategic priority areas because want to be able to articulate those and tell our story because we're doing great work in all 10 areas in indeed. Although this one I I feel I just need to mention was a pretty specific blue sky item. Um that so I I think um I would just suggest that we please include some kind of language uh indicating that we're continuing that work. Um thank you. Um, and then I guess I did want to ask about um the elders action network item because it was it appears to have a date of uh beyond June 2027, but I was I was hoping there might be an opportunity to do it uh this fiscal year and uh is could you uh share any reasoning behind why it might need to be postponed? It seems to me like this might be a light lift.

So on this item, what staff's thinking was, and thank you for reminding me earlier today, um and following up, we were trying to look to get through um our first full blue sky kind of transition that we're doing before adding another element, a new element to uh the overall approach. And that's why we're trying to get one year under the belt and then start with this the the following year. But it's up to the council's pleasure. If you guys want to pivot and do it this year, that's something that we can look at doing. Debbie mayor,

um through the mayor, I I do understand that that this elders action network um planning session is important to you, but I believe that we did have a discussion at Blue Sky where we um I don't think the word is deprioritized, but just sort of um made the timeline a little bit longer. So, I think we will get to it. But I just think given the staffing needs and the fact that we're moving from um blue skies to smart goals um I think we just need to let the process work and and um see if that can work this year if that's correct. I what I'm saying is that I don't necessarily know that I would be supportive of moving up the timeline because I think that staff is at max capacity right now.

Okay. I just heard from one. Is there any other going with the mayor or waiting thoughts of doing it this year versus waiting a year? I would be happy keeping it the timeline where it is now. Okay, that's two, which is to say next year is to do in 2027, fall of 2027. Yeah, I think that's fine. I'm okay with that. So, we'll keep it where we're at. Then

finally I just wanted to ask about um the you know I I brought forth an item this year uh in this year's blue sky related to pursuing parking solutions uh in areas of the city that have high parking demand. I do recall that in our blue sky item, we had discussion about focusing that item uh toward North Central to begin with. Um which uh seems appropriate. I guess though that um I just want to confirm uh that perhaps it's currently existing in in that way in this list to your recollection.

So this is about Matt. Do you want to come on up? So this is the work that council directed for us to look at not only permit parking but also off- streetet parking in the neighborhood. Yeah. I mean that that was our understanding from staff from the blue sky is that there was agreement at at the blue sky that the the items that I think yourself and council member uh Spirro Gadiski had proposed were going to be combined um and focused in the north central area. And so that's what we have included in there. Um we're happy to continue in the longer term looking at broader citywide. We may need a little further direction in terms of how to prioritize, you know, how we look at that at a citywide, but we'll I think we can take some lessons learned from the focus in the north central that would be valuable in scoping out how we would look at it from a broader city perspective.

Yeah, I think that sounds great. Could we would it be okay to add language that just indicates that like following completion of this we can explore that? Absolutely. I think that's something we can refine. So, we'll take that note back and make that refinement for the final priority item. Thank you. Any other questions, comments? Deputy Mayor, I I apologize, Mr. Mayor. Um, one more item. Um, one of my blue sky items was the uh uh project labor agreement, the the uh Carpenters Union. You mean the carpenters integration hard ordinance? The hard hat ordinance. And I just wondering if we could get an up uh if we an update could get an update on that if possible, please.

Yeah. So, the city staff, we kicked off our initial meeting with the um Samato County Labor Council and it was about a two-hour discussion. Half the first half hour was spent on just the discussion about including the carpenters union um as at the top line with the labor council as I promised to this council at our February 7th blue sky meeting that I would do. um heard from the labor council that that was not going to be possible. Um, additionally, what I what I was really looking at after kind of hearing their position on this was I asked our public works director to investigate Mountain View is kind of where we are looking at a model of the uh project specific project labor agreements. And so with that um they've just spit out maybe three or four months ago a shoreline center project. And so I asked uh Matt Faber, our public works director, to contact the Mountain View staff to find out who um actually bid on the projects. And my understanding, Matt, correct me if I'm wrong, the carpenters union are the ones who successfully bid and got the contract as part of that project labor agreement that the Santa Clara Labor Council put forward.

Is that correct, ma? And my understanding is that the contractor that was the successful bidder on that was a signatory to the Carpenters Union. So it avoided any of the challenges that they thought they might have if it was a entity that was not a signatory to the carpenters union. And so one of the big things that we're looking at at least from a staff standpoint and what we have conveyed to the labor council is that the language within the PLA does not limit the carpenters union from being able to bid and win projects as part of these uh PLA okay agreement. And do we uh Mr. and city manager. Do we see in good faith replicate something like that?

So that's something that we're pushing for. You know, it's all up to negotiations, but person they mentioned right in the meeting that they were willing to have the language to allow for the carpenters union uh to bid on projects. You probably I think you know that was a discussion point uh in in the meeting. It sort of remains to be seen how that um pans out, but you know that that was discussed. Yeah, we heard positive feedback. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Of course. Did you want to keep that one on there then? Your priority. I believe that we do. Okay. Okay. Uh do you feel you have what you need from us?

Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Raa. And thanks everybody. Uh that is the sole item of the special meeting. So I will adjourn to the regular meeting which will occur in I presume about 10 minutes time. Thank you. Recording stopped.