City Council - Special Meeting

Thank you.

you you

This is the regularly scheduled City Council meeting for the City of Vacaville. It's September 8th, 2026. It's 6 p.m. May I have a roll call?

Council Agency Authority Member Stockton? Here. Ritchie? Here. Chapman?

Here.

Fremont? Here. Wiley? Here. Vice Mayor and Vice Chair Silver? Here. Mayor and Chair Carley?

Here. Will you please join me for a moment of silence.

Council Member Chapman, will you lead us in pledge of allegiance? Please join me.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

So we were in closed session at 5 o'clock and we had two items. The second item 1B was a conference with legal counsel. The city council met in closed session pursuant to government code section 54956.9. to discuss conference with legal counsel regarding the initiation of litigation seeking appointment of a receiver for the property located at 107 Elmenore Drive, Vacaville, California. By a vote of 7 to 0, the City Council authorized the City Attorney's Office to initiate litigation seeking the appointment of a receiver for the property at 107 Elmenore Drive pursuant to Health and Safety Code Section 17980.7 due to substandard and unsafe building conditions, code violations, and public nuisance. That's the official report out for closed session. And other than that, we'll move on to the approval of the agenda. Is there any changes to tonight's agenda? No changes today. All right. With that, do I have a motion?

Motion.

Second.

We have a motion and a second. All in favor? Aye. With that, we'll move on to report to the City Council. Any updates from the Council since the last time we met or anything to share? Council Member Chapman.

Thank you. The CSC Citizens Advisory Committee met last week. They continue to do outstanding work with the incarcerated population. I am I would like to share that it took a year, but however, they now have a bachelor's degree offering at the prison. The first cohort, they had 36 to sign up, and 35 showed up for the orientation. And I want to make mention that a local paper, the recorder, had an individual to go there on site and take a tour and they, I believe it might have been Sunday's paper, but they were on the front page and they were so happy that time was taken to come in and see the work that's being done. They have many career technical education programs in the making. The prisoners are the incarcerated upon release are leaving with skills to go straight into an industry of choice. And then I would also like to make mention of the commission on the forum that was held last week at ULADIS. I want to thank our mayor and Vice Mayor and Council Member Stockton for speaking on behalf of the residents of the Council on our position, our take on this battery and energy storage. near or within our boundaries. And I brought the notes from both the prisons from the meetings. So if anyone is interested in seeing them, just ask.

Thank you.

And that's all I have.

And I believe, Council Member Wiley, you were next. Is that right?

Thank you. Just a quick note. It was two weeks ago I went to the Cal City's North Bay meeting in American Canyon, and it was kind of interesting because it was in the American Canyon Council Chambers, so I've never been in there before. And we had guest speakers from several different counties, Napa, Solana, Sonoma, and Yolo, and they talked about the impacts of HR1 for the counties and mostly... in the medical realm and how it is going to really affect a lot of residents and how we can try to prevent some of the worst of the impacts of that. So it was interesting and a city manager was also in attendance at that meeting. And then tomorrow morning we have our Solano air quality meeting tomorrow.

Council Member Stockton?

Yes, there's just a couple events coming up that I thought the public might want to know about. This Saturday on September 12th is the Downtown Shakedown Car Event, which is always a really good time. It's heavily attended. There's lots of opportunities to check out some really neat classic cars and motorcycles and other stuff that's going to be out there, as well as support a downtown business, whether you're going to go and eat somewhere, go shopping, come downtown and check out all of that. And then also September 18th is the national POW MIA recognition day Ceremony from 10 to 1 that they that they do outside at the memorial right here at City Hall So I just wanted to make sure the public was aware of those two events and encourage them to attend Yeah, thank you I'll be attending this law transportation Authority board meeting tomorrow also

other than their normal meeting we do have a joint committee meeting for uh highway 12 and 113 and so mr burton i'll be seeing you tomorrow as well and i know you're going to share a few updates here tonight um interestingly enough we're always talking in our community about meeting activities for our community for our families And I was able to attend the grand opening for, it's called the club. And if you haven't been there, it's pretty impressive. And so while the city sometimes is looking to create opportunities through parks and recreation and activities, sometimes what we need to do is just partner with an industry that's coming in. And so they, this is their brochure, but when you go inside, they're located at 3777 Backeveld Parkway. They have taken a year to renovate this place, but when you walk in there, they have absolute state-of-the-art league play for pickleball. They can bring entire tournaments to Vacaville, and they have a facility in the Bay Area, but this fills a gap, and so it isn't just a pickleball court. they are wanting to create opportunities. I believe, Bruce, they may be working with you at some point. But those partnerships between the public-private partnerships that we're always talking about, not only is it pickleball, they have complete turn and play for badminton. And it's a thing. And this place was packed this weekend and people coming from not just Acondole or Solano County, but beyond. So if you haven't had a chance, Go in there just to acclimate yourself to what is in Vacaville now. You can actually, I mean, they've got, like if you're into golf, it's similar, but they've got simulators for pickleball. I didn't know there was such a thing. Yes.

Is it like a gym where you have to have a membership?

There is a membership to it. However, what they're looking to also do is as partners with programs that the city may have. And so that's something that I'm sure can be explored to say, how do we overlap a benefit that's already in our community that's in addition to what they have? What is also interesting, they're open 24 hours a day. So there's real pickleball fans out there. Anyway, when people are asking the city to build more pickleball courts, you go inside there and there's 12 of them and everyone's playing all the same time. Playing at 2 a.m. Playing at 2 a.m. With that, we'll go ahead and move on to the reports of the city manager.

Good evening Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council Members and community members. I just have a quick update. Last week we opened the applications for the residents to apply to our Sales Tax Citizens Oversight Committee. It will be a five member committee and the Applications are open through Monday, October 5th, 5 p.m. And we have all of the information available. There was a recent press release that went out last week on September 3rd. The information is on our website. So we encourage residents to apply for that committee. That's my update for today. Thank you.

Yeah, thank you. We'll move on to presentations. We do have a presentation from the Director of Projects of the Solano Transportation Authority, Nick Burton. This is on the I-80 Solano Express Lanes Operations and Weekend Pilot Update. I'm glad you're here tonight because I get a lot of questions and it's probably coming straight from the source. You can tell us what's going on.

Excellent. Yeah, Nick Burton, Director of Projects with the Salon Transportation Authority. This was an update provided to the STA board actually by BAIFA and MTC staff a few months back. And when the presentation occurred, there was a request to actually move around to the different city councils. So we've gone to Fairfield already. We're here tonight and then tomorrow, or excuse me, next week, next Tuesday, we'll be reporting to Dixon. And so reaching out along the corridor to any agency that the city would like this. So I will say too that some of these numbers are a little dated because it's taken us a little bit of time. But BAFA will be providing regular updates and I'll describe that a little bit later in the presentation. So here the state has authorized 550 miles of express lanes in the nine Bay Area County and the map on the right shows these lanes with different colors representing the four different operators. MTC is in blue and operates the lanes in Solano County as well as 880 in Alameda County and 680 in Contra Costa. An express lane is an HOV lane that allows carpools and transit users to use the lane at no charge and other users to pay to access the lane. And it really is a tool to manage congestion, and it provides really a reliable trip, meaning when congestion occurs, somebody can rely on that to get to their destination in a in a regular typical amount of time prices do change you know dynamically during as conditions traffic conditions change but this is really not targeted to increase revenues this is really targeted at the purpose which is to provide a reliable trip and so if the price were to stay low Many people would jump into the lane and then carpools and transit users would be bogged down just like everybody else. So the dynamic pricing keeps the flow of traffic operating right around 45 miles an hour, which is design. The four operators work together throughout the Bay Area along with Caltrans and CHP to collaborate on consistent operations. So this includes consistent signage, hours of operation, and all users are required to have Fast Track, which is operated by one regional customer service center. And then there are payment plans available for income eligible customers. So this map here shows the lanes that have been built so far and MTC is in blue and reflects the success the Bay Area has had in bringing funds to express lanes in the region and Solano County in particular. You notice up there in the red box, it has I-80 with 85 million in RM3 and 123 million in SB1. Those were match funds coming to the county from outside the county from a $17 million STIP match, which was the STA share. So you can see there was a significant amount of funding coming in from outside the region. And so that just shows a benefit really to our area. The map shows the lanes in operation with blue being the ones operated by MTC. The Solano County I-80 project has been a partnership between MTC, Caltrans, and the STA. And we added a new lane in the east segment and converted the HOV lanes into express lanes on the west segment. This really relieves the bottleneck at Air Base Parkway that caused congestion along the entire corridor. And the express lanes did open December 16th of last year. And there was a grace period that allowed people to get used to and adjust to how the lanes operate. The weekend operations pilot will follow the same policies as weekdays, with HOV 3, that's three people in a vehicle, being free, and HOV 2, two people in a vehicle, is discounted. The operating hours will be the same as weekdays, which is 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the weekend pilot is for a three-year period. The weekend pilot is recommended on I-80 since weekend congestion is similar to weekdays. We're going to take a look at some of the data just briefly. really offer a reliable option for drivers in that corridor. There is the potential to generate additional revenue that can be reinvested in the corridor. It was preferred to set the weekend operations at the same time as opening weekday operations to simplify the message and avoid policy changes in a few years. Also, this operation will align with the upcoming Yolo County Express Lane that is expected to have weekend operations as well. The recommendation for a weekend pilot was made with Caltrans and the STA. And the STA ended up supporting it, but it was contingent on several items. Expanding the express lane start, the low income discount program to the I-80 corridor, which occurred when the lane opened. Also providing regular updates like the one we have right now on the pilot's performance as well as providing funding for a project initiation document that basically kicks off another project, another phase in Solano County for the expansion. in Dixon, which I might add, because of YOLO and our project here, it is much needed. We're already experiencing, before they've even opened, significant congestion in Dixon. There's at the junction 113, there's like five, even six lanes, and then within several miles it necks down to three when you're headed in the westbound direction. So significant delays through Dixon. So another project is definitely, definitely needed. But that's not all. A broad outreach plan has occurred before the opening, and that was required by the STA board to be a part of the messaging. And then also developing a remaining revenue policy. This really directs where the funding after maintenance and operation is funded for the lane. It directs how those additional funds would be spent. That really controls the conversation when we talk return to source, return to the corridor, and continued improvements. As part of the pilot, there is an evaluation plan that was developed with Caltrans and the STA, and it will measure conditions before the project and after the start of weekend operations. Areas that will be measured include traffic volume, throughput, congestion, travel time, and incidents. There will also be evaluation of express lane start and the revenues and costs from weekend operations. Let's see. Did that click forward? Yes. Okay. Yeah. Great. The pilot is a three-year term, but there will be reporting. And BEFA publishes a quarterly report, which actually has the first quarterly report was already released. You can find that on the STA website. There will be interim pilot evaluation reports after the first and second year, so we're coming up on that first year report. That's expected, the first evaluation would be expected to be completed in the spring of 2027, and it will take, you know, all operations into account. The final evaluation report will be before the three-year pilot ends, and we'll have a recommendation to make operations permanent, extend the pilot, or terminate the pilot. And this recommendation we brought to the SDA board for a decision on support. And then BEFA for approval to make the updates to the toll ordinance. So now a little bit in terms of how these lanes are actually functioning, what's the benefit to the community. So the pilot has only been in operation for less than a year, as discussed, and there is only a few months of data tonight that we're gonna discuss, but here's some early observations without any hard conclusions. The operations did start around the holidays, so lower volumes at first. Drivers were still familiarizing themselves with the express lanes. However, we are seeing there are higher average speeds than prior to express lanes. opening for both directions and for weekdays and weekends. The table shows here in 2023, the average speeds are actually less than in 2026 once the general, once the lanes opened. So the message here, quick, Quick summary is the general purpose lanes, even if you're not driving in the express lane, the general purpose lanes are flowing more freely now. And there's reason for that. If somebody has the ability to pay, that's somebody who used to be in the general purpose lanes and now they're not. So we're seeing the slight improvement to the general population who chooses not to use the express lane.

So we also have some early data on traffic volume in the express lane. There are more daily trips on weekends, believe it or not, than weekdays.

However, they are spread throughout the day. It's not such a tight, sharp bell curve. It's spread out. This is also reflected in the average hourly tolls, and the peak toll paid is higher on the weekday than on the weekend because of that higher spike in the morning and in the evening. So I've got a couple of slides here. There's four slides. These are gonna really show how congestion was before and after in each segment. So you see here, this is showing eastbound weekdays, PM traffic from four to five. The winter 2023 title is up for the map on the left. It's a heat map, so the more congestion shows up in red, less congestion, right, tends to yellow, and then green is kind of free-flowing. So you can see that before the lane was constructed and opened, there was a huge bottleneck there through Fairfield. You see, and this is headed eastbound, so then you see after the lane opened up, significant improvement on weekday. The weekend, or excuse me, westbound, very similar. You see it's not as drastic, but you still do see significant improvements. So the light green there through Vacaville then turns to dark green, shows us free-flowing. Weekends, also dramatic improvement. And I don't know if you can recall, but I always remember slowing down, driving the 80 corridor on the weekends. It was without fail. And now it's rare if that ever happens. Same story is true for westbound. And you'd see that congestion heading into Vacaville on the weekends. And now we see it free-flowing. So finally, we have some information about the breakdown on trip types on the weekday and weekend, showing almost half of the trips are single occupancies. What that means is those are folks paying actually to be in the lane. That was a bit of a surprise to me at first. And a quarter of the trips are HOV-3. Those are receiving a free trip. And around 20% have no Fast Track accounts. And we can expect this number to continue to go down as folks sign up for Fast Track. This also shows the average daily number of incidents on weekends and weekdays for the first two months. There is some initial data and future reports will have much more information on travel time savings, diversion statistics, which we're really not seeing much because travel is improved, throughput is improved, so more people are coming onto the freeway, not getting off. And then also to cost information and weekend operation. So now I'm just gonna kind of go through, talked about earlier in the presentation, the outreach. And so BAFA, MTC had done a significant amount of outreach. So I just wanna cover that briefly. And then there's a video that they've produced that really helps kind of explain, gives you handlebars for how you use the express lane and how it might actually impact the community. So a little history here on Express Lane Start. It really provides eligible users a 50% discount, which is definitely significant. And we're in phase two. It was initially launched on for I-880 in April 2023. To qualify, you see here 200% of federal poverty level is that metric that's used. And so we continue to get the word out on how to sign up for that. Efforts to get the word out, billboards, there's paid digital ads, there's Amazon lockers as well. There's a video that we're going to see here as well as even direct mailers. You see here a pop-up tent and more of these will kind of continue, but just basically boots on the ground, getting information, pamphlets, flyers in people's hands. at various events you can see the list there of cvos that have been reached out to as well so now i'm just going to kind of queue up a brief video which kind of shows you this is from mtc shows you a little bit of how they're advertising i get an early start every day people count on me to show up on time

My job is hard, but I like knowing I make a difference. Thursdays, I take the Express Lanes to get home in time for dinner with my kids. With Express Lanes Start, I get a big discount on the tolls, so I can afford to skip the traffic. My job is important. My family is important. With Express Lanes Start, I don't have to choose.

All right, I am happy to take any questions you may have.

Yeah, thank you. I really do appreciate this and I know the change sometimes is hard and certainly that's a question. If you have three or more people, it doesn't cost you anything. That's correct. I think that's the advantage and I think also as part of the STA, one of the things that we as the SDA board understood is to pilot the weekends really benefited Salama County because to have movement that we've seen here, especially on the weekends, anyone who knows what back of the hill would look like going westbound and you're not sitting, usually you're not sitting in traffic the way we used to see it. It can't be overstated that part of the negotiation was to begin the funding project, how a project starts, for Dixon. And so we were working towards, you know, this is coming to our way no matter what. How do we benefit Solano County? How do we benefit Vacaville and Dixon? And so I just want to say thank you for working on this project with you and for putting this information out.

Yeah, absolutely. And there's one thing I can add additionally. I do want to say that that board meeting was interesting, right? Discussing whether or not we're going to support this. We did choose to support and there was some vision cast on what express lanes, how it could operate, how it could improve the region, how it will continue to be advanced, right? So there was kind of a vision put out and kind of collectively, I participated, but Caltrans actually, toward the tail end of it, stood up and said, we agree with how the STA thinks on this. What's really cool is they've actually come through, they have received funding from headquarters, and they're actually funding the project initiation document as a partner. So that's funding that's not coming from either the SDA or BAFA. So hopefully we'll be able to roll some of those funds into a future phase like environmental. But the idea here is that the vision, everybody was able to coalesce around and actually Caltrans is bringing money to the table now and helping to advance the next phase of a project that we really do need in Dixon. Yeah, thanks. Vice Mayor Sillin. Yes.

So two questions. How is it determined and verified the occupancy of the vehicles?

Yes, that is a very good question. So it is done through the transponder. So the transponder has, basically you have to set the transponder to the number of, you know, occupants you have in your vehicle. When you pass, when that vehicle passes by, it registers with the overhead sign. And then it actually displays how many passengers are in the vehicle. It does require CHP enforcement. And so that's where they are a critical partner in this, making sure that you heard earlier, right, that our signage is consistent all through the Bay Area. That's a significant issue. If the signage is confusing, CHP can't really do their job. And so we've worked to make that signage consistent, make sure they're aware you know changes and how operation works and that that really that coordination is continuing because problems don't just go away we still need to continue to solve and get better at uh at enforcing the vehicles in the lane that are non-compliant

So it sounds like an honor system, there's not like a plate reader or occupancy reader?

So, no, it's, well, yes, correct, it's honor system. And the idea is if what's displayed on the screen is not who's in the car, that's where, you know, a citation can be made.

Thank you. And the next question is, or just to clarify, the tolls that are collected from this, what exactly does that go to again?

So BEFA operates the lane, and a large portion of those revenues go into funding the actual operation. There's a lot of people, right, that it takes to actually operate this and the technology. Then there's also the maintenance side of things. So Caltrans gets a decent share. As these, you know, early in the stages of express lanes, those two things soaked up the majority of the revenues, if not all. You know, I think what we're doing and BAIFA opening the discussion, it's like, well, we need to be prepared for, you know, how we will spend those revenues as they tick up and increase and ridership continues to increase. And also, too, conversations along with Caltrans to say who's responsible for maintenance and what aspects of maintenance. Because that debate, when you start arguing over the finer details, has an effect on the price tag associated with the operations. So primarily operations of the lane and then maintenance of the lane. And then what we discussed was how it is that we want to see that return to source revenue come back, transit. providing for transit operation in the lane. That's an aspect. Funding of a project initiation document, so the expansion of that lane, as well as the express lane start programs, making sure those were rolled out, and then continued collaboration. So these are all the things that we've discussed and really do play into what the costs are, which then equates to how much is left over. Thank you. Council Member Wiley.

Thanks for the information. So you keep talking about the weekend pilot, the weekend pilot. So the weekend pilot looks just like the weekday. So it's 5 to 8. So in some plans, they don't have any charges on the weekend. Is that the plan? And so because we're charging, that's the pilot part of it?

Yes.

Otherwise, it's just the same.

Correct, yeah. The pilot is the actual operation of the express lane on Saturday and Sunday. So if you drive the rest of the Bay Area, those express lanes just become open, right?

Oh.

And so, yeah. So the idea being is, There was significant congestion. And we do, Solano County does sit at a very unique place in the state. We sit in the center of a mega region, right, between Sacramento and San Francisco. And so we actually see a significant amount of weekend traffic. And so this is why this, you know, one, the lane was opening up. And so as it opens up, you have less impact on the community. If you roll out multiple changes at the same time, they just kind of see one change as opposed to piecemealing change after change. It's hard to keep up with. So that was one aspect. But then two, the corridor seemed to be a good test case. And so it really truly is a pilot. It may not continue. We need to evaluate it. And that's where these reports are vital to report out on how they operate, what the revenues will be, you know, they're generating and so on and so forth.

And so then when the sign is up there and it says, you know, $1.75 to Manuel Campos or whatever, that means if I get over there now and I get off at Manuel Campos or if I keep going and it's added on to the next piece and the next section and the next section?

That's correct. Yeah. No, you said it correctly. If you get in at that point in time and then get off at Manuel Campos, that would be the cost. Yeah. Yeah.

In some places, like in Southern California, you can only go in when there's not a double yacht line, but there's not ever any double yacht line, so you can go anytime you want over there, and then you're just not sure what the charge is going to be when you get off, correct?

I think that charge, when you get into the lane, the way the technology is, is that when you get into the lane, your fee is fixed, right? So whatever it said at the top of that sign when you got in the lane is what you're going to get charged. Now, if you choose to go past another checkpoint, which will have another destination, then you'll get another charge, right, which will take you through that. You can get out early if you want, but you've paid— to go all the way to that destination. So it's just got checkpoints in there. So you can stay in the lane as long as you like.

And so when billing people, I mean, you'll get a bill that has like all your trips on it. So you would see that or you just get the bill and have to trust that's what got charged?

That's a good question. I do have, I forgot to mention, we have Beth Zielinski here with MTC. And I don't know, Beth, if you know what a bill looks like and can answer that.

Yeah.

Hello, I'm Beth Zielinski with MTC. Yes, so when you get in, they actually, your bill will kind of show the location where you got in at and also the exit that you got out at. So it should match what you saw on the sign, the entrance and the exit, those same zones, we call them. You should be able to see, yeah.

Every 30 days, you'll be billing every 30 days or something?

Yeah, it's every month you get a monthly statement. And so you'll see each one of those trips with the entrance and exit and then the amount that was charged for that trip.

So the last time I was driving, I was in the next to that lane, and someone went around and went back in. So once you enter that lane, are you going to charge till the end, even if you bop back over?

I think so. I think there's a little bit of a timeout period. So it assumes that if you get in and don't get out within a certain amount of time, or if you go in and out, that it'll just consider it one trip.

Okay. Well, I just wondered how the cost was. So thank you.

And I think just to add to that, I've heard this many times, but for clarity for our audience, old fast tracks did not have the dial. And so this is why some of the questions come up. If you're driving, if you're in the city, we know what congestion looks like on the weekend. The real value also that we're studying is having a lane that is open on the weekend. People work on the weekends. And so it really does go between mega cities to allow for that, plus for emergency responders to not just be stacking up with all lanes congestion, I think part of this is, you know, what did we learn from it? But that's the whole point is put the dial on, you know, there's no magic the transponder reads if CHP is monitoring in the area. Part of what they can do is if they visibly look over and see there's a three and they look over and there's a single driver, they can take enforcement action. That's the way that works. Anyone who has Fast Track, you load it from a credit card, at least it's typical. And so these things just add to a bridge toll or any other use.

And this is the first time that I've heard that HOV-3 is free. So I don't know, I saw these pictures in your video, but I haven't seen them on the road. So I don't know if I've just missed them or they're not all in place yet.

There is, yeah, there is signage that show HOV 3+, right, and it allows that as a free rider. So I don't actually have a picture of the sign, but there is. I saw it on your video. It was in there. Okay.

But I hadn't seen that before anywhere, yeah.

So that is posted, and that's what's, that really CHP needs that, right, for enforcement.

Right. And it was real easy to get the one with the 1, 2, and 3, the Fast Track. All people have to do is send it in and get it, so that was easy.

Yeah.

Okay, thanks.

Yeah, thank you. Council Member Chapman?

Thank you. Thank you for the presentation. Fast Track. I have one of the original Fast Track devices, and there is a new one that's out now. Is there a difference between the two?

Yeah, that's the original one does not have, depending on how old it is, does not have something that can set your occupancy. It's just, so if it's just one of the old school pucks that you can't, there's no dial on it, then how the system will read that is, you're only a single occupancy vehicle. That's how the system reads it. Okay. So if you jump in the lane, it's just going to give you a full charge. Oh, okay. So you want the dial.

So I want the dial.

You want the dial.

You sure want to know? I'll forget to set the thing in. Okay, the other thing is, in your presentation you mentioned that individuals are traveling faster. within Fairfield, Vacaville, you know, on I-80. And with that, we've had significant accidents similar to what we had prior to the expansion, the additional lengths. And I understand that you will be doing your official evaluation next year. However, Because of the number of accidents that are occurring, are you thinking about maybe doing an analysis to see if there is something that can be done? And I understand and I even see how the CHP officers are present. They're present now on the interstate. Is that due to the fast lane or is that due to the accidents? since you sit there working with you.

Yeah, so actually that's great because you bring up a point that actually I passed over. So the lane does actually also provide funding for enforcement. That's part of the operations. I was kind of grouping that all together. But so yes, there is some enhanced presence, right, just because of, and I can't tell you what vehicle is, you know, but basically there's some funding then that goes for enforcement. So yes, there is enhanced presence. of CHP presence because of the lane. I think I can answer your question that we can look into the incidents, the traffic incidents, to see if there's correlations there. And that's a part of the pilot analysis. But we don't have to wait for the one year. But it does take time, too, for the accident data to come in and get compiled and then to analyze before and after. So I'll put that on my to-do list. Thank you.

Yeah. Council Member Stockton.

Yes, thank you for the presentation. I know our council has had pretty robust discussions about digital signage and signage along the highway, and then we put up all these signs for this fast track lane. Are we done putting up signs? Are there going to be any more additional checkpoints that block our beautiful view?

No.

Okay, and if there is some sort of like need for that later on, would that go back to STA?

I would think we would be a partner in that. So the request would really come from BAFA because they operate the lane. And so if they feel like it's inadequate, yes, I think as a good partner, they would come to us.

Okay. And then I had some questions about enforcement. So my background is law enforcement, just like the mayor's. And I guess my question is, are they only doing enforcement for on-viewed violations or is there somebody that is... reading detections from license plate readers that they're, you know, basically or photographs or thermal imagery to determine how many occupants are in there and what they have the thing set to and then mailing out citations to people or is it only showing what it shows on the sign and then if there's an officer that sees it, they're able to verify how many occupants there are versus what that fee or what the fast track was set to?

Your latter description is accurate for right now. That doesn't mean that right now there's ongoing efforts to see how enforcement can be improved through technology, but that's not in effect yet.

Okay, so just to be clear, it's only being on viewed by actual CHP officers that witness a violation? Correct. Okay, and then... Do you know if they are using the fast track lanes in the license plate readers and camera imagery for like flock or anything like that?

I'm not familiar with the term flock.

OK.

There's no .

Well, a license plate reader and a flock camera is different. But I'm just trying to verify whether or not CHP is utilizing those for flock. No, no.

So those cameras are used for enforcement. Especially so there were when somebody comes into the lane, those cameras are there to track when, you know, visually right? Take a photo and track when a vehicle enters that way. If there is a citation, there's, there's got there's documentation that backs up that somebody ended the lane, maybe without a tag. Right? So that's what those cameras.

So they're specific to.

The operations.

Fast-track operations. Exactly. Thank you.

That would be similar to how fast-track is used for the tolls on the bridge. It's the same technology. Yeah. Well, I appreciate this update. I know that it is an interesting takeaway to see with speeds coming up over time. Is there a pattern of accidents in the future? So thank you very much for this. I appreciate you bringing this tour to our city and I'll see you tomorrow. Thank you. All right, we're going to go ahead and move on. To our consent calendar, we have four items, 9A through 9D. Any member of the public or this council? And anyone on the line wishing to pull an item for discussion? All right. With that, I would be looking for a motion.

Is there any online?

He said no. Yeah. We have a motion over here. Yes. And there was a second. I think it was Council Member Ritchie. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? All right, we'll go ahead and move on. Next is the business from the floor. This is an opportunity for any member of the public wishing to address the council on an item that's not on tonight's agenda, but it is in our jurisdiction and within our purview. So this would be the opportunity to come forward. I'll give you three minutes and please come forward.

Good evening. Hi. My name is Willa Gruver. I'm the resilient communities program manager with Sustainable Solano. Just here to spread the word about the upcoming air quality summit that I've been in touch with some of you about, but here to just invite the broader community as well. The event will bring together community groups, experts, and policymakers to learn about and discuss air quality issues across Solano County. It's going to be Saturday, October 17th at the Joseph Nelson Center in Sassoon City, starting at 9, going till 4 p.m. There will be resources and information there from other organizations across the county. You'll be able to see youth projects, a presentation from the California Air Resources Board on the biggest sources of air pollution in the county, skill building workshops, and opportunities to ask experts your burning questions about air quality. The full agenda will be released very soon on the Eventbrite page. The event will include lunch and the first 50 folks who are not government affiliated who register and stay for the whole event will be eligible for a $50 compensation for participating. Spanish language translation services will be available. And space is limited, so please register today to reserve your spot. If you're interested, I'll leave flyers outside on the table that folks can grab for those who want them. So according to CalEnviroScreen 5.0, Vacaville has census tracts that are above the 80th percentile for asthma, but there aren't active community groups here dedicated to air quality. So if anybody listening is concerned about air quality and wants to be involved in initiatives here in your community, I particularly encourage you to attend because one of our goals with the summit is to encourage create more community and more engagement on air quality issues in different Solano communities. So there will be opportunities to connect with other folks at the event, as well as some post-summit meetings as well for next steps. There's also a teen cooking class that we have coming up. It'll be on Saturday, September 19th. It'll cover knife skills, sauteing, roasting, and baking, and will include lunch prepared by the class. So I also have a flyer for that one as well outside. And if you have any questions about any of these events, or if you can't make a specific event but you'd like to be involved, you're welcome to reach out to me. I will leave my card outside as well. So thank you.

Thank you. Good evening.

Good evening. My name is Jeremy Weber. I retired from the Air Force in 2020. My wife and I pretty much had our choice of where we wanted to live. And the first time we set foot in Vacaville, we decided that this was home, probably for many of the same reasons you did. It was tranquil, it was livable, and it felt like home. So we bought a home here and just this past November we moved into the new Foxboro-Knowles subdivision at the very southern edge of town. I'm appearing today to speak out against the proposed data center in the Fairfield Industrial Park. While I understand the data center would be located inside Fairfield's city limits, it would immeasurably hurt the lives of Vacaville citizens, including me and my neighbors. The media has reported that a commercial real estate company and a developer are seeking investors for an industrial center that would include a data center. A Fairfield spokesperson has confirmed that the property owner is considering a data center project for the location. Opposition to data centers in local communities has galvanized Americans like a few other issues today. Americans oppose the water use, electricity consumption, noise pollution, destruction of landscapes, and decreased property values data centers bring. My community of 58 new homes at Foxboro Knolls would be devastated by this data center, which would be located less than a mile from my backyard. And those are my neighbors. And depending where in the center it would be, it would be less than a half mile from our backyard. I've corresponded with Council Member Wiley about this. She stated that her information at the data center is just a concept, but that's little comfort to me. The tech billionaires pushing AI and data centers on the rest of us have a way of pushing in on communities before they know what hit them. I don't want to wake up one morning to the hum of a data center in my home. My wife and I chose to live in Vacaville because it felt like home. The data center would destroy that sense of home. It would devastate us financially by tanking the property values of the home we just bought, and it would take away the tranquility we thought we had found in Vacaville. i urge the city council to oppose the full scope of its authority again i realized that this data center would be in fairfield but it would impact the lives of vacaville citizens please represent me and my neighbors by getting to the bottom of this issue using the full scope of your authority before it's too late thank you thank you

Good evening. Mr. Mayor, Council Member Silva, Council Member Stockton, thank the three of you for speaking up for the city at the board meeting last week. As soon as you guys left, they stopped listening. They didn't want to hear anything from the common people. But you guys probably didn't change their minds, but you gave it your all. Okay, something caught my eye last week. It wasn't on the agenda, but a discussion began over money that had previously been spent or previously allocated and not yet spent, and there was discussion about maybe trying to retain some of that. And what caught my... I later on was Councilmember Ritchie's announcement that he's running for re-election, and I've got to read through this to get it right. Now this is in his announcement for re-election, and he brings up that In 2012, opened downtown mortgage brokerage that now has two locations and 33 employees. Citizens Financial serves Californians seeking the dream of home ownership and a special focus on public safety professionals, peace officers, firefighters, military families, veterans, and educators. Mission is personal. My father was a United States Air Force pilot who served at Trafford Air Force Base. My mother spent 42 years teaching special education. What caught me was this. The whole spiel that he's got there on the city website is suitable for print. I assume that at some point he might print it as a flyer. And it struck me that that's a campaign thing, but he managed to turn it into an advertisement for his business, which is very good use of resources because you've got a business advertisement, that your campaign would pay for. Excellent. No, I'm not criticized. I think it's great. What struck me is that in the discussion last week, there was a point where you said something to the effect of $4 million isn't going to matter anyway. The point was the huge amount of money, of taxpayer money, that has been spent and that the city's in a hole. And if Measure V doesn't pass, we are, you know, the city's really going to have a problem. And it's a good thing that most of the people who possibly will vote for you don't know what goes on in these council meetings.

Thank you.

Because... Thank you. All right.

Okay, for the commercial.

Anyone else? Anyone else online?

Is anyone online? It's my fourth visit. I decided to... Oh, sorry. Hello, everybody. I decided to start coming and finding out what's going on local government when I heard about that crazy Cherry Glen truck stop. So it's been kind of eye-opening. And I want to thank the council and all the staff, because last week we were here until almost 11 o'clock. I don't know, man. It's a tough job. I did want to thank the four folks who voted to move forward with the community center, which I heard about in that meeting. I came away with the impression that the choice was between the taxpayers paying like $2 million today versus some future net operating losses. setting aside other people's money. It seemed to me like the choice may in fact be between Paying more taxpayer money and having no community service center versus paying less and having a community service center. So I just, the folks who voted against, I just want to, you know, net present value, kind of time value of money, just kind of run the math again. I know this is going to come up again. So I definitely think we're better off having the community center. Thank you, Mr. Ritchie, for pointing out the Measure V paradox, which, you know, is not going to change the situation financially much. We're just going to, are we going to be in a hole with a park or be in the hole without a park? So I appreciate you, and I hope somebody's putting signs up for Measure V. Seems kind of important. I haven't seen a sign yet, so thank you.

Go ahead and move to someone online.

I can hear her here, but I can't hear her earlier.

Okay.

Is this good now?

Yes, go ahead.

Okay, great, thank you. First of all, thank you, Mayor Scarley, and Mr. Roy Stockton, and my compliment to Mike Love for speaking at the CEC meeting.

Your comments were excellent.

And I wanted to follow up with the, someone just came to the podium talking about the data center in Fairfield. That is not a concept. I actually made a request several months ago for correspondence relating to that data center. And when I reviewed it, that was already preliminarily streamlined it. They informed the landowners and the I'm going to call them the developer who's seeking investors. When you look at the slide deck that was provided by the developer, it says the permitting process is currently in progress. The staff at Fairfield informed the developer that they can build the data center and a PG&E substation by right. It's a master planned unit development that was approved in 2023. One of the pieces of correspondence indicated that while the EIR for that land unit development did not contemplate a data center, the correspondence indicated that the city attorney's office has dated all that would be needed as an addendum. So really the last step is to get the investors. The data center is on 50 acres. I don't know how big the PG&E substation will be, but from one of the speakers at the City of Fairfield council meeting, she indicated that the amount of electricity that will be going through this data center is enough to power 110,000 homes. This will absolutely create a disadvantaged community. It'll destroy one of Fairfield's only gems, which is One Lake. And because there's going to be a PG&E substation, I guarantee you there will be a lithium ion battery project that will be connected to that. And additionally, I have friends in the energy sector that are experts. And circling back to Vacaville where the Corby project will be placed, I send you all an email indicating that Rimsky and Energy provided me with a spreadsheet. There were five additional lithium ion battery projects that would be connected in the vicinity. Some will be using the same point of interconnection. I guarantee you data centers will be attached to those planned lithium ion battery projects. I'm asking for you to consider a moratorium on data centers. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. All right. Anyone else from the public wishing to speak? Seeing none, I'll go ahead and close. the business from the floor and we will move on to our first public hearing item 11a.

This item is a resolution of the city council adopting the 2026 agricultural and avian species impact mitigation fee study update and updating the agricultural and avian species foraging habitat mitigation fee schedule and assistant or acting planning manager Albert Eno is here to present.

Good evening, Mayor and members of the City Council. This item before you tonight is the Agricultural and Avian Species Foraging Habitat Mitigation Fee Program. The action being considered for tonight is the acceptance of the 2026 Impact Mitigation Fee Study Update, a potential increase to the agricultural-only mitigation fee from $4,687 to $8,800 per acre. The consideration of maintaining the avian only fee at 70.32 per acre and the agriculture and avian stacked fee at 12.832 per acre with final adoption of the resolution and associated findings of fact. This particular study began in 2019 when the City Council adopted the program as an optional in lieu pathway for qualifying development projects. The program implements general plan mitigation requirements for conservation of important agricultural land and protected avian foraging habitat. Following that action, the City entered into an implementation agreement in 2021 with Solano Land Trust, where the City collects the fees that are paid by the development community, and Solano Land Trust uses those transferred funds for the conservation of easements through acquisition, through additional stewardship, monitoring, and enforcement. The City's Vacaville Municipal Code Section 1428-001-0508 requires that we conduct periodic evaluation of this fee schedule. The program is implemented in three different categories. For projects that require mitigation for the conversion of agricultural-only land into development, there was an initial fee set at $46.87 per acre. For projects that had fallow fields or open fields, mainly in your industrial parks that had the potential for avian foraging habitat, those are your swates and hawks, or your burrowing house, the mitigation fee was set at 78.32 per acre. And then if you had a piece of property that qualified for prime agricultural land or other types of categories of agricultural land, and then they also suited as potential foraging habitat for even species, the city offered an opportunity to double mitigate for that with a 12,832 per acre. To date, the city has identified 199.198 acres of land that has developed in the city that has contained one of these three types of categories. And then transferring to date of $2.2 million as part of this program over to Solano Land Trust beginning in October 2021 to August of 2024. The participating projects associated with this mainly include the developing villages within Roberts Ranch, the farmstead development that's currently developed now, the Vacavalley Hotel and the Weber Road construction yard. We'll note that we do have other qualifying projects that are in the queue, just waiting to develop and potentially use this mitigation program. So the fee study updates that was conducted evaluates current agricultural land values and the conservation easement transactions. It also looks at the appraisal, the escrow, legal, biological review, as well as the title, stewardship, monitoring, and program administrative costs for the city, as well as Solana Land Trust. looks at revised projections based on whatever future development might need to participate for this type of mitigation program, and what other availability of adequate mitigation opportunities are still available within Solano County and the surrounding area of Vacaville. The evaluation of the study looked at two primary acquisition methods, the buy-protect-sell versus the direct purchase easement. The difference between the two is that the buy-protect-sell utilizes the purchasing of a piece of property, the recordation of an easement, and then the selling of that piece of property back to a potential farmer. The direct purchase easement looks at just courting individual property owners, paying them to record a conservation easement on their property, but then they still retain the property and there's only an easement that's held in perpetuity that requires them to use that property for agricultural purposes that may also dual use for avian species. What we found from the fee study findings was that agricultural land values over time and conservation easement acquisitions, those costs to be able to either buy the land or be able to buy the purchasing rights for an easement to be on the property, that's all been increasing since 2019. The existing agricultural only fee, really it no longer fully reflects the cost of acquiring equivalent conservation easements. But we did find that the existing stack fee continues to provide adequate funding and offers a conservative buffer for marketing fluctuations as properties may increase in value because of the different type of agricultural uses that could occur on the property. And then the proposed action updates the fee schedule only. Underlying other mitigation requirements that are required in our general plan and our municipal code are still going to remain and the optional move fee structure will still remain unchanged. As part of the study, we worked with Solano Land Trust on figuring out exactly what those fees ought to be. They were able to complete a transaction. And I will note that a representative from Solano Land Trust is here tonight to help complement the presentation and answer any questions from the city council that you might have. But one valuable piece of information that was able to complement the study that came from the city's consultant, BA Urban Economics, was a transaction with KC Farming. And this was that version of the, not the buy protect sell where they're purchasing the property, but rather they're able to purchase an easement and have that recorded over the property. And it was for 94.28 acres of land with KC Farming. What they were able to do was find that the appraisal of that value plus the total acquisition cost of that easement really found out that the total cost of doing that, a real world example in Solano County related to that mitigation found that the per acre cost for agricultural only for this particular scenario was around $8,972 per acre. So really close. to the initial valuation that was $8,800 per acre that came from that study. Really the additional costs include project development, appraisal, legal work, and baseline documentation surveying and closing costs as well as stewardship endowment. What we found from this example was that the cost composition really rounded out to be about 80% was the easement purchasing, 12% is that ongoing stewardship of annual reporting, 7% of the project development as well, and less than 1% was spent on closing costs. And as I mentioned, that $89.72 per acre is just a recent cost example that makes us understand that we're pretty aligned with needing to elevate that agricultural-only mitigation per acre cost.

Thank you.

So current conservation statuses on the amount of lands that have been, I think it's around, I mentioned early in the presentation, around 199 acres of project land that has devolved and taken advantage of this program. That breakdown of lands to be mitigated is broken into agricultural, avian foraging, and then also that stack. You can see the largest chunk of that is in a land to be mitigated. 147 acres of that 199 have been devolved. Something noticeable about this breakdown is that you'll see that the majority of mitigation requirements are occurring within that stacked field, and that's largely because the development that's occurring within east of Leisure Town with Brighton Landing, the farm at Alamo Creek, and then Roberts Ranch, those subdivisions, those properties hold dual value for both prime agricultural land but also avian foraging habitats for like sweets and hawk and burrowing owls. And so what we're finding is that most projects that have to mitigate are still having to mitigate for that stack core category. The second is that avian foraging habitat. And you'll see that only five acres out of the 199 acres falls within the category of the agriculture only. which is a very small percentage. We initially thought that there might be concerns about increasing that value from that $4,800 per acre to $8,800 per acre, but we should note that the amount of land that has to be mitigated is really not within that category. It's within the avian foraging and the stag category. So our analysis and public process, we wanted to be able to highlight that. Our analysis found that the fee increase that's being recommended by the report from BAE Urban Economics is really supported by the recent transaction from Solano Land Trust. We found that the fee setting meets the findings of fact under the Mitigation Fee Act, which is that the fee that is being charged, there's a direct nexus related to that and that's for the mitigation of land. It provides opportunity for the development community to be able to continue offering optional in lieu mitigation fees to satisfy those mitigation requirements under the California Environmental Quality Act. We did some public outreach for this. We posted the draft analysis on the city's website on July 23rd and did some additional posting on social media and constant contact. We also published in the newspaper on August 22nd and August 29th a couple of notifications about the public hearing that we're having tonight. This particular analysis is exempt from environmental review under a number of different categories within the California Environmental Quality Act. Really, we're not requesting any funds. Staff's costs are covered by the existing budget, the fees that are collected by this mitigation fee program. So the recommendation for the City Council that we have tonight is to increase that agricultural only per acre fee, keep the AVN on the same fee, and then the stacked maintain that same fee, that exact amount. As I mentioned, we have a representative from Solano Land Trust that's available to answer any questions about that stewardship program, what does it look like after they purchase that easement or when they get the funds, and then also that recent transaction with Casey Farming. Also here with us tonight on virtual, on Zoom, is Matt Cota, who's the individual from BA Urban Economics that was able to help with the analysis that is leading to the recommendation for tonight's meeting.

Yeah, thank you for the presentation and for taking time this afternoon to answer my questions. I think what stood out to me the most was something that I think we see a lot at the council level is why such an increase. But I think it would be helpful from the consultant's perspective Because what I understand is that KC Farms is an actual transaction that was fairly consistent with what the findings of the study was. And it would be great to actually have our consultant explain why that matters. Because otherwise it just looks like an 87% increase. And I know that oftentimes we get behind several years in increasing, which would be a lot easier if we were following a CPI of some sort. It's a lot easier to manage 3 to 5% in a year versus almost 88%. So if you could explain what that reasoning is, that would be helpful.

Yes. Good evening, Mayor Cardley, members of the council, Matt Cota, managing principal of VAE Urban Economics. I'm sorry I couldn't be there in person tonight. I'll try to answer the question. Market dynamics of farming, various crops that can be grown on the agricultural land, the values of those crops, those are all things that play into what it costs to put an easement on a property. And what you're doing is you're limiting the available uses of a property when there's an easement on it. The landowner is looking for, um, compensation for that. Um, back in 2018, we found that, um, there was a very high price to put in tag. I'm sorry. And he's been on property because that was interfering with people's ability to develop orchards, which were commanding very high values. Um, agricultural land appeared to be, um, less impaired by having an agricultural easement on it because there wasn't so much demand, uh, for say speculation or urban development, uh, on that land. Now, uh, that was back in 2018 was done on more of a theoretical basis based on the appraisals and the estimation of what the Delta. where the difference in value would be between an unimpaired or unencumbered ag property and an encumbered ag property. Since that time, SLT has had the opportunity to be out in the market, to be speaking with the landowners, and really getting a feel for what price it is that would actually get them to voluntarily agree to place an easement on their land for agriculture. And that's really key. that these have to be willing sellers. We're not going in with any domain or anything like that to get people into the program who don't want to be in the program. So it has to be voluntary. There has to be a sufficient financial incentive for them to enter into those conservation agreements. And in the real world, what we're finding is that it is closer to this $8,500 to $1,000 impact. Mixed state parks have changed somewhat. There's not so much of a concern now on park owners' parks on not-work trips. The highest and best value, as we understand it, has been more oriented towards the row crops in recent years. So that cost potentially is coming down. We, under the program, may not see another more than five meters or so we allow for the fact that those dynamics can change fast like that, 12,000 or so per acre for those avian easements So conservatively, for the program to make sure that we don't underfund it for the work that SLT needs to do, we're recommending to save a higher value for the ag and agon easement, but to bring that ag-only easement up to that higher level based on recent experience. And I think Ms. Allison may speak to it, but we did have one specific example of a closed transaction There are other transactions that are pending that also point to around that same level of cost for the ag.

We feel it's a prudent that we can use to our benefit.

Again, we collect adequate funds so that SLT can go out and procure those and make the mitigation happen as promised.

Yeah, thank you for that. I think it's helpful to note. From the Sloan Land Trust perspective, I think part of the, yeah please come forward, part of the interest in this is creating an alternative in the development world for mitigation other than the developer going out and doing it themselves. Is there, I mean I know with your board, is there the ability to come to the council, I don't know, maybe I'm not saying start doing this annually, but it's part of a program that in many cities they associated to a CPI. What's the progress? How's it done? Especially with some of these projects to either share with the city and staff and to the council. So it keeps us informed as to. You know, what, here's how your project mitigation works and here's a success. Otherwise, people don't know really what, you know, what is this tool? Why is it important? Why, like for now, why does it need to be increased? It sounds to me like there's a clear connection as to the appropriate amount, but then how do you track that and how do you demonstrate that over time? I'm sure that's intimately known with your staff and your board, but educate the council if you would.

Thank you. I'm Tracy Ellison, Solana Land Trust Chief Programs Officer. I've been at the Land Trust for 15 years doing this transaction work, and I appreciate you wanting to know more. So we'd be happy to come back. I think what's interesting in the work that we do is it ebbs and flows, and that's that same market that we have to follow to do this work. And granted, we are reporting annually to staff. We don't close a project. two projects every year. It takes time to get it done. And so we kind of reflect that market. And so I'm happy to keep you educated and informed on what the process is. I don't know if it can fall in exempt you know, process, but happy to keep you informed. We're really excited about this opportunity. The land trusts don't typically work within an in lieu fee program because, as it's been said, the market changes. And, you know, this 18 months, the next 18 months, it could be the same, it could be different. And so to be locked into an in lieu fee typically is harmful because we could be operating under the market and not be able to do the work that's been required. And just for the community to also remember is that We are the instrument after the decision's been made. So if development has happened and mitigation has been applied, this is how we get the work done for our community, both the farming community and the local city government and its community. And so the outcome is that we do outreach to our local farmers, whether we're talking about what this tool is a conservation easement a mitigation easement for work that's been done within the city and growth that's happened this is mitigation for that impact and sometimes it's heck yeah i'm on board let's get it done and sometimes it's you have to bring them along and sit at that kitchen table for many years before a landowner decides that this is going to work best for them i'm super excited working with the kc farming project where this funding has provided a young brand new farming family that's taking on land ownership to acquire land and know that they have that land to farm into the future. And so those are the public benefits that this program is offering. Historically, when developers would go out and have to meet their mitigation requirement in order to get their first permit, They're buying land themselves. They're picking up land that may not be fully irrigated and in operation, though acceptable. But they're picking fringe properties, properties that maybe don't have the impact that we're hoping to have. And they also don't have the connection to those local farm families, new families, folks that get an opportunity to get on this property with this influx of funding. And so ultimately, it is a community benefit effort. And so we're happy to participate. I know that the city brought this along with developers and the land trust to the council back in 2019. And it's taken a little bit of a slow turn to get it started. But we need the acreage. We need the money. We need to sit at that kitchen table more than just one time to get this work done. And we're happy to present that we've got one in the bucket. and then also working on a second 54-acre one. And just so you know how far this may impact is we can cobble money too with county or other cities, as long as we're landing in the area that you wish the projects to be done. But when money comes along in an in-loofy fashion, it allows the land trust to make a really good choice and cobble other monies that are out there that need the same mitigation, which has a larger impact on that agricultural land conservation. So I hope I answered your question. It's really impactful. And I'd be happy to sit down with any one of you or the land trust come and present at any moment. But we're in support of this analysis. And it does give us the flexibility, both in communicating with landowners and getting the actual mitigation done, and in managing the market. And so granted, the tree market has come down. But our row crops, specifically our tomato, production has gone up and so we're right there in the pocket when we support them.

Thank you for that and it would be nice at some point for you to come and give a presentation. That would be great. Appreciate all the work that you and your staff are doing.

Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Weil.

So this is also a question for you probably. So is there a time frame on the easement or is it in perpetuity?

We love the word in perpetuity. No, we are a 501 that has been provided the opportunity through the IRS and other agencies to hold in perpetuity conservation easements. I think, again, a learning curve is understanding that this is a mitigation easement, the work that we're doing. is directly tied to a take of agricultural land. And the land trust responsibility as a steward of these agreements is in perpetuity, not only for just a straight willing seller ag easement through a grant process, but when you bump that up to a mitigation requirement because it's attached to a take of ag land through development, you're landing that in an enforcement space with a land trust that can do that.

So the reason it came up was so the young family who's getting started, so they're never planning to in the future farm that or use that because it will be set for mitigation and they will not be using it.

Oh, no, they're absolutely using it for mitigation. agricultural uses, no further development. So the developer has taken the land out of production and they've been required to mitigate for that loss. And that benefit is working with a willing landowner who wants to be a farmer and rancher. And so now we have restricted, extinguished the development rights on that agricultural property so it can never be impacted by urban or rural development. Therefore, we're protecting those agricultural values and those young farmers will know that they will never be pressured by future development. Their property is protected for ag use only.

Oh, so in my past, the land had to be fallow for a while. So they can fuse it, and also then the birds can use it, and the people can use it.

Yeah, we don't use the word fallow. We're considering those agricultural values. The market may say, hey, we can't farm this year, but those agricultural values can never be harmed, and there's no... Affirmative action. We're not requiring them to farm, but we're requiring them not to harm those values. So whether it's this year or next year, 100 years, it's available for agricultural uses and not development. Thank you. Terrific. Happy to come back and have that presentation.

Well, you can see it's a program that we use here and it's of interest. So I appreciate you being able to answer some of these questions. You may not want to leave, but there might be more questions.

Yeah.

Council Member Stockton? Just wondering if the land trust would be interested in some of that prime ag land right around our PG&E substation. I'm just curious. I've looked at any of that.

So again, in any presentation that we would bring back, We are a land owner in Solano County. That is not our priority, and our mission is to own more land just to protect it. The way we move the needle on land protection is working with willing sellers. And so had the owners of that property approached us or we'd had that opportunity to sit at the kitchen table before they were offered land opportunity or a sale to someone else, we happily would have discussed the tool. But we want to work with willing sellers of the easement and those that want to continue to farm. And we are very, very supportive of landowner rights. There's opportunity and it's impactful sometimes when decisions are made, but there are landowner rights.

And what are some of the best ways for people to get a hold of you if that's something they want to do?

Tracy at Solano land trust org Could you maybe elaborate more it's kind of coming up in here, but can you elaborate more on the impact of farming farming operations as residential developments come up next to Yeah, thanks for asking the question and again, I'm here for you guys and I'm here for the community So thank you for the opportunity

Your mitigation plan within your general plan does wish that most of the mitigation for future development requirements happen within a one to two mile ring outside of the city. We also have the Solano HCP, which is not yet final, but it does describe where Swainson Hawk preserves and reserves should take place. So that all lines up until the day that the cities, this or any other city, begins to grow. Then those landowners on the edge, they want to farm every day until the bank says the developer can pay me more money. And so there is a space where you'd rather see us do the work, but that one and two mile edge, they're constantly seeing as landowners, constantly seeing encroachment or the potential of transitional land. And so that's a tough one. So even within the mitigation plan, it does say that the land trust can make a good decision. So it may not be in that one or two mile range. So we're doing outreach further than that to get this work done. But the loss is... All of our cities, Fairfield, Sassoon, Vacaville, Dixon, sit within a prime soil space. And we've got, in the nine Bay Area cities, we hold the most prime soil in the nine Bay Area cities. Solano County does. And so when cities expand, there is a loss. And that loss is, if we're growing tomatoes on all that land that's going to get built over, then where does Campbell's Soup go? If we're gobbling up prime soil and agricultural land for the trucking companies and we're not servicing trucking services for ag is no longer needed because our prime soils are shrinking. So it is a concern. And the Land Trust does have a mission to both educate the community and to provide this land conservation tool. And so at any place where we can continue to bring that information, I'm happy to. But it's very impactful on our prime soils when we begin to lose productive farmland that, in time, may not have the services that it needs and then ultimately will go. The history goes in many parts, right? The cherries, the pears, they're all gone because we have to go to a different crop. And sometimes housing is the impact. So it's harmful. So I think what the land trust likes to do in their conversations is we don't want to lose land, but we don't want to lose so much land that we lose our agricultural services that support it because when it's all gone, then it's all gone. Thank you. You're welcome.

Yeah, thank you. Appreciate it. Okay.

Thank you all.

Thank you.

Are there any, well with that, this is still part of the presentation, so this has answered all of our questions. I'm going to go ahead and open it up to the public for any comments.

All right, my name is Sylvandra. What does mitigation mean?

So here's how this will work. You have the next two and a half minutes and so I'll take those questions and we'll have staff answer them afterwards. So if you have more things you'd like to share, we'll make sure that we answer that question.

Oh, okay. So I'm wondering what mitigation means and I'm also wondering, just to get this like clear that, so basically what is going on is that were making developers pay a fee based on the type of soil they have? Or that they give their land for the farmers?

Just to have a little summary.

And how do you know which crops are more important than others? And what crops are considered soul food crops? And those are just my questions. Thank you.

Thank you. Appreciate you taking the time to come out and ask questions and to sit through a council meeting. So it means a lot. Anyone else? Anyone online? All right, I'm going to go ahead and close the public comment of this hearing and bring it back to the council and say I thank you for making this clear. I'd like to see in the future maybe a presentation to the council, maybe the same way we had a presentation from SEA. I think it's important to see how a program works in the future and the effects of it, because especially as the city does go into an urban growth boundary area, our city, like many others, has a need to grow, but to grow in a smart way, and clearly with the need for some mitigation, how that's done in partnerships, too. With that, bringing it back to the council, I'm looking for a motion.

Can we get the answer to the question?

Oh, yeah. Sorry. I appreciate that. I'm always kept on my toes. But, staff, would you like to maybe explain a little bit more about what a mitigation program is and how this does affect in the development world?

Sure. Mitigation is the act of lessening an impact, some type of severe impact. So in this case, the impact that we're mitigating for is the removal of agricultural land, prime agricultural land that's used primarily within our east of Lesjean areas as an example. And so in order to be able to mitigate that, we're trying to figure out a way to lessen that impact. And so what we have found to be somewhat comparable as a way to lessen that impact is by finding other land that's equitable and saying that we're going to preserve this other land for as long as we can and that's what in perpetuity means is forever and so that's what the solution is and as Tracy had mentioned the goal is within a 1.1 mile to 2 mile radius around our city limits in order to be able to preserve that cultural land as close as possible and then we look beyond still within Solano County. How do we know which crops are more valuable? That is part of the work of our marketing experts like BAE Urban Economics. And so if the council is interested in finding out what that fluctuation looks like, we still have Matt Cote, I believe, on the phone. How do we know where soil is, which is prime? And then we know that from the US Department of Agriculture. They produce maps that show where prime agricultural land is as compared to some of those other lands. And usually it's a mapping exercise. You can find those maps online. And then I don't know, unfortunately I don't know which ones are our soul food crops. So if anybody might know that.

I'm not sure.

I don't know the term, but I'm happy to speak or speak to you afterwards.

Did you want to, you can answer it now if you'd like.

I think as Albert, as staff said, I think we should be understanding of the efforts. Cities grow. And unfortunately, they do grow on agricultural land. But it's recognized locally, statewide, nationally that if that happens, that it's a loss of agricultural land or habitat. It's recognized. And so in some fashion, as Albert said, to bring it back to some equitable space, if a developer develops on land, they're required through mitigation to replace. So every acre that they develop, they're required to protect an acre. So it doesn't feel even. I mean, we've lost the land to it, but there's an effort to understand that there's a loss of agricultural land or habitat. That ratio could be higher. That could be a two to one. For every acre you take out, the city council, a city council, the government could say you have to replace it at two acres to every one acre. It all depends. So I want to recognize that there's an effort. That's what mitigation is. It's a take permit. Either you took foraging habitat away from Swainson Hawk or you took agricultural land to do your project. You have to mitigate for it. So that's what mitigation is. So it's an act. It's a decision that's been made that we recognize we want to do better. So we can thank that effort. And then I think the words are called like for like. But if a developer develops on land that you've seen irrigated and probably has alfalfa or tomatoes or sunflowers or some sort of crop that's irrigated, the developer is required to do a like for like mitigation. So if it was irrigated and it was prime soil, then they're going to pay their in lieu fee money, or they're going to go out and get a conservation easement that then is like for like. Therefore, we're replacing it in that more equal space. And that's considered for both ag and agriculture. And then Albert's absolutely right. Whether you're using the USDA soil designation, or the state of California has something called FMMP, which is Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program. And they do water. They do soil and they do climate. So anytime we can find a green canopy in a growing season, so some lesser soils sometime can be updated to be a prime soil. But Albert and the staff and the city are doing things that they're supposed to to recognize.

And then the soul food, I don't know if it's because you saw the word soul food farm.

We are working with the farm, Soul Food Farms, on Pleasance Valley Road. And we will be preserving their agriculture and Swainson Hawk foraging habitat on their property through this project.

OK.

Thank you for the answer. It actually helps. And thank you for the question. You just allowed everybody else to be educated, sometimes unwilling to get up and have the risk to ask the question. So thank you. appreciate that so now i'll bring this back around we would be unless there's any further comments all right so we have a motion okay we have a question online now we have someone okay there wasn't somebody online i had already closed it but i'll go ahead and allow go ahead miss minion hi it's alicia minion can you hear me okay yes yes

I apologize, I stepped away to have a snack. All right, so, no, okay, so I love the subject matter, and thanks so much to the Solano Land Trust, and I encourage all developers to utilize that for their required mitigation. And I, just kind of a fun fact, something that I've researched in the past that I wasn't aware, is that some developers in Solano County, they actually own their own land banks. So one concern is that mitigation could occur, but not in an arm's length transaction. So I'll give you an example, like One Lake, which I was just talking about earlier with the proposed data center and PG&E substation across the street. One Lake, part of the way they mitigated, one of the developers has financial interest in that project, the last name is Russo. And he has two affiliate land banks, Muzzy Ranch Conservation and Noonan Ranch Conservation. And so I just want council to consider that when you do come across development agreements, that you really look at how the project is being mitigated. Because when it's being mitigated with the developer's affiliate land bank,

have to question whether the mitigation provides any additionality if that makes sense anyway those are my comments thank you thank you all right i'm going to re-close the public portion of the comment and there is a motion and i believe there was a second i don't recall who do you have it recorded i think okay okay so we have a motion in the second all in favor aye opposed I appreciate it. Thank you. I think we got a little bit of an education tonight. So with that, we'll go ahead and move on to our only business item, 12A.

This is a resolution to authorize an exclusive negotiating rights agreement with community development partners for development of affordable housing on city-owned property located adjacent to the Backfield Transportation Center on Allison Drive. to implement the housing element of the general plan and advance transit-oriented development objectives within the Allison property priority development area. And Community and Housing Services Director Tamara Colpin is here too.

Good evening, Mayor Carley, Vice Mayor and council members tonight I'm here presenting on the exclusive negotiating rights agreement as mentioned before by Michelle. This is with CDP or community development partners. And this is for the site located on Allison Drive near the transit center. The project consists of two city-owned parcels located immediately north of the Vacaville Transportation Center on Allison Drive. And the property is located within the Allison Priority Development Area and has a residential overlay that allows both residential and commercial uses. Because of its location adjacent to the transportation center and near employment, services and other amenities. The site has long been identified by the city as an appropriate location for transit oriented housing development. The city previously worked with a developer on an affordable housing project for this site. And from 2022 to 2025, the developer pursued several competitive funding opportunities, but unfortunately was unsuccessful in securing the financing needed to move forward in the project, moving the project forward to construction. So in 2025, the developer and the city determined that it would no longer move forward with that project, and the developer mutually agreed to terminate the disposition and development and loan agreement effective September of 2025. With the site available again for development, staff evaluated available options, and in November of 2025, council declared the property surplus allowing the city to move forward through the Surplus Land Act to identify another developer for a project on the site. The city then issued the required notice of availability to eligible entities following state law. And following the statutory noticing period, the city received two proposals for development of the property. Staff reviewed both proposals using a range of criteria focused not only on proposed housing concept, but also the developer's experience, financial feasibility, project readiness, long-term property management approach, and overall alignment with the city's affordable housing and transit oriented development goals. And that resulted in staff recommendation that we are presenting this evening. So based on that review of the two proposals, staff is recommending moving forward with Community Development Partners, or CDP, as the development partner for the Allison site. CDP has significant affordable housing development experience with more than 55 communities and approximately 5,000 units throughout the western United States. and they also have direct experience here in Vacaville. CDP developed 82 units on Holly Lane in Meadows Court and more recently completed the 39-unit Rocky Hill Veterans Project. That local experience combined with their broader track record with competitive tax credit financing and affordable housing development was an important factor in the staff's evaluation. CDP's proposal includes approximately 160 affordable housing units developed in two phases. The proposed affordability ranges from 30 to 70% area median income with the average affordability level not to exceed 60% of AMI. The concept is designed around the site's, again, transit-oriented location with access to the Vacaville Transportation Center and also includes resident amenities, supportive services, long-term affordability restrictions, and ongoing property management and resident service programming. The proposal will continue to be refined during the NRA or exclusive negotiating rights agreement period as CDP completes due diligence, further develops the site plan, and advances its financing strategy. So tonight staff is recommending that the council approve the exclusive negotiating rights agreement with community development partners. It provides the city and community development partners with a defined period to complete due diligence, further refine the project concept, evaluate infrastructure and environmental conditions, and develop a more detailed financing strategy. And at the same time, staff will negotiate principal business terms for the future disposition development and loan agreement, including the final unit mix and affordability requirements, and any city financial participation, land transfer terms, project milestones, and long-term affordability requirements. Approval of the NRA tonight is not the final project approval or the final disposition of the property. So if negotiations are successful, then staff will return to city council for approval of any proposed development and disposition and loan agreement and any other associated project approvals for consideration. With that, I'm happy to answer any questions or take any comments regarding this item.

Yeah, thank you. I don't see any questions. So since there are no questions, I will go ahead and open this up to the public for any comment. Anyone online?

Hi, can you hear me okay?

Yes.

Great, thank you. No, I just have a question. In terms of the particular site by the transportation center, I remember some kind of dispute over whether plainly wage would apply to this project. And I don't remember to what extent there's any federal funding or any other subsidy by the city. And I was just curious, when you enter into these exclusive arrangements, to what extent do you have to address whether the developer has to pay plainly wage on the project?

Yeah, thank you for the question.

Okay.

All right, I'm going to go ahead and close the public comment. You got it? Okay, come forward.

I'm just .

No, that's okay.

Good evening, Mayor Carty, Vice Mayor Silva, council members, staff, and members of the community. My name is Ruben Galvan, I'm a field representative with the Norco State's Conference Union. Local 180, which covers Solano County. And I'm here today to talk about the Allison Todd Affordable Housing Project. As you consider the Exclusive Navigating Rights Agreement with Community Development Partners, CDP, I have a very important question just after Labor Day. Will there be strong labor standards on this project? meaning fair wages for workers to be able to support their families and afford housing, health insurance benefits, opportunity for apprentices from state accredited apprenticeship programs, and meaningful labor compliance to uphold labor laws. Because when labor standards are not in place, it becomes a race to the bottom. We leave the door wide open for bad actors, contractors who misclassify workers to avoid paying proper wages, deny workers health insurance and benefits and apprenticeship opportunities, unsafe job sites, engage in premium fraud, tax evasion, and in worst cases, commit wage theft. I want to be clear. I'm not against development. Especially when it comes to much-needed affordable housing in our community. What I want to see is development done responsibly in a way that benefits not only the developer, but also our local economy and our working families. So I ask again, will there be strong labor standards on this project? Thank you for your time.

Yeah, thank you. Anyone else wishing to speak?

Hello. My name is Emery Crabtree. I had a question on what you meant by affordable. Did you mean affordable for the buyer of the future houses or affordable for the company building it? And that was my only question. Thank you. Yeah, thank you.

All right, seeing no one else, I'm going to go ahead and close the comment portion of this item, bring it back. And if staff could maybe further explain that. I know there's a lot to unpack, but try to simplify it.

Yeah. So typically for the determination of whether or not prevailing wage is paid on a project, most of the time that is determined by the funding sources that the developer puts together to fund the project. So as an example, with some of our other affordable housing projects, many times to make the project pencil, they request project-based vouchers from the Housing Authority to help with the operating subsidies and to help support the deeper levels of affordability on the project. Any time a project receives more than eight project-based vouchers awarded, then they would be required to pay prevailing wage towards the project. If the project receives in excess of $2,000 in federal funding towards the project, then it would be required to pay prevailing wage. So it really depends on the funding sources. received by the project and that's something that during this interim period that the developer would be working to identify. As far as what does affordability mean? So affordable means it will be affordable at a certain income level to the residents that will ultimately be renting or living in the apartment. So as it's proposed right now, the project will have affordability levels between 30 and 70% of area median income. That means that someone earning anywhere between 30% of area median income and 70% of area median income would pay approximately, I know I can hear it going in and out, would pay approximately 30% of their income towards their share of rent. Ultimately, the project overall has to average to 60% area median income between the different affordability levels.

And I think that's sometimes hard to understand. What does it mean? And I think there was another piece of the question, is it affordable for developers? It's really the affordability for the individuals who are applying to occupy one of these locations, but it's a good question because that's the important part is it's harder and harder for individuals to afford, especially as rents. can be challenged and also the affordability isn't always about what is the cost to build it. It's what is going to be paid by the tenants. So thank you for the question. Council Member Wyeth?

Just to follow up on that. So what is right now Solano County's AMI?

Test question. Sorry.

That is a great question, and I should have that prepared. I believe for a family of four, 100% AMI is sitting, I believe, at like 149 for a family of four. So it depends on the family size and then, again, what affordability level you're looking at, whether you're looking at 30%, 50%, 60%. But right now, median income 100%, I believe, for a family of four is $149,000 and change. But I can fact check that.

And the average of this, so you might have some at 70 and some at 30, but the average can be no higher than 60% overall.

Correct. And then that will also vary by the unit size. So with every unit size, there is an assumed household size that that rent will be tied to. So as an example, if it's a one-bedroom unit, then the assumed household size would be a two-person household. So the affordability levels will be set at that two-person household.

All right, thank you. And right now do we know how many, are there mostly like one and two bedrooms or was that in there that I missed?

So there is a proposed unit mix with a proposal, but that is not finalized at this time. So that would be finalized as we work through the financing plan during this negotiation process.

And just I'll make one comment on the prevailing wage. And you were giving us, I really appreciated that, the requirements that would trigger prevailing wage. just there have been a lot of conversations lately, sometimes even if prevailing wage is not triggered, you pay more if you're trying to not pay prevailing wage because it's not done correctly or they're paying people out of classification and they have to make corrections to some of the mistakes. So I just wanted to say, you know, even if we don't, hit the trigger for prevailing wage, it would be wonderful if we could pay prevailing wage so that the people who are building also can afford to live in places. That's it.

And I think since you're on that subject, this is surplus land from the city, so that would also impact prevailing wage.

This is not a surplus land yet. We had filed for the application and as part of the process of the SLA, we received the bids from the developers and so we're going through that process.

We're going through the process, right?

Yeah. Okay.

Council Member Chen.

Yes.

The comment I had was on the prevailing wage topic. If the two stipulations that you shared uh, don't come through. Can we as a council state, because, well, first of all, I'm basing this on we're, we're wanting, I'm thinking that we're wanting livable wages here in the area for our people. And with that, um, can we, um, at or share with you that that may, if it's the consensus of the council, that we would like for that to be considered when they are putting together their specific plan?

Yes, that can be a negotiating factor and end up in the final DDLA, yes. Thank you.

But for tonight, tonight we're just, Authorizing the the NRA motion to approve and so I was looking for a motion. So I'll take your motion We have a second all in favor. Aye Opposed All right. Thank you, and we'll see how this project unfolds and appreciate staff times working on this. There's no more items So we will move to the adjournment. Good night back at all