Anyway, I'd like to also say that we bring them, we send them to school, but they have
to live somewhere.
So we recruit hosts family.
And we are so grateful that they invite a perfect stranger into their homes for six
months.
May I introduce the current 25, 26th host mother, Liz Dost.
Please come join us Liz. We're open for next year's family. Anyway, we have some presentations
to make now, especially to John. John, we're not so little till I lost you. But from the
the Board of Yerinder-Tabor City Foundation.
I know that my-
If you could, I just want to make sure everyone can hear it.
So if you can repeat that.
The Yerinder-Tabor City Foundation
presents you with a certificate of recognition
for you in the district.
Besides that, a very special note was emailed to us,
and it's a letter of thanks from the mayor of Tah Bork.
Thank you.
Thank you.
And first I wanna say to Amy,
that was an incredibly articulate and lovely speech.
Thank you so much.
And the city of Orinda additionally
has certificates of recognition
for both Miramonti High School
and the Akalani's Union High School District
for in recognition of hosting visiting students from Tabor
for over 25 years.
So I'm gonna come present those to Dr. Nickerson
and we really do thank you because it takes a village,
it takes the Sister City Foundation, the host families
and the schools in city working together
to make this happen.
Amy, can you join us and we're just standing by.
Body.
She's shy.
I just want to thank you for taking the time to talk to me.
Thank you.
Mayor, if I could just say, yeah, just say a quick word.
to hear about Amy's experience and each year we hear about the wonderful
experience the exchange student has from Tabor. But I tell you we know that we
benefit more and it's our pleasure to host. When Bobby Lander calls up and
says hey we have the paperwork we clear the way and bring that paperwork through
because we know it is such a benefit for the students of Marimani High School, the district,
and the city of Arinda. And so it's our pleasure to participate and we look forward to the next
25 years. So thank you to the city. Thank you to Bobby for starting this wonderful tradition.
And Amy it's absolutely our pleasure. Thank you. Thank you Dr. Nikifen.
And everyone from the Sister City Foundation state, but there's more to come.
I do want to give a special shout out and express our gratitude as a community to
Congressman Mark DeSaulnier office and to the congressman who I understand helped
with the visa process this year, which was more challenging than it has been in the past.
Um, that takes us unless there's anything else to say, we will be coming back to the sister city.
Um, I want to move on to the mayor's awards of excellence.
It is, it is a real honor, um, to be able to present, um, select organizations in our city, um, and present them with an award of excellence.
The only thing I will say before presenting these is that there are so many incredible
organizations in the city of Orinda that contribute so much to our vitality that they really each and
every one deserves this award. Many of them have received it in the past and so I just wanted to
really recognize all our nonprofits and in government and community organizations.
our first mayor's award of excellence though is to the Moraga Arinda Fire District. It's a real
honor to formally recognize M.O.F.D. for their exceptional partnership with the City of Arinda
over the past year. And what if you'd like to you're welcome to come up or you can wait until
chief. I know we have our directors here. Please join us. The collaboration this past
year between the city and M. O. F. D. I really want to thank not just my colleagues here
on the council and our city manager Linda Smith, but chief Isaac's in the entire board
of MOFD and, you know, all of MOFD's leadership for this.
But the collaboration, for years, has been a foundation of our community safety and resilience.
But in the past year, we've built an even stronger working relationship.
One defined by communication, shared purpose, and a deep commitment to serving our residents.
I want to highlight some of the areas we've worked together, because I think it's important
for our community to hear about this.
Our joint efforts in disaster readiness have reached new levels.
Together, our agencies have expanded tabletop exercises with a strong focus on large-scale
fire evacuations, which is an essential priority for our community.
These exercises have been followed by in-person debriefs that have strengthened our coordination
and created a more unified, cohesive response to emergency events within Arinda.
In addition this partnership now extends to the training of new hires.
Both Arinda Police Department and M.O.F.D. personnel receive onboarding that enhances
their understanding of operational roles during incidents and builds our interagency communication
well before the moment it is needed.
This proactive approach is critical and it demonstrates M.O.F.D.'s commitment to readiness
and professionalism. The city is also extremely grateful for the operational improvements
M.O.F.D. has advanced this year, most notably the dedicated and fully staffed ambulance
now stationed within our community. This enhancement in emergency medical response is already providing
significant benefit to Arinda residents and we deeply appreciate M.O.F.D.'s leadership
making this a reality. Our collaboration in public education has also grown stronger.
From supporting the city's work on OrindaReady.com, which is coming soon, and our leadership, our
personnel have worked so hard on that. So please help us spread the word about it when it's out.
But from supporting OrindaReady.com to partnering with police services on our community education
throughout the city.
Importantly, the district has not settled
from minimum requirements,
but instead has partnered with us
and with community organizations such as FISMO
to strive for what is ideal,
what will best protect lives and property in our community.
Finally, I wanna acknowledge MOFD's continued participation
in our joint two-by-two meetings with the city council
that council member G and I sit on together
with board members Danzinger and Jorgens.
These meetings have fostered constructive dialogue
around needs, services and future programs
that benefit Arinda.
Your commitment to open communication
and collaborative governance is deeply appreciated.
So on behalf of the City of Arinda,
thank you to the Moraga Arinda Fire District,
its leaderships, its firefighters, its paramedics
and its entire team for your dedication, partnership
and unwavering service to our community.
We look forward to continuing
this strong and productive relationship in the years ahead.
Thank you.
And I will just read.
Thank you.
The Mayor's Award of Excellence 2025,
this recognition is hereby awarded
to Moraga Arinda Fire District
in recognition of their exceptional partnership
with the city of Verrinda over the past year.
The collaboration between the city and MRFD
has long been a foundation of our community safety
and resilience.
This year has been defined by communication, shared purpose,
and a deep commitment to serving our residents.
And I would like to invite the council
to join me in presenting this.
Thank you very much.
There was a storm moment!
Thank you!
This is really good.
This is good.
You don't have to get in here.
Linda, thank you.
Thank you.
The reason why I'm asking everyone to come to this board,
because it really happened.
Our staff is in love today.
Our local is going to help too.
Thank you.
Thank you. And Chief Jeff Chief Isaac's or any directors if you'd like to say anything.
Thank you, Madam Mayor and thank you to the council. It's been an honor and a privilege
to serve and work with the city staff and the council members and like to say thank
you to Linda. Her leadership has made it a lot. Our coordination and cooperation has
gone a long way with the city manager's leadership. So thank you very much.
Okay. And I do want to recognize Deputy Chief Lambert, who's also here with us tonight.
Hi, Director Danziger. I represent part of Arinda and part of Moraga, and I just want
want to thank the council. Thanks, Mayor, for your leadership. Thank you, City Manager,
and we look forward to working with you in the future.
Thank you.
Craig Jorgens, I just want to thank all of you, especially the mayor and Darlene, worked
on the committees, you know, long and hard, and we've shared a lot of good knowledge and
your new City Manager is terrific. She's really, you know, changed a lot. The City's been very
proactive and most importantly, have voted to spend real money to make things happen.
So thank you.
Thank you.
Mike Romer, director, I also represent Arenda.
And I want to tell you all what a deep honor it is,
Mayor Mulcahney, and the entire board and the entire community.
I'm both humbled and proud to be part of this team.
And it truly is a team.
It's a great partnership.
We have a lot of work to do to continue
to educate the community and the importance of home hardening
and defensible space.
And I think you are all doing a marvelous job.
keep up the good work.
Thank you.
Thank you all.
And I did want to note for the record
that we got one public comment on this item from Steve Conn
and that's contained in the communications received
from the public.
I will call public comment.
I didn't see any speaker's card.
Would any member of the public like to speak?
Seeing none, I will close public comment on this item
unless we have anything.
Madam Clerk, no, okay.
I want to if any of the council members I wanted to give you an opportunity to say anything if you'd like to
Okay
Then we have thank you for bearing with us
These these really are important to recognize all the good work done in our community
We have one more award of excellence to present tonight and it is to the Arinda tab or sister city foundation
So I would ask Bob be in slavka
and anyone involved, Cheryl, from the Sister City Foundation to please join us. And while you're
coming up, I'll begin. It is also my pleasure and honor tonight to award the Mayor's Award of
Excellence to the Orinda Tabor Sister City Foundation. As you all now know, Orinda has
a sister city in Europe. It is a tradition that the Mayor of Tabor, thanks to the Sister City
Foundation invites the mayor of Orinda to visit. Don't worry, it's not on the
public dime, it's on our own dime. However, last summer I have the incredible
opportunity together with a delegation from Orinda to visit Tabor, which is our
sister city in the Czech Republic. About an hour's train ride from Prague, Tabor
is a picturesque and vibrant place with fairy tale-like architecture, a
fascinating labyrinth of underground passageways and a bustling arts and
theater scene. For 26 years, Arenda and Tabur have been Twin Cities, that they
call it in Europe, Twin Cities or sister cities. In addition to visits, as you
heard, for 22 years Arenda families have hosted exchange students from Tabur. Is
it 22 or more? Over 25 for the exchange students, including Amy who you
met tonight, and they study at Merimani High School and experience American
teenage life. The Taboor Sister City Foundation coordinates all of this. They
review essays. They work with a similar sister city organization in Taboor. It is
an extremely competitive process. These students who are Czech have to submit
autobiographies in English. They have to conduct an interview in English, and when
they get here, they have to study at Marimani in English. So these are incredibly talented
students and a lot of work goes into setting this all up. Hours and hours of volunteering
behind the scenes. On top of all that, the foundation has, for the last few years, partnered
with the city to bring to our annual Winter Fest, its now annual Gingerbread House Decorating
contest, complete with prizes. You can see this year's winning entries on display at
the library and at the Arinda Historical Society. One of them is on display, two entries are
display at the library because they were gingerbread replicas of the library and of books. Incredible.
And importantly, the foundation's leaders, including all of those you see here today,
been key in forming and sustaining the Sister Cities International Northern California chapter.
Just last month, this foundation hosted the SCI NorCal's annual conference here in Arinda,
bringing fascinating speakers here who talked about everything such as adopting growth mindsets
and presenting an outward-looking international framework. As you can tell, I could probably spend
hours extolling the foundation's virtues, or for that matter, discussing how beautiful
Tabur is, but what struck me the most from our delegation's visit to Tabur, and in particular,
what I took away from our interactions with the many former Mermani students who came
to meet with us in Tabur, was a warmth and friendship extended across the globe.
I'm heartened by the willingness of participants in this exchange from both Arinda and Tabor
to find commonality while embracing our differences.
My travels reminded me that approaching change, something Amy knows very well, with curiosity
and an open mind has the potential to bring great joy and understanding.
And right now, I think we need this sentiment and shared humanity more than ever.
And all of this is made possible by the folks you see here today by really a handful of
volunteers who do the work of the foundation and of course by the host families and our
schools.
So to the Arundel Tabor Sister City Foundation and to all its volunteers and participants
Arundel thanks you and if you are a school administrator, a volunteer with the foundation,
a host family and I'm looking at our council member Hoxie who also hosted a family. Please
stand right now and please give everyone a round of applause. Oh and Director Jorgens is already
standing in the back of the room but also hosted a host family so thank you to you and your family
for that. Thank you Madam Mayor. I appreciate the honor of receiving this for our board but you also
personally allowed me to rectify a mistake
I made by not introducing my right arm
on the board Slafka Rosica.
She's our vice chair.
Good evening everybody.
And Slafka, just in the microphone, if you will,
so we can all hear you.
Of course.
Thank you.
And every mayor that has come to Cabo
has left this profound appreciation of the Tabar City,
the culture and the experience they had.
I have been doing this since 2013.
So it's been a few years since I've been a member
of this foundation and we started as my husband.
And as luck would have it,
we didn't know that they didn't know we existed.
There was an agreement between the city and the foundation,
but as far as being invited to participate in the parade
or the events of Tabar, nobody knew about it.
And so we thank one of my first students, Mikhail Chijek,
who went to the mayor office and says,
how come we are not part of this thing?
And the mayor says, well, we'll put you on the path.
OK.
So 2013, we were the first ones who actually
had gone through the parade.
They had the dresses and everything,
but it was only five of us.
And so as we spread the word that we existed
and our former students were actually
informed of us existing and being
part of the celebrations, we grew.
And at one time, we had almost 35 people.
Needless to say, it was family members, cousins,
grandmothers, grandfathers, everybody came to the parade.
So we had been lucky that we spread the word
and that people came to join us during this event.
It's in the middle of September.
And with this, I would like to invite everybody
who is traveling in these particular times
to either Prague or even around the areas
to come and visit Thabo,
because it's really the special city,
very, very historical and you will love it.
So you're welcome to come.
So thank you.
Thank you.
And stay right there and Cheryl,
just introduce yourself as I'm walking up, I will.
This is the Mayor's Award of Excellence 2025,
awarded to the Irinda Thabo, our sister city foundation
and recognition of your exceptional partnership
with the city of Arinda through SCI.
Your ongoing commitment to the visiting student program
and the top of our meetings is deeply valued
as these exchanges foster meaningful dialogue,
collaborative problem solving,
and a shared understanding of cultural perspectives,
strengthening the bond between our communities.
Thank you, Mayor.
Thank you so much.
Yes.
Okay.
I'm Cheryl Chekvilla.
I'm the newest member of the organization.
I joined about three years ago.
I have lots to learn still, but it's been a wonderful honor
to work with Bobby and Slafka and Chandler.
The students we bring over are amazing.
I mean, I can't overstage just how impressive
these students are.
And to anybody who wants to learn more,
please let us know because it's an amazing program.
It's an amazing city.
And being a host family is also an amazing experience.
It should be. Yeah.
Spillings. I know. Right. Okay.
Okay that takes us to the public forum. The public forum is an opportunity for members of the public
to address the council members on items that are not on tonight's agenda. Additionally a speaker
has the option of addressing the council on an item listed on the agenda if a speaker will not
be present when that item is taken up. I will note for the record that we got one public forum item
from Nick Warnoff. It's included in communications received from the public. Is there anyone
here this evening who would like to address the Council on public forum? Hearing none,
I will close public forum. That takes us to our consent calendar. Item F of our agenda
tonight. The consent calendar section of the agenda consists of items that are acted on
in one motion unless a Council member or a member of the public requests that the Council
Okay. I'll remove an item from
the consent calendar for
discussion. Madam City Manager.
Do we have any changes to the
consent calendar tonight? We
don't have any changes to the
consent calendar. Okay, Then do
I have a motion in a second to
adopt the consent calendar as
proposed? I'd like to pull an
item. Oh, sorry. Yes. F six
Okay. Then do I have a motion and a second to adopt items F1 through F5 of the consent calendar?
So moved.
Second?
Second.
All in favor?
Aye.
Any opposed?
Hearing none, that passes unanimously and that takes us to item F6.
okay I I'm in favor of this plan however I just wanted to bring to
everyone's attention that it's not finalized in terms of what plants are
going to be in the the median the Caltrans is requested that they be no
greater than three feet and it's been really important from a landscaping
perspective to have that first phase of the median kind of
match or mirror or be consistent with the new phase. And since
there's a huge plant restriction, it cannot be exactly the
same. So we're trying to find things that are small, no bigger
than three feet that have white flowers that look like the
oleander or there aren't any rocks in the design. And now
We're going to put rocks in the design.
We're working with Shari Bashan Sullivan, who
is a landscape architect.
She's from Rinda Garden Club.
She's a landscape architect.
She and her husband own Enchanting Planting.
And she helped design the first set of medians
eight years ago or whatever it was.
And she's involved now in giving her input.
And we'll be there to help, I guess the expression
which is flag the plants where they'll be,
and that is a way to do the landscaping
without having to redo the plan,
without having to pay for the plan to be perfect.
Instead, you place flags and avoid the extra costs.
And of course, she's volunteering her time.
Okay, thank you.
Mayor, members of the council,
Seva can also, our city engineer,
can provide you just a brief overview of the project
and some of the constraints we run into
with respect to Caltrans, and I know Council Member Riley
mentioned some of those, and how we're working to try
and address those through post adoption
by the Council of this award, and then we can try to work
and figure out those last-minute details.
Okay, so we'll have a brief staff presentation
and then opportunity for any questions, if any.
Thank you.
Good evening, Madam Mayor and Council Members.
First, I want to thank Council Member Riley
for summarizing that very well, thank you so much.
But before I talk about the landscape,
I'll just briefly talk about what the item is.
And I also thought this might be a good opportunity
to kind of give you all a visual
about why we are doing this.
That way it kind of helps reinforce
where this project started.
But tonight for the Council's consideration
is basically approving the design of this project
and awarding the contract for construction
to Marina Landscape, Inc. in the amount of 202,000 and $85.
And the project originated as part of the general plan safety
element update that we did back in January 2023.
And one of the recommendations for as part of the report
was to consider cutting an opening on the median
that's on Camino Pablo,
the runs between the intersection of Santa Maria
and Brookwood Road,
basically the bot areas section under crossing.
The intent for the recommendation
was just to allow an additional access to the freeway
in the event of an evacuation
or any large situation where, you know,
trying to evacuate multiple more than a neighborhood or the whole city at a time.
The factor for providing the recommendation is primarily because from the northbound direction,
which is basically if you're driving from Moraga towards Orinda downtown,
the access to the eastbound Highway 24 is through the downtown Brookwood Road and then
So, you are restricted by the limited space and network available over there.
So, their recommendation was to create this opening so that it access and additional
access to get half the traffic onto Eastbound Highway 24 through this opening and the loop
ramp.
I'll show you in the figure in a second, but that's kind of where it started from.
The recommendation was primarily for the northbound direction traffic, but when we started to
look at it as a project, the biggest factor that came into play is that this entire section
is in Caltrans right of way. And Citi doesn't have control of it. They have access control
over it because of the freeway. So anything and everything we do will have to go through
Caltrans and kind of get their approval on it. And this is a very new concept for Caltrans.
They have never seen anything like this. So we had preliminary meetings with them, tried
to explain where this is coming from and what we are considering putting in place.
So we looked at multiple types of devices that would fill this opening that we are going
to cut because in regular use times we are not planning to use this as an access point.
So after a multiple back and forth, we were able to convince Caltrans that we can come
back to them with a design that they will be able to review and approve.
we were going through this process we realized it's now or never so we decided
why not provide the same access to the southbound direction also the southbound
direction does have a slightly better setup to get onto the freeway but this
will definitely improve the situation and cost-wise it wasn't too far off
because we were going to do everything else on the project anyways so that was
that kind of influenced the decision to do two openings at this location with
That said, let me just pull up this exhibit.
I apologize, there's just too much going on in the graphic,
but I'll do my best to kind of show the two areas where
you're seeing that's clouded in red in the middle area.
That's where these two new openings are going to be.
The idea is to physically remove the concrete section there
and replace it with asphalt, and then install
a temporary barrier that will prevent regular traffic
from accessing it.
The only situation where something like this will be used
is like I explained during a severe evacuation event
or when we have to move large amount of vehicles
through in a very short amount of time.
The plan to install something like this,
that's, it's about three feet tall bollards
that is in line with all the traffic regulation
requirements, it's accepted by Caltrans,
it fits within their parameters into,
towards highway safety and what their standards allow.
So we'll use something like this,
and that's what you will see day in and day out,
but during an evacuation, it'll allow our team
to be able to go there and pull this off very quickly
and create that opening,
and then we will route traffic through that.
Just bear with me for a second.
I don't know how to go back on this one.
There you go.
So coming back to this one, right at that opening,
you see there is two arrows pointing out.
So let me talk about the one on the right side there.
That's for the not bound directional traffic.
That's the one that originally came from the recommendation.
So as you can see, I'm sorry, not everything
is highlighted here.
But the north arrow that you see there,
that's our Moraga way continuation.
And that basically makes a right onto Bryant way,
and then eventually becomes the on-ramp
to get on the highway on that direction,
towards Walnut Creek but this opening will allow half the car vehicles to take
the loop ramp that you're seeing there right below that green arrow and also do
the same thing in getting on the highway fairly quickly and go towards Walnut
Creek. Basically the same concept applies on this other direction for southbound
traffic also. The typical way they will get on the westbound ramp towards the
tunnel is on that right, the ramp that's just below the green arrow there. But allowing
this opening will also give the second ramp access where this arrow is pointed out next
to the clouded area. So that's basically the idea behind it. And like councilmember Riley
mentioned initially let me take a step back. So when we initially looked at this project
was primarily about the median opening,
but we also realized that a few years back,
the city intended to redo the landscape area in the median,
but we don't know the exact reasons,
but we believe Caltrans permit was probably
one of the reasons that it didn't go through at that time.
So it felt like this might be a good opportunity
to incorporate that too,
and we had pretty good support from the Garden Club,
and they are actually a primary stakeholder on this project,
funding a big portion of the project too.
So we took the prior design
and tried to work with the garden club
and incorporate that design into the plants.
But when we took it to Caltrans,
they have their own landscaping requirements.
And unfortunately,
because this is within their freeway access control area,
they do look at it similar to how they would look
at any other freeway location.
So we tried a few back and forth.
So eventually we were able to get some things
convinced with them.
But like Council Member Riley mentioned,
some of the plant pallet didn't come out the way we would expect or initially hope to achieve.
So we are currently working on adding a third plant to the two that are already on the plants
that's in the packet in front of you and we are closely working with the garden clip to try to
incorporate that. Basically the same number of plants is going to replace some of them
with this third variety and then as we all are familiar there are medians on either side beyond
this project limits that are being planted in a coordinated manner and being maintained. So
the idea was to try to translate that into this medium. So is it fair to say that we are
continuing, the city is continuing to work very actively with the garden club and to try to make
sure that the planting is as sort of aesthetically positive as possible.
But yeah, so there are certain things we couldn't do like replacing changing the some of the
plans that have been approved. But yeah, beyond that we are actually actively working and
doing what we can to make more happen. Okay. That's about the summary of it. I'm happy
answer any questions. I assume you can't plant where the bowers would be because if you needed
to remove them you can't have people driving over plants. So I am assuming the planting is on either
side of where the bowers would be or how does that work? That is correct. So the opening itself is not
a landscaped area. Whatever they are removing they will be actually putting asphalt back there
and the device that I showed you is going to be on top of the asphalt. And so the planting would
would just be on the end sort of.
Outside of that, yeah.
And will it be drought resistant planting
or is there already water there for the plants?
The attempt was to make them drought tolerant,
use drought tolerant varieties.
Unfortunately, I cannot speak for exactly
what that variety is capable of.
But yes, we are redoing all the irrigation
along that median and they will be irrigated and maintained.
Thank you.
Okay.
Can I answer that question?
Yeah.
May I answer that question?
One of the two plants is manzanita, which is low use.
And the other is a grass, which is also low use.
And the third one will also be flowering,
but probably using too much water, and then rock.
So that doesn't use any water.
So those four elements.
OK.
Thank you.
Any other questions?
If not, I will call public comment on this item.
and I didn't, there was none in our packet.
Is there any member of the public
that wants to speak on item F6?
Hearing none, I will close public comment on F6.
That takes us back to the council for discussion.
City engineer and to all of staff,
thank you for a very detailed report.
We all got an opportunity to read,
read a lot about this and answer questions
prior to this meeting.
I just wanted to actually ask council member,
questions or discussion in terms of Councilmember Riley, do you feel confident about this?
Yeah, I just want to say thank you very much for working with me and with the Garden Club.
And I am feeling comfortable that this is going to go very well.
And I just wanted to take a minute to make sure everybody understood that the plan wasn't
reflecting what we intend to do, but we're going to work on it in place when we get there.
And I, from what I'm reassured to hear that and also appreciate your comments.
And you said it very quietly, Siva, but I am well aware that getting Caltrans to do something
that they haven't seen before is not an easy task.
So the fact that you all work together and we're convincing, we hope we never need to
use this, but I think this is an incredibly innovative and very, very good idea for our
community. So I just want to thank all of you. It's it's an amazing collaboration.
Thank you. Any other discussion on this item? I'll move to approve it. I'll second.
All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? The motion carries unanimously. Thank you. Thank you.
Okay that takes we um to the next item is public hearing there is no public hearing tonight so
that takes us to our policy matters and our first policy matter on our agenda tonight which is
item H1 is the proposed solid waste rate adjustments for Arinda residential and commercial
customers for March 1st, 2026 to February 28th, 2027. And we have our Assistant City Manager.
Right. First off, I just want to mention that table that's being displayed is updated and
corrected table from the third page of the staff report. So I apologize. The current monthly rates
rates were slightly inaccurate, but this reflects the current monthly rates, the proposed increase
and then the difference between the two. So Recycle Smart is a joint powers authority
whose members consist of the cities of Arinda, Danville, Lafayette, Moraga, Walnut Creek,
and parts of unincorporated Conchocastic County. The JPA was formed in 1994 to provide a more
effective negotiations with solid waste vendors. The item before you tonight provides council
the opportunity to review, discuss and receive public input on the proposed solid rate adjustments.
That input will be provided to a vendor's representatives which function as board members
for the Recycle Smart Joint Powers Authority. Those representatives are Council Member G
and Council Member Riley.
Each year Recycle Smart Board meets the set rates
for the coming year.
This process involves Recycle Smart staff meeting
with each member agency's representatives
and city management to review and discuss rates scenarios
for the coming year.
This meeting occurred at the end of November.
Recycle Smart Board conducts two rate setting meetings
before adopting rates for the coming year.
The first of these meetings, of the two meetings occurred on December 11th, where discussion
about each agency's rate occurred.
The purpose of tonight's item is to provide our two representatives with input and feedback
concerning the deposed rates so that they could ultimately participate in the adoption
of rates for rate year 12 at the January 27th, 2026 Recycle Smart Board meeting.
year 12 is the final year of the existing contract. With the successor
agreement being finalized with public services for the next 12 years, I
believe it might be 15, that could be wrong, the new agreement will come with
significant rate increases and the 6% increase for the coming years intended
to help smooth the transition and avoid double-digit rate increases in the first
year of the new agreement. This is a longer term strategy. Last year's seven
percent rate increase was for the same purpose. We know that there's going to
be considerable cost increase and what we wanted to do was avoid all of that
landing in a single year and having a really significant rate increase. So we
have a representative from Recycle Smart in attendance, Jennifer Fought. I hope I
that correct in case you have any questions and I'm here to answer any questions you might have.
Okay thank you um do we have questions from the council before that uh do Councilmember Riley or
Councilmember G want to add anything and I just want to say thank you for all your work on the
Recycle Smart Board. And I just want to acknowledge not only um do we have Jen here from this staff
But our current chair for the Recycle Smart Board is our supervisor, Candace Anderson.
So it's nice to have her with us here tonight.
It's been a very big year for the Recycle Smart Board.
It's been a very important year in terms of going through the process of entering into
a new contract.
So it's been very important to discuss everything as we end the current contract for one more
year and work to enter into the new agreement, which I think is going to have a lot of positive
benefits for our customers, so. Thank you. Any questions? Again, I know we had a pretty
detailed report that we had an opportunity to review in advance. Yes, Councilmember Riley.
I think that was a great introduction. Could you go on a little bit about how when we have these
rate increases we build a reserve and that's how we are affecting the smoothing process.
Sure, so these rates are designed to collect more than the cost of the service at this point.
That will result in a reserve that is held by Recycle Smart, but each city has their own reserve.
So, not only will this make it so that there isn't a double digit rate increase required,
but we could mitigate the increases and use some of the reserves to help smooth the rates because
the transition is pretty steep. Thank you and thank you for that question.
Any other questions? Yes, council member Hoxie. Can you address the impact fees on the roadways?
there have been some questions raised in public comment and just trying to understand how those
work and whether they're adequate for the damage the trucks cause to the roadways.
Sure, it's exciting to see such support for the transportation impact fee. That's not the case in
every community. So the impact fee is based on a study that's fairly old at this point and I
I believe there's currently a new study underway
that will help support the fee into the future.
And that's a work in progress at this point.
And maybe Jennifer knows more about it
or has more detail if you wish.
But one thing that we've been asked the last year or two
that I've helped present this is,
hey, when are we doing the new study
that'll be more reflective of current conditions?
and that is actually ongoing and happening right now.
And how can we use those impact fees?
Do they go towards our annual road maintenance budget or how?
Sure. So those impact fees are accounted for separately
in the city's finances.
They go into something called a special revenue fund,
which can only be spent on the purpose
for which the money was collected,
which is a street repairs and improvements.
So it's a vital part of our annual street maintenance program
and keeping Orinda's streets at a highly maintained
and in good working order.
That's the only thing that that impact fee can be used for.
My understanding is we do not collect an impact fee
for private roads in Orinda?
That is correct.
It's based on public roads.
So when the fee was commissioned, that was the focus.
and is there any way to change that?
I probably not.
I think the discussion around the vehicle impact fee
will be ongoing with the Recycle Smart Board.
There's some circumstances that we're evaluating with respect
to the vehicle impact fee.
I don't think at this point there
would be an opportunity the way it's currently constructed
to apply it to private roads.
And I know the Infrastructure Committee
is looking at different ways in which
we can support private roads.
So I think from a policy discussion standpoint,
that'll come back to you at some point
during this part of the year.
Yeah, and I wasn't just thinking about
applying them to private roads,
but also collecting them for trucks.
Yeah, we definitely, my understanding is that
you cannot do currently, under the rules.
And that is something that may come back
to the council later this year, is that right?
Yeah, there's a number of things going on
with respect to vehicle impact fee,
and including looking at maybe strengthening legislation
around that so that we can use those fees
for the foreseeable future.
Yes.
Could you just please clarify,
when we say we're charging this fee to recycle smart
based on the damage,
do they not pass through 100% of that fee
back to the customers?
Yes, they do.
Just to clarify.
Thank you.
Any other questions?
Seeing none from the council, I will open public comment on this item, and that is H-1,
solid waste rates, and I will note for the record that we had written public comment
from Steve Kahn and Charles Porches that is contained in our communications received from
the public.
Are there any members of the public here who would like to speak on item H-1 tonight?
Seeing none, and we have no speaker cards, is that right, Madam Clerk?
Okay.
will close public comment on h1 and bring it back to the council for
discussion I think it's a really good proposal it's in terms of dollar impact
it's not that great at most people have a 32 gallon container so and this is a
quote we pay quarterly so what you see here's a monthly mount and you know so
it's really twelve dollars increase for the 32 gallon can and I really like the
idea that we're not going to be hit with a big, big increase in year 2027 with the new contract.
This is a way of trying to ease the pain of what's going to happen in 2027. We'll have
enough reserves to, I feel like we overuse this word, smooth it out. But anyway, I think it's a
good plan. Thank you. Yeah, I can see where our commercial businesses might initially
the city's. It's a little bit.
So, to the two representatives on our Recycle Smart Board, again, thank you for your service.
Do you feel like you have enough feedback from the Council?
I think...
We haven't spoken yet.
Sorry.
I support the proposal and don't have any questions.
Councilmember Hoxie?
I think I support the proposal as well.
I'd like to understand more about the impact fees, and it sounds like that will be coming
back to us.
I support the proposal as well. My questions have been answered. And I think that the issues
raised by our public commenters and the relationship with the vehicle impact fees is something
that we've sort of tangentially addressed in the infrastructure committee or at least
has been raised and therefore may come back to the council later. In that case, now do
Do you feel like you have input?
I'm sorry, but I heard you had not yet expressed an opinion.
Okay, in that case, we will then move on from item H1
and we will move to item H2,
which is our selection of mayor
for a term beginning December 2025 today
through December, 2026.
I now declare the office of mayor vacant and call for the election of mayor for the year
2025 through 2026 nominations are now open for the office of mayor. And since they are
open I would like to nominate Brandon Iverson for the office of mayor. Are there any further
Thank you for that I move that
the nominations be closed.
Okay it has been moved and
seconded that the nominations
for the office of mayor be
closed all in favor say aye.
Aye.
Opposed.
Say no.
Hearing none the motion has
carried to elect Brandon Iverson
as our mayor for the next year.
We'll get to celebrate again. Um, apparently we do need a new mayor.
I didn't see that correctly. Well, the city clerk, please call the role.
That was just for the motion to carry. Well, the city clerk, please call the role for the election of Brandon Iverson to the office of mayor.
Council member G I Oksi. Hi, Iverson. I O'Connie. I Riley. Hi. Thank you.
I. Thank you. The motion is passed. Congratulations and you Mayor Brandon Iverson. And I now declare
the office of Vice Mayor bacon and call for the election of Vice Mayor for the year 2025-26.
Nominations are now open for the office of Vice Mayor and I would like to begin by nominating
Council member G for the office of vice mayor. Are there any further nominations?
I move that nominations be closed. I second.
It has been moved and seconded that nominations for the office of vice mayor be closed. All in
favor say aye. Aye. All in favor say no. The motion is carried. Will the city clerk please
call the roll for the election of council member G to the office of vice mayor. Council member G?
Hi. Oksi. Hi. Iverson. Hi. Malakani. Hi. And Riley. Hi. The motion is passed. Congratulations
to the new vice mayor. And now the mayor is going to sit here. Oh, hi.
Do we take the oath first? Yeah, let's do the oath of office.
doing this together sharing our experience together.
OK, we've got a podium, or do we just do it sitting?
I'm just going to put it out here.
OK.
I'll be meeting this.
God, I lost my chair.
I'll find it.
OK, go, go get sworn in.
I don't do this.
Perfect.
Thank you.
OK.
I, and please, raise your right hand and repeat after me.
I do solemnly affirm that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States
and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic,
that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion
and a well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I'm about to enter and with that
we are going to have some recognitions and some certificates for our outgoing mayor
And we're going to begin with some recognition from our state and county and federal officials.
So I don't know if you guys have a speaking order. I believe Candace Anderson is here.
Please lead us off and.
Well, good evening, Arunda City Council. And when I walk in, I just think girl power.
It is really fun.
It's not often I get to see a city council of all women and I've always, in fact, I've never been
on one of all women. I've loved working with men but there's a different vibe when you're all women
so congratulations for that. This is my sixth city reorganization. We saved the best for last,
I believe, and it is really fun to go to each city as I get to honor outgoing mayors for the
work that they have done. It is such a pleasure to work with each city and
Mayor Malconney outgoing Mayor Malconney. I just want to thank you for your
leadership particularly it's been so fun interesting to watch what you are doing
for emergency preparedness, for evacuation routes, for fire, wildfire
mitigation. Something very near and dear to my heart in the San Ramon Valley we
have what's called the Citizens Core Council for the for San Ramon Valley and it's been really nice
to work so collaboratively with the fire district, the school district and the cities to really come
up with plans and it's not so much plans for our first responders they know what they're doing.
It's for the community so that they can be prepared and as someone who lives in Danville but
I'm very close to San Ramon and got welcomed where I was already awake but at 5 to 6 this
morning felt like someone had jumped on my bed I thought you know you never can be too
prepared you need to have everything from a go bag ready to go you need to have an evacuation
plan if you're in a two-story house those fun ladders you can throw out the window if
you need to but I want to thank you for your leadership in that regard and for just bringing
together a very collaborative council community where every time I'm around
you I can tell that people feel heard by you they respect what you have done
and so tonight I'm just delighted to be able to present to you just as a small
certificate smaller than the state officials if we have a state official
because they always have giant frames but just say in gratitude for all of
your very, very hard work. When your mayor what is a 15 to 20
hour a week job suddenly becomes a 40 hour a week job, just
because there's so many wonderful opportunities to
engage with the community and preside over ribbon cuttings and
courts of honor and all that. And when you're trying to
maintain a busy law practice and other things, it's not easy.
But thank you for your service. And thank you for doing this.
And I'd love to present this to you.
Oh, thank you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for your incredible support,
As you know, from having worked with other House members over the years,
we are everything that is accomplished in this city is accomplished by the full Council and our staff.
So thank you for coming personally to join us and sitting through our entire meeting that was above and beyond.
Thank you.
Thank you. And then, Kayleigh, do you want to go next from Congressman Desaney's office?
Thank you so much. Unfortunately, the Congressman is not able to join us here tonight. He's
in Washington at the moment, but I'm very grateful for the opportunity to be here and to celebrate
the reorganization with you tonight. I want to take this opportunity. Thank you, now former Mayor
Malgani. It's just been such a pleasure working with you over the past year. I appreciate your
leadership, and you always lead with such warmth and kindness, and I always just feel so welcome
when I am working with you. And to our new Mayor, Mayor Iverson, I've really enjoyed my experiences
working with you as well. I just want to congratulate you as you step into your new role,
and I'm really excited to see what's in store for the city of Arinda in 2026. The city is truly so
lucky to have a council that works so hard on behalf of their residents and works so hard to
make this such a wonderful place to live. So I want to thank you all and thank you for inviting
need to be here tonight to celebrate with you. Thank you and then next we have Rachel and Charise.
Rachel Center from Senator Grayson's office. Thank you for having me tonight,
Mayor Mulconney. Thank you so much for your incredible partnership with our office.
Unfortunately, Senator Grayson could not be here. He is also out of town tonight,
but I know even though he had been in the legislature for eight years prior,
Orinda was new to him and both you, Vice Mayor Iverson, now Mayor Iverson, and Linda Smith have
just been and actually all of the members of the council have been so patient with us as we, you
know, figured out all of the issues that were important to Orinda. It's been a great partnership.
I think we've accomplished a lot so far together and we look forward to continuing and I also
have a certificate for you to honor you and all of your work. Thank you Rachel. I
also want to thank you Rachel as a November resident for partnering with us
on so much and really working with us on a lot of these wildfire issues and
behalf of Senator Grayson and I will miss our monthly meeting. And last week
Cherise it's Cown, right? Yes. From RBK's office. Yes. Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan's office.
Thank you so much. So happy to be here. Cherise Cown, field rep for Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan
and I too have a lovely certificate for you. I want to thank you so much, former mayor Malcani
for your amazing year as mayor, for your leadership, for your dedication to making this
city of Arenda such a welcoming place for every person to be for your dedication to
collaborating with not only your fellow council members but with community members and all kinds
of different jurisdictions whether it's the surrounding cities and towns, offices like ours,
departments like the fire department to be able to make sure that Arenda is the safest,
healthiest and most welcoming place that it can be. So thank you so much and congratulations
on behalf of Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan. Thank you Sherice. Well thank you Sherice and
I think everyone here probably knows this by now but our Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan
is an Orlando resident so we are really fortunate we have so much talent here. Councilmember
are, you don't have to go up
the stairs because we're coming
to you. We're going to share
the mic and do a proclamation
from your fellow council
members.
We all have to share it.
So everybody come on down.
Pass the mic.
I'm proud to present a
proclamation, my first one, of
the City Council of the City of
Arrinda honoring Latica
Malcani for her mayoral service
through December 16th 2025 whereas Latika Melkani began her term as mayor
of the city of Arrinda on December 17th 2024 and whereas throughout her male
term Mayor Melkani faithfully represented the city of Arrinda at a
wide range of community events including Eagle Scout, Courts of
Honor, Girl Scout ceremonies, Citizen of the Year celebrations, tree lighting
ceremonies and by delivering the State of the City address at the Rotary Club luncheon.
And whereas Mayor Malcomi consistently engaged with or in the residents on a wide variety
of topics, listening thoughtfully to their ideas, concerns, and input, and fostering
open and meaningful dialogue within the community. And whereas Mayor Malcomi exemplified the importance
of being a good neighbor, not only on her own street,
but throughout the entire community
by being welcoming, inclusive, and approachable to all,
and...
Whereas while serving as mayor,
Mayor Malcani generously devoted her time and energy
to the community, while also balancing
a full-time professional career
and numerous other professional obligations, and...
Whereas Mayor Malcani led with grace, courage,
and around the city. The city
of Arrinda. Warmth and purpose.
And served the city of Arrinda
with exceptional care,
dedication and integrity. And
whereas among her most
distinctive qualities was her
genuine warmth and welcoming
spirit, making all of whom she
encountered at meetings, events
and throughout the community
feel valued and respected and.
not only as mayor, but also through her service
on numerous city council subcommittees,
including the fire prevention two by two
with the Moraga Arinda Fire District,
the infrastructure subcommittee,
and as council liaison
to the Supplemental Sales Tax Oversight Commission,
in addition to several ad hoc committees,
and whereas Mayor Mulcahney demonstrated
an unwavering commitment to fire prevention
and emergency preparedness,
and worked diligently with legislators
and regional partners to address the escalating
insurance rate crisis affecting the community.
And, whereas Mayor Malcani truly put the pro,
quote unquote, in proclamations,
making it a priority to spotlight issues, people,
and causes that reflect both her values
and the aspirations of the city of Orinda.
And, whereas during her term of office,
Mayor Malcani served the residents of Arinda
with great distinction and brought honor to the city.
Now, therefore, be it resolved that the City Council
of the City of Arinda hereby expresses
its sincere appreciation and gratitude to Latika Malcani
for her outstanding service as Mayor of the City of Arinda.
And.
I'm trying to administer this.
I'm sorry, I don't know how to get out of here.
Hannah, we've got a lot of words for you.
I love it.
I'll take it.
Yeah, I've got a lot.
No matter how long it takes you, you're a weirdo.
I'm sorry, I don't know how long it takes me.
Yeah, I've got it.
I'm sorry, I don't know how long it takes me.
Oh, I don't know how long it takes you.
I'm sorry, I don't know how long it takes me.
I'm sorry, I don't know how long it takes me.
I'm sorry, I don't know how long it takes me.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Um, I'm. I'm. First I'll ask if any other council members have any words to say, and then we'll see if Council member Malconny has any words to say. Please go ahead. It's. That was the I just want to thank Latica for helping me become a council member showing me the way.
So I want to thank the city
Council for taking me the way
going to regional events with
me and introducing me to other
council members in other areas
and just being a wonderful
mentor as I joined the city
Council and I really appreciate
that.
Thank you.
You were pro with your years of
service on the school board but
thank you.
I just want to really, really
as the mayor the first time is a very sort of life-changing experience and the
grace that you had in every every activity was just so noticeable so so
valuable for the city. I just really really have been amazed at your breath
and your commitment and knowing that you're balancing so many things at once, the city is just really, really has been incredibly lucky to have someone who is as dedicated as you are in so many areas. So I just want to congratulate you. You are an incredible representative. I know you're going to be a bit of a tough act to follow, but I think the current mayor will do an excellent job in working toward that.
and working toward that, so.
But thank you so much, it is hard for people sometimes
to understand what all goes into it,
and people see you at lovely events
and picture-taking opportunities,
and they think, oh, this is just an easy gig, I'm sure.
And the reality is is there is so much
that you do and handle and work at behind the scenes,
so thank you so much for all the effort you put in.
It's been an amazing year.
Thank you.
Very well said, both of you, I agree.
And I'm very thankful to you, and I'm very inspired by you,
and I think you have a really, really nice leadership style.
And it's greatly appreciated how you touch everybody
with such warmth.
So nice.
Thank you.
I have nothing to add.
My fellow council members really articulated so much,
and we're so lucky to have you.
Well, I know I'm standing between everyone
in festivities, but I do want to say briefly,
I feel so blessed and lucky that we all get to serve
on the city council with the individuals
who are serving now.
And our city is lucky for that
because we truly are collaborative.
We really like each other even when we don't always agree.
We all have strong opinions and that's good.
We all have different perspectives.
good, but I feel like we really work well together and we have it's been said tonight incredible leadership from a fabulous city manager, a fabulous city attorney, a fabulous city clerk. There's a lot of women sitting around here is all I'm saying,
what I'm saying.
Just an observation.
No, but I mean, as, you know, coming into this newly
and with, I really relied heavily,
not just on our former mayor, the current vice mayor G,
but also on, you know, our city manager and others.
So thank you all very much.
And I would be sad, but for the fact that I think
we have an incredible mayor now, Mayor Iverson,
I am so grateful for your leadership in the next year.
I know that you are dedicated, fierce, curious,
and whip-smart and passionate about serving our residents.
And thank you for that.
Thank you.
Thank you all.
And before we finish, there's a really fun matter.
I'm gonna ask if there's public comment
and we do have one speaker card from Diana Honig.
Hi, there's so much that's already been said,
but I'm Diana Honig.
I am a 14 year resident of the city of Arrenda.
I also serve this region on the,
thank, I know, I'm very short.
There that one.
I also represent this region
on the Contra Costa Community College
district governing board currently as vice president.
And I just wanted to take two minutes to say thank you
to a former mayor Lakhani for all of the work
that she has done for her heart and dedication.
I saw her last night at an event and she said that
for the month of December,
she has two to three events every single night.
And that is our mayor.
She is always out there in community,
representing our city and there to speak with community
members to identify issues.
She comes back and she works incredibly hard
to get the job done and does that all along with managing
her own law practice.
So again, I just want to say congratulations, La Tica.
I really appreciate all the work you've done.
And also congratulations to our incoming mayor Iverson.
I know you do have big shoes to fill,
but I know you'll do a fantastic job.
Thank you so much.
And I have some flowers for you.
Aw, thank you, Diana.
Just ask, is there anybody else from the public
who'd like to speak tonight?
Can I just say one more thing?
Which is, I just wanna say also, thank you.
Last but certainly not least to my family,
including my daughter, Sabina Cardoza,
who's sitting right there.
And that is all for the official agenda.
We will now go to council member reports.
Does anybody have any reports to share?
And well, I will say we did go to the Siesta Valley
open house.
Latika, do you wanna share that?
I think the mayor should report.
It was incredibly exciting actually to hear,
to meet the founding team.
For those of you who don't know,
that's the CalShake site.
that has been given the operating agreement
by East Bay Mudd and it's a combination nonprofit
for all of the educational and community building
and theater things that we loved about CalShakes
but also bringing in a for-profit part
of that business plan that's gonna really do
real deal outdoor music venue events there
and try to make it something that's sustainable
and both environmentally but also as a business
and bringing in bigger acts
and sort of being the stern grove of the East Bay
and we're very excited.
They say they're gonna be starting
as early as the summer with some acts.
So if you get a chance to meet that team
or to start getting yourself back out to Cal Shakes,
please do.
Is there anything else?
Okay, with that, city manager's report, please.
Thank you, honorable mayor, members of the council.
First of all, I wanna say thank you
a great full year working together. It's a very special relationship when the city manager
and the mayor work so closely over the course of the year, and I'm just so thankful I got
a full year with you and I'm looking forward to the upcoming year with Mayor Iverson. Just
a couple of things since I have a captive audience and I'll be quick. Commission and
We are going to go ahead and
sign up.
The city and committee
applications are now open.
If you want to sign up or apply
for one of the commissions or
committees, the information is
available on our website.
In addition, police services
are hosting a citizens academy.
If you are interested in
learning more about policing,
you can sign up for the
citizens academy.
Information is available on our
website.
Just a reminder to everybody,
If there's nothing else, I'll ask if there are any matters initiated tonight.
I would note for the record, we did get written communication from Nick Wornoff on this item.
Does anybody have anything to initiate?
Seeing none, we will adjourn to, I believe, a little reception in the hallway.
Oh, wait, for my kids.