engineering. She worked as a junior engineer for both the city of Pinal most recently and
prior to that for the city of San Rafael. So she's quite familiar with city engineering
and has done capital projects. She's done clean water program. She's interacted with
the public. She has a very pleasant nature. I think she knows how to deal with the public.
She's had a few opportunities to do that already.
She was brought up in Fresno, so she's homegrown California, and she's got both a civil engineering
bachelor's degree and a master's degree from California State University Fresno.
So we're very pleased to have her here, and I'm sure we'll keep her busy.
With that, I will turn it over to Mia in case she wants to say a few words.
with you. Okay Hi, Mayor and
Council Council members. I
won't bore you with like a 30
minute speech, but I'm happy to
be here in the render. I
appreciate the opportunity and,
um, look forward to learning
new things with you guys. Okay.
Thank you. Sorry, my gun. Um I
also wanted to, uh, make a
several of my council members joined.
It is LGBTQ plus pride month in the city of Arrinda,
and we had a really fun time.
I think it was our most popular social media post today
and really a great way to bring the community together
for a great chance to celebrate the diversity
and all the talents of our community.
Before I move on, did anyone want to say any words about that?
I know we did the event, but...
I just wanna thank you, Mayor,
for continuing the celebration.
And I think that it was just an incredible event.
And I know that members of our community
find it to be very significant, as do I,
in sending a message of inclusiveness.
So thank you.
You and I agree.
It was mostly a celebration and a little solemn.
I would agree, it was great.
Our next item, and does anybody else wanna say anything
before I keep moving.
Arrenda Team Advisory Council's annual report.
I see Director Trimble coming to the mic to lead us off.
Good evening.
Mayor Iverson, council members, for the record,
Todd Trimble, director of Parks and Recreation.
I'm gonna be real quick and kick it off
and hand it off to some much more worthy,
qualified people here.
But I am gonna pop back right after they do their thing
and do one other quick little update
regarding one of our valuable partners
that OTAC works with a lot.
So, Sheila Wellman, our recreation manager
who oversees this program
and directly supervisors coordinator Beatty can be here.
So we have our awesome recreation coordinator, one of them,
Spencer Beatty who oversees this program plus many others.
So I'm gonna hand it over to Spencer.
area with the best Thank you very much. I just want to say thank you to our outstanding
group of teens. You know they volunteer their time and they create events for the community
and they are a voice for local youth and you know what they do is is reflected in the community
And it's awesome to see I'll pass it on to Emma Wang.
Yes.
Do we tap the green button to continue?
No, that's all right.
There it is, OK.
All right.
Hi, everyone.
Thank you so much for giving us your time.
My name is Emma Wang.
I recently graduated Marimani High School.
And I served as the chairperson of the Arundah Teen Advisory
Council this year.
Alongside me, I have many members of my OTAC community,
including George Ballen, who was our former chairperson
and served as our vice chairperson this year,
Mia Abram, who served as our vice chairperson,
Kaitlyn Chan, who served as our secretary,
and Mao Yoshikuni,
who served as our middle school representative.
In addition, OTAC hosted tons of members this year
and we are so excited to be continuously growing
and maintaining more and more people
to add to the community.
Now this year, a Rendettin Advisory Council
was able to accomplish many community events,
including in particular,
the recommencement of the Otak Pickleball Tournament,
where we hosted almost 30 students
who came from different schools
fighting for $100 cash prizes.
We had some very intense competition
and it's something we're definitely
looking forward to next year.
In addition, of course, we continued our traditions
such as Arrenda Action Day, the Red Cross Blood Drive,
where we beat our goal and had 45 plus signups,
the Winterfest and diaper bundling, Kids Night Out,
Trunk and Treat, and our continued discussion
of City Council topics this year, including fire safety and pedestrian safety.
Now here are some photos from our events.
We can see our beautiful pickleball flyer and just lots of fun, adding to the community,
hosting youth events and being able to serve Arinda.
Now as for our future OTAC plans, we really hope to continue our discussion of the Arinda
Council topics, such as, you know, this fire safety and pedestrian safety.
However, we're hoping to do it every two years in order to allow us to have more focus on
it at one time, rather than having to spread it out across so many years.
In addition, we're hoping to continue hosting our local OTAC events.
We want to collaborate with Maraca Youth Council next year for our pick-a-ball tournament to
have some cross-town competition.
And we want to continue our collaboration with local youth serving groups, including
Mindful Littles.
And that is it.
Thank you so much for your time.
thank you so much to Spencer,
none of this would be able to be done without you.
Thank you all.
Thank you so much.
Before you guys leave,
I just want to see if anybody has anything,
any questions or comments for our OTEC.
Yes.
I want to thank you all for all the service you do
to our city and I have a couple of questions.
One is, do you or have you had any engagement
with our exchange student that comes every year from Tabor?
Have any of you met the exchange student in the past years?
We have not had any contact with the exchange student.
It sounds fun and I'm sure that could happen
at our Winterfest.
So, oh, Mia, you wanna come down?
Hi, I have met the exchange students in the program
and I really do love getting to know the people
from the different areas outside of here.
Well, every year we're in to host an exchange student
from our sister city in the Czech Republic, Tabor.
In the last year, her name was Amy.
In the year before, it was Hansa.
In the year before, it was Elishka.
We've had quite a few, 25, I believe, have come every year.
And every year, we seek a host family
to host the exchange student.
And this year, we have a young man
who is slated to come in August,
and we do not yet have a host family
for our exchange student.
So if any of you could help me,
Think of families who might be able to host
an exchange student for just four months
or five, it's four and a half months
from August to December while they go to Marimani
and participate in all the wonderful activities
we have in Arinda.
I would really appreciate it
because I would hate for our exchange program to end
because we can't find a host family
with someone who has an empty bedroom in their home
willing to host an exchange student from Tabor.
It's a wonderful experience for the family.
there's a lot of support in our community
for the exchange students, so the family's not expected
to do all of the showing the student around and everything.
There's a whole committee of people,
ready, willing, and able to help,
and we could really use your help
because I don't have students at Merrimony anymore
and I don't know the community as well as you guys do.
So if any of you can think of a family
or if your own family might be interested,
please contact the city manager
and help me find a wonderful family
to host the young man who's slated to come
because it really would be a shame for this program
to end because Orinda can't find a host family
for the student that has already been selected
and is already very excited about coming to Orinda.
So thank you.
You got it, we'll share that information.
Thank you, I really appreciate it.
Since you mentioned that OTAC discussed fire safety
pedestrian safety without putting anyone on the spot, if anyone from OTAC would like to share
or sort of summarize some of your thoughts on those issues. I'm sure we'd all love to hear it.
You could do it here or you could, you know, communicate with us another time if I'm putting
you on the spot too much. But I just wanted to thank you for all the work you do and for those
discussions and we'd love to hear your thoughts. Yeah, of course. This year we had a little more
limited discussion on the City Council topics because we wanted to focus on events, but
we did talk about them in the beginning. And one main thing we thought of was, you know,
sharing fire safety information with our kids, you know, having firefighters come to the
elementary schools, middle schools, high schoolers, give them the demonstrations. So then maybe
it'll trickle down to their parents rather than the other way around. And we thought
it would be pretty effective way for the community to collaborate on this event.
opportunity to share our
experiences with the city.
Thank you.
I would second that.
I was the instigator of doing
the city council topics.
I was disappointed that in two
years now we haven't had a
little bit more of an organized
sharing that because we really
want the teen community's
perspective which is a little
different from the voices we
otherwise hear.
I love the every other year
idea.
I hope we can build by having a
in the program. So that, thank you very much. I'm just going to finish up by mentioning really
quick and Emma mentioned that before was one of our valuable community partners, Mindful Littles,
who OTAC worked with on both the Rinda Action Day, the Winter Fest, and at the Rinda Action day,
and I know that council member of Mel County is familiar with this, they helped a number of our
younger citizens who were participating that day in creating a number of care kits. So we have
several care kits up here I'll provide I think councilor Riley already has one so she can't have
another one but there's all recycled products a little little bookmark a little beginner flower
pots and things in here that they all made to pass out to all the all the community members who
make a window what what it is so thank you thank you very much and with that just to keep this
moving, we're going to go to item D4. That's the Arenda Historical Society annual report.
And I believe Alison is going to come up and do that for us.
Thank you. I present City Council. Thank you for inviting me back. We've had another busy year.
Can you hear me now? We've had another busy year. We've digitized. We've done a lot of
digitization. I think it needs to be higher, doesn't it? I can't get any closer.
We've done a lot of digitization of documents, all histories, all photos, and you'll find
them on our website. We've invested huge amounts of money in a professional website designer,
so we will have a new website soon, so we want you all to look at it, please. And you'll
be really pleased with what we're doing. We've kind of dragged OHS into the 21st century
I'm just going to talk about, you probably read the, well I hope you read my annual report, it ran to a lot of pages, and that was the short version.
So I'm just going to give you a few highlights really, mostly we're interested in education.
And so we have, we continue our third grade visits.
So, you know, they come to us mostly in me at the end of the school year and we have a school coordinator, Lori Smith, she teaches them a little about Linda's history. She shows them all around our little modest little museum.
And there are lots of things there that they like, get their hands on.
One of them is a helmet from Vietnam that we borrow every year and all the kids want
to try this because the person who was in Vietnam, he turned his helmet into what he
calls a turtle and he's got all sorts of things on it so the boys, well the girls love it
too.
So our school's coordinator, Lori Smith, sits them down and teaches them these things then
She takes them off for a walk and they go all the way down to the little 19th century
de la Viaga train station and near the MASH garage. They all love to do that. You see it,
I mean, you've probably all seen it, but hardly anybody ever goes in it, but you can go in it.
Fortunately, Todd has now put us on a cleaning program, so it's cleaner now. We used to go in
and clean it ourselves, but the city, thank you very much, is cleaning it now. We had lots of
mouse nests and all sorts of other nasty things in there, but hopefully that's not going to happen
anymore. So the kids will go off of these trips and it's so easy to get parents to chaperone,
because everybody wants to come and be a chaperone and see everything about the historic museum.
and it's good, it's good to have all these parents chaperoning because they can talk to the kids at
night and at dinner time they'll all chat with what they saw. Incidentally Lori who is out,
takes the kids, she bakes cookies for them, the night before she takes them all out,
she bakes all these cookies. Last month she did 150 and they're all O's in the shape of a render.
And so, yeah, I don't know what she does with the middles.
But one of the things that I'm, well, we're almost proud of this year is the work we've
been doing with teenagers.
We have a few volunteers, few adult volunteers, but we've started a program where we've got,
we've currently got nine teenage volunteers.
that's wonderful because it's most of them, eight of them are Mira Monte students, one is OAS
and they're spending so much of their time helping us preserve Arinda history and one of the girls
was actually on one of the third grade walks when she was in the third grade and she liked it,
she was so ignited by it that she's now one of our volunteers. So we have all these kids and
They're not just stuffing envelopes there, they're doing real archival work, they're scanning,
they're organizing historical documents, they're cataloging artefacts, they use professional museum
software and they're interacting with visitors all the time. They've also been contributing to
our social media presence, researching writing posts which they're so much better than the
the rest of us. So what we get from them is priceless, really, and they extend our capacity
in ways that a small volunteer organization couldn't manage if we didn't have them. And
what they get from us is hands-on experience in museum operations, community engagement,
professional tools, plus the satisfaction of contributing to something that matters
in their own hometown. And we kind of have to catch them before they all go off to college
and leave Orinda behind them. And also they're earning their community service hours for
their college application forms. So together the third grade programs and the team volunteer
program represent something that we're especially committed to. Making sure that OHS isn't just
about Arinda's past that is actively engaged with Arinda's future and that's how we feel
that we're going forward. And so thank you very much for allowing us to give us a room, well,
renting us a room in the library and for all the support that you do continue to give us. Thank you.
Thank you very much. I'll ask you to stick around a little bit for comments and questions. Would
Would anyone like to have comments or questions?
We so appreciate what the Historical Society is doing
and what your teams are doing and Lori Smith is doing.
I can't thank you enough.
It's so important to our community
and it's one of those lasting treasures
you're giving us, thank you.
Thank you.
And I just wanted to echo that, Allison.
Thank you so much for everything you do.
It's fabulous, all the progress that we've made
in recent years and preserving so much of our history.
So thank you.
Thank you.
So appreciative for all the work you all do,
just echoing those thoughts,
but also reading your report and made me realize
that I, for one, have never been on your historical walk.
And I don't know if my fellow council members have or not,
but I thought it would be a really fun experience
If we could all do the historical walk at some point and maybe even if I don't know
if staff members wanted to join, but if that's something you'd be open to I think it'd be great.
Kay Norman does, she does a wonderful tour so you would love that and she takes you all over the
place and she does absolutely everything. She's a California girl whereas obviously I'm not,
so she knows a whole lot more about it, so do, I'll arrange that.
Sometimes we even give people a nice English tea afterwards, so I think we'll throw that one in as
will. I suspect that's your influence. And also just you know your report and since OTAC is still
in the room, I see a lot of you still there, I think your report and their report today just
underscores how meaningful the work and contributions of our teenagers and young people
can be to Orinda, so thank you all. Thank you. Thank you very much. I agree with there any other
before you guys just wanted to also just um the high school reunions is something I was blown away
at how many things you guys do when you talk about not just looking backwards connecting people who
you know from the last 65 years have graduated Miramati it helps make us a sticky community that
recognizes people who are still in the community continuing to form those roots. And I just
wanted to highlight that as something that's really a cool way of being broad and deep.
And we love it. And we have, you know, we have so many books, yearbooks and things,
so people have to come in to see those. And then last year, there was the Allavender
reunion. And it was Party City where we were. I mean, I guess there wasn't much else for them
to do and they all came in, they all connected with people that they'd known for ages. We
had some 70 year olds doing some kind of song they used to, well I think they were 80 actually,
doing some kind of song that they used to sing together. Well they were,
what is it when you're the girls who dance at the beginning of football games?
Cheerleaders. Yeah, so we had these 80 year old cheerleaders, they were wonderful. I videoed them,
which I'm going to use to blackmail them. Yeah. That's terrific. If there's nothing else,
we will just say thank you. Thank you. And really enjoy the report. Thank you. And now we have our
new addition D5, which was consent item H8. The consent item was to accept the work and contract
with Marina Landscape for the Camino Pablo median landscape and to accept a donation from the
the arinda garden club, but this donation was so exceptional and special and appreciated
that we wanted to pull it to get a chance to just say thank you in person and to do
a little certificate of recognition. So would you like to come up and let us maybe say a
few words and maybe you could describe for everyone's benefits a little bit what the
garden club has done. Hi, I'm Lisa Kavalek. I'm co-president of the Arinda Garden Club
and we are a local organization that supports beautification of Arrinda and education and
conservation and we have done some fundraising as well as taken donations. We have several members
both living in past who are very passionate about those mediums and so we were able to
finally give to the City of Arrinda a check to support the work on the meetings. We're so
grateful that you have done this work and we're so proud to be able to support you in the beautification
of our Arrinda medians. Thank you. And just for those who don't know it was $80,000
from the Garden Club to the City to support our medians.
And I'm going to ask everyone to step down for a quick photo.
We have a certificate of recognition.
Just to say thank you.
Do it, actually.
Are we all coming?
Yeah, just with you.
Oh, OK.
Come on.
Just for some reason.
First of all, the work is long.
Yes, we're going to have to start off.
You think we're going to be okay with this one.
I was just going to say, we're going to be okay with this one.
Oh, I'm sorry.
And before we take a vote, was there anybody else who wanted to speak on this?
Please Janet, I just wanted to thank you on behalf of City Council for coming tonight and accepting this recognition and thank you for all the wonderful work that's been done behind the scenes to collect those funds and big thank you to Sylvia Carter who first started us on the first phase of the meetings and then at her memorial her husband came up to me and said that he wanted to
the city. And then we'll be in
large audience here. It might be helpful to just briefly show what the project is
in terms of what the medians are. Sure, so for the benefit of the audience we
just finished a project where we cut breaks in the medians along Camino
Pablo, Morocco Way adjacent to the Highway 24 entry points and so in the
event of an evacuation or emergency we can pull the areas that we opened and
and then we could divert traffic.
So if you're coming from Southern Arinda,
you don't necessarily have to drive through downtown
to get on the freeway and get out of town
that will have a different way for you
to be able to get out of town.
And it's a very important project for us long-term
as part of our continuing to identify
more evacuation routes for the community.
Great, and I just think we need to take a vote on this item.
I will make a motion that we approve H8
you. Do we have a second?
8 passes. And that takes us to
public forum. As many people
know, we have quite a few
speaker cards tonight and we
had quite a bit of written
correspondence on an item
that's not on the agenda. So
we do read them, we take them seriously,
we know the talking points.
We are gonna ask speakers to limit themselves
to a three minute maximum.
To the extent you cannot repeat things
that have already been said before,
we always appreciate that.
And then from the letters,
I really appreciate any emphasis on what we do.
And that's what I want to say for you.
So I want to make sure that you know,
that all of the people who have read the letters
really appreciate any emphasis on what the call to action is for the city in addition to just
describing the issues. I would also let people know that we are not allowed to comment on items
that are not on the agenda so it's not that we're not interested. All we can do is listen and take
note for future action. With that I've got this whole pile of speaker cards. I'm going to start
with the ones who did not say whether they were speaking on the TOPS and Vista Verre project.
question. Thank you. Um, so
I'll start with the ones that
did not say the topic and if
you could just when you come
up, um, state your topic and
your name, and then I'll do the
ones for tops. Um. I will also
let people know in addition to
who I'm calling the next
person so you can stand up and
be ready. I'm gonna start with
Lewis Lopez and after that
Mariah. You can come on up. I
just I just want to let you
members. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Louis Lopez, and I'm speaking
today as a parent and community member who cares deeply about the future of TOPS Preschool.
As you know, TOPS has been part of Orinda for 88 years. It is one of the oldest continuously
operating organizations in the city. And generations of families have trusted it with their children,
and that history matters. And I believe it should have been central, a central consideration
in the planning process for just a very day. I want to share several concerns that I have
about the project that's since today.
First, I do not believe any construction should occur
inside the tops outdoor classroom.
That includes a newly added retaining wall
and the removal of a redwood tree near the property line.
The tree was not slated for removal in the original plans
and the arborist even stated it belonged to the neighbor.
The city council never approved work
inside the outdoor classroom,
never approved a retaining wall there
and never approved the removal of the tree.
The tree provides essential privacy and safety for the children, especially given that the new structure will rise more than 50 feet and close to 70 feet from the vantage point of the playground.
Second, I'm concerned about how the changes were approved. The planning director classified the retaining wall and tree removal as minor changes.
But in Tops first meeting at the planning commission last month, she stated she was unaware that Tops even existed.
I struggled to understand how anyone can determine
what is a minor or a major change
without knowing that a preschool is directly adjacent
to the construction zone.
In my view, these are major changes
that materially affect child safety, privacy
and the daily operation of an 88 year old institution.
Third, I believe the large concrete pores
should be scheduled on Saturdays or Sundays.
These pores involve heavy trucks, diesel equipment,
noise, dust and vibration.
I do not think the children and teachers
should be the ones absorbing the impact
during the school week.
We can pour seem like a reasonable
and responsible accommodation.
Fourth, I have serious concerns about the fire
and life safety.
Urban Way is narrow and the current design
makes emergency access even more constrained.
I believe a southern ramp would significantly
improve access for the fire trucks and UMS.
It would also allow the section of Urban Way
in front of tops to remain one way,
which I think is safer for the children,
to staff and the residents who use that road every day.
To summarize, tops has served children for 88 years,
and let's make it sure it can still do that.
And another topic is I'm not sure how the permit process
occurred, because this was passed in 2022,
and it's been four years.
And when I asked about the permit,
It says in the project documents
that they extended at the year, the one year,
and they're only given a one year extension
before it was supposed to come back
to the planning commission.
So I would like you guys to make sure
that the permit process was done correctly.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
I'm gonna ask, I'm sorry, to keep this on schedule,
we always ask people no cheering,
no booze with public comments.
So I appreciate you respecting that policy.
And so we got Malaya is next.
And after that, Layla Alami.
What are you saying?
I'm gonna say stop me.
I can't move it.
Yeah.
What am I saying?
Just me?
What am I saying?
I'm trying to explain.
Okay.
Hello.
Say hi.
Mm-hmm.
You're done.
Did you?
No.
No, please.
Okay, right here.
I can't say hi for you.
Yes.
Go ahead.
No.
to read. Hi my name is Mariah. I went to TOPS and I was little. I loved it. I want my little
brother to have the same experience that I had at TOPS. Please make sure that TOPS stays
safe and a fun place for kids like my little brother to learn and play.
My name is Rila Lamy and I'm apparently a really good friend of Mariah.
I met her after preschools and poems in Cleveland.
I've heard that a lot of other kids have the same experience as she had at Pops.
It was very nice knowing that the preschool was a really good experience for her.
And I hope it stays like that for a bunch of kids to learn, play, and so much more.
Thank you very much. We have, um, was there one more?
Hi, hi, everyone. My name is Kaya. I want to talk.
Thank you all. It takes a lot of courage to speak in public. So thank you. We have Toni
Martinez. And after that, Ann Gordon, please.
Good evening, Mayor Iverson and members of the City Council. My name is Toni Martinez.
I'm the current TOPS board president,
a parent of two children who have attended
and one who is currently attending
and a proud member of the Arinda community.
We are looking for,
when looking for a preschool for my oldest child,
I toured nearly every preschool in Arinda
in Lafayette before choosing TOPS.
I wanted the very best educational foundation for her.
What made TOPS so special was the outdoor classroom,
a place where children learn through play,
curiosity, nature, and exploration.
When I toured TOPS, I saw children riding bikes,
digging in the sandbox and discovering the world around them
in a park-like environment.
The kids were happy, engaged, and thriving.
I knew immediately this was where I wanted my daughter
to go to school.
Both of my daughters were fortunate enough
to have that experience.
My youngest son may not.
I want to be very clear.
I in TOPS support affordable senior housing.
This is not a fight against senior housing.
This is about whether affordable senior housing
should move forward at the expense of preschool children
and an institution that has served
around the families for nearly 88 years.
I am deeply concerned that this housing development
was approved without fully understanding
its impact on tops.
In 2021, Commissioner Hubner specifically asked
how the playground would be affected.
John Wierow, the project representative stated
it would not be impacted.
to make today we know that is not true.
Current plans require portions of tops outdoor classroom
to be used during construction and a permanent project
and permanent project features will remain in the areas
that tops has historically used exclusively.
So I have to ask if the decision makers had known
the preschool would be directly impacted
with the project have been approved the same way,
would additional mitigation have been required?
Would the environmental review have looked different
if the presence of a preschool serving young children
had been fully disclosed and considered?
Mayor Iverson, you voted to approve this project
as a planning commissioner.
Knowing what we know today,
do you believe a project was reviewed
with complete and accurate information?
And if you had known then what you know now,
would you still have voted yes to approve the project?
TOPS is not just another tenant
of the Orinda Community Church.
TOPS has been around in Orinda since 1938.
Some families have had three generations attend TOPS.
Families moved to Orinda because of TOPS.
Yet TOPS was left without a meaningful voice
during critical stages.
So I asked the city council,
if TOPS loses enrollment because of this project,
what responsibility does the city bear?
If TOPS is forced to reduce programs,
the city's plan.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
We just mentioned, we are having a little bit of trouble hearing everybody up here so if you could just try to speak right into the mic and enunciate, we appreciate it.
After Ann Gordon, our next speaker will be Anthony Valdio-Sara.
Sarah. Good evening members of the council. My name is Anne Gordon. I'm an Irina resident,
a TOPS parent, and I have over 15 years of experience working with children as an educator
and administrator for arts nonprofits throughout California. I know firsthand the transformative
power that creativity, autonomy, and the outdoors can have on a child's academic and emotional
success. It was this in mind that I began my search for preschool for my own child.
I toured all the very slum land options, which were all very nice, but held very little of the
charm, quirk, or spark I was looking for. When I walked into Topps for the first time, I knew
this was it. The outdoor classroom is nothing short of magical. Hold whatever image that you
have of the forest did never land in your mind for a moment, and add a bash of Alice in Wonderland
and Pippi Longstocking, and this is Topps. It's a child's paradise. I knew I had to look no further,
and no other options exist in the non-lender area.
The outdoor classroom where the children spend half their day
is but sold me.
The caring effort the teachers put into creating the magic
behind the scenes was icing on the weird and wonderful cake.
So I was horrified and devastated to say the least
when I heard that the outdoor classroom as we know it
is about to be no more.
I want to be clear.
I'm not here to oppose festiverde.
Affordable senior housing, as has been said, is vital
and I support it.
I'm here to ask the city to ensure the project lives up
in full to protections it has already committed to.
Leaving aside what has been called a civil
and land dispute involved between the lessee
and the wrestler, the children at tops are much closer
to the construction than the environmental review
truly considered.
The initial study means our preschool in a single line
as a sensitive receptor.
In reality, heavy equipment will operate just feet
from where two to five-year-olds spend the majority
of their day.
I'm asking the council to make the proposed safeguards
real, verifiable, and matched to the reality
of how close these children actually are.
Specifically, I'm asking for this.
One, schedule, enforce, and report.
The project committed to best controls
and tier four diesel equipment,
but also acknowledges noise will exceed city limits
but is exempt from their impermanence hours.
I ask the council to ensure these are actively monitored
and enforced when feasible.
ask the crew to adhere to a good neighbor schedule
with the heaviest, dirtiest and loudest work
done outside of school hours.
Two, provide accountability.
If nothing else, we need a main point of contact.
I do an independent third party safety monitor,
one that has no stake in losing a day's work
and the financial repercussions that come with that.
Whose info is shared directly with the school,
so we aren't left relying on a nebulous complaint line
from a billboard after the dust is already in the air.
None of this opposes the housing that slows it down.
It simply holds the project to its own standards onsite
where children actually breathe and play
not just promised on paper.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
I also just want to thank everybody for staying on time.
It's really respectful and we appreciate it.
After Anthony, we're gonna have Bill Hudson.
Good evening, Mayor Iverson, council members and staff.
My name is Anthony Vadisara.
I come to you as an Orinda resident.
I registered civil engineer in the state of California,
but most importantly tonight,
a father of three young children.
A former TOPS graduate, a current TOPS student,
and one future TOPS student.
My family moved to Orinda in 2020
without knowing anyone here.
TOPS was our first community,
it connected us to other young families
and helped make Orinda feel like home.
For many families, TOPS is where community Orinda begins.
I want to be clear, I support affordable senior housing.
Arenda needs it and the Bay Area needs it.
But support for affordable housing
should not require silence
about process safety or fairness.
My concern is that the Vista Verida project
has moved forward without TOPPS being treated
as a directly affected neighbor.
TOPPS sits immediately below the project
and shares a boundary with it.
Yet in the planning process,
TOPPS was not meaningfully identified, consulted,
or analyzed in the same way nearby residences were.
You can see that the plan
would still be out. It should
be noted for the record record
that this issue was raised
during the August 10 2021
Planning Commission meeting.
Commissioner Hubner, who
remains on the planning
Commission today, had walked
the site and specifically out
whether the project would
affect the outdoor playground
areas. John Y. Road, the
project manager for the
development at the time
responded that the project
would not impact the
playground. Areas from either
the preschool or the
plans clearly show proposed improvements
extending into the fence playground area
that TOPS has long operated as its least preschool space.
Permanent features and construction impacts
are now proposed within or immediately
against the area TOPS uses every day for young children.
As both a civil engineer and as a parent,
that is deeply concerning.
This is not just about property lines.
It's about child safety.
Construction next to and in this case within
an active preschool playground brings obvious risks
from heavy equipment, excavation trucks, dust, noise,
vibration, and changing site conditions.
Those risks require careful planning, clear communication,
and direct coordination with TOPS.
The urgency is that we are now being told construction
may begin as soon as July.
Yet TOPS still has not received the planning information
that needs to understand the construction schedule,
phasing, site access, staging area, or planned activities.
Without that information, TOPS cannot responsibly communicate
with parents or plan for child safety.
My ask to the council is simple.
Please come to the table with urgency.
Visit the site.
Stand in the tops play yard
and look at where this project is proposed.
Help ensure that tops, the city, the church
and the development team work together
on a real solution that protects the preschool
and the children it serves
while allowing affordable senior housing to move forward.
We can support affordable senior housing and protect tops.
Those goals should not be in conflict.
Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Hudson.
And then after that,
we've got Jamie Voltere as our next speaker.
Thank you, city council.
32 years ago, my son had a wonderful experience at TOPS.
The outdoor activities were particularly important
and I think for all boys, just wonderful.
Most, it was wonderful as a parent
to be able to participate in the school day
and see all the enthusiasm.
Today, my niece and her daughter
having the same experiences right now. So I'm just here to say TOPS is wonderful. It's
one of Arinta's jewels. Please don't let it be degraded or lost. Thank you.
Thank you very much. After Jamie Volker, we have got Tina Arantes as our next speaker.
Good evening, Ms. Mayer, honorable council members. My name is Jamie Volker. I am a proud
the development of 2 former top students that were in Ellen and I'm not going to you know be a naive here. I'm a land use lawyer. I know that the project's been entitled for a long time, but you know to the extent that this project was approved under false stresses or to the extent that the construction plans today do not match the approved site plans and terms.
I would like to make sure that
there is room for the city to
insert itself, pause, maybe try
to get the developer tops to
come to the table together.
And I think there is probably a
quite reasonable solution that
could be reached just through a
little bit more of discussion.
I don't think the story you've
heard is just there hasn't been
for that, but I think it's a
will be our next speaker.
Hello. City Council. My name
is Tina Rontes and I have a
three year old who goes to
tops. I also have a one year
old who is very excited to go
to talks as soon as he turns
to. And we hope we can make
that happen. And I definitely
also support the senior
housing project. I know this
is really important for the
city and for all those
residents as well. So we want
to serve our children and seniors to be able to have affordable housing.
The reason we chose TOPPS, we also searched so many preschools in the La Mirinda area,
and TOPPS truly is special. Over 88 years, they've really honed in on a magical experience
for children, and a big part of that is the outdoor classroom, and we call it a classroom
because that's actually where the learning occurs. It's not just a play yard that we
can move them anywhere to. They learn in that outdoor classroom, so I think that's why you're
hearing so much concern over its integrity. We were surprised to hear that this construction
is taking place so soon without even knowing how it's going to impact the children. I'm worried
about children and the impact of the dust from the construction on their lungs since they have
different requirements for safety than adults and it doesn't sound like they were taken into account
during the planning process. I'm worried about the noise from the construction because construction
can be quite noisy for small ears that are still developing as well too. And I'm worried about
the all the vehicles moving in and out and how that might affect small kids in the parking lot
and their families. I'm also worried about the impacts to the outdoor classroom. It sounds like
there's going to be part of it actually replaced with a retaining wall, a tree remove that provides
shade, and these are other things that you can't really change and go back from. So I'm asking the
council to help come discuss with us how we can actually protect our children through this
process. What can we put in place in terms of air quality monitoring by a third party
to make sure that we can keep them safe in real time? How do we monitor the noise? And how do we
put in place just like nails? When I got my roof done there were nails all over my yard for weeks
afterwards. I can't imagine building a five-story building adjacent to a playground and not having
any debris spill into the play yard and have kids like get stabbed by nails. It is just not clear
So I think that's clear to me how these protections are going to work yet, and we'd love to be able to see how that can they can both happen together.
And so I asked you is just to help us figure out how do we keep tops thriving how do we make sure that kids can continue to go there and succeed and not be impacted by this construction that's going to take probably two years to complete which could, you know, if that could
kind of ruin the school if it's left without any help. So, we're just asking for your help here. Thank you.
Thank you very much. So luck, Ingleby, and then Tom Schneider afterwards.
Hello, I'm here to address the issue about tops and I just first most I just want to make clear that I'm not like, you know, against the whole like situation for senior housing.
I'm going to read a bit of like a book I made when I was about to leave talk, since
I'm like formally from there.
It's called The Day I Go to Kindergarten.
I'm going to miss playing with the water table.
I'm going to miss playing with my friends, which one of them is actually right here.
I'm gonna miss playing with the puddles at the outside
and I'm gonna miss playing at the tables under the eaves.
I'll see you soon.
And most of this stuff is outside,
which I could not imagine other kids
just not getting the chance I had
and something that just like,
but me who I am.
And it's just,
I hope that we can compromise
so other kids can enjoy the things that I had
and just grow up the way that TOPS is just built around.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
And thank you for coming to speak.
It's a big effort and a big deal.
So Tom Schneider is next and Val Engleby is after.
Great.
Good evening council members.
My name is Tom Schneider.
I'm a TOPS parent, Arinda resident,
former Parks and Rec Commissioner, shout out Todd,
and work in real estate development.
Affordable housing isn't a nice to have, it's critical,
and I think we all strongly support it.
I'm here because something went wrong
and how this project was communicated and approved,
and the TOPS community is paying for it.
TOPS is the oldest continuing institution in Arinda.
Our children spend the majority of their school days outdoors
in a space that is being directly encroached upon
by this project.
On page 20 of the initial study,
it acknowledges TOPS as a sensitive receptor,
but treats the preschool in the same way
that it treats the post office,
like it's down the street.
The project is requiring 25 plus foot tall redwoods
within the outdoor space to be torn down.
The study never analyzed or considered
what happens to a functioning preschool
when you tear up its campus, remove trees
and build a five-story building
and resident balconies on top of the playground.
No one from the TOPPS community was consulted
during the CEQA review.
And if you look at the public records,
none of the seven publicly submitted comments
came from TOPPS because no one was told what was happening,
not told us what was happening, not the city,
not the church, not the landlord
who donated the land to the developer.
Meanwhile, construction is planned on that lab
that TOPPS holds an exclusive lease on.
On a side note,
The original plan didn't have such an outcry
because it didn't encroach on the outdoor playground.
It was in these 2025 adjustments
where this was privately approved in the dark.
As a predictable outcome,
several families have already unenrolled
or chose to not enroll.
This is not hypothetical impact.
This is happening now.
I'm asking the council for three things.
First, answer how a project was approved
on exclusively leased land
without the lease holder being notified.
Second, require enforceable construction protection
for the children, air quality monitoring,
noise limits during school hours,
construction traffic management,
doing all the heavy digging and stuff
on Saturdays and Sundays,
and a privacy screen to be built
into the actual building designs.
Third, to be a partner with TOPS.
This institution has served Arinda for 88 years
and deserves a seat at the table.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
After Bell Ingleby, we're gonna have Axel Ingleby next.
My whole family is now all on the line. Thank you for the moment to speak. I'm going to make it
very short since so many of the points that I am holding has been brought up. When I moved to
Orinda in 2016 with a one-year-old and a three-year-old I was desperate to find the preschool to put
them in and like many people said I looked around and was overwhelmed with like great choices but
but when I found Topps and I saw the outdoor classroom,
it was magic.
It was just everything that a mom
wants their child to experience.
And I knew right then and there
that that was where my kids were gonna go.
And when I know that that outdoor classroom is in jeopardy,
it just breaks my heart to think that that cannot be
a potential future for so many children
with limited options now of places
where kids could go to school that are non-religious,
that just enforce outdoor play, child-led learning and play,
it's really concerning and upsetting
to children who went through.
My kids are molded and shaped by the TOPS experience.
They look at their books.
My daughter, who's in middle school,
still looks at her books that she got from TOPS.
And I really think it needs to be addressed,
the integrity of the outdoor classroom
and the childhood experience that children will have there.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Axel Engleby and after that, Steve Austinfeld.
So, my name is Axel Engleby and I used to go to stops
and when I see what's happening with these buildings
getting built next to it, where kids need to play,
is just devastating to me,
because I used to go to that place and it was the best.
And I think every child needs to have that experience,
because if they don't, that could just ruin tops.
It was the best part of tops that I ever had.
And I just think it's bad to have a building there
that can cause problems to people trying to stay outside.
And that's all I have to say.
Thank you, and thank you for coming to speak.
Steve Austinfeld, and after that, Harmony Anderson.
Good evening.
Thank you for allowing us to be here this evening.
My name is Steve Austinfeld.
My wife and I have lived in Orlando for 18 years.
We have two sons who are in their 20s,
but are graduates of TOPS.
So they left TOPS approximately 18 years ago.
I'm here today or tonight representing TOPS
as a member of the board of trustees.
And I really have two thoughts to share.
The first is that when TOPS finally received the details
of the Vista Verde project,
and we walked out in the play yard to see the flag markers
of where the retaining walls would be,
some of which are actually in the area
that TOPS has leased for decades,
I personally was nothing short of stunned.
I was and I'm still dumbfounded
how any major construction project,
one that's gonna result in a five story building
being constructed right next to a preschool
could have been reviewed and approved
with two to four year old children in mind.
I'll skip a lot of the details I was going to share
because I think you've already heard many of them
in terms of the impacts from construction.
You'll probably hear them again.
But the second point I would share,
and this is something that's coming up
as we think about the financial stability of TOPS,
something that's foremost in the minds
of the Board of Trustees.
Many parents are asking what the impact
of the Vista Verde Project is gonna have
in terms of the school.
We've already had several families un-enroll
and a high percentage of new, very interested families
who initially raved about what they saw when visiting TOPS,
subsequently will choose not to enroll.
TOPS is a non-profit.
Losing enrollment quickly results in a significant loss
as you can only cut so many variable costs, including
teachers, and fixed costs like rent and insurance
only increase each year.
It is quite possible that the enrollment risk
we face from the Vista Verde project
could cause tops to be insolvent and have
to close before the project is completed.
Set another way, the oldest business in Arinda,
one that has PO box number one that
provide essential development to thousands of arrayed children for over 85 years would no longer
exist. To avoid this, I would ask two things to the council. One, give TOPS the support and
dedicated resources to remedy the many construction related concerns you've heard about so that the
health and safety of the children are not compromised. And second, provide financial
relief so that TOPS isn't forced to close. Thank you. Thank you. Harmony Anderson is next and after
that Allison Winhurst. Hello, I'm Harmony Anderson. I'm a
random resident, and I'm also on the Arts and Public Places
Committee, so nice to see some of you. I have two kids, one who
attended TOPS, Rory's right here, now she's at Glorietta,
and then I have another one at TOPS, my youngest boy, Jones,
who I picked up today, and he was raving about
the fact he's at summer school at TOPS, and he went fishing, and he
caught a pink shark. And even though he won't remember that, I will remember that forever.
The memories at TOPS are just unparalleled compared to other preschools in the area.
But I'm here, everyone has said a lot of the things that were written in my speech,
so I'm not going to go over all of them. TOPS has been around forever. It's an institution.
So many of the families here either went as who are adults now, sometimes even their older
aunts, uncles, grandparents went,
now their children's also attend.
The TOPS community has been a huge contributor
to now the community that is running this,
hold on baby.
Many of the TOPS former alumni
are big contributors of community today.
So the long time coach at OPP pool attended TOPS,
later sent his children here.
The executive director of the Arenda Network for Education
also sent her children's to TOPS
and were served on the TOPS board.
The owner of Arenda Optometry attended TOPS as a child
and as a major contributor to the broader community today.
And those are just a few examples.
The biggest issue here is that the families of TOPS
are thinking about leaving.
And I'm mostly worried with the fact
of the future of TOPS is completely at risk as a school.
And I wanna make sure that we have protections in place
if that ends up becoming a reality for us.
So that's one thing I wanna make sure
that you are partnering with the TOPPS community
to think about.
And then the last is I want us to ensure
we establish a stronger standard for how developers
and the Planning Commission and the City Council
engage with schools, families, and communities like TOPPS.
Go to TOPPS, stand in the play yard,
really think about what the impact,
something like this will be.
We all want more housing,
but what we don't want is to have communities
like ours go out of business and shut down.
So my ask is just that you really partner
and don't ignore what is happening right here
within our community and with our children.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Allison Winhurst, and after that, Kristen Armanini,
and just as you come back, just a quick intermission,
there is no harder time of life to come and speak
at a public meeting than when you have preschoolers.
And the fact that so many people
either brought kids or had to be away from their kids
to be here tonight is tremendous.
And I know people are gonna leave
as soon as they're done talking.
So I just want to thank everybody
for the extraordinary effort it took
to come and comment tonight.
And I'm sorry to interrupt.
I know we're gonna lose people.
Good evening.
My name is Alison Windhurst and I'm a mom to four kids,
all of whom are TOPS graduates.
We attended TOPS from 2009 to 2021
because these years were so impactful
and meant so much to my family,
I also currently serve on the TOPS Board of Trustees.
If you have not had the delight
of sending a child to the Orinda preschool,
then you might not understand
the magic of the TOPS outdoor classroom.
It is tucked at the very back corner of the church property,
surrounded by big, beautiful, mature trees.
It's how you enter the school,
and it is what drew most of us to choosing TOPS
for these precious developmental years.
The thought of this space being negatively impacted
by years of massive construction
and a huge new structure looming above it is devastating.
I remember picking up my oldest son, Louis,
after his first day of school at Topps
when he was not yet three years old.
I was understandably nervous
about how he would have fared without me in this new space,
but his ear to ear grin said it all when I arrived.
He had used bright blue washable paint and a roller brush
to paint his arms and legs.
He was absolutely delighted with himself and the freedom
that he had to get messy and explore his senses in this way.
The first week of kindergarten at Glorietta,
a wonderful school, was not quite the same.
As I remember him sadly telling me,
he was told he needed to keep his shoes on in the sandbox.
Often, when I would pick up my daughter, Annie, from Tops,
I would find her in her underwear, gleefully enjoying the large puddles in the sandbox
that she and her friends had made using the hose.
These experiences are fleeting.
There aren't many years devoted to play, messy, joyful, sensory-filled play.
I fear that if there are apartments looking down on that yard, the freedom to let the
children find these pure, joyous moments will be gone forever.
bigger fear is that tops simply will not be able to survive this construction project as it's
currently planned. Multiple years of jackhammering heavy equipment dust and noise adjacent to the
outdoor classroom could be what forces the clothes of this institution after serving the children of
Orinda for over 80 years. Please, please don't allow that to happen. Please help us find a
a positive path forward for TOPS.
Kristin Arminini and Eugene Lynn as the next speaker.
Good evening.
My name is Kristin Arminini and I am the director of TOPS.
The Arinda Preschool, which everyone now knows
was founded in 1938 and is one of the longest
continuously operating organizations in Arinda.
TOPS is my mission.
it has been for 32 years, my mission.
First as a teacher, then as a parent,
both my girls went through tops,
and for the past 16 years as a director.
I love these people, I love these children.
One of my favorite parts about, I'm in Maraga,
but very much involved in Arinda,
is the stories that I hear again and again,
that I'm now starting to serve the parents
that were my students and their children.
There's nothing that makes me more delighted.
Running into families, the connections,
the fact that those families
are still friends because of TOPS.
It is truly a special and magical place
that I am so grateful to be a part of.
We are not here because we oppose the construction.
We are all in favor of the senior housing.
But it is really unfortunate how this has all played out.
Arinda Community Church never consulted us
when the project was planned.
despite the fact that we have shared that same ground
with them since 1944.
We have been in partnership with them for over 80 years
serving this community.
The city approved the project with what appears to us
to be no apparent understanding of what TOPS is
or what we stand to lose.
We are here tonight to make sure that changes.
As you are probably aware by now, TOPS is not,
Our outdoor classroom is not just a feature of TOPS.
It is the foundation of how we teach.
Our children spend 50 to 75% of their day
in the outdoor classroom.
It is one of the primary reasons, as you have heard,
why parents choose us.
OCC made an agreement with OSHF
that directly affects our outdoor classroom.
And the city approved it without ever understanding
what it was approving.
Trees that have defined and sheltered that space
are being removed.
The scale and proximity of the new building
will permanently alter the character, the light,
the nature of our outdoor classroom environment.
No one told us, no one asked us.
And this is not a minor oversight.
It is a fundamental failure of process.
The city's role is not just to approve projects.
It is to steward the institutions
that make Arinda what it is.
TOPS intends to be here, hopefully,
long after construction is complete,
but we cannot survive this process
without your awareness, your engagement, and your support.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
We have Eugene Lin.
Next, and after that, Kathy Barrett, please.
Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council Members, good evening.
My name is Eugene.
I'm the father of a four-year-old
who just graduated from TOPS two weeks ago.
I also have a nine-year-old who wished
she were three so she could go to TOPS.
We've moved here from Oakland six years ago,
and we've grown to love many aspects,
the uniqueness of Orinda, our amazing library,
the quirky turkeys roaming around the hills,
even the 40-year-old plus Salpo League,
whom many of my teammates are TOPS alums.
But what we've loved absolutely the most,
and I think many of the people here can agree with me,
is tops.
So my four-year-old loved every single moment of tops.
And every day, rain will shine without fail.
She spent 70% of her time playing around
in the outside classroom, smelling the grass,
saying hi to the birds with her friends,
picking berries, getting sand all over her face,
just feeling absolutely joy and being and learning how to be a human being and being
a very respectful and loving individual. So when I heard and when my family heard about
Lisa Verde we were quite dumbfounded. I mean I'm not a civil engineer, I'm not a contractor,
but I do know that we barely survive a kitchen rental. So it absolutely makes no common sense
to me that TOPS wasn't involved in the whole planning process. Now what I'd love to ask
tonight is for the council to start giving TOPS a seat at the table so every moment forward
TOPS can get consulted and can voice opinions and give feedback so that all future generations
families, kids, adults, parents, grandparents can enjoy this amazing institution going forward.
Thank you. Thank you very much. We still have 12 speaker cards so you still all have three
minutes if you can try to hit highlights that's great. We have Kathy Barrett next and after that
we have Stan White. Good evening Mayor Iverson and all the City Council members. My name is Kathy
Barrett and over 30 years ago my daughter entered TOPS and I became a TOPS mom and as a retired
teacher, it was magical to see what this site was like and how the children interacted with it.
I'll be brief because so many more still have to speak, but you are a very thoughtful city council
and you have heard the stories of how the actual Topps community, the Arenda preschool community,
did not know this was coming down the road. And when they learned about a month ago,
shocked dismay. I mean, all of us could hardly even speak about it. And so when I'm asking for you,
as a wonderful city council, to consider ways that this can be mitigated, because we're all in favor
of senior housing. And I have friends in the senior housing complex who are horrified
at what might be happening to TOPS because they love the place too. So gosh there's so many of us
in the room who can make a change and help in this very sticky complex and unfortunate situation.
So thank you so much for all you do and we all hope for the best for TOPS. Thank you.
Next, Stan White is next and after that, Jillian White, please.
Thank you, City Council members, for giving me the opportunity to say a few words tonight.
My name is Stan White, and my wife and I have lived in Orinda for 30 years.
We raised our children here, and they attended the local schools.
Currently, our granddaughter attends TOPS.
She is three years old.
Our daughter, who is a preschool teacher, works at TOPS because of the fact that it
is a unique treasure to the community and has been for some 88 years. Please understand
that TOPS programs stands above others because of the particular teacher family cooperative
model that they use and it's one of a kind outdoor based play area. This is all severely
threatened by the current plans for Vista Verde. The current plan as written encroaches
on TOPS exclusive leased land.
I am shocked that this plan
was approved without input or notification of TOPS,
one of Orinda's longest nonprofit partnerships.
I am saddened that this project
has already jeopardized enrollment at TOPS
because sufficient safeguards weren't considered.
I am also mortified that the construction was allowed
that can endanger the health and safety of small children.
As a very worried grandparent and as a three generation resident of Arinda, I ask you tonight
to do what is right.
Do what we trust you to do in this situation.
Do what Arindans do for each other that makes this city the great place to raise a family.
Please, I ask, give the Topps representatives a place at the table with the developer to
work together and fix this mess.
do not allow this development to overlap
onto exclusively leased land of tops.
Do not allow the removal of trees
and the outdoor classroom with its park-like environment.
And lastly, make sure that the final plan is revised
to fully protect both the health
and the privacy of young children.
Let this be our clarion call to protect tops
and future generations of Arinda's children.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Jillian White is next, and after that, Brooke Goff.
Good evening, my name is Jillian White,
and I'm the parent of a three-year-old at TOPS,
a teacher at TOPS, and a member of our Arinda community.
I grew up in Arinda, attended local schools,
and have chosen to raise my child here.
I support thoughtful development in Arinda,
including for seniors.
Community members have spoken
to many important concerns tonight,
I'm asking that you carefully consider one specific impact this project will have on
the children at TOPS. TOPS is a play-based outdoor preschool serving children ages two
to five. Our outdoor classroom is not just a playground. It's where learning happens.
Children spend their days building in the sand, mixing potions in the mud kitchen, exploring
nature, hunting for bugs, creating art and music with Miss Jenny beneath the beautiful
redwood tree, and in the gazebo, which are both planned to be removed and playing in the water
every day. Like many outdoor preschools, children often play in swimsuits or simply their underwear
during water play. My own three-year-old daughter is one of those children who regularly strips
down to her skivvies while playing in the outdoor classroom. On any given day, you might find a
group of children in their underwear building ports, digging moats around castles, covering
themselves head to toe and face paint. And when I say head to toe, I mean every square inch,
including their ears, sorry parents. Today, all of this happens in a protective private environment.
The proposed senior housing development changes that the rooftop balconies and elevated viewing
areas would create direct lines of sight into our outdoor classroom. That means strangers,
residents, visitors, workers, contractors, and anyone standing on those upper levels could
could potentially watch children playing below,
children who may be dressed only in swimsuits or underwear
or in the process of changing clothes
during normal preschool activities.
Was this considered in planning?
I'm not suggesting anyone has had bad intentions,
but when designing spaces around where young children play,
we should not rely on assumptions
about who may or may not be watching.
We should proactively design for privacy and safety.
These children deserve the freedom to play comfortably
in their outdoor classroom without becoming visible
to strangers looking down.
Once those sight lines exist, we cannot take them back.
I'm asking the council to allow tops a seat at the table
to explore and to explore mitigation measures
before allowing construction to begin,
whether through screening, privacy barriers, landscaping,
redesign of viewing areas on the rooftop or other solutions.
I hope you will require protections
preserve the privacy for our youngest community members. The children at TOPS deserve to continue
learning, exploring, and playing freely in a safe private environment that has made that has made
the school a special part of Arinda for more than 80 years. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Thank you very much. Brooke Goff is next and after that Heather Barrett please.
Thank you. I'm speaking for Brooke she sent me a letter so I'm just reading the letter to you.
Dear Council, my name is Brookgolf Anderson, and I am a lead teacher at TOPS Preschool.
The years I have spent here have been among the most rewarding of my 20 plus years in education.
This past year, TOPS became more than just my workplace. As I navigated one of the most
difficult experiences of my life, supporting my mother through her battle with cancer and
ultimately losing her, TOPS was a safe haven. The families, children, and staff welcomed me
with kindness, compassion, and support. Without this school and community, I truly don't know
where I would be today. One of the many reasons I fell in love with TOPPS is our incredible
outdoor classroom. The beautiful trees, flowers, and natural landscape created an environment
where children thrive. In early childhood education, we often refer to the environment
as the third teacher, and TOPPS exemplifies this philosophy. Our children play, explore,
build confidence, investigate nature, and develop a deep connection with the world around them.
This proposed construction threatens to remove a significant portion of what makes TOPPS so
special. The loss of these outdoor spaces would dramatically impact the educational experiences we
provide. It is heartbreaking to think that one of the most beautiful preschool environments I've
ever seen could be altered so drastically. TOPS is nearly a hundred years old and has served a
generations of families in this community. It deserves recognition, respect, and thoughtful
consideration in any project that directly impacts its future. TOPS means so much to me as an educator.
It is a place where children experience joy, growth, discovery, and belonging. The collaboration
between teachers and families creates a truly unique learning environment. TOPS is not simply
a preschool, it is the cornerstone of the community and one of the longest standing early education
programs in the area. Learning that land under TOPS exclusive lease was affected without proper
notification or involvement with TOPS was deeply unsettling. This community is built on communication,
trust, and partnership, yet TOPS was not given the consideration it deserved in a development of this
magnitude. I am deeply concerned for the future of our school, my fellow teachers, the children we
we serve and the families who trust us with their care.
The potential impacts are significant.
Safety concerns during construction,
exposure to airborne pollutants,
loss of privacy for young children,
decreased enrollment, financial hardships for staff
and lasting damage to a treasured community institution.
I worry about our youngest and most vulnerable population.
Preschools should be a time when children are free
to explore, play and learn in a safe environment.
The possibility of construction activity
directly above our school threatens that experience.
Throughout this process,
I felt as though TOPS has been pushed aside.
In doing so, the voices of countless families, teachers
and community members who have supported the school
for decades have also been overlooked.
My hope is that all parties involved can come together
and find a solution that prioritizes safety,
communication and respect for the TOPS community.
I wanna see TOPS legacy continue for decades more.
Thank you for taking the time to listen
and for working toward a safe and thoughtful resolution.
I appreciate everyone who's advocating
for the children, families, teachers and community
that makes TOPS so special
with gratitude, concern and hope, Brooke Goff Anderson.
Thank you very much.
That was an impressive three minute read.
I'm Heather.
I did the Wild Heather.
Were you gonna do three minutes of your own comments?
Yes, so I think I was the next comment card, yeah.
Okay.
And after that, F. Marshawn and I apologize
if I mispronounced.
Well, good evening, Mayor and council members.
My name is Heather Barrett.
I am a former top student from the early 1990s.
And part of a family with deep roots and a window,
my uncle attended tops in the 1950s.
And it was a no-brainer that both my boys
would be attending TOPS as well
because it is truly the epitome of joy.
I wanna be clear, as many others have,
I'm not here to oppose affordable senior housing.
But what concerns me is how a project of the scale
moved through planning and approval
without meaningful consideration of the preschool
sitting immediately next door.
Recently, during a planning commission meeting,
staff stated they were not aware what TOPS was.
To me, that perfectly illustrates the issue.
TOPS is not a new organization
and has operated on this site for decades.
Thousands of Orinda families have passed through its doors.
If a five-story building is being constructed
immediately adjacent to a preschool
that has been there for nearly 90 years,
how was the preschool not central
to the conversation from the beginning?
I understand notices were sent,
but a notice is not the same as a conversation.
A notice is not the same as being invited to the table.
It appears the minimum requirements may have been met,
but when a project directly affects young children
in a long-standing community institution,
our community should expect more than the minimum.
And that brings me to the question
many people may be asking tonight,
why are we raising this concern now
if the project was approved years ago?
The answer to me is simple,
TOPS was never meaningfully brought to the table.
Whether due to miscommunication, assumptions,
or the passage of time, the result is the same.
A preschool serving Orinda families
for more than 80 years was overlooked.
Among the most concerning questions to me
is whether the project was approved
based on an inaccurate understanding of the property
boundaries and leasehold interest affecting TOPS.
Current plans encroach upon space actively leased
used by the preschool as part of that outdoor classroom.
And if that is true, what does this mean for approvals
that were granted based on those assumption?
I'm truly, I want to know, is the permit still valid?
We are also asking questions that seem like they should
have been asked years ago, how children are protected
from dust, diesel exhaust, how traffic and drop-off safety,
how emergency access maintain, how the loss of outdoor
classroom space affect the preschool.
But respectfully, I have a question for the city council.
If these concerns matter today, why didn't they matter then?
Shouldn't a preschool have raised flags
during the planning and permitting process,
what went wrong?
Shouldn't impacts to child safety
and outdoor learning space traffic, air quality
and construction have warranted additional scrutiny?
The questions we are asking today are not new questions.
They are questions that should have been asked years ago.
So tonight, my request is simple.
I am asking the city council to pause
and review this project in light of the information
now being raised regarding TOPS, its leased property
and the direct impacts to the children's families
and staff who use this campus today.
I invite you, please come to TOPS and see for yourself.
I'm asking for the city's partnership
and helping navigate the next steps
and ensuring these concerns are fully evaluated
before construction proceeds further,
please do not have a building put on tops.
But if there's one thing a render should never be known for,
it is failing to prioritize the health, safety
and educational environment of youngest residents.
The children of tops are between two and five.
They cannot advocate for themselves.
That responsibility falls to us.
Tonight, I'm asking you to help us do that.
Thank you.
And this is Logan, who is a graduate of tops.
What was your favorite part?
their classroom? Yes. Yeah. Thanks for being on the mic,
Lauren. Thank you very much. F. Marshawn, again, I apologize on the
pronunciation, and Johnny Windhurst will be next.
My name is Flarnie Marshawn, and thank you for the opportunity to speak.
And like many families here, I have a daughter
enrolled in TOPS, and my family moved here just about a year ago
after she joined TOPS to be close to the preschool
and because we, you know, with the idea that Orinda
is a great place to raise kids with good schools.
And you've heard all the concerns about health
and safety with the construction and, you know,
that's a concern.
And for me, this also is something I'm looking to
as a sign of how Orinda deals with its schools
and its children.
And I really, I'm concerned seeing this happen to TOPS.
It makes me question about,
is this a place where I would want to raise my children?
And I think many parents do move here for the schools,
starting with the preschools.
And so that's a ripple effect, not just TOPS,
but the whole community of Arinda
and the people coming here
and living here over years and years.
And so you've heard a lot of really great ideas
of ways to protect the children at TOPS.
And so that's my request too,
that you would take concrete action
and please help protect the children and the school.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Next is Johnny Winhurst and after that Paige Stalker.
Hello, my name is Johnny Winhurst
and I went to TOPS as a preschooler.
Tops was not only special in the classroom
but also in the outdoor classroom as well.
I remember playing up on the hill
and splashing in puddles we made with the hose.
That was one of the greatest experiences of my life.
I think others should be able to know the feeling too.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
And Paige Stalker is our next speaker.
After that, Zulica Godines, and again,
I apologize if I'm mispronouncing.
Hi, my name is Paige Stocker.
My daughter, Alice, went to TOPS.
When she was there, I was on the Executive Board
as VP of Community for two years.
Also, I went to TOPS.
It was my first stop as I made my way
through all of the Arrinda schools.
I went to TOPS, Sleepy Hollow, OIS, and Miramani.
I think Arendelle schools are some of the best in our state,
and that starts with TOPS.
Most families choose to move to Arendelle
or move back home to Arendelle, like I did,
because of our schools.
Families in our community prioritize our children
and their education above all.
My mom always said, TOPS is where you send your child
if you want to learn who they really are.
At TOPS, kids are allowed to truly and fully explore
what really excites them uninterrupted.
My daughter is brilliantly confident and full of joy.
She makes her own choices and she advocates for herself.
She's five by the way.
She is able to compromise while playing with her friends.
She allows herself space when she is feeling shy
or overwhelmed.
All of this is self-led.
I owe so much of her confidence to her time at talks
and the teachers and the director
and the other parents there.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We need to spend more time.
I think we need to start.
And I think we'll end.
I thought that it will be a good experience.
Thank you.
Good evening, Mayor and City Council.
My name is Yuleka Godinez.
And I am the parent of Alexander who's
standing right here with me.
He's a recent TOPS graduate.
I'm also a current Alumni resident.
Alexander attended TOPS for three years.
When we were looking for a preschool,
one of the things that immediately drew us to TOPS,
as many have shared, is that outdoor environment.
It didn't feel like a typical playground.
It felt like a place where children could explore,
imagine, learn, and connect with nature.
Over those three years,
that space has become a huge part of my son's childhood.
His next school, he asks, will it look like TOPS?
And very few places do look like TOPS.
But he talks about that play yard often
and the freedom he experienced there.
These memories are part of what makes tops so special.
I also have a 16 month old daughter
and I hope that she will have the opportunity
to experience the same environment
that meant so much to her brother.
When I asked Alexander if he wanted to share something,
he said, can you please let them know
that that hillside is super important
and I want my sister to play there.
that's why I'm concerned about the impact
of the Vista Verde development on TOPS.
I support the goal of creating housing.
Communities need both housing,
but we also need high quality
early childhood development centers like TOPS.
And I believe we can have both.
What I'm asking is that the city recognize
that TOPS is not a simple neighboring property.
It is an institution that has served
around the families for generations
and is part of the fabric of this community.
outdoor space being affected is not just open land,
it's an active classroom where children spend
the majority of their day learning, playing and growing.
I hope the city will ensure meaningful protections
for the children at tops.
I would ask the city to ensure
that there are appropriate safeguards,
including air quality and noise monitoring,
careful traffic management during drop-off and pickup times,
and ongoing communication with school leadership
throughout the construction.
Most importantly, I hope that the city ensures
that TOPS has a meaningful seat at the table moving forward.
An institution that has served Arinda families
for nearly 90 years deserves to be treated as a partner
in decisions that directly affect its children,
families, and educational environment.
So thank you for your time and for service to our community.
you. Marcella is next and after that Erin Daly please. Hi my name is Marcella LaRosa-Wilson. I
apologize for my handwriting. I am a TOPS parent. I serve on the executive board as the VP of
community. I have two sons, one who is currently at TOPS. He will be going there for his third year
instead of going to TK. We specifically are choosing to keep him at TOPS because of the
environment and because of the community that TOPS has. I hope to keep or I hope to have our 18
month old also join TOPS if it is still existing after this project. I am not against the affordable
housing. As many people have said, I also support it. Orinda needs it. What we are asking, what I am
asking is for the safety and for the privacy of our children. I am a former
teacher who studied play-based learning and I've got a graduate thesis on that
and that was part of the reason why we chose TOPS because the play-based
learning is so integral into the into the whole TOPS environment. That
hillside is where my child spends most of his day in his rain boots and
underwear. He is there pretending to be so many different animals and sometimes
Pokemon or Godzilla. He is there looking for bugs and he is there just enjoying
his preschool time. He's enjoying the time being a young child and being able
to be creative and imaginative and to lose that hillside and lose that
gazebo and lose that those redwoods where he is learning to enjoy music and learning
about instruments would be so, so saddening for him and for us as Arinda community members.
And I just ask that the City Council will consider privacy screens or reassess the project
to help protect the privacy and safety of our children.
I ask for some air quality control,
and as many people have also said, not just a device,
but for there to be somebody or something that is there
that is not part of the project specifically.
That way they are not being financially,
So sorry I'm getting out very flustered from being up here.
Anyway, that is all.
Many people have already spoken on the other points.
Thank you so much for your time.
Thank you very much.
Erin Daly is next.
And after that, Claire Peterson, please.
Good evening, Mayor Iverson and City Council members.
My name is Erin Daly and I serve as a Vice President
of Finance for TOPS Preschool.
I am here tonight because of financial concerns
of the Vista Verde Project are no longer hypothetical.
They're already occurring, and if left unaddressed,
could threaten the future of one
of Arrinda's longest standing community institutions.
We employ 13 teachers and staff,
and have historically enrolled more than 70 students.
Today, we have 53.
Before construction has even begun,
we have already lost approximately 10 prospective students,
or prospective families, and three returning families
directly because of the concerns surrounding this project,
and the anticipated impacts.
As a board member responsible for overseeing
the financial health of the school,
I can tell you this trend is alarming.
Based on our tuition structure,
the loss of those families represent approximately
65,000 to 130,000 in annual revenue.
That impact is occurring before construction has even begun.
If enrollment continues to decline
over the next two to three years,
those losses will compound and place increasing pressure
on the school's ability to operate.
TOPS is a not-profit organization.
We have begun, we have been financially responsible
and have built reserves over many years.
However, those reserves exist
to protect the long-term stability of the school,
not to subsidize reoccurring operating losses
caused by a neighboring construction project.
The reality is straightforward.
Our financial model depends on enrollment.
Every family that decides not to enroll
because of concerns of years of construction activity,
safety risks, access disruptions,
noise, air quality concerns,
or the loss of outdoor learning space,
directly impacts our ability to operate.
Parents are already deciding that the uncertainty
is too great.
I want to be clear about what is at stake.
This is not merely an inconvenience for tops.
This is not a temporary disruption.
This is an existential threat to the preschool
that has served the render of children for decades.
Once a nonprofit school enters a cycle
of declining enrollment, the effects compound quickly.
Fewer students lead to reduced revenue,
reduced revenue puts pressure on staffing and programs.
Those pressures make it harder to attract new families.
By the time the financial statements
clearly show the full extent of the problem,
it's often too late to resolve it.
The city has both the authority and the responsibility
to ensure that this project does not
unintentionally destroy a community institution.
Tonight, we are asking for your leadership.
We are asking for a pause, a reevaluation,
and a genuine effort to identify alternatives
and or mitigations to this project for both objectives.
The financial impacts are already measurable.
The enrollment losses are already real.
The warning signs are already here.
The reality is the decision made today
will impact the future of TOPS.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Claire Peterson is next, and after that, Molly McFadden.
Hello, Mayor Iverson and City Council members.
I came here tonight to support my friend Kristin,
But I want to share with you a little bit about why I did that.
Years ago, I was at the Arinda Park,
and I was pushing my daughter on this swing.
And these lovely ladies next to me
asked me if I was on a preschool waiting list.
And I said, what, preschool waiting list?
I didn't know I needed to do that.
Well, that conversation led to me being introduced to TOPS,
where both of my children attended.
and I had the opportunity to learn
how to be an early childhood educator there.
I've served the Arinda community in that role
at TOPS for a decade,
followed by nearly a decade of being the director
at St. Mark's Nursery School,
which unfortunately closed in 2023.
I then moved my staff and a lot of my children
over to Holy Shepherd Community Preschool,
where we continue to work hard to maintain spots
for children to have care in Orinda.
As you all know, our industry,
the industry of early childhood education
and childcare is in crisis.
It's in crisis not only in poor communities
throughout our nation, but right here in Orinda.
We don't have the spots that we need
and to lose an additional 70 spots of care
for Arinda families would be truly devastating.
I think you understand the problem,
and I hope that you have the opportunity
to consider some solutions.
As you consider those solutions,
I would like to share a couple of nuggets
of information with you.
Things that I've learned throughout my career
as a director of early childhood education
in Arinda. If I want to make a simple change to my program, which I did recently by opening
new classrooms, that process took me a year and a half to change the physical space and
to get the physical space approved. That's the process of permitting, plus the process
of making a change through community care licensing, which is the Department of Social
Services that governs licensed childcare and licensed preschools in Arenda. In addition,
to make just an additional age group, in my program, it took me 9 to 12 months. So as
you consider the problem before you, I hope that you add that negative information to
possible solutions and understand how important it is for us to maintain this amazing organization
and what you might be asking of them if you ask them to change. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Molly McFadden is our last speaker. After that we don't have any more speaker cards
so if anybody at this point would still like to speak please just come and stand in line.
Hi there my name is Molly McFadden and I'm both a former top student and a proud tops parent.
My two daughters attended the program as well.
I'm here tonight to speak to something
that I've heard people talk about again and again tonight,
which is the word magic.
I'd like to use it one more time
because I don't think there's a better one
to describe TOPS specifically,
the outdoor classroom as being magical.
My daughters still talk about the TOPS playground
at least once a week.
I'm not kidding.
They talk about how they felt free there.
like their playgrounds at Rangar Ranch but they really wish they could still play at the tops
playground. They liked that they could be messy and be creative and be themselves and they also
look at their tops yearbooks almost every week, sometimes multiple times a week because those
memories clearly made an impact on them and still live deep within them and I understand why even
even when I visited TOPS for the first time after being away from Miranda for 30 years,
I came around the corner and looked into the outdoor classroom through the gate and I felt
that same kind of spark and magic that I felt as a child. TOPS is one of my most treasured
memories of growing up here. For the past four years I've worked at Sleepy Hollow Elementary
School and I do notice that children who come from TOPS consistently stand out as being
imaginative and creative, or among the most imaginative and creative and self-directed.
And I think a lot of that comes from being in that outdoor classroom.
And it isn't just the children that I noticed that I'm a parent of my kids go to Wagner
Ranch and TOPS parents are reliably the ones that show up to volunteer in the classrooms
on field trips on school events.
and so it just shows that TOPS really not only cultivates engaged kids, but also engaged
parents and families.
And I just want to ask that you hold this legacy carefully as you consider the impacts
of this construction on the outdoor classroom.
And it's really sacred for a lot of people.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Before we close the public forum, I will ask if anybody else wants to speak on either the
the top's matter or any matter
that is not on tonight's agenda.
Seeing none, we will close the public forum.
I would just comment that 31 speakers,
nobody went over time
and everybody was incredibly respectful.
So for those few people remaining,
thank you for a really respectful and thoughtful process
tonight, appreciate everybody's time.
And with that,
we are going to move on to the next item on the agenda,
which is council reports.
I think we'll just kind of go down.
I'm gonna cold call this way to Council Member Riley
to see what anybody would like to report from meetings.
Mayor, just for the benefit of the public that's here,
just to clarify that because an item is not agendized,
none of us can comment.
And so I just wanted folks in the room to know that.
Thank you, yes, I would reiterate,
we're not allowed to comment on anything,
but we have heard all of your great comments, thank you.
Yeah, I appreciate that.
Council Member Riley anything to report?
Shifting gears seems a little difficult.
It does.
Recently I attended a John Muir Trust kind of focus group
that collected a bunch of Rindy Garden Club members
and it was very informative and maybe you've all done it
but it's a good experience if you haven't
and they said that they'd be very interested
in coming back in the fall
when things are a little bit more solidified
and coming to see us and keeping us in the loop
as they develop their plans.
This morning I did the webinar on the municipal finance
and I hope you all look forward to this experience.
I thought it would be really timely for our budget tonight.
And tomorrow I'm looking forward to a tour
with Parks and Rec of all the facilities.
you show off on getting your continuing education done.
Yeah.
Vice Mayor G, we want to...
Yes, I'd just like to let all of you know
that here over the next few weeks,
I'm going to be distributing connection.
I'm looking at my transportation friends there in the front
and I'm looking at my colleagues here
and the city manager and leadership.
We have an opportunity over the course of this summer
for the community to provide input
to Contra Costa Transportation Authority
just in terms of anything and everything
that they care about regarding transportation.
Completely open, completely, it can be done
either through the website questionnaire,
it can be sent in as a voicemail,
it can be sent in as a video.
So anything that people would like to share,
it's very open-ended.
It is definitely a massive listening session
with the entire, all the communities in the county.
So I will have cards that I'm going to get to all of you.
I'm gonna share it with the city manager
for the city publications.
I'm gonna share it with the public works staff.
I'm gonna encourage the staff to participate
and encourage all of our citizens
as much as possible to participate.
It's short and easy.
It's as much as you wanna make it.
You can write for hours or you can just say
you would like to have sidewalks on Ivy Drive.
It doesn't matter.
It's just that we wanna hear anything and everything
that people care about regarding transportation.
Was there anything else, Vice Mayor?
Okay, great.
Let's go to Council Member Malcani,
we'll just go all the way.
I also attended that very informative
municipal finance webinar and thought the same thing,
but it was a very timely day.
So did learn a couple things actually.
And I also on Friday attended the window chamber,
had a mixer at fourth bore, which was great.
And then went from there to the Siesta Valley Bowl.
And I was, I went to both the prior weekend
and this last Friday at Siesta Valley Bowl.
and I'm really excited for all they have to offer.
The entertainer, the musical performer
was Jonathan Richmond, who I was not familiar with going in,
but has definitely a very unique act,
if you don't know them, but they have a whole lineup
and I'm hearing a lot of buzz and really excited.
You know, I think the community is really excited
about this new music venue that we have.
And then there was also Meals on Wheels,
Contra Costa County had a gala on Saturday night
that I went to, which I think was really underscored
the importance of food insecurity in our county,
especially with county measure, text measure not passing.
So something to support.
Council Member Huxley.
I can't remember the timing but I did attend the Lamorinda Spirit Van 20th anniversary
party and presented the proclamation on behalf of the City of Orinda thanking the Spirit
Van for all the work they do transporting seniors who live in their homes to doctors
appointments and other appointments.
That was great.
I also delivered the proclamation to Terry Eubanks who is retiring after many years of
service as a public speaking and debate teacher at a Rind Intermediate School and they had a
lovely send off for her celebrating her retirement. That was lovely. There was a great Chamber of
Council meeting, Chamber of Commerce meeting that I attended via Zoom working to help anything we
can do as a city to bolster the efforts of our Chamber of Commerce and the work to continue to
to improve downtown and that will be, you know,
on our agenda later today as well.
And I think those were the main things I wanted to mention.
But, oh, and as I mentioned earlier,
we need a family to host our new student from Tabor
and we need everyone's help trying to think of
who that family could be.
It's really fun.
It's not hard work.
It's not a burden.
It's really fun to have that person
as part of your family and to share
how we do things in Arunda in the United States
with the student.
These kids are so amazing.
They're selected because of their incredible ability
to communicate and their independence
and they're well beyond their years in sort of maturity.
So if anyone can help me think of a family
that would be a great family to host,
that would be great because I really would be sad
to see this program come to an end.
My family has hosted three different times
and it's been wonderful,
but it's really best if someone has a child at Maramani
so that they could at least go to school together
and makes just the logistics much easier.
So if anyone can think of a family,
that would be a huge help.
So thank you.
Thank you, and an extra thank you for hosting three times.
That's pretty incredible.
I don't know if we thank you enough for doing that.
It's awesome.
Just very quick things.
I didn't say anything at our last meeting
about Memorial Day, which was the major holiday
since we last met, but obviously a great celebration
and also a serious one where we acknowledge those
that gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
We've talked about Pride Month when we did the proclamation,
but that was a fabulous celebration and flag raising.
Also a combination of a little Solomon,
a little celebrating.
I did an Eagle Scout ceremony on May 30th
where we had six new Eagle Scouts from troop 237.
And May 31st through June 5th was the day in Orinda
for each of those individuals, it was very happy.
And then a quick announcement that I forgot last time,
Friends of Nature area has actually rehomed at Siesta Valley.
So as you know, the nonprofit there has an educational
mission as part of their charter.
And so the Friends of the Nature area
is actually doing educational programming,
moving all their storage stuff.
So it was a really happy new home for them
to continue their mission.
And then at the mayor's meeting,
I guess it was about a week ago,
White Pony Express did a really wonderful presentation
about food insecurity and all of the ways
that you can create a win-win-win
with any of our restaurant partners, our markets,
anybody who might have surplus food,
they will get the food to people who need it.
And it's just a fabulous resource.
It helps the environment and it helps people.
So a great reminder to try to keep our eyes open
for that matchmaking where we can.
With that, unless anybody remembered any last points,
we'll turn that over to the city manager for her reports.
Honorable Mayor, members of the city council,
just a couple of quick items
given that we wanna get into the meat of the meeting here.
We have a red flag day warning that has been posted
from the National Weather Service.
It starts tomorrow evening at 11 p.m.
For our residents we've been trying to push out information
about that and it will last until 9 a.m. the next morning.
It's always scarier when it happens
in the middle of the night.
So I would just advise members of the community
to keep your phones off sleep mode for one night
if you wouldn't mind.
Thursday nights in Orinda will kick off this week
with a movie in the park, The Lion King,
and the food trucks will be back.
I would be remiss if I didn't plug How Arrenda Works.
The Citizens Academy is now accepting signups
and it's available on the city's website.
So if you're interested in participating
in How Arrenda Works, we'd love to have you.
It'll start at the middle of August.
We also have been approached about hosting a watch party
this Friday for the soccer match
between the USA and Paraguay.
And so we are opening up the founder's room
case members of the community want to come watch together. It's a BYO, bring your own food, bring
your own beverage, non-alcoholic. So we'd love to have members of the community come together and
join in that really great celebration that happens once every four years, which I cannot name without
violating trademark rules. Okay, focus groups for wildfire preparedness will occur next week on June
If people are interested in participating in those focus groups, you can visit our website
and find out information about how you can join in.
And we also want to just remind residents that we've changed our notification process
for meetings, and that has changed.
So if you have previously subscribed to receive meeting notices, please go to our website
and resubscribe for the new system.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Yes, please.
please. City Manager, are dogs allowed at Thursday in the park activities if they're on a leash? I
think if on leash, yes. Thank you. Thank you. Before we move on, I just want to see if there are any
other council member comments or questions or anyone from the public who'd like to speak on those
various reports. Seeing none, we'll keep moving into the consent calendar. We now have items H1
through H7 to vote on as a single item unless someone would like to pull something for their
discussion. I move we approve the consent calendar. Do we have a second? I'll second it.
Sherry you got it. Did you pick one? Thank you. All in favor? Aye. Thank you. With that we have
unanimously approved consent calendar H1 through H7 and now we will move on to policy matter
project is the project J1.
That's a discussion and update
on the Ladras software for
evacuation and wildfire
modeling.
The mayor and members of the
city council will kick us off
on this one tonight and then
I'll set up Leo for his
presentation, but this was an
opportunity for the city
council to have a more detailed
discussion regarding the
Ladras software, the program
that we've been using over the
last year.
That has been, actually not all
of the last years, it's been
less than a year since August
when we kicked off the project.
and that was as a result of the settlement agreement with OC. The city staff is recommending
we continue the arrangement with Ladras for at least two more years and we wanted to talk with
council about what the value that we believe we are getting from the services and the software
provided by Ladras and opened up to questions and discussions with Leo about working together more
collaboratively over the next couple of years. So with that I will turn it over to Leo for his
presentation. Thank you city manager. Excuse me, I'm a little dry. My voice is a little dry.
Let me know if you can't hear me. Okay. Honorable Mayor, Vice Mayor and Council Members, thank you
for having me here tonight. It's our honor to be here with you. For those of you, you know,
listening in who don't know me, my name is Leo Zliem and I'm the CEO of Ladris Technologies.
to be able to provide wildfire evacuation modeling to the city.
And to numerous communities across the American West and the United States.
And I wanna say just kind of jumping off of some of the city manager's remarks.
We're exceptionally proud of the work that you guys have done, you all have done here.
It's unusual in the best possible way to see a city so
is so transparent and so forward really about both the risks and the solutions when it comes
to wildfire evacuations and it's incredible to see. We are truly, truly proud of the work
we've been able to do with you and your approach to handling this problem so proactively. It's
remarkable. What I'd like to do today is focus primarily on a little bit of a behind the
the scenes, look at how Ladras runs its business and try to answer, you know, any questions
you may have and is kind of open a dialogue as I possibly can on the record of course.
Yeah, as a private company there may be some things we can't share but I'll do my best
to be as open and detailed with you as possible and as specific as possible too.
So with that, if you just turn your attention to the screen here, let's see if I can get
this clicker to work? Yes. All right. So Ladras is often thought of as a software company,
and it's true. Software is an enormous part of everything we do. But really, what we are
is a risk management business, and our primary directive is to help communities first measure
their risk objectively and then lower it. We do that really through four services. Software
is one of the four ways that we do this, but also better data, the best possible people
and of course these days also AI. And really for this presentation I want to focus in particular
on the people that make all this possible as an augmentation to city staff and as a
resource for city staff as we work through these incredibly nuanced and complicated frankly
decisions when it comes to evacuations and wildfire decision making strategy and all
the financial implications of those decisions. So with that, and I will definitely take questions
I like this to be a discussion. There'll be a couple points where we pause and we can,
you know, we can discuss and then continue. So across these four areas through which we
provide service, we have different capacity levels. So we're structured as a subscription
based revenue stream for the business,
but really it's about capacity, right?
So what we try to do is make sure that every area
is right size to their particular level of risk
with the right amount of data, the right amount of software,
and the right amount of people
augmenting and using those tools
to deliver on the objectives of management,
whatever those may be.
And so across our different levels of service,
Not only do we stratify that out
by the amount of personnel put forward on the project,
but also the level and caliber of those personnel.
We are very fortunate to be able to retain on staff
some of the best of the best of the fire service,
and we bring them forward for our highest risk
and most involved customers,
depending on their level of service.
So you can see kind of a version of that here broken out.
We have our essential tier,
We have our professionals here.
We have our enterprises here.
And we have our customers here.
Arinder, you're at the enterprise tier today.
That's the level of capacity for the last 10 or so months
you've bought into.
And what this means for us, really,
is that we as the business have the ability to then go and kind
of buy and pre-identify and set aside
that capacity for you in terms of our personnel hours,
if we need to go hire more personnel,
if we need to set aside certain compute resources
for the software simulations and processing.
And it just lets us do our planning in that way
so we can have the supply to meet the demand.
For our customers, what it provides is flexibility,
first and foremost.
So unlike a strictly professional services arrangement,
the scope is quite fluid,
meaning that as new situations come up
and as new questions come up,
that expertise can be deployed very rapidly
to answer those questions.
Often that is the case with simulation and modeling.
You might look at the median breaks, for example,
and then the next question could be,
what is the effect of contraflow with those median breaks?
And what is the effect on schools
if we do the contraflow and the median breaks?
And so being able to really think through
all the different analyses that we might need to do,
and then be able to train law enforcement
or fire partners on what those tactics mean
in a flexible way is part of the level of service
that you guys receive,
and that we're really, again, honored to provide.
Going to the next slide here.
So just putting it slightly differently.
Beyond software, although that is a really key part
of the value, there's also expert services.
So we bring our former senior fire chief personnel,
law enforcement personnel, and in-house domain experts
in emergency management to bear up to 250 hours,
all included, we don't build by the hour,
that's all part of the service level that you get
for training for support beyond the implementation phase
and ongoing through the contract.
And what that also is, is it's a capacity augmentation.
So if you were to run these models and work through them
as an example, like pairing and publishing
like the 100 plus wildfire simulations to the public,
that is a process where every single model
of the 100 plus that is published
is hand checked one at a time
to make sure that they're as bulletproof as possible,
that we've looked through all the assumptions.
For example, every single model,
is the fire start reasonable?
Is the direction reasonable?
What is the wind doing?
Does it hit the community at the time that we expect it to?
Did we start the evacuation at the right time?
Should we recommend to city staff
that that be started earlier?
Does the story fit together basically?
And that level of hand review is something
that is not limited to the public simulations.
you have to basically do this any time you run a scientific model of any kind.
You're really looking at interpreting those outputs and we trained city staff
to do this and I've done that successfully.
I would say with the city traffic engineering department and law enforcement
and others, but there's always more work to be done.
And sometimes it's more efficient for expert services to kind of handle that as
part of the contract.
And certainly we've done that for the last year and I'll get into details in
terms of how much capacity is used and all that.
The other thing I wanna highlight is the roadmap priority,
which is significant as a software company.
So as a software business,
you have a finite amount of engineering resources
and you always have to make decisions
about what gets built when.
So across our customer base of more than 100 agencies,
we get a lot of input from people
about what changes they wanna see,
what enhancements they'd like to see.
And the nice thing about software is, as you know,
changes to the product for one customer
benefit all of our customers.
And many of our customers have very different configurations
of products, right?
We do flood modeling in addition to fire and evac.
We do intensive fuel load treatment simulations.
We work with homelessness situations over in San Jose.
There's a lot of different models and simulations
and data that we have.
And we have to make trade-offs every time we look
at our roadmap and say, what are we gonna build right now?
You know, what are we gonna build first?
And so as these requests come in,
maybe it's from community members, maybe it's from staff,
having your account at the enterprise tier
allows us to assign the second highest level of priority
to that second only to custom.
There is only a handful of our accounts
that reach the custom tier.
It's extremely unusual.
You'd have to have a very unique circumstance
for us to recommend that.
But it lets us prioritize the work
and it lets us ensure really that your needs come first
even within that range of the possible things
we could be building.
Going to the next page here.
So again, looking at what have we done with that this year.
So against 250 service hours of expert support and really
laterist personnel time, Arinda is currently
for the current contract year, 488 hours.
We don't bill for overages.
It's a soft cap.
So the way we do this is we try to right size the risk going
in.
We try to guesstimate it correctly
when we start the contract.
And if we're off on that, that's glad we just eats that.
That's not something that we put on our customers.
Partially because we believe in what everybody's doing
with this stuff.
It's fundamentally potentially unethical for us to say,
sorry, you can't keep analyzing
a wildfire evacuation situation, you need to stop.
We wouldn't do that.
But we do try to make sure our costs line up
at the same time.
So to be clear, you're absolutely using
the expert services allotted and then some similarly with simulations. You guys are more
than twice over the cap of the simulations run. This is great again. It's all really
good because it means you're using the capacity that you've purchased and on our ends. That's
something we want to support going to the next slide here. I think this is really just
a recap actually the previous slide, but just again, framing it in terms of the limits and
And raising that for council's consideration, you know, in future years beyond this next two year term, you may say, hey, you know, we've done our analysis, we feel good about what we've learned.
And it looks like we won't have as many projects during, you know, fiscal, whatever it may be. And in those years, you have the option to dial it back, right? So you can keep those structures in place, but you don't need as much capacity, you don't need as much support.
And there are mechanisms for that, right? And that's how our contracting model works. And you can see some of those limits right here.
We've talked a little bit about the kind of direct cost of supporting the contract and what I'd like to do is a deep dive briefly into our direct costs and our operating expenses as it relates to Orinda in particular.
It's not particularly technical, but it's late. Forgive me, I may occasionally fumble it somewhat. So if there's any clarifications or questions, just ask.
But basically, fundamentally the way this is set up is you have, you know, every contract has certain direct costs of supporting that contract.
This is basically our gross margin. So that would be, in our case, as follows for Renda.
There is a cost in particular of data. There is a cost in particular of people.
And there's a cost of what I would call infrastructure, which is primarily hosting,
but also has a number of highly specific cybersecurity requirements and so forth that go underneath that,
which at times are specific to every account.
And again, all of these are benchmarked to our tiers.
So at lower tiers, we have lower costs.
This helps us stay above water, at least on a gross margin
basis on every account.
So in Arinda's case, this is what the costs look like specific
to this account annually.
Obviously, at the enterprise level,
that is a positive gross margin.
However, you then have operating expenses
to take into account.
So that last little partner R&D there,
that is really operating expenses,
OPEX that falls below the gross margin
and goes into our operating margin.
That for Arinda looks like this.
There's a lot of fours in this presentation,
completely coincidental, but that number is 440.
So we have spent in engineering time over the contract
directly attributable to feature requests from Arinda,
$440,000 on operating R&D expenses
investing in the platform, making it better.
Now we're happy to do this, obviously, right?
It does make it better for all of our customers.
Same with requests we get from other accounts
that directly improve it for Arenda,
and we attribute that operating cost to them.
However, I kind of bring us back
to what I talked about earlier on,
where we chose to build those first
because you're at the high tier of support,
because you're at that enterprise tier.
We're going to prioritize those feature requests for you
because that's part of what you're paying for
is that priority.
You know you're gonna get the best service,
the best features in that order.
So some examples of specifically what has been built,
obviously Embercasting delivered for Orinda.
Yes, have we been working on it before?
Of course.
Did we dramatically accelerate its delivery
for Orinda? Absolutely.
Pairing the public edition fire sims
with the evacuation sims and refining that process.
We received a lot of community member feedback
about, you know, we want to be able to find our Sims differently or go back and view it
differently or change how the interface looks for that. And we went through a, you know,
a work shopping process where we shipped those improvements over the course of really a pretty
short time. Um, I think maybe eight weeks. Um, we also changed some of the components
of our evacuation timing to look at really precise 10 minute warning windows. This was
because there were certain scenarios we looked at with staff where essentially if you don't
call the evacuation order right away it's it's just not a very feasible
situation so we needed more granular controls to be able to see that we
built those in specifically for this account obviously it benefits everybody
but that was something we did as well and then of course the ros which is
remotely operated weather station operated doesn't start with an A but
remote weather stations in there that is basically specific weather data that is
So the first thing we want to
do is a real time and current
to your current location here.
We did a long assessment with
the fire chief with our internal
forward ops domain experts and
with our machine learning staff
to integrate all of that in.
It's now available for you in
real time in the system.
Tremendous enhancement. And
that's who I believe was a
request. I'm forgetting exactly
from who but it was a request
that came from a random
So essentially what this comes out to is we part of what makes us, I think such a great
partnership is that we are reinvesting and then some every dollar of the contract really
back into R&D that makes the service you get and the outcomes you get much better for everybody.
And that's something we do across all of our accounts.
Obviously we couldn't do it for everybody or we'd be completely underwater, but we can
do it for our best customers and we can do it for a lot of the market at a time.
of course we have you know we've great investors and all that kind of stuff
that helps us you know do that at scale looking ahead and I'm happy to go back
and you know answer any questions on the previous slides as well but I just want
to talk a little bit about okay that's what we've done that's the usage we've
been at are we going to continue that usage what can we expect in terms of
capacity for the next two years right and so my understanding and you know I
to do that. And so one of the
things that I encourage city
management to correct me or
anybody correct me if I'm off
on this is that there's a
minimum for big projects that
we want to look at over the
next two years. And basically
they are first off contraflow
analysis. We have looked at
contraflow together over the
last year to a certain degree
but a much more detailed level
to a tactical strategy that we can verify will work
with our law enforcement partners
with the limited traffic control resources we have,
all of those types of considerations.
So we're gonna have to take a really close look at that.
ContraFlow is an incredibly effective tool.
It has saved many, many, many people
in a wildfire evacuation,
but it requires precise execution,
super precise planning and execution to pull off.
And we have to do that work.
The second is red flag day street planning.
So there are obviously trade-offs involved
when we limit street parking.
You wanna be sure that we're doing that
only when it's completely necessary
and in the places that it's completely necessary.
And that is a fine-grained analysis
that will take time with city staff
and obviously with input from traffic engineering
and public works to do.
The third is protecting our elderly communities and schools,
which is always top of mind.
But in particular, we have to understand
If we know the parents are gonna be coming in
to pick up kids from schools,
how exactly are we going to make sure
that we can get everybody out in those types of situations,
including situations where, for example,
maybe on red flag days, we actually might need to change
how we operate with the school system a little bit,
let class out early or cancel it or whatever you may need
to do, these are big thorny, hairy questions
And we'll take a lot of time and computing power, frankly,
to figure these things out.
And that's what we intend to do.
That has been our goal with the city for some time,
and we're looking closely at that.
And finally, the emergency vehicle access.
So I think that's been brought up in other contexts,
but we would like to make sure that we have those down.
We need to continue to be in compliance with AB 747
and California 99, which relate to the safety element
the requirements from California to focus on wildfire evacuation planning for communities with
not more than two ways out. I believe it is. And so that is also work that we've started
that we think we can complete here in the next two years. And, you know, there's probably other
projects, but these, I think, are what come to mind for me. And the outcome of this is a community
that not only has a very defensible plan for how we're going to handle all these situations, which
which I think we have a pretty good outline of
as a result of the last year,
but tactically has proven that we can execute on this
or as best as we possibly can shown
that we are within the margin for error
on executing on this effectively.
And there's just more work to be done.
Finally, and all of this, by the way,
is a risk management one-on-one exercise, right?
By doing this analysis, by doing this disclosure,
by being public record,
we're shifting the risk and saying,
hey, we've informed everybody that this is a problem,
here's what you can do about it.
And if you do this, it'll lower your risk, right?
And that's, we do that in finance,
we do that in cybersecurity.
I always like to say, you know,
we should be doing the same thing here
at wildfire evacuation, it's so important.
Then finally, and just in conclusion,
before we take questions, comments, discussion,
again, you all should be commended and respected
for the work that you're doing in this space.
really does lead even the American West and many of the accounts we work with, some of
whom run literally hundreds of simulations a day, Burinda is doing an amazing job at
educating the community on being really transparent. And even for communities, you know, that that
are running hundreds or even thousands of simulations a day or a week, not all of them
are sharing it like you are, and that's amazingly consequential. I cannot emphasize enough how
consequential that is. So thank you again for the opportunity to work with you, and we appreciate
everything that we've been able to do together over the last roughly 10 months, and I'm happy
to take any questions, comments, discussion that there are. Thank you. I might, because I don't
see a lot of members from the public here, just see if we've got public comment, because I feel like
this normally I would sort of do questions, public comment, discussion but
I feel like this is gonna be a little bit more of a dialogue and so I see Jed
Hammond and Jed do you want to wait until we've done a bunch of questions and
then come up or would you like to come up and speak now? Yeah why don't you come on up now because I feel like the
questions and comment is all gonna be one big thing so please come on up we'd
love to hear from you and then Lee we'll have you come back for a little bit more
or have a discourse?
I'm Judd Hammond.
I'm a citizen of Irina
and I've been concerned about wildfire risk mitigation
for quite some time.
When I first heard about the Lazarus proposal,
my reaction was this seems like an enormous potential
to be able to help us solve a lot of problems
and address a lot of issues.
but for me, the biggest question
that we're still struggling with is,
what can we do to reduce the risk
that potential wildfires present
for the loss of property and the loss of life in Orinda?
And I'm really glad that I got to listen to your presentation.
You actually, I won't listen to one of your early presentations
before we had a concert, okay, a contract at all.
And one thing that I have seen that maybe answers
why I'm not completely satisfied with the results
is that it seems clear the focus is
just on how we get people out, which it's absolutely key.
No question about that.
But I'm not seeing any effort to approach the question
of how do we reduce the total overall risk
to Orinda in the event of a wildfire.
When I look at the models that were done,
it seems to me that the shape
of the wildfire front propagation has some areas
where I'm not convinced they look right.
And I can get into the details
and I've sent you an email with some of those
and I'd be glad to talk about them at some time
that this is probably not the right time.
And so I'm not sure that their model is correct.
Having said that, however,
if the model is capable of doing a continuous update
based on observed propagation of the wildfire,
then if there's some errors about long-term propagation
in the model, any errors that are in the model
will rapidly be corrected
as additional information comes in
as to where the fire is actually going.
So I'm still optimistic about the Lazarus model
being able to really help us with evacuation.
I'm not convinced that to help us
in the way that I would like,
about focusing on, for example,
where should we be focusing our fuels reductions?
This is a key question
that we haven't really addressed.
And perhaps there's a different model
that might help us better with that.
Or perhaps that's something that ladders can help us with
and it's just not something that you've tried to address.
I think that's my three minutes
and I think I've hit my main points.
I'm glad to stay around if there's any value
in my doing that.
Please do stick around
even though you've done your public comment,
your role as part of our SSTOC and our key communicators. I really appreciate you being
part of listening and learning and follow-ups. Okay, thanks. So yeah, if you want to come up and
please fire when ready everybody who would like to lead us off. Questions?
One of the other questions that actually Judd has raised also which came in a comment to me and so
it didn't get circulated because it was sent by personal email till later so I wanted to share it
with you all which was and I wasn't able to answer this but maybe I'm hoping you can I thought it was
it's a great opportunity.
Thank you, first of all, for a great presentation.
But was, is Ladras able currently to update the model
in near real time with actual data
on fire front locations over time
to help guide evacuations in the event
of an actual fire in our area?
So that in the event of an evacuation,
if the prediction is off, right,
or if the wind changes or, you know, can,
does the model update in real time?
That was one of the questions actually that Jed raised.
I want to give him credit for it,
but I thought I should also get answered.
Yes, so we have a system,
give me where this is a whole public record.
So we have a system that is set to be announced
in probably August timeframe.
that's called prime, which operationalizes
to an unprecedented degree, a lot of this,
including real time reprojections based off perimeter updates
and other current perimeter data and traffic data.
Given the timing of our relationship with the city,
this is not something we brought forward,
but the capabilities are there and on,
at least internally, yes.
That is absolutely something that we can and do do.
It's just really not out there publicly yet, but yes.
Thank you.
And then, I guess also, I don't know if you can address,
we got some public comment.
I don't know if you had an opportunity to see it,
but there were questions about the wildfire modeling, right?
that's okay. And so I don't
know if you want to address any
of that. If I'd be happy to
along the lines. Also the
public comment that we just
heard. Yeah. So I think it
Judd, right? I just wanna make
sure. Okay. Um sorry. I'm kind
of talking about your comments,
but not quite facing you. So
bear with me. Uh, if you don't
want maybe that would be
that we want to do. Um so two
areas that I've heard, and
he's not the only two areas,
but maybe two areas that we
can open the discussion with.
The first is, uh, separating
the focus on how to get out
from how to, uh, defend
property. Um so looking at
that, in particular, we do
have capabilities that are
fire system to put in fuel breaks,
to put in what we call ignition barriers,
which can be either a fuel break or a tactical operation
that slows or removes the spread of the fire in that area
based on the current available fuel data.
That is a capability of the system that has been active
for the majority of the contract.
We have received, the city staff have received training
that. But there is an enormous kind of housekeeping list of things and priorities and it's something
we're still getting to I think in terms of the specific projects that we want to evaluate that
said I believe city management has floated I think at least with us the idea of looking at
you know defensible space and vegetation clearing and looking at how we could apply for grants
on the basis of showing that work and then putting them toward doing the clearing.
is there anything you'd like to comment on that? Or am I off there? I've had multiple conversations over
multiple topics. Yes, one of the things that we want to be able to determine is whether or not
making investments help to help with the evacuation timing. I mean because that's
our primary concern is evacuation timing followed by life safety over property but then property
after that. Yeah. Yeah. So that's for clarification on that same point. What we heard probably
a year ago now is that the fire departments had some totally other software that was about
dynamic fire modeling and how fire spreads. So they were focused on the how fire spreads
question for suppression purposes. And then what Ladras was doing was really what used
to be traffic modeling and is now this very intelligent, sophisticated evacuation planning,
and the two were pretty separate, and which I think you're hearing from all these questions
is, are your two worlds coming together? How should we think about those two questions?
Yeah, that's a really nice way of putting it. So they, over the last year, we have heard
that concern from many places, and we've taken a lot of steps to bring the product experience
together. We've merged all of our disaster planning systems into a single product called
CORE, which does fires, floods and evacuations. And the experience of using that is now one
in which you can see both the life safety impacts and the financial impacts. We have
the ability now to bring in the personal data. So you can see when a fire is spreading with
mitigation without it, how much would have burned had we not suppressed it. That capability
is available as of, I think, three weeks ago in production, very new. But, you know, these
systems are evolving more rapidly than ever. We're assisted, obviously, by tremendous enhancements
since February in the capacity of software companies to develop just across the industry.
So they're definitely coming together. And the system as it stood about a year ago is
probably more suited for evacuation decisions. The system today is, in my opinion, right
up there with the best suppression models that Cal Fire has, which are all ultimately
based on the same fire science and lack, in your case, the five meter data that we've
been able to bring to the table. You've been able to bring this table for these models.
So if anything, they should be a little bit more precise. But essentially what I'm saying
is if the goal of, uh, council and city management is to look closely at, um, the maximal ability
to defend property value, that is something the system has the capability today to do.
We just have to spend time doing that with the team
and really develop the process for,
okay, you know, project comes in, how do we fund it?
How do we approve it?
Putting that infrastructure in place around it.
But yeah, we have the capability to do that today.
There, I think at the risk of talking grabs
a little too much, but I think it's important.
There are still today some fundamental limitations
on fire modeling that we can't answer.
And I want to be very transparent about that.
know our forward ops team would want me to be very transparent about that as well. So
so I will be the big limitation that we have today for fire modeling is remains structure
to structure spread simply for one reason. We don't know what's in everybody's house.
And by that I mean like a full 3D LiDAR scan of every single person's house. If one person
had a tank of gasoline in their garage that we missed completely alters the model of the
to structure to structure spread.
We will get with the five meter data,
a lot of the a crown fire dynamics,
a lot of the vegetation propagation that will occur
between these heavily forested properties.
But we won't be able to say exactly how explosively
a particular house will burn once a fire reaches it
without knowing really everything about what's in that house.
And today nobody does.
No one has the model for that, unfortunately.
That said, there's a lot we can do and model
about how to stop the fire before it reaches the house,
which is of course the goal.
We would like the houses not to burn if we can,
especially on the periphery of the wildland-urban interface.
So yeah, hopefully that's helpful
just in kind of sharing some of those dynamics also.
If I can jump in, I've got five questions
which are pretty much all the same question.
How is Little Orinda such a power user?
It just seems like this is so sophisticated.
The statistics about how much value we got
for our original contract were incredibly impressive
and we love this relationship.
We are so proud of what we're doing together.
But we're this little tiny town,
you know, less than 20,000 people
and how is the rest of the state of California
not side by side with us spending what we're spending,
doing what we're doing, it just doesn't make sense.
I mean, Morada and Lafayette are not in it with us.
I don't understand.
And I think that's one of the biggest things
holding me back from being more supportive
is we don't have the budget.
We're like the little old lady with a leaky roof, right?
It's not that we don't need the new roof, we do,
but we don't have that kind of budget
to do this indefinitely.
And I can't understand when more,
whether it's grants,
whether it's more cities participating,
can anybody help explain this dynamic
and how we're so out over our skis
relative to all of our other IT spending or?
Yeah, I mean, it's a great question.
So maybe what I can do is just share
some of our observations about the nature
of the space in the market
and then zoom in specifically to Arinda.
So I will kind of go back
and just use the analogy one more time.
If somebody gets hacked, we look for the CIO,
Chief Information Officer, and we say,
hey, why do our systems get compromised?
There's a robust risk management system in place for that.
If fraud occurs, we have a CFO.
We've had that, probably one of the first jobs
ever created probably, right?
But if 500 people die in a wildfire,
we're not quite sure how that happened all the time.
And we don't have one person that owns that problem.
We have many, many people that distribute
the risk of that problem between them.
This is an unpopular thing to say,
especially on the public record.
But there are a lot, there are some cities,
and you are among them in many counties,
that have decided that it's just not acceptable
to not have an owner of this risk,
and are willing to invest what is initially
considerable resources and time in writing,
frankly, that wrong because it is these days
one of the biggest risks that we face.
It wasn't when these towns were set up
many, many, many years ago.
And the American system of governance
for the city council system is generally,
you set up the town and you get a police station,
you get a fire department, and you get going.
And that's the town, right?
There wasn't a consideration of,
and you get a strategic risk management officer
for all of the climate risk and disaster risk
that's going to occur in the future.
Because this just wasn't a problem
when these systems were established
and it's a different world today.
And the reality is that change is slow
and very difficult and it takes time.
And so different cities and different counties
and different places are coming together
and trying to figure out in real time
who should own this risk
how should we structure the existing systems to be respectful of all the work you know that
law and fire do and in many places they do own that risk right it just depends on on the structure
but it's ultimately a risk management issue that increasingly constituencies are saying
yeah this ranks right up there with the law with finance with it it is like its own problem
disasters are their own problem and unfortunately like the financial and budget structures don't
don't always exist to accommodate that reality.
But there are areas that are essentially brave enough
to make that investment.
And you know, as many as there are,
we wish there were more
and we think there will be considerably more
as the years go on.
And this problem becomes even more apparent
to even more places.
As for specifically, you know, for Rinde here,
what I would say is number one, you're not alone.
there are a number of places that invest proportional
to what are in it is investing at different times
in different states perhaps, but you're not alone in this.
There are others that are willing to kind of take up
that mantle and again, I really commend you for doing that.
Even among those, there are few that are as transparent
about it and that's really the point I want to make.
It's like the transparencies is a big differentiator
for your approach and one that we are pushing more
more places to adopt. The other thing that we see happen is over time, um,
like anything, they say disasters begin and end locally, but in the middle they
go up the chain, right? They go to the county and then the state and then in
years past to the Feds. And we'll see kind of how these processes change
over the coming years as kind of those funding processes are adjusted. But I
think that we have an opportunity here over the next couple of years to work
with our partners at the county level or with the other cities to kind of do
that education and do that process building but it will take it will take
that time it will take you know 12 months 24 months whatever it is to work
with those agencies to share and distribute not just the cost but the
time and the training and the resources of investing in a system like this and
it's something that we know can happen because we've seen it happen many times
we've seen it in San Mateo we've seen it in Marin we've seen it in San Luis Obis
but we've seen it work this kind of federated model work and I don't doubt
out that that will occur here as well.
It just has only been nine or 10 months somehow.
I mean, since we started, it is,
we've accomplished a tremendous amount in very short time,
but it takes years to kind of create that budget urgency,
especially in these very trying times.
And again, I just want to say for your city
to so demonstrably invest in the community
and in their safety, it's remarkable.
I mean, that is one of the, I guess,
I suppose advantages you have of being a citizen here
is that your resident here is that you,
you guys are putting your money
where your mouth is on this issue.
And you really have done that in a tremendous way.
So I hope that helps outline frame the question.
A little bit.
Yeah, let me see what other
comments and questions people have.
One of the four points you made
was regarding students and schools and seniors,
both of which are very near and dear to my heart,
we are a community that has a lot of isolated seniors
who live alone in their homes and don't drive.
And some of those homes are in pretty difficult locations.
How can the software help us keep track of,
identify, and come up with solutions
for those folks who really can't get themselves out?
Yeah, so there are two things to solve for
in that problem statement that I heard.
One is identifying who needs the help.
And that is a process that is inevitably very manual.
We do actually have, we have community apps,
we have community resources where people can opt in
and say, hey, I have a functional need.
I need to be given extra care during an evacuation.
We have the ability to provide that service
as a company, as a business.
But even then, you still have to go door to door
and tell people that that's an option,
that they can self-report that, all of those things.
And so the first is setting up a recurring process to do that.
And that's something we have to do in cooperation
and in coordination with city management and law and fire.
The second is, now that we know where they are,
how do we make sure they get out?
That is essentially the problem that the software is more suited to solving, is once you know
who those people are, once they've opted in, which is the problem, by the way, with every
disaster registry system, very few people opt in, then you can work on these specific
strategies like we've been developing with the team to say, okay, this is an extra high
risk building, essentially.
We need to make sure that it has its own resources going to it tactically, and that's working
we're going to have to work
with all the people that are
working with, you know, Chief
Rossi and the others to make
them aware of that. They
probably know where that is.
But are we factoring that into
our plans and tactics and then
surfacing that so, um, you
know, technology, unfortunately,
three part solution, right?
People process technology. Um
and we have, uh, I think a lot
of unique approaches that we're
moving towards with how to
improve disaster registries is
all these are all things we can
put out anonymized information for community residents
where they don't have to put in any personal information,
but can still say, hey, in this location,
there's a functional need.
These are things we're looking at with city management.
I think it's fair to say.
Thank you.
What else, please?
Yeah, the question I have, and thank you so much, Leo.
I mean, there's a lot here to think about
and we are very appreciative.
I guess the question I have is really more,
Linda, for you and the senior leadership,
and that is the two things that I think of
in regards to this is, one, does MOFD and does the fire,
and I appreciate that you have real fire professionals
as part of how you do this, and do they agree with it?
I mean, you've made a few comments
that Chief Isaac seems satisfied.
But I think the key question is, again, for most of us,
you know, this all becomes a bit of a black box, right?
In terms of what it's spinning around and doing.
And I believe in AI, Leo,
I believe it's getting better and better.
And I'm sure that it's full of all kinds of real life data
that you're able to use.
I think for me, the really key question here is,
and I do think it's, I do think it's important.
and I think it's valuable and I'm happy
that we are providing the information to the community.
But quite frankly, I'm more interested in
how is all of this helping our city staff
is our fire and police community on board
with what this is helping to do.
Because again, each individual person
that might wanna type in their address
and play with it and whatever,
may or may not be doing anything particularly helpful.
But what I'm hoping is that it's helpful
to you and the city staff and the police
and do MOFD regarded as something that is of value
because that's what the real crux is
in terms of our community safety.
I mean, we need everybody to be on board
with what they can do individually.
But realistically, at the end of the day,
the people that are going to really direct
and make things happen if you have a real disaster
are gonna be the professional people, right?
That is correct.
I'm really interested in hearing how you think
about those areas and how MOFD and our police chief
and how helpful is all of this to all of you
versus me wanting to sit at home and type in my address.
So I'll take it in a couple of parts.
First of all, I want to thank Chief Isaacs on the record
because Chief Isaacs has given a lot of his time
to helping us with this product
and specifically most recently around Ember Casting.
So when we were, okay, so we geared up at the end of August,
we started training, we started developing out
what these scenarios were going to be.
Leo thought it was crazy.
developed over 100 scenarios you know because we were really dealing with the idea of bringing
together the housing element and new housing and the impact of new housing plus just generally
trying to understand what the evacuation impacts would be for North or into South or into all
these things. And then we did this public outreach piece which we held workshops for the community
and then it was sort of daylighted that wait we're ready for ember casting and so then we
started engaging with the chief on the Ambercasting question and frankly, we brought him into a
conversation and he said, this isn't how it's going to work. He was really candid with us in
our conversations. He said, this is not how it's going to work. And what we really need to focus
on is XYZ. So I went back to Leo and I said, hey, I need the chief to believe in what we're putting
out to the community. And so we went back and we spent considerable amount of times
with the CAL FIRE consulting folks with the CAL FIRE experience, meeting with the chief,
trying to figure out what is the right solution to the fire modeling piece to Judd's point
earlier. There was buy-in from the chief on the decisions. And in fact, he was contributing
to providing the inputs on what we needed to do, which is why that RAAS data is now
incorporated in the system.
And so there was a lot of buy-in from the chief
and he gave a lot of his time.
Chief Rossi has been involved from the very beginning
and looking at evacuation issues,
things that became obvious to us
once we started looking at the information.
Siva has been really involved on the other side of it,
looking at the parcel data.
Do we have all the parcels in here?
Doesn't look like it's showing,
reaching out to the team and trying to figure it out.
At the end of the day, we're looking at things
at a slightly macro level.
But when we added the Ember casting, for example,
I'll just give this example is,
when we looked at Arenda Oaks and we looked at Rheem,
we realized very quickly,
we're not gonna have time to notify people.
And so we need to kind of come up with a better plan,
whether that's field mitigation work,
whether that's how do we operate?
And I think what that's resulting in right now is,
is it next week is the tabletop exercise?
Okay, so next week, there's gonna be a tabletop exercise
between all the various agencies, including police and fire,
and we're going to use the Arenda Oaks example
as part of the tabletop exercise.
I didn't, hopefully I didn't just share too much information
about next week's exercise, but we know now
that it's probably gonna close Moraga Way
and we have to plan for that,
and we have to plan for a quick response.
And so there won't be a lot of time in the field
to make a decision about evacuation.
We know if something happens out there,
we need to start evacuating.
And then the table talk exercise will be about that.
But because of the Ember casting work that we've done,
because of the contributions from Chief Isaacs
on the front end to help build that model
to an effect that we think is appropriate for Orinda,
we're gonna be able to then do some table topping
around that issue this next week.
Which is wonderful.
And then my next follow up sort of question would be,
can we use this information and this modeling,
can we use it to get East Bay MUD
and our state legislators and others to recognize
that we need more mitigation investment
in some of these areas?
I mean, I would love to be able to use it
as a convincing tool as well.
city. Yeah so two things on
that was over about a month
ago. Now we had the meeting
with Senator Grayson and the
wildfire task force meeting
and. Two things I presented
and the senator was there.
Also the assembly member was
there and they all appreciated
the amount of effort and work
that are in days doing and
thinks that that should be
done more globally statewide.
it's not. It's not. I'm
not required to talk about this
more to see if there's more work that can be done. That's not
just a render kind of leading the way. So I'll be taking part
on that call. One of the reasons why I had to move
our time tomorrow to take part and participate and see what I
can do to contribute to that. I've reached out to our
neighbors. I've talked to Chief King in a Moraga. I've talked
East Bay Wildfire Task Force. But we still have questions we want to have answered here in
Arinda. And, you know, because we are moving pretty quickly and swiftly and didn't anticipate
initially the undercasting, we haven't gotten to some of those other questions. We haven't gotten
to the EVA analysis questions. We haven't gotten to the contrafo analysis questions. And these are
all things that we sort of committed to and our safety element that we were going to continue to
look at. And so we just need more, we need the time and the resources in order to do that. And
I think Ladras serves as a good partner for us to help us figure it out. I mean, there was a few,
I mean, we went from 120 scenarios down to 103. And some of that was Brooks and his,
Leo's team Brooks calls me all the time says, we, you know, we don't need all your
detailed scenarios. There was a few that I went a little too far in the weeds. And he says, we,
I think we've got it here, but, you know, we need to we need to look at this evacuation, not at a
the zone level. We need to look at it at a more regional level. So, I mean, they're always looking
at the data and even the assumptions we think we want to make. And they're telling us, well,
maybe you should make different assumptions. So, I want to have that conversation with the region,
too. But we do have some questions here that are very specific to Orinda that we still need to
to answer and I'm hoping that we can continue
to use LADRIS to do that.
One last thing for me and then I'll be quiet
and let my colleagues ask more questions.
Do we have a sense of how many of our residents
have tapped into it as a tool?
I'd have to get back to you on that.
I don't know if you have any capabilities of seeing that.
I think we've been tracking it to some extent
through Orinda Ready.
So one of the big pieces of Orinda Ready
was the ability. This was the featured piece to get people. And in the beginning, we saw a
tremendous amount of interest in Arenda Ready, and I think it has kind of evened out. We just
did the Embercasting just a few weeks ago, so I need to take a look and see what's happened
to interest since then. I mean, we talked about more public forums with maybe the Arenda Association
going forward, and I mean, I don't think this is a topic we should let die, so to speak, and I
I didn't mean that in the worst way.
But, you know, maybe continuing to bring it forward
into the community as to how important it is
for you to really understand these things
would be a good thing to keep in mind
for more public forums.
Question to you again, city manager and maybe Leo too.
Let's say we go forward with this two year contract.
maybe we can reduce services on the fourth year or how much,
I feel like once you get a really good deal,
it's hard to walk away,
you're gonna get used to having all this information.
So I don't know if there's a way to frame it
so we think about how we could wean ourselves,
I mean if it's possible to wean ourselves, I don't know.
I mean, it feels like if it's so valuable
and we're getting so much out of it,
how do we ever say goodbye?
Well, I don't know.
don't know. Um I mean, I'm
asking, Yeah. I mean, that's a
question for the policy
question, right? I mean, at
some point. Are the public
portal? There's two pieces.
One is the public portal piece,
which is the ability for the
public to go on and look at a
scenario and determine. You
know that they're taking in
that information. I mean, we
could turn that into a table
chart at some point, you know,
and just make it available and
over the long term, but right now it was really about education for the public. That was one of
the pieces of this, and that was part of the OC settlement, really. And then there's the other
piece for us, for operationalizing what we need to do and how we need to do it. And we are just
getting into that now, right? We're not fully, we didn't get to all the questions that we need to
answer to address? I don't know. And I've told this to Leo, after two years, if I get all these
answers, maybe I can go down to a lower product, or we can be functioning at a regional level and
can have very basic, you know, capabilities because to some extent, and some of this is
the continuity of staff here. I know that's the other thing. Right. We'll be keeping
written reports of all this information that can be translated to other people, but some of its
it's muscle memory right now I know if something happens over here this is what
we have to do that's what the Chiefs trying to learn the fire chief is
getting some of that as well so we've given him access right I mean we've
given the fire chief better access to use the system I believe he's I believe
he's at least said that he's distributing it to his BC's battalion
Chiefs for their ability to use it yeah so real quickly we're getting close to
our 10 o'clock time I'm gonna suggest a couple things in addition to asking for
the next two days, but I'm
going to take a little time to
take a little five minute
biobrake between this matter
and the next two matters. I
think tonight's going to run
fairly long. I don't know we
need a ton more time on this,
but we're not done yet. And I
would remind people this is
not a vote. This is
directional, but, um, uh, does
anyone have city manager's
suggestion on how much time
you think we should, uh, vote
Thank you. Thank you. Well is
this inclusive of the rest of
the remaining items? Yes it is.
Okay 45 minutes. All right. I
move that we extend the meeting
to up to 10 45. Do I have a
second? I would suggest we do
it tighter and then you can.
Ask for more later. What would
you just go? If she thinks 45
go with 40. Go with 30 means so
that you have so that we really
try to get it done faster. How
second. All right, all in favor? Aye. Aye. And I do promise a bio break between matters. Okay,
back to, back to you. What are the, I'm sorry, was there, we just had a question? Yeah, I had,
I had a question that related a little bit to the the Vice Mayor's questions about
can we, is there capability to, through the modeling and through looking at evacuation
and to show if we reduce,
cause you said we could put in fuel breaks,
we could do things like that.
So one of the questions was how do we,
how do we in the future maybe use this to reduce
the total overall risk of the fuel load
as it relates to evacuation?
Like you were saying,
bring merging this modeling together, right?
And a big concern dating back to,
I don't know, probably 2021,
And so, and this is one of those.
Some of the things that came in which sort of came from former fire
chief Winniker was.
The lack of mitigation,
even if a Brenda does everything we can,
what do we do about the East Bay mud and East Bay parks land? Right?
And so if we can we show with this,
if we were to mitigate that land.
would either reduce fire spread or assist in evacuation efforts
or things like that.
Because that has been one thing that's
always been in the back of my mind,
as Chief Winnicker is saying to us, back in 21,
you know, if the concern of sort of the megafire, really,
that takes us out is a concern that
comes from land that is not Orinda-owned land, right?
And so we have to do everything we can
and we have to impress upon our partners
and help them find funding to do everything they can, right?
And so data, right?
Modeling that helps us show that
could be powerful in terms of getting grants
or in terms of convincing, persuading.
So I'm wondering if you could speak to that
since we have you here.
Yeah, yeah. So we could definitely show if we do a certain fuel treatment,
how much fewer dollars would be lost in a fire. We can show that before and after.
And although it's outside the scope of what we're currently looking at, there are,
we do have access to, to my knowledge, the only available atmospheric fire model,
which is uniquely suited for answering that type of a question, a megafire type scenario,
with atmospherically localized weather, basically. We're just overrides whatever the weather
conditions are because the fire makes its own weather. And we are fortunate to work with Dr.
Cohen, who developed COFFEE, the world's first and best atmospheric coupled fire model,
that we can and do run for customers inside land risk. So, we could look at that pretty closely.
When it comes to would it make it safer for evacuations, you can for sure do that by looking
at the specific heat on the sides of the roads and saying is it odd enough to drive here or not.
The trouble you run into there is that as a utility they'll say life safety is law enforcement's
problem. And so part of the challenge is in general, as you pointed out, it's all
federated. Different people have different pockets of responsibility in different land,
but the problem affects everybody. And as a country, frankly, we're really not set up to
handle problems like that super well. And so, you know, it's a messy people problem,
it relies on having amazing relationships with your counterparts and colleagues.
And we do see that happen. I mean, just shout out to Colorado Springs and El Paso County,
have an amazing, like nationally unprecedented, in my opinion, system for getting all of their
local partners to work together over 80 different partner agencies across government utilities and
and other sectors under one roof.
Super impressive.
There are, you know, and one of the things we can do
is connect this team with those teams, right,
and try to learn from how they're doing that there.
Because it is a new problem
that we're all kind of figuring out in real time.
Not how to model it, we know we can do that,
but how do we compel that change really in a win-win way
between us and our partners?
So that's something we'll have to look at.
But I do think that generally if you look at the ROI
and you look at just the billions in property value,
if we can prevent really any small portion of that
from being lost, that is conceivably a win,
like a big win given just to how many assets
and how much does this take
from a property value perspective.
And I think that long, long term in the future,
depending on the needs and the risk and the projects,
this is why we have a capacity-driven model, right?
is your work and your needs and your priorities shift.
We can scale that down, scale that up
and try to match wherever you are at that time
with whatever administration and staff is there
at that time.
And this is something, we've lived through this
with many of our customers before.
It's very common.
There are kind of periods of time where the risk
is very high and then sometimes it's lower.
Thanks, can I just build on, you just use the term ROI.
And one of the things that I wanted to ask
Director Alessio is, you know, for Arinda,
half a million dollars gets a lot, right?
We mapped all of our private storm drains for $500,000.
Maybe a little more.
A little more.
Um, that's, that was the original budget.
Um, but you know, that was my first question to you.
Was it like, don't just tell me, oh honey,
this is software as a service you have to keep paying.
Right, this is a, this is a lot of capacity.
Our year one was a huge lift.
It should have gone down more.
It's not going down at all.
Help us understand.
The two of you guys I know support this proposal.
How do you think about the return on investment
of the year two and three aspect of what we're considering?
So first of all, I'm not sure exactly what you're asking,
but from my perspective, the risk management
that this helps us address is pretty significant.
So not only am I responsible for your finances,
I'm your risk manager.
And so, you know, the claims that can arise
out of a fire event are amazing.
And so I look at this as a tool
that's gonna help mitigate some of that
and help us perform better.
And I don't know how you measure that financially
until there's a disaster.
So, you know, just like all the money
we're spending on prevention,
it's hard to tell what impact that's gonna have
until there's an event.
So, you know.
I guess that's the question.
Of all the people in the room,
you have the best bead on the trade-offs for every dollar
that we would spend on this contract extension
for two more years at this higher level.
So I'd love to hear just your qualitative assessment
on why you think these are dollars better spent
on ladders for two more years than the other stuff
you could, you know, putting in reserves
or allocating into roads and storm drains.
Is it just the risk management
or do you see an actual return?
So if this can change the way the region looks
I think this is going to be
really important. And I think
if we're looking at the need
for mitigation, I you know,
that's would be invaluable,
right? Is everyone's pointed
out no matter what effort you
might do at your home. If your
neighbors isn't done, what
effort might we might do in a
render if raga and Lafayette
and Oakland aren't doing their
part. So this is a tool that
and it will actually leverage that money and that investment. If we can get the other people on board, and I don't know how you do that without data and without, you know, the visual images that can come out of this product.
Thank you. What are their comments and questions? I didn't mean to jump in so much.
and I think that that's the
things I would be interested
in is, you know, we sort of
laid out the four things that
we felt like we needed to focus
on over the next two years. It
also sounds like the council
wanted to also focus on. More
uh, grant funding and additional, um, fuel mitigation work, some sort of proof of concept
to our surrounding regional agencies to help them. I mean, that wasn't on, I mean, we were
focused, I'm focused on evacuation, right? My goal is to get people out of the way. Uh, and, um,
yes, fire breaks are important. That's really a fire district's, uh, focus area as opposed to what
what we're focused on.
But again, if that's an area that you want us to look into
over the next year in year one or year two,
we could be spending our time doing that as well.
We just need direction as to
if that's something you want us to focus on.
But I just briefly articulate,
I do think evacuation has to be our first priority,
but I also, I think we have this really unique situation
where maybe this is too Pollyanna,
but I feel like we are improving our relationships
and starting to work more regionally.
And I think we're, you know, not only with M.O.F.D.,
but also with the Park District, you know,
with East Bay MUD,
and I think there's a unique opportunity
to sort of address those huge, you know,
elephant in the room problems of this unmitigated danger from those areas, I think that those
places need more resources. So I'm trying to think of how we can, at least over the next
two years, if we choose to renew this, use this tool in a way that we can also bring more
resources to the region so that down the road, you know,
because it is, I think a little hard, maybe I'm wrong,
to get grant funding for this specifically,
but few mitigation work, there is money out there
and there's a lot of money out there right now for that.
And I want our region to get more of that funding,
desperately, and I do think that this might be able
to help us do that and also provide a great, you know,
And I realize that might be asking you to do more with even the contact we have.
But it could also then be a great model for the value of this work and this data.
So that's sort of where I'm thinking in my head about that.
And that's where that question was coming from.
I don't know how my colleagues feel, but if I could just quickly add on to that.
You know, that would require a lot of coordination with fire.
And I think the first question we would ask fire and the chief is do we have all
the necessary fuel breaks that we need to have?
And if we don't, where should they go?
and whose responsibility is it?
We recently saw that Confire has done a mapping
of all the existing field breaks in the area.
So when we incorporate all those existing field breaks,
which we now have GIS data access to,
we incorporate all of them, how does that impact?
Because there's one on the Happy Valley field break
that I hadn't seen before,
which is very impactful and helpful to Irina.
What is the value, the main maintenance of those field breaks,
which is why we went and sought the money
for the North Arinda Shaded Field Break,
working with the chief, because it's going to need,
these are hand crews, they need to go out there,
they need to continue to maintain these,
and that costs money.
And so we could potentially measure the value
of maintenance of the existing firebreaks,
determine whether or not new firebreaks
would create value for Arinda,
and then advocate for those projects.
What other comments?
I guess my comment is I'm very supportive of going forward. I recognize it's a lot of
money. I also believe that there are going to be other resources over time where this isn't
going to be born just by a rent. I really do believe that. In fact, we have a wonderful
opportunity to suggest that a renewal of the Contra Costa tax measure includes more funding.
we want to look at. Um, but
the reality is, is I mean, I
think it is extremely
important. I think it's
valuable. Um I do think that
you know, yes, it's a lot in
the way of resources, but you
know, measure has provided us
with the resources. I think
this is a lot of what it was
intended for, and I'm very
supportive of continuing it.
I think it's a really big question.
I do feel the weight of this,
but I don't think I can say no to it.
I feel like we've got to move forward with it.
I'm worried about it never going away.
I can swallow two years,
but I would love the feeling that we can make it well,
that we'd never lose our city staff with the brainpower they have,
and that we would be able to go in the future with less of a commitment.
But anyway, so for the meantime, okay,
so on the four areas, I don't know if I understand
the red flag being one of the top four, I don't know.
I heard one example of the red flag issue
tying in with getting out of school
and taking care of our seniors.
But by itself, is it such a big chunk?
I mean, I feel, no one's mentioned
how that is so significant.
I feel like we know what red flag means.
Well, it's really more about allowing on street parking
on certain streets.
So right now we limit that, right?
So we're gonna send out a notice that certain streets,
you cannot park.
And so the evaluation would determine whether or not
we should expand that street network
to include other streets so that if there is a red flag.
Okay, so to me, that's not capacity.
That would happen really quickly, that'd be really easy.
It's not like a big area.
Cause we already know all of tons of streets.
I don't know if that's true.
It would have to just do an evaluation.
I mean, I would say of the things that we would plan for,
it's probably not the most difficult thing to evaluate.
Yeah, OK.
So the things I'm hearing down the way here
about figuring out, these ideas seem bigger than the red flag
issue.
I feel like we can manage.
I feel like that shouldn't be in the top four.
I'm hearing that it's really more
important to worry about what our neighboring agencies are doing or not
doing and helping them because it's good the fire could come from brionis can
come from Lafayette reservoir more likely than it's going to come from you
know the gas station or something so I would shift those four values okay
that's what I would say I am very concerned about the isolated seniors
issue and the whole disaster mapping issue and the fact that it's very hard
to get people identified and where they are,
and then they move or they unfortunately pass away
or something changes and you don't have the information
and it's not accurate and up to date.
And when there's a disaster, people panic
and the neighbor who said, oh, of course,
I'll take them out, forgets or whatever.
I do feel the responsibility
to have a better understanding of that.
I have talked to the seniors around town,
folks about you know really trying to tie in with the services they're providing so that we could
onboard the seniors who get rides from seniors around town so by definition they are isolated
seniors with some sort of disaster mapping system that would be really great and help them come up
with evacuation plans for themselves. Go bags, neighbors, whatever the right plan for those folks
is and then with Contrafote becomes even more possibly confusing because if everyone is coming
out and someone's trying to go up to get somebody that that's even a bigger problem. So from my
perspective all of that and the school closing on red flag day issues and evacuating school issues
I think that still is a very important point that we need to continue to look at at least in these
next two years. Four years from now, five years from now, maybe that we'll have it all figured
I hope so. But I think our number one priority is the city has to be the evacuation, safe evacuation and the safety and lives of our residents. And then the value of everybody's homes and protecting their homes. And I think we all agree on that. I think this software is a great tool. I'm glad we have it. I think we should continue using it. I think we're still learning all the things it can do and all the different ways we can use it.
use it. And I feel like we should just keep going down that road. And if in two years that's changed
or we know something different, that's a different issue. But from my perspective, we're on the right
path. And that this is something we need. And as perhaps housing is something that's going to
continue to be proposed in Orinda, the software helps us actually model what that housing might
like due to potential evacuation routes.
I mean, I just think it's a very useful tool
for the city at this time.
And I'm absolutely in favor of continuing it
and don't think we have to decide
what will we do two years from now today.
I think today we, I see an absolute need
for continuing on this path.
And there are still many more things we may need to
and should do, including getting our neighbors
to participate with us, getting more regional planning.
I've been an advocate for more regional planning
since I started on the council,
it doesn't make any sense.
Surrendous.
This small town amongst Lafayette, Moraga, open space,
you know, we need to be coordinated because,
and it's really hard to get all these different organizations,
cities and public utilities
and all these different groups to coordinate.
But I feel good about the effort we are putting
into making that happen.
And that's really all we have control over is our own effort.
We can't make other people do anything,
but we do have control over our effort
and I'm proud of the effort we're making
and I think we should just continue making it.
So very helpful comments.
I have very little to add other than,
I've been pretty relentless since this first
got on the agenda about just, I wanna be a pioneer.
For the first year, we were way out there.
We were a power user, we did all this great stuff.
The excitement in the room when Linda presented
to Grayson's Wildfire Task Force was so cool.
I mean, everybody was just bzzz, bzzz, bzzz, bzzz.
And it didn't make me feel like I don't want to renew this.
What it made me feel like is,
why isn't everybody else doing this
and getting our costs down, right?
Why are we 40% over our contract hours
because we're that power early adopter user.
So I'm annoyed at that.
And I'm annoyed that our fire district
isn't contributing one cent.
I just think that's wrong.
So again, I love the presentation.
I really appreciate this partnership.
And what we haven't said yet is for all of those hours
that Ladras put in, our staff was side by side, right?
They were coming up with the issue spotting
and the working through all the bugs
and the fire chief and the city manager
and all sorts of people.
So I wanted to thank you guys
because all of that result was a huge team effort
inside and outside.
So yeah, I guess my last thought on it is
I trust our experts.
And when the people who are closest to this
are recommending continuing this bend for two years,
that overrides all of my being skeptical and annoyed
is if Doug and Linda say, let's keep doing this,
I really trust them because they are so deep into it.
And with that, I would advocate proceeding.
So if that's good, can we take a quick break?
Yes, I thank you for that direction.
And thank you, Leah, for your presentation.
And Leah, thank you for spending so much time
with us tonight.
Of course, thank you for your time,
Mayor, Vice Mayor and Council.
Thank you, staff.
Thank you.
The meeting is resumed, and before Cole gets up to give his five-minute presentation, I
would like to ask the Council if we could have 15 more minutes on the clock for tonight's
meeting time. Can we get to 1040? Okay. So moved. Second? I'll second it. All in favor?
Aye. Aye. We are now on to item J2, I think. Somebody
We nod me in if we're on J2.
We're on J2.
Facade Improvement Program.
All right.
Start talking, Cole.
We have our own copies.
We need to turn on his mic real quick.
Sorry, first time.
So you've all seen the packet,
so we're going to make this quick.
So what is a Facade Improvement Program?
This is a program that a lot of cities
in the Bay Area and across the country have,
these programs take a lot of different forms
in terms of what incentives they offer,
what the application requires, all those sorts of things.
But at the end of the day,
all these programs serve the same goal,
which is to improve the storefront locations
and downtown and commercial areas within the cities.
So that's what we're talking about tonight.
How did we get here really quickly?
This is something that's been in our downtown precise plan
and connect to Rinda mentions this vaguely
and this program really aligns with those things.
So much so that the council decided to put it
in their strategic priorities as number three E
specifically consider establishing
a facade improvement program.
And because of that, the May 11th downtown planning
and revitalization subcommittee meeting,
We presented a facade improvement program to that group and they recommended that we
bring it forward to the council, which is why we're here talking to you about it tonight.
This is just a slide that shows you that a lot of other cities in the Bay Area have current
facade improvement programs.
There's even more cities that had them at one point in time and then got rid of them
because they got so much good stuff done that they didn't need it anymore.
This also shows you there's just a lot of different ways
to structure these programs.
These are some cool photos, some before and after photos
of this area before they did a facade improvement program.
This is after they did a facade improvement program project.
We've got some more of these.
This is in Monterey, a lovely Starbucks location.
And we really like this one because it shows
just some different paneling and stuff like that
can make a big difference in the way the building feels.
And then this is some wish casting on our part.
So you'll see these are some of the locations in town
that might take advantage of a program like this.
This is what they look like now.
This is what they could look like again now,
possible future now.
I like all the different...
Well, yes, so I noticed that as well.
And I think we want to be clear
that we hope that this program doesn't introduce
a bunch of turnover.
We want it to benefit the businesses that are there, right?
But CHaGBT is not that sophisticated.
So again, Brenda now,
Brenda in the future.
So to give you a quick overview of the program,
we're proposing a one year pilot program.
that would start in July and end in June of next year,
we would give this a $75,000 program budget.
The way it would work is if you applied
and your project was up to $10,000,
you wouldn't be required to provide a private match
for projects that are over $10,000.
Every dollar over 10K would have to be matched
by the applicant up to a total of 30,000 from the city.
So for example, if someone submitted for a $50,000 project,
the most they could get is $30,000.
They would have to match that with $20,000 of their own dollars.
The eligible improvements would be permanent things
to the exterior buildings.
Non-eligible would be temporary improvements,
things that are inside, things that you couldn't see
from the streetscape.
There would be a pretty standard application form.
The approval process would be done by staff.
We've been thinking about the best way to do that.
It might take the form of an internal committee
and the City Manager's Office to review those applications.
And then the last thing we want to talk to you about
was streamlining as part of this project.
Our downtown precise plan mentions
that we should explore streamline regulations
for entrance and façade remodeling downtown.
And we thought this would be a great way to try that out.
We could evaluate streamlining in general
as part of the façade improvement program
if we were to combine these two things,
and it would help the facade improvement program
by making things happen at a more rapid pace
and making sure that more dollars go toward improvements
rather than toward permit fees and things like that.
That's basically what the rest of these slides say.
And our recommendation is to adopt resolution number 3526,
which would direct staff to do all the things
I just talked about and that are included in the memo.
If you do choose to do that,
then we'll return to you with an ordinance
that allows us to bypass a lot of the permits
and discretionary planning review process
that would be included in the streamlining effort.
Thank you very much for hearing my presentation.
I'd be happy to answer any questions that you have.
I have one quick question.
When you said return with an ordinance,
if we say yes tonight, then that's two more meetings
because you introduced the ordinance and then we adopt it.
Is that correct?
Yes, and we'd have to go to Planning Commission first.
And we could understand that that would be concerning,
but the reality is we'll start this program in July,
and then it'll probably be a little while
before we get our first application.
So we don't think that that is going to slow us down too much
in terms of making things happen.
Super. Thank you.
Very quickly, am I correct in understanding
that the approval process will involve
discretionary review by internally.
In other words, not everyone who submits a project
of $9,000 for an improvement will get it granted.
It's gonna depend on all the factors that are listed.
Correct.
So in your packet,
we included a description of the criteria
that we would judge each project against.
it has to meet a minimum threshold that we would set
before it would be considered for any funds
and all applications will be considered
against other submitted and pending applications.
Wonderful, thank you.
Other questions or comments?
Actually, before we do comments,
yeah, questions and then we'll open it for public comment.
Yeah, I have a question and that is,
assuming we enact this, how are we going to publicize it
or how are we going to get people to potentially use it?
Every single way that we can think of.
So we're going to use social media.
We're going to use our newsletters.
We'll ask newspapers if they would
like to feature a story on it.
We'll do partnerships with the chamber, mayor's liaison
meetings, every single way we can get the word out
about this.
We also have a part-time staff member.
And a lot of what she does is business engagement
with property owners and things like that.
So some of those relationships are already in place now,
instead of us going to them and just kind of asking
for updates and trying to encourage them
to do good things, we'd be able to go to them and say,
hey, we've got some money if you want to apply
to this program.
So it'd be a really nice way for us
to start engaging with them.
How did we come up with the dollar figures?
Yeah, and they seem low.
Oh, so the dollar figures, they roughly align
with what some of the other cities have in their programs.
I mean, we can always increase the no match number
and all those sorts of things,
but we felt it was comfortable for us to start.
This is a pilot program.
We could always come back to the city and say,
hey, we wanna increase the grant amount or lower it,
depending on what we get when we go out there, right?
So if you choose to do this tonight,
we can always change it later
if it doesn't work out well for us.
Part of the reason why we had a no match to start
at that first level is because some feedback we received
from business community about whether,
where their level of interest was,
and we wanted to make sure we could capture people
that may be interested in some minor modifications
like awnings, but maybe won't want to invest in a match
that we had something there to sort of encourage
that activity, and then we get into the matching
beyond that when we started getting more substantive changes
that people would potentially make,
including maybe painting facades against expensive,
but starting with the smaller pieces,
maybe we could change out awnings or change out a window
or railings or things like that
that can improve the aesthetic of the building.
Let me just real quickly open it for public comment.
Seeing none, we'll bring it up here for further discussion.
I would just share one comment and one Q and A
from when we had this in the subcommittee.
I had asked about things like sidewalk dining,
planters, things like that,
where I know we see some challenged areas
and they informed me that these programs,
really it's only appropriate to send city dollars
where it's going to go to a property taxable improvement.
So that's why it has to be part of a fixed building
and not planters or furniture.
So I thought that was a helpful way to think about it.
Our dollars go to things that improve taxable property.
And signage is something that in planning,
you know, all the signage stuff goes through planning.
And I actually really appreciated having a chance
to weigh in on some of those decisions.
They were some of the most important ways
that we felt that we were getting improvements
on some applications coming along.
because I think the streamlining is also very important.
One of the comments I gave is,
it doesn't need to be a city commission,
but we need to have one of our reviewers on staff
be really fanatic about signs
and really all over the issue
so that they're protecting quality control
while we're streamlining.
And that was the only comment that I had had
coming out of subcommittee.
What does everybody else think?
I support it, I think it's a great idea.
and I thank the subcommittee for your review of it
and thank staff for bringing it to us.
I think it's fabulous.
Thanks, is that a motion?
Yes.
Unless there's other discussion.
I will second that motion.
All in favor?
Aye.
Aye, great, let's move on to item J3.
Cole, thank you so much, that was really helpful.
Doug, you've got five minutes.
Okay.
Oh my goodness.
All right, so you say I have three minutes.
I'm kidding.
So item J3 is the fiscal year 2026,
27 mid-cycle budget update, including CIP changes.
It's approval of three new job classifications
and approval of the annual consolidated schedule,
salary schedule update.
So that's the item before you.
I'll get through this as quickly as I can.
So as you're all aware, the council adopts a two-year budget
that coincides with the election cycle.
We're in the middle of that two-year budget cycle.
25-26 is about to end.
26-27 is about to start.
This budget was adopted a little bit more
than a year ago, June 3rd, 2025.
Staff is only proposing very minor changes
to next fiscal year.
Our budget was actually looked in pretty good shape to us,
so not a whole lot of changes necessary.
We did bring this to council initially on May 5th.
There were a couple changes
that we've incorporated since May 5th.
So I'll focus and highlight on those.
This is just a large summary.
I won't get into it considering the time limits,
but this reflects all the changes
in the budget for the fiscal year 2026, 27.
So, as far as changes to the general fund,
of course there's staffing allocation changes
that I mentioned at the May 5th meeting,
the transfer out of unassigned fund balance,
increase in the general fund contributions
to lighting landscaping districts.
And then there's two new items,
$30,000 to reinstate the banner program,
which includes the flower baskets,
and then $75,000 to establish the facade improvement plan
are included in the appropriations
that are being recommended tonight.
All right.
The staffing changes that we talked about,
the city will maintain the staffing level from 25 to 26,
40.5 full-time equivalent positions.
We will be adjusting the staffing levels
within those full-time equivalents,
including the three new job classifications.
We had the human resource manager
develop the job classifications.
We met with the union, we're good there.
Now you all need to approve those three job classifications
to add them to our catalog classes.
You also need to adopt the consolidated salary schedule.
So this is driven off of last year,
we entered into a four year agreement
with the Teamsters that indicated raises,
so this is reflecting the second year raises.
It's consolidated because it contains also
the nonrepresented employees and the salary changes there,
and also the three new positions are included
on that salary schedule.
See, this is just showing you the changes,
the additions and deletions, but it all nets to zero.
There's no change here.
The proposed transfers, there's no change
from what was presented on May 5th,
which is, hey, last year we ended with an increase
net change in fund balance in the general fund
of a little over two and a half million.
We're recommending transferring two and a half million
out a million of it to the capital improvement fund
and a million and a half to the building
maintenance and replacement fund.
So the general fund will still have enough resources
to maintain and being compliance
with its 50% operating reserve policy,
which is roughly 9.2 million reserves
and still have about 1.4 million
on-assign fund balance available
for discretionary purposes over the next year.
All right, there are no proposed changes
that will occur with a Measure R
beyond what was presented on May 5th.
So it's finished the GIS mapping.
It's the FireSafe Morago Rindo Services Contract.
It's the renewal of the LADRIS
and it's an increase in Outreach and Education Services.
Then this is where the last change occurs.
Already brought to you was,
hey, we're getting some TDA funding,
so we increased the budget projection,
increasing the revenues for landscaping lighting districts.
And then the bike trails and walkway master plan
we had discussed on May 5th.
And then we're talking about a $200,000 increase
in next year's budget for that master plan.
As you adopted on the consent calendar tonight,
that turned out to cost slightly more than 200.
With contingency, it's 236, 890, right?
So I'll go back to this.
Before we move on to the CIP, California state law
indicates that when you change salaries.
I'm sorry, can I just make a motion
that we extend time by 10 minutes?
So till then.
Do I have a second?
I'll second it.
All in favor?
Aye.
Any opposed?
Okay, thank you.
Before we get to the CIP,
there's a change the state law took effect,
I think last year, which revolves around
executive management pay.
So to talk to you about that is Ginger,
state and our resource manager.
So this will be very quick.
To ensure transparency, I'm going to read the salary ranges
for the director level positions into the public record.
All salary ranges are monthly.
The administrative services director, 16,522 to 20,160.
City Clerk 13,357 to 16,299. Director of Parks and Recreation 13,133 to 16,025. Director of
planning. 14,652 to 17,878. And the director of public works and engineering. 15,642 to
19,086. The city manager position is not being changed at this point. So we won't be reading
that out. Thank you. Are there any questions? Great, Doug, back to you. Thank you. Thank
ginger at this point you can either ask questions about the operating budget or i'll turn it over
to scott to talk about the cip update and maybe all the questions if there are any at the end let's
pause real quickly see are there any questions from the operating budget presentation seeing
none we're over to scott so i'm just going to summarize what changes we made based on your
input from the May 5th meeting, and again, just a rehash of, you know, what the CIP is,
so no need to go into those details. So the changes are the expanded project for the community
center to include not only kitchen upgrades, but also to renovate the adjacent Founders
auditorium. Similarly expanding project for the park monument signage to include the upgrade to
what I'm calling the city club sign at the Safeway corner on Camino Pablo and then we added a new
project the Ivy Drive sidewalk primarily for preliminary engineering to scope it out better
and that would be from the corner of Moraga Way over to Ardith, so it effectively kind of closes
a gap so to speak from Moraga Way, would join on to an existing sidewalk that then continues on to
the intermediate school. And then this is a pie chart showing you all the different funds that
that we draw from and try to balance out.
So we do use the software,
this planet software to help us do that.
And then these are the detail sheets for those projects
that I think what we're showing here
are this sidewalk location, roughly,
where we're showing the new sidewalk for,
I'm sorry, this is going back
because we did have a question on one of the projects
about the routing for this East Ardoth Drive sidewalk.
It's kind of hard to see,
but the photo there does show the sidewalk in yellow,
so it would connect from the Orinda Woods sidewalk
over to the St. Stephen's Trail in effect going over.
So you'd go over the freeway
to get onto the St. Stephen's Trail.
So it would join these two relatively,
rather popular walkways being the Arendelle Woods Walkway
and then the St. Stephen's Trail Walkway.
So that's a project.
We've made no changes in it.
I've just included the details showing the map
a little more in more detail.
And this is for the crosswalk location.
This would be Ivy Drive at,
let's see, I can't quite see which one that is.
Sorry about that, I should have.
All the maps are in the end.
Oh, they're at the end.
Okay, well nevermind.
I'll go right to the end so you can see them better.
We just saw that last one.
There, that's a better view of it
showing where that connector new sidewalk would run
for that so-called East Altarinda Sidewalk Gap Closure.
And then the next one here
is the one I was trying to describe.
So that's Morago Way at Ivy Drive.
That's kind of the approximate location
where we'd envision the crosswalk.
We'd, of course, have to evaluate the actual location,
what would make sense.
Likewise, this would be the new crosswalk
on Arrinder Woods at Village Gate Drive.
That's in the, I mean, no change
from what was presented earlier
other than this shows a better, you know, location map.
And then the third new one would be considered at Moraga Way
and Orchard Road at the south entrance, so to speak.
So that's the fire station right there.
And that's where we envision the sidewalk would,
I'm sure the crosswalk would be.
Again, all of these would have proper signage
and then the so-called RRFPs, the flashing beacons.
Last one here is this proposed new Ivy Drive sidewalk then
from Moraga Way up to the existing sidewalk at Ardeth Drive.
And I think that's it.
If there's any questions, I'd be happy to answer those.
So that concludes what I have.
I did have, maybe it's more of a comment than a question,
but the Altarinda sidewalk,
I was gonna ask the question about that.
I understand that there are popular walking areas
I've not been aware of the
area that was at either side of
it, but I have I'm not aware
that people go between those
two areas and that that's an
area with a demonstrated need
for a sidewalk.
The city manager's responses,
you know, it's not in the CIP
for about three years.
Maybe the bike master plan that
we're approving tonight could
just take a look at that before
we necessarily get to work on
That's a great way to look at it.
I mean, we did program it out several years,
so no work would really occur.
It's just putting it in the budget.
Again, it has been on the so-called bike trails
and walkway plan that's now in place.
Again, that's from several years ago.
And then at some point in the last five years,
it made its way up to the top 10 list
because I mean, I don't know the full history
other than I know people do walk there,
but it's not safe really because it's narrow
and there's no sidewalk.
So I think that's a good way to look at it
and certainly the new plan that would be studied
would consider that and look at the viability of it.
Okay, I guess my only comment is to make that a question
in that plan versus a given in that plan.
And with that, I think it was the only question I had.
Okay.
One of the other people, questions, comments?
I would say having a friend who lives right on that curve
there, and they do have people walking,
and it is difficult to see around that curve.
There's foliage and fence and traffic and whatever.
So I actually think that there are people who walk there,
and they walk down to the freeway to go across the freeway.
And there's a bus stop down at the corner of Altarenda
and St. Stephens, and you can't get to that bus stop
without walking in the street.
That's good.
I do know it's a narrow, dangerous road.
I just didn't know if anybody walked on it.
No, they do.
That's very good.
And they go down to the bus stop.
That's very good.
So I actually think it is an excellent place
for a sidewalk, just sharing.
No, that's great.
Thank you.
And like I said, top 10,
it doesn't came from somewhere, so thanks.
What else?
I, do we have, do we need a motion on this?
Yes, we have lots of resolution.
So we need lots of motions on this.
So, but we need to extend time because it's 10 50 five minutes to I hear five minutes. I moved to extend by five minutes. Second, second it on favor. I, I just had one comment, if someone's going to make a motion, which is to thank staff for such great listening there's some projects that I'm really excited about in the
CIP, and especially some of these new changes, and especially seeing some sidewalks which
normally take years and years and years to surface, no pun, but some of these sidewalks
are going to be so appreciated, so thank you.
And I just thank you for the excellent report.
I know we rushed, rushed, rushed you all through it, but had a lot of thought and time and
effort goes into it.
the written materials on the budget, I think. For me, honestly, they are so good now compared
to and when we went through our two-hour seminar this morning, the Councilmember Riley and I did
online a webinar on mandatory training, I was like, well, we do this. Well, we do this. And
but I trust our, I mean, it just provided more reassurance and made me appreciate all this even
I just want to thank you as well. I'm always so impressed and appreciate all that goes
into this and I'm sorry we don't get to spend more time talking about it tonight. And I'm
also very excited about all the new things we have in there with capital B for beautification.
So that sounds exciting. Thank you.
What's that? Do we have a motion, maybe, to approve this?
I'll make a motion. I'll second it.
Okay, so for the recommendation, right,
which is adopt all the resolutions listed in item J3,
just for the record.
All the recommendations.
All the resolutions.
There are three resolutions, I believe, in J3.
There are.
So the motion is to approve all three of the recommendations
with the new job classifications,
the mid-cycle budget adjustment,
and approving the amended consolidated salary schedule.
Do I have a second?
I was taking it.
all in favor? Aye. Aye. We, unless anyone has matter initiated, we adjourn. We adjourn.
Thank you all. I'm sorry we didn't get to spend an hour just appreciating.