Walnut Creek City Council: May 5, 2026

Transcript

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I'm Kevin Wilk, Mayor of the City of Walnut Creek, and welcome to the regular meeting

of the Walnut Creek City Council.

The City Council was conducting this meeting from the City Council chamber.

This meeting is being video streamed and can be viewed live or later on the City's website.

As some attendees may be participating in their first Walnut Creek City Council meeting,

I wanted to welcome everyone and talk briefly about the public comment process.

For each agenda item, there will be an opportunity for public comment on the item.

Thus, if you desire to speak to an item on the agenda this evening, please hold your

comments until the City Council considers that item.

Additionally, we have a section on the agenda titled Public Communications, which is for

public comments for items not on the agenda.

Any comments during public communication should not relate to an item that is on the agenda

this evening.

with section 9.5 of the City Council Handbook, 30 minutes will be initially

allocated for public communications for items not on the agenda. Additional time

for public communications for items not on the agenda will be provided at the

end of the open session portion of the meeting if necessary. If you desire to

provide a public comment please complete a speaker identification card and line

up behind the lectern at the appropriate time. Wait your turn and then when you

approach the lectern please state your name and city of residence for the

record. You will have two minutes to address the City Council. Please keep in

mind that this is a city business meeting. The City Council has adopted

rules of decorum to ensure that meetings are conducted efficiently and

effectively and that all members of the public have a full, fair and equal

opportunity to be heard. The City Council handbook outlines decorum expected in

in the council chamber and can be found on our website.

All remarks should be addressed to the city council.

Please do not use threatening, profane,

or abusive language which disrupts, disturbs,

or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct

of the council meeting.

Again, each speaker will have two minutes

to make your remarks.

Written comments submitted and received

up to two hours before the meeting have been posted

to the city's website for public review

and are included in the meeting record,

but will not be separately read into the record.

All right, we're back.

We do a little bit of MacGyvering in the background.

We'll make sure that this is going to be recorded as well.

So people will see this.

There'll be a broadcasting component to it.

A little bit different than usual, but we're on.

With that, good evening.

I'm Kevin Wilk, mayor of the city of Walnut Creek

and welcome to the Tuesday, May 5th,

2026 concurrent regular meetings

the Walnut Creek City Council and Parking Authority and would you all

please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. And City Clerk Susie

Martino would you please call the roll on this Cinco de Mayo. Council Member

Darlene? Here. Council Member Davini? Here. Council Member Silva? Here. Mayor Pro Tem

Francois? Here. And Mayor Welk? Here. All right the first item is we have a

proclamation for bike to work week and I invite the walk bike Walnut Creek and

bike East Bay forward to accept the proclamation and while they're coming up

I will just quickly read a few of the proclamation information whereas

throughout the month of May the city of Walnut Creek will celebrate biking in

the sense of freedom joy and well-being that it inspires. May is national bike

month and May 14, 2026 is biked to wherever day in the Bay Area. The city of Walnut Creek

has a robust network of trails perfect for cycling including the Contra Costa Canal Trail

and the Iron Horse Trail and city staff, schools, parks and recreation departments, police departments,

public health districts, hospitals, businesses and civic groups will be joining the League

of American Bicyclists in promoting bicycling during the month of May 2026 and whereas these

These groups are also providing greater public awareness of bicycle operation and safety

education during bike month and year round in an effort to reduce collisions, injuries,

and fatalities and improve health and safety for everyone on the road.

I, Kevin Wilk, Mayor of the City of Walnut Creek, on behalf of the Walnut Creek City

Council, do hereby declare May 2026 as bike month in the City of Walnut Creek and encourage

Walnut Creek residents and citizens to join me in this special observance.

So welcome here, and if you have a few words that you'd each like to say.

Uh-oh.

I will say just a quick word of thanks for making this something that we celebrate.

These kids have been biking since they were three to Heather Farm Preschools where they

started biking every single day of the weekdays, and they biked here tonight.

I've been on the transportation commission with some of you, and back then we were working

on getting away to bike safely from the trails downtown and from downtown to the trail and

I think we're still working on that. So hopefully we can get that going a little bit faster

so we can bike more and more safely.

Great. And Danny, while we know who you are, would you like to introduce the people that

are up here?

These are my daughters, Sage Tennyson and Sky Tennyson.

Great.

They're in second and fourth grade and they bike to school every day.

Wonderful. Wonderful.

Wanna talk it off?

Yeah, I'm Kate Ming.

I am a bike advocate.

And one of the reasons I love living here

is the bike trails.

There's definitely a lot of work to do,

but I see that work is happening, however slow,

but happening.

And so I appreciate that.

Thank you.

Thanks, Mayor, City Council for the proclamation.

I'm Robert Perenz,

advocacy director with Bike East Bay.

I'd like to invite everybody to celebrate Bike Month,

all month with us and bike to every day on May 14th

by finding an energizer station in your neighborhood.

All the location maps for all across the East Bay

are available at bikeeastbay.org slash BTWD

for Bike to Wherever Day.

We've got fun, free events happening

all throughout the month to help encourage more biking

and safer riding, thank you.

That's great, thanks, and we're promoting this

within the city websites as well, and social media.

So why don't we take a picture?

All right, next we have a proclamation

for National Police Week, and I see some

of Waller Creek's finest in the audience here too.

So, I invite Officer Shane Blatz with the Walnut Creek Police Department to come forward

to accept the proclamation.

And I'll read a few words on this, whereas in 1962, President John F. Kennedy designated

May 15th as Peace Officers Memorial Day, and the week in which that date falls as National

Police Week.

There are more than 800,000 law enforcement officers serving in communities across the

United States, including the dedicated members of the Walnut Creek Police Department.

The names of these dedicated public servants are engraved on the walls of the National

Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C., since the first recorded death in 1786,

where there are more than 24,000 law enforcement officers in the United States who have made

that ultimate sacrifice and have been killed in line of duty.

And whereas the service and sacrifice of all officers killed in line of duty will be honored

during the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund's 38th candlelight vigil, I,

Therefore, Kevin Wilk, Mayor of the City of Walnut Creek, on behalf of the Walnut Creek

City Council, do hereby proclaim the May 15, 2026 as Peace Officers Memorial Day, and encourage

that U.S. flags be flown at half-staff in honor of all fallen officers and their families,

and that the week of May 10 through 16th, 2026, be recognized as National Police Week.

Thank you.

Mr. Blatz.

Yes.

Shane Blatz, Walnut Creek PLA President.

I'll keep this real brief because I know my colleagues want to get home like I do.

I just want to say thank you on behalf of all of us that are dedicated and serve this

community.

We always appreciate this recognition.

Thank you.

Great.

Thank you.

Well, why don't we take a picture together with the team?

No.

That's a...

All right.

We're going to talk a little bit more about the police later, but for now, I want to move

on to the consent calendar. And consent calendar items 2G and 2H relate to compensation payable

to the City Attorney and City Manager. If these items are approved, a rate increase

of 4 percent effective July 1, 2026, and an additional rate increase of 3 percent commencing

on July 1, 2027, contingent upon the City Attorney receiving a satisfactory or better

evaluation in spring of 2027 would be implemented for Redwood Public Law for general legal services

labor and employment services, cost recovery and litigation services. For the

city manager, which is item 2-H, it would amend the city manager employment

agreement to increase Mr. Buxley's salary by 4% effective with the pay

period including June 30th, 2026, and to further increase Mr. Buxley's salary by

an additional 3% effective with the pay period including June 30th, 2027, following

a satisfactory or better performance evaluation by the City Council in the

spring of 2027. The amendment to Mr. Buckshi's contract also extends the time frame to not

involuntarily terminate Mr. Buckshi from 90 days to 180 days following the seating of

a new council after an election and increases the severance payout provided for in the contract

from 9 months to 12 months and includes health benefits as part of the severance benefits.

law specifically government code section 54953 requires a verbal announcement of the compensation

change prior to action by the City Council. With that said, would any council member wish

to pull an item for discussion? Yes, I would like to pull items to C and to D to be discussed

together. Any other items? Okay I would like to pull items to F to G and H and

does any member of the public, one second, so does any member of the public wish to

comment on an item on the consent calendar and as a reminder each speaker

will have two minutes to make their remarks. Written comments submitted have

been posted to the city's website for public review and are included in the

meeting record, but not be separately read into the record.

Jan, come on up. And just let us know which item you'd be speaking to.

Good evening. Jan Warren from the Woodlands. I'm pulling, uh, aye.

Would you like to speak on aye? Yes. OK. For the wonderful affordable housing

that's going to be built. And I wanted to thank everyone's work on this. And I had

just a little bit of a question. In terms of the funding, in terms of our money, I read

that over the past three years we've gotten revenues of about $500,000. So after we have

awarded this $2.9 million for the SAHA project, how much money will be left for us to have

next year are we anticipating, I don't know if you know how much new revenues

come in from all the construction or not, if you have any idea whether we're gonna

wait you know a couple of years or whatever before we can get some more

affordable housing but I really appreciate and I wanted to pull it and

celebrate. Thanks. Great, thank you Jan. Any other member of the public which

should speak on an item on the consent calendar? No. Okay, seeing that I'll

underneath a motion for items that have not been pulled so I can make the motion

but do we want to answer the question from the public before we take before we

do that on to I yeah if we can ask that city manager that yeah come on up

Jennifer while she's walking up here I'll make a motion to approve consent

calendar items to A and B, E, I through M. JKLM. I'll have to take care of that

separately. Second. So I believe the question was how much money will

remain in the commercial linkage fee fund and in the housing in lieu fee fund

if we distribute the 2.9 million dollars and so I actually have the current

balances for those funds.

There is currently about $1.3 million

in the commercial linkage fee fund.

So we would subtract $500,000 from that

for a balance of $800,000.

In the housing in lieu fee fund, we have about $3.5 million.

We would subtract $2.4 million for a balance of $1.1 million.

So between both funds, it would be about $2 million

based on current balances.

Thank you.

My motion still stands, with the concluding aye.

You include aye.

And I will still second that.

Councilmember Silva?

Aye.

Mayor Wilk?

Aye.

Councilmember Darlene?

Yes.

Councilmember Davini?

Aye.

And Mayor Pro Tem Francois?

Aye.

OK.

Let's go to items, consent calendar 2C and D. Councilmember

Silva?

Yes.

I had some questions, and I think staff

is prepared to respond to the questions.

Thank you very much for taking the time to do this.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council, Charles Ching,

Assistant City Manager, available to answer

any questions.

So we're doing the second reading

of an ordinance around the entertainment zones tonight.

And we're also approving the management plan

as proposed by Walnut Creek downtown.

That's correct.

So a few questions.

The entertainment zone that we're establishing

is one multi-block congruent area.

It is not the only downtown area.

Could we have multiple entertainment zones?

Could a second one be brought forward in a couple of years,

for example, involving Broadway Plaza?

That is correct.

Multiple entertainment zones can be

established within the same area.

So I had some exciting questions that

were coming to me from people outside the city,

as well as to local residents who were talking to me

at the farmer's market.

So just because there's a zone does not

mean it has these entertainment hours just allowed 365 days

a year.

Correct.

Only events put together by qualified nonprofit,

In this case, the project sponsor, Walnut Creek downtown,

will be allowed to operate within the entertainment zone area.

And as an entertainment zone, when

it's being used for these special events,

are the streets closed so that there's

more free flowing of participants along the sidewalks

and in the street itself?

That is correct.

The event area will be closed.

There will be designated ingress and egress areas

for these events where a check of valid ID and age

will be done.

And this is in compliance or what's allowing with this

is Senate Bill 969 or is it the Assembly Bill 969?

It's Senate Bill 969.

Senate Bill 969.

The days we're proposing to do this, in the ordinance itself,

it talks about Friday and Saturday,

and then it talks about Sunday through Thursday.

In the management plan, it talks about Friday and Saturday,

and then Sunday through Thursday.

But then it also talks about weekends and weekdays.

Would it perhaps be better if we just consistently

used the specific days so there's

no confusion as to what days we're talking about?

Yes, we can certainly make that change within the management plan.

Now, the hours and the ordinance are 10 a.m. to 11.59 p.m. on week, on Fridays and Saturdays,

and 10 to 10 on Sundays through Thursdays.

Then the management plan talks about this being from 10 to 11 on Fridays and Saturdays,

10 to 10 on Sundays through Thursdays. I'm looking at this whiteboard in my head

that I'm trying to remember all this detail from. Why is there an income, is

that inconsistent or is that just basically tearing it down where it's a

fewer hours in the management plan but the ordinance is broader? That's correct.

That's a good question. The intent is under the ordinance, this is the outer

limit of the amount of hours or the operating hours of an entertainment zone.

The management plan is a subset of the ordinance and so the management plan for WCD only allows

them to operate on the weekends from Friday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. which

is a shorter time compared to the ordinance and same with weekdays which is Sunday through

Thursday, which will be 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. And does each event that might occur

have potentially even shorter hours or fewer days? Yes, I believe the latest

event WCD puts together ends at 9 p.m. Management plan refers to public

safety, health, sanitation, trash, but yet I don't see any specific references to

restroom facilities which can be an issue when you're having a lot of people

in an area can that be addressed in the management plan it can certainly be

added that said any event that is done within the entertainment zone requires a

special event permit from the city which explicitly outlines the amount of

restroom facilities that is required per event but we can certainly add that

land, which might be portable or temporary facilities as well as the

establishment the facilities within each of these establishments that are

participating? That's correct. I think those were the, did I ask you any other

questions that I didn't remember? There was one additional question about

ensuring that all participating businesses within an event has the

necessary ABC licenses and business license so we can incorporate that into

the management plan as well because by ensuring they have the business license

that also means they are basically a member of the bit the business

improvement district because they've paid that fee as well that's correct I

didn't have any further questions although I'd like to recommend that we

make those minor updates to the management plan so there's remote

ensure clarity and remove the likelihood of debating on the day of an event

whether porta-potties are required or not. No I appreciate that in fact this

item I was going to pull it as well because of clarification that I

re-licensed our last meeting a lot of calls came in from the media a lot of

social media everybody thinking that Walnut Creek is is going to the dogs now

because look what we've done and others can't wait to celebrate like it's 1999 so

So I appreciate the clarification on this.

It'll absolutely help spread the word of what this actually

means and what it doesn't mean.

Mayor, if I may, we actually prepared a slide that outlines

the three proposed changes brought forward

by Councilmember Silva.

That way, City Council can visualize what those are.

I can make a motion that includes them.

That's correct.

He's got a slide.

They're looking for the slide.

technology is not our friend tonight these are the three proposed changes to

the management plan under section Roman numeral numeral number two 1g under

sanitation measures we would add the language project sponsor to provide

restroom facilities required under the city's special event permit to address

the concerns about restrooms under section Roman numeral four 4b hours of

operation just to clarify that the hours specified under the ordinance is

different from the hours in the management plan at the end of the first

paragraph in parentheses we will add that which is less than what is allowed

under the Walnut Creek municipal code just so that to eliminate confusion and

Finally, under section Roman numeral number four, seven permits,

we will add to the end of the section that the project sponsor is

responsible for ensuring that all business establishments have

all the permits and licenses necessary to participate in the event,

including but not limited to ABC permits and city business licenses.

there's one other one in item section two item one b it rather than saying weekends and week days

it would say friday saturday and third and sunday through thursday right so we will explicitly

say the days so i'm happy to make the motion to approve item c with the typographical correction

that was provided at the dais that it's sp969 and then with the changes and the

updates to the proposed management plan and I will second that okay we have a

motion and a second Councilmember Silva aye Councilmember darlin aye

councilmember divani aye mayor pro tem Francois aye I would just like to thank

staff and Walnut Creek downtown for bringing this forward and working out

all the details. Well, I'm sorry? Sure, if you'd like to speak for a minute, of

course. Good evening, Kathy Hemingway, Walnut Creek downtown. I just wanted to

share that between now and the 30-day waiting period, information is available

on our website and so we have a web page just for the entertainment zone. So

there's facts and logistics and information available at walnutcreek

downtown.com. So thank you. Okay, thank you, Kathy. All right. I pulled item 2F

regarding the projects for fiscal year 26-27 proposed funding by SB 1, the road

repair, and I less questions and really more of I just wanted to make sure to

amplify the message regarding Nacy Valley Road. I get a lot of questions

especially living on the east side of Walnut Creek down in Nacy Valley Road

into the North Gate area a lot of questions come of when's road repair

going to be happening down Ignacio all the way down to the city limits so if we

could just talk a little bit more about that as it relates to this we'll get

that message out sure so first off thank you for you know I guess pulling this

comment let me speak on this but I'm Austin I'm assistant engineer for the

Public Works Division so as far as Ignacio Valley Road the plan is to go

construction next year in 2027. We're currently you know communicating with

Caltrans to receive the construction funding to provide or to construct that

project next year. That's the plan and that's what we are aiming for. And will

that be to complete all the work on Ignacio Valley Road or just one section

of it? I believe it's just Oak Grove. To Oak Grove Road. Oak City limits. To the city limits. Oak

road to the city limits which is up to the hill before you get down into

Concord great all right thank you very much Austin thank you I think your first

time up here right second you did great thank you and I will make the motion to

to approve item 2f second give a motion in a second

Mayor Wilk? Aye. Councilmember Darling? Aye. Councilmember Dibany? Aye. Councilmember Silva? Aye. Mayor Pro Tem Francois? Aye.

All right and lastly I pull items to G&H we already talked about these at the

start of the consent calendar but I just really wanted to mention because our

city attorney and city manager are far too humble to talk about how fortunate

we are to have them here and we did have their performance review a few weeks ago

And we are very fortunate to have Steve Mattis as our city attorney with Redwood Partners and our city manager.

Just to let you know, because I think we hear from Dan Butchley up here, and of course we know what he does within the city is essentially the CEO of this organization that we call the City of Walnut Creek.

We are basically the board of directors of that.

But we are, I hear from people, as my colleagues do, from throughout the region, from throughout the state.

they will come to us city managers from other cities come to us and tell us how

fortunate we are to have Dan Buckeye as a city manager. Newer city managers that

are in the East Bay have mentioned that they look to Dan as a mentor to help

their own progress. His financial acumen has got us through the pandemic

previously and helps keep us on a path where we can approve budgets even if

we've even have if we have to cut back on budgets by a little bit without

there being significant effect that the public sees and so a lot of it is done

in the background where our residents don't feel the impact as much and the

many challenging issues that Dan has helped us navigate through again the

the residents and a lot of visitors don't notice that and that's what we

like that's great but we recognize it within the City Council and that's why

we have we are happy to have Dan here as our city manager and that we have

reading that we have updated the contract and we look forward to having

Dan Buxley here as a city manager for many more years thank you and with that

I will make the motion to approve items to G&H. Second. We have a motion to

second. Mayor Wolk? Aye. Mayor Pro Tem Francois? Aye. Councilmember Darling? Aye. Councilmember

Council Member Silva. Aye. All right. On to public communications. This portion of

the meeting is reserved for comments on items not on the agenda. Under the

Brown Act, the council cannot act on items raised during public

communications but may respond briefly to statements made or questions posed,

request clarification, or refer the item to staff. Consistent with section 9.5 of

the City Council Handbook, 30 minutes will be allocated at this time for

public communications for items not on the agenda. Additional time for public

communications for items not on the agenda will be provided at the end of

the meeting if necessary. Written comments submitted have been posted to

the City's website for public review and are included in the meeting record but

will not be separately read into the record. And at this time I'll note that

the time is 6 39 and we will take public comments on items not on the agenda

until approximately 709 and then the remainder of any such comments at the

end of the open session portion of the meeting and if anybody would like to

speak on public communication now is the time to do so and please state your

name and city for the record yes just for the record before I start there's

three of us that'll be talking on the same subject okay good evening I'm Joe

Warren resident of the Woodlands section since 1985 this regards city

regulations in whatever form requiring rentals of property such as homes listed

through VRBO to be over 31 days tracking state law, but property across from me is

rented regularly a few days to two weeks under 31 days. The listing realtor agent

apparently has a long-term lease with the 13 year owner and sublets for short

periods but represents otherwise. This is clear from verbal listings including

user reviews and neighbors observations. City staff have known of this since at

least mid 2025. Code enforcement says that while planning had not directed the

agent to remove listings under 31 days, owner was advised to remove such

listings until a conditional use permit cup might be approved, yet rentals under 31 days

continue and staff seem to ignore.

On April 15th, I jointly emailed code enforcement and planning and copied the city manager.

I subsequently provided receipts.

Planning referenced a commission hearing schedule for May 28th, but did not ensure compliance.

also cited a more lenient standard for B&Bs that the agent might prevail but requires

a cup that does not exist.

Neighbors want action.

We expect the city to enforce its regulations in whatever form and not disregard residents

who are informed, who have informed of and documented violations.

Mr. Warren. Jan Warren, Woodlands. I'll be kind of short because we weren't sure

whether our neighbor could join us or not. Our husband had some health issues.

So I'm also here to speak about this house across from our driveway and I

actually brought it up in August and it was the first time I came to the City

Council, mentioned it at the regular City Council meeting in August. And then in

In November, I followed up on it with the mayor.

And there was some confusion later that I was hearing,

well, this agent was considered getting a use permit.

And then he was trying to get an appeal for it

and then pulled it back.

And so it took a couple of months

even heard what was going on and and and yet the the the short-term rentals have

been ongoing and so you know then they're all nice folks not a problem

with the people coming the problem is I brought it up because my concern was

about okay if somebody comes to our city and stays at one of our nice hotels the

city gets some revenue from that and if they're you know staying in somebody's

home, it's not a B&B, they're not fixing them breakfast. Are we getting any

funding? And if not, why not? And what sort of rules do we need? And we've just

we've talked to a lot of different people and emailed and it doesn't seem

like any one person is in charge of this and it's a business model for this

person. He's not the only property does this with and so we're interested in

What is the city's policy?

Does it apply to this house?

And if so, it should be enforced.

And if not, just let us know.

Thanks.

Thank you, Jan.

Good evening.

My name is Lisa Blanco from Walnut Creek.

And I am said neighbor.

And I'll just add just some color

to what Mr. and Mrs. Warren provided.

And so I first contacted the city about this property

because it was awoken at 3.30 AM in the morning

by a guest of this home looking for the,

they called it an Airbnb.

We have found it on VRBO repeatedly,

and you can certainly make a reservation

on Verbo, which is vacation rentals by owner.

The gentleman's not the owner.

I do know that because I've spoken with him.

He did represent the property as a long term rental.

He told me directly that that would be for a month or more

for people who are moving, et cetera.

But that's not the case at all because we

can see people coming and going and coming and going.

There's also been, oh, my time's running out.

OK, anyway, there have been.

You got 44 seconds.

You're good.

There has been, at least I know of,

from talking to neighbors in the area, some noise complaints

and things.

Also, there's a school two blocks away, an elementary school,

Valley Verde.

And so there's concerns among other neighbors

as well about their children coming and going to school

and having people kind of rotating in about every weekend

or so.

So that's pretty much it.

I have 11 seconds.

That's OK.

I'll not reclaim my time, as they say.

Thank you for listening.

Thank you very much.

I appreciate you, the three of you,

coming forward and bringing this up.

I know this has been an ongoing issue.

What I'd like to do is have you speak

to our director of community development, Erica Vandenbrand,

in the back and get some more details on this and the city will follow up thank

you do we have any more public comment tonight all right seeing none I will

close public communications does anybody beyond what we just heard does anybody

have anything directed to staff I had one mayor I think related to this it

might be helpful to get at some point a clarification on the rules on short-term

term rentals less than 30 days more than 30 days what's allowed what the permit

requirements are as a public service announcement at some point I think that

makes sense thank you I would agree with that I know state law has intervened on

telling us what the tenor tenure of those rentals can be I think so and I'm

not sure that a real estate agent that doesn't own the property can get a

conditional use permit that seems a little incongruous because the use

permit goes with the property owner's property, but I'm not the land use

attorney. Yeah, again, I think we've all seen this. This has been an ongoing

issue, so I think this does make sense to have staff follow up on things. Great,

thank you. So we'll close public communication now, and we'll bring it in

to council member and staff announcements, reports, and activities or requests, and

do we have any closed session announcements? Mayor, there were no

Reportable actions from closed session this evening and city manager report. Yeah

Excuse me

Good evening. Dan bucks. Should I city manager just wanted to highlight that this week is municipal clerks week and wanted to thank our

city clerk team Susie Martinez

Elena Branson and Sophia Jacobs for all their work that they do is

As your council knows but many do not our city clerk team does a lot behind the scenes. They are official record keepers

They are notaries. They manage some point if you ever wanted presentation and all the things that they manage that the public comes in

That are related to any official business

Associated with the city and then also they are active in working on elections to ensure that

They are safe and that they are fair and they are done accurately and appropriately in concert with the county clerk's office

So thank you for all you do and happy clerk's week

Thank you

Why don't we start with council member Davini on any of your activities?

Yes, good evening

So busy couple weeks on the 23rd of April. We had the state of the chamber and tourism

Update where we were able to hear from the the Chamber of Commerce and the Visitors Bureau on the progress they're making there

Was attended with our my fellow council members. So that was a good event

On that same day, we went to Rossmoor to hear from one of our gubernatorial candidates,

Katie Porter, and then later, Steve Lesher opened up the Lesher Theater and hosted Javier

Becerra, so it was great to hear from two candidates and to hear about their agenda

for California.

The following day, the 25th, we had the Author's Gala, that's the 15th anniversary of the Author's

Gala that supports our two Walnut Creek libraries. We were fortunate enough at

our table to have a Bay Area author, comedian, broadcaster, and entertainer

Brian Copeland. So I wanted to thank him personally for being there as well as

all the other authors who gave their time and to everyone who made that event

possible. It was a big fundraiser for our libraries and very appreciated.

The following day we had the Challenger baseball jamboree over at Heather Farms

where Mayor Wilk and I attended.

That's really turned into a great community event.

It's sponsored by our own Walnut Creek Else Club.

We have Boys Team Charity there, the Little League.

And what it is is it's what used to be a small kind

of baseball tournament has grown into one

of the largest events of its kind,

where kids with special needs come from cities near and far

to play in this tournament.

And it's really, really a joy to be a part of that.

We had then on the 27th, the Walnut Creek Police Department

had their awards ceremony.

So congratulations to all those in our police department

who received their awards.

It is very nice to see law enforcement getting

recognized here in Walnut Creek for the great work

that they're doing.

It was really a family affair, a great turnout,

and again a pleasure to be a part of. The 28th we were fortunate at our local rotary club to have

Chief Hibbs come and speak to us so thank you Chief Hibbs for speaking to the rotary club. We

got to listen to all that is current in policing here in Walnut Creek and so that was very

informative and appreciated. On the 29th the Teleferic Barcelona had their 10th anniversary

Celebration, it was a very impressive celebration

complete with music, and flamenco dancing, and food,

and drinks.

And so thank you for hosting that.

Thank you for having that event, inviting us,

Teleferic Barcelona, and congratulations

on your 10th anniversary.

See, on the 30th Cal Cities East Bay,

we had our division meeting.

There was an e-bike legislative, or e-bike update,

which I know has been a very important topic, not just

in our community, but in the communities across California.

There are no less than 12 legislative bills

that will be up this year in regards

to legislating e-bikes in our communities.

There was some discussion that these bills may not

be successful, partially to do with this being

the fiscal constraints right now at the state level

And if some of the bills require increased spending,

so that may be a challenge.

And also the ongoing issue of how

to enforce how to police these e-bikes when you can't tell

the difference now between a class one, a class two,

a class three e-bike, an unclassed e-bike, an e-moto.

They all look very similar.

And so a big struggle is how to construct

bill that will meaningfully reduce sort of the what we could say is maybe the abuse of

e-bikes or unclassed e-bikes and the dangers that they pose.

I want to remind everyone that on May 9th, so this Saturday, Sustainable Contra Costa is having their

5K run in the open space that is at 9 AM Marshall Drive.

It is to benefit Sustainable Contra Costa's youth leadership

team.

So there are still spots available.

I will be there with my family and hopefully

see some of you as well.

This past weekend, I want to recognize

we did earlier, National Police Week.

I've also wanted to take this time

to recognize this past weekend was national fallen firefighters memorial

weekend the flags were flown at half staff this past Sunday so we want to

remember and honor our brave men and women of the fire service who have given

their lives in the line of duty and that's all I have. Thank you council

member Davini Mayor Pro Tem Francois. Thank you mayor I wasn't quite that

busy. That was quite a list. Thank you for doing all that. After our last council

meeting, I had a makeup day for Read Across America because I wasn't feeling

well in March and got over to Buena Vista Elementary and was able to read to

Mrs. Choi's first grade class and that's a great that's a great activity. I would

encourage anyone who wants to restore their faith in humanity to go and spend

some time with some first graders and I was able to share with them one of my

favorite books from that time period, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble and they

had not it turns out it was a band book at one point for reasons unknown but it

was nothing controversial in it one young gentleman asked me at the end how

come you don't have any hair there's this thing called male pattern baldness

Oh, no, I said, well, everybody has different hairs.

Some people have blonde hair.

Some people have black hair.

Some people have no hair.

But we're all different, and it's OK.

So it's just refreshing to get that honesty

and have that interaction with young people.

I was also able to attend the quarterly chair,

vice chair commission update.

I'm going to let the mayor give more of an up.

It was good to hear from all the commissions.

there seems to be a lot going on in planning. One of the items we'll be

hearing tonight on the safety element was talked about. There's also some

comments about how they appreciated. Um, it's helpful when they get a housing

project come before them and they might have limited discretion that they can at

least, uh, have an environmental impact report explained to the public that the

impacts of the project have been addressed similar to the builder's

remedy project we had heard kind of earlier last month so I thought that

was helpful feedback. Also attended the Authors Gala and had a really nice

evening they raised a lot of money for our two libraries. Our author was Kevin

Smoclar who has written a number of books including that what attracted me

to him was he has delved into 80s pop culture and has written a book called

Brat Pack America, sort of about all the movies of that time frame and where

they're located and how that's, you know, spoke to that period in time in our

culture and it was fun to sit down and talk to him and he's also written a

recent book about women directors and so he's like an encyclopedic

mind in terms of film discography and he could, if you told him your

three favorite movies he would pick out kind of a deep cut and recommend it for

you so it was really fun to sit with him and interact and the mayor came over at

one point and shared in that and that was a good time. Along with council

member Silva, I serve on the Recycle Smart Board and we had a busy meeting a

week or two ago. We had our annual performance review evaluation of our

executive director. He got extremely high marks from all the members of the board

as well as his staff. We also adjusted our staff salary schedule and updated

our policy on how we allocate costs and revenues. Most of that is done on a per

tonnage basis. The one exception is on collection costs which are done by route

hours and that's we're going to keep that going for the time being until we

come up until we can adjust that rate salary schedule.

We also talked about the diversion recycling program

and budget.

And of note there, two programs.

There's the school recycling and organics program,

which has gone on for some years now.

And we'll get an update on that, I believe,

in our next meeting, or this meeting in May.

What I'm always impressed with is Walnut Creek schools

routinely get the waste buster award

for having diverted the most items out of the landfill

into the recycling and organic.

So proud of the kids for starting early

and learning those skills.

And then there will be, and I believe

this is the first time they're doing this authority-wide,

a household hazard waste drop-off event.

The details on that are to be determined,

Including the contents and the location and the date and so on but I'll give an update on that or councilmember Silva will

at a future meeting

And I believe that's it for my update. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Next councilmember

All right, we're going to jump over councilmember darling to councilmember Silva

I would continue on the recycle smart

Presentation just to clarify or elaborate on how we share costs. It's six agencies work together to form Recycle Smart

But we all have different rates that we in Walnut Creek's rates are different from those that are being used in Orinda and Danville and

The costs that we our expenses and our revenues are calculated based on

Sharing it's not the same

So in Walnut Creek the routes are flatter by and large than they are in Orinda

So, Arinda takes longer to pick up the garbage so they pay more in their collection rates.

And see, something you didn't know.

How would you share?

And so that's really important and so how we calculate that is really important.

And the other thing I would mention is in the school programs, what we hear about a

lot in recent years is they're getting better and better at the recycling, but the things

that they do is they share their food at lunchtime.

Now it's not a sandwich that's already been eaten.

It's basically if they have a piece of fruit, the kids are taught that if they have a piece

of fruit, they can put it into the share bin, and another kid can pick up that apple, for

example, and have that apple for lunch.

So they're taught to not throw away food, but somehow to put it back into circulation,

so to speak.

A couple of other things to mention.

I'm the liaison from the council to the Diablo Regional Arts Association and I was looking

through the calendar and there's a lot going on at the Lesher Center this coming few weeks

and so go to leisureartscenter.org and look at the calendar.

There are end of year performances and there are a lot of speakers and there's the arts

that are going on at the Bedford Gallery.

And then I will mention that in two weeks ago was the City Leaders Summit for the League

of California Cities.

There were about 400 of us in Sacramento.

There were two reasons to be in Sacramento.

One was to advocate for certain pieces of legislation that we're promoting with the

legislature.

There was a lot of things that we were advocating about.

From this area, we met with Assemblymember Bauer Kahin, with Assemblymember Anna Maria

Avalafarius and also with Senator Tim Grayson, and we talked about a number of bills that

we were promoting.

One is SB 922, that's Senator Laird's bill that will allow, it's going to clarify that

cities may recover the cost of street maintenance and road repair that results from the damage

of roads from very heavy vehicles like garbage trucks.

And so that's an important bill, and we were getting universally the assembly and

the senators, the assembly members and the senators were going, well, that makes sense.

So hopefully that will continue to move forward.

Another bill we were advocating for was in the homelessness and housing arena.

Two bills to mention, one is AB 2296 by Assemblymember Pappan out of the peninsula.

And it's basically, we're sponsoring a bill that would allow our cities to start earlier

on their housing elements, so we have more time to get it right. And then it

also requires the state to improve the housing element review process and

provide greater certainty, so being more objective and providing feedback. And

finally I would mention that we also advocated for a minimum one billion

dollars in ongoing funding to the Homeless Housing Assistance and

Prevention Grant Program. Right now it's been, it was a billion dollars per year

for a number of years and it was reduced last year to 500 million and it's sitting the January

proposal had it at 500 million so we're hoping to increase that funding and also we're advocating

to allocate 400 million dollars to fully implement Proposition 36 which is the public safety

constitutional amendment that the voters approved California voters approved like 80% in the

last general election. And so that, the Cal State Board also met during that

whole meeting, and a couple of things to note. We voted to take a no position on

a post position on the Howard Jarvis initiative that is moving toward the

ballot in November, and it's a constitutional amendment that would

change how local government can adopt certain taxes and prohibit existing and

future property transfer taxes that local governments may impose.

This could basically result in a loss of about $2 billion annually in

funds to city, municipal cities and counties across California.

But more importantly, or just as importantly, it's retroactive.

And so those have been all approved,

but those that are on the books right now and have been

approved by local voters would be null and void.

So there's a lawsuit waiting to happen if it's passed.

it's passed and we decided to take no position on a statewide ballot measure

that will be on the ballot in November that will remove the prohibition on

general law cities to enact public campaign financing. Currently charter

cities, a third of us in the state for charter cities are allowed to have

campaign financing programs for their local elections but general law cities

are not allowed and this initiative if approved will allow general law cities

like Walnut Creek, to put public financing, if we chose to do so, a public financing campaign

for the local elections.

So we took a no position on that, and there were other bills, but e-bikes were a robust

discussion for over an hour, so.

As they always are now.

Yes.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

All right, so my experience in going back to school

was distinctly different than the mayor pro tem.

I, as an MCE board member, John McCormick from Lafayette board

member and myself went back to school

and took about a week long class from two graduate professors

from the Haas School of Business on the energy economy.

And I tell you, I've never written so fast in my life

and said, wow, what are these people explaining to me?

But they were explaining to us how the energy markets have

changed over the last 20 years since the energy crisis

and with the onset of the community choice aggregates

and the kiso and everything.

And it did make a lot of what we do at MCE make more sense.

And Director McCormick and I, our heads

are now bigger as a result. We are

touring the Mulqueenie wind project tomorrow.

It's out of it's in the foothills over by Livermore

and it is a new project that MCE is going to build on.

One of the things that we've been trying to do at MCE,

we have a lot of solar which works during the day.

We're looking for additional power resources that work

when the sun is not shining and this is one

of the things we also have a large geothermal project coming

online as well as significant battery storage.

The city manager and myself went to the East Bay Mudd,

Luz Gomez, our local rep on the East Bay Mudd board,

had her local workshop.

I brought up the issue we had faced a couple years ago

with the cost of the water meters

for affordable housing as sometimes a real barrier.

And they said they are working on it.

And then I think the city manager brought up

making sure that good neighbors in the area

around the treatment facility and a few other things.

The mayor and I were at the Meals on Wheels ribbon cutting,

but I'll let you cover that.

I did the State of the Chamber Police Awards.

The Library Gala was especially fun.

Brian Copeland was at our table.

He was writing a thriller about somebody

that is trying to go through and prove a murder, whether or not

a murder occurred.

But he sets it in an area of the town of Hayward

that was not incorporated, where basically that

is the only place where people of color

could afford to live back in the last century,

and that the businesses that wanted to take over that area

did some things to encourage people to move,

including setting fires.

And my husband was like, really?

Did they do that?

I'm like, strange things happened back

during the days of redlining.

And so that was a really, he was a fun author to have.

And I do want to say a huge thanks to the mayor Pro Tem,

because his wife carried the burden this year

on setting that gala up.

And she did a great job.

And we appreciate you lending your wife

for such a wonderful job.

So thank you.

That's it.

All right, thank you.

I'll wrap it up here. Regarding the Authors' Gala, also Brian Copeland auctioned off that

people could be in his next book, their name could be in his next book. So that was a cool

auction item.

We didn't bid on that.

You didn't bid on that? And I am seated and helped with the auction and that was a lot

of fun too. And hopefully a lot of money was brought in for the library.

So there's mayors visits that happen typically every quarter, but usually three or four

times a year, and I happen to go to two in the last few weeks.

One of them was the Hilton Garden Inn, where myself, along with our city manager and our

economic development team, an assistant city manager visited the Hilton Garden Inn and

got a tour of their hotel.

That's the newest hotel property in Walnut Creek.

They seem to be doing a great weekday business occupancy, which is terrific to see.

tourism ministry doing as well as they are. And then just yesterday we were at

Original Joe's and met with the ownership and the management team there.

No surprise Original Joe's is now the busiest restaurant in Walnut Creek. And

they, by the way, just to let people know when we have a new restaurant that comes

in, this is obviously a bit of an outlier, but they have over 200 staff. They provide

200 jobs for our city and region. So we certainly support our local business

community. As we heard council member Davini state of the chamber just a

shout out to Angela Ashley the president of the chamber this year and Nicole

Hankton from Visit Walnut Creek giving a great overview of what we're what we've

had in the chamber and what we're looking forward to. You heard briefly

about the mayor and Mayor Pro Tem and chair breakfast roundtable so this is

the first time that we had a chance to meet our new chair person chair people

and vice-chairs of the different commissions and we always give an update

of what's happening not just in the city but in the different commissions and we

hear from staff and some of the different updates as well it's a great

way for the community and especially in this instance the chairs and the

commissions to find out what's happening truly before almost any other buddy in

the city so that's a plug for if you're interested in also getting an early year

to the ground of what's happening in the city apply for commissions when it comes

around again. Other things I did want to we we heard briefly about the Walnut

Creek PD award ceremonies I just want to shout out congratulations the all the

award honorees and Eric Young as officer of the year and officer Greg

Marswift who received our rookie of the year so big congrats out to them and

lots of openings celebrations reopening as we heard about teleferic Barcelona

Meals on Wheels in Shadelands now has their new Shadelands campus there, Diablo Ballet

just opened within the last two weeks as well.

And lest we forget, Taco Bell on North Main Street celebrated their 20th anniversary so

was there along with our economic development team as well.

They do a lot of business, by the way, just to let people know.

And then lastly, but not least, I do want to say that this afternoon we had Congressman

Mark DeSaulnier come and present us with a check for body-worn camera equipment

upgrades for one million dollars and this is the grant funding that came from

Washington our federal government let's spend this check and we'll get that

equipment and thank you to our police chief Ryan Hibbs and Captain Holly

Connors who are in attendance for this. This is why we continue to advocate at

our regional levels with county, our state levels with our with our Assembly

members and state senators, and our federal representatives that is Congress

members. So thank you very much Congressman DeSaulnier. And now for the

real fun stuff, the public hearings. So next on the agenda is adoption of a

resolution approving the Community Development Block Grant 2026-2027 Annual Action Plan Fiscal

Year 2027 Community Grant Program Funding Plan, an authorizing associated contract succeeding

$125,000. And I invite administrative analyst Jennifer Lamas, is it Lamas or Yamas?

Yamas.

Forward to provide the presentation. I want to make sure we get your name right for the record.

Thank you.

Good evening Mayor Wilk, Mayor Pro Tem Francois, council members, my name is Jennifer Yamas,

I'm a housing analyst in the community development department. For tonight's first public hearing

I will be presenting on the fiscal year 2027 community development block grant annual action

plan and the corresponding community grant program plan. Lots of technical difficulties tonight.

The city is an entitlement jurisdiction for the federal community development block grant known

as CDBG. As such the city is required to submit an annual action plan each year to the U.S. Department

of Housing and Urban Development. The annual action plan outlines how the city proposes to use

the federal funds that are granted for that program year. The fiscal year 2027 annual

action plan is due on June 3rd and represents the second year of the city's five-year CDBG

consolidated plan which sets overall priorities and long-term goals for

serving residents with the greatest needs. Fiscal year 2026 was an

application year during which a competitive request for proposals was

issued. Accordingly, fiscal year 27 is a renewal year. It begins on July 1st and

it means that programs that were funded last year may be considered for

continued funding based on performance and available resources. The city's

This community grant program serves as the primary mechanism for carrying the commitments

under the CDBG program.

The community grant program connects Walnut Creek residents to a broad network of services,

including crisis intervention, senior support, homeless services, job training, and affordable

housing.

These services are delivered by local and regional organizations.

For fiscal year 27, all programs requesting funding were also supported in fiscal year

26.

Collectively, all the programs addressed the consolidated plan's highest priorities, housing

stability, economic opportunity, and access to essential services for low-income residents.

The community grant program is supported through a combination of federal, state, and local

funding sources and is adjusted annually to reflect changes in funding availability.

For fiscal year 27, the total available funding is $1,050,232.

Taking into account the CDBG categories, as well as the school crisis counselor program,

the recommended fiscal year 27 community grant program funding total is $942,667, which includes

about 80,000 for grant administration. While it may appear that the total

available funding exceeds the recommended amount, it is important to

note that 150,000 of the available funding reflects a one-time pro housing

incentive program allocation designated to be spent over a three-year period and

is not an ongoing annual funding source. Staff recommend funding all renewal

programs at the full amounts requested. One program that required policy

consideration was the core dedicated outreach team. Prior to fiscal year 2022,

the city funded a halftime core team with the remaining 50% of time

contracted to the city of Concord. For fiscal year 2022, when faced with the

option of discontinuing core services or fully funding the team, the city elected

to fund a full-time team with the increased service level supported by

state PLHA grant funding that was available to the city at the time. For

fiscal year 27, in consultation with Contra Costa County Health Services, staff

evaluated two service models. A full-time core team at an estimated cost of about

300,000 and a half-time team at about 150,000. These represent the only

service levels currently offered. Under a half-time model, the core team would

operate at its original service levels and be shared with the neighboring

jurisdiction. Walnut Creek would receive designated service days supplemented by

county-wide core teams when the dedicated team is assigned elsewhere. The

county has indicated that this model is operationally feasible and appropriate

for Walnut Creek as it allows the city to maintain access to dedicated outreach

services while more efficiently allocating resources and preserving

funding capacity for future needs. The halftime model right sizes the level of

service with Walnut Creek's current needs and service demand. On April 16th,

the city's Housing and Community Development Committee considered these

options and supported returning to a halftime core dedicated outreach model

with the understanding that the city would coordinate with the assigned

neighboring jurisdiction to optimize service delivery. Consistent with the

committee's direction, the total funding recommended in the agenda report as well

as the annual action plan assumes a halftime court team. In conclusion staff

requests the City Council adopt a resolution approving the 2026 through

2027 annual action plan which includes the fiscal year 27 funding plan. The

resolution also authorizes the city manager to execute community grant

program contract amendments for agreements exceeding $125,000 and staff

is available for questions. Thank you so much. Do we have any questions? Council member

Davini. Jennifer thank you for the presentation. Every five years there's

the RFP for who we're gonna fund with the CDPG grant money. Is that is it a

assumed that, I mean I'm thinking if I'm another organization and there's so many good ones

in the community, is it assumed at that point that if those agencies continue to perform

that they're more or less locked in for the five years and then it's at the end of the

five years that we go out for RFP again and entertain new organizations?

Sure.

I can clarify.

Can we go back to that?

So I can clarify the consolidated plan period.

So there's actually, so it's a two-year cycle and a three-year cycle.

So we're at the end of the two-year cycle.

So next year is the beginning of the three-year cycle, which a new competitive request for

proposals will be issued, and at that time, any organization can apply.

Okay.

Thank you for that clarification.

If we were to adopt the recommendations, we'd have a little money left over.

Does that go back into the PIP fund?

It would remain in the PIP fund.

Yes.

OK, OK.

And then I just wanted to add to there

was a question earlier from the community about,

we are spending $2.9 million, but we have $7 million

in our fund for affordable housing, right?

So you clarified I had this question for you earlier

in the day, and so I thought maybe other people would

have the same question, which is how do we wind up

with $7 million there?

It's just there haven't been a lot of affordable housing

projects in the city, and that's why we've

accumulated $7 million, and we are now

having some come to fruition, and that's

where the $2.9 million is getting spent.

We have more left over to spend on other projects.

Correct, yeah.

So annually, we issue the affordable housing

requests for proposals if council allows it and so at that point the the RFP gets

issued typically around October it closes December we evaluate the

proposals with a panel consists that consists of various city departments and

then based on the scores we make the recommendations for projects to be

funded great thank you councilmember darling no I think we had a good

discussion of this at the committee, the halftime core

team, if wishes were horses, we would be able to keep going.

But in light of when we decided to go to a full time,

it was because a halftime wasn't available.

And so staff assured me that the halftime was

right size for our community, especially knowing

that our hop team through PD is fully stood up in the field

this point so. Okay. Councilmember Silva. I do have a couple questions but just to

add and elaborate on the comment. We also heard after the meeting as in a

sidebar conversation with some of our providers that there perhaps is another

way to deliver those services, social services, an alternative service delivery

model to the county and so perhaps we would have staff to take a look at those

issues and opportunities in the coming year before this comes back. Um, two

questions. Well, one is a comment which is the funds that we provide for

affordable housing projects are from our how affordable housing fund and our

commercial linkage fee. Those funds are different from the we don't have

anything up on in front of us. So if you could go back to the sources of funds

that slide. Those CDBG funds to clarify are from the federal government, the

Housing and Urban Development Department. And then the other funds that are there

are all city funds from the general fund that have been allocated and set into

special funds. With the exception of the pro-housing incentive. Pro-housing incentive which

comes from the state. Yes. And maybe if they decide to, the state decides to open

up their coffers a little bit there might be some HAP money that would be

coming down the pike but we'll we're not going to hope hold our breath. So that's

just clarification. We can't take these funds, well are any of these funds

available to be put toward affordable housing projects? Yeah so CDBG does have

caps and how we can use the money. 65% must be allocated to economic

development and infrastructure and housing activities. And so the programs

that we currently have under that umbrella include Habitat for Humanity's

low-income home rehabilitation program. And then we have some really great

economic development programs through Cocoa Kids, Trinity Center, and so that

kind of is what fits under that umbrella. So we're able to use some of the funds

but probably not enough of the funds would aggregate together. Right I think

it's about 260,000 that would be allowed from that amount yeah. And another

question part of what we have to approve is that the city manager would sign for

the contracts that exceed 125,000. Yes. Somewhere in here I saw that there's a

reference to five of them but I only count four that exceed $125,000. There's

only four if I made a mistake of five. Okay, great. Thank you. The fifth one

was $82,000 for Habitat for Humanity. So the clarification with that is

that because we're amending it it would go over $125,000. Great, thank you.

I didn't ask my question the right way. Thank you very much, Mayor. Mayor

Okay coming in I've got just two questions on the PIP funding yes the

total for that is a million right yes we've got 150 here where is the rest of

that money yeah so 150,000 is designated for homeless services and 800,000 is

designated for the creation and preservation of affordable housing and

and then $50,000 for a grant administration.

And that application we applied last year,

I think it was March maybe, or maybe later in the year.

And those options were presented to council,

and that was what we submitted to the state.

OK.

Mm-hmm.

Thank you.

For the reminder, the large chunk of that money

then goes into the affordable housing fund?

Correct, yeah.

Got it.

And then in terms of sharing the cost of the core team,

Do we know which other jurisdiction

we're likely to come with?

Not yet.

Yeah.

That's it.

Can I circle back just really quickly?

Yes.

Has the 800,000 that's in the PIP funds,

has that been allocated to, for example,

is it in the bucket that went to SAHA today?

No, it's not.

It will be part of this new RFP.

Great.

Thank you.

All right, thank you so much.

Let's open it up if there's any questions from the public.

And we'll open that up for public comment.

please step forward to the podium.

Please also complete a speaker card.

Cards are available on the counter

near the entrance doorway.

And once at the podium, please introduce yourself

and city of residence for the record.

Consistent with city policies.

Related to public comments,

each speaker will have two minutes to make your remarks.

Written comments submitted, if any,

have been posted to the city's website

for public review and are included in the meeting record

but will not be separately read to the record.

Hello.

Hello. Good evening Mayor, Council members, City staff. I'm Molly Fauclop. I'm a Walnut Creek resident and I'm also a board chair for Trinity Center, and I'm here tonight to express our deep appreciation for the city's continued leadership through the Community Grant Program and to underscore just how essential this funding is to the people that we serve every day.

At Trinity Center, this supports three critical programs.

Our day shelter program,

which provides a safe welcoming place

where individuals can access meals, showers,

case management, and connection to housing resources.

For many, this is the front door to stability.

The winter evening shelter program

provides life-saving refuge

during the coldest and most dangerous months of the year.

And our workforce development program

creates pathways out of homelessness

by helping individuals build skills, gain employment,

and move towards long-term independence.

Together, these programs perform a continuum of care

from crisis response to long-term stability

that aligns with the city's priorities

and Trinity's mission.

We also recognize this year represents real challenges,

particularly with the loss

of some of the state housing funds.

And this makes the city's commitment

to maintaining support even more meaningful.

Last year alone, Trinity Center welcomed over 1,450 unique individuals, more than 18,000

services, times providing over 47,000 services.

I get those numbers hard to say altogether, but these numbers are real people, neighbors

working every day to move forward, and your support makes that possible.

So on behalf of Trinity Center staff, members, and the board, thank you for your partnership

been for continuing to prioritize these essential services that strengthen our

community. Thank you very much. Just a quick question. So if somebody was moved

to help Trinity Center, what would be a good fundraiser for them to attend? Oh,

there would be a gala on the 14th of May at the Lafayette Park Hotel and if you can't

attend you can always donate but we're gonna see lots of you there and I

appreciate your support. Thank you and thank you for everything that Trinity

Thank you. Thank you, Molly. Good evening. My name is Matt. I work for Contra Costa

Senior Legal Services. I'm a resident of Concord, but we serve the whole county.

Just I want to echo a lot of what was just said and thank you for the vote to

support the social services. Senior, and maybe some of you are even even among

that category of seniors. But it's a growing group of people and they can be fairly vulnerable.

Their income is often limited and in a world of rising costs that is not a recipe for success.

And so the number of seniors that we see coming to us, looking for help, is growing year by

year, the funding is not. And so we're grateful that you're maintaining this funding. It's

not your problem to fix the world of funding that's supposed to be supporting our seniors.

But I just want you to think about how in a lot of places funding is being cut back,

and yet the number of seniors is growing. And that's just a policy issue that the world

needs to address at some point. But I'm very grateful for all of you. This is actually

our 50th year in the county, so wish us a happy birthday. We're having our big birthday

party on September 9th at Boundary Oak, and you're all invited. So thank you for supporting

all of the great social services. I shall speak on behalf of all those Choice and Aging,

Empowered Aging. I'm trying to remember there's four senior services, and I think Meals on

wheels and us. So thank you for on behalf of all of us that serve seniors.

Thank you very much. All right. Let's bring it back to council if there's any

further comments any further questions or a motion. I just wanted to say for

all the every time I look at the CBD program in this solicitation I am blown

away with how much these applicants are doing with so little money and they're

doing it for our vulnerable seniors for you know homeless folks for just a

whole different variety of people and I really appreciate it I really appreciate

the effort they put into it and I would move to adopt the resolution approving

the 26 27 annual action plan including the FY 27 funding plan and authorizing

the city manager to execute community grant program contract amendments for

five agreements exceeding 125,000. I will second the motion if we can add and

direct staff to explore alternative service delivery models for the outreach

services that we've had to cut back from the county. I'll accept that amendment.

We have a motion and a second. Council Member Darling. Yes. Council Member Silva. Aye. Council Member Dibany. Aye.

Your Pro Tem Francois. Yes. All right, moving right along. Next item on the agenda is a

public hearing for the adoption of resolutions adopting a negative

declaration and approving a general plan amendment to update a safety element to

comply with state law. I invite principal planner. Can I ask a question? Okay. The

third item seems very short. Should we ask if they would like to go first? So there

are questions. Okay. So okay. All right. We're ready to go anyway. So okay. Invite

principal planner Crystal Dacastro forward to provide the presentation. Hi.

Thank you. I'm Allison Rustic associate planner with community development

development department, Crystal DiCastro is also here in support.

I'm here.

Good evening, Mayor Wilk, Mayor Pro Tem, Francois,

and members of the council.

Before you tonight is the safety element

update, which reflects current state requirements

and strengthens the city's approach towards hazards,

emergency preparedness, and long-term resilience.

This update would not have been possible without participation

from our community, our safety subcommittee,

which was comprised of staff from the city manager's office,

the public works department, the police department,

our community development department,

and Contra Costa County Fire Prevention District.

Of course, most importantly, our consultant team

who has been vital in helping us with this effort, Harris

Associates which has led by Darren Newfeld, Senior Director. I will now turn

it over to Darren who will walk you through key highlights of the update.

Good evening Mayor Wilk and council members. My name is Darren Newfeld. The

item before you tonight is an update to the General Plan safety element. To start

I'll provide a brief overview of the General Plan and the role of the safety

The general plan is a state-mandated long-term policy framework that guides

the future of development of the city. The safety element is one of the

required elements of the general plan. It addresses risks from natural and human

caused hazards including wildfires, floods, droughts, earthquakes, and climate

change. Its purpose is to integrate safety considerations into land use and

transportation planning to reduce risk to life, property, and the local economy.

This is achieved through goals, policies, and actions that help the city prepare

for hazards, respond effectively during emergencies, and reduce long-term

vulnerability. With that, I'll walk through why an update to the safety

element is needed. The city's current safety element was last adopted in 2006

with the adoption of the 2025 general plan. Since then, several key updates and

regulatory changes have occurred that have triggered the need for an update.

The housing element was adopted and certified in 2023. State law requires

that the safety element be reviewed and updated concurrently with the housing

element. The city adopted its local hazard mitigation plan or LHMP in 2025

which outlines strategies for hazard preparedness and response following

state and FEMA requirements. Recent legislation has expanded the safety

element requirements to address specific hazards such as wildfire and flooding,

incorporate climate adaptation strategies, and evaluate evacuation routes

for capacity and reliability. Together, these changes require the safety element

To be updated to remain consistent with current data involving conditions and state law.

The city initiated the safety element update in 2022 alongside the housing element update.

The process included data collection and hazard identification, community outreach,

technical analysis, such as the vulnerability and evacuation assessments,

and the development of updated goals, policies, and implementation actions.

During this time Contra Costa County was updating its LHMP and the state was

revising their fire hazard severity zone maps. Because both were critical to the

safety element update, the process was temporarily paused until those efforts

were completed. The safety element update has since resumed and incorporates both

of these updated resources along with new state requirements. A key part of

process was community outreach which helped inform the update. Outreach

included two public workshops and an online survey. Participants identified

top concerns as climate change, drought, extreme heat and wildfire risk. Many

shared experiences with poor air quality from wildfires and emphasized the

importance of vegetation management like removing dead trees to reduce fire

spread. Most respondents also reported experiencing power outages during

extreme weather events and relatively few felt prepared for emergencies,

highlighting the need for improved public education and evacuation planning.

This feedback informed the priorities of the safety element update. In addition to

community input, the update was guided by a cross-departmental team of partner

agencies. A cross-departmental team, also known as the Safety Subcommittee, with

support from partner agencies and the consultant team, provided technical

guidance throughout the process. The subcommittee ensured alignment with the

city's vision and existing policies, including the Sustainability Action Plan

and the LHMP. They conducted a thorough review of draft and final documents to

ensure consistency with City policies, state laws and community concerns. By

combining technical guidance with community input, the safety element is

both data-driven and reflective of resident priorities. Building on that

input and coordination, I will now summarize the key updates in the draft

safety element. The draft safety element update builds on the City's existing

safety element and continues to address core hazards like seismic activity, flooding, hazardous

materials, fire, and public safety.

The most significant updates focus on two areas, emergency planning and preparedness

and climate adaptation and resilience.

There are new goals to increase community preparedness and reduce climate-related vulnerability

and strengthened evacuation planning policies

based on route analysis.

There is a new section addressing climate change impacts,

especially on vulnerable populations.

There are policies to prepare for hazards

like extreme heat, heavy precipitation, and drought.

And additional updates include stronger wildfire

and vegetation management policies,

and expanded public education and outreach

for residences and businesses.

The Safety Element Update also supports implementation of Assembly Bill 2140, which allows jurisdictions

incorporating federally approved LHMPs into the Safety Element to qualify for additional

state cost-sharing funding for eligible disaster recovery projects subject to legislative approval.

An initial study was prepared in accordance with the California Environmental Quality

Act.

The analysis determined that the update would not result in significant environmental impacts

and a negative declaration was prepared.

The initial study, negative declaration, and draft safety element update were circulated

for public review from February 9th to March 11th.

During the period, the city received five comment letters, none of which required substantial

revisions.

One comment letter from the California Geological Survey recommended expanding discussion of

landslide risks and updating the fault zone maps as new data becomes available.

The state is currently updating their maps with revisions expected in May and November,

which will be incorporated into the safety element once released.

These informational updates will not affect the goals, policies, or actions of the safety

element update. On March 26 the Planning Commission reviewed and considered the

item. Planning Commission considered and recommended council adopt the negative

declaration and safety element update to the general plan. This concludes our

presentation and we are available for questions. Thank you. Appreciate the

update there. That's questions. Councilmember Silva, you have questions? I have a few, thank

you, and I submitted many of my questions in writing so and they were answered a

lot of them in the errata sheets that we received. Okay. But let's go back to the

beginning. So in 2005, we adopt, or 2006, we adopted general plan 2025 and chapter

6 at that time was the safety and noise element. So now we've removed the old

safety sections. Is chapter 6 going to remain as just noise element? That is

correct. And then where does this one go? And I know we're starting the general

plan process but I feel like I'm a little bit in no man's land. What do we

do with this document and all the other documents that are now attached to it,

the LMPH and etc. Similar to our housing element it'll be a standalone element so

it will still be a portion of the general plan. It just won't be numbered

as a chapter as the other chapters are in the 2006 version. Okay so then as we

go through into the new general plan will it come back into the new general

plan then in two to four to five years,

depending on how long it takes us to get that done.

Correct.

All right.

So all these pieces of legislation

seem to have come up with a long list of triggering

events, which is somewhat interesting when

you talk about safety and hazards.

And it seems like if you're redoing your housing element,

which we do every eight years, you

have to do the safety element again.

If we're doing a general plan, we

have to do the safety element.

How many times are we going to do the safety element again

over the next five or six years?

Well, the government code, as it currently reads,

the law can get passed, and we could be required

to update for other reasons.

But the government code says to update

at least every eight years in conjunction

with the housing element or the LHMP as necessary.

So we are updating with current state law now.

Depending on what happens in that time frame,

it may not be necessary.

Wholesale revision may not be necessary. It just depends on what the state does

And how the general plan changes, but each time we know we're about to touch the general plan

And then the housing element is going to come pretty close right after the completion of the update to the general plan

So do we anticipate looking at this?

again

Twice in the next few years and that's might be good because there's a lot of work to embrace

Yeah, so the safety element so land use housing circulation open space have to incorporate safety element policies

to reduce public exposure to the population

public safety information helps guide where various land uses are

Located the transportation element will provide

framework for safe and efficient circulation, which is a

beneficial for evacuation in the safety element so as the other elements get updated and open space as well will be

Critical to protect hazard hazard situations as well. So as those elements get updated

the safety element

So we hear a lot about I'm changing subjects just slightly here

landscaping outdoor items and residential

homes, and zone zero regulations, etc. I know CAL FIRE is working on that, the state

fire marshal. What's going to happen with that? And has it been addressed in here adequately

for the time being?

We have revised one of our policies to make reference to the CAL FIRE zones, zone zero,

one two and I think all the way up to three by recommendation and that zone

zero is the first five feet so that is now in a policy to educate and encourage

those that information for residences. We get asked about that at the farmers

market. You're gonna make me take out all my landscaping within five feet of the

I know.

Another question, and just for a reminder to my council colleagues, I am a governor

and appointee to the California Seismic Safety Commission.

One of the things CAL FIRE, which we're a part of CAL OAS, talk about now a lot is fire

following earthquake.

The worst-case scenario is an earthquake occurs, and not only does it damage your home, but

damages the water lines, it causes gas lines to break, fires to start, and then

if water lines break, the supply of water available to fight the fire is

now diminished. It's multi-hazards. Have we addressed that in here or so we

can become more aware of it? It seems like the safety chapter seems to

have individual seismic, fire, landslides, and it's like, no, what if they all

happen at once. Yeah, which is part of why the government code asks us to look

at water pressure and things like that so that as a baseline we're already set

up with the right pressure to begin with because to your point all that drops

during emergency or can drop during emergency. So we have updated the element to

specifically point out that earthquakes can be a major cause of fires afterwards

and then the evacuation route analysis just looks at fires in general but which

could be caused by a whole host of things including earthquakes or down

power lines. Okay, thank you. My last question is really about the evacuation

routes. Whole chapter on it was really fascinating. Ooh, how do you go from here

to here? What is the intent of having the analysis? It's not really, I would

assume it's not really to tell people what to do exactly and where to go.

I live on one of those streets that has only one way in and out and it's over a

bridge with water under it. So what is the intent? What is this document

supposed to tell us to do or the public to do? So the the main intent be behind

the evacuation route analysis which is required through a few different state

laws that we're supposed to look at the under a host of scenarios and so there

could be an infinite number of scenarios but with the safety subcommittee we

chose the scenarios that were in the document those scenarios are principally

developed to inform goals policies and actions for the city to take it is not

an emergency management plan it won't be picked up by somebody if there's an

emergency. It's really just to inform and guide development of the goals,

policies, and objectives for the future. So then does it dovetail into the

general plan process related to the circulation element? Yes, yes. Great, thank

you. And we we did most and basically how it does it is we look at the capacity of

roadways and those are roadways you want to get to, the greatest capacity. So, yeah.

Just a couple quick questions. On the zone zero and the right now it sounds

that we are encouraging non-conforming development to update contemporary fire

standards and I know that that could get replaced by what the state fire

marshal does. One of the things that is frequently very confusing to people that

come up to me at the farmers market is that your home insurance doesn't care

what this plan says your home insurance wants what it wants correct note

everybody at home they're shaking their heads so people that I know that have

had the most draconian things happen it's usually in response to their

homeowners insurance not to a city inspector and that's just the way that

That is.

And then on the evacuation routes, I know that the sensitivity of when you call for

evacuation was a question in some of the recent fires, particularly in Paradise and some of

the areas up there.

Were those learnings incorporated into the work that you guys did on when you call for

an evacuation?

soon do you call if it's in a congested area? Yeah so we we did through the

safety subcommittee we did work with Contra Costa Fire Protection District

and police who whom are here we do have Deputy Fire Chief McAllister and Captain

Connors if we have further questions on lessons learned and things like that

from previous wildfires but I understand yes. Yeah and then I know we have a

a cabin in a high fire area and watch duty 10 has just blown all other reporting mechanisms

out of the water as far as knowing what's going on in real time have we talked about

integrating with the nonprofit watch duty app or you know.

To my knowledge it's not specific to which app but the element does make it a point to

incorporate communications, improvements, and things of that nature.

Okay.

Yeah.

The evacuation route analysis also has a section on lessons learned and tools to consider which

we list the known apps, or at least some of them, and programs, many of which Fire is

aware of and investigating and already uses.

And I'd also just quickly add that we wanted to keep it also a little bit general because

It may change over years.

Stuff has changed fastly on this stuff, yes.

Those were my questions.

Thank you, guys.

OK.

Thank you.

And we have any further questions.

So let's close the questions for now.

We'll open it up to the public.

And is there anybody from the public

that would like to make any comments here?

Please complete a speaker card and come on up.

You'll have two minutes.

And there isn't anybody.

So you did a great job.

there's no more comments. All right we'll close the public comment portion

bring it back to council for either further comments or a motion.

First of all I want to start by thanking staff and the community for

being involved and all of the various agencies that came together to work on

these. They are you when you read this you get I mean I found myself getting

emotional with worry if we don't plan we can't be prepared to be respond to

these things so planning is a good thing to do plan ahead but it's also

mindful that we all have to take individual responsibility for these

things it is not local government cannot protect they don't have a bubble that

they can put around everybody and then nothing will happen instead we have to

be working together as a community so thank you for the work thank you for

helping to prepare the plan and I'm happy to make the motion to adopt the

resolutions adopting a negative declaration and approving a general plan

amendment to update the safety element to comply with state law including the

amendments that were provided tonight at the dais. I'll second. We have a motion and a

second. Councilmember Silva? Aye. Mayor Will? Aye. Councilmember Darlene? Aye. Councilmember Davenne? Aye. Mayor Pro Tem Francois? Aye.

All right I think we have a fairly sure thank you very much we probably have a

pretty short item, but if people need me to stop for a break.

Okay, let's take a five-minute break. We will resume at 8 o'clock.

We've got to let me know beforehand.

All right. Welcome back. We have our last item on the agenda, which is a public hearing

for the adoption of a resolution making required findings pursuant to Government Code Section

4217 E.T. SEQ approving sole-source energy services contracts and authorizing the City

Manager to execute such contracts with eco-green solutions for energy-efficient lighting improvements

for City-owned facilities and authorizing associated Pacific Gas and Electric, or PG&E,

on-bill loan financing, and inviting Director Rich Payne from Public Works forward to provide

their presentation.

Yes, thank you, Mayor. As you said, my name is Rich Payne. I'm your Public Works Director, and good evening, Council.

Tonight, I will be presenting a resolution for your consideration to adopt the required findings under Government Code 4217.

The action would authorize the City Manager to enter into three sole source contracts with eco-green solutions

for turn key lighting upgrades at three facilities

and to execute on-bill financing with PG&E to fund the project.

Okay. So what is on-bill financing?

In this case, on-bill financing is a PG&E program

that provides eligible public agencies with zero financing

for energy efficiency improvements.

improvements. To qualify for these improvements, you need to generate utility savings and those savings are then used to repay the cost over time through the utility bill.

This allows us to compete needed energy savings improvements while supporting sustainability and minimizing upfront capital costs.

To streamline the process, we are using government code AB 4217,

which allows municipalities to award green energy projects

without going through a complicated RFP process.

So this illustrates how simple it is.

The city of Walnut Creek enters an agreement with PG&E.

PG&E pays EcoGreen to come in and do the work.

And then we reap the benefits.

And the benefits are pretty straightforward.

Minimal upfront capital costs.

The energy savings helps offset repayment of the lighting

project in this case.

And then it supports our sustainability goals.

We've used this on-bill financing process

before on many of our projects.

As you know, about 95% of our street lights

have been paid through on-bill financing

from all the savings.

Some of you are here at the time,

but we replaced all the HVAC units at Shadelands,

the gardens at Heather, and also Lindsay Wildlife.

And then all of our city-owned garages

have been retrofitted with LEDs.

So we've tested and proved that this process is really

a great program.

So our project scope includes three buildings,

the Lesher and the Clay Arts and the WC library on the Creek Library and as you might know

the Clay Arts is probably the oldest building up here and you know it's still has fluorescent

lighting and so the savings in this building is going to be substantial. The Lesher still

has fluorescence throughout. And then, which was surprising, the library actually has fluorescence

lighting as well. So there was a lot of good opportunity to upgrade that building as well

with lighting. This is pretty substantial savings if you look at this chart. It shows

how the lighting upgrades translates into real energy and cost savings. At the Clay

arts facility we expect the largest percentage reduction at 64%. At the

leisure we're expecting 46% reduction at 9,600 per year. And then at the

library we're expecting a 56% reduction and the highest financial

impact, saving about $29,000 a year. And the bar on the right, if you could just look

at the comparison between what we're currently paying and what it looks like after we install

LEDs. It's a pretty compelling argument. Next slide shows overall we're looking at the project

cost of about $404,000. We included a contingency of $40,000. As of right now, we don't know.

We don't know. And as we get into these projects, we might run into the need for an electrical

upgrade or run into some hazardous material that might require additional work. We're

hoping that that doesn't happen and as we go through this, we're hoping that we don't

use any of that contingency and the project goes smoothly.

But the estimated annual savings, as you can see, is $41,500, which is substantial.

And over 10 years, which is really the duration of the on-bill financing, we're looking at

$415,000.

And this last number here is estimated energy savings of about 1.2 million kilowatt hours

of power in terms of the reductions. So tonight I'm proposing at this time and

requesting City Council to approve and adopt the resolution approving to

sole-source energy services service contracts and authorize the city manager

to execute such contracts with eco green solutions incorporated for energy

efficient improvements for city-owned facilities and and authorize associated

PG&E on-bill financing. At this time I'll take questions. Thank you, Rich. Yes,

Council Member Darling. Thank you, Rich. This is a great, you know, I was looking at

there was a graph showing electrical use in the United States and there what went

to each one. Lighting used to be way up there and now it's way down there. So

This is a great project.

I was curious, you have estimates of cost savings.

What are the assumptions about future rates and rate,

you know, we all assume rates are going up,

but what were the assumptions about the?

So I have the consultant with EcoGreen here.

His name is Anthony Mitchell.

Do you want to come up and answer that question?

Well, Anthony, come on over.

Come up here.

Hi there, my name's Anthony Mitchell.

managing director of Echo Green Solutions. The question you asked is really a kind

of a crystal ball question, right, but I can tell you that we do hear rumblings

of requests from the Public Utility Commission and the utility specifically

asking the PUC, hey I want to increase dollars and cents and rates. What we were

told is that they've already drafted a proposal to increase your rates by 14%

over the next 12 months. We've also been told through, because we also have a

renewable side which we do work hand-in-hand with MCE. MCE also did get

involved in these projects to figure out what they could do and PG&E had

basically was the best deal that they could get you guys right. That was gonna be my

next question. Yeah yeah so so what we have been told though is by the end of

2030 going to 2031 double what you guys are paying now and that's coming from just all

the incentives going away with the federal incentives in the solar and the

battery space. After that the last really big incentive is programs such as this

which is still basically brick and mortar through the utility commission and through the utility directly and then

There are some rumblings that hydrogen might be around about 2035

Right, and so we're just trying to use those dollars while they're there for you guys

So in coming up with the cost estimates you use the current MCE rates because we're on MCE deep green

I believe in the city and you use that and projected it forward if the the rates

change

If the rate change is not as quick and the savings are not as dramatic. What happens?

Can we extend out the financing or is it limit? So they're giving you guys a 10-year program

If the rates go up, it just means that tomorrow's dollar is worth more obviously than today, right?

So what we're trying to do is use today's

Make today's story because that's basically take a pinpoint in time and say okay

We're gonna start with today's rates knowing that they're gonna continue to climb

It's hard for them to basically say hey three years from now

you're gonna pay X amount more because that's obviously a bunch of things that

to do to get that passed right some pass them don't they actually were trying to

do one last year that didn't get passed right so as it continues to go up it

just means that well one they give you conservative hours they only let us use

about 40 to 50 percent of the actual runtime right so the other hours that

you were using that that goes back to the city that you guys get the savings

directly the utility doesn't say hey you saved my energy you owe me one right so

So the savings that you actually get becomes more valuable.

So the risk is it are we bearing the risk that the rate or the utility PG&E bearing

the risk that the usage doesn't pencil out rates change in a way that doesn't isn't reflected

here.

The risk is so the program is fixed as the they haven't lowered rates a very long time

Because the risk is basically on PG&E to make sure that the PUC is approving the paperwork.

That's why they're ultra conservative, because what they don't want to have happen is your

bills to increase.

So the intention is to have it bill neutral to where the savings pays for it.

And in that, they don't allow us to claim all the hours.

They actually buffer the hours.

For instance, if the rights are on all night long, they only let us claim a percentage

of those hours to make sure they're not pushing the bloody edge of the envelope, right?

So they're ultra conservative on the hours that they let us use.

And then the bill is an average over the last 12 months usage as far as the consumption

and the rates that you've been paying.

And then from there they say, okay, we're going to basically take this point in time

and say, here's where we're going to make the contract calculations at.

And then they know that it's not going to go down.

It's going to basically increase in this time forward.

So what they're looking at is the usage.

As long as the usage stays the same, everything is bill neutral.

If your usage goes up, all the additional usage and costs that you guys would accrue,

you actually get all that savings.

PG&E doesn't bill you back for that.

So it's a flat fixed amount they take every single month for the duration of the program.

Okay.

So if the rates don't increase, I guess I –

Maybe another way of – I understand what your question is, a good question.

What's our – generally, our experience been with some of the other programs with

the 10-year programs and the on-bill financing.

Have they been, basically, revenue neutral?

Actually, they've done better than expected.

So with regard to the savings.

During periods when there were rate increases.

Right.

Yeah.

And to the extent that they are greater,

we get the benefit of that.

It doesn't go to PG&E.

Yes.

Yeah.

That's correct.

I was trying to.

I'm looking at your face.

Yeah.

He's saying, yes, really, yeah.

Yeah, it is.

Yeah, we deal with this sometimes in natural gas

on my day job.

And sometimes, the difference in what ends up happening

can go to different people, depending on.

So I just want to make sure the city gets the benefit

if it comes in our favor.

Yeah, it's hard to project.

It is hard to project.

And it's so volatile right now with regard.

I mean, you know better than I do.

Just it's crazy in terms of the cost of energy right now.

So.

Yeah.

OK.

Thanks.

Council member Divinity?

A couple just quick ones.

I was curious just I mean $404,000 worth of light bulbs.

It's like mind-blowing number of light bulbs.

The lumens, will you try to keep the lighting the same?

Is there an opportunity to improve lighting in areas

while we're doing this?

That was sort of one question.

So we actually have conducted demos with staff.

And so what we did is we actually took in,

we used the facilities and used the Like for Like

to make sure that you guys would see what you're getting.

We matched the color, we matched the lumen output,

and the spread, so to speak, as far as the coverage

on the floor, right?

And so all of them came in and said this is satisfactory.

Typically they're about 20% brighter.

And so if there is a scenario where you guys are like,

hey, it's a little too hot in here,

Let us know because we can, through the program,

we can add dimmers and what have you to make sure that

whoever is experienced in the lights

can actually be satisfied with the total outcome.

Okay, and then you mentioned some of the buildings

being just like fluorescent bulbs that we're converting,

and I understand there's a mercury issue

associated with fluorescent bulbs,

and so I was curious with that quantity of light bulbs,

what your program is for handling that hazardous material.

Yes, we have full turnkey recycling

throughout the whole process.

So the state passed a bill called AB2208 in 2024.

That bill basically made it to where you can no longer,

if you're a supplier, buy the bulbs.

And if you're a factory, you can no longer make the bulbs.

And then as of January of 2025, they made it

to where even if you have them, you're

not legally allowed to install them.

And if you're a contractor, you're not legally

allowed to install them either.

So we have seen bulbs go from $4 a lamp to over $45 a lamp,

just for people that are just stuck having to replace them

with a like for like solution.

So this is like for like, same color output,

same aluminum output.

Recycling is fully included to where, even if you have lamps,

I'll tell you guys right now, if you have any extras,

please give them to us.

We will take them off your hands and recycle them

for you so you don't have to pay for it.

It's part of the program.

Just on that point then, so if one

were to have fluorescent lights in their garage,

you're saying in order to replace them now would be $45 a bulb?

So we just did a community college,

Quested Community College District.

They were buying boxes of bulbs for an average about $4 apiece.

This was probably about the middle of Q3 last year.

We just talked to them right around Christmas,

and they said that same box of lamps

are charged about $45 per lamp.

And so it's just supply and demand,

and people see an opportunity, and they're getting stung.

So this fixes that.

So when they go out, replace them with LED or something

that's not fluorescent?

Yes, sir.

And then in terms of the projects themselves, exciting

project, when will they be installed?

So actually, that's another question for you.

When are you going to go up there?

We can actually get started in about two weeks.

So depending upon when you guys are ready,

the contracts that you guys have,

we just need those signed to Senator PG&E.

Once PG&E gets those contracts, they

will issue what they call a notice to proceed.

Once you get that notice to proceed,

which takes about 48 hours from the time

they receive the contract, they will

cross in that contract, which we will send back to your staff.

And then we are ready to go as soon as you guys are.

So it's just a matter of going through the formality

of this process this evening,

and we can get started probably within the next two weeks,

plus or minus, maybe the week after next at the earliest,

maybe the week after that at the latest.

And how long to do the install?

The Lessure Center, I'm gonna say,

will probably be a full day.

That's it, so actually that's the only one

that's got a weird schedule because of the existing classes.

So we're gonna get in, get out before those classes start.

The library, I'm going to say that's probably going to take about seven full installation

days.

The Lesher Center will probably take five to seven days, just depending upon nuances

and difficulty of fixtures being open to what have you.

So I'd say probably three full weeks to do the whole portfolio.

That's great.

And Rich, these are not projects that are in our CIP or a capital budget.

We're doing them through this program instead.

Correct.

Okay.

I don't think we have any public comments here, so we'll open up for a minute if anybody

runs in, but since I don't see any public comment, we'll close the public comment, bring

it back to council.

So I have to ask the city attorney a question.

I think I was supposed to recuse myself because my husband's a retiree of PG&E and some of

our income comes from PG&E.

I would recommend that you that you not participate any further which is why I've been saying nothing

All right, well with that do we have any further comments or emotion let me let me just say this for the record

I am recruiting seeing myself from this item because I could

Effectively have a financial conflict of interest from my husband's earnings from PG&E retiree

Thank you. Councillor Silva. I'll make a motion to adopt the resolution of

approving sole source energy services contracts and authorizing the city

manager to execute such contracts with eco green solutions Inc for efficient

energy lighting improvements for city-owned facilities and authorizing

associated PG&E on bill loan financing. And I'll second. You have a motion to

second. Councilmember Davenny? Aye. Councilmember Darling? Aye. Mayor Pritisham

Francois? Aye. Mayor Wilk? Aye. Motion carries 4-0 with the recusal

recusal from Councilmember Silva. All right and that was that was the last

item. With that we are adjourned. Thank you. Ryan.