one, two, check, check, one, two, two, check, one, two, three, check mike, one, two, three,
check, check, translate live, translate live, check, one, two.
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.
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. Consistent
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.
Pursuant to California Government Code Section 54953.4, SB 707, members of the public may
also participate remotely via Zoom.
If you are participating via Zoom and would like to make a public comment, please use
the raise hand feature or press star 9 if you're calling by phone during the agenda
item on which you wish to comment.
Again, 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 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
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. I'm Kevin Wilk, Mayor of the City of
Walnut Creek and welcome to the Tuesday, October 20th, 26, 2026 regular meeting of
the Walnut Creek City Council and we've got quite the crowd. So what I would like
to do right now is can the Walnut Creek Youth Leadership Commission please stand
up and would you please lead us all in the Pledge of Allegiance.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
thank you that was a little little audible I called on that one city clerk
Susie Martinez could you call the roll please councilmember darling I'm here
councilmember Davini here Mayor Pro Tem Francois here Mayor Wilk here and
councilmember Silva is absent due to a planned vacation all right thank you
okay first we have we have a couple of proclamations and then some
presentations so the first proclamation is united against hate week and I'd
first like to invite the chair of the board for the Rossmer LGBTQ plus alliance
Alex Pacaro, to the lectern to receive the proclamation.
So and there was just a symposium at Rossmore for LGBTQ plus and just against all hate just
a couple of weeks ago which we were honored to be able to attend and I was honored to
speak at as well.
So I'm going to read a little bit from the proclamation here which I think in light of
everything going on in the world this is really, really important.
Whereas the United States is a nation of immigrants whose strength comes from its diversity, the
The Constitution enshrines equality in all individuals regardless of race, gender, orientation,
religion, or political views.
The country has witnessed how toxic environments encourage the propagation of racist, xenophobic,
sexist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, and other bigoted views by emboldened hate
groups and individuals, and whereas deep divisions within our country allow for the festering
of extreme ideology, further strengthening a cycle of mistrust and suspicion fueled by
fear, anxiety, and insecurity and resulting in hate crimes. And in 2021, the city of Walnut Creek
pledged its commitment to making Walnut Creek a place where everyone feels welcome and a sense
of belonging by establishing the diversity equity and inclusion task force. Additionally, an internal
task force was created to examine city policies, training, and communication. And whereas enhancing
the city's diversity equity and inclusionary practices continues to be one of the city council's
priorities. Education, compassion, and cooperation is key to understanding and
embracing differences between people and in the City of Walnut Creek wishes to
reaffirm its commitment to being welcoming, inclusive, tolerant, and safe
communities for everyone and joining the United Against Hate Week campaign is an
important step in bridging divisions and healing communities and therefore I, Kevin
Wilk, mayor of the City of Walnut Creek, on behalf of the Walnut Creek City
Council to hereby proclaim the week of October 19th, 2026 as United Against Hate Week and
encourage all cities to likewise make a similar declaration for their communities and take
steps to call this observance to the attention of all our citizens.
And Alex, if you'd like a few words to speak in general.
Yes, thank you.
First of all, thank you so much for inviting me and for making this stand.
It's really important for communities to stand together to support one another against hate
speech, hate crimes of course, but just even microaggressions, macroaggressions, things
that are said in our community.
And as you alluded to a moment ago, on October 2nd, we had a day of listening, learning,
Unity at Rossmoor, which is a retirement community in this area.
There are 10,000 people living in our community.
And of course, with 10,000 people, we're a microcosm of the world.
So things are going to be said that are sometimes unkind and unfair.
And that was happening.
There were certain instances that happened.
So we wanted to come together as a community and say, we don't want that here.
We want to stand together unified and there are some really wonderful clubs that came
together and co-sponsored it.
As the mayor said, I'm the chair of the LGBT Alliance at Ross Moore.
Joe Easley is here to join me tonight.
He's a co-president of Ross Moore Advocates for Diversity.
They do a lot within Ross Moore to bring this kind of thing together.
We were really honored to have our mayor there speaking.
And we did bystander training and it was really wonderful.
And again, I really wanna thank Walnut Creek for,
this is not the only time that you have made it known
that you want this to be a welcoming place
for everyone who lives here.
And that's absolutely so wonderful and so important.
So thank you.
Well, and thank you, Alex,
for the job that you do, the work it is.
And like you said, it will continue as well.
So thank you.
Next we have the Substance Abuse Prevention Month Proclamation and Red Ribbon Week.
And if we could have John Campo-Piano, the new superintendent of the Walnut Creek School
District of the lectern, to receive the proclamation.
There he is.
Good to see you again.
The proclamation reads, whereas alcohol and other drug abuse in this nation has reached
epidemic stages, it is imperative that visible, unified prevention education efforts by community
members be launched to eliminate the demand for illegal substances.
The National Red Ribbon Campaign offers the community an opportunity to commit to supporting
drug-free lifestyles and no use of illegal drugs, no misuse of legal drugs.
The National Red Ribbon Campaign will be celebrated in every community in America during Red Ribbon
Week, October 23rd through 31st.
And the 2026 Red Ribbon campaign theme, Make a Difference, Be a Hero, Stay Drug Free, is
a reminder that everyday citizen contributions significantly to their communities by living
drug-free lives in the City of Walnut Creek pledges its support and encourages its citizens
to hardly join the campaign.
And therefore, I, Kevin Wilk, Mayor of the City of Walnut Creek, on behalf of the City
Council, do hereby proclaim the week of October 23rd through October 31st, 2026, as Red Ribbon
week in the city of Walnut Creek and ask its community members to participate in drug prevention
activities making a visible statement that we strongly support a drug-free life in Walnut Creek.
Thank you Mayor Wolk. I live next Northgate High School and Foothill Middle School and now I'm the
superintendent at Walnut Creek School District and we need all of you to make good decisions
and it takes all of us to support it what you said there is important but we care deeply about you
not just your academics and being safe and healthy and carry on so thank you for recognizing this
tonight. We greatly appreciate it and together we can do this. Great, thanks so much and let's
get a picture. All right and our third proclamation is for National Arts and Humanities Month and I
invite Arts and Recreation Director Chris Farrer to the lectern to receive the proclamation.
Arts and Humanities enrich the quality of life for all residents of Walnut Creek
fostering creativity, self-expression and community connection. October is nationally
recognized as Arts and Humanities Month, a time to celebrate the contribution of artists,
cultural organizations and humanities scholars to our communities. In the City of Ole new Creek
and home to thriving cultural communities anchored by the Bedford Gallery, the Center for Community
Arts, the Lesser Center for the Arts, and Center Rep, each offering distinct and vital opportunities
for residents to create, learn, and experience the arts. The arts and humanities play a vital role
in education, economic development, and civic dialogue, helping residents of all ages explore
new ideas and perspectives, and investing in the arts and humanities strengthens Walnut Creek's
identity as a vibrant, welcoming, and creative community for residents and visitors alike.
And therefore, I, Kevin Wilk, Mayor of the City of Walnut Creek, on behalf of the City Council,
do hereby proclaim October as Arts and Humanities Month. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor, members of
City Council, Chris Farrow, Arts Director for the City. Thank you for the recognition and obviously
for your continued support and commitment to arts and culture in Walnut Creek.
Walnut Creek has earned its reputation as one of the Bay Area's premier arts destination,
and that's no small accomplishment, especially for a city of our size.
We often talk about the arts as something that enriches our lives, inspires creativity,
and brings people together, and absolutely it does all of those things.
But arts is also very big business, and that's what I wanted to point out this evening.
Nationally, arts and culture contribute
more than a trillion dollars to our economy every year.
And right here in Walnut Creek,
our nonprofit arts and cultural organizations
and their audiences generate more than $36 million
in economic activity and support almost 800 jobs.
Pretty big accomplishment for a city of our size.
The arts aren't just part of what we offer as a city,
it's ingrained in part of who we are.
I'm incredibly proud of the talented staff,
artists, actors, volunteers, and community partners
who make that all possible.
Some of the staff are with me tonight for their photo op,
and you'll see that they did a much better job
of remembering to wear their arts and humanity shirts
than I did tonight.
Thank you again to Council for recognizing
that when we invest in the arts,
we're investing in the heart, soul,
and economic vitality of Walnut Creek.
All right.
Well, let's do it.
Right now we've got a couple of presentations here and the first one is from the Youth Leadership
Commission. So I invite administrative analyst Sarah Freimuth up to the lectern to present this
year's youth leadership commissioners. Hi, good evening community and council members.
My name is Sarah Freimuth. I'm an administrative analyst in the city manager's office in Walnut
Creek and I also have the privilege of serving as the staff liaison to our Youth Leadership
Commission. The Youth Leadership Commission has existed in some capacity
in Walnut Creek since 1966. First as the Youth Council, then as the Youth Advisory
Council, and today what we know as the Youth Leadership Commission. The
Commission focuses on many things. The students learn leadership skills through
community and policy projects and initiatives. They also get to interact
with and learn more about local government through civic engagement and
learning and as well they offer a youth perspective to our City Council and
staff on issues impacting the community and advocate for youth. This year we have
eight returning commissioners and seven new commissioners and I will turn it
over to them to introduce themselves. Good evening Mayor Wilk, Council. My name
is Julia Chow and I am so honored to be the chair of this year's Youth
Leadership Commission. I am currently a senior at Northgate High School and this
will be my fourth year serving on the Youth Leadership Commission so I will be
continuing the second year of my second term. Over the past three years I have
learned how important civic engagement and awareness is especially to the youth
of our generation. Through the Youth Commission I am so excited to see the
new initiatives that will take on this year through new projects, we've had a
lot of great ideas, and also I'm so excited to continue new projects like
like Teen Arts Night and Street Stories,
and I can't wait for you to see what we have.
So I'm so excited to work with everyone, including you guys,
and thank you for having us tonight.
Thank you.
Good evening, Council.
My name is Jennifer Alas.
I am honored to be this year's Youth Commission Vice Chair,
and this is my third year on the commission,
and I'm a junior at Northgate.
This year, I'm super thrilled to just have the opportunity
to create events to bring together the youth
with other students that are as passionate
about local government
and bringing the community together as I am,
And hopefully we are able to put on many, many events
this year, like possibly a Youth Leadership Summit
and obviously Teen Arts Night, which is a loved event.
So thank you, everyone.
Thank you.
Good evening, Council.
My name is Zachary Owens.
I'm a senior at De La Salle High School,
and I will be serving
as this Youth Leadership Commission's secretary.
It is my first year on the commission,
and I am so excited to work
with all of these amazing commissioners
to make an impact on the Walnut Creek community
through continuing past policies and new ideas.
Thank you.
Good evening, Council.
Hi, my name is Naomi Spivak,
and I am so excited to serve
as this year's Communications Director of the Commission.
I'm a senior at Los Lomas High School,
and this is my second year on YLC.
And I'm just so excited to help bring youth perspectives
to City Council and to the city of Walnut Creek,
as well as continuing to collaborate
with fellow commissioners on projects
that bring real impact to our community.
Thank you so much.
Good evening Council, my name is Angelina Guerrero.
This is my first year on the commission.
I'm excited to participate in official meetings
for the city and get to do new projects
to help our whole community and make the city
even greater than it already is.
Thank you.
Good evening Council, my name is Ana Sofia Ivanova
and I am a senior at Los Lomas High School.
This marks my fourth year and second term
on the Walnut Creek Youth Leadership Commission
and I'm excited to continue engaging
with the community through commission events and projects
and I look forward to being part of this year's new plans
to empower youth voices.
Unfortunately, one of our commissioners
is unable to attend tonight,
so I will also be presenting Commissioner Ian Yu.
Ian is a senior at Northgate High School
and this will be his second year
on the Youth Leadership Commission.
He's excited to share youth perspectives with City Council
while continuing to work on projects
that impact the community alongside
other youth leadership commissioners.
Good evening, everyone.
My name is Bertie Mike Landry.
I'm a senior at Los Lomas High School
and this will be my second year on the commission.
This year, I'm excited to tackle new projects
with the commissioners and leave a lasting impact
on Walnut Creek and its youth.
Good evening, council.
My name is Kaden Yoo
and I am a sophomore at Northgate High School.
This is my second year as a member
of the Walnut Creek Youth Leadership Commission.
and I would like to say that I'm honored
to represent the youth of our city.
I look forward to continuing ongoing projects
such as Teen Arts Night,
as well as starting new ideas
that we have in store for you guys.
Thank you so much.
♪ Applause ♪
Good evening, everyone.
My name is Ellie Choi,
and I'm a sophomore at Northgate High School.
This is my first year on the commission,
and I'm really excited to get to work with my peers
who share a common interest in the wellbeing of our city.
I look forward to learning more about local government
and working to make our city a better place.
Thank you.
♪ Applause ♪
Hi, everybody.
My name is Kelsey.
I am a junior at Los Alamos High School.
This is my first year on the commission,
but I'm really excited to get to know everybody more
and work on projects that benefit the youth in our city.
Hi, good evening everyone.
My name is Sakura Kuroda,
and I'm a junior at Northgate High School.
And this is my first year on the commission,
and I am so incredibly excited to collaborate
with such passionate peers to ensure
that youth perspectives are heard
and really understood by our local government.
Hi everyone, this is, I'm a senior at Los Lomas and this is my second year on the Youth Leadership Commission.
I'm really excited to work on youth initiatives like Teen Arts Night and Street Stories and I look forward to having a nice year. Thank you.
Okay, good evening everyone, I'm Sahasra and I'm a senior and this is my first year on Youth Leadership Commission and this year I'm super excited to collaborate with other passionate young youth leaders
and also organize events that bring our community together. Thank you.
Hi everyone, my name is Zoya Desai. I'm a freshman at Northgate High School and this is my first year on the Youth Leadership Commission.
As the youngest member of the Youth Leadership Commission, I'm super excited to learn a lot more about how our city works and help our youth have a bigger role in shaping Walnut Creek.
I'm also the last member to be introduced tonight, so on behalf of everyone on the Youth Leadership Commission, I would like to thank you all for your time
and for the opportunity to introduce this year's
Youth Leadership Commission.
Thank you.
What an impressive group of students.
We look forward to hearing how things go throughout the year
and I believe that we're also going to be setting up meetings
with the commission for each of us individually
throughout the term this year as well.
So should we try to get a picture on this one?
All right.
Right, this now is a presentation for our Youth Ambassador
exchange program and I invite the youth ambassador exchange program chaperones
and students up to the lectern to present I look forward to this I think
have we all been to our sister cities I have okay I'm not judging hello my name
is Larisa Rocha and I teach eighth grade science at Foothill Middle School. I had
the pleasure of shop running 11 students on this year's trip to Hungary. Many of
the students I taught last year in seventh grade and now have again an
eighth grade. Others I've just met this year but one thing I can say about all
them is that they are truly impressive individuals and I believe experiences
like this trip are part of what makes them so amazing. Watching their
independence grow as they navigate a new country, stayed with host families who
not everyone spoke English, embraced unfamiliar experiences and often had no
idea what was next to come was incredible to see. They learned to rely
on one another and their Hungarian ambassadors building a wonderful
community as they went. As a teacher I think one of the most valuable parts of
this program is that experience and it gives students the opportunity to work
together, be flexible, adapt to new situations and ultimately flourish. One
One of my favorite excursions was our trip to,
I'm gonna pronounce this in perfect Hungarian.
Topachi, it was a lake cave.
These underground caves held crystal clear,
karst waters, and were even clear enough
that we could drink straight from the boat.
The museum and tour was especially exciting
for me as a science teacher.
I loved being able to revisit the science concepts
that we taught in seventh grade,
and we could see that all come to life.
I have to admit, I'm a little jealous of Hungary,
and their incredible natural land forms
that provide such amazing opportunities
to experience science firsthand.
I'm incredibly grateful to have been part
of this experience and even more grateful
to have watched the students grow, connect,
and flourish along the way.
So now we're gonna have our ambassadors share
a little bit about their experience starting with Elias.
Hello council, my name's Elias Toff
and I went to Hungary as you all can tell
and this is a photo of my ambassador and I
And we went on family weekend to a Bob Coaster.
And Bob Coaster is basically like a go-kart and a roller
coaster combined.
And this was really interesting because it just
felt different than anything I've ever experienced.
Hungry is just so different.
And it was just a great experience to go.
And if none of you have ever been, I highly recommend it.
Thank you all for listening.
And I hope that you guys might want to go to Bob Coaster, too.
OK.
Thank you.
OK.
Thank you.
My name is Marcus Chung.
I went to Hungary.
I chose this picture in the lake cave because I,
it's my highlight because I had a lot of fun there.
I got to go around the cave.
We got to roll boat.
And I thought it was a really great experience.
I would definitely recommend you to go there
if you ever go to like Sheofook, Hungary and yeah, thank you.
Hello, my name is Eden Katz. I go to Foothill Middle School and I went to Sheifook, Hungary.
The photo I chose for you all today is a photo of me, my ambassador, Bori, in front of parliament
on Budapest. The impact of this trip on me was, it made me realize how fortunate I was
to be able to go on this trip, and see how other teenagers live in another country.
My favorite part of this trip was definitely Budapest day.
The sights were beautiful, I got to bond more with my ambassador, and I was lucky enough
to make one of the guards smile.
Thank you so much.
Hello everyone, my name is Leila Martin, and the country that I visited was Hungary.
The photo that you see here is of me and my match changay, and we are baking Ghirardelli
brownies that I brought her family as a gift. This is one of the most meaningful
moments of my trip because it shows the strong connection that me and my match
created. Though I visited several amazing places throughout the trip, spending time
with Chinga was very important to me. We created a very strong connection and I
was able to learn a lot about her by sitting at her dining room table playing
Uno or talking in her room or walking around her neighborhood. This connection
is really a big part of the program and it's why a big part of why the program
exists because to have the ability to learn from and connect with another
culture. I am so grateful to have created a strong bond with my match and I will
always remember the amazing experience that the EA program has given me. Thank
you. Good evening everyone. My name is Lucas Laterza and this is a
photo of inside the Parliament building. What I really like about the building
is its architecture, especially the statues above representing virtues where
the members need to follow like, I think, it was virtues, honesty, yeah, honesty.
And I just really like the architecture, especially the golden,
the golden architecture is really cool thank you everyone. I thought you were
gonna see the golden arches. My name is Alex Brown and this is a photo of Ali
and her match Lena, Ami, her match Maya, my match Sonia and I at a selfie museum
in Budapest on family weekend. This was super fun because it was the
first day we all started to connect and this photo is really meaningful to me
because it is kind of the starting point of our friendship. I'm super grateful
that Yae gave me this amazing opportunity to connect with amazing
people. Thank you. Hi, my name is Ami Hyde and I went to
see a folk hungry. This picture shows me in front of a castle that I was able to
to go with my ambassador, Maya, Ali and her ambassador,
Lena, and Alex and her ambassador, Sonia.
This was one of my favorite parts of my trip
because there was a really beautiful garden
behind the castle, and we were able to walk around
and really talk and learn more about each other,
and I felt that that was really special
and I will cherish that moment forever.
Thank you.
Sia, it's one of the few words I picked up in Hungary, it means hello.
So this is a picture of me and my partner, Kines, and this is at a castle.
And I gotta say, this was a wonderful experience.
It really showed me, I formed a friendship through a different country, and I couldn't
be more thankful for the opportunity.
Great, thank you.
Hi, my name is Allison Hickey, and I went to see She a Folk Hungry.
This photo was taken on Monday, the day we took a tour around Sea of Folk.
In this photo, you can see my match Lena and I, Maia's match, Alex, and her match Sonia.
My favorite day of this trip was definitely the last day when we went to the Balaton Uplands,
because I felt that day I really got to connect with my friends and I got to learn a lot more
about my match.
Thank you.
Hi, my name is Avery Thomas.
And one of the best parts about my trip to Hungary
was getting to connect with my ambassador and her family
and seeing how they live.
In the picture, I got to try traditional Hungarian food
prepared by her grandmother and had the opportunity to meet
and connect with their family, as well as
experience their culture.
I'm so grateful for the program and the experiences, bonds,
and memories I made along the way.
Thank you.
Hello, my name is Max Morrison and I was very fortunate to go to Hungary.
Well, the photo I was going to show you was me in front of a Hussar statue.
It's like a Hungarian soldier who rode on horseback during their independence war.
And my favorite day of the trip was Thursday when we got to go in the underwater caves.
It was a very cool and amazing experience, especially like I like being water and swimming.
So it was very, very awesome.
Thank you, council.
Hello, my name is Marlo Harris.
My trip was like a dream.
This photo was taken on the first end of our trip.
This is me and my ambassador, Emma.
I liked this night because we all sat in a circle having dinner.
And it was really amazing because despite all our language
barrier and our differences, we all just sat there and tried
to connect with each other.
I would say my favorite part was when we went to Parma,
mostly because of its history and because it
was buonissima, which means beautiful in Italian.
My favorite part of this trip was the history.
Oh, sorry.
My favorite part of this day was the history
and the theater where early opera was performed.
Later that, later held Nazis in World War II.
The theater was named the Archo di Franese.
Thank you.
Ciao.
Good evening, my name is Stella Sargenti.
I chose this photo because it was one
of the most beautiful places we've went during the trip.
It's the walk to Cinquaterra, the beach that we all swam at.
It showed all the beautiful views
and the breathtaking waters that really took my breath away.
Thank you.
Good evening, council.
My name is Akal, and I was lucky enough
to be an American ambassador traveling to Italy.
When I found out I was going to Italy,
I knew the food was gonna be amazing,
but I had no idea how good this soda would be.
I had my first Italian Fanta during my first family breakfast and I will never forget it.
My mom looked at me and said, if you don't try this, I will be offended, but in Italian.
Initially I was like, what?
Orange soda for breakfast?
But when I took my first sip, I realized how important this was to her.
out to me. After that tip, I made a promise to myself to add at least two Italian Fanta's
a day. I'm pleased to report to the council that my goal was achieved with many more.
To share my newfound love of Fanta with my family, I decided to bring seven cans back
for them all to try. I'm pleased to announce that none of them exploded on
the trip back. So thank you yea in the city of Wanna Creek for this amazing
culinary and cultural experience. I don't know how I'm gonna follow that performance.
Hello my name is Tabitha Moss and I was lucky enough to be chosen as an
ambassador to Noceto, Italy. This photo is the view from like a castle, Bardee
Castle, and that was not my favorite part of the trip even though it was very
cool. My favorite part was not a day trip or anything like I don't know but it was
more so making like connecting with not only my match but other people's
matches despite our differences in language and culture and all of that. It
reminded me how important it is especially now to make connections
with other countries and how important this program is to doing that. I had a
wonderful experience and yeah thank you. My name is Benjamin Kim O'Karell and
and this is a photo I took while in Cinque Terre
at the beach.
This is my favorite memory because I had a ton of fun
at the beach and swimming.
We got there by taking multiple trains and walking
the whole time, talking to the other ambassadors
and bonding with them.
Thank you.
♪♪
Hello council members.
I am pleased to announce that this is one of my favorite
photos that I've taken on the trip.
It shows how bonded that we have become
and we were in Nocetto, Italy.
But overall, my favorite part was Cinque Terre.
You could see the crystal blue waters from probably miles away,
and it was just incredibly beautiful despite the water
burning your eyes.
Thank you, council members.
Good evening, everyone.
So today, I picked the photo of me and Milan
in front of the Milan Cathedral.
I picked this photo because I had
the time of my life in Milan.
I was standing in front of the biggest building
that I've ever seen, in front of all of the beautiful artwork
that was showcased on the building,
while standing next to my friends
and while standing next to my ambassador.
I absolutely loved it.
In particular, I loved being able to bond with my ambassador.
We would bond over even the smallest things,
like a TV show that we both watched,
or how many bottles of sparkling water
that I drank every dinner.
I absolutely loved it, and I'm really
glad that I had the experience.
Thank you.
Hi, my name is Sajjan Kondar, and in the first photo,
you see me and my ambassador, Carolina,
on our train to Cinque Terre.
I really like Cinque Terre because how fun it
was to swim with all of my ambassadors
and the other ambassadors.
And we had so much fun in the crystal clear water, which
is actually just as warm as the air outside.
And I really like the train ride because I
got to bond with my ambassador and also the other ambassadors,
and we had a really great time.
Thank you.
Good evening, Council.
My name is Aria Chow.
I chose this photo because it shows a very raw moment in time.
The parents had dropped us off to get gelato.
Gelato's really good in Italy, like best.
And we made friends with some local Italian kids.
It was really crazy to communicate with hand gestures
and short phrases.
And we rode their bikes and talked about school
like normal kids, but it was a totally new experience for me.
All the Italians were so kind and willing to talk to us
and explain their culture.
This is just a snippet of the fun we had
and I'm so grateful for this experience.
Thank you.
Hi everyone, I'm Jamison Sanders
and I went to Nocetto, Italy
through the Youth Ambassador Exchange Program.
And the photo I chose was of me and my ambassador
in Cinque Terre.
And this day was especially memorable for me
because I got to bond a lot with my ambassador
throughout all the train rides and at Cinque Terre
and got to see a lot of the amazing city
and swim in the amazing Mediterranean Sea.
And this day was also especially memorable to me
because it was my birthday
and my host family made it very special for me.
Thank you all.
Thank you.
Hello, I'm Tobin Lustig
and this picture I picked was my favorite
because I think this day was really when
me and my ambassador really started to get a friendship
and we were talking the whole time through the streets
and she showed me all of her favorite places
because my great grandfather was actually from here
and she vacations here every year,
so it was something that really bonded our friendship.
I'm Charlotte Melbard and my favorite part of this trip
was probably chinkuetere because of the really pretty water
and it also gave me a great experience
to bond with my ambassador.
It was just really fun.
I don't have a picture but I would like you
to envision a castle with a moat,
which is what I got to live next to while I was there.
Good evening, I am Veronica Gammon,
I am a teacher at Tice Creek School,
and I was the teacher chaperone for the Italy trip.
This trip was an incredible experience
for our student ambassadors.
They saw castles, swam in the Mediterranean Sea,
and of course, ate gelato every single day.
I personally feel so privileged
to have had this opportunity
to escort these children on this trip.
Not only did I see them grow,
but I had the chance to experience the culture myself.
I saw sites I may not have found
without the insight of my host family showing me the way.
I tried foods that I wouldn't have even known to try.
And I put on an extra 10 pounds in prosciutto and Parmesan.
But the best part was watching the students
in their new environment, seeing their eyes light up
as they learned new Italian phrases,
stepped outside their comfort zones
and connected with a completely new culture.
it made every tired step worth it.
It took patience, a lot of macchiatos,
and a lot of walking,
but this trip was well worth the experience.
Thank you.
We would also like to present
Gifts from Nocetto to the Mayor.
We have some books about Nocetto's history
as well as a news article from Nocetto
featuring our student ambassadors.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I'm just curious, since SHIO folk,
Did you see the printing museum, the printing press museum?
No, they didn't take you there?
I thought that was on the normal tour.
Well, judging from the amount of Italian restaurants
we have here in town, obviously, I
think there's a big affinity for Italy as well here.
And it sounds like just a wonderful experience.
And I believe your ambassador partners,
they're coming here, is it in February, or in March?
So it sounds like they set a high bar.
So to the students and the families here,
we've got to show them what we have here in Walnut Creek
and our surrounding region.
So sounds like a great trip.
Why don't we somehow try to fit in all a picture on this one?
It's all an Italian.
Okay, right, right, La Vasca Votiva, the newspaper.
We're gonna have to get somebody who truly knows Italian.
Oh, and a cheddar, oh, here's the guidebook.
So, in case you're-
Right.
It takes to take the train from the chapter of the Cinque Terre.
Um.
I, Neceto gets on the way, because that's in the west coast.
We went there, but not from Neceto.
We were there at the train didn't go because they don't strike the scene.
Oh.
So we had a guy in his car.
What happened, everybody?
We've got the consent calendar.
Oh my gosh all right well that was maybe that was the exciting part of the
evening okay next we've got on the agenda is the consent calendar and does
any council member wish to pull any item for discussion yes item I think it's G
to G on G okay we have item G and then does any member of staff wish to pull an
item for discussion no okay does any member of the public wish to provide
public comment on the consent calendar please use a raised hand feature or press
star 9 if you're calling if you'd like to provide a remote public comment we
have anybody if you're attending in person please complete a speaker
identification card and line up behind the lectern at this time on the consent
calendar written comments submitted have been posted to the city's website for
review and are included in the meeting record but will not separately be read
into the record and it doesn't look like we have any public comment on this so
we'll close public oh you have public consent calendar okay so we'll close the
public comment for consent calendar bring it back and first we have a
motion to eighth I move to a through F and I'll second all right we have a
The motion is second on items A-2 through F.
Council Member Darling?
Aye.
Mayor Pro Tem Francois?
Aye.
Council Member Davini?
Aye.
And Mayor Whelk?
Aye.
Motion carried.
All right, so item 2G, Council Member Davini.
Yeah, I just wanted to draw attention to this item.
2G is funding for the city of Walnut Creek
through Measure J's half cent sales tax.
It supports Walnut Creek transportation programs
services. This funding is $265,000 that will support transportation services
for seniors and people with disabilities. The program offers Lyft self access,
Lyft concierge, minibus services, provides transportation for medical
appointments, grocery shopping, community activities, and other essential trips to
over 6,900 rides for over 350 unique riders in 2025 alone. So without these
funds from Measure J, these services may not be available. So hopefully when
Measure J comes up for renewal, we will keep programs like this in mind.
great anybody have any questions like to make a motion motion to pass me or
motion to pass 2g for we have a motion second and a second as soon as you could
call the roll please council member diviny all right that's where darling
I mayor Pro Tem Francois all right next on the agenda is public communications
this portion of the meeting is reserved for comment on items not on the agenda
all remarks should be addressed to the City Council please do not use profanity
during your comments under the Brown Act the council cannot act on items raised
during public communications but may respond to brief briefly the statements
made or questions posed request clarification or for the item to staff
consistent consistent with section nine point five 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 on the record. At this time I'll note the time is 652. We'll
take public comments on items not on the agenda until approximately 722 and then the remainder
of any such comments at the end of the open session portion of the meeting. Please use
the raise hand feature press star nine if you're calling in if you'd like to provide
a remote public comment, and at this time I would like to take in-person comments and
then I will ask the City Clerk if there are any members of the public who would like to
provide remote comments. So if you're providing a public comment on this on items on the agenda,
you're waiting. Okay, so do we have any member of the public for items not on the agenda?
Seeing none, any remote? None. We'll close public comment. That is a record. Okay, so
Next, we have council member and staff announcements,
reports on activities.
We had no closed session announcements.
City manager reports.
Yes, I do have one update this evening, Mayor Dan Buckeye.
City manager and as you're aware,
one of my roles is to serve as the emergency services
director in the event of an emergency
and thought I'd take a few minutes to discuss
what the city has been doing to prepare
for the forecast at El Nino,
which is supposed to be one of the largest in recent history.
So a bit of a summary we've been preparing
over the last several months.
In particular, our public works department inspecting,
just to give you a sense of scale,
over 4,000 storm drain inlets.
Obviously, increased street sweeping,
particularly during heavy leaf fall,
which is about to embark soon,
probably about when the rain start,
performing drainage maintenance,
tree trimming, pothole repairs,
and additional training for many of our folks in the field.
A little more specifically,
we've been targeting various areas of the city
that are more prone to flooding,
particularly the Eccleston area.
We sent out over 850 letters
related to cleaning out ditches in that area,
provided dumpsters.
Also reached out to the Lakewood area,
the Lakewood Association,
and with respect to the Lakewood Dam,
even though that is not under the city's purview
or responsibility, we work closely
with the Lakewood Association.
I see James here, I think, is the chair of the HOA
and the association there to try to coordinate
and prepare accordingly for obvious reasons
related to the dam.
In addition, we have been checking all of our
backup generators and battery systems
to ensure that they are working.
We've done considerable maintenance in the open space,
cleaning culverts, updating trails,
so that hopefully the water flows properly
and doesn't do extensive damage on our own facilities,
checking roofs and ensure that they are functioning correctly and then also
checking our emergency supply inventory throughout the city. In addition we
recently had a meeting between our public works team who will be our
primary responders in the field in the event that there is excessive raining
and potential puddling of water or even flooding potentially but coordinating
with our public or with our police department a meeting recently occurred
and as a reminder all city employees are disaster service workers in the
event of a widespread emergency and we are doing additional refresher training
for city employees with key folks. Lastly, in terms of coordination that
we've been doing is communicating with our county office of emergency services
in order to open the lines of regional coordination and resource sharing should
that need arise, as obviously this would not be isolated to Walnut Creek. And then
in terms of members of the public, one of the most important things you can do is
prepare yourselves for heavy rains or any type of an emergency as it relates
to this we do have five sandbag locations currently available in which
you can fill up sandbags and take those home or to your business just run
through those briefly at Lancaster Road near Orchard Lane we have Heather Farm
Ball Field five and six parking lot is the second location it's next to the dog
park for those that may be familiar with that the Larky Park parking lot how
Homestead parking lot and the Rudgier Park parking lot. Those are our five
locations. And then lastly, if you've not signed up already, I would encourage you
to sign up for WC alert emergency notification. You can receive updates as
they are provided. You can go to walnutcreeksa.gov to sign up or you can
text WC alert to the number 888777. And last but not least, I would also
encourage folks to sign up for the Contra Costa County Community Warning
System which you can do so at cwsalerts.com and that covers it for now
all right thank you it seems like Public Works Director Rich Payne is going to
have him and his team be on guard for the next few months here thank you very
much for you and everything the city does we're very appreciative of all the
work that you do. All right let's move on to council member reports on AB 1234
activities. Why don't we start with Council Member Darney. Okay thank you. I went
to the chamber meeting. Hi Katie. We are gonna have the celebration for the 100th
anniversary of the Walnut Creek Chamber of Commerce on October 29th and mark
your calendars February 17th will be state of the city but other than that
things in the chamber are going well they're gonna be working on their
for strategic planning and everything like that this year.
Relative to MCE, at our last meeting,
we reviewed our budget performance this year.
As you may recall, we used some of our rate stabilization
fund to reduce rates for this year.
We have been able to secure power supplies above and beyond
and at a better price than was expected.
So we have increased the rate rebate so that right now
for the first time in about a year and a half,
MCE's rates, because remember we charge what it costs
for our generation rate, which is well below PG&E,
but then PG&E sticks us
with the power charge indifference fee,
and that was making us more than PG&E.
Now we're back at parity with PG&E,
and we'll be there through the end of our fiscal year
in April, so that was a great one to get to for MCE.
It's something we've been working at for a while
and it really reflects the maturity.
The power contracts that we've bought and have
started to actually turn into long-term projects.
There's a number of big projects coming online this year,
wind project, the geothermal project,
and a couple big battery storage projects,
and those really are helping us control our costs.
And lastly, you know, we had another one
of those awful school shootings in this country again,
just recently up in Silver Rail in Bend, Oregon.
And I just wanna take a chance to remind us all
that we have here in Walnut Creek,
there is an ordinance that requires all firearms
to be safely stored.
And if you have a young person that's having trouble,
there are resources of plenty.
So please reach out either to PD to 988,
but there are resources, but most importantly, as adults,
we need to make sure that all firearms are safely stored
out of the hands of anybody that could be in trouble.
So our thoughts go out to bend at this time.
Thank you, Council Member Darling.
Council Member Davini.
Okay, good evening.
I had the pleasure of attending Coffee with a Cop on October 7th.
That was at Rooted Coffee here in Walnut Creek.
It was a great turnout for our police officers and the community.
It's always great to talk to them.
And I had a chance to meet the new owners, George and Vera Nagar.
And they are quite nice people and I'm really excited to have them here in Walnut Creek
and running the new business.
October 8th I attended Trans Pack our representative to our local
transportation agency and right now we're discussing youth ridership. The
goal of the committee is to try to or the goal of the transportation agency is
to try to get as many youth riders riding and what that probably means is
as many youth riders riding free as possible. There are different programs
right now that we're looking at from a youth ride free program from County
connection, there's a pass to class, there's a Bay Pass program, so right now
we're looking at the fiscal impact of each program and what white mark best,
but that's what we're working towards. There was also a call for programs to
put in the new transportation expenditure plan and we are looking now
at the city what those programs might be, which ones we're going to submit and
then looking taking a look at the programs we've already submitted and
making sure those are still our priorities.
On October 13th, I attended Taste of Walnut Creek.
It was a walk downtown where you get a pass
and you get to go to different restaurants
and they have food and drink
and it was hosted by congregation Benet Tikvah.
So thank you to Benet Tikvah for hosting that event.
On October 15th, we reconvened an e-bike safety group
that consists this last meeting of 10 cities,
Contra Costa County, two fire agencies,
a transportation agency, two medical centers,
school district, law enforcement,
and state and federal offices.
I was fortunate enough to be able to present
a medical perspective on youth and e-bike safety
at that event.
And out of it, we're hoping to create a shared portal
where we can up our repository for information and services
that people can use.
CCTA might be stepping up to host that portal.
We're working on formalizing a countywide e-bike safety
committee.
And then as per new state legislation,
I believe it's 1569, they have created a youth-focused e-bike
education program.
And they're encouraging localities like the county
to develop the hands-on portion of that program.
So we're looking at how to scale existing training programs
to align with that new legislation.
And then also legislative advocacy out of that group.
And then I just wanted to give finally a shout out
to our hospitals and John Muir.
John Muir, we're very lucky to have
the great hospital systems that we have in Walnut Creek,
But John Muir was recognized just recently
as being one of the best regional hospitals in America.
They are one of only 11% of regional hospitals
that achieve this recognition,
and they also had the 20th consecutive year
that one of their specialties
was ranked in the top 50 nationwide.
So lucky to have them here,
and congratulations to John Muir.
Hey, thank you.
Mayor Pro Tem Francois.
Okay, thank you, Mayor.
following up on that public service announcement reminder
to get your flu shot and vaccine shot if you're eligible.
It may be a rough flu season this year.
And so now is the time to make that appointment
and get it done.
I had a pretty light agenda, quite honestly,
but it's going to get busier over the next two weeks.
So I'll have a lot to report on at our November meeting.
Along with the mayor, I did attend the Rossmore Diversity
Festival.
I was invited by Mary Taylor, who is a force of nature,
but she was also on our chief's advisory board
and a member of our DEI task force,
and just a really lovely person.
And so it was nice to be there, see the great turnout,
meet people from a lot of different clubs,
and see the energy and excitement in Rossmore.
And they take it very seriously.
there's a passport program that you get stamped.
And so you don't want to get in someone's way
when they're trying to get their passport stamped
to enter into a drawing, I've learned.
But great turnout, glad to attend that.
I wanted to note, Council Member Silva is traveling
and she's our DRAA representative,
but tomorrow night at the leisure
as part of the speaker series,
Colonel Eileen Collins will be speaking
and I'm planning on attending.
She was the first female space shuttle pilot
and the first woman mission commander in NASA history.
So it should be a really interesting talk
and I look forward to that.
And then finally, I just wanted to give a shout out
to our traffic engineer, Matt Redmond.
These are kind of the unsung things that go on
behind the scenes at City Hall,
traveling home from work one night
and noticing that a traffic signal was out near my home,
and within a half hour, Matt was out there changing the box
and getting it, operating it again.
So appreciate his diligence and good service.
And that's my update.
That's the update.
Well, I don't know.
My last two weeks seem to have been really busy,
but I will try to get through these fairly quickly.
First of all, regarding the Rossmore Diversity Festival,
I think what was so wonderful about that,
and it really dovetails in with United Against Hate Week,
which we just had the proclamation for.
And there was also a symposium,
as you'd heard a couple of weeks prior to that,
that was standing up against hate.
And this really all goes together
because as you learn about people,
you become not just more accepting,
but really enjoying and appreciating the differences.
And so the Ross Merle Diversity Festival
really shows that all these different booths
and all the different cultures come together.
We're really just one whole group of people
and humanity.
And again, I think that a lot of the hate that's out there
comes out of fear and the unknown.
So I love that these kind of programs exist here.
I'd love to see more of that as well.
So we also did launch off last week our Civic,
or I guess it was two weeks ago now, Civic Academy, formerly
the Citizens Institute.
And that's where residents that are able to give six weeks,
usually it's Wednesday nights.
I think there might be a Saturday at the end there,
learning all about the different facets of Walnut Creek.
So it's a great group of people this year.
Next year, any residents out there should watch
for announcements from the city of Walnut Creek,
and hopefully you can apply.
So I was able to help kick that off.
I see a lot of Walnut Creek downtown board members here.
I hope I don't end up stealing your thunder on this,
but I do wanna mention that at the last meeting,
Measure U was endorsed by the Walnut Creek Downtown Board.
Walnut Creek Education Foundation hosted a readathon
and in the Walnut Creek School District,
students read 1,126,000 minutes
and raised $210,000 with pledges that are still arriving
for their readathon over one month.
So there was a hosted dinner
and I was able to attend that last week
and just great to be able to...
There were a couple of students
that had read 45 books in that month.
It was amazing.
So the only devices they're using
are the ones that have pages in their hands.
There was a Mothers Against Drunk Driving event.
That's their annual event
that was at Civic Park this last weekend.
Thanks to Walnut Creek PD
that were there as well with a booth.
And there have been more stops,
just about 100% more stops of DUI driving this year
than in 2025.
So thank you to Walnut Creek PD
for your involvement with that, and it's an important event.
It's certainly a sad event as well
that we even have to be there,
but it's important to make sure that that gets out there.
There was also Broadway Plaza's 75th anniversary.
It's hard to believe that I was not there
at the first opening of it,
but 75 years of Broadway Plaza,
truly something to be recognized,
and I know we have Tracy here in the audience.
Broadway Plaza is one of the premier shopping centers
in the Bay Area.
Now, I don't think I would have ever thought that
when I was going to high school here,
but it has evolved and become this attraction destination
for truly all over the Bay Area.
So really, kudos, Tracy, Sherry, and the management team
that's at Broadway Plaza.
Hopefully another 75 years, and I won't be that one either.
Trunk or Treat is this Friday from three to six o'clock,
Arts and Rec department at Civic Park.
There's a low sensory for the first hour
from three to four o'clock.
Council Member Darling needs the low sensory.
She'll be there for the first hour.
After that it's four to six o'clock for the normal,
I guess, high sensory at Civic Park.
The Diwali Fair is this weekend
going back to Arts and Rec,
so that's in front of the Lesher Center.
There's events that are there in Friday evening.
Saturday is the festival from 12 to five.
I'll be there as well for that.
There is the headline comedy show on the 23rd.
There's actually an outdoor drone light show about 9.15
that will be above the Lesher Center.
So I've never seen these drone shows at night.
They're really something else.
I would recommend if people come and it's not raining
and it's not too cold, come check it out.
It should be really interesting.
On the Diwali celebration during the day on Saturday,
there'll be performers, artists, food, marketplace,
lots more to do.
For information on specifics, go to leisureartsenter.org
for more details.
On the city website is the virtual community workshop.
Anyone can visit it and learn about the general plan update.
So go to walnutcreek2050.com and participate.
And I wanted to finish off by mentioning County Connection
which I'm the liaison,
I have been for the last 10 years
to the board of directors for County Connection.
And there was an alternate service plan
that has just been announced in the event
that Measure RTM does not pass.
Like many Bay Area transit agencies,
county connections facing a budget challenge
and the RTF measure has already been endorsed
by this Walnut Creek City Council.
While RTF does help BART,
it also helps other transit agencies
that feed our systems into BART like county connection.
So should RTF fail,
an alternative service plan has identified
cost saving measures including eliminating routes
and reducing service frequency if additional funding does not become available.
So this is going to impact all of us, whether or not you take County Connection, whether
or not you take BART.
This is going to impact all of us and our drive times, wherever we're going.
The plan proposes a 22% reduction in service.
These are not changes that County Connection wants to make, but planning ahead helps to
prepare for difficult financial decisions while continuing to provide transit service
at Central Contra Costa County
as county connection has provided since 1980.
So just really reemphasizing what the council
had endorsed just two weeks ago.
And that is my update.
So, everybody okay?
Keep going along here.
All right, we're good.
I looked at Cindy first.
I don't know why I did that.
Okay, so the next item is,
excuse me here, moving along too fast for me.
The next item is the consideration of the park recreation and open space commission
recommendation for Heather Farm Park and Civic Park master planning including approval of funding
and associated actions. So I'd like to invite Arts and Rec director Chris Farrow forward to
provide the presentation. Good evening council. Chris Farrow again still Arts and Rec director.
tonight i'm bringing forward a recommendation for consideration that came from our parks
recreation and open space commission moving forward i'll call them pros as you commonly
refer them to um i'll start with a little bit of background to set the stage before we jump into
the powerpoint um as you'll remember city council approved 250 000 in measure o funds to uh pay
for the clerk pool and pool house repurposing master plan and that would be to include some
outreach from the community to determine what will go at the Clark parcel.
So over the summer as staff came together to discuss the launching of that project,
it was frequently noted that our current Heather Farm Park master plan is over 20 years old
and needs to be updated.
So keeping that in the back of our mind while also participating in the work that's going
on for the general plan, staff started to think perhaps we could use some of the outreach
that's happening with the master plan work
and put that together with this clerk repurposing plan
and really do a Heather Farm Park master plan update.
So we brought that idea to pros to vet it
and we'll jump into the presentation now.
We brought them two ideas, two concepts.
So the first was we could just stick
with the original council approved project
which was the $250,000 to only look at the Clark pool parcel
and determine what to do next.
Or we could do a full Heather Farms Park master plan update
using the outreach work that was already happening
with the general plan and perhaps being able to get
a little bit more bang for our buck.
Really the difference between these two options is timing.
So it would take longer, obviously,
to do a master plan update to include the full park.
We're looking at probably, at that time,
we were thinking six to 12 months, probably longer.
So pros having those two options,
they did opt to recommend the master plan update.
However, they had two main concerns.
One was the timeline and the other was
what will that parcel look like from demo
until the master plan is implemented.
So they directed staff to go back
and more formally vet those two questions.
So staff did that.
And we returned to pros at the beginning of October
with three ideas.
So we said, as always, we could do the original scope,
the $250,000, just look at the clerk parcel itself
and come up with a repurposing plan.
We could also, or instead, I'm sorry,
do the master plan update and the new information we provided to them was that the timeline
really was going to be about an extra year to do that. We couldn't find a way to expedite
it. We couldn't do it any quicker than that. So we are looking at about a year longer to
do the master plan. However, we also learned that there also is a $100,000 already in that
project budget to put interim landscaping into that space.
So from the demo of the pool into until either the Clark
repurposing plan or the master plan is implemented, there will
be landscaping on that parcel that was included in the
original project. So no additional funding to make that
happen. And then the third option that we presented was if
well, if we're gonna go and do the Heather Farm Park master
plan update. Let's also revisit the other work that has been done previously with your
parks your future. And so that work had started several years ago and identified not only
did the Heather Farm Park update need to happen but that also we need a master plan for Civic
Park as one does not exist. So we thought well could we within that same time frame
achieve both of those things and we determined that we could. So we presented that as a third
option and of course that would be more funding that we needed.
So we presented some funding options in order to be able to do that as well.
So that is the recommendation.
This third option that they are bringing to council this evening.
So I'll spend more time jumping into that option.
So what the commission fully recommends is resuming the work of your parks, your future,
having a Heather Farm Park master plan update, a civic park master plan.
We've never had one, so that would be new.
We'll be able to accomplish that
by leveraging some of the outreach work
that's happening right now with the general plan,
having a consultant do some additional outreach
that's more focused and pointed at Civic and Heather Farm.
And it will really reflect
the current community needs and priorities,
and we just think the timing is so great
to have this work done that could then feed in
and give more information to the general plan as well.
want it to tie together.
So what will these two master plans include?
For Heather Farm Park, it is an update.
So there is a master plan.
As I mentioned, it's about 20 years old.
So the current map, the current recommendations in that plan need to be revised.
Some of the things that were recommended 20 years ago we have implemented.
There are other things on the list that we have yet to implement.
So going back and visiting those.
And then looking at things like circulation and parking,
how we have changed where the amenities are located
in the park, are there adjustments
that we need to make for traffic flow or parking,
looking at other facilities that are on that parcel,
obviously not looking to change things
that we have recently invested in,
obviously like the fields and the center and aquatics,
but looking at other things on that property.
And then for Civic Park,
this would be a brand new master plan for us.
So really determining what the long-term vision is,
not only for where the facilities are located,
where the park is,
and what do we see that being in the future?
Is that a repair and maintenance of the building?
Is that a complete redo like Heather Farm?
We don't know the answers to those questions,
so this would really help us gather the information
to make those decisions.
So the proposed timeline for the two master plan projects
is on the screen, so it would start pretty immediately.
As I said, some of the work is happening already
with the general plan, outreach, and planning,
so that will continue to go
throughout the length of this project.
In January, we would bring on a consultant
to do the master plans.
In spring, they would start their more targeted
community outreach about the two parks in particular.
In summer of 28, so we know, Tozen Water,
27.
So we're thinking that the pool realistically
would be demolished in summer of 28.
And that's at the same time when we'd then
go in and put in the interim turf and landscaping
so that the parcel could be used for passive use.
And then at some time in that summer,
we would also be able to bring the master plans forward
to council for consideration.
And depending on what that ends up being,
especially what the recommendations are for civic,
We would hope that by summer of 29 we would be able to implement the work that's at Clark
and perhaps work at Civic depending on what that work is and measure O funding that's
available at that time. So this would be the proposed timeline. It does obviously stretch
out any work to happen at the Clark site for about a year further than just looking at that
parcel in particular. And then I did want to take a minute to talk about funding. So we initially
thought to just look at the Clark parcel we're looking at $250,000 which is what Council had
originally approved to do both parcels and do a full Heather Park update and then the full plan
comprehensive plan for Civic Park we're thinking that this is more of a $500,000 project. The good
news is is we're not asking for any general funds to do that we do have funds available in other
places so the 250,000 that was originally approved by Council for Measure O was slated
to be used at Clark so our ask of Council if you choose to move forward with this plan
would be to reallocate those funds to civic instead of Clark and the reason for that is
we have the $2 million from speaker that was part of the Glenn and Glenn at Heather Farm
community benefit and development agreement and we're asking you to allocate 250,000 of
those funds to go through to the Heather Farm update
because those funds have to be used
at Heather Farm specifically.
So with those two funding reallocations,
we would get to the 500,000 needed
for the two master plans.
So what we're asking of you tonight is to consider
the pros recommendation and to make your decision.
Thank you, Chris.
You're welcome.
All right, well, let's start with questions.
Do we have any questions on this?
Council Member Davini?
Yeah, Chris, thanks for the presentation.
One question I have is the 100,000 you said
there was allocated for landscaping.
Is that already allocated through Mejiro
for landscaping and filling the pool?
Yes, and we think that it's,
so 100,000 sounds like a big number.
In fact, Public Works structure
and I spoke this evening about
what can actually be accomplished with that money.
So we think that it's, we'll come in under that,
but we wanted to slate that just in case.
So the good news is there is some turf
on that parcel already that we can save.
There are cement pads with shade structures
that we intend to save,
but we will need to go in and put some irrigation in.
So we hope to come under that number,
that is already budgeted in the project. So one of my thoughts is that if we're
to spend the money to fill the pool, to landscape it, to put the turf down,
just to get the plan to then rip it up and pull whatever we're going to put in there,
why not just leave the pool open for another year?
It's an option to be quite honest. I'm not sure the pool will make it another year. I mean we've
Managed to keep it together this long anyway that that was one of my initial thoughts was we're just talking about kind of delaying
Things for a year, so if that's the case yeah
It seems like that's an option we would also need additional staffing to run both facilities at the same time
So that's something we'd have to consider to
We'd be saving the hundred thousand though, so we'd have some additional funds for staffing. Yeah, but it's also
expensive to maintain to
Pool, so we'd have to we'd have to work that out, but we stuff could certainly math that out food for thought. Yeah, okay
and then
the the Civic Park
250,000 my thought when I heard that number was oh if Heather farms are pretty big area and I could understand how
That more easily understand how that would be the 250,000 but Civic Park seems somewhat limited by all the trees
We're out of a playground there.
Is that really a $250,000 project, do you think?
Or what are you envisioning when we talk
about a master plan there?
Because it doesn't seem like a very big area,
and I'm not sure that there seems like
that many dynamic things that could happen there.
A large part of that will be the outreach work
that the consultants need to do,
because we haven't done outreach work
for that parcel in particular.
Obviously, there was some outreach already conducted
at Heather Farm, which got us to the place
of being able to build the community center
an aquatic center, so we're gonna be leaning into that,
but we'll need a more dedicated effort
to really lean into what the community wants to do
with Civic Park, and that front-end work,
I think, is where we are guesstimating
that a lot of the cost of that project is going to go.
Okay, thank you.
Would that also include any of the buildings,
or is just the greenery area of the park itself?
We're talking about the landscaping at Clark.
around no at Civic Park?
It would be the whole parcel.
It would be inclusive of the whole parcel, yes.
And to clarify, I believe it would include
the eastern part of the park.
That's correct.
Right.
Mayor Pro Tem.
Thanks, Chris.
You kind of alluded to it in terms
of the dedicated outreach and planning effort.
And can you speak a little bit more
to it, how it's going to work as part of the general plan
process?
It just, I could see people getting lost a little bit.
Sure.
All the universe of things we're asking them
about the general plan, kind of what's
the strategy for getting people to really focus on the parks.
We thought about the same too.
So there's benefits of this work coinciding
in that obviously we want the work that we do now
at the parks to play into and mirror
what the vision is for 2050.
So I think there's a lot of benefits
of having these conversations at the same time,
but we also talked about kind of survey fatigue, right?
And the community still being engaged
and participating in understanding
the different outreach methods.
So I think it'll just take a coordinated effort
of our consultants and pinpointing
and crafting the right questions
to get us the results that we're looking for.
So having, for example, the branding
and the look of the website and the surveys
look very different for General Plan
than they look for this.
So that it's clear that they're two different efforts,
even though we want them to marry and consolidate
into a kind of joint vision,
that we want the public to notice that they're two separate.
And as you know, the General Plan is really looking at
high level 30,000 foot.
Well, this will be very detailed in the weeds.
And I think that actually complements well
because in the conversations
that our general plan consultant has had
coming around to the commissions and such,
folks think in the weeds.
So they think, what do I want at the park down the street?
You know, it's harder for them to elevate up
to think about these bigger concepts for the vision in 2050.
So I think it actually gives them, the public,
the opportunity to speak to both at the same time.
so they can talk about what they want in their local park
and where Pickleball should go, do I dare say,
but also have the bigger vision
of what do we look like in 2050.
I appreciate that, and then pros would have a meeting
or two dedicated to kind of community input
on the park master plan. Absolutely, mm-hmm.
And then I was surprised to learn
we didn't have a master plan for Civic Park.
Kind of with the consultant is the idea,
come up with a vision statement for that park
and how it complements with Heather
and all the other park resources.
Exactly, it'd be a similar effort that we took
to get to the new aquatic center.
So seeing what the community wants
and then coming up with some, you know,
a bullet point list of what we want
that property to look like.
Okay, thank you.
Mm-hmm.
Council Member Dorney.
Thank you, it's fun to get back to like
thinking big thoughts about this stuff.
So I'm gonna immediately dive down into the weeds.
In the planning, are we going to,
I know when we looked at the plans
for the community center and the swimming pool,
we said, well, okay, we're gonna maximize solar,
but we don't have battery storage as a part of that
because it's not quite ready yet.
Are we gonna have an opportunity to look at,
from a sustainability perspective,
Opportunities for solar opportunities for storage things like that. Absolutely and I didn't
Highlight that when I talked about the two scopes, but definitely for both but to highlight
Specifically for Heather farm that would be something that we could include on a full park master plan as opposed to just looking
At that parcel. So that is one of the benefits of doing that is that we could include sustainability
Okay, and now I'm gonna go way back up to the 50,000 foot elevation
and I'm thinking about plan fatigue.
And so if we have a Heather Farm plan that's 20 years old
and it's kinda dated, I am a little bit concerned
if we're going forward with both Heather Farm and Civic,
what capacity will we have to implement those plans
and are we going to have the funding
to do those in under 20 years?
And I know that's very crystal bally,
but it's just what I worry about.
I think that having a plan in hand
helps you find funding options.
It's hard to find funding when you don't have a plan.
So whether that's grant opportunities,
whether that's another measure,
having that plan will jumpstart our effort
to be able to find the resources.
Okay, and then as we look at Civic Park
and the buildings, is the library portion of that
at all involved or are we just gonna stay over in the park?
It was not part of what we considered,
but if council wanted to.
No, I didn't.
I don't think so, I was just.
Yeah, we just looked at the park parcel.
Okay, all right, thank you.
You're welcome.
I think the only question I really have
is more of just the,
are we trying to do too much at the same time?
You mentioned about the dovetailing
with the general plan, which I do think makes sense,
but we have the same amount of people,
the same people actually, that are dealing with,
whether it's Heather Farm, Civic Park,
in many cases, general plan too.
So is it to use our former mayor, Luella Hasky's terminology,
are we trying to boil the ocean here?
And rather than being able to complete stages
and phases and projects, and then do it one at a time,
it's not a leading question,
I'm just asking your thought on this.
I think that we have a great opportunity to do both.
From the consultant's perspective,
my guess is whether they're doing one
or whether they're doing two, the work is the work, right?
And so I think we have a great opportunity
to maximize our dollars and that if we were to wait
to do the civic plan, it's going to cost more money
down the road and we won't be positioned
for a funding opportunity that comes up next.
And let's be honest, your parks, your future
has sat on the shelf for a while.
And so how much longer?
Because these aren't the only two things
that are listed in there, right?
We also want to look at shade lens at some point of time.
So the list is never ending, as you know.
But I think this gives us a great opportunity
to check off two big items.
So efficiency of scale is what it sounds like.
OK.
Another question.
I've got a follow-up question.
So we talked a little bit about potential cost savings
for doing them both at the same time.
What do you think the time difference would be
to do just Heather Farm versus Heather Farm and Civic?
Would there be a time difference there you think
to complete those?
I mean, we were guesstimating that just doing
the Heather Farm update was going to be
a six month increase from just looking at Clark.
And again, like we haven't hired a consultant.
So this is us guesstimating what their timeline will
be based on previous experience.
So I think if we went just Clark Parcel versus the Heather
Farm update, probably a six month, if we were to stop there
and not do the civic and we picked up civic at another time,
civic alone is about a year to do a master plan in most cases.
The reason why we think this Heather Farm one will
move more exponentially is because we've done a bulk of the Heather Farm
outreach already with the project that's there so we have a little bit of a
lead start but doing civic on its own I'm guessing it would be just about a
year. All right well we can now open it up to public comment if any member of the
public wishes to provide public comment at this time please come forward. If
anybody is online use the raise hand feature press star 9 if you're calling
and we'd like to provide a remote public comment.
If you're attending in person,
please complete a speaker card.
It looks like you have,
and line up behind the lectern at this time.
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 you have two minutes, hello.
Thank you, Council Members.
My name is Michael Beck.
I'm a resident of Wanla Creek,
former employee of the city of Wanla Creek
for eight years in the transportation division,
and a member of a walk bike of Walnut Creek.
I'm gonna talk a little bit about civic parks.
I love the idea of doing a master plan there.
There have been general plans over the last 30 years or so,
some of which I've worked on myself,
for east-west connection from the Iron Horse Trail
to downtown, to the Bard Station,
to the office complexes north of Ignacio Valley Road.
And nothing's happened.
Well, partly as the issue has been raised,
you know, without a plan,
you can't come up with any design,
you can't get funding,
you're not gonna get anything to ever happen.
So I think that's a really important thing.
Also, Lincoln Avenue,
there was a demonstration project there
for a bicycle facility that was shot down.
So that eliminates one of the east-west bicycle connections
from the fantastic Iron Horse Trail
run by East Bay Regional Parks to downtown,
to BART that type of thing.
So, consideration of a nice master plan for Civic Park
will, I hope, would consider one of the goals
of the City Council for connectivity to downtown
by including how can bicycles get from the Iron Horse Trail
to downtown, maybe to BART, you know, those types of things.
Again, what was said earlier is
If there's no plan, you don't get any details,
you're not gonna get any funding.
You're never gonna meet your vision and goals
that have been outlined in several general plans
for the last 30 years, thank you.
Thank you.
Do you have anybody else here, public comment?
Seeing none here, anybody online?
We have no one online.
Okay so we'll come with public comment,
bring it back to council for more discussion or a motion.
Thoughts?
Well, I did have some reservations initially
because my concern was we're doing Heather Farm.
We don't really know how that will shape up.
Maybe it looks exactly like we envisioned it in the master
plan.
Maybe we identify something new that
would impact how we might design Civic.
But I think kind of weighing all of the benefits
versus the potential cons, I'm in favor of going ahead
and doing both civic and either farm master plan.
Yeah, I'm kind of in the same place, you know,
this morning I was like, why are we doing two?
It's, you know, we don't have a big pot of money
to do everything that we want,
but then I got to thinking about the general plan
connections and things like the bike connection
is something that if you do the civic park plan now,
at the same time you're doing the general plan,
you can think about those kind of things.
So I guess I've finally come around to doing both of them.
I wasn't there this morning, but you know,
I think it makes sense.
You were done?
Yeah, I was there this morning.
I think that to,
we have to look at them kind of holistically
and I think there are kind of our two biggest park assets
and kind of ideally currently and probably in the future
they'll serve different audiences, different purposes.
I view kind of Heather as this all encompassing facility
that everything from horses to soccer players to swimmers,
all abilities playground, it does a lot there.
And civic is kind of being more of our front porch
where we have concerts and gatherings and celebrations.
And so I think keeping that in mind
and kind of working on these master plans in concert
makes sense.
I think Chris made a good point that if we don't do the plan,
then we can't apply for funding.
At some point, Measure O will come up for potential renewal.
And I think having a plan in place
that reflects community input on what we want to see there
and that Heather Farm is a good thing.
The outreach I think is really the one that I see
being probably one of the more challenging things,
but I'm comforted by the fact that we'll have
a new consultant for the master planning process.
They'll build on the general plan outreach,
and I just want to make sure that we're reaching out
to all the recreational user groups
and making sure, you know, somebody who just
these general plans says I don't that doesn't affect me I'm just a bike rider
but that they're paying attention to this this process and having input on it
so I'm in favor of the pros recommendation yeah and I mean it's been a
few days trying to think about this one and were we trying to do too much and I
Chris I appreciate your answer it's more of a scale of efficiencies than anything
else and like hearing about the fact that there's different types of funding
that can be requested and applied for during this as well and I guess I was
thinking while you were speaking the the old joke of how does somebody climb
Everest one step at a time and so this is just basically a step in that
direction. So I'm in favor of it as well so I'm happy to hear a motion. I move to
approve the pros recommendation. I'll second. We have a motion to second. Susie
call the roll please. Mayor Pro Tem Francois. Aye. Mayor Will. Aye. Council Member Darlene. Aye. Council Member Dibany. Aye. Motion carried. Alright. And now a break would be good. Now a break would be good. So let's take five or ten. Five. Five minutes break. We'll reconvene, it's seven fifty. I guess that's nine but oh well. Alright. And we're back. The next item on the agenda is adoption of a resolution accepting the fiscal year twenty twenty
fourth quarter revenue and expenditure and authorizing allocation of the year
end fiscal year 2026 general fund and measure O unassigned fund balances and I
invite administrative services director Kirsten Lacass forward to provide the
presentation. Good evening Mayor Will, members of Council, Kirsten Lacass
administrative services director and this evening I'm going to walk you
through the fiscal year 26 fourth quarter budget update. Okay so tonight
we're going to cover the fiscal year 26 results for the general fund, measure O,
the parking fund and Boundary Oak Golf Course. So what we are asking of you
this evening is to move to adopt the resolution accepting the report and
authorizing allocation of the year-end for fiscal year 26 general fund and
measure O on the signed fund balances. We're frozen up here hold on just a
second. So in the general fund I'll provide a brief recap of the fiscal year
26 and 27 budget development process discuss our year-end results for general
revenues, department revenues, and the use of reserves. Then we will talk about how
we ended the year with our expenditures as well as our contribution to fund
balance. So during the fiscal year 26 and 27 budget development process staff
identified projected ongoing deficits of 4.97 million in fiscal year 26 and
and 6.33 million in fiscal year 27.
These projections reflected the city's financial outlook
before implementing any budget balancing measures,
accounting for one-time expenditures
or making contributions to reserves.
The projected deficits were driven primarily
by slower revenue growth and rising costs.
The budget adopted a variety of ways to close the deficit
while seeking to minimize impacts to staff and community.
At a high level, these included revenue increases
of approximately $822,000 over the two years,
proposed operations and maintenance reductions
of just over $2 million each year,
and personnel reductions of about $1.3 million each year,
as well as some short-term budget balancing actions.
The majority of operations and maintenance reductions
came from professional services,
but there were also reductions in other categories as well.
On the personnel side, positions were eliminated or reclassified, hourly and overtime budgets
were reduced, and some positions were moved between funds.
The adopted budget also incorporated short-term budget balancing strategies to help minimize
impacts to service levels.
These included increasing the budgeted vacancy rate from 5% to 6% to better reflect normal
staff turnover and the time needed to fill vacant positions.
The budget also included the potential use of pension resources, $1 million in fiscal
year 26 and $2 million in fiscal year 27 to help offset rising pension costs.
Consistent with city policy and council direction, these pension resources would only be used
if necessary to balance the budget at year end.
So all of this to say that fiscal year 26 budget was tight with both revenue and expenditure
budgets reduced from the prior year.
Looking at the general fund budget to actual results, revenues came in $1.3 million above
budget.
However, this includes one-time revenues, most notably $2 million received through the
Glenn at Heather Farm Park Community Benefit Agreement, which must be designated in fund
balance for future use.
On the expenditure side, thanks to the active budget management by staff, expenditures came
in $1.22 million below budget.
accounting for the required designation of the Glenn revenue, the general fund is projected
to contribute approximately $367,000 to fund balance, which is slightly below the $415,000
contribution anticipated at the adopted budget.
Looking more closely at general fund revenues, we came in approximately $2.25 million above
budget overall.
However, there are a few important items to highlight.
Property tax revenues came in about 239,000 below budget, primarily due to the successful
appeals of assessed property values associated with commercial vacancies, which we've discussed
previously.
Sales and use tax revenues will also be low budget by approximately 770,000.
This was largely driven by the change in how sales tax within the auto and transportation
industry are reported and allocated between brick and mortar and online sales
that we discussed earlier. However, these shortfalls were offset by growth in other
revenue categories, most notably interest earnings and one-time revenues reflected
in the other revenue category. As mentioned earlier, the city received two
million dollars through the Glen at Heather Farm Park Community Benefit
Agreement. In addition, the city received approximately 600,000 related to the
dissolution of the Walnut Creek Redevelopment Successor Agency. So while
total revenues exceeded budget, much of that was driven by one-time funding.
Excluding those one-time revenues, general fund revenues actually came in
approximately 350,000 below budget. So next looking at the department
revenues, they came in approximately 100,000 above budget, largely due to
one-time revenues as well. In administrative services we received 564,000
in one-time revenue from retiree health savings account contributions that reverted to the
general fund under the city's plan agreement. Arts and recreation revenues were below budget
due to lower facility rentals, including at the Lesher Centre, reduced class and camp
registrations, fewer preschool classes, and lower Diablo Regional Arts Association sponsorships
which reflect fundraising activities on behalf of the Lesher Centre. Heather Farm rentals
were also not fully recaptured at other facilities as anticipated. Community
development received less revenue related pass-through revenue sorry
development related pass-through revenue offset by corresponding expenditure
reductions. Staff costs for the Heather Farm Aquatic and Community Center
project are also being charged directly to that capital project so there are no
revenues coming in as a result of the project. In police revenues were below
budget primarily due to the termination of the Apple Store contract after budget adoption.
In public works, a one-time FEMA reimbursement of about $341,000 helped offset lower development-related
revenues and delays in revenue recognition for projects that were shifted into fiscal
year 27.
Overall, excluding one-time revenues, department revenues were approximately $800,000 below
budget.
in include the planned use of reserves as well as transfers in from other funds.
The city used 1.23 million of general fund contingency reserve in fiscal year 26 to support
the general plan update.
The adopted budget also included 1 million from the pension liability reserve in the
general fund to offset higher pension costs.
However, based on budgetary performance in previous council direction to only use the
pension reserves if necessary staff has not included the use of the reserves so
as a result transfer revenue is 1 million lower than budgeted overall
expenditures were under budget by 1.22 million primarily due to reductions in
professional services and salary savings resulting from vacancies which were
intentionally managed by staff to realize budgetary savings the majority
of the transfers out were for capital for funding council approved capital
projects. Arts and Recreation exceeded budget due to the maintenance of the
Heather Farm field to maintain play conditions and necessary repair of the
Bedford Gallery floors. In summary, fiscal year 26 revenues exceeded
expenditures by 2.36 million, reflecting one-time revenues and
departmental expenditure savings. After setting aside the required 2 million for
the Glennon project, the contribution to fund balance is approximately 357,000.
Again, staff did not need to use the 1 million in budgeted pension resources, which effectively
means that we were able to realize budgetary savings of approximately 1.36 million.
While that sounds significant, it represents only about 1% of budgeted expenditures.
Staff recommends transferring any available funds to the general fund facility reserve.
And because this report focuses on the fiscal year 26 operating budget and excludes most
multi-year project costs the results that we discussed this evening will
differ from those that we will see in the annual comprehensive financial
report at the end of the year so staff will provide council with the fine the
final amount available for transfer to the general fund facilities reserve once
the actor is completed later this calendar year I wanted to pause there to
see if mayor you would want to take questions at this point do we have any
questions that council at this point yep I was wondering with the pension
reserve it I know we were able to cut expenditures with the threshold to have
used the pension reserve be if we had not been able to cut expenditures enough
to to be in line with revenues would that have been the threshold or is there
something specific to another part of the budget that that signals when we use
the pension reserve you are correct it is actually related to whether or not we
have a contribution to fund balance at your end. And so if for some reason we
our expenditures exceeded our revenues and we we had a deficit essentially then
we would use the pension reserve. Thank you. Yeah. On the Glennet Heather farm
was the two million was that were there other I thought there was something
associated with the lesser or my misremembering. That's correct I believe
Once they receive a condition of occupancy, there's a $250,000 contribution.
The future point that other funds, okay, thank you.
I don't have any questions.
Do you have any, or are you still fully finishing up on a few more?
The next up would be Measure O. So we could keep moving forward.
So Measure O saw higher revenue than anticipated, along with lower expenditures resulting in
a contribution to fund balance.
So Measure O transaction and use tax revenues came in higher than budget at 13.18 million
along with 965,000 in interest earnings for total revenue of just over 14 million.
This is about 1.3 million higher than the budget.
The transfer in budgeted at 9.88 million was authorized by council to appropriate from
the Heather Farm Aquatic and Community Center Reserve.
For fiscal year 26, the total budgeted expenditures were 20.73 million, with actual expenditures
of 20.66, resulting in approximately 74,000 in budgetary savings.
Measure O began fiscal year 26 with a fund balance of 20.18 million, which included funding
set aside for the Heather Farm Aquatic and Community Center project, as well as savings
accumulated from prior years.
After accounting for FY26 revenues and expenditures, the ending fund balance is $13.67 million.
This decrease primarily reflects the use of previously reserved funds for the Heather
Farm Project.
After accounting for the remaining $6.12 million, Heather Farm Project Reserve, the approximate
$4 million Measure O Reserve, and the $240,000 carried forward to FY27 for multi-year projects
and encumbrances, the available year-end fund balance is approximately 3.32 million.
Staff recommends allocating the available year-end fund balance to the Measure O Reserve.
Staff will provide counsel with the final amount available for allocation to the Measure
O Reserve following completion of the act for later in this calendar year, similar to
the general fund.
Next I will cover the parking fund and the-
Just ask if we have any questions on Measure O.
Any questions on that right now?
I just have a quick question on that.
And great to see that we actually brought in
more revenue than we expected.
Are we on track of expectations
for Measure O with reserves?
I mean, are things going in a good direction
that we're happy with?
They are, because we have had
budgeted contributions to fund balance
that have been increasing slightly
just based on the actual results
from the transaction and use taxes
going in a good direction, yes.
Great.
Thank you.
So the parking fund had higher revenues of $8.66 million,
which is 106% of the budget, as well as higher expenditures
of $7.99 million, which is 103% of the budget.
This did result in a contribution to fund balance
of about $670,000.
The primary driver of the increased revenue
is higher interest earnings, citation revenue,
and parking meter collections.
higher costs are related to citation processing fees,
which scale with additional revenue.
So as we collect more revenue for the fees,
the cost to process those also increases.
The Boundary Out Golf Course Fund revenues
came in higher than budget by approximately 874,000.
Expenditures were lower than budget by approximately 92,000.
The increase in revenues is primarily attributed
to interest earnings, increased driving range usage,
and higher merchandise sales.
So in summary, the general fund contribution to fund balance
is approximately $357,000.
For measure O, the contribution to fund balance
is about $3.36 million.
The parking fund had a contribution
to fund balance of $669,000.
And Boundary Golf Course Fund had a contribution
to fund balance of approximately $1.09 million.
and this report was presented to finance committee
on October 1st, and the committee did recommend
that city council accept the report.
All right, thank you, and it's just any questions
on the boundary of golf course.
Just one question, I brought this up
with the city manager last week.
I just wanted to see if, what kind of a timeline
that we're looking at for putting some kind of shading
or awning over the driving range.
We mentioned that we're getting more use out of it as well.
somebody who has had some skin cancer issues.
I'm asking for myself and everybody who's looking
to not get quite as much sun in there
when they're using the driving range.
Yeah, and I can speak to that briefly, mayor,
and if we'd like more detail,
we can ask our public works director.
We are revisiting the design on that.
The original design proved to have some challenges,
not only from a cost perspective,
but in terms of functionality
and some process issues as well.
So we're effectively revisiting the scope and scale
and the design of the shade structure
and plan to bring something forward for consideration
about how to handle that
probably within the next couple of months.
Great, and that would be coming out of that fund?
Yeah, and just to clarify for anybody maybe wondering
that the Boundary Out Golf Course
is what's called an enterprise fund.
It is self-funding.
There's not any general fund or any other tax subsidy
that goes into the golf course.
It's funded by its own revenues from operations.
And as such, all that revenue has to remain in that fund
and be used to support the golf course
and the ancillary services provided.
So yes, it would be funded.
Great, that's what I was getting at.
Yeah, it wouldn't be general fund costs.
Great, thank you.
I have a question about the parking fund.
Yeah.
Yep, okay.
That's also an enterprise fund as well, the parking fund.
So if we're bringing in more revenue,
and so I think there was what, $667,000 additional.
And some of that is driven by increased collections.
When folks ask me about parking tickets,
the philosophy, I believe, of the city
is that those are there to promote turnover,
and so people are in occupying spaces,
and it's more or less a self-sustaining fund.
if we see that we're going over or collecting more revenues,
do we scale back in future years?
Are there adjustments that are made
to make it a self-sustaining effort
and not something that necessarily
generates a profit for us?
Yeah, I mean, it's all an estimate budgeting
in terms of how much revenue anything's going to bring in.
So it's never precise.
Some year's revenue has come in lighter.
So effectively, we try to target it being about break-even
in any years like this where there's work to the good,
we'd put that in the bank for a future use.
When we come in light, we can use that to help fund that offset.
And as you noted, to clarify that the pricing for the meters
for the parking garages is driven around
trying to manage utilization and demand,
try to drive more folks into the parking garages.
That's why they're priced at a lower price
than the green meters and the purple meters.
a little farther out, or price a little bit lower.
But to have turnover in those spots
and yet utilize the capacity that's there
is really the purpose.
But yes, the goal is longer run
to effectively have that even out.
I would add, however, that a significant portion
of the parking fund is invested in downtown.
So about a third of that budget is used
to maintain and support downtown to make it vibrant.
So think maintenance, think police officers.
That is funded from that fund.
So we're about $2.5 million that goes directly
to support downtown being vibrant.
Yeah, yeah.
OK.
Yeah, I just wanted to clarify that philosophy.
So year over year, we watch that number.
And if it starts to creep up, we make adjustments?
Yes, I mean, there's a couple options.
I mean, adjustments, we have not reduced rates.
I do want to clarify that because that's
been related to trying to manage demand, not necessarily
on the budgeting side.
I suppose if we were running big surpluses for several years,
we could certainly revisit that,
but want to discuss that with the traffic folks to understand
what that would do to parking effectively.
Do any more questions?
Okay.
Just two technical ones I'm curious to infer.
Recommendation from the Finance Committee was in staff
is to allocate the general fund,
unallocated balance to the contingency fund.
What is the, can you remind me how much we have
in the general fund contingency fund as of now?
Yes.
So in the general fund contingency,
prior to this allocation, if council were to approve it,
we have 2.57 million.
Okay, so this brings us to about roughly three with this,
if we move. That's correct, yes.
I'm gonna clarify something.
Isn't the recommendation to go to the facilities
Oh, I apologize. Yes, the facilities reserve and the balance in
The facilities reserve is
Eleven point seven eight million, but the
360,000 we go to the general fund
I believe it's recommend to go into the recommendation. Yes is to go into the facilities reserve into the facilities reserve
Okay, I'm glad I asked that clarification and then
On the pension trust fund rough numbers kind of where's it sitting at and confirmation that we have not
Tapped into that
So we currently have about 34 million in our IRS section 115 pension trust
We also have about 1.9 million in a pension reserve within the general fund
So both of those were looked at as we were adopting the budget so we have not touched either of those at this point
Thank you, and if I could comment on that number though that we're looking at like 120 to a hundred and forty million in unfunded
Liability for pensions over the next like 10 or 15 years, right? So even though that sounds like a big number
That's where my numbers roughly accurate. Yeah
Yeah, yeah, and just elaborate upon that that is intended to be spread out over as you mentioned probably about a 12 to 15 year
period yeah
All right, let's open it up to public comment if any member of the public wishes to provide public comment at this time please
step forward and
if you are
Remote, please use the raise hand feature or press star 9 if you're calling in if you'd like to provide a remote public comment
as a reminder each speaker will have two minutes to make their remarks. All remarks should be addressed the City Council and
Let's start.
Good evening.
Kathy Hemingway, Executive Director with the Walnut Creek
Downtown Association.
I wanted to thank you for your continued support of WCD's
mission to enhance the downtown and while directly supporting
our 650 businesses.
The Measure O funds that we've received over the last three
years have been essential to contributing
to the success of our programs and events.
And tonight, I just wanted to share a few highlights
of how they've positively impacted our businesses
and the economic climate within the downtown.
Measure O's event funding and fee waivers for Oktoberfest
and the Walnut Creek on Ice program
reduce production costs and drive customer traffic
to downtown businesses.
Our events usually begin with that zero budget.
so the funds help offset the substantial cost
of staging safe and accessible community programs,
allowing WCD to invest in entertainment,
marketing, and participation opportunities
that benefit downtown businesses.
The July 8th and August 5th Locust Street festivals
that everyone enjoyed this summer
attracted an estimated 5,000 and 6,000 attendees respectively.
The events included about 220 booths,
including downtown businesses that created exposure
and additional sales opportunities
during weekday evenings.
Participating restaurants and bars benefited directly
from the newly formed entertainment zone
that was in effect for the Locust Street Festival.
Melo's Italian Table reported that they more than doubled
their typical Wednesday night beer, wine and liquor sales
during the July festival, and Broderick Road House
and Lita reported enthusiastic customer response
and strong interest in participating in future events.
At the August Locust Street Festival,
64% of the measured visits originated
from outside of Walnut Creek.
So that demonstrates how downtown programming
reaches neighboring communities
and introduces visitors to local restaurants,
shops, and services.
Our latest Oktoberfest event on September 25th and 26th,
the visitor analysis for this year's event
shows a guest attendance of about 20,000 people, which
is an increase of about 5,000 people from last year.
20% of those attendees visited local bars, restaurants,
and grocers directly after leaving the event.
enhancements and activations to many plazas
like the monthly music on main program,
featuring local musicians and public art
and our holiday decor,
improve the downtown experience,
offering a variety in entertainment,
visual arts and creative activations
that encourage repeat visits.
So these strong public private partnerships
with the city, WCD, our business members,
sponsors and community organizations
turned these public investment into ongoing downtown activity
and a stronger regional identity.
So programs supported by Measure O
demonstrate the value of sustained downtown programming
through thousands of visits, meaningful regional reach,
documented sales increases for our participating businesses
and growing event participation.
So continued Measure O investment
helps to continue a vibrant downtown
while supporting our businesses that make our downtown
so very special and distinctive.
So thanks so much for your continued support
and appreciate your help tonight.
Thank you, Kathy.
And yeah, the festivals were terrific throughout the summer.
They could not believe how many thousands of people
were down there, so truly terrific.
Thank you.
Any other public comments in person on remote?
All right.
We will close public comment and bring it back to Council.
And any more discussion or a motion?
Move to adopt the resolution accepting the report
and authorizing allocation of the year end FY26 general fund
and measure O, unassigned fund balances.
And much kudos to our staff for a great job this year
managing everything so well.
The next one.
You want to?
Yeah, second.
And before we vote, I just want to thank
the city treasurer who's a certified financial professional for his acumen in
getting us higher earnings on interest earnings on the investments and also
just observe was obvious to everyone here and in the room is that we're it
looks like with some belt tightening in terms of property tax revenues and sales
tax revenues and I would like to say thank you for all the work that the
finance department does and that never hit home more than the other day I think
It was probably Thursday or Friday of last week, when I picked up the paper and one of the cities, and I won't mention it here, but anybody can look it up.
One of the cities in Northern California found out they only had $178 in their fiscal reserves for the entire city.
I don't know how that happens, but I'm glad it doesn't happen here.
So I appreciate the foresight, the projections that are usually so
close to where they actually are in the actual.
appreciate that the residents and of Walnut Creek and those visitors that
come in thank you for continuing to keep fiscal oversight over this I couldn't
imagine being a City Council member of that city and with that why don't we
take the role. Councilmember Darling? Aye. Councilmember Davenne? Aye. Mayor Pro Tem Francois? Aye.
Aye. All right and our final agenda item is adoption of resolution amending the
fiscal year 2027 budget and again administrative services director
Kirsten Lacasse please provide the presentation. Good evening thank you
again Kirsten Lacasse administrative services director next I'm going to walk
you through the FY 27 budget update. So tonight I'll first be discussing the
general fund budget balancing measures and proposed use of the facilities
reserve followed by a new funding request in measure O related to economic
Development and downtown support and and for the downtown group. We are going to be discussing downtown association
Hello
We're going to be discussing that things after this 27
And lastly changes to the capital budget to address a needed repair at City Hall
So the requested action of you this evening is to move to adopt the resolution amending the fiscal year 2027 budget
So to quickly recap staff presented budget balancing
Recommendations to counsel in March of this year to address a projected 2.3 million dollar deficit
driven primarily by declining sales tax as you recall the declines resulted from the statewide shift toward the online retail and
The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration change in how the taxes in the auto and transportation group are reported
Unfortunately though the change is under appeal the lost sales tax revenue is not expected to return anytime soon
At the May meeting council directed staff to address the shortfall by aligning the budgeted vacancy rate
Assumption with the city's actual vacancy experience of about 10 to 11 percent
However, those changes were deferred to give time for the comprehensive fee study to be
completed and only minimal adjustments to the fiscal year 27 budget were adopted in
May to incorporate operational savings, known cost reductions and technical changes.
The fee study is now complete and the changes to the master fee schedule have been adopted.
These fee changes are expected to have a largely neutral budgetary impact as higher fee revenue
will likely be offset by lower projected activity in fee supported services. The lower activity
is based on observed trends and is unrelated to the adopted fee changes. And next I will
walk through the recommended budget adjustments for fiscal year 27 and we're going to start
with the general fund. In order to address the sales tax shortfall, which is based on
the most recent projections from the city sales tax consultant, staff is proposing to
reduce sales tax revenue in fiscal year 27 by 2.26 million. Budgeted revenues
also include the planned use of reserves. As mentioned in the previous
presentation, the city budgeted the use of 2 million of the pension resources in
fiscal year 27 to offset rising pension costs. As part of the proposed fiscal
year 27 adjustment, staff is recommending to use 2.95 million of the facilities
reserve for the critical repair of City Hall which we will discuss in more
detail later in the presentation. Proposed reductions to operational expenditures in
fiscal year 27 total approximately $2.35 million. These include adjustments of the vacancy rate
assumption to just over 10% to offset the loss in sales tax revenue. I do want to note
that this is a short-term measure and we will more fully address the ongoing revenue loss
during the fiscal year 27 and fiscal year 29 budget development cycle. The proposed
reductions also include a true up of animal services costs based on the county's analysis.
No changes in service level are proposed.
As mentioned, staff proposes to use the facilities reserved for necessary capital improvements.
The expenditure appropriation would increase by $2.95 million for the transfer out to capital.
This table outlines the adjustment in dollars that's needed to align department budgets
with the proposed 10% vacancy rate.
this change the vacancy rate is increasing from 6% to around 10% which
reflects the city's intentional and experienced vacancy rate of 10 to 11%.
All departments would experience the same percentage reduction though total
amounts differ based on the relative size of each department's personnel
budget. Also note that the adjustment of the vacancy rate does not affect actual
authorized city positions which said another way means that we are not
changing the number of authorized FTE included in the budget, instead we are intentionally
managing vacancies with the goal of realizing budgetary savings.
In summary, the fiscal year 27 budget, which was amended in May, included a contribution
to fund balance of about 762,000.
With the proposed changes, the contribution to fund balance would increase slightly to
844,000.
Staff recommend leaving this amount as unallocated fund balance to provide flexibility for particular
potential fluctuations in revenues and expenditures during fiscal year 27.
As you may recall, the required reserves for fiscal year 26 and 27 were funded using the
year-end contribution to fund balance from fiscal year 25.
No adjustments are required based on these proposed adjustments.
And I will move to measure O next, so did you want to take any questions at this time?
I think let's just go through all of them.
Okay.
we'll discuss Measure O. The amended budget adopted in May included a
contribution to fund balance of 2.18 million. Measure O funds homeless
outreach services in partnership with Contra Costa County to connect
individuals experiencing homelessness with resources stabilization and housing.
It also supports downtown beautification special events and improvements that
enhance the downtown experience and attract visitors. It supports marketing
advertising and programming coordination to expand audiences and
increase engagement at the Lesher Center. It funds expanded operating hours at the
Walnut Creek and Ignacio Valley libraries, providing an additional 12
hours of service per week. It supports downtown police patrols, dispatch
supervision, crime prevention, and crossing guard services to enhance
community safety. It also funds staff resources and implementation efforts
associated with the city's sustainability action plan and also funds the debt service
associated with financing the new aquatic and community center.
For fiscal year 26-27 Walnut Creek downtown has requested approximately 530,000 in funding
to support a range of downtown events, programs, beautification efforts and administrative
needs.
Walnut Creek downtown's full funding proposal is included as attachment 4 to the agenda
report. Following a review of the request staff recommends funding totaling
196,000 to support downtown beautification and programming that
enhance the downtown customer experience. The following slides provide additional
detail on the specific initiatives staff is recommending funding. Staff's
recommended funding focuses on two key areas downtown beautification and
downtown programming. The recommended funding is intended for one-time
projects rather than ongoing operations or staffing costs and would be provided on a
reimbursement basis. The request for downtown beautification includes 15,000 for additional
lighting for the holiday tree in Civic Park which has grown since the initial installation.
Just over 18,000 to wrap the downtown waste receptacles with new artwork.
21,000 for new downtown street lighting. 20,000 for crosswalk artwork at various intersections
downtown, $25,000 for an initial investment for signature artwork at Cypress Mini Plaza,
and I will note that Walnut Creek downtown has secured private matching funds from the
business community for this. And lastly, $20,000 for updated lighting fixtures in
the main public's bakes at Civic Park, and enhanced uplighting for the perimeter park
trees to create a draw for passing motorists, pedestrians, and park visitors.
The request for downtown programming includes $20,000 for activation of the entertainment zone,
which would offset expenses such as on-site directional signage, custom cups, and wristbands
for participating businesses, as well as $56,500 for the reimbursement for park rental fees for
Walnut Creek on Ice and Oktoberfest. So just to recap, the amended budget adopted in May
Included a contribution to fund balance of two point one eight million after the proposed changes
The contribution to fund balance would be just over two million
I'd like to take any questions on measure. Oh
Thank you and thanks for going through walking through all these I wanted to find out on the
Walnut Creek downtown requested $100,000 for Walnut Creek on ice that included a $40,000
investment in the electrical supply and I understand that we've worked back and
forth with that and I wondered that's not showing up here as measure O are we
able to look at the electrical connection through public works or something? Yeah we
have looked at it and public works may speak to this but we weren't viewing it
as a necessity more of a nice to have it's operated as it has currently for
many years, but yeah Public Works did evaluate it.
Rich, when you went out and looked at it it's always struck me as a lot of
spaghetti on the ground out there during Walnut Creek on ice and I was wondering
what your evaluation was of the safety of the connections and whatnot.
Yes, good evening, Rich Payne public works director
So
What you see on the ground?
is
And and their proposal wouldn't necessarily change that just because of where the equipment is
It would get a service panel closer to the building the clay hearts building and allow them to pull off
Of that right now right now. There's a box that takes us across the park and
that's where their connection is now, but it wouldn't necessarily eliminate all of
that. Okay, but it's more where the service panel is necessarily not
necessarily the the distribution on site. Yeah, the service right now is located
just behind the Civic Community Center. Okay, so if you have to throw the circuit
breaker you have to run. Yeah, years ago we put in some improvements, made some
improvements to get
The connection to the parking lot right there. There's a box. Okay. All right. Thanks. I
Had one. I don't think it's for rich though. I'm not sure who it's for
I think there was on slide 14 there was kind of the side-by-side between what
Walnut Creek downtown asked for and what we agreed to fund what we're recommending funding
So the other councilmember darling talked about the electrical underground what about the contracted marketing expense for that?
And can you remind me what staff's rationale was for not funding that item?
again, really assessing
What are the highest priorities and I should add I mean this wasn't made in a vacuum
They were ongoing discussions between staff staff of the Greek downtown to really prioritize
You know, we think this reflects the highest priorities after those discussions in terms of what to fund
Obviously there could always be more to fun, but that was you know based on the priorities of life
For what were the most critical ones?
And I thought there was funding made for the Locust Street festival, but I'm seeing
There's a zero. There's nothing in recommended funding. Yeah, that's correct. So
One of the premises that have been used not only this year but in prior years with respect to allocating measure Oh
So first and foremost, you know backing up one of the things your counsel has been clear on is having tangible results
Associated with any expenditure of measure. Oh, we have a measure oversight committee. We report very regularly
So anything that we're spending measure Oh funds on we want to make sure we have tangible results
Not and that's not related solely to WCDS for everything that's being funded with measure. Oh
so
keeping that
You know in mind looking at could you reframe the question one more time or just repeat it for me
I'm a little confused because I thought that we were agreeing
Recommending funding over something related to locust street festival, but I'm not seeing that. Yeah, so backing it up. It's related to
looking at those
programs and events that met that
WCD provides there. So obviously they all bring a nice benefit to the community to the businesses downtown and
And looking at those that don't make money for WCD,
do we want to help subsidize those
so that those events can occur?
The events that are effectively profitable more than break-even,
the thought was not to fund those to subsidize,
could effectively be subsidizing the bottom line as
opposed to the event itself.
Based on the information we had, the Locust Street Festival
did generate effectively a positive return.
So that's why funding was not recommended.
Thank you.
For the questions, okay.
Then we'll put the questions out.
Is this completed, or you have one more section, right?
We have, yes, the capital budget.
Right.
So the proposed changes to the fiscal year 27 budget
include a funding request for needed repair
of the city hall veneer due to deterioration
between the brick veneer and the underlying structural wall.
These repairs are limited to the original 1979 portion
of the building, and include veneer replacement, dry rot
repair, roofing, and parapet improvements in window
replacement.
The total project costs, including staff time
contingency, is approximately $4.5 million.
This includes $300,000 that has already been spent using
existing capital budget appropriation,
and it was used on stabilization and repairs
to address urgent safety issues.
The remaining funding needed is approximately 4.2 million.
Staff proposed to defer certain CIP projects
and reallocate the funding to the City Hall Veneer Project.
Staff also proposed to use 2.95 million
from the General Fund Facilities Reserve.
Staff will present a further breakdown of project costs
to the City Council as a part of the contract award process.
Deferred projects would be reconsidered
as part of the upcoming fiscal year 28 and 29 capital budget
process staff consider the impact of deferring these projects as low to
moderate as of June 30th 2026 the general fund facilities reserve has a
balance of eleven point seven eight million if the funding sources for the
proposed project are approved the remaining balance in the reserve would
be eight point eight three million however these balances do not include
the contribution to this reserve we just discussed on the fiscal year 26 report
this report was presented to finance committee back on October 1st and the
committee requested the additional information on Walnut Creek downtown's
full funding request and the committee referred the report to City Council for
additional discussion so what we're asking of you this evening is to move to
adopt the resolution amending the fiscal year 2027 budget and with that we are
available for any questions okay any further questions here before we go to
comments and then we'll put it out to the public I guess. Okay so let's open it
up to any comments from public if any member of the public would like to
provide public comment please come forward. If you'd like to use raise hand
feature if you're calling Roni please press star 9 or raise your hand and let's
first ask here anybody from the public wanting to speak down. Okay anybody
online. All right, close public comment, bring it back here. So to start off the
discussion, you had both asked to regard, actually, could you go back one slide,
Kirsten? Okay, so you'd committed, you'd requested additional information on
Walnut Creek downtown's full funding request by the Finance Committee, and do
you have any further questions on that or comments on that or discussion that
wanted to have on that because as it stands now the recommendation is what
we're seeing as presented. Just to clarify and staff did provide the
request it was attachment for to the staff report and so I didn't quite get
through all the attachments until the hearing but now I'm understanding to
that just to clarify that I think there was 20,000 in one time costs to get the
entertainment zone entertainment energized whatever and that was
recommended for approval and then what was not recommended for approval were
the marketing in addition to some other things where the marketing efforts
related to the Locust Street Festival and Walnut Creek on ice so just to
clarify that I think we've got the information and you want to go first or
You want to, okay, okay.
Yeah, so we looked at this.
So I've just taken a few notes here.
I wanted to point out that our current funding
for Walnut Creek downtown through Measure O
is just over 1% of what we're bringing in
on an annual basis from Measure O.
It's a little bit of a drop
from what we've been giving previously.
So the under 96,000 this year is down
from what was closer to like 280
We are about 80,000 to 100,000 more in past years.
So Walnut Creek downtown was instrumental
in passing Measure O. And my feeling
is that they're a great return on investment.
There's tremendous community benefit from the money
that we invest downtown.
And to point out that our sales tax
is about a third of our city revenue.
So increasing sales tax revenue and driving business downtown
directly comes back to help us.
say a project like the Walnut Creek on Ice. That was 35,000 over 10 weeks, about 35,000
people went through Walnut Creek on Ice. And then there's an estimated additional 35,000
of like family and friends that joined, but didn't actually like buy tickets or participate
in the rink. So for that 70,000, I know that I believe that Walnut Creek Downtown Association
not done this particular study, but the arts economy prosperity study that was
done in 2022 estimated that for each person we drive downtown, we generate
about $35 in spending. Now, I don't know that the arts and the events that are
put on may have slightly different numbers, but if we use that one as a
rough placeholder, that means that that one event, Walnut Creek on ice
generated an additional $2.5 million in spending in Walnut Creek. So and that's
not to mention that that that further solidifies Walnut Creek as a regional
destination and that it drives repeat visits so additional revenue from each
event. Our measure O collections have been higher than expected. Our revenues
are our reserves are growing and you know part of that has to do with the
fact that we got great bond pricing so it was less expensive than we thought it
going to be. So our current philosophy has been, you know, to invest in one-time
costs, not to try to participate in ongoing operational expenses, and to be
outcome-oriented. But I want to point out that when Walnut Creek accepts grant
funding for projects, and we've heard that tonight, we include staff time. So we
build into our projects staff time. Walnut Creek downtown has putting on a
a number of events, probably more events than they have the capacity to to put on with their current staffing.
And I think at some point it's going to outstrip their ability to put on these events at their current staffing model.
So without building in the cost, one-time costs with each one of these projects to build in these staffing that goes along with it,
I think we're going to reach diminishing returns with our investments in solely capital projects or money directly for programs.
So I would propose that we add 20% onto the cost of each capital project or budgeted item, those one-time costs, to account for the staff time associated with those projects.
I also want to point out that...
Do you have a number?
Yeah, I do. Towards the end, I'll let you know.
Individual projects, we improved.
Also you know Walnut Creek downtown has around a million dollar budget so the
money that we're talking about is is a big swing and for them to sort of
budget year over year having some consistency I think is important that we
try to create some consistency. The currently just over 1% I feel is pretty
low in past years we've been closer to two two and a half I think with our
growing reserves, and you know, the measurer outperforming and bonds
outperforming what we anticipated, targeting a minimum of three percent, I
think would be more like in line with our commitment to that we made when
passing measurer. So right now we're saying 196,000. If we take out the 56,000
for what we can you go back to the slide please that had the items on
them. So if we take out the 56,000 for civic park rental fee subsidy, because
there's currently no that would not have staff time associated with it, everything
else does. So if we added 20% on to the 96,000 or on if we subtract the 56 out
we get 39,500. So if we take 20% of that that's 27,900. I would
propose that we approve some staffing money to go along with these projects.
I'm sorry, go back to the math on that.
I'm trying to follow you.
So we're $196,000 for total recommended funding.
All of the projects on here have staff time associated
from WC except for the $56,000.
So that would make $140,000.
Yeah, so even though it's like entertainment zone activation,
like someone has to order those bracelets.
Someone has to purchase and plan what's
going to be procured to put on the event.
So there's staff time associated with each one of these events.
some maybe more than others, but 20%
seemed like a reasonable ballpark number.
We could discuss that, and if you
want to adjust that up or down.
But if we took the 39,500 that's left over after subtracting
out the 56,500.
The 139,000.
139,000, so 139,000.
We would get 27,900 would be 20% of that, I believe.
And that would be what I would propose
that we include for staff time associated with these projects.
What was that number again?
139,500, 20% of that.
Yeah, times 20%.
So about 28,000.
I had 27,900, but yeah, 28,000.
So that would be an additional 27,000,
but it still doesn't sort of make up
gaps from what we've previously given to Walnut Creek downtown.
So I would recommend that we also cover the $40,000
in marketing expenses towards Walnut Creek on ice.
Again, as a one-time expense,
not to say that we're gonna cover it every year,
but this is what they've proposed for us this year,
perhaps other things to propose next year.
If they wanna propose that as a one-time expense next year,
it would be considered independently
of what we've approved this year,
understanding that one-time allocations are the policy.
In addition, there's the administrative fee
at the top, which is $33,000.
That's based on 10% to manage the money from the bid.
I think we've been looking at that.
I would propose that 5%, I think,
would be sufficient to manage that.
That would be cutting the $33,000 in half,
so that would be $16,500 there.
And then I'm looking at this loan assistance program.
order to make up any delta in trying to target a reasonable number year-over-year, I don't think
it's unreasonable again as a one-time cost not trying to participate in the ongoing costs of them
running their business to help with the loan that they had to take out for economic hardship
during COVID. So if we wanted to allocate another 50 or 80 thousand dollars to as a one-time
pay down on that to try to bring the number instead of that 196 closer to, you know, what
we've at least done previously, if not, I would argue closer to 3% minimum, which would
be closer to 400,000.
So if we're getting $1.13 million annually from Measure O, you know, 3% would be closer
to 400,000.
So those are some things we can look at, we can discuss that, but I feel like given the
outperformance of measure that we've seen and the rising funds were
contributing to the measure of reserve and the commitment that we made to
supporting economic downtown vitality when we passed it we should give these
items some consideration. Just one clarifying question you I think the
mayor already asked about he's smarter than I am so I'm not following adding
the 20% to everything but the 56.5 to cover the staff expense is a proposal
Yes for example I'm not sure what what part of the question you're asking if
it's the staff that concept behind staff expense or the numbers. Just explain yeah
that what your thought process was behind adding 20% to each of these items
except the 56. Yeah so I mean for example when we just heard about a grant
being accepted by the city each time we accept these grants we we mark in money
money for staff time and so I think it's reasonable when we're approving one-time
projects, because of the number of projects that the Walnut Creek Downtown puts on, that
if we just keep approving to pay for just the project, like capital aspect of it, it's
going to outpace their ability to provide staffing for all of those projects, so that
we should build in a staffing into that, just like any other grant.
Their staffing time, yeah.
So if we take out the 56,500, then the 964 becomes 30,
well, I had 96, but the 196 becomes 139.5, 20% of that
would be 2,700.
27,900.
So to recap, there's, yeah.
I have a quick question for staff then.
I don't pay that close of attention to this,
but I know when I was working for the state,
our overhead on bonds was typically capped at 5%.
What do we typically charge as far as overhead on grants?
It varies.
Some do have limits of 5% in, generally speaking,
they're capped at 10, give or take.
OK, thank you.
So one question I have of staff, then,
is if we're to increase this by any amount,
where is that coming out of down the line?
I believe the proposal is from as your own just for us, okay
So that would be coming out of from the reserves
Funds and not for the pool, but just for what's left over
Yeah, I mean I I appreciate your comments. I appreciate the thought that you put into it and I
Everybody agrees Walnut Creek downtown punches above its weight and puts on great programs and brings people downtown to spend money
I think I you know, I want to staff had
identified what made sense to me in terms of if we're going to spend money measure owe money
really for anything but for Walnut including Walnut Creek downtown that we focus on kind of one-time expenditures and
in the beautification and programming
categories
which I tend to agree with that I think that that's where
You're helping us sell the city to other people that don't live here and come downtown and spend money that that's
You know, I think we see more of a return in those areas in in beautification and programming and so
I'm not wedded to the the recommended funding
But I I do think we should as we're thinking about this kind of have a methodology
and if it's not just beautification and programming kind of if we're gonna
expand it to another category what's the category and so that we're I think
that it's transparent and a little bit open book so that Walnut Creek downtown
knows when they put in a funding request if it's not in one of these two or three
categories it's not likely going to get funded from measure dollars. Do you have
thoughts? Yeah, you know I walked through this list and I looked at the
original ask with the really the lens that you know let's look at one-time
costs because that's the same thing we've been doing we've tried to do
across the board with the exception of leisure advertising which is basically
downtown, policing, and the emergency risk management person. So I, and when we've
talked about the extra money that is in our reserve right now for measure O, we've
always talked about trying to be as deliberate as possible with that, because
there are a lot of different potential folks that are interested in that. A lot
people you know if we said okay we're ready to spend it we would hear a lot of
really good ideas but I think the one the the idea of helping because one of
the things that I know Walnut Creek downtown does struggle with is they have
a lot of great ideas getting them to implementation takes some manpower and
so I could be but I also struggled for years with the 5% cap and I knew that
that was not enough, but I don't know if I'd want to jump to 20%, but I could see my way to 10%
to cover staff time to implement the projects as being a part of the one-time costs.
And that would be about 14,000 for the staff costs. So for example, so that would mean like
as we are doing holiday tree lighting, we're also paying 10% of that to help cover the cost of the
the staff that are going out and procuring the lighting,
things like that.
I could go, that's kind of the other ones.
I think I'm with the mayor pro tem on
if we're going to add another category,
you know, the idle loan assistance,
I know a lot of different organizations
took out idle loans during COVID.
And I don't know if I would really want to dive
into that category without really understanding
what would be, who else would be coming to us and saying?
And I'm not sure I completely finished
my thought process. Okay, sorry.
So, the categories, well no,
the categories were one part.
But I'm, I guess, I'm open to additional funding here.
I mean, the ones that kind of jumped out at me
as falling into the existing categories
would be the marketing expenses for Wanna Creek on Ice
and the Locustry Festival.
And there's also a separate component to this
because the bid administration fee right now
that we charge them is 10%.
So it's at the very max of what's the norm
of the terms of administration fee.
I don't know that we solve that here,
but I think it needs to be solved.
So my feeling on this is I would not be opposed
to some additional funding in a couple of the areas that I think do make a big
difference. The marketing expense and is a
cost as is the Civic Park venue lighting. And those are the areas that really stand
out to me that especially when we talk about infrastructure improvements, that
infrastructure actually is part of our priorities. Now we've talked primarily
primarily about park and those kinds of infrastructure.
But this is something, when you're talking about
infrastructure improvements and it's measure O
and it's one-time money, I mean, I could see that.
I guess what I'm saying is that without going,
I think 400 would be too high based upon
what we've evaluated, but I could see how a couple
of these costs could be looked at as reimbursed for.
And so if there's something that we could come together on
and identify as line items, I could
think that could be something that we could do
and measure oversight committee.
And I mean, this fits in with it.
So does a bid expansion campaign.
I mean, it's not a strategic plan.
It's part of a strategic plan, I assume,
for them to grow the assessment district.
And we have a similar item for the Lesher Center study,
and I think we've done items like that.
So maybe it's getting a little bit more in the weeds.
It's not beautification and programming.
I don't want to violate my own rule here, but yeah.
Well, I mean, marketing is essential to putting on
programs, and that's not.
People don't come if there's not enough marketing.
Yeah.
We all know that.
So I guess a couple of thoughts I had is one,
maybe we can expand our concept of things
that we could assist with instead of being
so capital oriented.
The other, oh, I just thought I was going to say.
Oh, the other is I was curious to the philosophy
for the rest of the council on trying
to provide some consistency with the contributions.
So say, in previous years, we've been in the high twos.
This year, we're in the high ones.
I think that even in previous years,
we did not appreciate how well Measure O was perhaps
performing in the rising Measure O reserves.
So when we say we're taking out of the reserves,
I think of it as more we're just taking it out of Measure O
and allocating it according to the priorities
that we set forth when we presented the ballot
initiative and the priorities with passing measure.
So what are your thoughts about trying to find a percentage
that we don't have to hit that percentage every time,
but it's sort of a philosophy.
So we provide some consistency, perhaps,
to what they can expect as far as reimbursements.
Instead of maybe one year they've got lots of great ideas
and it's 600,000 and then next year we don't like their ideas
and it's 80.
And I think that would be really turbulent
for the organization.
So that's why I came up with 3%.
Seems like a reasonable number,
but what do you think about that general concept?
It's a little bit at war with the idea
of focusing on specific things.
So we have, if we're saying we're funding
one-time expenditures for the most part,
those are going to go up and down depending on what like when we had um the slide we added the
slide we covered that that was a big expense one year but we're not going to do a slide every year
that we're doing one-time projects we're not doing i don't know i can appreciate that i can appreciate
that what i what i'm thinking though is if they had sort of a rough expectation the proposal for
projects to be approved and things to be approved might be more aligned with
that instead of what I think is going on a little bit is like trying to ask for
many things knowing that they're gonna get whittled down and just sort of
playing that that sort of like health insurance game so to speak where
I'm not I know these are all sincere projects I know but I'm saying it's like
knowing that it's gonna get whittled down you you look for as many things as
you can and then it's instead of having to do that like having some sort of
benchmark or some some philosophy or guiding rails. I mean I think we had
asked to actually have line items rather than saying hey we want X hundred
thousands of dollars and give it as a lump sum without seeing the
identifying line items. I mean here we did ask for the line items and here are
the line items and so rather than us determining what the percentage is above
or below or how we want to adjust those. I think that the way I would look at
this is if there's a couple of other priorities on here that we that we as a
council came together and said you know what this could use that amount of
funding then that's the amount of funding rather than trying to determine
the percentages of what we should put on the asks. I mean to stat a question for
staff on average how much has Walnut Creek downtown gotten from Measure O?
The history that I'm showing fiscal year 24 was 287,000, approved fiscal year 25 325,000
and fiscal year 26 was 75,000. So the total the three year average of six or
three-year total was $687,000. So about 200, call it $230 a year.
Why so low last year? I don't have the list of requests. I think part of it was
because there was some unspent money from prior year. That's part of this as
well. We've been looking at is approval versus what is actually spent and able
to be done in a given year and how many years that carries over was part of the
rational I believe for 26 being a bit lower. Yeah and that that goes back to my
my previous I think that'd be very hard as organization to get 325 one year and
75 the next and that's why though I you know it's not like we have to be
prescripted hit that percentage every single time but if we had a estimate
you're trying to get in the same general ballpark ballpark ballpark like if we
say hey we're shooting for it between this amount we don't have to hit it but
at least there's an expectation.
Yeah, I mean, I think by setting the,
I agree with staff's parameters.
I haven't been able to articulate
or heard an argument for a third category.
So if we're doing beautification and programming,
I think the items that are missing
from that category right now are the marketing expenses.
And if we included the 56 for those two,
they'd be at, say, 250, which is higher than the average
of the last three years, given that 26 was very low.
So we're getting, it's not such an outlier, I think,
in terms of an average.
And in hearing from staff, I didn't,
in terms of the electrical undergrounding,
I don't think it would do it.
It wouldn't solve the spaghetti issue necessarily.
That's part of the civic master plan process.
When you were saying 56, where were you looking at?
So 40 from the contracted marketing expense
for Wanna Creek on Ice, and 16 for the Locust Street Festival.
So what you were suggesting is adding 196, 400,
and then adding 56 to that with those two line items,
ones being covered.
And as far as, I think, Cindy had mentioned,
maybe upping the staff allocation a little bit,
would you be willing to go to 15% on that?
Because I do think that's a big issue,
is for all these projects.
It's not for the big belly wraps, right?
Well, that would be a project, right?
So the implementation of the projects we're approving,
like, in any time that the city approves a project,
there's always allocation for staff time.
So I still think it's not paying for ongoing operational costs.
It's just paying for the operational cost
of the specific item that we're approving
and setting some sort of percentage there,
I think is helpful.
I appreciate what you're saying on that,
but here we've got the WCD request
and I feel uncomfortable, I get what you're saying,
but I think that's not up to us to build that in.
I think that's up to the request of any nonprofit,
of anybody looking for request funding
to build that into their own ask.
But they're told specifically not to include
staff time in their requests and so I'm asking to change like for us to look at
changing that so that the reason why there's not there is they were told not
to provide that so let me ask the city manager because I think we're going
back and forth a little bit on this so you've heard you've heard of the
discussion here we're trying to weigh in on this is there a way you can sort of
summarize and with a general thought of moving forward.
Not yet.
I think you're still a little far apart.
I think you have a fundamental premise here
of whether or not you want to allocate a percent
or focus on a project and specific proposals.
I think what I'm hearing is a majority leaning towards
specific proposals and not an ongoing percent,
but I'd defer to all of you if that's an accurate summary.
I heard consensus around a couple of projects
to add to the list and then there's this pending question
about building in some staffing support.
You know with respect to the staffing support,
you may wanna ask Anthony Hemingway
about the specific projects that are listed here.
Do you take holiday tree lighting as an example?
What is the assumption for that?
Is that all external cost?
Is there a percentage overhead built into that?
I don't have those finite details at this time.
She might be able to clarify something like that.
So let me ask what Council Member Davini was saying
was that we asked WCD not to build in staff time.
What's the rationale there?
The rationale goes back to not wanting
to use measure O funds to pay for ongoing staffing support
of WCD.
The premise being that the annual bid assessment that
generates a few hundred thousand dollars of revenue
is used to fund the administration and the staffing
and administrations.
And I mean, bigger picture, do we
want to be in a position, the city,
of having staffing at partners and not-for-profit organizations
being dependent upon funding from the city.
So I think that's a good distinction, actually.
Measure of funding for specific projects,
not staff ongoing costs.
I think that's a different discussion that
has to happen under different expenses.
And I appreciate the distinction on that.
So what I would say is if we're looking at something
like the Locust Street Festival and the contracted marketing
expense under the infrastructure improvements,
of a total of $56,000, that would actually come,
in adding it to the 196,400, would come to 252,400.
There's also the bid expansion.
Well, again, those are the two that I'm looking at right now.
You're right, there is a bid expansion.
But I'm just trying to see if we can even come together
on just the line item, which I think
does make the most sense based upon the stipulation
with Measure O. Would you agree, Craig,
on the fact that staffing, the Measure O line item
should not go to staffing?
See, I understand the rationale that's being discussed
is that we don't want to be in the business of paying
for staffing for the bid.
I don't really see it that way, because I see it
the same way we accept money.
When we accept money for projects,
is we build in staff time for that project,
just for that project that's been approved by the grant.
It's not paying for their ongoing operational costs.
It's paying for the cost to implement the single project
that we approved.
So I just see it slightly differently.
I don't see it as an ongoing operational cost.
I see it as a one time.
And I see it as very similar
to what the city does when they exit.
Actually, why don't we, I mean,
if we wanna take a moment and bring Kathy Hemenway up
and just find out what they do when they high.
So when you guys put together these proposals,
what costs are included and what costs are excluded
from how you come up with the dollar cost?
supplies and materials and staffing is excluded. Staffing is excluded so it's
it's what you not the time to do the bids but you know or call the vendors
but what you're actually sending to the vendors is what you're here what's here
or you know. Right all the rental costs yeah rental fees marketing collateral
yeah okay those are costs other than the staff that does pick up the phone to
order that expands and such. Okay, thanks. We have the thing with Mejiro, I think
that it is a it's a voter approved. Can I ask you a question too? Oh you're still
up there. A voter approved initiative and is sales tax dollars so again I do look
at this a little bit differently. Well I was wondering if you could speak to like
Like is Wanda Creek downtown, are you experiencing difficulty putting on projects or do you anticipate
there being a limit to the number of projects or events that you're able to put on based
on staffing time?
Is there a disconnect between the number of projects that we might want to do and what
the organization is capable of putting on?
Yeah, and part of the reason why the the ask this year was a little bit lower was just because of staff bandwidth we just
don't have the
the time and and the the staff and the money to be able to continue on with the
To staff them fully. I think you know, we've what we do is we for all of our events we bill out
you know hourly what each of them
What how much time is put into the production of the individual events?
And so for instance for locust street festival there was a net income of thirty nine thousand
But the staff time was thirty one thousand so we have a net of seventy four hundred dollars on those two events
so that's where we start to get into our struggle and that's something that we haven't it's not really a
conversation that we've really been able to to put numbers on until the last
couple of years where our events have exploded and have become so successful
but yeah we are we are scaling back so that I can protect my staff so I can
keep my staff and we can continue to really grow the events and put that
Quality into the quantity that we we feel is manageable at this time
Okay
Thanks, Kathy
Yes, I
Think though I'm just kind of listening to the four of us and kind of thinking through what?
There's some questions that are bigger questions that we need we probably
Can't wrestle to the ground here tonight. You know things like
Bit expansion, you know, is that appropriate for measure? Oh, I would really need to understand that better
And I would need staff to look at it to see if that's really where we want to go
but I do I am hearing interest in helping with the
Advertising costs for Walnut Creek on ice and the look the Locust Street Festival
those two items the
And I would agree with that. I'm not sure in fact even when I was presented with the bid expansion campaign
I wasn't even I hadn't been sold on it in its
Even I knew what the reasoning was but I wasn't sure that I agreed with the
Of how it was even for me like I would have to have more discussion on that but I can the locustry festival
I thought that just blew it out of the water
I thought that was terrific.
It's amazing that that can go on with the staff,
the limited staff that we have at Walnut Creek downtown.
Well, let's just see if this goes anywhere.
I'll make the motion to accept this,
and adding on $16,000 for the Locust Street Festival,
as well as $40,000 for the contract marketing expense
under infrastructure improvements,
for a total of $252,400 on the recommended funding for this.
Second.
And I would just, on comments, would
say this is not the end of the conversation,
even for this fiscal year or for any future fiscal year.
But I think where we've articulated
in terms of the beautification and programming
is the right methodology.
And so if there are other programs or beautification
projects that come along now or in the near future
that we can consider in budget updates to 27,
we can consider them.
I mean, this isn't the final action on this item.
And so with that, we'd move to adopt the resolution
amending the fiscal year 2027 budget with those changes.
We have a motion and a second.
I'll second the adopting the big budget, too.
Doing the real stuff.
Doing the bigger stuff, yeah.
Not the real stuff.
I mean, it's the same stuff.
Mayor Well?
Aye.
Mayor Pro Tem Francois?
Aye.
Council Member Darling?
Aye.
Council Member Dibany?
Appreciate the discussion.
Aye.
Motion carries.
All right.
Well, aren't you glad you stuck around for that one?
And with that, with that, we are adjourned.