OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Sunol Community Council Regular Meeting - May 21, 2026

Board of Supervisors — Thursday, May 21, 2026
BodyAlameda County, California
SessionBoard of Supervisors
DateThursday, May 21, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:25:46
Transcript — Verbatim
0:04

Welcome everybody.

0:09

So I apologize for the long meeting last month, but this should be a lot shorter this month.

0:15

Not that that makes up for it.

0:17

Sorry.

0:18

Yeah, sorted.

0:19

Okay.

0:19

Should we do roll call?

0:24

Present.

0:25

Hospital McLean.

0:27

Councilmember start.

0:30

Vice Chair Harrison.

0:32

Chair.

0:33

We are present.

0:34

Yeah, Benjamin has said that he is in Oregon on work this week.

0:40

So census apologies for not being here.

0:45

But why don't we start?

0:46

Do you want to um read the guidelines?

0:51

For all public commenters, please state your name for the record prior to your presentation.

0:56

If you wish to speak on a matter not on the agenda, basically until chair degree, calls or public empathy on non-the-items only matters, but then the council's jurisdiction made the address and time limits are at the discretion of the chair.

1:08

And person participants, please fill out a speaker card over there and hand it to the chair.

1:14

Online participants, please use the rate hand function.

1:17

Dial and participants, please dial star nine to use the rate hand function.

1:22

Dialing it again allows to your hand.

1:25

The clerk will call your name when it is turned your turn to speak.

1:29

And all you do.

1:34

Okay.

1:35

All right, sir.

1:36

Are there any public comments?

1:41

Not only.

1:42

Okay, okay.

1:44

Moving along.

1:45

So the first one is Sergeant Edwards.

1:48

He's deputy again.

1:50

Deputy.

1:50

Sorry, I've done that twice now.

1:53

Everybody puts that on me.

1:54

I don't want to respond to Billy.

1:58

Going over, was here last month and uh spilling it for Sergeant Franklin.

2:03

Apologizes for not being here.

2:06

If you would have saw him when we handed off, he went home sick uh a little early and he looks about pale as his paper and he's uh uh Mexican.

2:14

So it's not right code.

2:16

So all right, um for uh month of review, 120 or 112 calls for service out to the Samoa area.

2:24

I'm starting to find out that there's uh I remember last time we were trying to figure out the reporting for sites and stuff.

2:30

There's a switch over there that covered it for our system and reports to Castro Valley somewhere down the canyon.

2:36

So we do a lot of uh around 5500.

2:38

We do a lot of uh stops there.

2:39

So I think they're showing up on somebody else's radar.

2:42

So uh I was trying to find out why it looked low.

2:44

Uh 20 sites were done in Synol, and then the uh infamous arson arrest down Kilkara Road.

2:51

Um is is you guys all know from what I understand, there was a subject down there at I have a time on this sheet.

2:58

Uh is somewhere in the middle of the night, his arrest time was five five o'clock, but uh he was barricading or blocking off the road with uh rocks from the surrounding area, and then have a little campfire set up.

3:09

But the uh no telling what was wrong with them in the head.

3:13

Um deputies arrested him for the arson and hauled him off the Santa Rita, and the next day he was uh uh charged with assaulting three deputies in the jail.

3:21

So uh the guy was not right in the head, naturally, you don't start fires in the middle of the road.

3:26

But uh one thing Sarn Franco wanted to put out is the concern to let citizens know if it doesn't look right, call us emergency line, non-emergency line, but report it because uh we later found out a little more information from people that were passing by.

3:39

He was uh you know, as you care uh uh residents were were passing by.

3:47

The people were stopping, hey, are you okay?

3:48

Is everything wrong?

3:49

You guys know who belongs here who doesn't.

3:51

That car obviously uh isn't familiar, but he was waving on the guys.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Environmental Protection███████████████████████████████████████39%
Parks and Recreation██████████████████████████████████34%
Public Safety█████████9%
Community Engagement█████5%
Code Enforcement████4%
Procedural███3%
Traffic Safety██2%
Fiscal Sustainability██2%
Engineering And Infrastructure██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Sunol Community Council Regular Meeting - May 21, 2026

The Sunol Community Council met on May 21, 2026, at 2:30 PM. The meeting included a law enforcement report from the sheriff's office, a detailed presentation on defensible space inspections and the Firewise community program by Cal Fire, and a discussion on proposed restroom and parking improvements downtown. The council approved the minutes from the previous meeting and outlined next steps for the restroom project.

Law Enforcement Report

  • Deputy Sergeant Edwards reported 112 calls for service in the Samoa area, with 20 sites inspected in Sunol. He discussed an arson arrest on Killcare Road where a suspect blocked the road with rocks and set a campfire; the suspect later assaulted deputies at the jail. Sergeant Edwards emphasized calling 911 for emergencies and reported ongoing efforts to increase presence during school drop-off and pick-up hours.

Fire Safety and Defensible Space Inspections

  • Chief Jeff Nichols of Cal Fire Santa Clara Unit Alameda County stated the unit is at peak staffing with 16 engines, two dozers (third coming online June 8), and four hand crews. The LE 100 annual defensible space inspections will restart in a few weeks for homes in the State Responsibility Area (SRA). Defensible space inspector Brandon Doe explained the inspection form (LE 100) in detail, including requirements for vegetation clearance (zone 1 and 2), wood piles, propane tanks, address numbers, and chimney screens. He clarified that decorative plants like lavender need only pruning of dead material, and that pastures beyond 30 feet from the house must have grass no taller than 4 inches.
  • Council member Rosemary discussed the Firewise Community program administered by NFPA and Cal Fire. The process requires at least eight contiguous homes to organize, develop a wildfire plan, conduct annual assessments, and report to the Firewise portal. She noted that Irene Martin is organizing a group on Killcare Road. There was discussion about insurance discounts (typically 3-4%) and the availability of speakers from Diablo Fire Safe Council. The council encouraged residents to participate.

Downtown Restroom and Leach Field Improvements

  • The council discussed the proposed restroom and upgraded leach field in the downtown park area. Chair DeGrange reported on a site walk with stakeholders, identifying a location near the vegetable garden. The project includes a public restroom, upgrading the leach field to allow parking (approximately 30 spaces), and connecting Niles Canyon Railway to the sewer system. Cost estimates from the April meeting (Alternative 3 and 4) were reviewed: $669,000 for both restrooms and leach field; the railway would fund their own restroom. Funding sources include one-time Mission Valley Rock funds ($600,000) and annual Oliver DeSilva contributions ($50,000). The council discussed insurance, maintenance costs (estimated $40,000/year), and governance. Consensus was to proceed: contact county real estate, finish the feasibility study, and negotiate contributions from the railway and other users.

Approval of Minutes

  • The council voted to approve the minutes from the April 15, 2026 meeting. The motion was seconded and passed with Councilmember McLean, Councilmember Start, and Chair DeGrange voting in favor; Vice Chair Harrison was excused; Benjamin was absent.

Key Outcomes

  • The sheriff's report was received and noted.
  • Information on the Firewise program and defensible space inspections was provided; residents were encouraged to organize and contact Cal Fire for inspections.
  • The council agreed to move forward with the downtown restroom and leach field project, with next steps: initiate discussions with Alameda County Real Estate (Mike Tadesi), complete the technical study, and seek financial contributions from Niles Canyon Railway and other stakeholders.
  • The April 15, 2026 minutes were unanimously approved.

Meeting Transcript

Welcome everybody. So I apologize for the long meeting last month, but this should be a lot shorter this month. Not that that makes up for it. Sorry. Yeah, sorted. Okay. Should we do roll call? Present. Hospital McLean. Councilmember start. Vice Chair Harrison. Chair. We are present. Yeah, Benjamin has said that he is in Oregon on work this week. So census apologies for not being here. But why don't we start? Do you want to um read the guidelines? For all public commenters, please state your name for the record prior to your presentation. If you wish to speak on a matter not on the agenda, basically until chair degree, calls or public empathy on non-the-items only matters, but then the council's jurisdiction made the address and time limits are at the discretion of the chair. And person participants, please fill out a speaker card over there and hand it to the chair. Online participants, please use the rate hand function. Dial and participants, please dial star nine to use the rate hand function. Dialing it again allows to your hand. The clerk will call your name when it is turned your turn to speak. And all you do. Okay. All right, sir. Are there any public comments? Not only. Okay, okay. Moving along. So the first one is Sergeant Edwards. He's deputy again. Deputy. Sorry, I've done that twice now. Everybody puts that on me. I don't want to respond to Billy. Going over, was here last month and uh spilling it for Sergeant Franklin. Apologizes for not being here. If you would have saw him when we handed off, he went home sick uh a little early and he looks about pale as his paper and he's uh uh Mexican. So it's not right code. So all right, um for uh month of review, 120 or 112 calls for service out to the Samoa area. I'm starting to find out that there's uh I remember last time we were trying to figure out the reporting for sites and stuff. There's a switch over there that covered it for our system and reports to Castro Valley somewhere down the canyon. So we do a lot of uh around 5500. We do a lot of uh stops there. So I think they're showing up on somebody else's radar. So uh I was trying to find out why it looked low. Uh 20 sites were done in Synol, and then the uh infamous arson arrest down Kilkara Road. Um is is you guys all know from what I understand, there was a subject down there at I have a time on this sheet.

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