Auburn City Council Meeting - September 22, 2025

The Auburn City Council met on September 22, 2025, at 1225 Lincoln Way, Auburn, CA. The open session included a Fire Prevention Week proclamation, action on the consent calendar, public comment, a status report on the Active Transportation Plan and Comprehensive Safety Action Plan, the Fiscal Year 2024-25 year-end financial update with Fiscal Year 2025-26 first-quarter budget adjustments, the City Manager report, future agenda items, and committee reports.

Proclamation

• Mayor Amara issued a Fire Prevention Week proclamation. Fire Chief John Rogers noted the National Fire Protection Association established Fire Prevention Week in 1922 to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which burned roughly 21 acres, destroyed 17,500 buildings, and displaced more than 100,000 people.

Consent Calendar

• The consent calendar was approved as amended after Item 7 and Item 9 were pulled for separate discussion. Routine items approved included:
  • Appointment of Kathryn Gonzales to the Economic Development Commission by resolution.
  • Appointment of Adam Huff as the student/youth member of the Sustainability Advisory Committee.
  • Selection of Council Member Dowdin Calvillo as voting delegate to the League of California Cities Annual Conference.
  • Receiving and filing the City of Auburn Investment Report for the quarter ending June 30, 2025.
  • Approving a letter responding to the Placer County Grand Jury final report, Human Trafficking: An Unseen Crime, dated June 24, 2025.
  • Approving the Grant Management Policy and delegating authority to the City Manager to apply for and accept grant awards up to $40,000.
  • Authorizing purchase of one Ford F-250 command vehicle for the Fire Department.

Items Removed from Consent Calendar

• Item 7 - California Fire Foundation funds: Fire Chief John Rogers reported the city applied for $25,000 and was awarded $15,000 for hazardous vegetation management along ingress/egress routes in the Roby Point area. The work will be tree trimming in public rights-of-way; Council members asked that affected property owners be notified and confirmed no herbicide such as Roundup would be used. The item was approved on a roll-call vote.
• Item 9 - Fire Department staffing change: Councilmember Dowdin Calvillo supported the reallocation for safety reasons but placed on record the value of the Community Risk Reduction Manager position, which had secured over $1 million in grants, and hoped it could be restored when sustainable. Eric Hoff, President of Local 4110, thanked the Council and recognized Chief Rogers for prioritizing staffing and community protection. The item was approved on a roll-call vote.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Mayor Amara, invited by many residents, read a public comment condemning the hate literature and masked protest at the Auburn courthouse the prior week. She stated Auburn rejects anti-Semitism, racism, and all forms of hate, thanked APD and Placer County Sheriff for protecting citizens, and said the city stands united with those who feel threatened.
• Joe Looney, a 33-year Prospect Hill resident, recommended the ATP include neighborhoods where standard sidewalks and bike lanes are infeasible by using traffic calming, shared streets, road diets, and alternative multi-use pathways, with neighborhood-led and temporary pop-up projects to avoid inequities. He said his second written comment concerned a shared youth-use path for safe routes to schools.
• Alex Anderson, a Sky Ridge resident and former General Plan focus group member, supported the ATP, noted that walkability and bikeability came up consistently in community outreach, and observed that e-bike buyers often stop riding when infrastructure feels unsafe, so traffic calming measures are valuable.

Discussion Items

Active Transportation Plan and Comprehensive Safety Action Plan (Status Report)

• Economic Development Director Jonathan Wright introduced Fehr & Peers consultants Rob Mahanocci and David Moore. The plan updates the city's bicycle master plan, last updated in the early 2000s, and is funded by the federal Safe Streets for All grant.
• Crash data for 2017-2023 showed roughly 100-150 reported injury crashes per year and about 20 fatal/serious-injury (KSI) crashes per year, both on slight upward trends. About 9 in 10 injury crashes involved a vehicle, about 10% involved pedestrians or bicyclists, and about one-third of KSI crashes involved pedestrians or bicyclists.
• Highway 49 was the primary corridor for severe crashes; because Caltrans controls it, the city would need to partner and advocate for improvements there.
• The Safe Streets for All grant requires Council adoption of a safety goal. Options presented included zero roadway fatalities and serious injuries by 2045, or a 25% reduction from the baseline of 21 KSIs by a target year with eventual zero by 2045.
• Draft recommendations apply FHWA guidance by traffic volume and speed, with Class IV separated bikeways on major arterials, including Auburn Folsom Road, Indian Hill Road, Maidu Drive, Nevada Street, and Highway 49; Class II bike lanes in other corridors; Class III bike routes in neighborhoods; and sidewalk, crosswalk, and intersection improvements. Consultants also discussed sidewalk gap maps, road diets, and intersection treatments.
• Council discussion included: Councilmember Holmes asked about the Nevada Street bike lane ending near the cemetery; consultants offered removing a left-turn pocket at the transit station to continue the bikeway. Councilmember Davis, who said she has nearly 4,000 miles of local biking, urged using traffic calming as an interim strategy and asked how projects will be prioritized. Councilmember Riddell Harris asked about sidewalk locations and safe routes to school. Councilmember Dowdin Calvillo said some Class IV facilities are not feasible, and the Union Pacific right-of-way is highly unlikely to become a trail, so the plan should not rely on it. Mayor Amara asked about roundabouts; consultants said roundabouts are a tool for reducing severe crashes but require site-specific traffic analysis.
• Public comment on the item is summarized above. Staff and consultants noted the online interactive map remains open for community feedback through the end of September, with draft plans expected in the first quarter of 2026 and Council adoption next spring.

Fiscal Year 2024-25 Year-End Financial Update and Fiscal Year 2025-26 Q1 Budget Adjustments

• Finance Director Gretchen Hoskins presented preliminary year-end results and requested approval of Q1 budget adjustments. FY 2024-25 began with an adopted budget of $35 million and continued to face a multi-year General Fund deficit; through attrition, departmental reductions, and revenue measures, the city ended the year with a projected General Fund surplus. More than $4.1 million in revenues, about 10% of total city revenues, was processed in the 60-plus days after June 30.
• Key ending fund balances carried into FY 2025-26: Airport used $417,000 to balance its budget; Sewer ended at $8.7 million, with $2.9 million used to balance the current year, leaving $6.7 million; Transit Fund showed an $81,000 deficit; the Park Preserve Impact Fee Fund remained in a $158,000 deficit.
• The General Fund ended at $7.6 million; $5.9 million was already earmarked for reserves and economic contingencies, leaving a $1.7 million surplus compared with budget. Of that, $625,000 was ongoing and $1.1 million was one-time, largely due to grant timing and reimbursements. The ongoing surplus was partially allocated to new labor MOUs and a small staffing reorganization, estimated at $357,000.
• Recommended Q1 FY 2025-26 budget adjustments totaled $730,267, including $20,000 for ongoing items and $710,000 for one-time items. Major items were $175,000 for increased unfunded pension liability payments across the sewer, transit, and general funds; $40,000 for a sewer capital shift from machinery to vehicles; $80,000 to add CDBG business assistance grant authority; and various grant-related line-item corrections. Approval increased the total FY 2025-26 city budget from $37.0 million to $38.6 million.
• Council members thanked staff for improving the city's financial position. The next steps are the external audit by ID Bailey, expected to be presented in January, followed by a mid-year budget update around February or March.

City Manager Report, Future Agenda Items, and Committee Reports

• City Manager Sean Rebea reported a virtual cannabis workshop will be held Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. on Zoom; PCTPA's annual unmet transit needs survey is open through October 31; and recognized employee service anniversaries, including Alex Lauden (Fire, 6 years), Tomiko Silva (Police, 4 years), and Timothy Manelo (Police, 2 years).
• Under future agenda items, Mayor Amara said she met with Congressman Kiley's staff about seeking grant funding for ADA and elevator work at the Carnegie Library, and proposed exploring a cultural district designation to open state grant opportunities. Another Council member asked for a legislative priority policy so the city can take positions on bills without agendizing each one; the City Manager said this could be wrapped into a planned modification to the Council policy handbook.
• Committee reports included a SACOG meeting at Bishop's Pumpkin Farm in Wheatland, a tour of Beale Air Force Base, and discussion of traffic impacts from the pumpkin farm; Pioneer Community Energy discussion of the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment and possible rate impacts; progress on the water bottle filling station, which will be installed along the restroom wall due to existing plumbing and the historical nature of the Lucas fountain; and upcoming Downtown Business Association events, including Porch Fest on October 5, Wine and Ale on October 11, Fall Festival on October 25, safe trick-or-treat on October 31, and holiday events in December.

Key Outcomes

• Approved the consent calendar as amended, Items 1-6 and 8, on a roll-call vote, with one absence.
• Approved Item 7 (California Fire Foundation funds) and Item 9 (Fire Department staffing change) on roll-call votes.
• Issued the Fire Prevention Week proclamation.
• Received the ATP/CSAP status report; no formal action. Online public engagement continues through the end of September, with draft plans expected in Q1 2026 and adoption in spring 2026.
• Received the FY 2024-25 year-end financial report and approved the resolution approving FY 2025-26 Q1 budget adjustments totaling $730,267, increasing the total city budget from $37.0 million to $38.6 million.
• Acknowledged next steps: explore Carnegie Library grant funding, evaluate cultural district designation, prepare a Council policy handbook update that may include legislative priorities, and return with the audit in January and mid-year budget in February/March.