The Belmont City Council held a regular meeting on December 3, 2024, with three members present (Vice Mayor Lauder Merlo, Councilmembers Hurt and McCune) and two absent (Mayor Mates and Councilmember Pang Meganaris). The meeting included a special presentation on the San Mateo County Library annual report, public comments on cyclist safety and affordable housing, a public hearing on solid waste rate increases, and approval of the Twin Pines Park Belmont Creek Restoration Project Phase One. All votes were unanimous (3-0) with no opposition.
Welcome back. Council members McCune and Hurt and I are back here in chambers for our regular meeting. Sorry, we're starting a little bit late. We had some technical difficulties, but thank you to Doug and Josie and Jason for helping us work through them. As a friendly reminder, you can join us here in City Hall or virtually. The instructions for virtual joining are on the agenda page at our Belmont.gov site. If you are joining us here and you would like to make a public comment, please out, please fill out a speaker slip at the back table and give it to Clerk Plut. Or if you're with us virtually, you can raise your hand on Zoom when I call for a public comment on your item. Let's move on to item number four, the Pledge of Allegiance. Please stand. One nation of God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. And we did return from a closed session. City Attorney Rennie, is there anything to report? Good evening, Madam Mayor. We did have a closed session as you just noted. However, we have no reportable action at this time. Thank you. So we'll move on to special presentations. We have one special presentation today, the San Mateo County Library Annual Report by our fantastic library manager, Chris Luke. Come on up, Chris. Thank you for allowing me to speak tonight, and I'm pleased to share the library's annual report for fiscal year 2023-2024. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the JPA. Our service area covers 351 square miles, made up of our 11 member cities and the unincorporated areas of the county. At the city level, Belmont Library had over 250,000 library visitors and circulated just over 400,000 items last fiscal year. At the Belmont Library, we saw over 100,000 digital downloads. In addition to hosting many enticing programs on site, our library champions are always heading out into our communities to engage with people at outreach events. Our program attendance at our libraries reached over 20,000 people, and we engaged with over 8,000 community members during Belmont Outreach. Libraries uplift their communities, and in turn, communities work to uplift their libraries. Let me take you through some of our standout accomplishments from last year. This year, we began a robust process to update our strategic plan. Working with local consultants, we held interviews and surveyed thousands of community members and key stakeholders online and in person at our libraries and throughout the county. Our staff visited schools, laundromats, grocery stores, and housing events to engage the community in meaningful discussions. These insights will shape our new strategic plan, guiding us in meeting community needs more effectively, refining our services, and setting ambitious future goals. We are proud to say that members surveyed gave San Mateo County Libraries a 98% favorability rating. Our wide range of tech services and wellness-centered programs, including computer access, weekly tech help, yoga and music programs, have become a favorite among seniors. In collaboration with senior centers, we also offer services like the VA Mobile Clinic, social safety net providers, and a popular AARP safe driver course. Our libraries offer older adults the simple solace of a routine and provide a place for meaningful social interactions, helping to prevent loneliness and enrich daily life. We're proud to host many online and in-person English language programs to support learners with English classes, conversation clubs, book clubs, and more. Our libraries have reached thousands of determined community members seeking to learn or improve their language skills. We are so grateful for our volunteers who drive these programs forward in collaboration with our staff. This year we opened a 24-7 library outpost at the Pacifica Sanchez Library, a first of its kind for San Mateo County Libraries. This innovative service approach increases access to library materials. Featuring a lending machine with a curated collection of hundreds of books and media, this new library offering allows community members to browse, check out items, pick up holds, and return materials 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Plans are underway for additional library outposts to be installed throughout our service area. Our libraries are bustling with frequent creative and fun offerings to community members to learn, experiment, and play. We started 2024 off by hosting workshops on Adobe Acrobat, Illustrator, Lightroom, Photoshop, and more. Gem Painting, a relaxing activity that merges process-based art with mental wellness, debuted as a popular adult maker program this year. Karaoke machines and board games for checkout also continue to thrill and delight our communities with endless entertainment. And the imaginative Maker Mobile, ever on the move, saw another successful year of taking tech to the streets.