I have reconvened from closed session, and there is nothing to report out,

so I will go ahead and adjourn the special meeting at 6.18 p.m.

And at this time, I would like to call to order the Elk Grove City Council regular meeting.

Today is Wednesday, June the 11th, 2025.

The time is 6.18 p.m.

Clerk.

Thank you, Mayor.

This meeting of the Elk Grove City Council is recorded with closed captioning.

The recording will be cablecast on Metro Cable Channel 14,

the local government affairs channel on the Comcast and DirecTV U-verse cable systems.

The recording will also be video streamed at metro14live.sackcounty.gov.

Tonight's meeting replays will be on Tuesday, June 17th at 9 a.m.

and Wednesday, June 18th at 6 p.m. on Metro Channel 14.

Once posted, the recordings of this and previous meetings can be viewed on demand

at www.elkgrove.gov or youtube.com slash metro cable 14.

For members of the participating audience who may have personal electronic devices,

please place them on silent mode during the meeting or on mute when you are not speaking.

The Elk Grove City Council welcomes, appreciates, and encourages participation in the City Council meeting.

City Council requests that you limit your presentation to three minutes per person

so that all present will have time to participate.

City Council reserves the right to reasonably limit the total time for public comment

on any particular notice agenda item as it may deem necessary.

Pursuant to Resolution No. 2010-24,

no individual speaker concerning public comment may address the City Council for more than three minutes.

If you wish to address the Council during the meeting,

please complete a blue speaker card, which can be found at the back of the chamber

and provided to Assistant City Clerk Brenda Haggard prior to consideration of the agenda item.

With that, Mayor, I'll be moving into the roll call.

And for the roll call, I will start with Council Member Spees.

Present.

Council Member Brewer.

Present.

Council Member Sewell.

Here.

Vice Mayor Robles.

Present.

And Mayor Singh Allen.

Here.

Everyone is present.

All right.

Thank you.

Next up is our land acknowledgement.

Would the Vice Mayor please assist?

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

We honor, respect, and acknowledge Elk Grove's first inhabitants, the Plain Miwoks,

who lived as sovereign caretakers for this land and these waterways since time memorial.

We commemorate and advocate for their descendants, the Wilton Rancher Rios tribe,

the only federalized recognized tribe in Sacramento County, who endeared because of their bravery,

resiliency, and determination of their ancestors, tribal members, and leaders.

All right.

Thank you.

Next up is our Pledge of Allegiance.

I would like to invite up a dear friend of the City of Elk Grove, former Planning Commissioner

George Murphy, if you would please come forward and help lead the pledge this evening.

Thank you.

And over heart.

Pledge.

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.

At this time, please join us for a brief moment of silence.

Thank you.

May I get a motion to approve the agenda?

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Thank you.

Next item, please.

Under Section 3, the closed session, there are no closed session items on the regular agenda,

which will advance us to item 4, or Section 4, our presentations and announcements.

And pardon our workshop floor, but item 4.1 is recognition of Eagle Force 2073 Robotics Team,

achieving second place at the 2025 Robotics World.

All right.

So let's come up.

We'd like to call you all forward, our Pleasant Grove High School Eagle Force 2073 Robotics Team.

And presenting the recognition is our vice mayor.

He will read the covenants.

You can all come forward.

Come here towards the podium, unless there's some robot in front.

I can't see.

All right.

I figured as much.

It was pretty mean.

I'm thinking they might want to...

All right.

All right.

Go ahead, vice mayor.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Well, first of all, congratulations.

Yes.

Let's give another round of applause.

All right.

So I'll be reading the certificate of recognition.

Eagle Force 2073 Robotics Team.

Whereas in 1989 by inventor Dean Cameron,

first for inspirational and recognition of science and technology,

is a global nonprofit organization that prepares young people for the future

through suits of inclusive team-based robotics program guided by signature sets of core values

to conduct research, fundraise, design, build, showcase all of their achievements.

Whereas in 2025, first robotics world champions took place in Houston, Texas,

from April 16th through April 19th, 2025.

Whereas in 2025, first robotics world champions is the elite international competition

where approximately 600 teams were invited out of more than 3,700 high school teams

in over 28 countries.

These invitations were earned through intense regional competitions

and community impact awards.

Where Eagle Force 2073, the robotics team from Pleasant Grove High School

and their alliance team, 1690 orbit, Israel, team 44114.

There's a lot of numbers here.

School and their elite alliance team, high tide, Rentira, California,

and team 5166, Frebrotics Freelance, whoa,

won the Johnson Division Championship and went on to second place overall in Worlds.

Now, therefore, let it be resolved that the City Council of Elk Grove hereby joins the community

in recognizing the talented teamwork for our 2025 first-round robotic champions,

competitors Eagle Force 2073,

commending the coaches, families, teamwork members,

display of collaborative spirit, building an international goodwill,

as well as the ambassadors for the competitive form,

fostering engineering inspiration through science, technology,

and engineering mathematics.

Outreach bringing new minds to the worlds of coding, robotics, and career paths.

Signed this day, the 11th of June, 2025.

Thank you.

Do we have some demonstrations or?

Yeah, go ahead.

Take it from there.

And if anyone wants to address the council, you are welcome to.

I think the robot's going to take center stage for a little bit,

and everybody better stand back a little bit.

I can't see anything from here.

It's going to be a little loud and a little bit fun.

All right.

I'm coming down there to see.

für dichs

für dichs

Armed

Schäpp

para

I'm going to go.

Thank you.

We'll figure it out.

I think some of our maintenance staff got a little nervous there, but on job security.

What's up, guys?

Congratulations.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

Congratulations.

You guys are on.

You guys are on video?

Is this thing?

Thank you.

Do we want it to?

Or do we need to text?

Well, you have, there's a lot of you.

So it can either be in the picture or we'll just work around.

You guys, let's go back here.

You can take it.

All right.

We can have it stand up.

Go behind us.

Have it stand up.

We'll be around it.

If it's stand up.

I'm good where it's at.

Let's all play around.

Yeah.

All you need to end here.

I'm good.

All right.

We're good.

One, two, three.

All right.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

Yes.

You should come over here and address us.

We'll see if it's a few times.

We're going to stop.

All right.

All right.

Who wanted to speak?

Yep.

Go ahead and come forward.

Is it on?

So a little bit on our team.

We started in 2007 with around eight members.

And now we've grown to be around a 30 to 40 member team.

And we originate in Pleasant Grove High School.

So you mentioned FIRST.

And FIRST has different things.

Their goal is to spread STEM education from K to 12.

And we do their highest level of competition, which is FIRST Robotics Competition.

And through that, to get to Worlds first, you have to compete in different regionals.

So we competed in three regionals.

And the regional we actually won an award to to go to Worlds was actually right here in our school.

So we hold one of the regionals called Sacramento Regional.

And during that regional, we won the Engineering Inspiration Award.

Engineering Inspiration Award is an award that congratulates or awards a team that has given the most back to their community.

And we've done that through multiple of our programs.

We try to spread STEM not only by building our robot, but also give children or people who don't have the advantage to learn about STEM a chance to learn about STEM.

And we do that through our summer camps, our different programs for mobility inclusion, for lower income, and other just going to community events.

And through that, we won the Engineering Inspiration Award.

From that, we went on to compete at Worlds.

And he'll tell you a little bit about that.

Yeah, so at World Championships, like you said, there are around 600 teams spread across eight divisions.

So each division is held a little bit like a regional competition with two days of qualifying matches and then half a day for playoffs dedicated to each division.

And the playoffs are a double elimination style.

And we made our way all the way through the playoffs on the first seed alliance to win our division and go on to compete against the winners of the other seven divisions at World Championships,

ultimately finishing as finalists.

And we played a total of three matches.

They're best out of three.

So we did take them to a tiebreaker.

We went down fighting.

And it was really amazing.

There were around 30,000 people watching our one field, us competing.

It was a really amazing experience.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well done, everyone.

Mayor, may I say a question?

Yeah, please.

So I also want to offer my congratulations.

And, you know, it's really inspiring to see this because love them or hate them, Elon Musk talked about everybody's going to have a personal robot one day.

And when you see things like this and the work that you're doing at a high school level, I'm starting to believe it.

And frankly, I think any of us over a certain age could use the help.

So please keep up the great work.

Congratulations, everyone.

That is tremendous.

Thank you.

Tremendous.

All right.

Let's give a minute here to clear the robot.

Okay.

Robot's gone.

All right.

We are back in business here.

All right.

Next up is our recognition of City of Elk Grove Budget Essay Contest winners presented by the Finance Department.

Thank you, Mayor and Councilmembers.

As you know, I am not the Finance Department.

I am Crystal Love Lazard.

I am your Community Engagement and Government Relations Program Manager.

I will ask Nathan to come join me.

So this item is a joint effort between the City Manager's Department and the Finance Department in our ongoing and ever-spirited way to find creative ways to engage our community around municipal finance.

So to continue the theme of excellent high school students and to preview tonight's theme of municipal budgets,

I want to invite up Michael Gwondeku and Shane Mayo-York.

Michael is from Elk Grove High School.

Shane is from Franklin High School.

And these two are the winners of our first-ever budget essay contest.

So they had the task of filling in, if I was City Manager, what would my budget priorities be?

And it required them to deep dive into our municipal finance documents and also introspect about young leaders and what they would like to see in their community and what improvements they would like to see.

So we are very proud of the essays and proud of the effort.

And so they are receiving certificates and will receive a cash prize.

So this is very exciting for us.

Nathan?

Are you?

Nathan?

Come on up.

Okay.

And I would invite you to come down and take a photo with them as well.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay.

So, yeah.

Come on down.

Do a photo.

Are you sure you don't want to say anything?

Okay.

Okay.

They have decided not to talk to you tonight.

What have you decided not to do?

To talk.

Oh, you don't want to talk.

Okay.

Well, I decided to let you have.

I want to know more about the essays.

Oh, then, I mean, you could ask the question.

There's my question.

So if you could just give me a few sentences.

Fair, do you want to be in the middle?

It's fine.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Congratulations.

Stay right there.

Thank you.

You could just teach.

Oh, yeah.

You're going to have to talk a little bit about your essay.

You don't have to say a lot, but just why don't you capture us?

So that we know what we can do better.

Yeah.

Congratulations.

Do you want me to stand with you?

You're okay.

Okay.

You're going to stand here.

And just speak.

Okay.

Do you want to go first, Michael?

Sure.

So my priority when I talked about if I were city manager was focusing more on working

with traffic safety and pedestrian safety.

So as I said, I attend Elk Grove High School, and I'm part of the Student Equity Council.

And what we're focusing right now on is working on different ways to promote pedestrian safety,

not only for students at our school, but for people that live in the city of Elk Grove.

Great.

What a great concept.

We definitely need that.

And I worked on building the Elk Grove City Hospital and focusing on the mental health

aspect of it and how it should not consider their income, but it should consider what health

they need.

Wonderful.

Yeah.

Well, good job, both of you.

Very impressive.

All right.

Next up is a proclamation recognizing June 19th as Juneteenth.

And there are two recipients, so I would like to call you forward.

Of course, no stranger to Elk Grove, Dr. Takoy Porter, please come forward.

And then also new to all of us, to the Sisters of Nia, if you can also come forward.

And Rod's going to read a little bit about both of you.

So I want to congratulate both of you for receiving this honor this year.

The work that both of you have done throughout the community for several years now.

The Sisters of Nia is not new to Elk Grove, but for our radar screen, it is new because

of the work that you're doing.

People are, the eyes of the community are starting to pay attention.

And it's been positive and very fruitful.

And for Dr. Reverend Takoy Porter, you and I are no strangers of doing good work here in

town, especially in the space of equity.

And I definitely commend you for your work as the Sacramento Chapter President of the National

Action Network.

That has definitely grown, not only in presence, but importance to all of our community here,

not just in Elk Grove, but the Sacramento region.

And I wanted to read a little bit of an excerpt or a little bit of information on the Sisters

of Nia program, because you were established in 2009, and you're a community-based nonprofit

organization centered around one of the principles of Nguzo Nia.

The eight principles known as Nia, which means purpose.

Nguzo Nia are Kishwali terms representing eight core values of African culture that foster

community and cultural identity amongst African Americans.

Your organization aims to empower adolescents, adolescent girls through the culturally relevant

and educational programs that promote social skills, leadership development, and academic

achievement.

And the organization's mission is to inspire, motivate, and support girls in reaching their

full potential and living purposefully.

The program spans three years and addresses different developmental aspects of adolescent girls

from sixth through eighth grades, with each year dedicated to a specific focus area.

And that's important, because as young girls grow into young women, into adolescence, these

are very core things that women would need to have so they could be brave, confident, and focused

in taking on this society with a great degree of self-esteem.

The curriculum is designed to provide supportive, nurturing, and empowering lessons rooted in Afrocentric

principles, encouraging girls to pursue their goals with confidence and intention.

And there's a lot of good stuff in addition to what you are doing when that's combined with all the efforts

going on through all of our leaders throughout this region, because leadership comes in a lot of different

forms.

But the two of you are definitely in that driver's seat in terms of being strong, positive leaders

for all of our communities.

So we both have you both for resolutions.

Each of the resolutions are identical, but I wanted to give this extra part to recognize each of you

for your separate but very conjoined traits that brought you here,

that I was bringing you here today to be honored.

So whereas on September 22nd, 1862, the Emancipation Proclamation and Executive Order were issued by

President Abraham Lincoln, declaring the owning of slaves to be illegal effective January 1st, 1863.

And whereas almost two and a half years later, June 19th, 1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston,

Texas, bringing news of the proclamation and executive order that slaves should be freed.

And whereas June 19th, Juneteenth is a holiday commemorating the liberation of African Americans

attained by the African American community's perseverance and innovation, despite the perils

faced, coupled with the proclamation and executive order outlawing slavery.

And whereas today, Juneteenth celebrates African American resilience and achievement with the

principles of self-determination, citizenship, and democracy.

And whereas numerous residents, organizations, and businesses within the city of Elk Grove have

demonstrated an unwavering commitment to promoting the ideals of Juneteenth through education,

advocacy, and cultural celebrations, thus promoting a more conclusive and equitable community.

Now, therefore, be it resolved by the City Council of the City of Elk Grove, hereby affirms and

proclaims June 19th as Juneteenth in the City of Elk Grove, and recognizes the many residents,

organizations, and businesses of Elk Grove who are committed to fairness and justice, and

encourages all residents to foster a community that continues to advance the movement towards

equality and justice for African American people, signed on this day, the 11th day of June 2025.

So congratulations, once again, for the two of you.

And thank you for everything that you do for all of us here.

Thank you.

The floor is yours.

Both of you.

Well, I just want to say thank you so much for this honor.

This is my first time ever coming to a city council meeting, and I've been living in Elk

Grove since 2020.

Okay.

So this won't be my last time.

On behalf of our board of directors and the girls that are in our program, we are graciously

honored to accept this recognition.

We have been around since 2009, but we just started meeting with a cohort in Elk Grove two

years ago.

So we're really excited to be in Elk Grove.

My goal was to be able to expand when we started in 2009, was to not just be in one location,

but to be able to expand and be able to service as many girls as we can.

So we came to Elk Grove with welcoming arms.

We're looking forward to our third year here, and we're just honored and humbled to be able

to be present in Elk Grove.

So thank you so much for the recognition once again.

Thank you.

Well, I want to also thank you all, Mayor and members of the city council here for bestowing

this honor upon us.

I stand honored to be able to stand with our sister here, Sister Nia, right, to receive

this proclamation on behalf of the community that we both serve.

You know, Juneteenth represents more than just a day in history, but it's a powerful affirmation

of dignity, freedom, and the relentless pursuit of justice.

And so this proclamation not only commemorates the moment when the last enslaved African Americans

learned of their freedom, but it also inspires us to continue to strive for a society where

every individual is respected and empowered.

My hope is that this proclamation serves as a call to action and as a reminder that the

work of freedom is never finished.

And it's our collective responsibility to build bridges, advocate for equity, and nurture a future

where justice prevails for all of us.

Thank you again for this honor and for honoring us.

I want to thank my family for coming out, my church family and such.

It's always a humbling opportunity to be recognized by you all.

Thank you.

I would be remiss in not acknowledging Reverend Porter for the work that he has done, not

only with Genesis Church in Sacramento, but also through his school that he has on the site

of Genesis Church.

Mm-hmm.

South Sacramento and Elk Grove is connected.

And your leadership for that school, you and Ms. Carlette, has meant so much to the good

people of Meadowview, but also for the families in Elk Grove who do have kids that go to your

school.

Mm-hmm.

And that is greatly to be commended.

And also with the work that we have been doing over the last few years with the MLK Breakfast.

Mm-hmm.

That has been a very moving experience, not just for us, the council, but really for the

community.

Because it gives people an option, an avenue, a place to go the Saturday before Dr. King's

birthday to really embrace and acknowledge not only the work that Dr. King is doing, but

also to really develop this sense of community and reflect and give another call to arms for

being in the moment and working towards equality and justice.

So because of that, I definitely want to thank you for that because you bringing the light

and making this possible and making this now an annual event and working with the city of

Elk Grove is truly, truly a remarkable feat.

So I want to thank you for that.

Thank you.

Yeah.

So the Sisters of Nia are definitely new for me.

And so I'm looking forward to getting to know you better and the organization and participating

and just reading a little bit about you within the brochure.

What you're doing is just tremendous work, uplifting the community and helping young girls.

So I commend you for the work that you're doing, and I look forward to being a part of this

and invite you to be a part of the MLK Breakfast, too.

So as the coordination and planning begins, please reach out to them as well so that they

can have a sense of ownership of this great annual event that takes place on the weekend

prior to Martin Luther King's birthday.

You were reading my mind.

We all always need more volunteers.

And then to you, Dr. Porter, thank you again.

You know, I just love coming and visiting you at the Genesis Church.

No stranger to the work that you're doing, particularly with the NAN Action Network as well.

It's a joy to be at the conference and being one of your guest speakers.

So just keep up the great work that you're doing.

It takes a village, and you are a tremendous component of that greater village.

Thank you again so much.

Thank you.

We're going to come down and present this to you, but we do have a public comment,

so, and I know that she's got wonderful things to say, so I will invite up Tina Lee Vogt.

Good evening.

I just wanted to say on behalf of the Diversity and Inclusion Commission, thank you again, Council,

for recognizing June 19th as Juneteenth.

I really want to thank our committee for working on the proclamation that you had before you, and thank these organizations for the wonderful work that they do in our community.

And we look forward to partnering with them not only on MLK Breakfast and Juneteenth, but on so many other events that we have happening throughout the year.

So thank you so much for the recognition that you shared with these great community organizations.

Thank you, Tina.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm sure I'll do that.

All right.

Congratulations.

All right.

Next up is our proclamation recognizing June 2025 as LGBTQIA plus Pride Month.

And this will be presented to the members of our Diversity and Inclusion Commission.

And reading the proclamation will be Councilmember Darren Soon.

So I'd like to invite up the commission.

All right.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Nice to see you all.

Thank you so much for all that you do in the community as well.

And it's my honor to present this proclamation for LGBTQIA Pride Month, June 2025.

I can just want to quickly say that we say this often and we mean it.

We are a city inclusive to all.

And the LGBTQIA community is interwoven into the fabric of our community.

And most importantly, I feel about this particular Pride Month is that when we talk about the LGBTQIA

community, I really have in mind our children.

Our children feeling safe in our community, knowing that they can always be themselves and

embracing, you know, embracing children for who they are and meeting them where they are.

And as a parent, myself, who had that experience raising someone in that community, I know that firsthand and how important that is.

So it's my honor to present this.

Whereas the city of Elk Grove strives to be an inclusive community that embraces the rich diversity that makes Elk Grove a wonderful community to live, work, and play in.

And whereas lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual LGBTQIA+, individuals have made important and lasting contributions to our country, state, and city.

And the city of Elk Grove celebrates the contributions that LGBTQIA+, residents make to Elk Grove's economic, cultural, and social life.

And whereas LGBTQIA+, friends, allies, local organizations, and faith communities show considerable support to the LGBTQIA+, community, thereby making Elk Grove a more inclusive place for LGBTQIA+, residents.

And whereas each year, June 28, marks the anniversary of the Stonewall riots that gave birth to the modern LGBTQIA+, civil rights movement in the United States.

And whereas Pride Month seeks to increase the visibility, activism, acceptance, and education of all gay and gender-varying people.

Now, therefore, be it resolved that the City Council of the City of Elk Grove hereby proclaims the month of June 2025 to be LGBTQIA+, Pride Month in the City of Elk Grove.

And urges all residents to join in celebrating the culture, accomplishments, and contributions of the LGBTQIA+, people.

And encourages all residents to help advance the cause for equality for LGBTQIA+, people and their families.

Congratulations. Thank you for being here.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Judge.

Thank you.

Thank you, Judge.

Thank you so much.

I'm a little choked up, so I'll try to cut through this quick.

I came across a post recently on LinkedIn, and it said,

having one accepting adult in an LGBTQ plus young person's life reduces their suicide risk by 40%.

So be that adult.

I believe that as a city and you as leadership, we are those adults.

The gestures that we have made as a city by hoisting the pride flag or even honoring pride tonight

or even participating in the parade on Sunday,

these are all gestures that will have ripple effects.

And these ripple effects turn into waves of change.

Sorry.

I had a lot more to say, but thank you for being a part of that current

because there's so many people who don't live out loud.

We come from different backgrounds, different cultures,

where we hope to just wear a pin and hope that we can make some sort of difference.

So, yeah, that's all I wanted to say.

I want to say thank you.

Whether you agree with the queer community or not, just to be human goes a long way.

So thank you.

Thank you.

She is always a tough act to follow.

I just want to be brief.

I'm just saying thank you.

I'm sure everybody's seen my Facebook post earlier this month just about raising a flag and things like that.

I got a lot of feedback and there was a lot of people who I didn't expect who want to be part of that next year.

They were very intrigued.

So even to go along with the state of the city addressed yesterday, we're just getting started.

When it comes to Pride Month, I feel like we're just getting started as well because there's a lot of people who want to get behind this.

And I feel like we're right on time.

And this city is growing in more ways than one.

And I'm excited.

And it's great to hear from you.

And like when Mayor was talking at the event, a lot of people, until it hits home, it doesn't bother you.

Then you find out your nephew's gay, your daughter's gay, your son's gay.

And then it's like, oh, now we have to deal with it.

You never know who's around you that's dealing with it.

So it's better to get on board and help as much as you can.

So if it does hit you, when it does hit you, you'll be aware and you'll know how to deal with it.

Thank you.

Thank you, everyone.

You know, it was really important to, and I thank all of you for the work that you've done, helping draft the resolution,

but also working on helping us raise the Progress Pride flag every June.

And I know that this, you know, this wasn't always the case, but we have made tremendous progress as a city.

And we are truly highlighting the fact that we are a beautifully diverse community and a city welcome to all.

It's like you said, Tina, it's not just in the words, it's in the actions.

And just know that your mayor and your city council stand with you.

We see you, we love you, and we celebrate you, not just this Pride Month, but every single day, 365 days a year.

This is your city, and we have you.

Thank you so much.

It's not easy right now, and I know.

I have family friends, I have close friends that are suffering.

And so it was even more important this year than years past.

So we have to show strength and resilience, love and compassion for all.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Anybody else?

All right, we will come down there.

Thank you.

Everybody's already assuming this year.

That's our first drill.

Congratulations.

Congratulations.

How are you?

Good to see you.

Thanks.

Good to see you, brother.

I didn't see you.

Good to see you.

Sorry.

Hi, Darren.

Hi.

Good to see you.

You too.

Hey.

Hi.

Who am I supposed to give this to?

Hello.

Who's, are you taking that?

No, our chairs.

We're here.

Let's all gather around.

I'm going to squeeze in right here.

All right.

Let's do this.

Absolutely.

You're good?

All right.

Okay.

One.

Okay.

Okay.

All right, next up is our public comment.

At this time, I will go ahead and open up public comment opportunity.

We have three people signed up to speak.

We will start with George Murphy, followed by Bonnie Stensler.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

Good to see you again.

I brought with me tonight a compilation of over 20 vision and policy statements taken directly from the general plan,

along with chapter and page numbers.

I provide those references so you can look them up as you study for a controversial project coming up that's located in a rural area.

The project, of course, is some of those.

It's located within the rural area.

And if approved, this project will remove a portion, 116 acres from the rural area.

It will become the proverbial camel's nose.

And it will be sending a signal that the rural area is up for development.

However, I'm not here to talk about that like that tonight.

I'm here to remind you of the more than 20 years the city has supported the rural area.

During my 17 years on a planning commission, I sat with many former and two current council members and many planning commissioners in workshops

and vetting, shaping, and adopting policies that protect, promote, protect and promote the rural area.

These policies didn't magically appear on a piece of paper.

Citizens working cooperatively with staff spent countless hours in workshops vetting the proposed language, policy language,

supported by the planning commission and ultimately adopted by the city council.

These policies aren't just words.

They're an attempt to provide a picture of the rural area.

It's a portrayal using planning language.

But you have to live it to truly understand what these words mean to the people that live in the rural area.

Each of you have a copy of that list of policies and visions provided tonight.

That's it.

Thank you, Darren.

I didn't save myself a copy.

I mean, you have been or will be hearing from the two organizations that advocate for the rural area.

My hope is each of you will also hear from folks within your respective districts of their support for the rural area.

Each of you have expressed both in public meetings and in conversations with me your support for the rural area.

Supporting the rural area means many things.

But the support begins by honoring the boundaries of the rural area as established in the general plan.

To paraphrase former Council Member Cooper, I get it.

Hands off the rural area.

As you read through the policy and vision statements provided, let your heart, your conscience, and your very words, along with the words enshrined in the general plan, guide your decision-making process.

I thank you for your time.

Wow, that was incredible.

Three minutes on the dot.

That's unusual, by the way.

Yes, I've had coffee with you many times.

All right.

Next up is Bonnie Stensler, followed by Lynn Wheat.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council Members, City Staff, Police Chief.

Over there.

I was present yesterday when you delivered your State of the City address of District 56.

And I just wanted to say that the content and the format was absolutely outstanding.

The whole program was.

Elk Grove is truly a wonderful place to live, work, and raise a family.

Need the glasses.

I, myself, moved here 10 years ago from San Francisco to be closer to my family.

For me, it's been a great place to retire.

That's sore to speak because I'm also one of many active residents at Del Webb Glenbrook.

And we enjoy a healthy relationship with this council.

The city staff, you're all very responsive to us.

Sergio came out and spoke to our coffee clash group.

Darren has been out.

I've reached out to Darren.

I'll make sure I reach out to the rest of you, too, one-on-one.

But you're very responsive to our community.

We value all of you.

City staff, there's a change in staff.

The new staff person, the old staff person, tells the new staff person, they send me an email.

I know who to contact.

You really, you know, go the extra mile.

And we're looking forward to maintaining a great relationship with you.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Let's see.

Our final speaker is Lynn Wheat.

Good evening.

Good evening.

Good evening.

Good evening.

Good evening.

decided to begin master planning that area.

In 2014, after much master planning, that area was adopted and staff was directed to plan the infrastructure.

The infrastructure, which most of it, was front-loaded by the current and previous Elk Grove taxpayers.

That was funding for the infrastructure that was going to develop our employment area,

which by one previous mayor was promised to bring 25,000 jobs.

So as the city was deciding, our previous mayors and council members were deciding on how to develop the area,

this, you know, job employment center, guess what?

The taxpayers paid for the first 500 homes to go into that area.

So we get 500 homes.

We don't get any new jobs.

And since then, it has been amended numerous times with the city choosing to purchase 100 acres in that area.

So here we are.

It's a moving target that we continue to pay for.

Now, who's benefiting?

Not the taxpayer.

It is the developers and investors who keep telling certain individuals that they can't afford to build something

unless we give it to them for practically nothing.

So it is the taxpayers of now and the taxpayers in the future that will continue to pay for the decisions.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That will conclude our public comment.

So I will go ahead and close that and move on to our next agenda item, which is our city manager's report.

Good evening, Madam Mayor.

Vice Mayor, members of the city council, Jason Behrman, your city manager.

Several items to report on this evening.

First of all, applications for our fall 25 cohort of Elk Grove 101, which we just completed the third cohort.

So this will be our fourth one.

We're accepting applications through July 8th.

Program offers an immersive eight-session course in Elk Grove's local government that is open to anyone age 18 and older who lives or works in Elk Grove.

The group will meet on Tuesday nights at District 56 starting in mid-August.

Get more information or to sign up and apply at the city's website.

Consumers Fire Department and Elk Grove Police and Code Enforcement Departments have teamed up to host a fireworks amnesty event

in advance of our 4th of July celebration on Saturday, June 21st from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

at Fire Station 71, which is on 8760 Elk Grove Boulevard.

Whether they are legal or not, residents can bring in fireworks for safe disposal.

No fines, no trouble, no questions asked.

This event is one of several strategies deployed over the coming work to reduce fire danger, protect Elk Grove homes, and keep our summer celebrations safe.

Applications for the 4th annual Pitch Elk Grove startup competition are officially open.

This event has become a cornerstone of Northern California's innovation scene, offering a chance for entrepreneurs to compete for $20,000 in prize money

and to connect with investors, mentors, and broader business community.

If you or someone you know has a startup that is ready to shine, encourage them to apply before June 23rd.

More information can be found on our website.

City staff is preparing to launch the city's 25th anniversary pop-up shop next month, and we're bringing a sneak peek to the next city council meeting.

The pop-up shop will be set up for the first time in the parking lot right outside the council chambers on June 25th,

offering early access to limited edition Elk Grove merchandise.

So get your brand of gear before the meeting and show your city pride all summer long.

The animal services team will host a quarterly drive-through vaccine clinic on Saturday, June 14th from 8 to 11 at the animal shelter.

Residents can have their cats and dogs vaccinated and microchipped for free during the event.

Appointments are required and can be scheduled on the city's website at elkgrove.gov.

And finally, applications to fill six vacancies on the Elk Grove Youth Commission will be accepted through next Wednesday, June 18th.

Details can be found on the commissions and committee section of the city's webpage.

And that concludes my report.

I'm happy to answer any questions that the council might have.

Thank you for your report.

One comment on the youth commission.

Can we make sure that the Fortune School is aware of it and has the information?

I would love to get a representative from there, if possible.

All right.

Thank you.

Any questions, comments?

Seeing none, we will move on to our next item.

And that is our consent calendar items.

I will go ahead and open up the public comment opportunity.

I have one speaker lined up for item 7.6, Lynn Wheat.

The city's decision to let the developers off the hook on installing the purple pipe in SEPA is just another instance of helping support minimal developer fees

so they can maximize their profits on home sales.

While the staff report cites the cost increase that would eventually be passed on to the buyers,

the bottom line is developers don't want to take a chance in a slowing competitive housing market

with additional upfront costs.

Once again, the conservation policies of the general plan take a back seat to the almighty dollar.

I saw the public works director interviewed by the Channel 13 News earlier this evening,

and in some twisted way, this story is being presented as a favor to save taxpayers money.

Well, the slow drip of increasing water bills they will face each year by irrigating their yards with our drinking water

will help guise the real truth.

Water is gold, and developers are golden.

I can hardly wait to see the reaction of these rescued taxpayers when they find out they will be drinking recycled sewage water

in the not-too-distant future when all the city annexations and continuing rooftops and retail development occur.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That is our final speaker for our consent calendar items.

Looking for a motion?

Madam Mayor, I'm happy to move consent, but I just, there was some confusion about item 6.6.

I just want to address.

Item which one?

7.6, the one the public.

Yeah, go ahead.

There was a CBS article that also conflated it with the Harvest Water Project,

so I wanted to ask Mr. Warner to maybe clarify.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yeah, so the CEPA Recycled Water Initiative is something that the city elected to try to move forward with,

and we're working on developing the infrastructure plan for the system.

The system would have been paid for through development fees,

and in no way is the cancellation of the project been requested by developers or as a favor to developers,

so I want to make that very clear as well.

It was also never contemplated as being necessary or part of the Harvest Water Project.

That is a completely separate initiative.

The Harvest Water Project would have been provided source water for the system in CEPA.

It will still provide source water for the system that exists today in East Franklin,

and the balance of Laguna Ridge, which is known as the Phase 2 area for the recycled water.

Phase 1 is Laguna West, which already has recycled water source and purple pipe in the ground,

and landscape is being irrigated with recycled water today.

And so, yeah, it was fortunate that the Harvest Water Project would have had enough capacity to serve the CEPA area,

but due to the reasons listed in the STAB report, that project is really no longer practical

in terms of a cost-benefit comparison at this time.

So we still have purple pipe in Laguna Ridge, East Franklin, which is about 77 homes in Laguna Ridge,

10,000 homes in East Franklin, and then all of Laguna West has it as well.

Correct.

Thank you.

And for the record, are our residents at risk of drinking recycled sewer water?

Not that I'm aware of, no.

Okay, I just wanted to ask.

All right, so we have a motion?

Yep.

I have a second.

All right, all those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Thank you.

Next item, please.

They'll take us to Section 8, our public hearings.

And the first public hearing is Item 8.1, which is a public hearing to receive information from staff

and comments from the public regarding residential solid waste service rates for fiscal year 2025-2026.

This is the first of two hearings, so you'll get to hear this one again as we come back to our second meeting in June.

Good evening, Mayor Singh Allen and members of the City Council.

My name is Kimberly Taylor, and I manage the Recycling and Waste Division within the Public Works Department.

The item I'm presenting before you tonight is a public hearing to consider a resolution setting residential solid waste service rates

for fiscal year 2025-2026.

And as mentioned, this is the first of two public hearings.

So I'll be presenting tonight, then you'll see me back again in two more weeks on June 25th,

doing the same presentation again for that public hearing.

There we go.

Residential solid waste services in the City of Elk Grove are provided through an exclusive franchise agreement with Republic Services.

As part of this exclusive franchise agreement, Republic Services is entitled to an annual adjustment in their rates

in accordance to changes in the Consumer Price Index.

So an increase in the CPI would reflect costs for solid waste services related to labor, fuel, landfill fees, and regulatory fees.

This is a 10-year contract, and so each year you see me back talking about that annual adjustment in accordance with the CPI.

CPI, excuse me.

Over the last 12 months, the Consumer Price Index for Garbage and Trash Collection increased 4.46%,

according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics.

It's worth noting that this is a CPI subcategory, so the overall CPI is 2.9,

but it's slightly separate for the category specifically of garbage and trash collection.

The City's contract with Republic Services states that the annual rate adjustment be capped at 3%, however,

which is the rate increase staff are going to be proposing in this year's public hearings.

Since the CPI for garbage and trash collection over the past year exceeded 3%, excuse me.

The proposed 3% rate increase would affect all trash can sizes available to Elk Grove residents

and will be detailed in a table on the next slide.

The City's admin fee would also be adjusted $0.11 in accordance with that 3% increase

to go from $3.64 to $3.75 per service account.

The table you're seeing on the slide now shows what that 3% increase would look like for different customers.

So, for example, on the third line down where it says 64-gallon refuse cart,

this is the most commonly used size in Elk Grove.

The current rate is $35.48.

A 3% increase would increase that by $1.06 per month to a total cost of $36.54.

And you can see the same.

All of the different service levels are detailed here.

Residents can elect to have a smaller cart if they're creating less garbage, a 32-gallon cart.

They can elect to have a larger cart, 96-gallons, or any combination of different size carts.

And so that 3% increase would apply to all of those different cart sizes.

It's worth noting that recycling and organics collection are built into the trash cart.

And so all residents receive up to three organics carts and up to three recycling carts with no additional fee.

So fees on those diverted materials does not increase at all.

It's just for garbage.

It's also worth noting that for residents who are already on the city's Lifeline Assistance Program

and already receive a 20% discount, while this 3% increase does still apply to that resident,

those residents and those households, their rates are already lower.

So their rates, if it's a household, for example, that has the 64-gallon cart, the typical size,

those households currently pay $28.39 per month if they're on the Lifeline Assistance Program.

And with the 3% increase, that would go up 84 cents to a monthly cost of $29.23.

This graph shows you that with this proposed rate increase, the average local rate in the region is still significantly higher than Elk Grove.

You'll see that the average local rate in the region is $44.21 for comparable services.

In Elk Grove, this rate increase would take us up to $36.54, which you can still see as the second lowest.

Citrus Heights is the only jurisdiction in the region that has a lower rate than that.

And I'll add that that includes the Special Waste Collection Center and the amenities that residents receive

by being able to safely dispose of HHW for free in a really convenient way and to dispose of excess recycling.

The annual residential solid waste rate increase must follow the procedural requirements of Proposition 218,

which dictates the fees for refuse collection services being noticed no less than 45 days of the posted hearing happening this evening.

During the last week of April, in accordance to Prop 218, 55,249 notices were mailed to all residential solid waste service property owners and bill receivers,

detailing the proposed rate increase and providing notice of tonight's hearing.

That table you saw before was included on that mailer.

A second notice was mailed to the same recipients during the second week of May,

providing the required 45-day notice to the hearing on June 25th.

Two public hearing notices were also published in the local newspaper.

For a majority protest to exist under Prop 218, written protests must exceed 50% of the parcels impacted by the fee.

The city has approximately 50,000 parcels or residential service addresses,

which means that approximately 25,000 written protests would be required to halt the rate proceedings.

My most recent update from the city clerk was that the city has received 43 protests,

which does not meet the threshold for a majority protest.

This image on the slide now is showing what the mailer looked like that went out to residents.

You can see it includes that same table on the front.

And then on the back, it has information about ADA compliance, about Prop 218,

and about where to get more information about the rate increase.

As tonight is the first of two public hearings for the residential solid waste rate increase for fiscal year 2025-26,

no action is called for during this council meeting.

I'll return, as I said, on June 25th for the second public hearing,

and at that time we'll recommend to the city to adopt the resolution

setting residential solid waste service rates for fiscal year 2025-26.

Thank you.

All right.

Thank you for your thorough presentation.

At this time, I will declare the public hearing is now open

and open up public comment opportunity.

We have two people signed up to speak.

We'll start with Norman Tanaka, followed by Rosalinda Pagurgan,

and I'm sure you'll correct me.

I think she left, so don't worry.

It's just me.

Okay. Norman, welcome.

Thank you very much.

Thank you for having me here.

I'm a proud resident of Elk Grove.

I just want to tell you that.

Kids went to school, so no beef against anything about Elk Grove.

But I'm also a homeowner and a taxpayer, too.

And I just want to know, I'm retired, so I paid PG&E, and their rates just went up.

I paid SMUD, their rates went up.

And then I'm going to be paying Elk Grove.

And nothing wrong with that.

It's just that now I just see this.

And it's a minimal amount, so I'm not arguing about that.

All I'm asking is, at this time, due to the unstable economy that's happening,

I'm just requesting that the increase is capped.

It doesn't go up year by year by year, because that's what's happening to the others.

And that's all I'm asking for.

What you're doing, I can live with.

But what I can't accept is that it goes up again next year, and again next year.

That's all I'm requesting.

So thank you for having the compassion and empathy just to listen and to be transparent.

So thank you.

Good to see you, Norman.

Mr. Tanaka?

Yes.

Oh, no, thank you.

I was just thinking of you.

I was saying good to see you, Norman.

Yeah, good.

Thank you very much.

Rosalinda, for the record, Rosalinda is not here.

Rosalinda, if you're outside, you have five seconds.

All right, we're going to go ahead and close the public comment opportunity

and declare that the public hearing is now closed.

Questions, comments from counsel?

I'll start to the right.

Anything?

I do, actually.

So I was surprised this didn't come up, but Mr. Berman, if you could explain a little bit,

or I'm sorry, our presenter, if you could discuss a little bit what Lifeline is about,

and perhaps maybe next year we could put that on the mailer for those who may need that assistance.

And so just for the record, if anybody's listening, they probably aren't.

Well, let's put it on the record what Lifeline is and how folks can get assistance if they need it.

Absolutely.

Can you hear?

Yes.

Absolutely.

Thank you for asking for that.

The Lifeline Rate Assistance is a program that the city offers that provides eligible residents

20% off of their service bill.

And so eligibility is based on income.

The City of Elk Grove's program is based on SMUD's income assistance program.

And so if residents have enrolled in SMUD's income assistance program,

they automatically are qualified for income assistance through Elk Grove.

And so this is a program that we're working on advertising more widely in the coming years

to make sure residents are aware of this opportunity.

Perfect.

And then my suggestion is maybe we can put it on the mailer next year.

Cool.

I like that idea.

Yeah, I don't think a lot of people know about it.

No, I didn't.

I just remember the presentation we had had a couple of weeks back.

Yeah.

All right.

Thank you.

I agree.

Any other questions?

Looking to the left?

Questions, comments, anything?

All right.

I definitely echo the same sentiments as Council Member Spees.

You had a question?

Yeah.

Okay, go ahead.

Thanks, Mayor.

Could you just, sorry, review one more time for me on the rate increases?

Do we, for the term of the franchise agreement, do we, is there a cap?

Yeah.

So the language in the franchise agreement, it's a 10-year contract.

And the language in the agreement clearly states that Republic Services is entitled to

a rate adjustment each year.

That's why you see me each year in June.

Yeah.

And that adjustment is based on CPI.

So if the CPI has gone up, we will raise the rates up to 3%.

So 3% is the highest that it can be raised.

So in years where we have a CPI above 3%, the rates do not get raised.

3% is the cap.

Right.

Thank you very much.

Let me just add to that real quick, just so that everyone's clear.

And the bottom is 2%, right?

So the rate increase will always be between 2% and 3%.

And if, for example, this year, the CPI is above 3%, you know, for almost 4.5%.

And so it's part of the negotiation in the 10-year franchise agreement that that rate is

capped at 3%.

If it drops below 2%, Republic Services would then be bottomed out at 2%, I guess.

All right.

Thank you.

All right.

Thank you.

So there's no motion for this.

We look forward to your next presentation.

Thank you.

All right.

Next item.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of the City Council.

Joseph Dagerman, Associate Planner with the Community Development Department.

Item 8.2 this evening is the Calvin Point Shop 6 Amendment project.

This project consists of a design review amendment to the previously approved Calvin Point project,

which was approved by the City Council in 2005.

This project involves the construction of a one-story commercial building totaling approximately

10,752 square feet.

This project will be subject to the City's Climate Action Plan measures for non-residential development.

The project site is located at 8854 Calvin Road within the Calvin Point Shopping Center

near the southwest corner of Calvin Road and Elk Grove Florin Road.

The shopping center is comprised of seven parcels totaling approximately 22.3 acres

and is developed with a Kohl's, Bank of America, El Pollo Loco, Island Pacific Supermarket,

City Sports Club, and one multi-tenant building.

There are currently two vacant pads on site, which is the project site, which is outlined in the light blue,

as well as the parcel right here.

And then there is an ARCO AM-PM that's currently under construction just north of the existing Kohl's.

The project site will occur on approximately 0.54 acres of the 7.13 acre parcel within the shopping center.

In terms of surrounding uses, the project site and the shopping center include retail to the east,

single residential units, and a vacant city-owned parcel to the south,

a Buddhist temple to the west, and then properties to the north are within the Sacramento County jurisdiction.

They include future retail, single-family residential uses, and a vacant parcel.

A little bit of background.

The full background information on the shopping center is detailed in your staff report.

I'll just go through this relatively quickly.

So as I mentioned, the Calvine Point Shopping Center was originally approved in 2005.

It included a design review for the development of approximately 250,000 square feet.

Shop 6, which is outlined in red on your screen,

was initially approved for an approximately 9,355 square foot commercial building.

Fast forwarding to the most recent amendment for Calvine Point.

This was approved by the city council back in 2019.

Shop 6, the developer decided to change Shop 6 to a 3,200 square foot restaurant with a drive-thru.

The applicant has determined that the drive-thru use is no longer feasible,

and they're proposing the amendment this evening.

So this is the site plan for Calvine Point Shop 6.

The project site will be developed within approximately 10,752 square feet retail building,

along with minor parking lot and landscaping improvements.

Access to the site will be provided through the existing shopping center driveways

on Calvine Road and Elk Grove Florin Road.

A combination of glory maple, crepe myrtle, and Chinese pistache trees,

as well as shrubs will be planted in the parking lot area located in front of the building

and to the north of the building.

The site plan is consistent with all applicable zoning and development regulations.

Here's the architecture for Shop 6.

The proposed building elevations include a variety of colors, materials, and textures

to make the building appear at a more human scale.

The building will primarily consist of a stucco finish with stone veneer columns to break up the facade.

Aluminum window storefronts will be located along the north, west, and south elevations

with metal awnings installed above the storefronts.

Multiple plane changes, parapet heights, and design elements are utilized to indicate tenant entry locations.

The proposed elevations provide high-quality materials, detailing and color,

which are carried to all building elevations.

The building elevations for Shop 6 are compatible with the existing buildings on site

as well as the surrounding development.

So you'll see the image to the right is the existing Shop 5 building.

Architecturally, they're pretty much the same.

So as I mentioned earlier, the 2019 amendment changed Shop 6 to a drive-through.

The use no longer meets the developer's operational needs.

So with this amendment, staff has determined that the project is consistent with a prior approval building area.

The architecture remains consistent with the overall center.

Just a quick note, a green sheet was provided to the council prior to the meeting.

There is a modification to the language for condition number 35.

In terms of CEQA, the project is exempt from CEQA,

pursuant to CEQA guidelines section 15332 and 15162.

So staff's recommendation is to approve the project,

adopting the resolution,

approving the project based on the findings and subject to the conditions of approval

included in the draft resolution with a quick note of the modification to condition of approval number 35

as provided in the green sheet.

That concludes my presentation.

Staff and the applicant are available to enter any questions.

Thank you.

All right.

Thank you for your presentation.

At this time, I will declare that the public hearing is now open

and open up public comment.

Actually, does the applicant want to speak at all?

Invite you up first.

Just want to say thank you to the mayor, vice mayor,

and to council members and planning staff for helping us through it all.

And if there's any questions, we're here to answer them.

All right.

Thank you for being here.

Now I will open up public comment opportunity.

Nobody has signed up to speak on this.

I will close public comment and declare that the public hearing is now closed.

Any questions or comments?

I'll look to the left.

Looking to the right.

None.

I'll accept a motion then.

So moved.

Second?

Second.

Second.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Thank you.

All right.

Next item, 8.3.

8.3 is a public hearing to consider issuance of bonds by the California Statewide Communities

Development Authority to support the Montego Falls Project, a TEFRA hearing.

Good evening.

Mayor St. Allen and members of the City Council.

Josh Tovar, management analyst with the Housing and Public Services Division.

Tonight's item is a public hearing required by the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act,

or TEFRA.

TEFRA requires a public hearing be held by the local governing body, which the project is

located when taxes and bonds are being proposed, and that the elected body approve the proposed

financing.

The project under consideration is Montego Falls, a 132-unit portable housing multifamily

complex located at the corner of White Lock and Bruceville Road.

The developer seeks to refinance its existing debt portfolio and apply for new allocations

of tax-exambed revenue bonds.

In 2008, the city provided a $4.15 million loan to support the project's construction,

and as part of this refinancing, the developer will repay the city's loan with principal and

interest, adding approximately $6.6 million back to the Affordable Housing Fund.

The bonds will be issued by the California Statewide Communities Development Authority,

which is a joint powers authority that acts as a conduit issuer, helping finance locally

approved projects.

The bonds will be the responsibility of the developer and paid solely from the revenues

pledged by the project.

The city will bear no responsibility to repay the bond deadness.

The bond offering documents will have clear disclaimers, noting that this is not an obligation

of the city.

Additionally, the city will bear no cost related to the issuance of the proposed debt.

And lastly, the project's affordability restrictions will continue to remain in effect as regulated

by a regulatory agreement, which restricts 100% of the units as affordable, with the exception

of one manager's unit.

Accordingly, staff's recommendations that the city council adopt a resolution approving the

issuance of bonds by CSCDA for the benefit of the Mondeagle Falls Affordable Housing Project.

This concludes my presentation and I'm happy to answer any questions.

All right.

Thank you for your presentation.

I will declare the public hearing is now open and open up public comment opportunity.

Nobody has signed up to speak.

I'll close public comment and declare the public hearing is now closed.

Any questions or comments?

Look to the left.

Look to the right.

Seeing none.

Move to adopt staff resolution.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Thank you.

Next item, please.

Good evening, Mayor Singh Allen, Vice Mayor Robles, members of the council.

I'm Nathan Bagwell and I serve as your budget manager.

I have the privilege this evening of presenting to you the fiscal year 2526 budget.

Before I get started, I do want to give a hearty thank you to our leadership, Jason Bearman,

the city manager, and Jackie Guzman, who's our assistant city manager, but also served as

our interim finance director for much of the budget development season.

Thank you as well to Raj and Rajneel Prasad as our new, not interim, our new finance director.

And of course, our executive team.

There's just too many people to thank, but this is truly a citywide effort.

And a big shout out to my exceptional colleagues, Matthew Ruiz and Cecilia Long, and as well as

Cindy Vitamontes.

Really lucky to have such a great supporting staff and team to work with.

That's what we're going to talk about tonight is some public outreach efforts over the last year.

There is a slight change proposed to the budget since the last time this item was brought to you on May 28th.

We'll do a high-level overview of the capital improvement program.

We'll discuss Measure E and the general fund.

And we'll talk about the five-year forecast from the budget document.

And we'll discuss some of the budget highlights as it relates to some personnel recommendations

and some other really exciting work that's happening in the upcoming year.

So with regards to public engagement, one of the programs you heard our city manager speak of earlier

that we're very proud of is Oak Grove 101.

This immersive eight-session course is designed to engage, empower, and enlighten community members

about their local government.

The city is holding its third cohort now in the spring, and I've been encouraged to share

that applications are now being accepted for the next cohort beginning in August.

Additional efforts where finance and budgets had an opportunity to participate was among those

were the very popular police department's barbecue series, Barbecue and the Beat.

There were also two meetings with the Measure E Oversight Committee during the year.

There was a presence at last year's Sunday-Thunday with the city council.

And as discussed earlier this evening, the city conducted an essay contest amongst the city's

high school students where we extended our reach to potential future civic leaders of tomorrow as well.

In November, there was a Elk Grove 101 alumni and climate ambassadors were invited to weigh in

on current CIP projects where they could suggest modifications and propose new projects,

told it was a packed and energized group.

Additionally, the city does a lot of outreach with regards to advertising that this message

is going out regarding the budget.

We get a glance email.

That budget was highlighted to over 2,000 recipients.

The budget department does have its own listserv email that reached over 300 recipients, and

virtually over 5,000 folks were reached by Instagram and Facebook, and we anticipate a print media

release tomorrow.

Also, as part of our outreach was something we did internally.

This included talking to our internal stakeholders.

So, the budget department this year during the winter met with each individual department

in the police department who welcomed us with open arms.

This gave us an opportunity to sit down and really connect with those who deliver these

great services within the community and really help us understand our processes and how they

relate to collaborating with them.

So, just wanted to include that this conversation is outward and inward as well, as we always seek

to be a city that cares and always improving.

So, what's changed since May 28th?

There is a slight increase proposed.

This is for the general fund of a little under $34,000.

How that's broken out is $10,000 for the city manager's office for access, expanded access

to swimming lessons, a little over $9,000 for the public affairs budget.

This is regarding expanding the military street banner program.

And as discussed earlier tonight, the lifeline assistant program, there's a proposal for

$14,500 additional funds to promote that program.

So, we'll transition now to the capital improvement program.

This is a high-level summary.

The total planned appropriations over the five-year period is $293 million.

61% or $180 million of all those projects are funded.

39% or $113 million are unfunded, but the unfunded portion primarily shown here in this chart

as potential grants.

You can find a version of this chart on page 290 of the budget.

And to highlight some of the exciting work that's forthcoming, there's a library, city

hall remodel, trail improvements, new parks, camera road extension to Bruceville, White Lock

interchange.

Additionally, there's the Lots Parkway extension, as well as the citywide traffic signal enhancement

and congestion relief project.

So, transitioning now to a discussion about Measure E.

As you know, that's a one-cent transaction used in sales tax was approved by voters in 2022.

Measure E Oversight Committee met in January and again in May.

And at the most recent meeting, the committee found that the city and CSD's expenditure plans

for the upcoming fiscal year did reflect the needs and priorities identified by the community.

We anticipate Measure E to generate $33 million in the upcoming year.

The city and the CSD have a tax-sharing agreement whereby these funds are broken out accordingly.

20% is set aside for future priority projects.

The remainder is broken out.

30% goes to the CSD.

50% to the city.

The city anticipates an allocation of $16.5 million in the upcoming fiscal year.

At the council retreat in February, staff presented new community polling results on potential new Measure E priorities.

Based on these results, council directed staff to add four new categories eligible for Measure E funding,

which are arts, culture, and entertainment, affordable housing, preservation of natural areas and open space,

maintaining and expanding local bike and pedestrian trails.

And again, these are in addition to the existing priorities that will continue to remain.

Measure E revenues has, so what you'll see here is we mentioned a moment ago,

the allocation is anticipated to be $16.5 million.

This total spending plan for Measure E is $28.9 million.

The delta for that being revenues have come in higher than anticipated since the inception of Measure E,

and at the same time, as the city's been working to ramp up new programs,

there's been a, and we've been tracking to accumulate a large unrestricted fund balance.

So as a result, in the coming fiscal year, the proposed budget includes some one-time expenditures

to help draw down some of those funds, which we will discuss momentarily.

In the coming year, the city's continuing to support the priorities with some strategic investments.

The city's also proposing to fund projects in the new community priority areas.

And lastly, the city is also setting aside $4 million from fund balance for Measure E

for a permanent shelter facility.

Some of the highlights of Measure E is enabling the city to be putting forward new programs,

data aggregation and software that will assist with criminal investigations,

and this is relative to enhanced policing efforts, additional drones and flock cameras,

as well as training for emergency management for staff,

and providing security services at warming and cooling centers.

Relative to the quality of life here in the city,

historic main street lighting and safety enhancements.

This is for improved safety during evening and nighttime hours.

There is a proposed new community event and public art installation, a mural festival,

as well as permanent shelter scoping and design,

and a middle-income housing initiative,

which are programs to improve opportunities for homeownership in the city.

For economic development, there are two programs relative to the Chamber of Commerce,

one for member sponsorship and another for a business resource website.

There is a proposed property business improvement district for historic Main Street.

This is a special assessment district that's designed to generate revenue for a host of activities,

including marketing, safety, security, cleanliness, maintenance, and capital projects.

As we lean into the arts and culture and entertainment,

there is an arts and culture, arts and creative economy strategy fund,

funded in the, proposed to be funded in the upcoming budget.

Additionally, there is a proposed revamp of the city's business license platform.

So, as we mentioned earlier, some of the larger projects,

that measure is enabling the city to bring forward.

Grant Line Business Sewer Park Project,

what this is doing is it's designing and constructing critical sewer facilities

to prepare 300 acres of industrial land for economic development.

Additionally, pavement rehab on Laguna and Elk Grove Boulevard,

Laguna Creek Interregional Trail Crossing at State Route 99,

Elk Grove Boulevard Bright Turn at Arco to Southbound 99 to help with some traffic congestion relief there,

the fish hatchery site restoration, as well as significant funding towards trails

for pavement rehabilitation, wayfinding program implementation,

as well as Laguna Creek Trail Railroad Crossing reconstruction.

This brings us now to the general fund component of this discussion.

The story of the general fund this year is that it maintains service levels to the residents,

continued focus on public safety, affordable housing, homelessness, traffic, and economic development.

It's a structurally balanced, fiscally sustainable, and provides funding for priority projects.

Continues to increase reserves based on our reserve policy.

We'll take a look first at the revenue side.

These revenues now do not include Measure E.

Those are budgeted separately.

The chart before you is showing our historical growth in revenues over the past few years.

We anticipate just over 2%, or $2.3 million in revenue growth.

The forecast assumes 5% growth on property taxes in the coming year,

while we do anticipate sales tax to be flattening out.

All other major revenue sources are either staying level or increasing in the coming year.

It brings us next to the expenditures.

The chart before you shows total general fund spending growing over time

through the upcoming fiscal year, where about a 5.3% increase is estimated.

Compensation costs are projected to increase now by $5.5 million over the current year-end estimate.

And so for context, that current year-end estimate does capture savings within the current year.

When we look at adopted to adopted, there's actually a smaller delta.

That might be more of an apples-to-apples.

The adopted budget for the current year, $63 million,

whereas the proposed budget, $67 million in compensation.

That $4 million delta includes general salary and benefit increases,

the full cost of three positions added during the fiscal year,

the current fiscal year, as well as proposing to add two new positions

for the upcoming fiscal year, which we will discuss in a few moments.

It also reflects negotiated compensation increases for the city's workforce.

Spending outside of compensation is anticipated to be relatively flat,

but only modestly increasing.

The overall general fund expenditure budget is $97.4 million.

So before you is a table from the transmittal letter.

Really, the story here, the bottom line,

is one of a balanced budget annually with a positive net revenue for the next several years.

Both the Opportunity Reserve and Reserve for Economic Uncertainty

are projected to meet their target levels of 5% and 25% respectively

for all years of the forecast.

The general fund also contributes to the capital and economic development reserves

in all five years, which the trigger for them is once those 5% and 25%,

so that 30% is met, that additional surplus is what's there showing

in the transfers to the capital reserve and the economic development.

The fiscal plan factors in and withstands key spending assumptions,

such as new sworn and non-sworn positions added annually,

future impacts from negotiated compensation agreements,

as well as the continued practice of transferring out recycling

and waste franchise fees to the capital reserve fund,

additional payments for CalPERS unfunded liabilities.

All these assumptions result in annual expenditure growth long-term.

This concludes our discussion on the general fund,

and we will now transition to forecast of the city's other major funds.

So we'll start with transportation and maintenance funds for gas tax.

Steady revenues are going to help fund the continued operations and maintenance,

which includes preventive maintenance, so think of gutters, curbs, sidewalks,

markings, and potholes, as well as capital projects,

such as phase two of the Old Town Streetscape project

and the bike and pedestrian, as well as bike and pedestrian crossing improvements.

Senate Bill 1 fund local streets and roads,

steady revenue growth anticipated throughout the forecast.

The majority of the capital projects spending in this forecast

is relative to pavement rehabilitation, slurry ceiling, and resurfacing.

Next is our CFD Community Facilities District 2005-1, so this is Laguna Ridge.

The levy assessed on the properties within this CFD were held at 70% of the max allowable amount

for many years, subject to only an annual CPI increase.

Now that most of the area's amenities are in operation,

expenses are now outpacing revenues.

So the levy is assumed to increase 5% annually until it reaches the maximum tax in fiscal year 28.

Significant annual expenditure growth is assumed in the forecast,

including expenditures for newer parks.

So the city staff is partnering with the CSD

and will continue to pursue cost-saving measures

to decrease the annual projected deficit in this month.

Next up is Measure A, Maintenance.

So similar to Senate Bill 1, steady revenues anticipated throughout the forecast.

Most of the forecasted general capital project expenditures

are for annual pavement slurry seal and resurfacing.

The upcoming year also includes pavement maintenance and street striping.

New to the budget document this year is a five-year forecast relative to the Wilton Rancheria Fund.

For brief context, in 2016, the city entered into a memorandum of understanding

with the Wilton Rancheria Tribe facilitating mitigation of impacts

resulting from the construction of an entertainment facility.

The MOU provides financial resources to the community.

Per the MOU, over $12 million of one-time or non-recurring funding

has been sent to the city over five annual installments

from the start of construction on the casino,

concluding in this fiscal year.

The annual installments are purposed for roadway expenditures,

police equipment, as well as city community facilities.

Additionally, per the MOU,

$4 million in annual recurring revenue is sent to the city.

Half of that is set as a city tax in lieu that can be used for discretionary purposes.

The other half is purposed for police, code enforcement,

road maintenance, and road maintenance.

Capital project expenditures in the forecast include projects such as

the Camero Road two-lane extension from Bruceville Road to I-5,

as well as funding for pavement maintenance.

Almost done with the forecast, we're going to move to our enterprise funds.

For drainage, modest revenue growth will help sustain a positive fund balance.

Capital expenditures significantly higher in the coming year.

This is relative to unspent budget in the current year.

That's going to roll over.

We don't expect those projects to be done in this year,

so it will happen next year.

Examples of projects like that are Laguna Creek,

Whitehouse Creek multifunctional corridor project,

pump station improvements phase two,

as well as the southeast industrial area storm drain improvements.

And the last of our forecasts is relative to recycling and waste funds.

These funds pay for residential and commercial waste collection and hauling operations,

as well as the Special Waste Collection Center SWAC operating costs.

The five-year forecast for recycling and waste continues to reflect the impacts of Senate Bill 1383,

which requires mandatory organics recycling statewide.

This bill mandates the city to administer programs like curbside organics collection inspection enforcement programs,

extensive public education and outreach programs for each of these new programs.

There are also ongoing costs associated with compliance and monitoring,

enforcement, and extensive reporting requirements.

We bring now to a personnel discussion.

There are 14 new positions proposed in FY26,

11 of them really new.

Three are conversions from contracted positions.

Two are proposed for animal services.

Recall that we did a staffing study for the animal shelter,

for animal services some years back, adding some positions annually.

This is a continuation of that relative to the event specialist

and customer service representative proposed.

Two positions in the city manager's office.

The first, I meant to mention those animal service positions are funded by general fund.

Those are the two.

The next, we go to the city manager's office,

the arts and creative economy program manager.

This is relative to leaning into the arts, culture, and entertainment aspect,

the promotion with the measure E, but really also in the city.

This program manager funded by measure E is going to lead the programming and the work there.

As the city has grown, so has the need for our risk management coordination.

There is a proposed new long-range planning program manager and community development.

And then in public works, there's six new positions and three conversions from contract.

Management analyst kind of ties in with fleet maintenance technician.

As the city's fleet has grown significantly, so has the investment of the city.

This is helping us manage that.

There are a couple positions new for landscaping, senior maintenance technician and a maintenance specialist.

Think of landscaping, the need is growing.

This is more specific to our new growth areas.

As the city's tree canopy continues to increase and we continue to develop more open space,

a tree and open space coordinator is needed to help coordinate and lead some of that work.

And also, we mentioned the fleet, the three positions that are being potentially converted,

the maintenance technician.

This is bringing street legend and striping work in-house.

And the two inspector positions are for the engineering services division,

supervising construction inspector and public works inspector.

So at the request of city council, staff has developed a new section of the budget document

dedicated to the city's efforts addressing homelessness within the city.

The city of Elk Grove is committed to serving unsheltered individuals and families

while working to protect the health and safety of our communities.

This chart highlights the impactful programs and work being done in our community.

The city's investment in the upcoming year is over $4.5 million.

The city is setting aside an additional $4 million from measure e-funding towards a permanent homeless shelter.

More information about these programs and efforts can be found beginning on page 4 of the budget document.

Additionally, we wanted to mention the city's efforts relative to getting in front of

and being well-managed for pension obligations.

Over the last decade, the city has sent PERS $13.5 million towards the prepayments

in addition to our regular PERS obligations.

The city's also established a pension trust fund and contributed $7.6 million.

So the story really is these tools are helping the city manage its pension costs,

which we anticipate our pension plans are approximately 86% funded,

over $21 million over the last 10 years.

The city's funding level remains within the top 10% of all CalPERS California agencies.

Additionally, funds continue to be set aside as budgeted in our forecast $900,000.

Additional payments are programmed in the current year and in every year of our forecast.

So at this time, staff is recommending that council conduct a public hearing,

consider a resolution adopting the budget for fiscal year 25-26,

the capital improvement program for fiscal years 25-26 through 29-30,

the annual appropriations limit, an updated investment policy,

as well as an updated citywide salary schedule.

Council can choose to adopt tonight or continue this item,

and staff will come back June 25th.

This concludes my presentation.

Happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you so much for that thorough presentation.

At this time, I will go ahead and declare the public hearing is now open

and open up public comment.

We have one person signed up to speak, Lynn Wheat.

Good evening.

First, I want to thank Mr. Bagwell for answering all my questions.

I read through the budget, and I sent him a number of questions that helped with clarification.

So I want to thank the staff for the good work that they have done on that.

I do have a couple comments, though.

In previous years, I know that you were able to have assistance,

and that there's $100,000 set aside for that.

And if you choose not to use an assistant, it's under the city council,

that then you can donate that money to a nonprofit within our community.

My concern in that is that there might be some favoritism,

and would it be fair when we have nonprofits that have to go through an application process

when we do our CF, our community monies?

So I'd like to see that either programmed a different way,

or we consider hiring somebody for you all that would be within that budget of $100,000,

or roll it over into another fund.

I know in recent years we have grown as a city,

and a number, a number of years ago,

I believe that there was an audit done to determine the number of staff that we would need in each department.

And I'm suggesting, as we've continued hiring,

that we look at doing another comprehensive audit

to make sure that we have the right number of employees that are meeting our needs

and are being efficient within that.

Then I just do have another comment.

The $2 million that we get from the casino,

we might look at, there's some projects that haven't been funded,

and it's interesting that this one student looked at the budget

and was suggesting that they were going to work on safety for pedestrians and roads.

And we have some projects that could be completed with that.

Also, if we hadn't used $4.5 million on the zoo,

we could look at completing those.

And it's Table 3, for instance,

sidewalk infill improvement,

bike and pedestrian crossing improvements,

Laguna Creek Trail Segment 4,

Waterman Road to Sierra River Drive.

We could get those done,

and I know that would benefit all of us in our community.

And lastly, for economic development,

it looks like there's $7 million

that are going to be set aside for buying some industrial land.

Well, interestingly enough, early on as a city,

we had quite a bit of land zoned for industry

that was rezoned for other purposes.

But I am just wondering,

we already own a number of surplus properties.

We've recently, as taxpayers, purchased 100 acres for a zoo.

How is it that we're looking to set aside $7 million

for an industrial, you know, buy industrial land?

Should we put that forth to the taxpayers

to see if they want to go into the process

of purchasing more land?

Thank you.

Thank you.

That was our final public comment.

I will go ahead and close the public comment opportunity

and declare that the public hearing is now closed.

I'll start to the left.

Questions or comments?

Thank you, Mayor.

No questions, but I do want to, again,

also give my thanks and commend staff

for their hard work in putting this all together.

We've talked about this in the last meeting.

I think it's a lot of good news to share for our city.

We're in a very fortunate position,

and I'm proud to say that, you know,

past councils and this council

has been very good stewards of the public's money,

and we continue to make sure our pension obligations

are paid for as well as having healthy reserves

and also having reserves for economic opportunities.

So I look forward to passing this budget.

Thank you.

Vice Mayor?

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

I wish I could say stuff,

but Councilman Suen already took everything I was going to say.

No, in all seriousness,

I just want to say thank you for the presentation

and thank you for being thorough on it.

I did want to highlight some of the programs that we have,

the city council community service grants,

which is super vital in our community

and it's making impacts.

Thank you because there are new nonprofits

actually coming out and asking for community funds

and are receiving them,

and it's good to see that,

that we're continuing to invest

in these new nonprofits that are around.

I also wanted to highlight,

let me go to my next slide

because there was a lot of reading on this one.

I wanted to also talk about,

for the HR department,

thank you for the hiring practices

that you've been instilling.

We see it.

It's reflective of our community

and just super proud to be,

for you to be leading that.

It's something that we see it as we hire new staff.

Also happy to see that there's consultants

now moving to full-time employees,

which is super needed when it comes to processes

and everything.

So super happy to see that as well.

And I think there's a couple more,

or maybe one more.

Just looking because all my computers.

And excited also to see that we are doing,

I think it's called the middle class,

middle class.

I'm going to butcher this one out.

It's on the budget.

Give me one second.

That's relative to,

I think what you're referring to

is the Measure E,

middle class affordable housing.

Yes.

Yeah.

It's somewhere on my notes.

I was looking for it.

Yeah.

And I'm excited to see that,

that we are taking a step forward

on providing that opportunity for folks.

That's something that as a council,

when we were at the retreat,

we decided to collectively do that

and look forward to invest back in our community.

And I'm proud of doing that.

And I know the mayor

and the rest of the council colleagues

are really proud of doing that as well.

When we're looking at everything

that's starting to be super expensive

and not even affordable,

but we're investing back in our residents

and in our future.

So thank you for the budget

and thank you for balancing it.

Council Member Brewer,

any questions, comments?

Thank you, Mayor.

I want to thank you, Mr. Bagwell,

but I also want to thank Ms. Guzman.

I know she's watching at home

as she takes care of her new little bundle of joy.

But I also want to thank the entire staff

for your work, your focus,

your transparency with the public

and being able to share

how this budget came together

and the types of investments

that we are doing for the city

and knowing that the capital improvement plan

over the next five years

is fully cognizant of how that's going to happen.

We have a number of things coming along

that are in the spirit of infill

and just overall infrastructure investments

that are good to have,

strong to have, need to have, really.

Because as Elk Grove continues to grow

and we're creating like a connecting network

of trailways and shopping, retail,

it's important that we remain focused

on the overall prize of taking care of our residents

and doing it in a safe, responsible,

and transparent manner.

It's like I was going through the budget

over the weekend and yesterday,

but today I was going,

as you were doing your presentation,

I was going through our investment policy

and everything that we've been doing,

especially through our audits

that we have been doing over the past year

and do it quarterly.

You see the work that we put into it

and I see the work that you and your teams put into it

because having and reaching and meeting compliance

and fiscal muster is very important

as we put together these numbers

for each of our departments,

for our hirings and for the programs

that we dive into.

So I want to thank you

for putting in this extra muscle,

this extra elbow grease

because this is something that our residents,

as we've been hearing over the last 25 years

and definitely over the last three years,

this is something they've come to know

and expect and demand of us

is to be forthright with them.

So thank you so much.

Thank you.

Council Member Spees.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

I think most of the juice

has been squeezed out of the grape on this one,

especially I had some longer comments last time.

And of course, you know,

I align myself with my colleagues

and what they've had to say,

but I do have just a few more comments.

Yesterday was, you know, state of the city.

We had a reflection of 25 years.

Where we are today relative to budget,

to our fiscal standing,

we're not here by accident, right?

This is intentional.

This is 25 years of council, staff, residents, right?

Working together to continue going true north

on where we should be.

Sometimes it's not always easy.

Sometimes, you know,

I remember back in the day

when we were talking about the,

gosh, I just forgot what it's called,

where we were paying the county back.

Revenue neutrality.

Revenue neutrality.

Thank you.

And, you know,

there were some kind of scary timelines

that we were looking at,

you know, about 10 years or so ago.

So my point in all of it is,

thank you very much to everyone

on what I consider to be Team Elk Grove,

not just council,

but staff and residents.

Good job, Team Elk Grove,

because we are truly unique throughout the state.

There are many other municipalities

who are dealing with some very significant deficits,

but we're not here by accident.

So thank you very much.

Great job by everybody.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Thank you to my colleagues

for your excellent comment.

As I stated yesterday

in the State of the City Address,

the state of our city is strong,

and that is reflected in this budget

and all of the great work from our staff.

So kudos to all of you.

Shout out to you and Ms. Guzman

for your exceptional work getting us here.

I really appreciated

the expanded public outreach efforts

and the creativity involved in that as well.

Like Council Member Spee said,

this is a blessing

that we are in this position

to be with a very positive budget

and not cutting positions,

but expanding positions and programs.

That is something

that I don't take for granted

because I imagine

that darker days perhaps are ahead,

but let's celebrate

what we do have before us today.

Thank you so much for your hard work.

All right.

With that, I will look for a motion.

So moved.

Second.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Thank you.

We are on to our next item.

Good evening, Council.

Sarah Kirsch-Gessner, Planning Department.

The proposed municipal code amendments

are a series of city-initiated text amendments

to the Elk Grove Municipal Code.

The proposed amendments address changes in state law,

principally around the housing development,

incorporate best practices,

and overall improve the usability

and readability of the code.

On an ongoing basis,

the city identifies potential amendments

to the Elk Grove Municipal Code regulations

and packages them for Planning Commission

and City Council review and consideration.

The last major update was completed in 2022.

The amendments tonight consist of revisions

to Title 12, Title 14, Title 16, Title 22, Title 23,

as well as a comprehensive updating

of the term development services

to community development throughout

the entire municipal code.

The Planning Commission reviewed the item in May

and recommended city council approval 5-0.

I'll start with Title 23.

These are high-level summary of the changes.

So for Title 22, there are two sets of changes.

As I mentioned, a lot of it is related

to changes in state law.

And these first set are state law changes,

including overhauling the permit requirements

for all housing development,

streamlining provisions as required by state law,

updating requirements and standards

for density bonus and other developer incentives

and concessions, updating development standards

for accessory dwelling units and junior ADUs,

and updating Planning Commission noticing requirements

for zoning amendments consistent with state law.

The second set of revisions are those identified by staff

as opportunities to improve the code

or otherwise address a city objective.

These include adding a Planning Commission term of service.

This will be discussed later as part of Agenda Item 9.2.

Modifying the allowed use table and permit requirements

for several land use classifications,

allowing pool equipment and small accessory structures

within street side yard PUEs in some cases,

updating the parking standards to add parking maximums,

as well as allowing a process for extended hours of operation

for mobile food vendors.

Title 22 would comprehensively repeal and replace this title

with a new structure and retitle it land division.

This would clarify the roles and responsibilities

of various parties, adding procedures for interpretation

and boundary line adjustments.

Subdivision design standards would be updated and expanded.

Additionally, provisions are added for surveys and monuments,

improvement requirements, and dedications and reservations.

Other amendments include changes to Titles 12, 16, and 14.

These include permit requirements for improvements.

For Title 16, permit requirements for qualifying housing approvals.

In Title 14, it's a narrow change,

specifically to Chapter 1410

for the irrigation design requirements.

And as I mentioned, updating the term development services

to community development through the entire municipal code.

The CEQA environmental review

includes consistency with the general plan

and no further environmental review is necessary,

subject to relying on the 2019 general plan,

as well as the final subsequent EIR.

Staff's recommendation is to introduce an ordinance,

finding no further environmental review is required,

and adopting the proposed amendments

to the Elk Grove Municipal Code.

Thank you.

Thank you for your presentation.

At this time, I will declare that the public hearing

is now open and open up the public comment opportunity.

No one has signed up to speak on this.

I'll close public comment and declare

the public hearing is closed.

Any questions or comments?

If not, I'll look for a motion.

Yes, questions, comments?

All right.

Motion.

Moved to ask recommendation.

Second.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Thank you.

Next item, please.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council Members.

I'm Cindy Tiffany, I'm the finance and budget analyst

for the city, and I'm here tonight to present annexations

into special tax districts.

The city currently maintains eight special tax districts.

Annexations into appropriate districts

are typically part of the project approval process.

Requirements are specific for each project

and vary by geographic location and building use within the city.

These rates are adjusted annually,

and once annexed into these, they are levied into perpetuity.

The project I bring one today is 9200 Survey Road.

This is a non-residential project.

The project scope is 0.82 acres of non-residential area.

The annexations required for this project are CFD 2006-1,

which is a maintenance service district,

and stormwater drainage fee zone 2.

As you'll see on the map here, it's located on Survey Road,

kind of in the industrial area south of Grant Line.

This concludes my presentation.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

I'm available if you have any questions.

All right, thank you.

At this time, I will declare the public hearing

for CFD 2006-1, Annex 103 open,

and open up public comment opportunity.

No one has signed up.

I'll close public comment and declare the public hearing

for CFD 2006-1, Annex 103 is closed,

and look for a motion 1.

Motion A1.

Second.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

And may I request the results of the ballot tabulation?

Of one possible vote, one affirmative vote was cast,

authorizing the City of Elk Grove to levy a special tax

at the rate of portion to describe.

The measure passes with more than two-thirds of all votes

cast in the election in favor of the measure.

A resolution declaring the results of the election

is available for council consideration.

Thank you.

Looking for motion A2 and A3.

Motion's A2 and A3.

Second.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Thank you.

Now I will declare the public hearing for SWDF, Annex 73 now open,

and open up public comment opportunity.

No one has signed up to speak.

I'll close public comment and declare the public hearing for SWDF,

Annex 73 is now closed,

and request the clerk to provide the results of the ballot tabulation.

There is no majority protest of one possible vote

weighted according to the proportional financial obligation for the property.

One affirmative vote was returned.

The ballot approves the proposed assessment

and the proposed inflation adjustment limit

described for the parcel identified in the ballot.

A resolution determining levy assessments in the district

is available for council consideration.

Thank you.

Looking for motion B.

Motion B.

Second.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Thank you.

All right, next, 9.1.

And item 9.1 is going to be to receive an update

and share the public input opportunity

on the inclusive community participation framework.

I thought I was 9.2.

I'm sorry.

Good evening, council and mayor.

Okay, so this is brief, I promise.

I'm presenting.

I'm presenting.

It's an informational piece on a new resource

that has been created by staff.

We call it an inclusive community participation framework.

So what this is is a work product

that's coming out of our Smart Cities plan.

So you'll recall that you passed and adopted this plan back in 2022.

The plan itself has three guiding pillars.

One of the pillars is around proactive engagement.

So this framework really is envisioning a city

that does inform its citizens around all functions, actions, and processes,

that the community understands how and why decisions are being made

and weighs in as appropriate,

and that staff consult and engage with the community

to understand their interests, issues, and opinions and perspectives,

and then factoring that into the decision.

So this is the vision that is laid out in that plan

and then in this framework as well.

So how this was created.

So we created an internal working group in early 2023

that met eight times.

It was interdepartmental.

And the focus of that working group initially was really

on what is inclusive community participation.

I know it's a mouthful.

And then why is it important here in Elk Grove?

Like, what is this value?

So the framework itself,

and I think we started talking about it like a toolkit,

but then we realized that the toolkit was going to be very robust

and we needed a foundational policy document

that really laid out those visions, commitments, and goals

that we would build on through our processes and practices.

And so what you see here is the Elk Grove City Council vision

that we believe aligns with this framework.

Really at its core, the framework is a policy document

that expresses a renewed commitment on behalf of the city

to build trusting relationships with the residents.

So we really, it's a foundational piece.

And it would affect a lot.

It would go across all city departments and divisions

and be this sort of guiding foundation.

The commitments laid out,

there's six commitments laid out in the framework.

They're here.

I want to say they're not overly ambitious,

but the devil's in the details and how you do them.

But they're all aligned with what, you know,

I imagine you guys talk about in your council retreats.

You know, we really want to create

and sustain an informed public and community.

We really want to seek out an understanding

of their perspectives.

And we will tap into their collective intelligence,

you know, as it's appropriate for projects for guidance.

Commitment four, we will ensure transparency

in decisions, actions, and decision-making processes.

We will equip our staff to communicate,

collaborate, and engage effectively.

And we will enhance collaboration, communication,

and cohesiveness within and between city departments,

just internally.

So those are the goals.

How we would operationalize this framework

is really through this toolkit.

And the toolkit will have a series of processes

and then a lot of resources and training

that will be very internally focused

that will help staff who aren't a giant nerd about this,

like I am, get more comfortable, right?

And really be that change management

and really have a safe and supportive

and informed way to do these more inclusive processes.

So you see just a graphic of what this process would look like,

but it has a lot more direction

and a lot more resources that are being built

in what we call the toolkit.

So what's before you today is really the framework,

that foundational piece.

So it's now public on our website.

It's brand new.

So we are asking community members

to provide input on the city website.

So we're using a new online tool

that allows people to comment on the framework itself

and then see each other's comments

and then react to each other's comments.

So it's a little bit more interactive

than just like a static document.

Of course, they're also welcome to email me or call me.

And if anybody needs hard copies

or just really want to dig into this,

I'm very excited about this.

This is something I love to do.

We already started conversations about this.

We brought this to the D&I committee on May 20th.

And so they know about this

and they're digging through it as well.

I will say the framework is very short.

That was something that we strove for.

It has eight pages.

Brevity was our friend.

So we really wanted it to be something

that everyone could be aware of and read

and it wasn't really too much.

And so our next steps,

that promotion and really get awareness

of this new policy document while it's still draft

so we can build buy-in and refine it as necessary.

So what you see here are a bulleted list

of who we plan to reach out to

in regards to this new document.

And then our staff recommendation

is that you receive this update,

share the opportunity amongst yourselves

with your community and people you talk to,

that we will be bringing the revised framework

back to you this fall

that will incorporate the changes that we make

based on the community's response.

It's pretty simple, but I'm excited about it

because it's the beginning of a new way

of envisioning process here at the city.

So I'm here for it.

Any questions?

This is what I do other than finance,

which I don't do earlier.

Your enthusiasm is obvious.

Yes.

So great report.

And what I love is there's new opportunities

of engagement that Elkberg 101

was a great initiative,

just sort of built in a new group

of community voices and leaders.

So I'm really excited about how they will continue,

the alumni's, to engage with our city.

And then I'd be curious to see

how we're going to integrate

the underrepresented groups

because those are, you know,

when I was on the school board,

it's just a harder group to reach.

And so it's not your traditional,

your, you know, e-blasts and websites

and things like that.

So I'm looking forward to seeing that as well.

Yes.

I didn't open up public comment.

I just started talking.

So I'll open up public comment officially,

but nobody has signed up to speak.

So I'll close it.

Any of my colleagues have questions, comments?

Looking to the right?

Nope.

Nope.

Yep.

Go ahead.

So I really like this

and I'm very excited for you.

that you are embarking on this

and that you have the hands and the ears

with the D&I commission

and with a lot of the community members

who are a part of Elk Grove 101

to be a part of this process.

I think to have a fully comprehensive game plan in place,

word of mouth will definitely be,

will definitely be the coin of the realm on this one,

especially given that we have until September to adopt.

This gives people ample enough time,

whether it be on weekends or on evenings.

They can even go online and email you.

And that's what I really like about having that hub

is giving that full rounded opportunity

for people to access and engage

because this is really something special.

And thank you for working on this.

Thank you.

Vice Mayor?

All right.

Yes, go ahead.

Council Member Soon.

Yeah.

Just echoing my colleagues' comments,

thank you so much for this work.

And I'm hopeful that it's going to be very well received

within our community,

being able to engage and participate in the public process.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Good luck.

Thank you.

All right.

We will go on to our next item, 9.2.

And item 9.2 is receive information

and consider actions of an ordinance,

which would introduce amendments

to our Elk Grove Municipal Code

in order to establish terms of service

on city boards, commissions, and committees,

and consider a resolution

that would establish four-year terms of service

as well as adopting an initial schedule

for biennial or every two-year term expirations.

Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council Members,

I'm Jason Lindgren, your city clerk.

I do have a brief presentation,

as this is an item that came from your February 20th, 2025 retreat.

But the presentation kind of goes through the process

of just implementing what changes are needed administratively

in order to follow some of the policy direction

that was provided and give some insights

of what we expect to see in the future.

So if you'll indulge me, I'll just pull that up

and hop on up to our podium.

Here I am again in another part of the chamber.

But this is a presentation with the policy direction.

What always happens is we switch tracks

and there's always a little bit of an implementation of change.

And so really that's what this presentation

is going to be covering if we do continue

with this establishment of four-year terms of service

for all of our city boards, commissions, and committees.

There's an emphasis that I'd like to give this,

which is this is for terms of service of four years.

And that emphasis is there's no maximum number of terms.

And so that's provided from,

you'll see that rise back up in the presentation,

but it's also really those elements

that we're going to be putting

into our Elk Grove Municipal Code

is that these are four-year terms,

but no maximum number of terms for our folks that serve.

Just as far as the overview,

we'll be talking about how this implementation

and the timing to establish whenever we have kind of a new policy.

There's always kind of that framework

of getting into the cycle

of how we would implement these terms of service.

And then what would we anticipate

from just the administrative side

of what this process will look like in the future,

what things will change, what will stay the same,

and where we go from there.

And of course, then there's just the actions

of making the code changes.

Anytime we make a change,

there's a little bit of threading the needle

to make sure that we go back

and provide consistency

that's inside of our municipal code.

So terms of service, four-year terms.

And again, this direction came

from the City Council retreat in 2025.

And so again, implementing four-year terms of service,

no maximum number of terms.

And part of the direction as well

was staggering the terms.

We didn't want to have all of the seats

that we have for all of our committees

coming up all at the same time.

That concept of staggering

is to put that into sequence.

So as staff wrangled with that concept,

part of it is we went back

to looking at what is a consistent theme

that the council's used to,

which is council member district seats,

which go and are staggered

and they're over four-year terms.

And those come back for review

and then how to get into that cycle

of going through the four-year terms.

And so a lot of what we modeled

was actually thinking of these

as the seats that come up.

And just as in council seats,

if for any reason there was ever a vacancy,

those seats, when they get filled,

it is for the remainder of the term,

but it's the office and the seat

that stays, that is filled with a vacancy,

but then reviewed again

on that consistent cycle.

And that's what we sought to establish.

Another model that we leaned upon,

and as you might get into the staff report

or into the resolution,

there's a lot of wrestling

of prepositional phrases

and trying to put all these things

into words.

Sometimes Microsoft found out

things really quickly.

You just put it into a table

and it makes a lot more sense.

So I'm going to hop into that table

real quick.

And this table is going to be

the same demonstration

of what's inside the resolution.

It comes from our local appointments list

that we've been publishing for years

from the city of Elk Grove.

But to give you a sense,

what we're talking about

is setting up through the action

of the resolution,

these initial terms.

And so when we're talking about

any of our committees,

we are going to be starting this process.

And as you'll see,

there's going to be a consistent pattern

in which we're going to start

in February of 2027.

So February of that odd numbered year

is going to be the first time

that we're going to review

a majority,

well, most of the seats.

We call it a division

in the staff report.

If you take all of our committees

and commissions,

we have 56 seats.

And they're all comprised

of either five-member boards

or five-member boards

with two alternates

or a seven-member board

or a 10-member board.

You can't just cut them all in half.

And so that's where

our kind of numbers

will switch off.

But as you'll see,

we number the seats

that are on each of our committees.

And so really,

when we come around

to these reviews,

in 2027,

we are going to be going through

and reviewing seats

for each of our committees

that will all come up.

But it's specific seats

that we're going to be talking about

up for these reviews.

And this pattern

will continue consistently

through for all of our

city commissions and committees.

One of the elements

that I have up here

is just displaying

our newest committee.

So when we get down

to how did we figure out

how are we going to review

different seats

when everybody got on there

all at the same time,

I'm just going to hop

in time here

back to our presentation.

And get us back

to kind of the time frames

and the implementation

of how we decided

to do these things.

So why in February

of odd-numbered years?

It is purposeful.

It is because it is

after November

of even-numbered years,

which of course

is when elections are held.

It's the element

that when we get

for the agency,

there's always a turning

of the page that comes

in every election season.

And as we've been doing

in the past,

it's always been

a wonderful practice

to reach out

to all of our committees

and commissions

to see the desire to serve.

It is a turning page.

It's time for folks

to look ahead

into their schedule.

And staff felt

that this timing

of after an election,

touching base with spokes,

as I'll get into,

we have an obligatory obligation

to go with the MADI Act

in order to check in

with all of our appointees

as we move forward,

is a good time of year

to do this,

as well as we're done

with the election

so we can get down

to business

of doing administration

for what will be

pretty big recruitments

when these come down the line.

We talked about

the division of seats

and part of the mentality

that was used

for deciding

which seats would be coming up

was to start out

with two kind of divisions

of criteria,

which first was taking

the seats

that had the longevity,

the folks that have been

there the longest.

Well, they've already been

serving extensive terms,

so we thought

that they'd be eligible

to be up for this process

as we implemented it.

So we'd start

with the seats

that had been

those appointees

that had been around

for the longest

where we had ties

such as our Arts

and Creative Economy Commission.

We just decided

to go by alphabetical

by last name

would divide them up.

It's a process

that we've had

with it just seemed

to be an even process

to do following a model

of what we've done

with our local appointments list.

So what does this mean

for when we implement

and how the future goes?

So the intent here

is having those

four-year terms of service

per the seat.

So when we have

the timelines coming up,

we will be having

a large recruitment advertisement

that comes out

in the start

of our odd-numbered years.

But part of what staff envisions

is that we would still ask

the council for staff

to reach out

to all of our appointees.

We always review

all of our appointee lists

every December,

and it's an opportunity

for staff to reach out

and find out

if there are folks

that as they look

at the new year commitments

that they have,

there's that opportunity

for folks to say,

you know what,

I've got a busy schedule

ahead of me.

I'm not going to be able

to serve at the capacity

I had before.

So what that part

of the checking in

and going through

is the hope

is that this process

will help us

even out the line

of not only just having

seats coming up

for their expirations,

but that we can also

emphasize those seats

that are vacant

for folks that are

when they're looking

at what are the opportunities

that are out there.

So continuing our practice

of touching base

with all appointees,

we will not only have

kind of an opportunity

every two years

to basically find out,

hey, when we're touching base

with everyone,

are there any vacancies

that come out

and get that kind

of economy of scale

because we are going

to have all these seats

opening up.

And I think it's

that differentiation

between a vacant seat

as opposed to a seat

that's currently being held

by an appointee

that's coming up

for expiration

might be a differentiation

for folks.

For this process,

we think it's going

to assist, though,

in the regards

of every two years,

even though it's expanding

our kind of scope

of how many seats

we're advertising

for what's coming up

for an expiration.

We think it's going

to keep our roles

of interested folks

with applications.

Every two years,

we're going to get

kind of that pool reinvigorated,

and I think we'll

have opportunities.

So when I talk

about opportunities

and having a pool,

I don't expect us

to not have vacancies

occur throughout the year.

So we'll still have

the process that we do

with our vacancies now.

But again,

once there's a vacancy

that happens

kind of in midterm,

if someone is appointed,

they'd be to the seat,

and so that seat

would still have

an expiration

that would come up.

So we might have

someone that gets appointed

and within a year

they're coming up

on the list.

But I think it's part

of the desire here

is to set up

that regular review

as far as where we go.

And the last part of this

is if this looks

like an acceptable methodology

in order for us

to kind of implement

this change

of having these

four-year terms of service,

the last part is,

again,

threading the needle

into our municipal code.

These really are

just establishing

this concept

about terms of service

and there's no

maximum number of terms

that's reinforced

throughout our municipal code.

There was an element

to our youth commission

which actually

had term expirations.

So they had term limits

that you couldn't serve

any more than two years,

two two-year terms.

There is actually

a possibility

where we could have

an aspiring student

that starts

in their age of 13

and they still could have

another year to go

but right now

our code would kick them out.

And so staff asked

not only that's probably

if we've got a student

that's been around

since 2013

and they're hitting

up to a fifth year

of service,

they're usually quite

an amenity

to have on the youth commission

but as well

that also brings

a consistency

with the direction

to not have these

the maximum number

of terms

to have that removed.

Of course,

our HPC

has some elements

that talks about terms

and this would just

align with that

and of course

she just had some actions

under for the planning commission.

So these elements

as far as all the changes

they were broadcast out

to all of our committees

and commissions.

It's been part

of the city manager's

general administrative report

from since the days

of our retreat.

I did get a couple

comments back

but it was just

to see the process

but I think also

this would be

a follow-up opportunity

for any actions

that were taken.

I'd reach back out

and let people have

all of our sitting appointees

have a sense

of what the schedule

is going to be

and when those timelines

are going to come forward.

And with that

I'm open for any questions.

All right.

Thank you for your presentation.

I'll open up public comment.

When I signed up to speak

I'll close public comment

and open it up

for questions,

comments from council.

I do want to start

I'll just kick off

some of the comments.

I think you did

a really good job

capturing our discussions

from the retreat

and coming up

with this sort of schedule

so that we weren't

having to manage

all of these

committee appointments

all at once.

So I think

and then tying it

to the election cycle

makes sense.

So those are

my initial comments

and I like how

you've aligned

the youth commission

because we do have

someone that is

a middle school person

and that would be

a disservice.

So that's great to see.

I'll start to the right.

Any questions,

comments?

Councilmember Spies?

Council Member Brewer?

No, great work.

But I just want to have

one question for clarity.

You have a commissioner

who through midterm

of their cycle resigns.

We appoint a new person.

Does that person

just serve out

the remainder term

of the individual

who had resigned

and then

will that keep them

eligible or fresh

for their own

four years

or will the rules

be a little different

for that individual?

So as contemplated

under what the

staff request is,

is the individual

that would be

appointed

to that vacancy.

That appointment

would be to fill out

the remainder

of the term.

That individual

holding the appointee

as that expiration

comes up