The Half Moon Bay City Council held a regular hybrid meeting on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, at the Adcock Community Center. The meeting began with a presentation from the Arunay Foundation on ocean safety, followed by public comments, consent calendar approvals, and several key staff reports. The council discussed summer beach management, capital improvement priorities, and sewer authority budgets.
Staff reported on three applicants (Francesca DeRosa, Rebecca Isen, Caleb Isen) for one seat. The city attorney confirmed that having three family members (the Isens) on the seven-member commission would not violate legal quorum requirements, but councilmembers expressed discomfort with optics and potential dominance. Councilmember Penrose abstained, citing personal ties. A motion to appoint Francesca DeRosa passed 5-0 (Penrose abstained, but the vote count shows all five voting yes; Penrose stated she would abstain but the roll call shows she voted yes – note: transcript shows Penrose voting yes after stating intent to abstain; the council eventually moved to a roll call and all voted yes). Francesca DeRosa was appointed.
Public Works Director Maz Bozorginia and Sheriff's Captain Chichov presented strategies for managing increased summer beach traffic, including variable message signs, additional patrols, a Polaris vehicle for beach access, and coordination with CHP. Discussion included:
The council discussed a 55-project CIP list and prioritized maintenance of existing infrastructure, water course management (Kehoe, Seymour, Roosevelt ditches), and deferred maintenance. Councilmembers emphasized focusing on basics, avoiding new large projects, and seeking grants. Specific topics included:
The council adopted a resolution approving the Sewer Authority Mid-Coastside (SAM) Collections Budget of $233,665 for FY 2025-26 and authorizing Amendment No. 8 to the professional services agreement (extending to June 30, 2026). The agreement covers cleaning of 35 miles of sewer mains, pump station maintenance, and response to spills. A question was raised about when a new RFP would be issued; staff noted the current arrangement is cost-effective due to SAM's local presence.
The council adopted a resolution approving SAM's revised General (O&M) Budget of $9.9 million (city portion ~$6 million, a 6.15% increase) without waiving protests related to capital improvements to the Integrated Pipeline System (IPS). The council added language noting ongoing concerns with SAM's methodology for calculating flow distribution, which materially impacts cost allocations. The city's share of flows has increased from 50% to 60% over a decade, prompting questions about I&I sources. The resolution passed 5-0.
Welcome to the city council meeting at Half Moon Bay for Thursday, April 15th. We will start off with a roll call. Councilmember Johnson. Here. Councilmember Nagengast. Here. Councilmember Penrose? Here. Vice Mayor Reddick. Here. Mayor Brownstone. Here. We have a quorum. Thank you. Can I get a second? Second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those against Agenda approved. Um I forgot the Pledge of Allegiance. So please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. And we're going to begin this evening with a presentation from the RNA Foundation. Foundation Ocean Safety. Dear council members, thanks for inviting us to talk about Rune Foundation here today. My name is Tarun Pruti. I'm a director with the Rune Foundation, and I'm the father of Arunay. Next slide. So on January 19th, an unfortunate incident happened at Howell Ranch Beach where a father and uh his eight-year-old son lost their lives. Next slide. Arunay Foundation was formed after a very similar incident about four years back. And incidentally, on about the same date, uh January 18th, around the similar time, and at the same beach, Carwell Ranch Beach. Next slide. It's it's been four years since then, and these things uh keep on happening. Um our goal at Arune Foundation is to try to change that and to fix that. Uh drowning is a leading cause of accidental death, and over 40% of drowning deaths occur in natural water settings. Um California, Northern California is especially a dangerous coastline. And for every fatal drowning, there are three non-fatal drowning events, uh, especially during the months of June, July, and August. Uh next slide. Um so in with that in mind, uh, we started our UNE foundation with a three-pronged goal of uh equip, educate, and inform. And I'll go over some of what we've achieved in the last three to four years. Uh closer. Okay. And I'll talk about um what we've achieved in the last three to four years uh of the since our Rune Foundation was formed. Next slide. Um first one's equip. Um this one's uh an easy one. I mean, uh these drownings happen, and a lot of them are not too difficult to prevent. Equip is one of the easiest defenses that we can have on the beaches. Uh since our foundation was formed, we've installed uh in a in collaboration with SIVA about 25 rings along the Northern California coastline and city of South San Francisco. Um and we are ready to install many, many more.