Welcome to the regular Half Moon Bay City Council meeting for Tuesday, July 21st, 2026.

As a reminder, if you were joining this meeting via Zoom, you can still make public comment.

During any public comment portions, attendees may use the raise your hand feature and will be called upon and unmuted when it is your turn to speak.

If joining by phone, you star nine to raise your hand, star six to mute and unmute.

We also have Spanish interpretation services available in person and via Zoom.

Good evening, Victor.

Thank you very much, Madam Mayor.

Honorable Council members.

This microphone is working very well tonight.

And uh good evening, uh Mr.

Chittister, uh, Miss Bazano, Miss Rodriguez, all city staff and members of the public, Victor Hernandez, Spanish Interpreter.

Thank you, Victor.

Um, could I please have a roll call?

Councilmember Brownstone?

Here.

Councilmember Johnson.

Here.

Councilmember Nagangast.

Here.

Vice Mayor Penrose?

Here.

Mayor Ruddick.

Here.

We have a quorum.

Thank you.

I'll rise for the Pledge of Allegiance.

The next item is approval of the agenda.

And we'll need a motion for that, but uh, I'd like to ask the maker of that motion to move item 11A in front of item 10A.

So it would be the first item after the consent approval.

And um we'll deal with the consent items when we get to it, but right now we need uh an motion to approve the agenda with that change.

So moved.

Second.

Second.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed.

Uh motion carries.

Okay.

So we're gonna share some beautiful moments now.

Uh we're gonna start by celebrating two local youth sports teams and recognize them for their great achievements, and these are great achievements.

These teams consist of outgoing fifth and sixth graders across the coast side.

And first, we're gonna recognize the Half Moon Bay Pirates, 11U baseball team.

So, the Half Moon Bay Pirates hosted a Memorial Day baseball tournament at Smith Fields in Half Moon Bay, welcoming 36 teams from across the Bay Area, featuring players from the 8U to 12U divisions.

Highlighting the weekend was an out of the park two run home run by Wyatt Mock and a standout pitching performance by Gavin Seva, both helping power the pirates to a championship finish.

The team went on to play two more tournaments, winning another championship and coming in second place this past weekend in Lake Tahoe.

They conclude their season with an impressive 12 3 record.

Congratulations to our Half Moon Bay Pirates on this achievement, and now our city clerk will read the team names and then take a picture.

Awesome.

So when I say your name, just come up here to the front and we'll get a picture with City Council.

Aidan, Benny, Bobby, Bo, Bryce, Bryson, Danny, Gavin, Jameson, Levin, Liam, Will, and Wyatt.

And then coaches, Chris Eva, Brendan Power, Sam Anderson, and Brian Keats.

Now we will recognize the Half Moon Bay Pirates 12U AYSO Select Team, HMB 12U AYSO.

And what was remarkably the first tournament this group of players had ever played together as a complete team, the Half Moon Bay Boys 12U AYSO Select Team put together one of the most memorable runs of the weekend at the prestigious Davis World Cup Tournament, finishing second overall after advancing all the way to the championship game.

Representing the county, the excuse me, representing the country of Uzbekistan, the Half Moon Bay squad embraced the underdog role from the opening whistle.

Competing against many established select teams that have been playing together for five or six years, the newly formed HMB team quickly built chemistry, confidence, and resilience while winning six consecutive games to reach the tournament final and a pressure-filled championship penalty shootout, ending their impressive run with a second place title.

Congratulations to our HMB AYSO 12U select team.

Our city clerk Maggie will now read the names and then we'll take another picture.

All right, we have Daniel, Callum, Tristan, Santiago, Keir, Brooks, Jaden, Mateo, Yamil, Diego, Nicholas, Lucas, Mateo, Bodie, Royce, and Bryson.

Coaches David Seaton, Moises Contreras, Isvi Lopez, and Neil.

I think I gave some of these kids yellow cards last year.

Maybe one of one I know.

So next, we are going to honor the uh the CERT and Listos graduates.

And we're pleased to welcome and recognize the graduated class, the first Spanish language CERT class, the CERT program or community emergency response team.

Uh, CERT most commonly refers to the community emergency response team.

It is a volunteer program that trains civilians in basic disaster response skills to help their communities during emergencies when and support professional responders.

And our community, Coastside CERT, with the support of the Coastside Fire Protection District oversees the training and coordination of 32 neighborhood teams with more than 500 trained volunteers, 150 ham radio operators, and 60 neighborhood leads spread throughout the coastside from Monterra to Half Moon Bay.

Tonight we want to recognize a special group of recent graduates.

They've shown resilience and overall willingness to serve their community and their neighbors.

Thank you, Tony.

So for those who uh who may be at home or who are with us tonight who don't know what CERT is, let me just emphasize.

And the response there was different.

And in the aftermath of that tsunami warning event, we actually traveled across the community.

I think we had something like five or six different meetings trying to figure out what we could do better next time.

And one of those meetings brought us to Moonridge.

And it was in Moon Ridge that we met with the community and we discovered just how far apart they were in terms of the communication that they received.

And we realized we had to go ahead and work with CERT to really bring forward this effort.

I am so grateful to Coastside CERT.

Coastside CERT is the envy of the rest of the county and the rest of my district, the number of members, it embodies the community spirit of the coast, how many people have come together to go ahead and go through this training and be ready throughout all the communities on the coastside.

And it is such a pleasure tonight to welcome our first Spanish speaking class and the and who stepped forward as leaders and future heroes coming out of those meetings.

And so I I celebrated with them last night in Moon Ridge, and we had a great time.

We have Marina Frazier, Ana Rivas at ALIS, Sandra Sancion, the work you did, Coastide Fire Protection District, and the folks from Midpen Housing, Ron Rios, Danielle McCluskey and Erica Polito.

This was the first class, and I can tell you we already have the second forming, and our community is stronger as a result, and tonight we can all celebrate that.

Thank you.

So he said, will my students please come to the front?

Thank you.

I just want to say uh I just want to end this by saying that hopefully um we don't have to, but we are here ready to serve the community.

Thank you for your support.

Sorry.

So we're moving on to uh item four, which is mayor's announcements of community activities and community service.

And I don't have any report else tonight.

Madam, sorry, madam mayor.

Did we have any public comments from the uh proclamations and presentations?

I can ask that question.

Is there anybody here who would like to address the room on the um the items that we just uh had, and that was the celebration of the sports teams and the search listos recognition.

So my name is David C and I'm one of the coaches for AYSO.

Thank you for having us.

Thank you for Dylan for everything he does.

Thank you for Cameron Palmer who supported us to travel.

Uh this is the second time he's done it.

Just want to share a quick story.

Uh I remember being at the Eiffel Tower and with my fiance at the time and telling her this is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

And it wasn't Difolt Tower.

It was overlooking these massive soccer fields with boys and girls and young adults of all ages at midnight playing organized sports, pick-up games, you know, well into the morning.

And I remember thinking to myself, we can be doing that in Half Moon Bay.

And uh, you know, I I think it's so important the the fact that when the lights go down, that's when kids get into so much trouble.

And we need to open up our gyms.

We need lights at Cunha.

We need the high school to let the let us use the facilities when they're not using it for our youth sports.

We need to uh and I'm not just talking about soccer, I'm talking about open up our tennis courts, pickleball, open gyms, volleyball, basketball, Smith Field, let's finish that and get more lights so kids can be playing all hours of the game.

Let's get everybody from our community on the same page with our scheduling so that we could have more kids play multiple sports and not have these huge conflicts that we currently have.

You know, and let's get boys and girls club offering more programs at night, robotics are coding so the kids, every kid from every interest level has an excuse to say, you know, I can't go writing tonight, I can't go to that party, I have a game at 10 o'clock.

I have a commitment of Friday, Saturday nights during the summer.

And you know, I grew up here, and so when I coach these kids, I see I look into their eyes, I see their moms and dads, their TIAs and their TOs, their primos.

I see the the same kids that I went to school with, and some of the poor decisions that were made as kids stop playing sports and started falling off and going, hanging out with the wrong crowds and making poor decisions.

And as my kids get to that age, I stand here and I'm not gonna let that happen in terms of I'm gonna do everything in my power to help facilitate uh activities so that we give our kids, you know, uh an option to say, you know, you don't have to go down this route.

We could keep you busy with these as a community with these programs that we could offer.

You know, it's gonna take partnering with community partners, people like John Partner, John Parsons and Raul Castillo, people that could leverage their networks and you know, you guys getting on the same page with everybody, whether whether it's a WhatsApp signal chat, saying, hey, let's get this the the schedules are coming out.

Can you guys all get on the same page before you release the schedules so that there aren't so many conflicts?

And uh, you know, I feel that it's so important, and as we look at the all these agenda items that seem like they have so much more significance in this topic of youth sports, I just asked you to take a second to look at the return on investment that we can have long term by investing in youth.

And we have people like Mr.

Waddell who has had an open checkbook for decades, and he's not gonna be around forever willing to offer all, you know, and that open checkbook that we is so you know, we're so grateful for, and let's take advantage of while we can.

Let's get these projects done.

Let's get lights at Cunha that will benefit our Latino community so much.

I mean, we will save so many lives by having people play late into that, they'll be so exhausted they can't do anything else but go home and go to sleep.

And I think if we really care about our youth, we will be every one of us will be fighting so hard to get projects like that done as soon as we can so that we have these uh opportunities, and uh you know the they don't make the same mistakes that some of us made.

And when we invest in our youth, we invest in the future of Halfham Bay.

So thank you so much for having us.

I think it's really important honoring these kids.

And uh, you know, I look forward to what we can do to continue this effort going forward.

Thank you.

Thank you, David.

I also have a I have a speaker slip from uh Colette Seaton.

Yeah, is she here?

Okay, hi.

Tonight we had the opportunity to recognize a very special group of people and the coaches of Hack Moon Bay Pirates baseball program.

Anyone can teach a child how to throw a baseball or swing a bat, but these coaches taught far beyond the game.

They teach confidence when a child is struggling, they teach resilience after an error, they teach humility and victory, grace and defeat, and the important of showing up for your teammates every single day.

Perhaps the most remarkable part of this story is that many of these coaches once stood on these same fields as young players themselves.

They wore the jersey, learn the same, learn uh learn from coaches who believed in them and experienced the sense of belonging that only a small town community could provide.

Now, years later, they've come full circle.

They've chosen to give back, not because anyone asked them to, but because someone once gave them the same gift.

They are continuing a tradition that has been passed from one generation to the next.

Ensuring that today's players will one day have the opportunity to do the same.

Because of these coaches, the pirates have become so much more than a baseball team.

They become a family, a place where kids build life lifelong friendships, parents become friends, and every child knows there's a group of adults cheering from them for them, not just as athletes, but as young people.

Long after the final game is played, these children won't remember every score or every inning, but they will remember the coach who believed in them when they didn't believe in themselves.

They'll remember the encouragement after a tough game, the high five after a great play, and the feeling of wearing a pirate's jersey with pride.

That is the kind of impact that changes lives.

To every Half Moon Bay Pirates coach and parent, thank you for your selflessness, your countless volunteer hours, and for investing your hearts in the next generation.

You aren't just building better baseball players, you're building confident, compassionate young people and strengthening the fabric of our community.

Your legacy will live on, not only in trophies, but in the lives of the children who will one day stand where you are now, giving back to the community that first believed in them.

Thank you.

Is there anyone participating on Zoom who would like to comment on the items of the CERT listos training or the uh the sports championships?

Raise your hand now if you'd like to talk.

I see one hand.

Um I guess it I didn't call me.

Did you call my name?

Yes, it I saw the unmute come on, but anyway.

Um I just wanted to bring up the fact I was at the CERT meeting this Sunday, sorry, Saturday, at um the main firehouse in Half Moon Bay, and um one of the things that has been brought up several times is the fact that we really don't have an emergency evacuation center on the coast side.

And we don't have a hospital either, but um a lot of times people bring up, you know, with all the development they that people are proposing, and more and more people coming to the coast, what's gonna happen if there's a really bad disaster and we we are stuck here.

So someday be nice to know if we did have another tsunami alert or something like that that when we knew where to go, we could go there.

And um right now we really don't.

So I just want to bring that up.

Um I live in Silco, so we have issues there in Moss Beach.

And when I had the tsunami warning, I just had knee surgery.

So I thought my neighbor told me she's gonna take her 90-year-old dad up to Seaton Hospital parking lot, but it was already full.

So there's not really many places you can go that's you know designated.

Anyway, thanks a lot, and um maybe we'll get that figured out in the next decade.

Thanks a lot.

Thank you.

So we're going to move on at this point to uh report out from recent closed session meetings.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

This evening the council met in closed session on two items.

There's no reportable action for item 4A, conference with labor negotiators.

There is reportable action for item 4B, conference with legal counsel, anticipated litigation.

This uh closed session was related to a claim for insurance, and the claimant was Coastide County Water District, and the claim was against the city of Half Moon Bay, claim number 312 3433.

The claim arises from damage to a vehicle due to a tree limb, and the uh resolved uh the the claim amount was sixteen thousand seven hundred five dollars and sixty-two cents.

The council gave authorization to settle the claim for that amount.

And that ends my report of closed session.

Thank you very much.

Uh, the next item is commission and committee updates.

We have two uh one uh a report out on the bike and pedestrian advisory committee, and another uh on the planning commission.

Good evening, madam mayor, members of the council, uh, members of the public, Dale Eda, interim city engineer and public works director.

Uh so our last bicycle pedestrian advisory committee meeting, or BPAC as we call it, was uh held on July 2nd.

Um we had one agenda item, which was to discuss uh making updates to our bicycle pedestrian master plan, um, which is a document the city uses.

It outlines uh safety and connectivity projects across the city and prioritize prioritizes those for improvement as well as develop standards for for uh those facilities.

Um so the reason why we want to update this document is um it makes us more competitive for grants and and it also just helps keep our priorities and our project lists aligned with with the public's interest.

Um so BPEC committee members had feedback they they wanted to they they definitely wanted to dive into this um master plan update.

The last time it was we've only done it once, which was in 2019, so it's been quite a while.

Um they want to take a look at our project list and priority priorities and compare that to upcoming projects and just um how the community has changed in the last seven years or eight years.

Um we're planning to do some additional community engagement and outreach as part of this project.

Uh they also want to look at new technology that's become more widely available, including things like adaptive cameras that can be installed at intersections to provide better pedestrian and bicycle safety.

Those are uh very dangerous areas where we've had a lot of accidents in the past.

Um they also want to look at um innovative ways to incorporate infrastructure around e-bikes and and how that can be considered in in the future build out of our our bicycle and pedestrian facilities.

Um the last element they really want to look at is just the organization of the master plan itself.

Um the existing plan, it's a great document.

There's things that definitely can be improved.

The project list is a little disorganized, and the maps leave a little bit to be desired, so we want to kind of bring that into the new century and and create an electronic version that's more accessible to the public through say your phone or just just better access.

Um and so we're gonna continue to develop an RFP for that project.

We we hope to secure some grant funding we applied for earlier this year, um, and that would go out.

Um we're expecting to hear back in the next couple months on that grant, but the idea would be to go out and get a consultant and and and start that process later this fall.

Thank you.

Are there any questions for Dale from council members?

Come out.

No, we can move on to the next one, I think.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

I'll be uh providing this update on the recent planning commission meeting as our uh community development director is returning from a well-deserved vacation.

Um on June 23rd, the planning commission met and had two main items.

The first was a signage permit for a property located at 201ate road, the Texco gas station at the corner of Maine in '92.

And then um really the meat of the meeting was a presentation uh by our city attorney's office on Senate Bill 35 and the process of reviewing and approving projects under that new state law.

It's been around for a while, but it applies within the coastal zone as of January 1st, 2025.

And as many of you know, the city is currently in the process of working through uh a pre-application for our first SB 35 project now.

So it seemed like the timing was right to educate the community, educate the planning commission, and um we'll be continuing to work on information on our website so that can people can feel like they understand better this new law, which really streamlines uh the process of building affordable housing under certain requirements, and it helps people understand what the city can and can't evaluate in that process.

So really grateful to uh the city attorney's office for um one having great expertise in that area and being able to educate our planning commission and our community on that topic.

Thank you.

Very important stuff.

Any questions for staff?

Um is there anyone in the audience who would like to address those two report outs or anybody online?

If you're online, you can raise your hand now.

Seeing no one, I think we can move on.

So uh we're moving on to the city manager updates to council, and we have three updates at this time.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, members of City Council, and the community.

I'm pleased to share a brief update on the recent grand opening of the Big Wave Center, a truly inspiring project that reflects more than two decades of vision, determination, and community support.

The Big Wave story began in 2000 when two families, motivated by their love for family members with intellectual and developmental disabilities, donated seven acres of land in Princeton Harbor.

Their dream was to create a place where adults with special needs could live fulfilling lives, build meaningful connections, and be active members of the community.

Over the past 26 years, that dream has been brought to life through the dedication of countless families, volunteers, donors, advocates, community leaders, and public agencies.

Together they work through years of planning, fundraising, permitting, and construction to create a community that promotes independence, dignity, and belonging.

Located just outside the city limits in Princeton Harbor, the Big Wave Center represents an incredible resource for the entire coastide community, as well as a model for the nation and beyond.

Some city staff and council members have had the opportunity to tour the facility, and we're impressed by the thoughtful design, welcoming atmosphere, and the care that has gone into every aspect of the project.

On June 27th, city staff and members of the city council joined big wave founders, families, supporters, and the community in celebrating the facility's grand opening.

The event was well attended with hundreds of participants, marking the culmination of years of dedication and collaboration.

The newly completed Big Wave Center provides housing for up to 38 adults, including apartments, uh including apartments reserved for low-income residents, and serves as a vibrant community hub.

Through a partnership with one step beyond, residents have access to adult day programs, life skills development, and appointment training opportunities.

The campus also features recreation and gathering spaces, as well as access to the adjacent big wave farm.

As you can see, there are many opportunities for the residents to learn, grow, build meaningful relationships, and thrive.

On behalf of the city of Half Moon Bay, we extend our heartfelt congratulations to the entire big wave community on this extraordinary milestone.

We're excited to welcome this new community resource and look forward to partnering with the big wave in the future to support opportunities that foster inclusion, accessibility, and meaningful community connections for the coastside residents.

Thank you.

And I'll just share that was Ritney Rashino, who's uh been with the city for a while and recently promoted to assistant city clerk, and she's an incredible employee, and we're grateful to have her representing us at events like this.

So I know that the mayor shared a proclamation honoring big wave as part of that grand opening.

So I just want to mention that um I think several of us attended that grand opening as well as a tour before it was complete uh last I think it was last November.

Um it is an absolutely fascinating, amazing place.

And the story behind this deserves to be an Oscar-winning documentary.

The people who were involved in this are saints, the way I look at it.

Uh they did, you know, inhuman amounts of perseverance and work to help their children and other people's children.

And when I drive by now and see it, I can't believe that it took 20 years.

And that's heartbreaking.

So we wish them well.

And we'll move on to the next report, which is uh sorry.

I was there last week for um Clarity's birthday.

It's one of the residents that's there.

And her mom's actually running the farm, they call it the farm.

And they're growing vegetables out there, they're actually growing hops, I think, for the beer place, uh hops um garden that they have, or the brewery, I guess, over.

Um so they're doing stuff for the community, and it's pretty cool.

And the kids are just now moving in, and uh Sammy's not in there yet, but there's a couple of the kids that I know personally that are moving in, and they're so excited.

And it is amazing thing.

If you get a chance, go there, just stop in, they'll let you in.

It's not it's it's open to everybody, and you can go in there and take a look at it, they'll walk you through it, you'll meet the kids.

It's gonna it's gonna warm your heart.

Um my daughter's gonna be hopefully attending there for the day program because that's the only thing that we have.

Otherwise, my wife would have to drive all the way to San Leandro or Redwood City to a place that just doesn't meet the standards.

What we have here on the coast for our kids with disability and adults, let's be clear on this.

It's over the top.

We should be really proud of this.

And I'm I am very proud of this right now.

Thank you.

We'll take additional public comment after all the reports.

So the next one is the main street bridge.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, Madam Vice Mayor, members of council.

My name's Todd Seely, and I am the public work superintendent, and I am happy to be here to talk with you about the main street bridge this evening.

Uh I'm happy to talk to you about it, so we're actually finally doing something out there, and that's great news.

Um, as you can see, the work started on the project on July 7th.

Um, one of the major concerns that we heard from residents was about traffic.

So we were out there the first day kind of looking at the lane closures when they started it.

We identified an issue that uh it was kind of bottlenecking at Stone Pine.

So we spoke with the contractor and kind of worked it out.

We were able to add an additional flagger at the intersection of Stone Pine and Maine, so two there and one kind of closer to Vetoria.

So we've been monitoring traffic very closely because we we did hear quite a bit of feedback about that, and traffic has been flowing great through that area.

Um 92 today was actually way worse than Main Street was, in case you guys haven't heard about that.

But um, that's another we'll leave that for another time.

Um so again, we have been utilizing the additional flagger at Stone Pine, keeping traffic flowing through there, and work has been going smashingly.

Next slide, please.

There we go.

Um, so the bridge itself was originally poured in 1900, and shortly thereafter, we're not exactly when they added an additional layer which has the rounded kind of part on top.

And uh because rebar wasn't readily available or maybe just didn't exist in 1910 or whenever they built that, there was some steel cabling kind of going through there.

Uh, we figured it would be problematic when we started opening it up.

It was a little bit worse than we expected.

Some of the um some of the steel cabling that had been in there for 110 odd years kind of looked like sawdust and was soft and very malleable.

So um, in discussion with our conservation contractor, we decided that epoxy coding it was gonna be the best.

Some of it is still kind of exposed.

Um, and we're gonna be doing uh a little bit more patching after we get some stainless steel rods in there.

The reason that you see that long horizontal kind of exposed area is that's basically following the path of the cable.

So that the thought process is come from the top, install some stainless steel rods, some 5-8 stainless steel rods, about three feet long, kind of epoxy them in there, and that should give us a little bit more stability and prevent cracking after the after they get it going.

Um obviously uh the city engineer is has been involved in these discussions and our conservation contractor as well.

And they've used this uh application before and feel that it's going to be the strength that we need to prevent this from happening again in the future, and especially we have it uh the steel encapsulated in that epoxy now, so we should be in good shape.

Uh and that work is gonna begin tomorrow on the west side and probably continue next week on the on the west side or on the east side, excuse me.

Next slide.

Um we've also identified some prod uh some problems in the the roadway curbs, so it's kind of ramped up as it gets from the asphalt to the bridge itself.

As you can see in the picture on the left, it's just basically peeling back in some sections.

So we've identified a fix to that.

They're gonna use uh some fortified concrete mixed with uh some some polymers and kind of just skim coat that over there.

They're gonna patch the big voids and kind of skim code over and give us a uniform look so it's gonna look a lot cleaner and a lot better when it's all done, and it's gonna be painted and it's gonna be immaculate.

We're very confident at this point that this project is gonna go smashingly.

Our contractor has been exceeding all of our expectations, and we're super excited about that.

Um but we are evaluating budget for phase two.

Council was gracious enough to approve us money in last year's in FI27 budget process.

We may need to come back and bring an item in August after we take a closer look at the budget to get uh to get started on the woodwork portion of the of the of the bridge.

Um a while ago I made a promise to you all that we would be done by Pumpkin Fest, and I think we're on track to to make that happen.

We should be done hopefully by the end of September, first week of October with all of it, and it is gonna look spectacular when it's done.

Uh any questions, we'll take questions afterwards.

Thank you.

Great.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, Council, and community.

Karen Decker, interim deputy city manager.

Your economic development vitality team has been working on several initiatives to support local businesses.

Our goal is simple.

Make it easier for businesses to succeed in Half Moon Bay and strengthen our connection with the business community.

So tonight we'll provide a quick update on what we've been working on, and all of these projects are a team effort, so I'm happy to bring this team forward.

I'm starting with Irma.

Good evening, Irma Acosta, um, interim management analyst.

Um, so I'll start off with kind of the work that we've done around the World Cup.

Um, so staff has worked with uh the community and businesses to prepare them for the World Cup.

So we had a couple of different economic development initiatives around this topic.

Um so we had a a couple business informational sessions where we uh worked to educate businesses and the community on FIFA trademark guidelines, visitor readiness and opportunities to participate in local activation efforts.

We also launched the downtown passport program, which included participation from over 28 local businesses and encouraged both residents and visitors to explore downtown through promotion and prices.

And in addition to that, we also partnered with the San Mateo uh district's attorney's office to offer a human trafficking training uh for hospitality businesses and the community to help prepare for increased tourism and promote uh visitor safety.

Uh next slide, please.

Thank you.

Um to conclude the World Cup programming.

Uh, we also hosted a fun zone at Carter Park on July 4th.

Uh the event welcomed approximately 75 attendees and featured family-friendly activities, live entertainment, and the downtown soccer passport raffle.

Uh staff supported the event with a targeted outreach campaign that included Facebook and Instagram advertisement, KH and V radio mentions, community e-news, and post a call across Facebook, Instagram, and Nextdoor with an advertisement of investment of a of only uh $99.

Uh the campaign generated approximately 15,000 ad impressions and 350 landing page clicks.

Next, please.

Uh looking ahead, uh staff has developed a comprehensive starting a business in Half Moon Bay resource guide to make it easier for entrepreneurs and business owners to navigate the process of upper opening or expanding a business in Half Moon Bay.

Um the guide consolidates information on business licensing, zoning, permitting, environmental requirements, and available uh business resources into one document.

We are currently completing final edits and look forward to publishing it in the near future.

And I'll hand it over to Julissa now.

Thank you, Irma.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, Council.

My name is Julisa Costa.

I'm your interim economic and community vitality manager.

Next slide, Maggie, please.

I am here with an exciting um update for council.

We are introducing our business operators learning together newsletter or bolt.

This is designed to strengthen our partnerships with community uh business owners and city staff.

Each edition we will be sharing updates on city work, uh business resources, economic development initiatives, uh any upcoming events and opportunities for businesses to engage with city staff.

We hope this becomes another um valuable resource for our businesses and hope to continue that partnership.

In closing, um all the updates that you just received tonight from your ECV team are reflect our ongoing community um commitment to support local businesses, improving visitor experience, and creating new opportunities for collaboration between CD and our business community.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Do council members have any questions on any of those presentations this evening.

Are there any audience members who would like to address any of those reports?

And if you're online, you can raise your hand.

Seeing none, I think we can move on.

Thank you very much for those informative reports.

We're gonna move on to uh public forum.

And uh I have one speaker slip at the moment um from Joaquin Jimenez.

Uh thank you.

Uh good evening, honorable mayor, uh council members, city staff.

Um good to see you, uh, members of the public.

My name is Sa Joaquin Jimenez.

And uh I wanna uh remind you of uh Vaquero Days.

This thing's kind of loud today.

Uh less than a month.

Uh we're gonna have the uh the community event, uh Vaquero Days, August 15th, August 16th.

I want to give you a layout of the day.

Uh August 15th, we do the trail ride.

We're gonna be meeting at uh 110 uh Higgins Canyon Road by the Johnston House.

Uh all the horses are gonna be there.

Uh we're gonna gather about 11 45.

We're gonna do a group picture in front of the Johnston House.

Uh close to 12.

We're gonna we're gonna move out, uh, go on to uh Higgins across the highway into Webcrace and then on to the to the beach.

Uh we're gonna be running at the beach and then eventually come up uh on Kelly Avenue uh and stop uh uh Kelly in Maine where the music's gonna be waiting for us.

Uh we're gonna be closing the streets uh from two to four.

Uh the music's gonna start playing at two, uh, or the horses gonna arrive, do a little bit of dancing, and then move down uh main street on a horse parade back to uh the Johnson House, uh, where the main event takes place.

Uh we have a lot of activities.

We have uh music, uh DJ, uh live music, uh food vendors.

And I'm uh proud to announce that we have uh several sponsors, a lot of our local businesses.

Uh tres amigos taqueria, Habitaco Takeria, Seahorse Ranch, uh Feed and Fu, uh Coastal Horse Council, our public services, uh de Alteza, uh Sangrazul Enterprises, uh Prestamigas, all of those are local businesses.

You know, that are sponsoring us.

Uh Vaquero Days is already getting a lot of a lot of fame, you know, all the way to Southern California.

I was in Salinas for the rodeo this weekend, and a lot of the people there, you know, are gonna be here for Vaquero Days.

This is a tradition that's been going on for over a hundred years.

You know, the vaquero uh is plays a big part in the Southwest and around the world on the horsemanship.

Uh so I want to invite you all, you know, to come and join us for Vaquero Days.

Sunday is a special event.

So Sunday, we're gonna be gathering on Kelly Avenue in front of Magdutra, and we're gonna have uh live music, uh horses, uh wine tasting, food vendors, you know, from 12 to 5 uh folkloric dancing, and I believe also the line dancing is gonna be there.

Uh so join us uh 12 to 5 on uh Sunday the 16th for Vaquero Days.

Thank you.

Uh is there anyone online who would like to make a comment during public forum on items that are not on the agenda?

If so, you can raise your hands now.

Okay.

Seeing none, I guess we can move on.

So we're moving on to the consent calendar.

And um my understanding is that uh Councilmember Nagangast will be um recusing on item 9K.

Actually abstaining.

Abstaining.

Abstain.

Because I recuse during the item discussions, and so I I can um participate as an abstain.

Okay.

And go ahead and approve um if all the items are going to be up for approval, and then I'll just abstain from that one item.

I don't have to refuse and leave the room.

Okay.

So we have numerous um consent items.

Um are there items that anybody would like to pull?

Um I see that we have several speakers who want to talk about 9L, which is the uh sister city MOU.

So maybe we can uh uh pull that one, uh deal with the rest of the items, but then um hear the item on the sister city right after that, rather than pushing it to the end of the meeting.

Um so we're going to pull item 9L.

And um I would appreciate a motion and a second approving the rest of the consent agenda, and I'm going to read all those items.

The public needs to hear what's on there.

Um item 9A is waived reading of ordinances and resolutions.

Item 9B is approved minutes of the June 16th, 2026 special meeting.

Item 9C is approved minutes of the July 16th, 2026 regular meeting.

9D is State and Federal Advocacy Services Agreement with Towns and Public Affairs, Inc.

Item 9E is amendment number two to the cooperation and participation agreement with San Mateo County to be eligible for federal housing funding.

Item 9F is accept the warrants for the month of June 2026.

Item 9G is potential acquisition of San Mateo County APN 056-126-040 in Half Moon Bay.

Item 9H is approval of water service agreement with the Coeside County Water District for the Wave Crest Road Waterline Project.

Item 9J is authorate authorization to apply for a certificate of consent to self-insure workers' compensation liabilities through the planned JPA workers' compensation program.

Item 9J, proposed public works uh department classification changes.

Do we have to pull item 9K so that Councilmember Nagengast can so we can consider these as a bulk?

Okay.

Um item 9K is consider revisions to deadlines for arguments and resolution number 26 2026 39.

Um that's it.

And I'm first gonna ask if there's anybody in the audience who wants to address any of the items on consent.

If so, you can come to the uh podium.

Or if you're online and want to comment, you can raise your hand now.

Seeing no one here, um is there a motion to approve the consent agenda?

Minor moved.

Sorry.

Do we have a second?

Second.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Aye with the abstain on item 9K.

Okay.

Um we have a second.

So could I uh just ask um all in favor say aye?

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries unanimously.

So we're going to immediately go to item L, which is the sister city MOU with Nazareth Portugal.

And I'll just I'll just share briefly, Madam May.

Um you recall uh at a previous meeting last month, uh we had a great presentation and a great showing of support for this concept.

Um you recall uh at a previous meeting last month, uh we had a great presentation and a great showing of support for this concept you know, based on the Portuguese heritage in Hap Moon Bay and the shared uh relationship to the ocean and a lot of different shared qualities.

Um there's been this proposal to create a sister city relationship with Nazareth in Portugal, and um over the last month we've been working with our residents that are supporting this effort and are coordinating with representatives of Nazare, and we've we've negotiated an MOU that um really just kind of shares the vision of it.

It doesn't obligate either city to any sort of financial requirements or anything like that, but it just shares that shared vision, and so what we're looking for tonight is just approval to finalize that and be able to sign it.

Part of the reason it's on consent tonight is we don't want this to be a big deal because we will hold a signing ceremony, which is a big tradition, and um we've been told that when you do this, Portugal goes big.

So we're interested to see how that turns out.

And so tonight we're just looking for the authority to move forward with it at the right time.

And uh, as you mentioned, it looks like we have a couple of public comments before you take a vote.

Uh, the first speaker is Fernando Oliveira.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, members of the city council.

My name is Fernando Oliveira.

Many of you already know me.

I had the honor of standing before you a few weeks ago to introduce the initiative of establishing a sister city relationship between Af Moon Bay, Nazareth, Portugal.

And I'm grateful for the chance of being back here with you tonight.

I didn't come alone this evening.

I made it a point to personally reach out to the members of the Portuguese community, and I'm glad and proud to say that many of them are sitting right here with us tonight.

Um I also want to recognize that in this room includes individuals who aren't part of the Portuguese community, but who are deeply invested members of this city broader community.

But we are deeply invested members of this city broad community, sorry, and who have done who have shown up tonight because they believe in what this this partnership means to Hafmoon Bay.

They are because they're they're here because they believe in this, and because they are not going anywhere.

The momentum behind of the Afmun Bay and Nazarez sister city relationship is real, and it's moving fast.

This community is here to stay involved every step of the way until it's done.

We have uh we have a new emblem designed to represent the sister city initiative, and that flyer shows it so each of you can see it.

We should be honored.

We would be honored if you if the city council would take a look and share your thoughts.

In fact, at the beginning of August, I will be traveling to Nazareth myself to meet with the mayor and the dignity uh dignities.

There, I'm sorry, I'm a little nervous, guys.

Um let's see.

You know, my hope is when I return to be able to share and celebrate great news from this very room.

With that, I'd like to end things over to my son Jonathan Oliveira, who has stood beside me at every step of this journey, and well now share more about this great project.

Thank you.

Thank you, Jonathan.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, members of the city council.

Thank you for your time this evening and for everything you've already given to this movement.

A few weeks ago, I stood here and I shared the vision of a sister city sh relationship between Half Moon Bay and Nazareth Portugal.

Tonight, I want to start by thanking each of you.

Your enthusiasm for this partnership from the very first meeting has meant more to the community than you know.

Since that presentation, something remarkable has happened.

Social media lit it up.

People started talking about it, sharing, asking how they could get involved.

And this wasn't just the people already close to this effort.

Neighbors with no direct tie to the Portuguese community or to Nazarea started posting and asking questions and showing their support.

We didn't manufacture it.

That momentum built itself.

And it hasn't stopped that it hasn't stopped that conversation.

We've stayed in direct communication with the city of Nazareth.

And I'm proud to tell you tonight that Nazareth has signed the memorandum of understanding.

Now we are asking Half Moon Bay to take that same step to finalize and push the initiative through.

You can see the momentum in this room tonight.

You can feel it.

The Nazida and Half Moon Bay sisters sisterhood spirit is alive and ready to flourish.

I also want you to know this.

We have multiple local prominent philanthropists who are willing to invest in this project.

Their investment is earmarked for something specific, a beautiful park led, anchored by a compass rose that will draw a tourist to lead them right into a vibrant, entertaining, gathering space with striking view of the old jail.

But they have told us plainly, they want to see us walk the walk first.

They want to see this city commit before they commit.

Madam Mayor, members of the City Council, this is your opportunity to be part of an amazing covenant between two cities.

That Compass Rose, that parklet, and the relationship they represent are not built for a season.

They are built to stand for hundreds of years.

So tonight, on behalf of my father, myself, the whole Half Moon Bay community, and the Portuguese community who came out to stand with us this evening.

We are asking you, help us push this boat forward.

Finalize this initiative, and let's make this sister city relationship real.

Thank you.

Thank you, Jonathan.

The next speaker is John Mueller.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Uh I would just like to um thank you.

Um council members and staff for all the hard work.

And I think this agenda item could be one of the easier one that you have to go through with ruling the city and what you've been through in the neighborhood here.

But I've always had a good saying with uh different uh individuals that I've trained with with the Citizens FBI Academy.

Good leaders make tough decisions, please.

This is not a tough decision.

This is something very special, but uh thank you all for your hard work with all the staff and the people you're going through.

And we can work our way around that bridge too.

Don't worry.

So thank you, and I I support this uh sister city issue uh agenda item very much.

Thank you.

But I'm Swiss, so I'm neutral.

I can do it.

Thank you.

Yes, we'll get an update soon about how we're gonna move forward on this.

Uh there are uh I think four or five other steps that we're gonna be taking, and uh, we look forward to collaborating.

So thank you for coming down tonight and um updating us, and I think this is uh beautiful.

Thanks again, Mayor.

Oh, there is a speaker online, Kerry Burke.

Yes, good evening, Mayor Reddick, Council members and staff.

Thank you for your quick action on the sister city MOU, the preservation of our shared heritage, and the ability to create new alliances, bonds, and understanding will strengthen our city for generations to come.

Again, so much appreciated for um all your support, and uh, we look forward to working with you and with our sister city, hopefully in the future.

Thank you.

Good evening.

Thank you very much, Kerry.

Is there anybody online?

Uh seeing none, we're gonna move on.

Uh oh, yes, we need a motion and a second on this.

Could I please have that now?

Um I move that we adopt a resolution authorizing the city manager to enter into a memorandum of understanding establishing a sister city relationship between the city of Half Moon Bay and the municipality of Nazareth, Portugal.

I second.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries unanimously.

Thank you.

Madam Mayor, can I make one quick correction?

It's it's correct in the documents, but it wasn't in the agenda.

Um it was actually authorizing the mayor and the city manager because traditionally in these agreements, it's the mayor that signs, not the city manager.

That's right.

So yeah, the motion in the it's actually in the staff report to um authorize city manager to enter into a memorandum of understanding.

Uh but you left the mayor out, is that right?

Uh no.

The mayor and the city manager, it's it's theirs.

So maybe we're looking at different documents, but we'll make sure that the resolution says that.

Please.

Yes.

Yeah, okay.

Good.

Um, so we are moving on to item 10, which is ordinances and public hearings.

And as you may have heard earlier in the meeting, we have moved up item 11a, which is the city clerk certification of the referendum petition against ordinance number 2026 01 relating to the 555 Kelly Avenue project, and council consideration of submission of ordinance number 2026 01 to Half Moon Bay voters pursuant to elections code section 9240.

Thank you.

I'm just waiting for it to pull up on my screen so I can see it as well.

Perfect.

All right.

Good evening, council.

Maggie Rodriguez, your city clerk.

Um tonight I'm going to provide a brief presentation on item 11a.

Um, I'm going to start with a quick timeline history.

On May 5th, 2026, the City Council voted 3-2 to approve ordinance number 202601.

The ordinance approves a set of legal agreements between the city and Mercy Housing, approving four summarized agreements.

Number one, an affordable housing and property disposition agreement.

Number two, a ground lease of the property.

Number three, a memorandum of ground lease, and number four, affordable housing regulatory agreement and declaration of restrictive covenants.

On May 8th, 2026, the city received a submission of proposed impartial summary for referendum petition against ordinance number 202601, filed on behalf of Let Half Moon Bay Voters decide.

Pursuant to elections code 923B2B 2, the City Attorney's Office reviewed the submitted summary, made revisions, and issued an approved summary of referendum on May 18th, 2026, which was then circulated for signatures.

On June 16th, 2026, a referendum petition against ordinance number 202601 was filed with the city clerk on behalf of Let Half Moon Bay Voters decide.

Pursuant to elections code sections 9239 and 9210, the city clerk conducted a Prima Fasci examination to confirm the minimum signature threshold at at least 10% of the city's voters to qualify the measure for ballot.

Then on June 16th, 2026, I submitted the petition to the county elections office to verify signatures.

The San Mateo County Elections Office started review of the signatures.

And on June 30th, 2026, San Mateo County Elections Office notified me that the county determined that of the 1,092 signatures submitted, 843 were examined and 782 were verified as valid signatures of Half Moon Bay registered voters.

So what comes next?

The California Elections Code Section 9241 provides that if a referendum petition containing the signatures of not less than 10% of registered voters of the city is submitted, the ordinance that is subject of the petition is suspended, and the city council must reconsider the ordinance to determine whether to one submit the ordinance to the voters or two repeal the ordinance.

And elections code section 9241 has a process, and that is if the legislative body does not entirely repeal the ordinance against which the petition is filed, the legislative body shall submit the ordinance to the voters, either at the next regular municipal election, which must be occurring not less than 88 days after the order of the legislative body, or at a special election called for the purpose not less than 88 days after the order of the legislative body.

The ordinance shall not become effective until a majority of voters voting on the ordinance vote in favor of it.

If the legislative body repeals the ordinance or submits the ordinance to the voters, and a majority of the voters voting on the ordinance do not vote in favor of it, then the ordinance shall not be enacted by the legislative body for a period of one year after the date of its repeal by that legislative body or disapproval by voters.

Since the next municipal election is set to be held on November 3, 2026, that is more than 88 days away.

So staff is providing the following recommendation of either one adopt a resolution to submit ordinance number 202601 to the voters on the November 3rd, 2026 general municipal election, or two direct staff to prepare an ordinance to repeal ordinance number 202601 in its entirety.

And myself and the city attorney are here if you have any questions.

Could you leave that screen up for during our discussion?

Thank you for that.

So I'd ask first whether any council member has clarifying questions for staff.

We have uh quite a pile of speakers here.

Yeah.

Yeah, so um if you're online and want to comment on this item, you need to raise your hand now.

Okay.

So I think we're gonna move to public comment, and I'm going to allow one minute per speaker, except if you need translation services, you will have two minutes.

So I will begin with Joaquin Jimenez.

One minute.

All right.

Um I am disturbed.

Uh I was disturbed by the by the picture.

That was posted on uh on the local newspaper.

Or the person.

Uh giving the signatures to the city.

That is pure evil.

That is disturbing.

I mean, we know the hair of the Shahafu.

The head of the Joha Fumbay, we voted for the Portuguese community is about farming.

We are talking about development for farm workers.

But this case is Latino farm workers.

And I said it twice already.

To me, this smells like you know, uh racism, classism, and corruption.

That's what it smells like.

You told me something different.

Show me something different.

Half of me is in trouble.

So I hope we do can do we can do better.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Carolina Carmahal.

And she will have translation and be able to speak two minutes.

Now we can see that there's other people who oppose this.

So there is no dignified retirement for our elderly farm workers.

We work excessively until our bodies can't take anymore.

And when they're elderly, they can't even move.

So is that really a threat, supposedly that's gonna live here at 555 Kelly?

Not for people that have like six kids.

So that means that there's a small part of the voters that are really taking the decision in hand that is going to impact the community.

We also should ask ourselves like what's going on with the people that uh live and work and contribute to all of the days for all of the for every day in the city, but don't have a right to vote.

Um, what happens with our family for our working families with our resident, with our permanent residents and the people uh during those years that have they've been living here and building uh community here and have really given back to the development of Half Moon Bay.

Our community is formed, but by much more than just numbers on a list, uh an electoral list that is.

So it's formed by families, workers, um, elderlies, young people, and people that have a dedicated years to this city.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Hale Bagner.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, Council members.

Um very short time here.

Uh I first uh on behalf of HMB voters decide.

Uh appreciate that uh you'll be deciding tonight to place this on the ballot, uh, presuming that uh the ordinance wishes to be brought forward.

And uh appreciate and I hope that everyone who speaks here in favor of the project is heard during the electoral season because it provides an opportunity for everyone in the community to be heard and considered by the voters.

So uh more than one in eight of every voters in Half Moon Bay sign the petitions.

I do have three small changes which I've distributed uh to the city attorney, clerk, and council members, and request some uh improvements to the accuracy, clarity, and completeness of the uh measure as worded for the ballot.

Appreciate very much uh the right enshrined in our constitution to bring such decisions to the voters.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Rick Bonia.

Good evening, council members and all have residents.

My name is Rick Bonia.

I'm from San Mateo.

I'm here tonight to see the whole state is watching.

We've been here before.

This has been looked at for a long time.

The people who live here who have done this work for many years, like everybody else who works for a living, need to be able to have a place that they can afford to live in the city where they belong.

In this town where these people have lived for generations, have worked for their lifetimes, these people deserve to have a place.

It's basic human justice.

I did not, it was not lost on me, it shouldn't be lost on anybody.

The fact that many of the people who are going to be impacted by whatever decision is made tonight, and ultimately by the voters are ineligible to vote.

As a council member, I always represented every single one of the residents in the city where I lived, not just those who are citizens or just those who vote.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Uh the next speaker is Jordan Grimes.

Could you give me a little more water, please?

Good evening, Council Honorable Mayor Jordan Grimes on behalf of Peninsula for Everyone.

We're a grassroots housing advocacy group in the county.

Um as Mr.

Bunia said, the state is watching both both literally and and figuratively in terms uh that I think everyone in here pretty clearly understands.

One thing I do want to make clear though, um the city's housing element is never getting certified if this project does not move forward.

Um what that means is right now the scariest thing people can apparently imagine is a five-story affordable housing project for senior farm workers in downtown.

Um if you look at Santa Monica and Palo Alto and many other places where the builders' remedy is active, five stories is the least of your problems.

Uh, if you have a housing element that does not get certified for the next few years, um you're absolutely going to have builders' remedy projects coming in.

Um, and I say this as a warning to the city know what you're in for if you vote the project down.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Kelly Hollywood.

Good evening, Mayor and Council members.

My name is Hellie Hollywood.

I am with Mercy Housing California, the affordable housing developer for the proposed project of 555 Kelly.

I respectfully ask the council to select option one and place the ordinance 2026 01 before the voters in November rather than repeal it this evening.

For the past several years, Mercy Housing has worked alongside the City of Half Moon Bay, community members, local stakeholders, public agencies to advance the shared vision of 555 Kelly.

This project reflects years of collaboration, public engagement, and thoughtful deliberation by the council, city staff, residents, and project partners.

The council approval of the ordinance was an important milestone in that process, and 55 Kelly seeks to address the need that 550 Kelly seeks to address remains unchanged.

We respectfully ask that the council not end this process tonight.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

The next speaker is Lily Ray.

Good evening.

I'm Lily Ray, and I'm the proud board president of ALAS, where I have been for a few years now.

Tonight is a choice before you to keep 555 Kelly alive.

I urge you and everyone in this community to think about the senior, the farm worker, and in this context, specifically the senior farmworker who has been putting food on our tables for decades.

Four years ago, this council voted unanimously to move ahead with this affordable housing project.

And three of you on this council voted for it, were there and voted for it.

So let's keep this going.

The work on 555 Kelly has been going on for over four years.

Over four years plus now.

Putting it on the ballot will be the next step in the pursuit of affordable housing for a group who is consistently overlooked.

The senior farm worker.

Mercy Housing and ALAS have spent countless hours in meetings and also with many of you to come up with an acceptable, viable solution for our senior farm workers.

Please keep it alive.

Thank you, Lily.

The next speaker is Harvey Rebeck.

This is the third time that I've addressed the council on this issue.

When in fact they wanted to delay and deny the project.

Tonight, the campaign begins.

There's a very local grassroots organization that is going to work day and night to make sure that the voters of this city understand that safe, affordable, dignified housing for our senior farm workers is what the community respects, expects, and that we are going to get it done because it's the right thing to do.

Thank you.

Thank you, Harvey.

The next speaker is Belinda Hernandez Arianga.

City Council, community members.

Over the past four years, I've had the repeated question asking me why would Happen Bay not pass this?

Why would the city not support our senior farm workers?

Why are other projects not pushed to vote?

When you voted yes, there was no option one or option two.

For me, the answer is simple.

I don't really know, but I do know that all of us in this room have the power to make 555 happen.

If this is going to vote, I'm inviting everyone to dream with us.

Dream a better home for our farm workers, dream equity, dream love.

Those opposed are calling this campaign.

Let the voters decide.

We are the voters.

So let's decide to support the dreams of our senior farm workers.

We want to see 555 Kelly happen because so many are counting on it.

So we ask that you put this on the ballot.

We are ready to be able to make this happen together, and we believe in the power of all of us.

Thank you, Belinda.

The next speaker is Eric DeBodey.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council members, staff, and my fellow co-siders.

I'm standing here tonight because all the debate and bureaucratic complexity that have been going on show me that we are facing something remarkably simple.

An opportunity for justice.

What an extraordinary moment this is for our city of Half Moon Bay.

How often does a nonprofit developer step forward offering to raise the money needed to build affordable housing for senior farm workers?

They are handing us a solution, a gift, one that helps us meet our state housing element requirements, avoids costly fines, and uplifts our community.

It is quite literally a gift handed to this city.

The only question left for you tonight is will you accept it?

Beyond the numbers and the state mandates, this project is about fundamental human dignity.

It eases the burden of the oppressed, it lightens the load of the downtrodden, and it serves the very people who have spent decades doing backbreaking work in our fields for minimum wage without retirement and without health benefits that most of us enjoy.

Your time is up.

Okay.

It is a rare public service to have the moment where the right choice is this clear.

You have the chance to do something truly righteous.

Listen to your conscience, choose to be on the right side of history, accept the gift.

Please wrap it up.

Let us work together to ease their burden and do something truly loving for Half Moon Bay.

And give people more than one minute to talk to City Council.

You know, we put these thoughts together, and we would like to have the time to express our opinions to you in a democratic process.

One minute is not enough.

We've had several meetings, and everybody's had way more time to express themselves.

So the next speaker is Nancy Fontana.

I'm gonna get to the point.

I think most of the people here know that I've not been in favor of this project.

However, I am in favor this evening that you vote for option one.

I've always felt it was important to have the people vote on this issue.

I feel it could have been done and should have been done whenever there's a precedent setting action taking place that the people vote on that.

So I'm in favor of option one.

I also want to express my concerns about the uh questionable efforts to thwart the referendum process.

Despite all of that, it was successful.

As such, the city council should be proud that the democratic process is alive and well here in Half Moon Bay.

It is important because a long-standing safeguard could have been compromised.

It becomes easy.

Once that happens, it's easier to chip away at it, and it could easily become a go-to method to compromise other safeguards.

Interestingly, this all happened on the please wrap it up, Nancy.

Okay.

It happened at the height of our country's 250th anniversary.

Councilmember Penrose has even expressed worries about threats to our con our democracy.

So to deny the people the right to vote would be a threat to that democracy.

Thank you, Nancy.

Um I have uh one online uh raised hand, and that would be Mike Ferrara.

Good evening, Mayor Ruddick and Council members.

Uh there once was a 40-unit conforming project that met the city's ordinances and the state allowances.

That disappeared in the back rooms.

And what we got was a project that does not conform.

Please put it on ballot and let the voters give us your give them your decision.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I see no more raised hands online, and I have no further speaker slips.

So we can bring them back to the council to ask for any clarifying questions before moving on to discussion.

Councilmember Nagengast, did you?

I I don't have any clarifying questions.

Anyone have questions?

Okay, then you can start with comments.

I do have comments, and I was gonna read something in tonight.

Um tonight my my yes vote is going to be to adopt a resolution to submit the ordinance to the voters to the November 3rd, 2026 general municipal election.

This City Council originally adopted the ordinance by a 3-2 vote.

Since then, Half Moon Bay residents exercise their lawful referendum rights, and the city clerk has certified that the petition met the required threshold, and the ordinance is now suspended.

Under elections code section 9241, this City Council must either repeal the ordinance entirely or place it before the voters.

My vote is to place it on the ballot and allow the people of Half Moon Bay to make the final decision.

The voters have demonstrated that they want to decide for themselves whether this ordinance reflects their priorities regarding fiscal responsibility, the use of public funds and public property, and the long-term obligations being undertaken by the city.

A yes vote tonight is not a vote to approve or reject the ordinance itself.

It's a vote to give the people the opportunity to decide whether ordinance number nine or 202601 should take effect.

This city council is elected by the people, but the referendum process provides an important check and balance on legislative decisions.

Respecting that process strengthens public confidence and accountability.

This is democracy at work.

Thanks.

Anyone else?

Councilmember Johnson.

Councilmember Brownstone.

Vice Mayor?

Sure.

I'm sorry that we've gotten to this point.

I am going to be voting to put it on the ballot for the public to decide, and I have no objection to that in itself.

That the city has a chance to show itself not to be racist and not to be classist by allowing a wonderful project for retired farm workers, some of who are in their 70s and 80s and working back breaking labor, which I couldn't personally do.

I couldn't, there's no way I could have done it ten years ago.

But they're out there working their fields because there is nothing for them.

Nothing.

They don't have a chance to start a savings account.

They don't have pensions.

They have nothing.

And we have a chance as a city to be good citizens, to be loving, caring folks, and take care of our elderly farm workers.

So I am going to be voting to put it on the ballot tonight.

Thank you.

Councilmember Brownstone or Johnson.

I'm going to be going forward with putting on the ballot.

Put on the ballot for what Belinda said, happy dream.

Let's see what the voters say.

And let's get this forward, keep it moving, and just go out there and do this, is what I'm thinking right now.

And I appreciate everybody coming.

And I do know it's been a minute to talk, and I understand that.

But we've been uh here so many times for so many meetings, and they go really late in the evening, and as it gets later and later and later, it just doesn't really get anywhere.

We're down at the very end of this road.

Let this go to the vote.

Let this go through the system, and we're gonna be done with this, and I think we're all gonna be happy at the end of the day.

So I think this we're at the very end right now.

So that's where I'm going with this.

Thank you.

Councilor Baron.

Sorry.

I support that we adopt a resolution to put this um to the vote.

And the reason I support that is I actually do trust the voters.

I think they should have a say.

And it's a consideration of an important segment of our seniors and elderly.

There is no dignified retirement for our farm workers.

They work up to the point until their bodies can't take it anymore.

So it's for people who more often than not have not been heard for so many years, and have actually more often than not been invisible.

So yes, I support this ballot, and I trust the humanity and compassion of my fellow citizens and voters in this community.

So a question for council.

So Mr.

Bagner submitted some requested changes.

What is the ability to make those changes tonight?

The council hasn't discussed those recommended changes.

Yes, so the uh resolution before the council this evening does have the proposed ballot question, and that question was prepared by my office, and um it is before the council, and so the council can make changes, revisions to the ballot question.

There are some constraints to what the ballot question should be and the word limit.

So uh the ballot question is basically supposed to be an impartial synopsis of the purpose of the proposed measure.

So I've tried to use the basic facts of the measure, like the essential facts of the measure, and the limit is that it has to be 75 words or less.

So trying to keep the the essential facts under 75 words.

It's it's kind of challenging.

So Mr.

Bogner has proposed some additional terms and some change changes to a little, you know, minor changes to the language.

I will say that the two terms that he is uh proposing to revise um is um adding the rent provision, so one dollar per year, and also changing affordable 40 unit to five-story affordable unit, and moving senior from senior affordable 40 40 unit to senior agricultural workers.

Uh again, I didn't think I don't think that the additional changes, specifically the added terms, are essential uh to the purpose of the proposed measure, but this is up to the council, and the council has the discretion to make those changes so long as it stays within the 75-word um frame.

Anyone want to comment on that?

Yeah, um I don't think there's any reason for these changes.

What they are trying to do, what these changes are trying to do is to make the proposed development less attractive.

They're pointing out things that they object to the proposal.

So I find it egregious, and I I won't vote for these.

Now I can understand your argument on the second and third.

Might not agree with it, but I can understand that.

But I personally think it's important for the public to understand what the basic transaction is that they are, you know, approving for the ground lease.

It's 99 years at one dollar a year.

That's an important, I think, critical information.

So I I would support instead of a 99-year term, 99 years at one dollar per year.

I think that's crucial information.

It's part and parcel of the deal between the city and Mercy.

I can let go of two and three.

I I would agree with you, except that the public does not understand about nonprofit buildings of affordable units.

They don't understand that they are commonly done with lease terms where the owner of the property leases it for one dollar a year.

That's a very common common thing.

And to point it out to the public without having that understanding to me is egregious.

It's trying to make it seem as if the city is going to be losing money and giving away a project, which of course we aren't.

And so I I find it offensive, and I I don't think it's necessary.

I think the public if you want to educate them, then fully educate them.

But don't present one side, especially if that side is politically motivated.

Yeah, well, I I can't agree with you on this.

You know, it's lots of people have said, well, the city's not putting in any money.

But we're foregoing revenue from the site that we've already spent a million dollars on.

And a lot of other people are going to make money off of this deal.

But the basic transaction is, you know, give us lease us the property for 99 years, and we'll give you a dollar a year.

That's the transaction that's at the heart of this, you know, these documents that are part and parcel of this ordinance.

So I think that's crucial.

Now, yeah, five stories, senior agricultural worker, that can be worked out.

One side can say this, the other side can say that.

But the objective transaction here that affects the the city of Half Moon Bay, is 99 years at $1 a year.

And I would I would recommend that change.

And I'd like to hear from other council members.

I mean, that was the transaction that did come up uh frequently in our discussions for the many, many evenings.

Um the other the changing the other two items if we're calling these one, two, three networks.

I I think the two two and three changing those.

I'm not in favor of that.

But I would um I'd be in favor of uh clarifying 99 years at a dollar per year, because that's exactly what's happening.

Again, the uh the other two I'm not interested in changing.

Councilmember Brownsdown or Johnson?

Uh I think it's consistent with what I've been reading since the first time I got on to the involved with this.

I think it's consistent with what I've been reading and how I picked up on this because I jumped in and you guys had already started this project.

It was always brought up as a dollar a year for 99 years.

So why not be consistent and educate?

If we're if we're educating, we're educating, but if not, we're being consistent.

So I would say yes.

But the other ones I'm not worried about.

Councilmember Brownstone.

Well, the terms of the lease are accurate.

It's an accurate statement.

It's 99 years for a dollar.

But I don't agree with the mayor's interpretation that well, yeah, technically the city foregoes making money on that property.

But another way to put it, the way I see it, and the way this is true in almost every affordable housing project.

The city donates available land.

So of course, when you donate something basically for free, then you don't continue to make a profit on it.

So I'm saying that I see the same term come up on many conversations on next door in the papers, et cetera, as a point of contention.

But I think it's not that and and I agree with the vice mayor that of course this is put up here because it's like it becomes like a hot item buzzword, you know, to catch people like this is how could anybody do that?

Well, if you didn't realize that this is a pretty um not just common, but almost always way of starting these projects.

And it's the same thing when you um, you know, you donate a you want to give your car to a relative and you don't want them to have to pay the taxes on it, even though the car is worth a thousand dollars.

Um you pay consideration of five dollars.

It's a very common contractual term.

And in this case, it's a very common um real property transaction term when you're donating land for affordable housing.

I don't think that it's that big an obstacle to educate people on, and if that's what the opposition wants to rest its argument, I think it's very easy to overcome.

Um the attorney in me says, you know, that is the legal term of the lease.

It is.

It's not like a twisting of a fact.

Um of course it's all in the reporting and the context, you know, and you know, if you want to have big signs, a dollar for 99 years and make that your case.

Um, you know, go for it.

But I don't think uh the public is that easily um fooled as to what the real issues are here and what's important to the community.

That's just how a lease like this is written.

It's also written like that because you know, in an organization like Mercy Housing has to go out and get certain kinds of loans from banks.

And the banks want to know, yeah, there's a long-term lease, there's a mortgage, it's not just going to be abandoned.

So, you know, there's a lot of factors I think are easy to educate the public on, and I'm not um yeah, I just wouldn't argue too much about that particular term, and I appreciate the fact that on the other two terms that you know we all agree we'd rather not see those changed.

So I'm willing to go along with changing 99 years to 99 years at a dollar a year, but not the others.

I'm okay.

And I I think a lot of people are savvy to that's how affordable housing works.

I don't think that's necessarily a deal breaker for people.

Um but it is transparent about what this what the term of this ground lease is about.

So that's the mayor?

Yeah.

Yeah, I think if we're going to say something, make an inflammatory statement like that, even though it is based in truth, it is bound to be inflammatory.

Um people do not understand the way cities operate with nonprofit housing.

They do not understand that cities donate land for the for uh affordable housing.

They do not understand the costs that um affordable housing incur.

So if we're going to make an inflammatory statement like that, I think we need to explain that this is part and parcel of the way nonprofits do business.

And if we can't do that, I'd like to um propose an edit myself to say that.

Make it so I change it to a recognized standard 99-year term at a dollar a year.

That would work.

If you can make the word count work and still get all the basic legal requirements, you know, wrapped up in that.

Got all that.

So um I think what I'm hearing is um a proposal to revise uh the section of the ballot question that says for a 99-year term to for a 99-year term at one at a recognized standard of $1 per year.

How about recognized and common standard, if you don't mind?

Let me take a standard.

We're adding words.

We should be removing words.

Instead of a 99-year term, say a standard.

Let's see.

Well, I don't think nine the thing is 99 years is not standard, right?

It's more like 55 years at the most.

You don't have many 99-year contracts for this.

This is somewhat unusual, I think.

Um I've seen lots of 55 years.

So I wouldn't want to say standard 99 years.

I I think the standard was related to the dollar per year, isn't that true?

This this the reference to standard was as to the dollar consideration amount.

Right.

I'm I'm asking you, Councilmember Brownstone.

That's what I understood, but maybe I'm incorrect.

Yeah, which is a common and standard practice for nonprofit housing.

Yeah.

No.

It's two.

That would work.

Yeah.

And then you know, the arguments on the ballot for and against can explain what is common, what is not, the campaigns can explain that.

They're going to be explaining, they're going to be talking about five stories, they're going to be talking about senior.

They're going to be talking about all that stuff.

But they don't always read those comments.

They read the ballot measure and they want to understand the ballot measure.

They read it.

Well, they will read the arguments.

Maybe.

We're back in action here.

And it looks like we have some language that the our counselor can uh provide.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Yes, the city manager and I have crafted something that we think is gonna work to address the council's concern.

And this word was um uh suggested by council member Johnson, so thank you so much.

Um so I'll read it in full, and then maybe I can afterwards I can explain what has been revised because it was we added uh the language about the dollar per year, but then we adjusted other terms in the ballot question.

So shall ordinance number twenty twenty-six dash oh one approving agreements with Mercy Housing California one ten LP, including a ground lease of real property for ninety-nine years at a rate of one dollar per year, which is customary, and affordable housing and property disposition agreement providing for the development slash operation of a senior affordable forty unit residential project for agricultural workers, which includes two thousand six hundred and fifty-three square foot of square foot community space at five three five-five five five Kelly Avenue in the city of Half Moon Bay and author it authorizing other related actions be adopted.

Question.

So we removed for a ninety-nine year term and revise that to say four ninety-nine years at a rate of one dollar slash year, which is customary.

And then we removed that provide to providing.

Oh, and we removed commute we can removed serving from community serving space.

So now it reads community space.

So with those changes, we are at 75 words.

So what I would suggest is if the council is amenable to that revision to the ballot question that you also um as part of the motion authorize the city clerk to make minor non-substantive changes that don't affect uh the substantive question that's put out to the voters.

Um I think if we could have the motion up on the screen.

I'll have that in this moment.

It'll have to say you know, adopt a resolution.

Do we say as amended?

Uh move to adopt a resolution to submit ordinance number 2026-01 to the voters on the November 3rd, 2026 general municipal election with the ballot question revised uh per council direction and then authorizing the city clerk to make minor non-substantive revisions to the ballot question in order to meet the 75 word count.

And so I'm guessing the motion could be as simple as move per staff.

Yeah.

I'll do a stab at it.

I didn't a lot of the city clerk minor adjustments.

I didn't get all that, but let me try something here.

I think you can just say move per staff.

She just read everything.

Okay.

Per per city attorney or just uh the city clerk may change it as recommended by city attorney.

Okay.

Um I um move that we adopt a resolution to submit ordinance number 2026-01 to the voters on the November 3rd, 2026, General Municipal Election.

With the noted changes in the um stating uh ballot as is the recommended ballot question as recommended by the city attorney that will be completed by the city clerk.

That work.

Yes.

So um it just to clarify, so those non-substantive changes to ensure that the word count, the 75 word count is met.

In order to ensure the 75 word count is met.

Yes.

I'll second.

Okay, before we take the vote, I just want to say that uh to the public that referendum is a constitutional right in California.

And uh it's a chance for us to experience some real democracy in our community.

There's going to be a lot of arguments and discussions on both sides, a lot of information will surface, people will be educated, and I think that's good.

Because I don't like what's happening to democracy at the federal level.

I want more democracy at the federal level, but I want more democracy at the local level.

I'm not willing to say I only want democracy at the federal level, because you can't have real democracy at the federal or state level if you don't have democracy at the local level.

It starts here in our communities.

All politics is local, and that's where democracy starts.

You can't pick and choose democracy to fit your personal agenda.

Avoid using the race card, and and and try to reach out to each other and hear where we are.

And the other thing I want to add is, you know, there's lots of housing coming down the line.

And a chunk of it is going to be affordable, and it's going to be affordable for farm workers, and it's going to be affordable for essential workers.

Um there's some big changes coming to Half Moon Bay with with new proposals.

So, you know this referendum may prevail, it may not, but the point is lots of housing options are coming.

And it's going to be for everybody.

So don't see this as a as a negative.

I would recommend not seeing this as a negative, you know, but a chance to experience democracy and to make things better.

Thank you.

So could I have a roll call, please on the motion?

Councilmember Brownstone.

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson.

Yes.

Councilmember Nagengast.

Yes.

Vice Mayor Penrose.

Yes.

Mayor Radick.

Yes.

The motion carries.

Thank you.

Madam Mayor, um, before we move on from this item, I think there's still one more matter that needs to be discussed, and that relates to the ballot or the arguments.

And there's the opportunity if the council wants to write an argument in favor.

Um, or obviously you have as individuals the ability to do that as well.

So I just want to put that before you if you want to have a discussion about that, make a decision about that tonight because the the clock is ticking to draft those arguments if if need be.

Yeah, I I don't see a unified position on the issue of an argument, but what I would recommend is to provide all the information that's needed for people to be able to start working on their arguments, whether it's pro or con.

You know, just put it out there in communication saying if you wish to weigh in on this item, you can write an argument pro or con.

It has to be X number of words, has to be submitted by this date.

It'll be reviewed by city attorney for compliance with election statutes or whatever it is.

But I think we need to get that information out there.

I would like to write an argument.

You may.

Yeah, as a city council member, not as a private citizen.

Well, I don't think you're going to get agreement on that.

Pardon me?

I don't think you're going to get agreement on the city council taking a unified stand on the No, not to represent City Council, just to represent myself.

This is uh but not as a private citizen, which is the other option.

There are two options.

You can write as a member of City Council or you can write as a private citizen.

Uh I have already said sorry.

I was just going to say that if if writing on behalf of the council, the council needs to authorize that person to write the argument.

So the the council would need to authorize Vice Mayor Penrose to write the argument.

But but only if she's right saying something on behalf of council.

Correct.

Can she say something on behalf of the city council member?

She can she would be saying it as an individual.

Right, but as she's a city council member.

Right.

And she can do that, right?

She can sign her name as a council member, but she would have to indicate that she is not representing the council through her argument.

Right.

Yeah.

And all council members have that opportunity.

I'm not going to authorize anybody to speak on half of me.

No, no.

No, that wasn't at all what I meant.

Not at all.

That wasn't clear.

So if you're just talking about writing your own, that's great.

That's right.

Right.

I'm talking about writing my own argument.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But the council has to authorize that, don't they?

Only if you are only if you are writing on behalf of the council.

If you are going to write as the vice mayor, you can do that.

But you would have to indicate that you were writing as an individual, not on behalf of the council.

Okay.

I think I get it.

Any other council member can take advantage of that too?

So I don't think there's a limit on arguments, is there?

Um, there's no limit on how many arguments are submitted, but there is an order to which um, you know, of course, only one argument in favor and one argument opposed gets to be um included in the the ballot package.

Um there is an order to which those arguments are selected.

So if multiple people submit an argument either in favor or against, the clerk would have to decide which order they come in, and and that would determine which one actually gets put forward.

Okay.

Well, yeah, I I think uh we want to make that process transparent so that people don't think somebody in the background is picking winners and losers, and uh you know, just make it transparent.

Yeah, and there's a specific order laid out in the government code, which we can cite.

All right, that's good.

And and just to be clear, a council member writing on behalf of the council gets a higher priority than an individual.

So I just want to make that clear.

Um, it has to be approved by the council.

Uh not not the argument, but just the council has to authorize that person to write the argument for them for on behalf of the council.

Right.

Well, we're I don't think we're going there tonight.

Yeah.

Okay.

All right.

Anything else?

On this item?

Did Vice Mayor want to say something?

Vice Mayor Penrose?

Um if someone is speaking on behalf of the council, there can only be one opinion, a yes or a no.

A pro or a con.

If it's in on behalf of the council, correct?

One half of the council write against and one half.

Well, actually, um the statute does allow for multiple arguments to be submitted by the council.

I think that would be um confusing to the public.

But yeah.

That that is authorized as part of the statute, and I can read the statute if you'd like, but it does say the council can authorize arguments.

But how does that work?

If if you if speaking as a council person, I am representing the council.

Then I can't be doing two arguments that are opposed to each other.

Yeah, I I don't really understand how practically it would work, but I'm saying the statute does allow for that.

So I think like I said, I think it would be very confusing to a member of the public.

I think I'd like to understand that a little bit better.

Sure.

So at any rate, could we take this off or we don't have to do it right now?

Could could you consult with the Council Member Penrose?

So I can certainly send the statute to Vice Mayor Penrose.

That the I think the issue is if the council is going to make any authorizations to do an argument for or against, um, that has to be done tonight essentially.

The the arguments in favor are due or the primary arguments are due August 10th.

So that would be arguments in favor, arguments opposed.

And then the rebuttal are arguments are due August 17th, correct?

Madam Clerk?

Yes.

That gives us one day to get them over to county and transmitted.

Okay.

Sounds good.

So are people ready to move on?

Yeah, we've we've um uh I think we did we take a vote yet.

Yeah, yeah.

Okay.

Getting late.

Okay.

Um I think right now we have to move on to item 10A, which is fiscal year 2627, sewer service charges and assessments.

Yeah.

Hi, how are you?

Yeah.

All right.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, uh, council members, members of the public.

So tonight I'm gonna be presenting the sewer assessments for 2627.

This is an annual item.

Um the city provides sewer wastewater services uh for people in the city limits.

And um, in order to do that, we have to do this process once a year.

So the request for council is to adopt a resolution uh uh approving the assessments and charges, uh direct staff to file the assessment role with the county, and then direct staff to bill assessments directly that are not on the tax role.

So very quick background, the city owns and operates a sewer collection system and in collaboration with another agency called the Sewer Authority Made Coast Size or SAM.

Um we also maintain a sewer fund to uh for our own operations and maintenance and to collect these fees.

Um back in 2020 we did a sewer rate study, um, and which is uh a study to estimate our look at our cost and look at how much we should charge for fees.

Um set the rates for five years thereafter.

Um that has since expired in 2025, and the rates have have not increased since then.

So this is going to be our our third year at the same rate.

Uh total, there's about uh 3,400 customers in our city limits.

So there's two ways that we collect uh sewer fees and assess them.

Um the majority, the mass majority of it is that we ask the county to just put it directly on property tax bills.

So um we get we develop a we assess, we develop a list, we send it to the county, they put on the property tax bills uh that show up to uh homeowners on their December and April bill.

There's a handful of customers that don't get don't receive a uh a property tax bill.

In those cases, we directly bill them, we create an invoice and send it to them directly.

So the county uh has a deadline of July 31st.

So what the county needs from us is this council approval a resolution and um the data of the parcels to assess the total sewer assessment charges for this year, uh the estimated revenue is 7.5 million.

Uh again, this uh reflects the sewer study that was done back in 2020, and the rates haven't changed since 2025.

There's no increases this year.

Um, but we do need a uh consider a new race study to be conducted this year so that it's ready for uh next fiscal year 2728.

And there's an additional item uh later tonight on that piece of it.

So again, the short tweet the recommendation for this item is to adopt a resolution uh approving the fiscal year 2627 sewers service assessment and charges.

Direct staff to file the assessment role and authorize the county controller to place the assessment charges on the county assignmentary property tax roll and three direct staff to bill assessments directly that are not on the tax roll.

And I will love to take any questions.

Thank you for that report.

Yes.

They're going up as they must.

Does anybody have any clarifying questions?

Okay.

I don't have any speaker slips on the sewer rates.

Is there anybody in the audience who would like to address this item?

Talk about talk about sewer service charges and assessments.

There must be somebody out there on the time.

Yeah, lower the rates.

Yeah.

Well, I don't know about that.

Is there anybody online who would like to comment on the item relating to sewer service charges and assessments?

Seeing none, I'm going to bring it back to the city council.

And uh if you have an agenda, the staff recommendation is there.

Very clear.

Does anyone want to discuss anything before I make a motion?

No.

Okay, in that case, I move that we adopt a resolution approving the fiscal year 2026-27 sewer service assessments and charges directing staff to file the assessment role authorizing the county controller to place the assessment charges on the county of San Mateo property tax role and directing staff to bill assessments directly that are not on the tax roll.

Second.

Roll call, please.

Councilmember Brownstone.

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson.

Yes.

Councilmember Nagingast?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Penrose?

Yes.

Mayor Raddock.

Yes.

Motion carries.

We tried to protect you against increasing rates.

Didn't work out.

We tried.

Okay.

Um item 11B.

Uh request for proposals for sewer rate study and adoption of rate setting procedures under Proposition 218 and Assembly Bill 2257.

All right, so this item is going to be a little bit more in-depth.

Uh, this is about the sewer rate study and the Prop 218 AB2257.

And I'm also being joined here by Delita, our interim uh public works director.

So a little bit of a deeper background.

Uh as I mentioned, uh, we provide sewer wastewater services on the uh in our city limits.

Um, and additionally, uh there's another agency, um, sewer authority MICO CIDR, Sam, which is a JPA that includes Monterra and Granada.

Um, both uh both entities, us and Sam uh are in charge of providing sewer services.

Um the city has enterprise fund, the sewer fund.

Um this fund pays for half moon bay specific operations and maintenance, but also contributes to SAM.

Um and the contribution to SAMR is the biggest expense out of the sewer fund.

Um there's uh a lot of that goes into the the mix between uh what our obligations are and what Sam's obligations are and who owns what generally um Sam owns the big infrastructure as far as plants.

Uh Sam allocates 61% of its budget to half of May, and uh the other 40 percent is roughly split in half between the other agencies.

This percentage is based on the flow of wastewater into their system.

And the unfortunate news along with everything else is that the costs have increased greatly over the years.

Um unfortunately when cost goes up with SAM um they flow through us uh here.

So this chart did uh shows what costs have been at SAM for the past 10 years.

Um and half of May's share has gone up proportionally at the same.

In 2027, it's getting close to 12 million.

And likewise for us at the city, we have to our share, what we contribute to Sam has increased 5 million over the past 10 years.

The current estimates are up to 16 million.

And as of right now, that would mean our share is 10 million.

So Sam is a very Sam and just sewer wastewater services in general is a very infrastructure heavy business to be in.

And these costs they come up.

And we did our last study back in 2020 that went all the way to 2025 and has since been expired.

In order to uh even consider if we do need an increase rates, we have to do something called our Prop uh 218 process, which uh proposition 218 dictates uh that we can only do rates that cover the costs, so we can't make a profit on the rates, and there's noticing requirements, and there is ability for the community to potentially protest if if needed or if wanted.

The sewer study itself, so staff is highly recommending a new sewer rate study to analyze the financial condition of our sewer fund and to build some kind of recommendation of future rates for it, not just next year, but for multiple years into the future, as these costs just keep on increasing.

The project is uh we want it to be as comprehensive, very comprehensive as which includes a request for proposal or RFP process where we solicit out and figure and determine the best vendor, the most qualified vendor, and the most cost effective vendor.

Additionally, um this project would include uh meetings with the finance committee, uh, a council meeting, uh study session, and then from there you go into the formal Prop 218 process where you notice every parcel into the city, um, you collect any protests or any objections, you come back to council and council weighs in.

Right now, the current estimate for the sewer rate study piece is about 50k, and that is already we already built that into the operating budget for this year.

Uh so the Prop 218 and AB 2257.

As I mentioned, Prop 218 pretty much says you know sewer rates can't be more than what it costs to provide.

Um we had to do a public hearing and we have to notice.

AB 2257, our assembly bill 2257 took effect in January 2025, and this is an additional uh optional process where um it adds a process where people can have written objections.

So with Prop 218, it was just a protest of saying I disagree uh with this, but with AB 2257, um uh tax ratepayers can have a written objection.

Um they would have to write out um their objection and the legal basis for the objection, and then staff has the obligation to compile it in aggregate, bring it to council and to discuss it.

Uh we would recommend this process um simply because it's a more um forward uh process in addition, it's to uh make things a little bit easier on the back end.

Uh so Prop 218 and AB2 257, they uh work together, and the common turn is a rate saving procedures.

So there is a draft uh procedures in the agenda.

Uh essentially what would happen is so uh if council would approve, we would do the RFP, and we would do a rate study.

Um we would do the finance committee, we would um have a study session, and then if council were to approve any kind of rate increase under these new uh procedures, the city would have to notice uh give at least 45 days to sub 45 days notice to parcel owners that they can either protest or object.

Um as I mentioned, the objections have to have some kind of basis um from there, staff reviews them and then prepares a written response to the city council, and then city council uh considers the objections and responses before proceeding with uh the protest hearing.

And the protest hearing is essentially a count of the protests.

So as you can imagine, it's a it's a significant amount of staff left.

Um there's a lot of moving pieces, so there is definitely the technical side uh as far as with public works and engineering, there's a financial element to it, there's a legal element to it.

Um, and for all those different moving pieces, we're also recommending using a project manager.

Um we are recommending using Kersh and Associates.

They are a finance and CPA firm and a project managers.

Um they have experience with uh managing uh rate studies and with the um staff load.

I think uh this would give uh this process the attention that it it needs for such a heavy lift.

Um they would manage the RFP, they would manage the firm that's selected to do the study, and um they would be available to for all the meetings thereafter with the finance committee and the council with that uh the recommendation is as follows authorias a professional service agreement with Kirsten Associates for public management support and the amount not to exceed 30K to authorize a release of a request for proposals for professional sewer rate study services and three establish sewer rate setting procedures under Prop 218 and Assembly Bill 2257.

Um with that I will me and Dale will love to take any questions.

Yeah, um I'm not sure I understand the um reason for choosing an accounting firm to oversee an RFP study and then oversee the project.

Why why accounting?

Uh so this firm in particular has a lot of um former finance directors in public agencies, and usually a sewer study lives in the finance department as far as managing.

So it's less it's not like a CPA firm that an individual would go to, it's a CPA firm that an agency would go to.

Um and then as far as how it relates to suit why sewer studies sometimes live in finance, is that there's a big financial element to it as far as making sure that the math maps.

So the idea is they'll be watching the money.

They would be answering questions with the uh consultant selected, um, seeing being able to pull data from our accounting books, being able to translate that to the consultant, being able to translate that to me into the finance committee, things like that.

Okay, thank you.

Thanks.

So I notice uh AB 2257, 2025.

That's new to me.

I'm sure it's new.

Since our last study was 2025, so it's gonna be new to us too.

So, or sorry, our last study was 2020.

So this is obviously new to us.

So does Kirst and Associates have an experience with AB 2257?

I don't think so on that point on that portion because it is new and just it was just went into effect uh 2025.

Um we have Burke was gracious enough to uh they have a lawyer on staff that was able to help us with these procedures.

So we have some help on the legal side of that.

Okay.

If I may I just add, yes, so um our firm has um an attorney, Michael Barrett, who's assisted jurisdictions in using AB 2257.

In fact, I staffed a council meeting the other day where they went through the process of setting procedures under AB 2257.

So it is out there being used, and um we have had some experience since its enactment in the process.

And it does provide just another layer of defensibility that we think is a good idea any time you go through these rate procedures.

Okay, thank you.

Anyone else with questions or comments or a motion?

Um I'll make the motion that council adopt a res adopted resolutions to authorize a professional service agreement with Kers and Associates for project management support in an amount not to exceed $30,000, and two authorize release of a request for proposals for professional sewer rate study services, and three establish sewer rate setting procedures under Proposition 218 and Assembly Bill 2257.

And two, authorized release of a request for proposals for professional sewer rate study services, and three establish sewer rate setting procedures under Proposition 218 and assembly bill 2257.

Second we should take public comment before we vote.

Right.

Here's your second chance to comment on sewers.

Sewer rates.

Is there anyone online who would like to comment on the issue of beginning a sewer rate study?

No, just that we need them.

Sorry?

Need what?

Oh, yeah, we do.

Sorry.

I can't help myself.

Yes, we need them.

And uh if there are people who would like to comment on that need, they may raise their hands online or come to the podium.

I'm not seeing anybody, so I'm going to uh ask for a roll call.

Councilmember Brownstone?

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson.

Yes.

Councilmember Nagast?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Penrose?

Yes.

Mayor Raddock.

Yes.

Motion carries.

No, we've been here quite a long time this evening, and I see Mr.

Russell is here from uh OCP on the golf fees issue.

Would it be okay if we just move the golf fees issue up to a you know to accommodate his appearance at our meeting?

Okay.

Yeah, so I'm moving up item 11E.

So this would be the amendment to the agreement for the golf facilities fees.

Um mayor?

Yes.

So I'm gonna recuse myself.

I'm uh employed by uh ocean colony partners.

So I will remove myself from the room during the probably a good idea, yes.

Thank you.

We will be making this short.

Um Madam Mayor, I'll be making a very brief presentation on this.

Uh but I do want to make sure that the facts are out there so people understand what we're doing here.

Um so uh a little bit of background in 1991, the city or a predecessor agency of the city um entered into an agreement with the Ocean Colony partners related to the development of um one of the golf courses at um Hafen Bay Golf Links.

And as part of that agreement, um there's a term that requires that non-resident golfers pay a six percent non-resident golf fee for what we call green fees, which is the cost of playing on the course and using the golf cart, those types of things.

And um that fee has been collected now for um over 30 years, and it on average at this time generates about six hundred and seventy thousand dollars to our general fund.

So it is um goes into our general fund, we can use it for whatever services and um programs we desire, but that agreement expires on September 20 uh 17, 2026 with no further obligation to Ocean Colony Partners to continue collecting that fee.

Um, in um late last year, as we've been anticipating this, we met with council.

Council appointed an ad hoc committee of the mayor and uh councilmember Johnson to work with staff in negotiating with Ocean Colony Partners on a potential opportunity to extend that fee.

So obviously an important part of our budget as we're continuing to grapple with our structural deficit and the loss of those fees um would come at a cost to the city.

Um and and I think um to the benefit of the community, ocean colony partners is is a community organization, they care about this community and the future of the community.

I think having a well-run city and and well-run facilities is important to the golf course as well, so there's a mutual relationship there, and so we've had a successful negotiation with them that we think is fair and um you know is something that we can support going forward.

So we're grateful to the ad hoc committee and all the work that they did working with ocean colony partners and um there's long-standing relationships there that I think have helped.

And ultimately, this is where we landed.

So the proposed amendment to this agreement would extend the existing agreement under almost all the terms and conditions, and I'll share where they're changed for a 10-year period.

So instead of expiring on November 17, 2026, it would be extended to November 16th or September 16th, 2036.

Um for the first year of that extension, um, the non-resident golf fee would be reduced to 5 percent.

And then in the next year and the remaining nine years, it would be reduced to 4 percent.

And we estimate $560,000 of revenue the first year and $450,000 of revenue this remaining years.

Those are estimates, and they're going to be influenced by the economy and utilization of the golf course and the rates they charge the golf course, all those things.

But it is a substantial restoration of these fees that we were not that we did not include these in our budget for the next fiscal year.

One other change is there is a section that provides preferential golf rates for residents.

So not only residents, they did they weren't paying the non-resident golf fee, but there were some different categories, uh senior rates and different times of day where residents could get better rates.

And in conversations with Ocean Colony Partners, and I can share from experience playing golf out there, that there's a variety of ways to get discounts, and really these preferential rates have never really come into play, and they've asked that they just be removed from that agreement, and they'll continue to offer different um opportunities for people to play at discounted rates in other ways that are more traditional to golf courses.

And then there's an agreement, mutual agreement that in the future will continue to work uh more collaboratively.

There's the coastal trail that runs through these golf courses, there's some shared facilities and better collaboration between the city and ocean colony partners on projects to improve and maintain those facilities will be an exp expectation going forward.

So our recommendation is to adopt a resolution authorizing uh myself in collaboration with the um the city attorney and the um ad hoc committee to finalize and execute an amendment to the owner participation agreement with ocean colony partners to extend the termination date to September 16th, 2036, amend the fee and amend or delete certain sections of the agreement which are called out in the resolution.

And that's the end of my report.

Thank you very much.

Are there any clarifying questions by council members?

Um I don't have a speaker slip, but uh Bruce, would you like to comment on this item can you hear me okay?

Um I I uh uh first of all would like to uh um indicate that uh I'm pleased that we were able to reach this agreement.

Uh uh I view our role as a corporate citizen here as a very important one, and for us to give back to the community.

It wasn't easy for me to persuade the current owners to extend the fee that's been in place for 35 years.

Uh we did some rough calculations.

We think that over that time period we contributed between 16 and 18 million dollars to the city.

Um, but I think it needs to continue because we benefit a lot from uh uh providing a uh a recreational service in such a great city with such uh uh tremendous uh uh exposure uh to um the environmental uh factors that golfers here love.

Uh it's one of uh I mean our golf course is doing very well.

So I want to make two uh two other comments.

Number one is although the fee is gonna go down by to five percent and six percent, um, I can almost assure you that within three years, the four percent on the revenue will be more than six percent is right now.

Uh we are experiencing a uh 10 to 12 percent increase in revenue for the last two or three years, and it'll continue to go up.

And so 4% on where we'll be in three years will be more than six percent is two years ago.

The final thing I encourage you to do is to uh let's get this negotiated and signed.

Um you might know that the golf course is for sale.

And I think it would be in your best interest to have this executed before that sale occurred because not everybody that might buy that golf course would have the same perspective as uh Ocean Colony and the plumbers union, and I live here, of course.

Um, and so I I encourage you to let's move this forward before uh there's some change in the ownership.

Okay.

And thank you for your assistance in beating me up.

Yeah, Mayor Ruddick.

Thank you.

Thanks for everything, Bruce.

Thanks for working with us.

And uh thanks to staff for collaborating, and I think this is a good deal for us.

Madam Mayor, I in talking with the city attorney, we just want to make something clear.

The fee that we're talking about amending is not a city fee, it's a fee that the golf course charges, and then they make a payment to the city.

So it's not a city fee, it's uh a golf course fee.

Count us grateful, yeah.

Yes.

Any comments?

So I just want to say uh thanks, Bruce, for bringing that forward and to the mayor, because these guys were really hammering it out.

I was just in the background going, whoa man, there's negotiating going on here.

But I also think it's pretty cool, Bruce, because what you brought forward uh Ocean Colony has brought forward is like coming into the writs and how it's supposed to look and all the little maintenance things you brought forward, which I have actually brought forward to the mayor too like a couple months ago with one of the planning commissioners.

We did a driveway.

I go, what is missing here?

What's what's wrong?

What's the look and the feel?

These are things that you brought up.

So I think that's a good thing that we as a city should do.

And in and I like what what you brought forward because I'm big into like this is how it should look if we can afford it, and I'm looking forward to working with you guys to make that happen.

Thank you.

Um the motion before us is I just want to say uh Bruce, I really do appreciate your um mindset about it all.

You didn't have to do that.

And um I think you've actually always you know seen beyond profits, et cetera, and really what's good for a community, what's good for the business, um, and how it works together.

Thank you, um Mayor and Patrick for uh helping negotiate that.

And it really feels like a win-win.

So but no, thanks to you, and also sounds like we should really expedite these things.

Thanks for that.

Thanks.

Vice Mayor.

Yeah, uh, I just wanted to know if we pass this resolution, do we get free golf lessons?

I can provide that.

Okay, yeah, go for it.

Okay, um I move that we adopt a resolution authorizing the city manager to negotiate and execute an amendment to the owner participation agreement with Ocean Colony Partners LLC to extend the termination date to September 16th, 3036.

Amend the fee and amend or delete certain sections of the agreement.

Second uh could I have a roll call, please?

Councilmember Brownstone.

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Penrose?

Yes.

Mayor Ruddick.

Yes.

Motion carries.

Thank you, Bruce.

Thank you.

I guess Whitney's going to retrieve Paul.

Paul's out there someplace.

She's getting him.

Okay.

Disorganized here.

Um, so we're back to 11C, which is construction contract award for the Wave Crest Road Waterline Project.

Hello.

Good evening again, Madam Mayor, members of the council, and members of the public who are still with us.

Um my first item tonight is our construction contract award for our Wave Crest Waterline project.

So this is so we put this project out to bid in in June.

We came back, we got um seven bids back, and we're coming to you tonight with a contract award to hopefully break ground very soon out there.

Um quick overview of what this project is.

This is a new water main extension down Wave Crest Road.

Currently, the eight-inch main stops in front of Cameron's uh restaurant uh close to the hotel there.

And Smith Field does have water service, but it's provided via a very old uh two-inch line that starts at that point in front of Cameron's and runs the whole way.

So we've had uh problems with this main in the past.

It's um it's undersized, that we get uh at least a couple of breaks a year in it.

Um it's been problematic for the city.

Uh did you say two inches?

It's a two-inch main today, yes.

And so this would be replacing it with uh with an eight-inch main, and that main will be located in Wave Crest Road um and under CCWD's ownership at the completion of the project.

So in addition to the main extension, we're putting in five new fire hydrants on Wavecrest, including three at Smith Field, and then restoring roughly the northern half of Wavecrest Road where that work is going to occur because of the project's location close to the Wave Crest Ditch, uh, which has some jurisdictional uh limits and sensitive habitat.

There'll be um an environmental uh protection component with this project as well as traffic control given the narrow road width.

Um so we're doing this project because I mentioned the aging infrastructure.

I think we had a break last month that costs around $8,000 in additional uh leaked water, just that we had to pay just from a leak, and this happens a couple times a year.

Uh this main extension is going to provide better pressure and flow to Smith as well as the other uh businesses along the road.

It'll provide um additional fire supply and um it ultim ultimately better water quality at Smith Field.

Um and it sets us up for future projects moving along.

So this is kind of the first phase in several projects planned at at Smith Field.

Um back in the fall last year we took to planning commission uh CEQA document and a coastal development permit to approve phase one uh of the Smith Field Master Plan, which included a new parking lot, paved parking and and walkways, stormwater um infrastructure as well as the water main extension.

So this is kind of the first part of the first phase of that project moving forward.

Um I mentioned we advertised this project back in June.

Uh we didn't know what type of reception we were going to get or where prices were gonna be because we had we've seen a lot of price volatility recently, but we got a really strong bid response.

I think we had a in a uh pre-bid mandatory on-site meeting, we had 17 contractors come to.

Um, so you know, there's a lot of appetite out there right now for this type of work, and um as a result, we got some really strong bids relative to our budgeting and our in our engineers' estimate, which is great.

Um our low bid for the project, which is part of our award, is um to Golden State construction utilities.

Um as part of the bid assessment, we do a statistical analysis on the bids themselves to see if there's any uh abnormalities that that would be questionable.

We also contact Golden State, make sure they understand the scope of work.

Um we also go through their list of references, reach out to the other cities that they've worked with.

Um of the ones that really was good to see on their list is they they have recent work with uh CCWD.

Um so they completed the emergency main repair uh that was finished in 2025 along highway 92.

Um that's a that was about a mile of water main, very close to Pillar CEDOS Creek.

And so they had similar access challenges, environmental constraints, and um the referral from CCWD was very positive.

So they finished that project on budget and about a month earlier than originally scheduled.

So they were really pleased to see it a little bit, and we're excited to be bringing this forward.

Um currently we have a little over 1.7 million dollars in in funds for this project that was included the 500,000 that we um requested at the adoption of the CIP budget earlier this year.

Um we're estimating around a million dollars for the cost of construction, including um inspections and other CCWD fees.

We're planning to start work August 3rd, and we have about 45 working days we're hoping to be done at the beginning of October.

It's coming in under budget.

Yep.

Um so our recommendation is adopt a resolution accepting the submitted seven responsive bids authorizing the city manager to award and execute our construction contract and approve a 20% uh contingency budget.

And I'm happy to answer any other questions.

Thank you.

That is great news and a good presentation.

Thank you.

Uh any questions from council members?

Vice Mayor?

Yeah.

Um is it 20% contingency fee typical for this kind of work?

Um 20% is is higher than normal.

Typically, you would see between 10 you'd see 10 to 15 percent.

Um the reason we padded this a bit is because in discussions again with our original our actual engineers' estimate came in significantly lower than our consultant estimate, um, and so everybody was really concerned about pricing.

We actually took a couple smaller items out of the scope of work just because of where we were at funding-wise, and we didn't know where bids were gonna be.

Um now that we see that we've got a good price, we we'd we'd like to explore uh adding a couple of those items back in.

For example, as part of this work, uh the existing water fountain that is out there at Smith that's tied to the two inch would be disconnected, and and the plan would have been that um our our public works team would come in and install a new fountain at upon completion of this project.

But ideally um if we can stomach some of those small additions as part of this project, we can get all this work done and have the fields you know in in top shape for uh fall ball season.

Does that answer your question?

It does, it's just a strange way to get other parts of the project done.

It's to call it part of the contingency fee.

I thought a contingency fee was unexpected problems with the project could be covered or um that's that's generally what they're used for, yes.

Um and there are a few, there are still a few unknowns here within this project.

I didn't mention that, but we do have a couple of stormwater crossings and some other utilities that we're dealing with.

Um given the um the short time constraint for the construction duration, we wanted to try and keep this a little bit more flexible.

I I'm not complaining, I'm just curious.

Councilmember Nagengast.

Oh thanks.

So right, so the you starting, you said early August, because we all know the worst all Nino in the history of mankind is coming, so we're trying to have everything finished up before typical storm season.

Didn't I hear you say something about early October?

That that's correct.

So we're budgeting to be complete um the first week of October.

Uh we have not received um once this moves forward, we'll the one of the first things we'll get a construction schedule from the contractor um through some initial discussions with them, they're very confident that they'll be done uh well before the first of October.

Okay.

And and that contingency, as you mentioned for potential change orders or unknowns, but also if there's some work, if there's some other work, you know, there's always ability to come back to council if you need to to authorize spending.

I see your budget has it, right?

So you know, if there is some other items due to very favorable bids, you know, it's kind of odd how it you know usually the engineer doesn't want to be low bidder in this case.

Obviously, we got some great bids, so we did, yeah.

Yeah, thank you.

Anyone else?

Okay.

Uh Paul, would you like to make the motion then?

Sure.

Um recommend to adopt a resolution authorizing the center city manager to award and execute a construction contract to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, Golden State Construction and Utility Inc.

of San Francisco.

20% in the amount of 774,000 and approved a construction contingency amount not to exceed 154,800 for the Wade Ferris Road Waterline Project.

Which is CIP project number 9,004 for a total construction budget of 928,800.

Is there a second?

I'll second it.

And we do need public comments.

Yes.

Um the item is uh I've already moved on, sorry.

Construction contract award for the Wave Crest Road Waterline Project.

And is there anybody in this room that would like to comment or ask questions?

Naomi, come on up.

Oops.

I'm really happy that you guys are finally doing something down at Smithfield.

Um I used to water the fields with a water hose.

And I'm glad to see that you're doing something, and especially for the kids.

And um it's long, long overdue.

Naomi, tell the story about cowboy Kevin what happened back in the day.

Oh no.

She used to pay him, and he used to drive his car without a license, so this doesn't go anywhere.

And with garden hose in the back of the vehicle and watered all of Smith Field back in the day.

That's how desperate we were to get that degree.

RJ, welcome.

Thank you, Mayor, Vice Mayor and City Council.

Um I'm just preaching to the choir.

I think you've done some due diligence.

I just always want to be cautious of low bids, because I think we have the same problem at Carter Park, right?

We took a low bid, and um, so it sounds like you've done the due diligence, but low bids scare me, you know.

Um so no criticism, just awareness.

The other little piece I want to point out, which I'm sure you're already aware of.

When you're looking at water fountains, are you considering refill for um for water bottles?

Yeah, yeah, so we can reduce the number of plastic water bottles out there as well.

So um, but great great work.

This looks really good.

I appreciate the the efforts.

Excellent recommendation.

Thank you.

Is there anyone online who would like to comment on this item?

You may raise your hand now.

And while we're waiting for that, Madam Mayor, I think it probably is important for the record to point out that Mr.

Jenkins is a member of our parks and rec commission.

Yes, Mr.

Jennings is a very jenkins, I'm sorry.

Thank you, RJ.

Yeah.

Okay.

Can I have a roll call, please?

Councilmember Brownstone.

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson.

Yes.

Councilmember Nagangast?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Penrose?

Yes.

Mayor Radick.

Yes.

Motion carries.

Thank you very much.

Okay, so now we're moving on to the professional services agreement with brush hog tree care.

It's still me.

Okay.

Um so this item is another construction contract.

This is actually a maintenance contract for our landscape medians along Highway 92 and Highway One through town.

Um so a little background, these medians are are so what we're talking about medium, we're talking about um highway 92, the medium from Hilltop, uh, from the mobile home park and cemetery down to Highway One.

Um so those landscape mediums, and then along Highway One from North Main Street, and including that median just north of North Main Street on one, um, south to this uh to Higgins Canyon and South Main Street, excluding one small median on the south side of Kelly Avenue on Highway One.

Um so these medians are covered under a maintenance agreement with Caltrans, the city's responsible for their maintenance, as well as other parts of the right-of-way that we've modified through our projects.

Um and we've been using laurel landscape since 2019 to provide this service through annual contracts.

Uh this year we we did a general RFP uh back in June, and we and we we took it out for bid.

Um I'm gonna just show a couple pictures.

This is you know, just different imagery of the I'm sorry, this contract would also include the medians, um not the medians, it also includes the landscape areas on the southeast and northeast sides of the south main street intersection at highway one.

Um so uh and when I say maintenance, what we're talking about is is weed removal, um edging, removal of trash, and and landscape repairs or irrigation repairs as needed.

Um so I mentioned we put this out to bid in June.

Um we came back, we received uh five five proposals uh with brush hog tree care as as the lowest bidder.

Um we followed up with you know just checks on their references, they worked with they worked for Fyloli, the historical site, they worked for Coastside Fire Protection, they've worked with RCD um providing similar services, and I think at the Harbor District as well.

Um they came with a low bid, they provided all the all the qualifications and certification needed to provide this service to the city.

Um and they're very excited about the opportunity to do some maintenance for us.

Um this is a one-year contract with um an option for the city to ex to renew that annually uh an additional four years if if we're satisfied with their work.

Um with that I'll I'll take it to a recommendation to um authorizing the city manager to approve and execute a professional services agreement.

Vice Mayor.

Yeah, um they also responsible for pruning things and for replanting dead plants.

What's the extent?

Yeah, so within the within the medium, they their responsibility includes weekly weed removal, um, I think it's monthly edging and monthly trimming back of bushes, overgrown bushes within those areas.

But not replanting things that are dying or not replanting, no.

Replanting is not included.

An additional enhancement to the and this is not included, I think, in laurels and in our prior, it hasn't been included in our prior contracts.

Yeah.

And I should say there are things we can we can look at amending if or expanding if that was if that was a desire.

But we're this contract is kind of set based on on the prior services that were that have been provided to the city.

And do you know who chose the plants that are put in the median strips?

But I know several other projects, um, like for instance, South South Main Street was part of that intersection design, and I believe those were done by Kakuchi landscape.

Uh Kikuchi and Kankel.

Um actually I think they've done several of the landscape planners through town.

I can't speak towards all of them, but I know in their choice of plants they were targeting things that were going to be low maintenance for the city.

And then the other question I had was you said um you were describing the scope of the project, and you said that uh strip of Kelly would not be included.

What exactly are you talking about there?

So there's there's one island that is just south of Kelly Avenue in front of Cunha Intermediate School, which is not included in the city's current maintenance agreement with Caltrans.

It's kind of it's kind of a weird little gap in in our maintenance.

And so Cal Caltrance is supposed to be responsible for maintaining that median, and so that's why it's not included.

It looks like hell.

Are we gonna be talking to Caltrance and try to figure out a way to have them give it to us or whatever?

I can I'd be happy to have those conversations with Caltrance.

Um one thing that they are very good about is any anytime we come to Caltrans with a project for an encroachment within their right-of-way, whether it's an expansion of our trail network or a new bridge or something, um, they always like to add into our requirements an amendment to our maintenance contract to expand it and add whatever additional area we're we're touching.

And so through that process, we've our maintenance um our maintenance commitment has grown kind of gradually over the years.

Yeah, generally Caltrans is more than happy to hand over responsibility for those things, but they're not gonna provide funding for it.

So it's really a decision we would make.

Is is it worth taking that on in the financial burden of it in order to enhance the it would be nice to know what the cost of that would be because it is a disgrace and it we want our medians to look good.

Could we look at that?

Try to figure out what it would cost to include that portion.

Absolutely.

And and one other thing, Dale, I want to clarify the the section of the median north of North Maine is also not currently within our maintenance responsibility, but will be when we complete the Highway One North safety project because we will landscape that.

So maybe that's a time where we could look at adding those two sections to the maintenance agreement and to this agreement.

No, you are you are correct, Matthew.

And actually, in fact, that existing median is is going to be almost completely destroyed as part of the Highway One North project um through construction because of our requirements to shift lanes to provide enough space for travelways.

It will be rebuilt at the end, but yeah.

So I think the answer is But that could be 10 years from now.

Well, let's hope not.

Well, I hope not, but at the same time it's been going on forever.

So I think what we can do is we'll evaluate the timing of that, and then we can look at both of those if it seems like the Highway One North project is going to be delayed, which I you know I won't be here to you guys will fire me if that happens.

So couldn't we just ask Brush Hog what it would cost for them to include that in the in the package?

It came in with a low bid.

I I think so because this is not a typical CIP RFP, so we don't have the same requirements there for change orders and stuff.

So we can we can do that if the rest of the council supports that.

You might as well for continuity's sake.

Sure.

And and remember, it's not just the cost to maintain it, but we don't want to maintain what's there now.

We would need a project to enhance it.

So we can work on that.

We'll bring it back um down the you know in the near future.

Thank you.

Councilmember Johnson.

At the bit at this one.

Um Matthew, you know I've been talking to you about laurel landscaping for over a year.

I'm not happy with it, but I'm just one out of five.

Uh and Dale, thank you for taking charge of all this stuff.

But I just felt it was a blow and go.

The boulder was broken, it's sitting there.

It it was like having a China bowl there broken, and I'm sitting there looking at a boulder that was a boulder, and it was actually a fake boulder for months.

We've got the DG that looks just wiped out.

It's the stamped gold DG that it's been there forever.

The plants, half the plants are dead.

You go, you leave out of town, and and the vice mayor brought that forward.

I'm not sure which ones you're looking at, but I I think you're getting at that point where it's burned out.

And what we got here also where the sheriff don't take this uh captain, don't take this personal, but I think they're shooting the cars out of there and they're breaking the water lines because I've been noticing your water bills the same amount every month.

That's impossible.

So there's got to be a broken pipe there, and you got or you're not turning them on.

So do we have a irrigation system that works on all mediums?

No, there's no way.

Because there's no way your bill is the same amount every month.

Uh I believe several of those mediums.

We we do have irrigation meters installed, but we have not been irrigating.

Yeah, there's no way, because I watched the bills.

So I know they're not working.

So they're not gonna be able to fix that, correct?

That's gonna be something we have to do.

So within there within the RFP scope, there is an ad item for irrigation repairs in there.

So that's so that's outside of the I guess their base, their base fee, but it's included within that.

So we can't ask them to to do landscape repairs as needed, irrigation repairs.

Because we de we definitely need it because we and then those plants are just desperate need of watering, but they are drought tolerant water plants, but they're burned out.

So we need to kind of and and I don't know what the rest of the council wants to do here, but our medians need some help.

And I'm kind of hearing it already on the vice mayor.

And I don't know if we have that kind of for the budget, but we need something.

And the gold DG isn't cost that much, and that enhances it.

So I'd like to put something in there where the watering system works and try to get a budget if we can, if other people will agree with me, is to bring back the life that we used to have on those mediums because they were beautiful at one time.

And there's clearly when you leave out of town, you look to the left, you'll see this beautiful bush that was there.

It's black and dead.

And no one's taking care of it, and no one's removing it.

So I know we got a cheaper bid, but these are tree guys.

And I and I know this family too, they're cool people.

But can we are we gonna get some because I'm thinking more of like Casolino landscaping new limbs?

That's landscaping, right?

So are we gonna be able to get some landscaping out of this at some point if we can afford it?

Okay, Councilmember Nakencast.

Thank you.

And I kind of summarizing some of the things that you know I was going to talk about, but also I've heard um the report mentions it's highly visible, so not only to the general public, but obviously council members.

And uh, you know, I think projects to bring, you know, to add uh whether it's DG or plants, that's a different process.

Yeah, I don't know how much you could do on the existing contract, but I assume that would have to come back to us if you were gonna add on some new landscaping.

And typically, right too, when you take over something from Caltrans, we'd want it improved before we would take it over.

We wouldn't want so that would also be something you have to come back to us on.

But I'm hearing, you know, that sounds like it's a priority that something we're interested in, that'd be nice to put in there.

But you know, because they were so low of a bid, I think there was concern by staff, and you guys did talk to them about you know, you know what you're getting into, and again, it's visible.

You know, so yeah, and they are local, their staff drive through they their staff drive by those medians um you know every day on their way to work.

So it's great.

So it's a it's a one-year contract, right?

And yeah, it's uh it's set up so that we can extend it for up to five years, but each term is only a year, and then we can always pull the plug if if something's not working.

But I think you know, we we work with Brush Hog on tree services, and um, you know, they have a really strong reputation in the community, and and we're we're hopeful and expecting that that reputation will carry forward to this project, and you know, we'll we'll have the tools to be able to hold them accountable.

So even replacement plans, maybe.

You know, I know you can't go, you know, at some point they can't do a million dollar project, but you know, so maybe some replacement plans here and there.

Maybe that is something that could be added.

I don't know, but if that'd have to come back to us, maybe that's easily done.

Yeah, I think there's uh I mean there's clear consensus from the council that we we need to look a little deeper into the the bigger picture here beyond just the the ongoing services.

So uh I think there's a chance for us to sit down with the maintenance team and and kind of talk through all of this and and determine what potentially could be added to the scope of this contract versus a separate project that would play into this contract.

So um I I think there's no issue with us sitting down and doing that very quickly, and and if we need to bring something back, we will.

Okay.

Well, thanks.

And uh I don't know if uh Councilmember Brownstone wants to weigh in on this or not.

You know, we've we've spent more time on a $35,000 contract than we have on sewer fees and sewer rate studies.

But I I understand why.

I mean, we see the medians, we want them to look good, and the other things are kind of overwhelming.

Uh is there anybody in the audience that would like to address the item of the uh brush hog medians contract.

Is there anybody online?

I do see a hand raised.

Sid Young.

Hi.

Um I was on this um chamber when those original medions got they raised money to improve the medions quite a long time ago, I have to admit.

But um they raise money locally, and and you have a lot of nurseries in town, and you also um, you know, I hate to say it, but going north, that that meeting never got done in the original time.

And there's people like uh council member Johnson and Brownstone that live north, and you have to go by that all the time, and here they are gussying up the highway.

It's gonna look real nice, but not with that crappy median in the middle of right when you turn north.

So I would say maybe check with the chamber, maybe they can get another project going to raise money through the you know uh community, but if not, you know, maybe just reach out to some of the nurseries.

And um, I'm definitely in favor of at least doing a uh uh a pastiche or uh a small uh temporary median there on the northbound one because it's looked like L since the chamber did the nice ones.

Thank you.

Okay, I'd like to move this item because we have another large item before we can call it a night.

So I recommend we adopt a resolution authorizing the city manager to execute a professional service agreement with brush hog tree care inc to provide citywide median landscape maintenance services for fiscal year 2026-27 in amount not to exceed $35,400 with up to four optional one-year extensions.

Do we have a second?

Second.

Uh all in favor say aye.

Aye.

You want to roll call?

Okay.

We would like a roll call vote, please.

Councilmember Brownstone.

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson.

Yes.

Councilmember Nagingas?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Penrose.

Yeah, I'm going to be voting no, and uh my reason for voting no is explained by the questions that I've had.

I think we need a larger scope to this project.

I don't want to I don't want to be doing a whole second project after having completed this one.

I think it's a waste of energy and time and money.

So I'm voting now.

Sure.

Okay.

Mayor Redick.

Yes.

Motion carries.

All right.

So we're moving on to item um 11F, which is agreement for law enforcement services with the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office.

And who is doing this uh get me one more time tonight?

Okay.

So final item of the evening regular regular business item is our law enforcement uh agreement with the sheriff's office.

Um I brought this forward uh uh two months ago um with uh not for uh a vote but just for a discussion about the extended agreement.

So I'll give a little bit of background um, but uh I'll I'll try to move quickly.

So as you know, the city used to have a police department, it was um eliminated in 2011 due to budget constraints at that time after an RFP, the city chose the sheriff's office to provide those services for uh financial reasons and um for the continuity across the coast side of law enforcement services.

Since 2011, that agreement's been amended 17 times and it expired on June 30th, 2025.

Normally we would have extended that agreement before it expired, but as you know, there was some issues going on at the sheriff's office, and we uh the sheriff's office and the city were not in a position to negotiate an extension.

So we just considered continued the status quo, and uh the new sheriff was appointed in November of 2025 and has started to rebuild the team and rebuild um you know revise policies and procedures.

There are four other contract cities for the sheriff's office, Woodside and Portola Valley, who have always received sheriff services, and then San Carlos and Milbrae who transitioned from their own police departments around the same time that we did.

So there's a new agreement rather than an amendment, and the purpose of the new the new agreement under this new administration is to consolidate, standardize, and simplify the agreement, which I appreciate because in enforcing the agreement, I have a binder that literally has a hundred pages in it, and I have to I have post-it notes and things referencing this change, that changed.

So to have a new clean, fully consolidated agreement is is really a benefit.

Unfortunately, in order to make it consistent and standardized across all the contract cities, they remove some special conditions that we had included over the years.

And some of those are extra traffic enforcement and support on busy summer um weekends and holidays because we know we get a lot of extra traffic, um, support for our special events, uh, community outreach events that started following um the 2020 incidents and and the things that followed there.

Um language about collaborating with CARES program, which was terminated um last year, so um that makes sense.

But it the the agreement lost some of the things that we had specified locally.

Um, and we'll talk about that here in a moment.

Um ultimately what they're seeking is a five-year term retroactive to last year, so that there's now continuity of the services through 2030.

Um either party can terminate on July 1st of each year as long as there's been a year's notice.

And this agreement um set the rate for last year at 6.6 million dollars, which was about a six percent increase over 2425.

Additionally, they provided an amendment for this fiscal year.

And I I this is a little complex, but this is how it works is the sheriff actually is legally required to consistently charge fees across all of its contract agencies.

It can't charge different fees to different agencies, and um and like we talked about earlier, they can only charge up to a cost recovery for what it costs them to provide those services, and to be consistent, that's just their standard.

Whatever it costs to provide the services at the level we've agreed to, that's what we pay.

And so that requires them every year to estimate what the next year's fees are gonna be, set that contract rate, amend it so that we can then pay them that contract rate, and then there's a reconciliation at the end of each year that actually determines how much the cost, how much we actually used, and typically we have a savings that's returned to us generally a couple hundred thousand dollars per year.

Much better than owing them by underestimating, but that's the process.

And so included in tonight's recommendation is not just the new contract, but it's also the amendment for this fiscal year.

Um the rate that they've set for this fiscal year, which has been included in our budget already is 7.2 million, which is a 9% increase over last year's budget.

We've had some major fluctuations in rate increases over the years.

Um at this point, they hover usually between five and ten percent, depending on contractual obligations they have to their staff through negotiations, insurance rates, overhead costs, equipment maintenance requirements, those types of things.

So what I want to talk mostly about is the items that they removed.

So at the last meeting where we talked about this, an ad hoc committee of council members Brownstone and Nagangast was appointed to work with staff, meet with the sheriff, talk about those changes, and see if we can't create a situation where we can include some specific things that we want in the agreement.

That meeting happened, um, or I think it was uh a productive meeting, but ultimately there is no wiggle room for the sheriff to modify the contract.

They really coming out of the gate, they want to keep them very consistent.

But they've said all of those services are available to us, and it's based on us working with the captain here locally who we were able to select through an interview process to ensure that there's capacity and and and the opportunity to provide those services.

And as you know, we've got a great relationship with Chief Allen, he's very dedicated to the coast and really committed to supporting the city and its needs.

And so I'm confident that this approach will work, and uh you know, there are tools we can use if if things change in the future.

Um I do think it's important for us to continue to think about this contract, and if we move forward with approving it, we do have uh public safety subcommittee, or we could create an ad hoc at some point to just look at law enforcement services in Half Moon Bay, what our needs and expectations are, do some public outreach, and just make sure that our relationship with the sheriff as it stands right now serves the needs of the community going forward.

And I think that's just fair due diligence to do.

But my recommendation is to move forward with what's been proposed to continue to work with Chief Allen on those specific needs, and and again, he's been very responsive to everything we've requested so far.

And then we've talked about a couple of things that we could do to give the council and the community opportunities to provide feedback.

The first one is uh the contract allows for an annual report.

So there's a lot of data that's collected by the sheriff's office.

The community, and I think the council and the city are very interested in that data.

The chief is working on providing quarterly updates like we used to get on that data, but also there will be an annual report that will happen throughout the county, but we'll get a specific one in January or February of each year based on the prior calendar years um operations and data.

Additionally, the chief has agreed that um he is happy to come back any time to meet with council to talk about how things are going.

So, what I propose is we just kind of create a policy that each June, so that's on a six-month cadence, and it kind of catches us before the beginning of summer really heating up and the 4th of July activities and some of the challenges we have there.

We have an interim report where we can talk about how things are going, we can hear from the community, the council can make some requests and we can talk about them as well as any additional times.

And again, the the chief has been very agreeable to doing those things.

One last clarification I just want to make clear is the contract that's before us is strictly for sheriff patrol services.

911 dispatch is a separate department of the county, and it's a separate contract that we have with the county, not included in what we pay to the sheriff.

Additionally, as part of the contract, we provide the substation and everything that goes with it.

So we provide the maintenance, the utilities, um, the county provides its own furnishings and other things, but um you know, those costs average between 30 and 50,000 a year, depending on what the needs are.

So just wanted to provide that context that there's more to our public safety costs than just the sheriff's contract.

Our public safety budget also has our animal control contract with the county, um, some JPAs that we're part of that provide other services, but that is why public safety is our number one expenditure here in Half Boom Bay, as it is in most cities.

It's not just the sheriff's contract, it's other things that come with it.

So that was a lot, very quickly.

Happy to take any questions.

Um I'm sure the ad hoc committee is is happy to share any of their insights from our meeting with the sheriff as well.

Good presentation.

Thank you.

You've absorbed and can articulate a very complex situation.

Thank you.

Nine years of dealing with it, so very good.

So would members of the subcommittee like to weigh in?

Just um, you know, Matthew's correct.

We uh you know, the first thing that came up were those list of space items that were um in the report earlier that aren't in the contract.

A lot of those were hangovers from when the city uh removed itself from a local police department, made sure that those things were included part of the sheriff's services, and they are.

But our uh concern has been well, how does the community know those not only provided but acceptable to the community?

And that's where this annual report or the ability the community and the council to talk about what's working, what's not working.

So and they're still doing their patrols uh and working in the event major events that we have.

Yeah, I think we have a really good relationship with our current chief.

Um I was a little concerned about you know, relying on great relationship over time, in case the new chief leaves, and what things you know ought to be in writing, but I like the idea of having a very detailed report on each year more here's what you got, you know, for your buck.

Um, and see how that works, you know, and then kind of compare.

Well, these were the things we left out of our own customized contract, and you know, here's what we got, and just make sure you know that there's an alignment until we do that, you know, because um there's just so many different things going on in the coast with weather and unexpected emergencies and stuff, and um so on the other hand, you know, it's a lot of flexibility.

I really believe that um, you know, the chief's uh commitment, like, hey, I'll make sure things work and stuff.

And well, he happens to really like the coast a lot too, so that doesn't hurt.

So um we're lucky that you're here.

But this is what you're doing for every one of your contract cities.

So we all the contract cities are you know willing to go along with this different way of doing it, which puts less stress on the sheriff of having to customize everything, and then each Cell, why don't you put this in our contract, looking at it from their perspective?

So I appreciated looking at it, you know, from the other side.

And um yeah, I have a lot of confidence that this will work well, and I'll have um continue to get great services.

Thank you for that report from the subcommittee.

Great, good job.

I do have one speaker slip, Nancy Fontana.

I'm really tired.

I I had planned to come to a meeting sometime and say something during the public comment session, but I wasn't able to get here early enough tonight and then saw this was on the agenda.

Little did I know it would be almost 11 o'clock when I could finally say something.

So I I'm in support of this agreement, but more importantly, I was hoping to um report my personal observations.

Um it's been a very quiet transition.

There's a presence, a quiet presence, but there's more of it.

And and I go to half through town regularly.

I live in Arlita Park, we get our mail delivered to the post office, so it's almost a daily thing.

Some days no, but some days more than once, because I usually forget to do something.

Um I also go to El Granada fairly regularly.

And just today at the library, I was with friends who are from Onterra and El Granada and uh and Half Moon Bay, and I asked if they had noticed anything.

You know, and they're kind of like, well, not no, no, not right.

I said, well, no, it's a little so well, yeah.

Well, there's a f I we're seeing a f a little more um uh a presence, more of a presence, but it's not overbearing.

It's not like there's a new sheriff in town, and you know, it it it so I think it's been it's a a good thing.

Um I also talked to some residents in El Granada because I go up there regularly, and they noticed over Fourth of July one spot that really had problems last uh a year ago, didn't have nearly the problems with that.

And the same thing happened here in Arleta Park.

So I think I think it's working well, just so you know, thank you.

Sure.

Councilmember uh Brownstone.

Uh not to tell a personal story, but we've had a few others tonight.

So just want to comment and thank the sheriffs, especially because you just reminded me about the issue of fireworks, which we spent a lot of time and got a lot of comments on over the last few months leading up to July 4th.

And this is the first time in uh 14 years that I've lived here.

That well, before this, there was always at least a week worth of fireworks.

I I live in um Mirramar near the beach, at least a week's worth of fireworks leading up to July 4th, and an extra week afterwards so they could use up all the fireworks.

So they might not have used, right?

And um my dog Nala always just runs under our bed, right, during these fireworks.

This is the first time I didn't hear one crackle.

Nala was thanks from Nala Center, thanks.

Um this was the first time in 14 years that I didn't hear all those fireworks.

So um whatever you did.

Thank you.

And the word got out too that um yeah, we were kind of serious about taking care of that problem, and that was a real issue for a lot of folks.

So um I think it's good to have as many examples as we can of how.

And it was like you said, it was without some overwhelming presence or helicopters you know, roaming around trying to catch.

I mean, it just you know the message got out that we um, you know, there's probably a couple of kids who we caught, and word gets around in social media that you know sheriffs being um attentive to this.

So, yeah.

Thanks for bringing that up, though, it reminded me.

Okay, so uh Vice Mayor.

Yeah, I I hate to break up the Love Fest with a question, but the question is why 6% when the cost of living has just gone up for something.

Why do the sheriffs need six percent?

Seems high.

Yeah, and actually I'll it's nine percent year over year.

Um the six percent was the 2425 to 2526.

This one is nine percent.

Um it's not just connected to inflation.

Um there are negotiations that take place well before inflation hits um that affect the the increase to salaries and wages for um deputies and sergeants and and other staff.

Also health care costs, all the all the benefits, they have their own increases that are not tied to traditional inflation.

And then they just have to look at the overhead costs.

So the good thing is there's a very thorough um reconciliation that happens at the end of the year that we're able to evaluate and review, and we always end up with quite a bit of cost savings at the end of the year.

What percentage do we get back?

Uh well, I I can't give that to you in percentages, but um it generally is three to four hundred thousand dollars or more a year, and it it's gonna be higher this year.

So, yeah, that's hard to predict, and we can't rely on it, and and so we always have to expect we'll pay what's budgeted.

Um, but we can't control what those increases are.

Um, and that's where we have to there's there's trust that they're going to negotiate um fairly in and to our benefit as well.

So we're not negotiating the cost of the sheriff.

What we're negotiating are the services that they provide.

That's correct.

There is no negotiation when it comes to the cost of the sheriff.

Correct.

Okay.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Lovefest over.

I move that we adopt a resolution authorizing the city manager to one, execute a law enforcement services agreement with the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office for a term of five years from July 1st, 2025 through June 30th, 2030.

And two, execute amendment one to the law enforcement services agreement, setting the rates and payments schedule for fiscal year 2026 through 27.

Thanks.

I'll send you a question.

Um could I have a roll call, please?

Councilmember Brownstone?

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson.

Yes.

Councilmember Nagginas.

Yes.

Vice Mayor Penrose?

Yes.

Mayor.

Yes.

Motion carries.

Okay, item 12 for future discussion and possible future agenda items.

I I don't know if this is 12 or 13.

But we went the whole meeting and we didn't talk about the the state and city, you know, about the lawsuit.

And I know something went out publicly, but I don't know if that's something that's strictly a closed session item.

I've had people in the community talked ask me how come there's no discussion about this, and I didn't know if this is something because it's already in litigation that it would come to us as a closed session item.

Yes.

So at this point, it there has been a petition forward a mandate that's been filed, as I I'm aware of.

Um that would be something that we would bring forward in closed session at a future date.

That's that's what I would rely relay back to the community.

I know there was a uh uh E notice or we put out it went out last week as soon as we found out what this state was doing, and then but it's going to come to us in closed session, and that's what we'll talk about.

Right.

When when and it is appropriate we would bring it to council in closed session.

But first we have to be served, correctly, and then we haven't actually been served.

We have not yet been served.

That's correct.

Um so yes.

Um there is as mentioned, there is a press release.

I think that can be found on the city's website.

Yeah, if people go to our website and either you go to our community development page and there's a housing element option, or the easiest thing is just to search housing element.

There's a whole page that talks about the history of the housing element update for this cycle and all the iterations of it, and at the very top is that press release that was issued on Thursday that provides a lot of detail, but the whole page, if if someone's really interested in understanding the the complexities of this and the history of it, it's all there.

So and I think there will be opportunities for us going forward to provide more information to the community.

It I every person I talk to has questions about it.

So I think there's obviously opportunities to simplify and clarify for the community what's happening, and we can work on that.

And any city council reports?

Any city council reports?

Hearing none.

Thank you all.