Make me a co-host.

Okay.

Thank you for your patience.

This very special meeting of the Lafayette City Council is called together, called to order at seven eighteen PM.

Roll call, let the record show that Council members Cervantes, Candel, and Anduri are present.

Councilmember Witherspoon has an excused absence, and Vice Mayor McCormick is living the city's commitment to continuing lifelong education by attending a course at Oxford University on the Stuart Dynasty.

Sixteen oh three to seventeen fourteen.

Earning an excused absence.

All in favor?

Aye.

Three oh, we've adopted the agenda.

Uh please join in the Pledge of Allegiance.

And to the Republic for which it stands.

One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

To cut to the chase, last year, Mayor Candell pronounced the state of the city to be outstanding.

It's hard to disagree with that.

It is still outstanding, and it will continue to be.

Yes, we have problems and challenges, but Lafayette will meet those challenges and solve those problems.

Because our civic life is supported by four strong pillars.

The first is our city staff, led by our city manager, Narub Servatsa, and our five department heads.

Jamie Williams, Chief of Police, Tracy Robinson, Assistant City Manager and Administrative Services Director, Greg Wolf, Director of Planning, Mike Moran, Director of Engineering and Public Works, and Jonathan Katayanagi, Director of Parks, Trails, and Recreation.

As I've said before, I sometimes marvel at the level of talent serving us, a small city of twenty-five thousand people.

The second pillar is the talented residents who step forward to serve on our city commissions, committees, and task forces.

I'd like to give the representatives of our partners in this room an opportunity to identify themselves so that we can see the scope of these relationships.

I just ask that in the interest of time, please just give your name and organization.

And if we could start over here.

Second, we would establish the Major H Citizens Oversight Committee, and we did.

Third, we would see how much the half cent sales tax actually brought in.

Now that we have a full year of experience, we know that it is more than we thought.

We expected 2.2 million, we received 3.23 million, a million dollars more.

Thanks to differences in how our allocated sales tax revenue and our new half cent sales tax are calculated.

Fourth, we asked our city manager to explore additional sources of revenue.

This is an ongoing process, but there are several things we have done or that are underway.

For example, the city has contracted with an investment management company to help manage the investment of our city funds.

We've also initiated several new fee studies to update our development and other fees in order to ensure that growth pays for itself and funds the necessary infrastructure and services.

Fifth, we asked our city manager to explore additional efficiency measures.

In the past year, we have, for example, invested in software solutions that increase the efficiency of our staff so that we would be able to absorb more work with the same staff.

Sixth, we carried out an assessment of all the city's physical assets to see if we were putting aside enough in sinking funds to be able to replace or repair our existing assets over the next 20 years.

We learned that we were not.

So now, unlike most other cities in California, we are putting away the funds we need to repair and replace our physical assets over the next 20 years.

As part of the assessment, we were advised that the original community center building, not the Jennifer Russell Building, is at the end of its useful life.

And while we could use $500,000 per year to keep it repaired and functional, that might not be the best use of our funds.

That takes us to the council's goal setting meeting this year when we decided that this priority, focusing on fiscal sustainability, should shift to planning for the development and financing of the city's recreational needs.

This means that during the next fiscal year we will do the following.

First, we'll take a hard look at the original community center building and determine the best course of action.

Continue to repair and maintain the existing building at a cost of 500,000 plus per year and find ourselves 20 years from now with a patched up building from the 1950s, or replace the existing building with a new building planned for today's activities, or a new building in a more central location, or some permutation of these options.

Second, we will undertake a short, medium and long-term recreational needs assessment to ensure that our facilities keep pace with our growing and evolving community.

Third, we will carefully assess the cost of meeting our community's needs, explore fiscally responsible options for funding those investments, and recommend a path that balances long-term financial sustainability with our commitment to serving the community.

But in the meantime, we are in active discussions with our partners and others to obtain land for a playing field, land for a dog park and possibly a mountain bike pump track, land for one of the possible downtown parks called for in our downtown specific plan, and additional space for indoor recreation programs.

The year ahead promises to be an exciting one in the area of recreation.

We have important work underway, big opportunities on the horizon, and plenty to look forward to, and we'll provide regular updates as these efforts move forward.

A second major priority last fiscal year and again this year is wildfire prevention, preparedness and responsiveness.

This year the council has six tasks under this priority.

First, facilitate community engagement and public education efforts, particularly with respect to vegetation clearing, home hardening, and fire-wise neighborhoods.

Last year we added 10 new fire-wise neighborhoods, bringing Lafayette's total to 35, representing more than 3,000 homes.

Second, work with CONFIR and other partner agencies to reduce the risk of wildfires, including through fuel reduction and shaded fuel breaks, methods for early detection of ignition, and methods for rapid response to ignition.

Third, develop an evacuation time study, either through CCTA or our own means.

Fourth, after the study is completed, consider developing objective standards for wildfire evacuation risk to use when making land use decisions.

Fifth, work on evacuation route hardening.

Sixth, take steps to ensure that wildfire risk is considered during the 2031-38 regional housing needs assessment process.