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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Public Works and Transportation Committee Meeting - September 30, 2025

City Council — Tuesday, September 30, 2025

BodyOakland, California

SessionCity Council

DateTuesday, September 30, 2025

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 1:50:37

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

2:08

Good morning and welcome to the Public Works and Transportation Committee meeting of Tuesday, September 30th, 2025.

2:14

The time is now eleven thirty a.m.

2:16

and this meeting may come to order.

2:18

Before taking roll, I will provide instructions on how to submit a speaker card for items on this agenda.

2:23

If you're here with us in chamber and would like to submit a speaker card, please fill one out to my and turn one into myself or a clerk representative no later than ten minutes after the start of this meeting or before the item is read into record.

2:35

Registering to speak via Zoom is now due 24 hours prior to the start of this meeting time.

2:40

This meeting came to order at ten at eleven thirty a.m.

2:43

And speaker cards will no longer be accepted ten minutes after that meeting has begun, making that time eleven forty a.m.

2:49

We'll now proceed with taking roll.

2:52

Councilmember Guile is excused.

2:56

Thank you.

2:57

Councilmember Wong.

3:02

Thank you.

3:02

And Chair Unger.

3:04

Thank you.

3:05

We have three members present.

3:07

One excuse, Councilmember Guile.

3:09

And before we begin, Chair, do you have any announcements at this time?

3:13

No announcements.

3:14

Okay, we'll go ahead and begin.

3:16

Item one, since this is a special meeting, there are no minutes to be approved.

3:20

Item two, determination of schedule of outstanding committee items, and we do have one public speaker that signed up.

3:34

Do we have anything from the city administrator or my colleagues for the pending list?

3:41

Okay.

3:42

Do we have a motion to approve the pending list?

3:47

So moved.

4:30

Safely drop the kids each morning.

4:33

Over 150 families use this parking lot between 7.40 a.m.

4:39

and 8:30 a.m.

4:41

each morning, which help eliminate neighborhood congestion and ensure our children arrive safely.

4:48

The parking lot is located one block from the fruit vale exit on 580.

4:54

So you can imagine 150 families making a line to enter the school.

5:02

And we have a very small parking space to do that.

5:07

We saw signs last week that the parking lot is scheduled to be closed permanently on October 6th.

5:14

That is this coming Monday.

5:17

Please do not permanently close this lot and help us to do that.

5:21

There are alternative solutions, such as closing during the night hours, that can help dumping.

5:30

This is a simple solution that will not only come compromise the safety of our children, and uh we would like to collaborate with the city council, I think it's Councilman Gallo, to clean together uh periodically this parking lot.

5:49

Uh in addition, our neighbors, the Jarlat Church, uh parishioners use this parking lot on Sundays.

5:57

Uh so we wrote to Kyrance seeking to seed with them and find solutions together, but the response was that the decision was already made.

6:09

Thank you for your.

6:10

Is there anybody from Council Member Gaio's office here?

6:14

Um Matt, uh, if you could talk to my staff member Matt, and he can help connect you with Council Member Guy's office.

6:20

That'd be great.

6:21

He's in the back there.

6:24

Thank you.

6:25

We have a motion made by Councilmember Wong, seconded by Council Member Houston, to accept the determination of schedule about standing committee items as is on roll, Council Member Guy's excuse.

6:35

Council Member Houston?

6:37

Yes.

6:40

Councilmember Wong?

6:41

Aye.

6:42

And Chair Unger.

6:45

Aye.

6:45

Thank you.

6:46

Item number two passes with three eyes, one excuse to accept the pending list as is.

6:51

Now reading in item number three, adopt a resolution recognizing the extraordinary vegetation management performance of Ecosystems Concept Inc., its herders, and Caprine Goat staff as the organization, as the organization executes its contractual agreements with the city of Oakland, designed to mitigate the risk of wildfires by deploying hundreds of grazing goats into high-risk fire zones to reduce the amount of hazardous vegetation.

7:16

And we do have one speaker that signed up for this item.

7:20

All right, let's hear our speaker.

7:28

Is there is there a report or just the speaker?

7:33

Yeah, I mean, I I can do the report.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Contracting And Procurement████████████████████████24%

Environmental Protection██████████████14%

Water And Wastewater Management████████████12%

Procedural██████████10%

Parks and Recreation██████6%

Public Safety██████6%

Youth Programs██████6%

Engineering And Infrastructure████4%

Technology and Innovation███3%

Summary of Proceedings

Public Works and Transportation Committee Meeting - September 30, 2025

The Public Works and Transportation Committee convened on September 30, 2025, with Chair Unger and Councilmembers Wong and Houston present (Councilmember Guile excused). The meeting focused on approving various contracts and resolutions related to infrastructure maintenance, vegetation management, emergency services, and compliance agreements. Multiple items were discussed and forwarded to the full City Council for final approval.

Public Comments & Testimony

Parking Lot Closure: A community member expressed strong opposition to the scheduled permanent closure of a parking lot near Fruitvale, used by over 150 families for school drop-offs. The speaker requested the city work with Councilmember Gallo to find alternative solutions, such as nighttime closures.
Vegetation Management Recognition: Robert McGrew, representing Ecosystems Concept Inc., expressed deep gratitude for the resolution honoring their 30-year goat grazing program. He emphasized the program's role in wildfire prevention and community collaboration.
General Contract Concerns: Asada Olabala spoke on multiple items, voicing opposition to what she perceived as irrelevant mentions of immigrant communities, concerns about waiving competitive bidding and local business requirements, and criticism of the term "citizens" in a sanctuary city. She argued for greater transparency and accountability in contract approvals.
Civic Corps Support: Yvette Royal Albornez and Dave Lee Weaver, from Civic Corps, expressed full support for expanding the contract, highlighting the program's success in providing job training and skills for at-risk youth in Oakland.
Open Forum: Mary Forte expressed concern about the lack of agenda items addressing illegal dumping, citing prolonged delays in trash pickup and issues with container removals in East Oakland. Kevin Daly raised issues about fire code changes affecting street safety and urged committee attention.

Discussion Items

Item 3: Goat Grazing Program Recognition: Staff and council members discussed the ecological benefits of using goats for vegetation management in high-fire-risk zones. A public speaker shared how the program inspired them to own goats and engage with schools.
Item 4: Emergency Call Management Services: Staff presented the contract with Doppler Inc. for after-hours emergency dispatch. Council members questioned the "without returning to council" clause and sought clarity on 311 responsiveness and call triaging.
Item 5: Backflow Prevention Device Testing: Staff emphasized the mandatory annual testing required by East Bay MUD. Discussions included the rationale for contract extensions and the vendor's status as a local business.
Item 6: Landscape Maintenance Contract: Staff detailed the contract with Los Lozas Inc. for maintaining landscaped areas in a community facilities district, funded by special assessments rather than the general fund.
Item 7: Civic Corps Contract Expansion: Staff explained the use of Measure MM funds to expand vegetation management and trail maintenance services. Council members expressed support but stressed the importance of prioritizing Oakland youth.
Item 8: Caltrans Maintenance Agreements: Staff sought authorization to streamline agreements for capital improvements in Caltrans right-of-way. Public comments urged including homeless encampment coordination in these agreements.
Item 9: Asphalt Supply Contracts: Staff outlined the need for hot mix asphalt from Martin Marietta and tack oil from Read and Graham. Due to Martin Marietta's non-compliance with sanctuary city contracting requirements, a waiver was requested. Council debated delegating authority and ensuring road safety.
Item 10: Sewer Consent Decree Compliance: Staff described the urgency to replace sewer mains to meet EPA consent decree requirements and avoid penalties. Proposals included waiving local business requirements to accelerate contract awards.

Key Outcomes

The committee voted unanimously (3 ayes, 1 excused) to forward all items to the October 7, 2025, City Council agenda:
- Items 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10 were forwarded on consent.
- Item 9 was forwarded on non-consent due to discussions on waiver requirements.

Meeting Transcript

Good morning and welcome to the Public Works and Transportation Committee meeting of Tuesday, September 30th, 2025. The time is now eleven thirty a.m. and this meeting may come to order. Before taking roll, I will provide instructions on how to submit a speaker card for items on this agenda. If you're here with us in chamber and would like to submit a speaker card, please fill one out to my and turn one into myself or a clerk representative no later than ten minutes after the start of this meeting or before the item is read into record. Registering to speak via Zoom is now due 24 hours prior to the start of this meeting time. This meeting came to order at ten at eleven thirty a.m. And speaker cards will no longer be accepted ten minutes after that meeting has begun, making that time eleven forty a.m. We'll now proceed with taking roll. Councilmember Guile is excused. Thank you. Councilmember Wong. Thank you. And Chair Unger. Thank you. We have three members present. One excuse, Councilmember Guile. And before we begin, Chair, do you have any announcements at this time? No announcements. Okay, we'll go ahead and begin. Item one, since this is a special meeting, there are no minutes to be approved. Item two, determination of schedule of outstanding committee items, and we do have one public speaker that signed up. Do we have anything from the city administrator or my colleagues for the pending list? Okay. Do we have a motion to approve the pending list? So moved. Safely drop the kids each morning. Over 150 families use this parking lot between 7.40 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. each morning, which help eliminate neighborhood congestion and ensure our children arrive safely. The parking lot is located one block from the fruit vale exit on 580. So you can imagine 150 families making a line to enter the school. And we have a very small parking space to do that. We saw signs last week that the parking lot is scheduled to be closed permanently on October 6th. That is this coming Monday. Please do not permanently close this lot and help us to do that. There are alternative solutions, such as closing during the night hours, that can help dumping. This is a simple solution that will not only come compromise the safety of our children, and uh we would like to collaborate with the city council, I think it's Councilman Gallo, to clean together uh periodically this parking lot. Uh in addition, our neighbors, the Jarlat Church, uh parishioners use this parking lot on Sundays. Uh so we wrote to Kyrance seeking to seed with them and find solutions together, but the response was that the decision was already made. Thank you for your. Is there anybody from Council Member Gaio's office here? Um Matt, uh, if you could talk to my staff member Matt, and he can help connect you with Council Member Guy's office. That'd be great. He's in the back there. Thank you. We have a motion made by Councilmember Wong, seconded by Council Member Houston, to accept the determination of schedule about standing committee items as is on roll, Council Member Guy's excuse. Council Member Houston? Yes. Councilmember Wong?

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