The Redwood City Council held its regular meeting on December 16, 2024, the final meeting of the year. The council approved the consent calendar, adopted updated park and transportation impact fee project lists, approved a community engagement strategy for the Downtown and Central Redwood City Plan, and held a study session on the 84/101 interchange project. The meeting also featured public comments from city employees advocating for improved contract terms and staffing.
Six speakers addressed the council, primarily city employees or union representatives (SEIU Local 521) raising concerns about labor contracts and retention:
A written comment from Katie Causey (Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition) expressed interest in participating in downtown planning focus groups.
Community Development Director Jeff Schwab presented the updated project lists required under the Mitigation Fee Act. The Parks Impact Fee list identifies approximately $1.4 billion in needs over 5–20 years including land acquisition and development to achieve 3 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents (currently 2.25). The Transportation Impact Fee list includes $105 million in fees for 80 projects, such as the El Camino Real bike lane, Jefferson Avenue safety improvements, and the Woodside/101 interchange.
Council discussion covered:
The council unanimously adopted the resolutions approving both the Parks Impact Fee Project List and the Transportation Impact Fee Project List.
John Francis, principal planner, and Punam Narkar from WRT presented the proposed engagement strategy, built on four pillars: equity, efficiency, communication, and flexibility. Methods include focus groups, pop-ups, workshops, speaker series, surveys, and a project website. Key audiences include residents, businesses, property owners, underrepresented groups, and stakeholders.
Public comment:
Council members supported the strategy and offered suggestions:
The council unanimously approved the community engagement strategy.
City Manager Melissa Stevenson Diaz and Leo Scott from Gray Bowen Scott presented the "84/101 Reimagined" project. The current five-legged interchange and intersecting slip ramps cause congestion and safety hazards. The project will construct two bridges for Veterans Boulevard ramps, add bicycle and pedestrian facilities (over 4 miles of new bike/ped paths), and improve intersection operations.
Key updates:
Council discussion:
No action was taken as the item was a study session.
Perfect. Well, good evening, everybody. And welcome to the regular city council meeting of December 16th, 2024, our final meeting of the year. We're continuing to offer in-person and remote options for our city council meetings. However, due to continued disruptions during public comment at open meetings throughout our region, we've modified our public comment procedures until further notice. The city welcomes public comment on topics within the city's subject matter jurisdiction. And this can be provided in person during the meeting or by email ahead of time. At this time, we're temporarily suspending public comments by Zoom. We want to ensure that the city can continue to conduct the city's business in a manner that allows all residents to participate. We continue to reevaluate our public comment procedures and will share updates as necessary. Our public comment procedures tonight on items on the agenda or within the city's subject matter jurisdiction are as follows. Public comment is taken in person during the meeting or in advance via email as outlined on the agenda. Comments that were received via email by 5 p.m. may be read aloud, time permitting, or in any case will be made part of the final meeting record. In-person speakers must turn in a speaker card to the city clerk at the dais to be recognized to speak. Please be sure to indicate the agenda item number which you intend to speak on. In-person speakers will be called in the order in which speaker cards were turned in. If there's a high volume of public comment this evening, we may decrease the time allotted for each comment or limit the total time for public comment. This is to ensure that the city council can address agenda items in a timely manner and is allowed under the city council's guide to communications and business. In the event this occurs, please feel free to send your full comments to the city council at public comments at redwood city.org so that we can see your comments and they'll be a part of the meeting record there. Now I'll turn it over to our city clerk to call the roll. Good evening. Thank you. Councilmember Chu. Here. Councilmember G. Present. Councilmember Howard. Here, Councilmember Padilla. Present. Councilmember Stirkin. Here. Vice Mayor Aiken. Here and Mayor Martinez Ayos. Here. Thank you. Perfect. Now on to the Pledge of Allegiance, and I'd like to invite Councilmember Skirkin to lead us. Perfect. On to item four presentations and acknowledgments. Probably the best way to kick off any city council meeting. Uh we're going to recognize and congratulate the winners of the 2024 annual Rethink Waste poster contest. And I'd like to invite Megan from Rethink Waste to the podium to present the case. This year we hosted our 11th annual poster contest open to all eight third through eighth grade classes and individual students in the Rethink Waste Service area. We received 90 submissions from 24 different schools. This year's poster theme was my green routine, encouraging students to artistically depict their daily actions that make the earth a better greener place. The contest has two categories that students can enter either the elementary school or middle school group. With us today are the Redwood City winners. We are recognizing the second place winner from the elementary school, Catherine, and the second and third place winners from the middle school category, Luna and Tobias. We would like to thank the Redwood City City Council for recognizing the students for their hard work.