Hello, everyone.

It is six o'clock, so we're gonna go ahead and get started.

Good evening and thank you all for joining us for our regular city council meeting of November 10th, 2025.

We are holding meetings in a hybrid format with both in-person and virtual participation available.

The city welcomes public comment on topics within the city's subject matter jurisdiction, and members of the public may provide comments as follows.

In speaker, in-person speakers will be called first.

Speaker cards are located at the back table in the council chambers and must be turned in to the city clerk here at the Dais.

Please be sure to indicate the agenda item number which you wish to speak on.

Attendees who have joined us by Zoom will be called to speak after in-person speaker comments have been given, and detailed instructions for public comment will be provided on the screen when the time for public comment begins.

If there's a high volume of public comment this evening, we may decrease the total time allotted for each comment or limit the total time for public comment.

In the event this occurs, please feel free to send your full comments to the city council at Council at Redwood City.org.

Written comments are not read aloud but will be made part of the final meeting record.

And before we begin tonight's meeting, I'd like to take a moment of silence to honor and remember two members of our community, Benny or Beninho Nuguid Bade and Anil Kumar Shorma, who tragically lost their lives in a fire that occurred here in Redwood City last week.

As we pause together, let us remember their lives and the impact they had on those around them.

May this moment remind us to cherish the people we hold dear and to stand together in times of lost.

Please join me now in a moment of silence.

Thank you, everyone.

I'll now turn it over to our city clerk to call the roll.

Thank you, and good evening.

Councilmember Chu.

Councilmember G.

Present.

Council Member Howard.

Here.

Councilmember Padilla.

Here.

Councilmember Starkin.

Here.

Vice Mayor Aiken.

Here.

Mayor Martinez Saballos.

Here.

Thank you.

Thanks, everyone.

We'll go on to the Pledge of Allegiance.

Councilmember Howard could do the do the honors, please.

Thank you.

And the day before Veterans Day, let's stand and honor our flag and our country.

I pledge allegiance to the United States of America and two great other stands.

Thank you, Councilmember Howard.

We will move on to item four.

Item four is a procedural item for the purpose of identifying and confirming any council members who wish to participate in the meeting remotely and have not already provided a remote location listed on the agenda.

This item doesn't pertain to public comment from the public.

And not seeing we have any council members exercising this, so we'll move on to item five, which is our presentations and acknowledgements.

And our first recognition item this evening is to recognize a local partner that's provided critical resources to combat hunger and food insecurity here in our region.

Second Harvest Food Bank of Silicon Valley continues to supply Redwood City residents with healthy food and financial support to ensure that Redwood City residents, excuse me, that Redwood City residents and families do not go hungry.

On behalf of the City Council, I'd like to present the following proclamation.

Whereas Second Harvest of Silicon Valley has been a steadfast partner in the fight against hunger, providing nutritious food to hundreds of thousands of individuals and families across San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

And whereas the City of Redwood City recognizes that addressing hunger strengthens our entire community and reaffirms our shared values of compassion, inclusion, and equity.

And whereas the dedicated staff and volunteers of Second Harvest embody the spirit of service and generosity that makes Redwood City and the Greater Peninsula a place where we can all thrive.

Now, therefore, be it resolved that I, Elmer Martinez Aballos, Mayor of Redwood City, on behalf of the City Council and the people of Redwood City to hereby proclaim our heartfelt appreciation for Second Harvest of Silicon Valley and commend their unwavering commitment to ending food, excuse me, ending hunger and uplifting the lives of our residents.

And now I'd like to invite Second Harvest of Silicon Valley's program director, Josue Parajas, and his team to accept the proclamation and tell us more about the great work that they're doing in our community.

Welcome, Josue and team.

Thank you very much.

It is an honor and privilege to be here standing up with some of my colleagues.

We are very grateful and we are thankful for everything that has happened in this time because it's um served as a testimony of how we can work together to unify and how as a community we come together.

Um we're also very honored to be working with two special partners in this region, Cañada College, and um give me one second.

Let me pull out my notes.

Oh, yes, and College of San Mateo.

Both of those have um worked very closely to continue to provide nourishment in the community.

Um Second Harvest is also very honored to kind of work with all of our community colleges throughout Santa Clara and San Mateo County.

Um we are one of the um food banks that provides to all of our community colleges, state colleges throughout both of the counties, and it's interesting and um amazing to see that these community colleges really know that to provide for um nourishment to their students is by first and foremost the most important thing that um families, you know, and students will go hungry and will not be, you know, um able to learn if they're not fed.

So they've taken that commitment to do that.

And um, just kind of doing a little bit of highlights, we've been partners with uh the college for 10 years now.

They started in November of 2020 of 2014, so they've just we've we're just celebrating their anniversary there.

And then we've had um with Canyada College in 2022, and they started off as one of our first farmers markets, so they really recognize the need for dignity and to provide participant choice for the families.

So again, it is an honor to be able to get recognized for the amazing work and even through these tough times realize that we're in this together.

So thank you very much.

Thank you, Josue.

And before you all leave, it'd be great to take a photo with the council.

Yes.

And I'd also like to just quickly say that to everybody, if you all know of somebody who could benefit from these resources, we have a flyer in the back of chambers, but also all of these information, all the resources are online as well.

So not just the great distributions that Second Harvest does, but ready to go meals as well.

So just wanted to share that out for folks.

Thank you, Josue.

Yeah.

Councilmember Sergen, please.

Thank you.

And I just want to say thank you so much for the hard work you do in the community.

I work at one of your community partners in my day job, Sacred Heart Community Service in San Jose, so we get like all of our produce and dry goods from you to feed 700 families a day on average.

So thank you for the work you not only do in San Mateo, but Santa Clara County.

Um, and I did do a call out for anybody who may have brought donations tonight.

I like I have here a bag of like, you know, canvas and whatnot.

Um, if you did, just feel free to place it underneath the little table and the foyer right there, and I'll take it with me.

You don't have to take it.

I know you weren't planning on taking donations tonight, but I'll be taking it to um Second Harvest this week.

Um, so anyway, just thank you for providing that dignity of choice, which is really key and making sure our community is well fed and well cared for.

Thank you.

Let's take a photo.

Thank you.

Great.

Thank you again.

And thank you, Councilmember Storkin for rallying folks.

We'll move on to our second recognition of this evening, which is in celebration of the San Mateo County Central Labor Council's 90th anniversary.

The Central Labor Council has served as a united voice of working people in our county since 1935, bringing economic justice to the workplace and improving the lives of workers here in our community.

I'll read a few whereas from the proclamation.

Whereas for nine decades, the San Mateo County Central Labor Council has strengthened our communities by supporting good jobs, advancing social and economic justice, and ensuring that working families have access to the opportunities and protections they deserve.

And whereas the Central Labor Council has played a vital role in building partnerships with local governments, schools, and community organizations to promote equitable growth and sustain a thriving local economy.

And whereas the San Mateo County Central Labor Council's 90th anniversary is a milestone that honors generations of workers, leaders, and advocates who have contributed to the prosperity and resilience of our region.

Now, therefore, be it resolved that I, Elmer Martina Savallos, mayor of Redwood City, on behalf of the City Council and the people of Redwood City do hereby recognize and congratulate the San Mateo County Central Labor Council on the occasion of its 90th anniversary and express our sincere appreciation for its decades of leadership, advocacy, and service to the people of Redwood City and San Mateo County.

And it's my pleasure to welcome the San Mateo County Central Labor Council's executive officer, Julie Lynn, to the podium to accept the proclamation and give some remarks.

Welcome, Julie.

Mayor Martinez Sabayos, Council members and staff.

Thanks for giving me a few moments of your time today.

On behalf of the San Mateo Labor Council, representing 105 affiliate unions and over 95,000 workers and their families.

Thank you for this honor and for recognizing 90 years of local history.

This milestone was built by generations of working people who refused to accept unsafe workplaces, unfair pay, or disrespect on the job.

When our labor council was founded in 1935, the Great Depression left millions without work or hope.

Today our challenges look different.

Protecting workers, strengthening communities, and ensuring every person can earn a living with dignity and security.

Here in San Mateo County, we've carried that mission forward with real impact.

We champion the County Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement and Local Minimum Wage increases ensuring wage theft doesn't go unpunished.

Thank you for being in contract city and for being one of the first cities in the county to raise your minimum wage on a timeline more rapid than that of the state.

Advanced affordable housing and child care initiatives, past protections for workers and AI and AV technologies advance, fought abuse in the sheriff's office, and created pathways into the construction trades for our vulnerable populations.

And we ensured public dollars support high road careers, not low road employers.

Our labor movement today is more diverse, dynamic, and powerful than ever.

And San Mateo County's workforce reflects the full story of America.

Latino, Filipino, Black, Asian, Pacific Islander, White, Immigrant, Native born, standing shoulder to shoulder in solidarity.

More than thirty-seven percent of residents were born outside of the U.S., and our immigrant community makes up nearly half our workforce, and they lead our locals from the trades to health care, hospitality, and education.

And among them our undocumented siblings, who show up every day with courage and often without protection or recognition.

Looking ahead, the next few years are gonna test us, defending the rights of organize, protecting public sector jobs, ensuring a just clean energy transition, and expanding union rights in tech and health care.

That's why partnerships with cities like Redwood City matter.

We may not agree on everything, but we share a goal.

So as we celebrate 90 years, thank you for your leadership, your collaboration, and your commitment to working people.

Labor will continue to show up in council chambers, on picket lines, at protests and at the ballot box to make sure the next 90 years are even stronger.

Because when labor and our city stand together, we don't just build roads and schools, we build the foundation of justice, equity, and opportunity that holds our community together.

Thank you.

Thank you, Julie, for all your great work.

We'd love to get another photo, and here's another 90 years.

Thank you.

Thank you, everybody.

We'll now move on to item six.

We'll turn now to the public comment section of the agenda, and we'll now take public comment on the consent calendar, matters of council interest, as well as items that aren't on the agenda.

We welcome speakers providing public comment, but please be advised.

This is a limited public forum.

As such, speakers must address matters within the subject matter jurisdiction of the city.

If speakers do not, they'll be warned.

And if they continue to disregard city rules, their opportunity to speak will be limited.

If you're attending in person, please fill out a speaker card and submit it to the city clerk here at the dais.

And if you're attending virtually, please feel free to raise your hand on Zoom at this time, or press star nine if you have joined by phone.

Once we've gathered all the speaker cards and raised hands and have begun public comment, no additional speakers will be allowed to queue up.

I will now turn it over to our city clerk to help facilitate.

Thank you, Mayor.

At this time we have 10 speaker cards for our in-person speakers, and I'll give the Zoom folks a moment to raise your hand to speak on item number six tonight.

Okay, seeing none, we'll begin public comment with our in-person speakers.

We'll call names two at a time.

The timer will begin when you start speaking.

And there's a timer on the top of the podium.

The orange blinking light is a thirty-second warning, and the red light with the beep means your time is up.

We'll start with Ronnie, Ben David.

Ronnie will be followed by Katie Getz.

Hello, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council Members, staff, thank you for your time.

Again, I'm back.

And I really just want to extend a heartfelt invitation to partner, not just with me, but with the 60 plus neighbors who have been in touch over the last year about our grave concerns.

As the city doesn't have regulation on placement of small cell facilities, cell towers in our city.

And, you know, I recently consulted with an attorney who uh works with residents and cities to update their wireless ordinances in ways that are really practical and effective.

And he did reiterate that we have the right to protect our properties from reduced value, from having them in close proximity, and from the known and unknown health, adverse health effects of having that radio frequency radiation near our homes, near our bedrooms, near our schools, and um and the fire hazards.

Please listen to us.

Please at least meet with us.

After the last public comment, um Alex Chan, who's a senior engineer, wonderful, got in touch with me.

We've been in touch.

He doesn't work with the permits for small cell facilities, but I asked him about he said this that Redwood City is waiting to see what happens in San Mateo and Palo Alto, where they have made updates.

So I asked for a timeline.

I asked, like, what are the metrics to understand whether it's going well?

Well, whether it's meeting community needs, and there isn't a timeline.

There aren't really any metrics.

We just want sort of like straight answers, and um, and there's pathways to do this.

I would hate for the legacy that this council leaves is towers up all over the city.

And right now it's happening really quickly.

We just I just found out Crown Castle submitted eight more um locations, four of them again are in Mount Carmel.

For some reason, they're all over Mount Carmel.

But um, please partner with us.

We'll reach out again this week to set up meetings.

Hopefully, you'll meet with us.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Katie Getz.

And Katie will be followed by Martin Elliott.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of the City Council.

I am here.

Um, I am chair of the housing and human concerns committee, but I am here as my own person tonight, um, to thank you for a few weeks back adopting the first reading of the tenant protection ordinance.

And I am excited to see it back on the consent calendar tonight for its second reading.

I am grateful for the willingness of this council to have the hard conversation a few weeks ago, and to be in community with us and with one another, reflecting on the work that that body that the HHCC had done that all of those outside groups had done over the course of five years to bring this to the council.

Um, and so again, just excited to see it on the consent calendar tonight, and grateful for the ongoing work that this council and previous councils have done to protect those who face housing insecurity in our community.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Martin Elliott, who will be followed by Roman Moran.

Hi, good evening.

My name is Martin Elliott.

I'm a resident here in Redwood City.

Um I spoke at one of the last council meetings probably a month or so, maybe two months ago, uh, about the 5G towers.

And I just want to call your attention that we've been talking about this issue in front of the council probably six months at least.

And at the last time, I mentioned over 12 different cities and counties in the state of California that have taken action to protect their communities against uh, you know, an undue amount and undue placement of these devices.

Um you have it in your power to take action, and quite frankly, I'm really at l at a loss to understand why council members and you all worked hard to get to the jobs you have, but this is the type of issue that you should rally behind to protect your community from being exploited by Crown Castle.

They have a bad record, it's public.

You can see it.

And I've spent 32 years in corporate America dealing with problems, ugly problems, problems that involve litigation, and nothing like this ages well.

And so uh Miss City Attorney, you should look at this closely because Ronnie has been very kind, but I'll tell you, when people start to figure out, and many do not know that they're gonna have a tower near their home, near their apartment, and the value of that property is going to be impacted.

They're gonna take action.

And so it's slow.

You're in the infancy of this problem, but it's growing.

Please take my advice.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Roman Moran, who will be followed by Mario Ceceno Jr.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council, and City Staff.

My name is Roman Moran Vasquez.

I'm 22 years old, and I'm a fourth period carpenter apprentice.

Sorry.

I specialize in rough framing, interior pickup, and as well as stick framing.

And I was born here in Railwood City.

The CWA recently adopted by San Mateo County does not cover me nor my fellow carpenters.

And as a resident and as a resident, I am concerned for how this language affects local apprentices such as myself.

I urge you to consider the carpenters pre-qualification language, which covers all uh contractors and our carpenter crafts, and as well as ensures fair competition and holds contractors accountable to our area standards.

It would also create more local job opportunities and provide pathways for young graduates to enter a free state certified apprenticeship program.

Thank you for the thank you for the opportunity to speak and for considering this important step to support the working to support the work and the working class in our community.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Mario Ceceno Jr.

who will be followed by Chris Tapia.

Good evening, mayor city council and city staff.

My name is Mario Susena, and I am a Johnny Carpenter out of Local 60L.

I do drive all.

How does how it is the language like the CWA can be considered a good thing for our city when thousands of union workers are now represented?

I used to consider the carpenter pre-qualification language, which not only covers carpenters' crafts, but all contracts.

It is a flexible tool that provides opportunity to all contracts biding work in our city.

I keep them responsible and accountable to our areas' standards.

The carpenter pre-qualification language will create more job opportunities for all benefits from grateful for this opportunity to come to you today to help raise awareness of the potential benefit this pre-qualification language can bring to the working class in our city.

Please consider the carpenter's pre-qualification language.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Chris Tapia, who will be followed by Francisco Capistrano.

Good evening, Mayor Sabayos, City Council members, and community members.

My name is Christopher Tappy, and I'm here representing the Carpenter's Local Union 217, our local apprenticeship training program.

Um I appreciate the opportunity of you letting me speak tonight about our standard wages, health care, and apprenticeship opportunities, and how current project agreements or PLAs are affecting our members and our community.

First and foremost, the carpenters have always been strong supporters of fair wages, quality, quality health care and skilled local labor.

Our apprenticeship program was one of the most comprehensive, and the construction industry offering rigorous hands-on training that turns motivated individuals into highly skilled, safety conscious professionals.

These apprentices come from right here in our community, people who live in and want to contribute to our future in Redwood City.

However, as it stands, many of the PLAs being proposed or implemented in this region do not include the carpenters, and that exclusion is a big problem.

Not just for us, but for the community at large.

When carpenters are left out of the PLAs, we're leaving you're leaving out hundreds of local workers who are already trained to high standards, who earn family sustaining wages, who also receive strong health care and retirement retirement benefits.

These are not out-of-town workers.

These are local residents who pay taxes here, who send their kids to our schools and spend their paychecks in local businesses.

Our apprenticeships create a direct pathway into the middle class, especially for young people, veterans, those who uh and those who are looking for a second chance.

Every year we train hundreds of apprentices to no cost to them.

They learn while they earn.

They graduate debt-free and a sustainable and have a sustainable career.

When we're excluded from the PLAs, those apprenticeship opportunities shrink, and fewer local residents get the chance to build their future in trades.

Thank you for letting me talk.

Is that it?

Is that the end?

Yeah.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker is Francisco Capistrano, who will be followed by Everardo Barron.

Good evening, Mayor, Council members, and neighbors.

Thank you for taking the time to be here tonight.

My name is Francisco Capistrano, a lifelong San Mateo County resident and a proud carpenter.

I spent my career helping build the schools our kids learn in, housing our families live in, and the public spaces that define Redwood City.

I'm here tonight because I care deeply about how we build our community and who gets the opportunity to do that.

Right now, the PLA and the CWA does not cover me.

We all want the same thing.

Safe jobs, fair wages, good health care, and opportunities for apprentices to learn a trade and build the future.

But under the current system, too many uh qualified local workers are shut out of public projects that our own tax dollars fund, and that's not fair.

What I'm asking for tonight is simple and it benefits everyone.

Redwood City should adopt uh pre-qualification standards that focus on responsibility, quality, and not affiliation.

Pre-qualification required to uh requires all trades to pay standard area wage so workers can afford to live where they work, provide real health care so no worker has to choose between getting sick and getting paid.

Participate in in-state approved apprenticeship programs so young people have a pathway into a good paying lifelong careers in trades.

The kind of language that uh this is the kind of language that doesn't divide us.

It unites us.

It ensures that every trade, every worker, and every contractor plays by the same high standards, and it keeps taxpayer dollars in our community and strengthens our local workforce instead of pushing them out.

Pre-qualification standards protect not only workers but also the city itself.

They guarantee that the projects are, they guarantee that projects are built by responsible experience and professionals who know what quality looks like because they live here, raise families here, and care about the outcome.

When you choose to adopt strong, thank you so much for your time.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Everardo Barron, who will be followed by Michael Ochoa.

Sorry.

With Evening Mayor, Councilman Member and City Staff.

My name is Everardo Barrone.

I am Providence of Redwood City.

I lead by Second Avenue in Middlefield.

I'm here tonight to speak.

I have strong support, including pre qualified standard to ensure standard wage and access to health care and apprenticeship opportunities on public projects here in Redwood City.

When our city invests in infrastructure, sorry, housing and public facilities.

So in fair family supporting wage, having access to healthcare and the opportunity to train to the next generation generation through resident apprenticeship program.

By adopting this qualification standards, Redwood City can ensure they pay taxes.

We training mortgage and complements more safety more efficiently, and this uh high-risk qualified outcomes.

Apprentices program, uh open door for um young people and coverage change right here in Samateo Connie and Redwood City, giving the big boy um to good paying is um stable careers in the trade it is changed for our community to grow in our work will face so thank you.

Our next speaker is Michael Ochoa, who will be followed by Krista Wyatt.

Good evening, mayor, council members and and neighbors.

My name is Michael Ochoa and a proud union carpenter and a former resident of Redwood City.

I grew up here, worked on job sites across San Mateo County, and like many many tradespeople, I've seen firsthand how local projects can either lift up workers and communities or leave us behind.

I'm here tonight to speak about the importance of standard wages, health care and apprenticeship programs for the men and women who build Redwood City and to express a concern that the CWA PLA that has been adopted by San Mateo County supervisors doesn't fully protect or include all of us, especially rank and file union members like me.

When cities adopt policies that ensure standard wages, we're not just talking about paychecks, we're talking about keeping local families stable.

A fair wage means I can afford to live here, live where I work, shop at local businesses, and support my kids' schools.

It means our community benefits directly from our labor, not just the developer of our town contractors.

Healthcare is just as critical.

Construction is demanding, often dangerous work.

We get hurt, we get worn down, and we deserve to go home healthy and covered.

When a project honors health care standards, it sends a message that message that this city values people, not just productivity.

An apprenticeship, those are the backbone of our industry.

They turn young people into skilled professionals with real careers, not just temporary jobs.

I came up through the apprenticeship myself and I've trained others.

These programs don't just teach technical skills, they build pride, safety, and long-term or long-term opportunity.

But here's where I'm asking for the attempt for your attention.

The language in the current CWA PLA as it stands does not cover me.

The intent of the CWPLA is more is to ensure quality labor and protect workers, but in practice, some of the language creates barriers.

It can restrict access to the very benefits and standards that we fight for.

As a result, even though I'm a dues-paying union member with years of experience, I can find myself working under a CWA PLA that doesn't honor my union agreement.

That's not fair, and it's not what a CWCWAPLA should stand for.

What I'm asking for is simple.

I want Redwood City to be the first in San Diego County.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Krista Wyatt.

Good evening.

I want to speak to you tonight about these proposed uh broadband internet towers that um Ronnie and Martin um discussed.

And my name is Krista Wyatt.

I'm a resident of Redwood City, and I became aware of this issue walking home from work.

I saw a flyer in my neighborhood.

Um that Ronnie had posted.

And um I um I'm very concerned about this issue.

I think it's telling that there are um that San Mateo and Palo Alto and according to Martin, 12 other communities in California, have um, you know, banded together to put the brakes on building um proposed towers like this.

Um I think it's it's really an amazing coincidence.

I I had just finished reading a book called The Body Electric when I saw your flyer.

And this is a um a book written by an MD back in the 80s, but he's a very well-published scientist, and I have a very strong background in science.

And um it was talking about the um effects of electromagnetic radiation on um, you know, organisms, cell culture plates, you know, it and these these effects are real, and I think the more you know, um, deeper you go in science, the um the more humility we need to have that you know things are are so complicated, and electromagnetic um pollution is real.

You know, butterflies monarch butterflies migrate using um electromagnetic um fields to orient their internal compasses.

Um these things are real and important to discuss.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And mayor, we don't have any raised hands on Zoom, so that concludes public comment.

Great.

Thank you, City Clerk, and thank you all for providing public comment tonight.

If you didn't have a chance to provide public comment, please make sure to write to us at uh uh the email address I shared earlier.

But it's council at road city.org.

Um with that, we will move on to item seven, our consent calendar.

Items on consent are routine in nature and are approved by one motion.

Are there any items on consent from which council members are recused?

Not seeing any.

Are there any items on consent that council members would like to pull for discussion?

Councilmember G.

Mayor, I like to pull item seven I just for a comment and before we vote.

Thanks.

Perfect.

Any other items that council would like to pull for discussion.

Mr.

Mayor.

Councilmember Sirkin.

Thank you.

I actually don't want to pull any items, but I do want to um request two follow-ups from staff in response to public comments.

I can do that afterwards if you like.

You can do it now.

Yeah, okay, just uh one uh city manager, if you wouldn't mind following up with uh Ronnie about a timeline if we have a timeline that's available publicly anyway.

Um I know it already went to uh utility subcommittee.

Um, but I'm not sure if everyone on council is aware of what was what the outcome was of that discussion.

Um sorry, I'll turn it over to you.

I'll just briefly note and and be happy to to speak to Ronnie about this, um, but I believe we have previously shared there there is not actually a timeline because we are waiting to hear information in both of the cities that have recently adopted changes about the outcomes of how those changes have played out.

When we last checked in um fairly recently, a couple months ago, there had not been new applications processed under the new processes in San Mateo and Palo Alto.

So um it's it's a little hard for us to predict when those cities will receive applications and and have some time to evaluate their process.

So that's that's why we don't have a timeline at this point.

Thank you.

That's really helpful.

Um and then a second thing, last thing is if we could follow up with the Carpenters just to request that pre-qualification language and SMC CWAPLOA that they referred to, it's would like to know what they were referring to and and see that if we haven't already received it.

Um I know I'm kind of you know settling the line here and not at requesting any action on the part of council.

Just simply would like to follow up with them and request what they were referring to, if possible, please.

Thank you.

Great thing, Councilmember Sergen.

Not seeing any other hands raised.

Um we'll go to Councilmember G for item seven eye.

Oh, you maybe talk about it right now, and be happy to.

I just wanted to note that in the consultant presentation.

Let at the last meeting, they referred to a pro forma that was not included in the council packet.

I want to thank our city manager for providing that after the meeting.

And that performance was one of the most important documents that wasn't included because it showed what the consultant was modeling.

What it the consultant did model was 10 years of 5% increases year over year to be able to justify the substantial renovation model.

So using a base year of year one at 2,800, roughly 2800 a month, a five percent increases year over year to year 10.

The year 10 rent for that 2800 would have been 4500 a year, which is a 55% increase in rent.

So I just wanted to note that that was in the pro forma, what that wasn't included in our council packet.

So I just wanted to make sure that was on the record.

Thank you, Councilmember G.

We'll go to Councilmember Sirkin.

Sorry, Councilmember G.

Can you just repeat that?

I wanted to write it down.

I can give you my notes here, but the pro forma that the consult economic consultant referred to for their analysis used a five percent increase year over year from year one for 10 years.

So in year one at 2800 a month, year over year, by the time you get to year 10, the rent is 4500 a month, which represents a 55% increase in year 10 over year one rent.

Thank you.

Go to the vice mayor.

I move, I move that we approve the uh consent calendar as proposed.

Is there a second?

Second.

Perfect.

That's a motion from Vice Mayor Aiken, a second from Councilmember Howard.

Could we get a roll call vote, please?

Certainly.

Mr.

Mayor.

Sorry, Mr.

Mayor, if we could just follow protocol.

One of the items was pulled.

So if you could ask for all motions except the polled item first, and then you can um call for the polled item.

I move that we approve all uh matters on the consent calendar except for item seven I.

And I second that.

Great.

That was a motion for all items on consent with the exception of seven I.

A second from Councilmember Howard.

Could we get a roll call vote, please?

Start with Council Member Chu.

Yes, Councilmember G.

Yes.

Councilmember Howard.

Yes.

Councilmember Padilla.

Yes.

Councilmember Sturkin.

Yes.

Vice Mayor Aiken.

Yes.

Mayor Martinez Savallas.

Yes.

Motion passes unanimously.

Thank you.

And is there a motion for item 7i?

So moved.

Or I'll second.

I'll second Chris Sturkin's motion.

That was a motion from Councilmember Sirkin, a second from Vice Mayor Aiken.

Could we get a roll call vote?

Councilmember G.

No.

Councilmember Howard.

Yes.

Councilmember Patia.

No.

Councilmember Sturkin.

Yes.

Councilmember Chu.

No.

Vice Mayor Aiken.

Yes.

Mayor Martinez Saballos.

Yes.

The motion passes with four votes.

Council members Chu, G, and Padilla opposed.

Thank you, everybody, for conversation around the consent calendar.

With that, we will move on to item eight, which is our public hearings beginning with 8A, our city manager Melissa Stevenson Diaz will begin with a brief overview of the item, and then our community development director, Jeff Schwab, Principal Planner Evelyn Garcia, and Assistant Parks, Recreation and Community Service Director, Lucas Wilder, will give the presentation.

We also have engineering staff and our city consultants on standby for any questions that council has.

So thank you.

Thank you very much, Mayor.

So I will be giving just a quick introduction to this item, which actually started 15 years ago.

And so recent actions have predated actually five of you on the city council.

And so two of you are quite familiar with this over the time, but not everyone.

So I did want to just take one moment to speak a little bit about the vision that brought us to the council actions this evening.

So the vision of the city and the YMCA partnering to develop an intergenerational campus to serve the Redwood City Community began about 15 years ago.

There was extensive brainstorming and community engagement.

And then in 2016, the city council endeavored to direct staff to work with the Y to provide a wide range of health and wellness services at beautiful new facilities at Red Morton Park.

And we knew after the amount of exploration we'd done to that point that we really had an important opportunity to meet evolving community needs and to support our residents at every stage of life.

We continued listening to the community in 2016 and over the next three years, and that helped to shape the vision that we brought to the city council in 2019.

At that time, the city council approved a master project agreement.

And the first phase of that project, which is the beautiful new Veterans Memorial Building and Senior Center, which is nearly ready to open.

That was the first phase of that project that was envisioned in that 2019 approval.

Tonight we're seeking the City Council's approval to take the steps needed to complete that vision.

And this will enable the YMCA to conduct to construct their facilities, which is the second and final phase of this project.

This is an innovative public and private partnership that really leverages the strengths of the city and the YMCA.

It is, I believe, the most cost-effective way for us to provide these vital community services to our community.

This approach minimizes the ongoing operating costs for the city.

It provides affordable recreational opportunities for our community.

It leverages the strengths of both the city and a valued partner, the YMCA, and it will help us to positive impact community health and wellness while also improving amenities and infrastructure of the park and in the neighborhood.

Before I ask staff to begin the presentation, I do want to ask for your indulgence one moment just to thank the many people who have carried this vision over 15 years.

It goes back to our former parks recreation and community services director, Chris Beth, Assistant Parks Recreation and Community Services Director Lucas Wilder's here.

Yes, and I think it's the most consistent through line over that entire 15-year period.

And then more recently, our interim parks recreation community services director, Derek Wolfgram, all contributed creativity and skill in working with the community as we thought about new ways to meet community needs.

Our community development staff have helped us convert those dreams to plans that could actually be built.

And that includes our former assistant city manager and community development director Aaron Ekman, former senior planner Anna McGill, current community development director Jeff Schwab, assistant community development director Sue Xline, and associate planner Evelyn Garcia.

And we've had critical support, especially in recent months, from our engineering and transportation director Tanisha Werner, senior civil engineer Patty Schrotenberg, Principal Planner Malahat Alring, and Associate Civil Engineer Teresa Avadian, as well as our fire marshal Janice Chung.

And I also want to acknowledge my outstanding colleague, City Attorney Veronica Ramirez, who has been there every step of the 10 years I have been involved on this journey, providing essential legal guidance and often creative solutions when we got stuck.

So with that, I'm going to turn it over to staff to provide all of the details, but appreciate the opportunity just to share some of the important background that brought us to this evening.

Thank you, Melissa.

Jeff Schwab Community Development Director.

Good evening, Mayor Martinez Sabayas, members of the council.

Tonight I'll spend a few minutes outlining the purpose of the meeting, highlight some questions for you to consider and review the milestones of our partnership with the YMCA.

And then I'll turn it over to Evelyn Garcia who will go through the project, the architectural permit component, and then Lucas Wilder will uh go over the master agreement uh amendments.

And then the YMCA will also be giving a presentation on the project tonight.

Next slide.

So tonight the council is going to consider an addendum to the environmental impact report, a third amendment to the master project agreement, and then the project design, the architectural permit for the project.

Next slide.

As you may wish to consider tonight, if you have any questions regarding the master agreement and the proposed city obligations that are contained therein.

And if you have any questions with regard to the design and layout of phase two.

Next slide.

As Melissa so eloquently outlined, this is a more graphic representation of the process that Melissa went through.

As you can see, it does go back to 2010.

It includes a number of steps along the way, and tonight we're here to talk about the final phase two master project agreement and the project approval.

And with that, I am going to turn it over to Evelyn.

Thank you, Jeff.

Good evening, City Council members and members of the public.

I am again Evelyn Garcia, associate planner and the project planner.

I will be giving an overview of the project site, going over the project description and the key components of the entitlement request.

The image shown here illustrates the project site at Red Morton Park, highlighting phase one, the Veterans Memorial Senior Center, and phase two, which includes the proposed YMCA located adjacent to the new Veterans Memorial Senior Center.

The new YMCA facility will proposed to replace the former Veterans Memorial Senior Center building location.

So the proposed YMCA project will provide a number of key benefits to our community.

It will continue its long history as shared of serving the Redwood City community in this new facility based on extensive community input and YMCA member surveys.

It will provide expanded programs and services.

A new aquatic center will serve diverse needs that will include athletic, recreational, and instructional activities for kids, adults, and seniors, and will provide child care, a learning center, and a variety of youth programming.

The YMCA will also offer child care subsidies and discounts for those that qualify for this financial assistance.

These benefits directly align with the City Council strategic plan for children, youth and children, and the guiding principles of a healthy community of all ages and excellence in government operations.

Here are some additional key community benefits that are identified in the master project agreement that I will also like to highlight.

Open community swim for city res city residents every first Sunday of the month.

Quarterly open house days, which allows free access for Breadwood City residents to try out the YMCA facility, senior and veterans rates, scholarships and financial assistance against for those who qualify, and free quarterly educational seminars and workshops open to residents with topics such as nutrition and wellness and joint Redwood City and YMCA community events held at the Senior Center YMCA or at the Red Morton Park.

So the project, uh the proposed phase two YMCA project includes a 36,353 square foot two-story facility that is 32 feet tall.

It includes a health and wellness center with a variety of fitness equipment, flexible multi-use rooms for classes and meetings, an indoor and outdoor pool, a child care facility with capacity for 72 children, and an outdoor children's play area.

And the project includes 236 parking spaces.

Here's a closer view of the site plan of the YMCA project area.

As mentioned, the new YMCA facility is proposed to replace the former Veterans Memorial Senior Center building.

A key aspect of the project site plan is the preservation of the Velota Green Lawn area, shown at the bottom left corner of the site.

The project also preserves the landscaping along the Madison Street frontage, shown at the top of the site plan.

Both existing and new trees will be planted to help enhance shading and greenery throughout the site.

The building fronts Madison Avenue with access to both the building and the parking lot provided by a two-way driveway off Madison and parking spaces will be located within the westernly surface parking lot directly adjacent to the building.

The project requires an architectural permit because it proposes the construction of a new building.

As proposed, the building meets the development standards of the public facilities zoning district in compliance with height and lot coverage standards.

It meets the architectural permit findings for the building and the site design as further detailed in the staff report materials.

The building was designed to blend in harmoniously with the surrounding park environment and to also complement to the new the new Veterans Memorial Senior Center building.

Now we'll turn the presentation over to Lucas to talk about the master project agreement.

Thank you.

Thank you, Evelyn.

City Council members, mayor, Lucas Walter, Assistant Director for the Parks Recreation Community Services Department.

I'm here to talk to you a little bit about the master project agreement.

This will be the third amendment to the agreements.

As mentioned earlier, is originally improved in 2019, as part of the phase one that approved the current building that's finishing up construction right now.

That included the improvements to the east parking lot and the promenade.

As you've seen on a previous slide, we've reconfigured the parking lot to reduce impacts to the Velota Green and retain the vital community park space.

We also increase parking closer to the front door of the Veterans Building and enlarged parking lots throughout the park to help spread the park usage portion of the parking counts to other locations around Red Morton Park.

Some of the changes to the master project agreement includes slight changes to the YMCA facility size.

As the building's final floor plan was coming together, its overall size increased by just over 1,300 square feet from the original proposal.

But one of the major benefits is the child care portion's ability to accommodate additional children, 24 more than their current facility does.

Additionally, a few changes to the agreement were needed to reflect the final YMCA development plans and to address sanitary sewer system needs identified since 2019.

The sewer changes also address the responsibility for sanitary sewer pipe enlargements throughout the park and downline.

And lastly, the updates clarify some of the nuances related to the utility cost sharing, the final responsibilities for ongoing maintenance and shared costs after opening.

Three resolutions.

The first resolution considering and approving an addendum to the final EIR for the Veterans Memorial Senior Center YMCA project in accordance with the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act.

Second, adopt a resolution approving and authorizing the execution of a third amendment to the master project agreement with the Young Men's Christian Association of Silicon Valley.

And third, adopt a resolution approving the architectural permit for phase two of the Veterans Memorial Senior Center YMCA project, subject to conditions of approval.

First, we'll circle back to see if there's any questions regarding the amendments to the master agreement amendments and the proposed city obligations.

And then, second, the proposed design and layout for phase two.

Staff from engineering, transportation, planning, and parks, as well as consultants, environmental and transportation are available to answer any clarifying questions.

Are there any clarifying questions from council?

Not seeing any online.

Just a reminder that there are there is the YMCA's presentation as well, so the council can wait until after.

Great.

And I'm not seeing any hands jumping right away, so we'll hold it off until after the applicant's presentation.

All right.

And while folks get up, I'll just introduce some people we have here.

We're now going to hear our presentation from the YMCA of Silicon Valley.

We have CEO Jim Hori here and project architect Mossam Adcock, and you'll have about 10 minutes for your presentation.

Okay, thank you.

Good evening, Mayor Sabayos, City Council members, and city staff.

My name is Jim Hori, and I'm the president and CEO for the YMCA of Silicon Valley.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you tonight.

Before I share some thoughts about the new YMCA in Redwood City, I would like to thank you on behalf of our Y for the incredible partnership between Redwood City and the Y.

This partnership is a model for how government and nonprofits can work together and collaborate to achieve community goals.

Now let me talk with you about the vision and benefits of establishing a new YMCA in Redwood City, a project that promises to be a vital community asset, supporting the health and well-being of the Redwood City community.

First, I want to highlight the importance of having child care and early childhood education services in our Y.

The YMCA's preschool and early learning programs serve children ages 18 months to five years, providing a safe, nurturing environment that promotes early development and school readiness.

These programs are crucial for working families who need reliable child care options, enabling parents to participate fully in the workplace while knowing their young children are in caring hands.

Moving on to youth and teen programs, the YMCA offers a range of after-school activities, leadership development opportunities like youth and government and recreational programs.

These initiatives foster youth leadership, social skills, and healthy lifestyles, empowering our young residents to grow as confident and responsible individuals.

We will also provide free teen membership during the summer months, delivering to our teens a safe place to gather when school is not in session.

A key feature of this community center will be the access to aquatics.

The YMCA swimming pool will be available to the public at designated times and supports swim lessons and safety around water programs for both youth and adults.

This is critical for community safety, fitness, and building confidence around water.

Health and wellness are central to the YMCA's mission.

The Y will provide affordable, inclusive programs tailored for all ages, promoting physical activity and mental well-being beyond traditional gym offerings.

It's about creating a space where everyone feels welcome, regardless of age, ability, or background.

Equity is a core value for the YMCA.

Currently, 21% of members at the Sequoia YMCA receive financial assistance, illustrating our commitment to make health and wellness accessible to all.

This project will help address health disparities by providing affordable programming that might otherwise be out of reach for many in our community.

This initiative is built on a strong foundation of community partnership.

Throughout the planning process, we've engaged with the community through multiple workshops and design input sessions since 2015.

These experts have shaped the project informing environmental reviews, traffic considerations, and site design to ensure it meets community needs.

We all know that what this community center will provide must extend beyond recreation and meet the issues we face today surrounding social isolation.

The YMCA will feature community rooms and shared spaces for meetings, classics, classes, and civic events.

It will also support senior programs, nutrition initiatives, and intergenerational activities, creating a vibrant, connected community campus alongside the Veterans Memorial Senior Building and Magical Bridge Playground.

In conclusion, this project is more than a facility.

It's a comprehensive center for community well-being.

It balances recreation, child care, inclusion, and health access in a way that enhances our quality of life.

Importantly, it's not a private gym, it's a mission-driven community asset dedicated to improving public health, fostering equity, and strengthening our neighborhood.

Thank you for your time this evening and your support in making this vision a reality for Redwood City.

And I'm gonna hand it off to Mossam Atcock from CAW architects.

Thank you, Jim.

I'm just I'm down here.

I'm just gonna share some images in support of all the description you've already very eloquently heard.

Thank you, Melissa, for the history on the project and all the city staff on helping us get to this point.

As far as the overall site plan, it's not that different from um many, many years ago, but we in more recent times because particularly with the development of the magical bridges nearby, we've um uh reduced the footprint of the parking lot so that Velota Green can be saved, and um in its uh for all the community use that it um has every day, and then also the Madison frontage is really important with the Grove, so that um the building which affronts residences across is scaled uh appropriately, and it's in um concert with the Veterans Memorial uh new building that's almost complete.

So this is kind of in keeping with the original master plan and keeping with all of the uh materials that um are in the veterans building and similarly similar uh uh metals and wood, and we're also doing a mass timber hybrid construction, so a lot of that warm wood that you see um will be mass timber uh beams and um uh CLT decking.

So this is the entrance from the uh directly adjacent to the veterans building, and this is from the opposite side from the parking lot.

Beyond you see the uh play area for the child care.

Um in floor plan, um, just zooming in a little bit.

It's uh north is up, so the the lobby is very generously sized, and then the community room that Jim already mentioned is directly adjacent to the lobby for uh variety of uses, including the program rooms and the child care facility is on the left uh with its own entrance.

And upstairs are the wellness areas and uh several outdoor terraces that can also be used as extension of the the studios.

Generally sized lobby that will um uh be a wonderful gathering space for a variety of uses, and this is an image of um the child care um the early learning center, which will also have its own um licensing-sized um uh outdoor play areas, and then of course, um, this is one of the uh the program rooms that will be uh for a variety of uses, such as teen programs and a variety of other educational programs, and upstairs an image of the wellness center with um one of the adjacent outdoor terraces, and then uh big part of YMCA is uh the aquatics uh programs.

This is a warm water pool that will be indoor, and then this one is the outdoor pool that you've seen earlier images of as well.

So that's just the some images to go with all of the descriptions you've already heard, and we're here for questions.

Thank you so much for your time.

Thank you, Jim and Musa, for the great uh presentation.

And before we bring it back to the council, we should open public hearing for any public comments.

So I'll turn it over to our city clerk to help facilitate.

Thank you, Mayor.

At this time, we don't have any speaker cards, so last call to the audience or to folks on Zoom who would like to speak on item 8A this evening.

Sir, if you'd like to make public comment, we have cards here, speaker cards for you to fill out here at the days.

Yeah.

Okay, I don't believe we have any in-person speakers on this item.

Last call.

And no speakers on Zoom.

So back to you, Mayor.

Great.

Thank you, City Clerk.

We'll bring it back to the council for discussion.

Who would like to get us started?

We will start with Councilmember Padilla.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um, I'm I'm very excited about this partnership.

I remember one of the first things I think I did when I joined uh the Parks and Rec Commission was table and have the papers out in the dots and talk to residents who had lighting concerns and traffic concerns and residents who were really excited about swimming and wanted to know about programs.

So to see us come this far is very exciting.

Um I loved hearing that there are going to be free teen memberships during the summer months.

I was talking and reminiscing that I had my seventh grade day on the green at Kennedy at the pool there, and that was the last time I'd been there.

So I think the idea of open swim and community swim.

I think it's just a great opportunity to build community, and I just want to echo the importance of water safety and for us to have a place where we can make sure people of all ages, we don't all have to have you know perfect butterfly strokes, but to make sure a child or any person can get to an edge and know how to get out.

I'm just very excited for this.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Councilmember G.

Thank you, Mayor, and and staff and all the partners.

Thank you for the update.

It has been a long journey, meaning, and I think Councilmember Howard in the 2010, if not the IAs before.

And I want to give my hats off not only to Park and Rack, but also our Senior Affairs Commission.

Those commissioners have been wanting this new center plus the partnership with the Y for years.

And you know, Barbara Britski, to your if you're listening, we're gonna open the doors pretty soon on the new facility.

I know this is something you've wanted.

Yeah, I went back and looked at the website, our city's website, and it's amazing how close this is in terms of design and footprint to what was envisioned many years ago.

I love the 1300 square feet more for 20 24 more seats for child care because that is consistent with one of our initiatives here at the council.

It's really really important that we have that.

And then in the work I do on a day job, a number of the cities in California got rid of their aquatics complexes.

Now they're bringing them all back.

And you know, to Councilmember Padilla's comments aquatics, swim lessons, water safety.

We went for decades in California wet cities just getting rid of their aquatics complexes.

Now they're being built brand new or they're being repaired and restored after decades of missing and neglect.

And so this is really a great opportunity, not for the city to build our own, but to do in partnership with the Y.

And this is a fabulous agreement and potential, you know, coming together as one.

The only comment I would make is Lucas, as you finalize this agreement on slide 12.

Make sure there's an agreement on replacement costs for capital, for common area, so that there's not a dispute 30 years from now who pays for what it has to be replaced.

So I saw the maintenance, I saw all the other things.

Stuff gets old, stuff breaks, stuff falls apart, and you know, the awning needs to get waterproofed again, whatever, just to kind of get that agreement in place now, so you're not arguing about it when you're still here 30, 40, 50 years from now on staff.

So that's the only comment I would make.

And again, I thank our parks in RAC.

I thank our senior affairs commission.

I thank all the partners for this very, very long journey that we're not there yet because we don't have keys in the door for the new facility, but hopefully the approval tonight by council if the council so chooses will get us closer to having keys in the door.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Councilmember.

We'll go to Councilmember Howard X.

Thank you.

Um, first of all, I I know there may be interest in um how this is being paid for, it was mentioned.

Uh could we put that on our website?

Uh I know it's broken up here, parts of it are here, but maybe staff could put that on the website just for public information on how the share of cost is working, where the money's coming from to build the facility.

It would be helpful.

And I could maybe just uh point to this because I don't think we actually covered this, but the Y is paying for the construction of their facility.

There is sharing of costs associated with um amenities around the building itself based on um kind of who owned things in the past and and our various usages, but to be clear for the public, the Y is fully paying for all the costs for their new facility.

And I I know that's in the report, but I just thought so everyone could clearly understand this truly is a partnership.

And I have to say, thank God it's happening.

So I'm so happy that this is happening because back 15 years ago, and it was actually longer that we were talking about it, uh, there are many older multi-unit apartment buildings in Redwood City with old pools that are neglected, they're not being taken care of.

And we always worried about the safety of young people in these apartment buildings and parents needing to have their children and be water safe, pool safe.

So we had that discussion.

I visited a few of the apartment buildings, and I saw this is really a need.

And the Y stepped up in great fashion and have been offering pool safety for many, many years at affordable prices with uh scholarships for those who can't afford it, because the number one important thing is to keep your child safe and not have them in a situation where they may drown.

So I'm very proud of the YMCA and the work they have done in that regard.

It's it's truly exemplary, and one of the reasons why I was so excited when we put an RFP out, sort of, to find out who was interested in partnering with us, and people came to us and everyone wanted to partner with us.

The only one who came to Redwood City with something to offer in return was the YMCA.

They offered equity, they offered a real partnership because we couldn't have done this alone.

So I have to thank you very, very much.

The board of the YMC, Sequoia YMCA, the administration in the YMCA, and the Senior Affairs Commission, because the work they have done all these many years, never giving up, always working towards the goal of having this facility be opened.

And then I'd be remiss if I didn't personally thank Chris Beth, Lucas Wilder, and Derek Wolfgram, who they just went out door to door around the entire perimeter of that piece of property.

And they talked to everyone.

And then they brought them in for cookies and whatever inside the building.

But they went to their home first and built the trust and got the conversations going.

I know it seems for some people like this been a long time, and it has been a long time.

But if you want to build trust and if you want to build relationships, you've got to do it that way.

Otherwise, at the end of the day, you get nowhere.

So I I'm really proud of the way the city and the YMCA have worked together so far.

And I couldn't be more excited about this actually breaking ground soon.

And I'm very happy about that happening.

The aquatic center with a hot and I mean, not hot, a warm pool.

The seniors couldn't be more excited.

They don't have to take a bus down on Hudson anymore.

They go to the senior center and go right across the walkway and they get their exercise.

So they are going to be some of our biggest ambassadors for this, and I'm really excited about the whole experience.

So I think I'll leave it at that.

I'm just looking forward to the opening.

And thank you again to the YMCA for working with us.

It's taken a while, but we're almost there.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Howard.

We'll go online to Councilmember Chu.

So thank you for such a terrific presentation.

I wanted the people who's very new to this, and so I'd never, you know, sort of seen those renderings before.

Um the first thing that struck me was how beautiful uh the project is.

Um, you know, beautiful on the inside, full of light, beautiful on the outside.

So um, you know, thank you for for designing such a jewel for the middle of our city.

Um, and then this project hits you know several things that are so desperately needed and so important for our city priorities.

Uh I was particularly encouraged to hear about the child care options there, this the swimming lessons and and programs for teenagers.

Um, you know, something that's always top of mind for me when we have things like this in our city is is how are the kids from my district going to get to uh this beautiful new facility?

Um I think that's something that perhaps you know could use some work.

I realize that's not your responsibility at all, but um, as we consider things like shuttle service and things like that for seniors, uh may also be worth considering allowing uh teenagers, um, you know, young families, people like that who also need to get to this location outside of a cart uh to be able to use those things.

But overall, uh just an amazing project.

I'm really looking forward to see him move forward.

Thank you, Councilmember Chu.

Vice Mayor, should I like to go next?

Mr.

Sturkin, are you gonna go?

We'll go to the vice mayor.

All right, so I won't repeat all that my colleagues said.

My husband and I were chasing the um sun setting last night and driving around, just where all the buildings will be and where everything on the um plan, and I was I just want to compliment staff.

There were so many people out, even it was it was almost dark, and people of all ages, it's a really well used park, which I already knew, but driving around the whole perimeter and anyway, so um thank you very much, and I echo everything my colleague said, and I do understand as council member um Howard mentioned confirmed by um the city manager that the the YMCA is paying a hundred percent for this building and is a hundred percent designing this building.

Um I wanted to ask, since we have the luxury of you folks here, are you aspiring to any kind of green standard like gold or platinum?

What is your vision for, you know, this building will be here for a hundred years.

Um what are your thoughts about green green?

Thank you so much, uh thank you.

Thank you so much for your question.

We are aspiring for lead silver at this point.

We have hopes of getting to lead gold, but um definitely lead silver is our current goal.

And also, like I mentioned earlier, we are doing a hybrid mass timber construction, and therefore the carbon footprint is gonna be much lower than a standard steel building as well.

Why only silver?

Is it too expensive to go to gold or platinum?

Um that's a tough question.

Um, it's uh partly it's um yeah, cost for sure, like up to silver, uh, between California building codes and doing a little bit more.

We can hit silver going for gold um requires us to go a bit more above and beyond and adds significantly to the budget.

So it's really a it's a cost problem.

Yeah, it's a cost benefit problem, yes.

I would I would love to go to gold or platinum, but um it's not quite in the cards for us, right?

The the board says wow, we don't have the money or I'll I'll leave it there.

I I would um really encourage um I would really encourage uh a stretch since this building will be there for a hundred years.

I I do uh thank you for including wood.

But uh, I guess I would just I just I think I'll make a general comment here that um there's this common perception that nonprofits by definition may never have money because they're not allowed to have a profit and the silicon it uh I mean I would just look that the Silicon Valley uh YMCA's last 990 showed a surplus of 12 million dollars in one year.

So I just I want us all to just look at the just look at that paradigm that that nonprofits can be well funded, and certainly this it at least according to the 990, the Silicon Valley YMCA is is well funded.

Um, but I'll leave it there, and I love how the how it all looks.

Great, thank you.

And um, another question while you're there.

Um the the current YMCA, which is wonderful and I go all the time and I'm a member, um, it has a gym that I'm in a lot.

Does this new facility have a gym?

Yes, absolutely.

The upstairs uh the all the wellness rooms will all be both cardio and weight equipment.

And the once this facility is up and running, it is part of the this agreement with the city that uh the city would purchase the existing Sequoia Y, if I am not mistaken.

Um so it this will be a replacement and it'll be above, it's much larger and um above and beyond the existing one.

So it has like that thing with wood and basketball hoops at either end and a really tall ceiling.

Um no, this does not include a basketball court.

Um that's a pretty uh a question that will take a while to explain.

But yeah, as far as the footprint of the Y, um the usage is much denser with the cardio equipment and uh the yoga studios and all, and the downstairs program rooms.

Um most of the newer YMCAs do not have an indoor basketball court, but the veterans building adjacent does.

So in this particular development, the uh the veterans building what uh is going to have almost uh open has a basketball court and the YMCA will not.

I'm seeing nods by the city manager.

So the veterans center has a gym.

Correct, yes, yes.

Okay, and do we have any kind of a partnership with the YMCA on that that they can use our gym for free in exchange for our using their weights for free, or is that that's not how the partnership is arranged, but but community members can use both facilities to use the YMCA facilities.

They do need to be members, but but as was described earlier, there are also reduced rates and scholarships available to to fit a wide range of needs.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I'd also like to add on the campus, the Red Morton Community Center there.

They have a gymnasium too.

So we have a multiple.

We have more basketball.

Then probably we need.

I don't think you need to do another one.

Thank you.

Uh I wanted uh staff answer those questions.

I just want to note that when the when the parking lots are reconfigured and the system is all done, that there will be EV chargers, which was in the report.

And also I was happy to hear that there may be additional solar panels put in the parking lots, that's that's a possibility, even though it's not in this contract per se.

So I was happy to hear about that.

Uh I'm almost done.

Let me just look at my uh I read it really well.

I'm really excited.

I just want to make sure.

I'm really pleased to see that the Sequoia YMCA will um that the um Silicon Valley YMCA will be um adding um replacing more trees than its construction will require to be removed, and that they will also be doing landscaping.

I'm excited about that.

I'll leave it there.

Thank you, Vice Mayor.

Go to Council Member Surgeon.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you so much uh very much for this project.

Very excited.

I just wanted to kind of respond um or acknowledge that you have responded to many of the public comments that we received, and so I want to thank you and just highlight a couple things and ask a couple quick questions in terms of the access to the site, you know, on foot and on bike.

I do want to lift up that you know, as a city we have implemented um projects that will make it easier for folks to access the new center, uh, like the Vera Bike Boulevard.

I know that's not popular with everyone, but uh nevertheless uh we'll help connect um other districts like Councilmember Chu's district to the site, and uh in our bike walk thrive plan, we do have a couple uh additional uh bike routes uh in the works, like on Myrtle and as well as a new bike pathway on site at Red Morton.

So I just wanted to lift that up.

Um understanding that there will be you know additional traffic as a result of having another facility at Red Morton, but that there are ways for folks to get there on foot and on bike, and also I just want to appreciate the preservation of the Valuta Green and preserving park space that many folks in the community commented is important to them, and I know it's important to this council.

And um really it seems as if from the staff report in the phone and the diagrams that this project has around the same footprint as the current Veterans Memorial Senior Center.

At least it'll be that way anyway, so appreciate you um you know taking the time to very diligently um design the project to remain within the existing footprint uh and preserve that green space.

Uh so for anyone who may have concerns about losing park space, it we are preserving park space.

Um appreciate the preservation of the frontage as was mentioned along Madison with all the trees.

Um I just wanted to double check and feel free to just nod.

Was it 21% of your members receive a thank you?

A sponsorship or scholarship?

So that is fantastic.

Uh, I know that was also a comment I I read, um, concern about access um to your program.

So thank you uh for continuing that commitment to the community and equity.

Um and did you mention was it 18-month old to five-year-old children can enjoy the services in the learning center?

Okay, great.

So that is fantastic.

We as was mentioned, I think Councilmember G childcare is a priority of this council and of the community.

So thank you.

I really resonated with something that was mentioned in the presentation, which is this is a safe place for kids to go after school when school's not in session.

So thank you for providing that space, especially as we've heard over and over again from the community that there's not enough safe spaces for youth to gather.

Um and ultimately, yeah, just thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you to my colleagues for their great remarks.

Just double checking.

Um I will add my excitement to this project.

Um, Jim, thank you uh to you and the whole team for bringing this for all your hard work.

You know, I am a beneficiary of the YMCA that we have at Palm Park.

I grew up um not in an apartment building, but going to the YMCA for pool for the pool, excuse me, for the great gym that you all have.

And and eventually that became one of my first jobs was at the YMCA, and I got to see all the great child care live and in person, and it's incredible.

So I know exactly you know what a gift this is to our neighbors, and um just greatly appreciate the fact that you all are keeping your roots here in Redwood City.

Um, you know, the city could not do this alone, and I I won't regurgitate everything my council colleagues mentioned, but um, some things that came to mind the both pools warm and cool, right?

We have neighbors in San Mateo who went through such a big advocacy, a big fight to keep the warm pool that they had because of the therapeutic benefits that it offers, right?

Um, but my colleagues also mentioned the great pool safety that's learned from having access to a pool, um, where you don't have to call your cousin to find out if you can come over to go play in their pool, right?

But have that direct access.

So thank you for that.

Um, and then you know, as Councilmember Sterkin mentioned, just the great subsidies to allow for youth to engage in the programming and um and 24 new spots for child care is is incredible, right?

In a time where there's just not enough spots and not in the accommodation that working parents needed to be for them.

Um, and then lastly, I'll just I'll add my thanks um for engaging with our great commissioners with our staff, so that they're brought along in the process too.

I know the load of greens is something that folks wanted to make sure we maintain, and I had a chance to take advantage of um Shakespeare in the park this past summer, where it was exactly on the load of green, and um, and it's just it's an incredible venue to be able to gather with your neighbors, pull out picnic blankets, enjoy some art, some food.

Um, but grateful that we still have that community space, right?

Um, now in the backyard of this great facility, so thank you for bringing this to Redwood City.

And if there are no other comments, I'm seeing any.

So, mayor would like to make a motion, but before I do that, our city attorney may we adopt all three at once.

So I'd like to make the motion to adopt the resolution on the final EIR, adopt a resolution, third amendment to the master project agreement, and adopt a resolution on architectural permit, as indicated in the staff report.

Second, great, and that was a motion from Councilmember G, a second from Council Member Howard.

Could we get a roll call vote, please?

We'll start with council member Howard.

Yes, Councilmember Padilla.

Yes, Councilmember Sturkin.

Yes, Councilmember Chu.

Yes, Councilmember G.

Yes, Vice Mayor Aiken.

Yes.

Mayor Martinez Sabayos.

Yes.

Motion passes unanimously.

Great.

Thank you, everybody.

And congratulations again.

We will now move on to item 8B, which is a public hearing on our proposed increase to water utility service rates.

We have our public works service director, Terrence Kaw here, who will give the introduce the item and our public work superintendent, Justin Chapel, who will give the presentation.

We also have our city consultant Gabe Sasser from HFH Consultants available on Zoom for any questions that council has.

Welcome, TK.

Thank you, Mayor.

Good evening.

Mayor Martinez Aballo, Vice Mayor Aikens, and Member of City Council.

I'm Terrence Joe, Director of Public Services Department.

I'm here today to uh provide the uh brief presentation about the proposed water rate increase for next to BS starting with 2026, 2027, and 2028.

S Rowwood City Public Works is a responsible agent uh department to providing the uh water to the entire Reboo City community.

We do have a two principle.

One is a safe and reliable water for the entire community, as well as we do have a fiscal responsible for the water enterprise, and the water in the price fund is a stand loan fund and then provided by the all the water rate payers.

It's um you will see in the uh short presentation that Justin Chapo will provide about the uh our analysis about the uh proposed water rate increase.

With that, I will turn it over to Justin Chapo, superintendent of the water utility.

All right, thank you, Terrence.

Uh good evening, Mayor Martinez Abaios, Vice Mayor Aiken, and members of the city council.

As Terrence said, I'm Justin Chapel, Public Works Superintendent of the Water Utilities Division, and tonight I'll be going over the proposed water utility rates that will be effective if approved in January of 2026, 2027, and 2028.

So the outline for tonight uh we'll start with the background of the water enterprise, the water enterprise revenue requirement, then we'll go over the proposed rates, some bill comparisons, and then followed by the public hearing and council action.

So as we go through the presentation night, we have prepared a few questions for council to consider, and we'll revisit these at the end of the presentation as well.

So for the background, the water system, uh, like Terrence mentioned is a separate enterprise fund within the city, and it's self-supporting, meaning it does not receive any funding from the general fund and is completely supported by water customers.

The goal of the enterprise is to provide safe and rival, reliable drinking water to all customers.

Uh one hundred percent of the city's drinking water is purchased from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.

And the city also receives recycled water from Silicon Valley Clean Water out in Redwood Shores.

The city hired HF and H consultants to conduct a study analyzing the revenue and expenses of the water enterprise fund and perform a water rate cost of service study designed to uh design the uh to meet the legal requirements and recover the cost to provide water service to each customer.

So some ways uh things that we do to save rate pairs money includes avoiding borrowing funds for capital projects to save on interest.

We minimize water losses through activities like surveying the water system for leaks and testing water meters for accuracy.

And since 2016, we have reduced water losses in the system from about 10% to 5%, which also reduces the amount of water that we need to purchase from San Francisco.

The city also has several water conservation programs that help customers to reduce their water use.

And lastly, the city's recycled water program offsets the use of poolable water, which also reduces the amount of water we need to purchase from San Francisco.

So the financial analysis prepared by HFNH starts with determining the amount of revenue required to operate and maintain the water system, and this includes the cost to purchase water from the SFPUC, which makes up about 44% of the total operating costs.

And that's shown in dark green a portion of the bars uh on the slide you see right now.

Also included is the operations and maintenance expense for things like staff, materials, and equipment shown in the light green, and capital expenditures, which goes towards replacing and rehabilitating aging infrastructure like water mains, storage tanks, and pump stations, and that's shown in gray.

The bars in this chart show the amount of revenue needed over the next three years, which is less than the amount of revenue that will be collected from current rates, which is shown by the black line.

So the current plan for rate adjustments includes using water enterprise fund reserves along with the rate adjustments to support the annual operating costs.

This chart shows the water enterprise reserve balance for the past two fiscal years in years 23, 24, and 24-25, and the projected balances for the current fiscal year and the next two fiscal years.

The dashed green line shows the projected reserves if rate increases are not approved, and the solid green line shows what the projected reserves are projected to be with the proposed rate adjustments.

The overall rate adjustments are also shown at the bottom of the chart.

These rate adjustments are needed to keep future reserves from falling below the reserve target, which is shown in blue, as well as to ensure adequate reserves are available to meet emergency needs.

So the water fund reserve policy has two components, which includes an operating reserve, which is equal to 25% of the annual operations and maintenance expenses, and a capital reserve, which is currently two million to provide working capital for pay as you go construction projects.

The operating portion of the reserve naturally increases for inflation based on operating expenses.

However, the capital reserve is fixed at $2 million.

To ensure the CalPA reserve keeps pace with inflation, part of the recommendation tonight is to adjust it annually based off the construction cost index for the San Francisco Bay Area, which tracks inflationary costs related to construction.

So I'll now review the current and proposed rate structure.

So Redwood City has three customer classes, which include single family residential, commercial, and multifamily residential.

Residential customers are billed bi-monthly, and commercial customers are billed monthly.

And there are two types of charges for water rates, which include fixed service charges and water use charges.

For the service charges, single-family customers, this is a flat rate.

And for multifamily commercial customers, this is charges based on the size of the water meter.

And lastly, some commercial and multifamily customers have private fire lines, which are billed based off of the size of the connection or the pipe to the property rather than the meter size.

And the water use charges currently for single family customers are comprised of four tiers, as shown in the table to the right.

And water use charges for multifamily and commercial customers are based off a uniform rate or one tier.

Now the structure for the proposed rates is mostly unchanged, with the exception that the tiered water use charges for single family customers will be going away, and all customer classes will have the same uniform water use charge.

So for the proposed rates, I'll first describe service charges and then go on to the water use charges.

So this chart shows both current and proposed service charges for residential customers, and that's based on the bi-monthly billing period.

As you can see, the amount for a single family customer will increase from $82.09 for a billing period to $92.38 cents in the first year, which is the same as for multifamily customers with a 5.8 inch meter.

The cost for larger meters for multifamily increases as the meter size increases in relation to the capacity of each meter.

So this chart shows the current proposed service charges for commercial customers, and the meter size charges shown here are half of what is shown in the last slide for multifamily customers because commercial customers are billed monthly rather than bi-monthly.

The recommended rates for single family customers will change from tiered rate to what uh for water use to a uniform rate, which is the same as it is currently for multifamily and commercial customers.

This change simplifies the rate structure to align more closely with the actual water usage patterns, which have changed due to improvements in water use efficiency and also aligns with the cost of providing water service.

So now I'd like to uh show how the current rates compare to the proposed rates.

The light green uh line in this chart is for current rates, and the dark green is for the proposed rates, and it plots bills across a range of water use for single family customers.

So generally, customers can expect an increase in their monthly bill when the water use is less than 2,500 uh cubic feet per bill, or um or 25 units per bill.

And when usage is more than 25 uh units, customers will see a decrease in their bill.

So this shows the combined cost for both service charges and water use charges, and the maximum increase any single family customer may expect is 22 percent.

All right, so this chart shows how a water bill for a Redwood City customer using seven units of water per month compares to a survey of neighboring agencies.

The dark green portion of the bar shows the fixed uh service charge for each agency, and the light green shows the water uses charge.

One thing to note is this shows current rates for other agencies and does not include any future rate increases they may be planning.

So during prolonged water shortages, when water consumption is significantly reduced from uh the water use charges are also reduced.

So these drought rates can be used at the discretion of the city council when water shortage emergencies are declared, and these are calculated to match what the cost of service would be based on the lower amount of water use.

So we realize that utility rate increases may provide challenges to some Redwood City water customers, and to help these customers, the city has a utility rate assistance program, which includes assistance for both water, uh sewer and solid waste customers, and it's available to households that meet the 50% area median income for San Mateo County, and it's applied as a credit on customer utility bills.

The current benefit for water customers is $25 per month or $50 per bill, and the program is funded from non-rate revenues.

And for anyone who is interested, the complete program information is available on the city's website as well as applications in English and Spanish.

Now, pursuant to assembly bill 2257, which became effective January 1st of 2025.

Property owners and our ratepayers must bring an objection regarding the proposed water rates to the city council's attention prior to the deadline established by the council as part of the rate making process.

This deadline was set for September 25th, 2025 at 4 p.m.

And the city received three objections prior to the deadline.

These objections and the city's responses to the objections are included in attachment B of the staff report.

In addition to and separate from the objections, the city also received protests from property owners and our ratepayers in response to the proposed rates.

The comments in these protests generally fill into several categories, which are covered in detail in the staff report.

I'll briefly review the two most common comments in the city's responses and the city's responses, and the most so the most common comment had to do with concerns of affordability due to fixed incomes, tariffs, and increases for other utilities.

And the summary of the city's response uh includes that under the provisions of proposition two eighteen, rates must be set proportionate to the cost of service for each individual part property, and the proposed water rates are based on the actual cost of providing service, as explained in the cost of service study.

Now, historically, the city has strived to keep rate increases as low as possible and less than 10% annually because smaller and more frequent rate increases are generally easier for ratepayers to manage.

However, we recognize the rate increases present a higher burden to some customers, which is why we offer the utility rate assistance program.

And the second most common comment had to do with the lack of water conservation incentive to the change in uniform rates from tiered rates to uh for single family customers to a uniform rate.

And the response uh from the city uh for this is that um the city is proposing a uniform rate structure to ensure that the rates comply with the legal requirements related to the cost of service.

And the city strongly encourages water conservation, has many programs to help customers reduce their water use.

And with that, uh that concludes the um the presentation.

I'd like to hand it over to the mayor for the public hearing.

Thank you for the great presentation.

Excuse me.

And we will pass it over to the city clerk for any public comment we've received.

Thank you, Mayor.

We have two in-person speakers at this time.

And we have one speaker on Zoom.

I'll give Zoom folks a moment to cue up.

And in the meantime, we'll call up our in-person speakers.

We'll start with Mark Moulton.

And Mark will be followed by Jeff Breslin.

Good evening, Mr.

Mayor and Council members.

I'm Mark Moulton.

We live in Emerald Hills and we've lived there for a long time.

I did send in a letter.

If you read the letter that I wrote and the charts that I sent with it, our concern is really about the long-term future of management of water and the rates that are charged to customers here where our water is managed by the SFPUC, and then we buy from through Bosca.

And it's our perception that we're chronically overestimating the amount of water that we need and therefore putting ourselves in a position where we have to then supply it.

And when it's not used, it costs us more.

And I would just urge you, as the buyers for 80,000 of us to take a look at the letter that I sent, take a look at the charts that I sent, and ask your representative to Bosca, Barbara Mayor Pierce, to walk back up through Bosca to SFPUC.

And be very careful that we're not walking into increasing rates beyond what they need to be for the rest of the foreseeable future.

Thanks very much.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Jeff Breslin.

And you did a comment that you wanted to speak on items 8B and 8C.

Would you like to give both comments now?

Or would you like to be commenting?

They kind of pretty much go hand in hand, I guess.

Thank you.

Uh good evening, Mayor and uh council members.

You know, this is my first time actually coming to something like this, and I usually just log on to Zoom and see how it's operating and then I got frustrated because I couldn't respond or say something, comment.

So I figured I'll just come down here and say something.

Um every, you know, I don't know, but every year we get these increases.

Okay.

And uh it it's a little frustrating to say the least, and and I probably have a little too much time on my hands because I decided to create a spreadsheet, and I won't even bother giving you a copy of it.

I'll give you this one, but I didn't print too too well.

But the problem that I have is the way the increases are being done.

And it's the same, well, I can't say it's the same for the garbage as it is with the water, but the people that use the lease amount are getting the big chunk of the increase.

And I'm a single family, two people in the house, we use very little water for the comparatively speaking, and the new proposed one tier rate for every for whatever level you're at impacts me the most because I use the least amount of water.

So it's the same thing with the garbage.

I have the smallest garbage can.

In fact, I'd like to see you guys let me have it picked up every other week.

I don't need to have it every week, but that's not an option.

You're forcing me to do it every single week.

Small can, large can doesn't matter.

But as the increases are rolled out, I'm picking up the bulk of the rate increase.

So I just ask you guys to look at the rates.

I don't I'm not paying attention to that right now just because I'm addressing both of them.

Um I just think the the people who have the biggest amount of garbage, they should incur a much larger increase than the people who have the smallest can.

And I realize there's maybe not as many of them, but maybe you get them down to smaller cans and it'll make a difference.

It just doesn't seem fair the way the the increases are being done.

I understand they got to do it to basically cover the cost increase as it goes on for infrastructure, but it's not being done properly.

My opinion, thank you.

Thank you.

That concludes our in-person speakers, and we'll move down to Zoom.

We have one speaker on Zoom.

Peter Drekmeyer.

Welcome, Peter.

Thank you very much.

My name is Peter Dreckmark.

I'm the policy director for Yosemite Rivers Alliance, formerly Tualamy River Trust.

I worked there for 18 years and I followed SFPUC issues very closely.

I also formerly uh served on the Palatus City Council, so I know what it's like to hear from constituents who are really strapped by water rate increases.

Um big picture, the the reason why SFPC water rates are going up so much is they deferred maintenance on the HetchHi system for decades.

And starting in 2008, they've been catching up.

That year they adopted a water system improvement program, 80 plus capital improvement projects that cost 4.8 billion dollars plus debt service, which uh doubles the cost, and we're still paying that debt service.

Plus, they're taking on new capital projects.

So debt services increasing, and we'll continue to do so, and that cost gets spread out throughout the system, including in Redwood City.

And the the cost of water from the SFPUC has quadrupled since then in 17 years.

Now, we can't change past mistakes, but I want to encourage you to think about uh a future problem that can be avoided.

And this is that the SFPUC has a planning, a drought planning scenario.

It's called the design drought that combines the two worst droughts from the last century.

It's 72% more severe than what Valley Water is planning for or East Bay Mud.

And as a result, um they're telling us that we have we might face extreme rationing, or we might have to develop a lot of expensive alternative water supplies, which is not true.

And the city of Palo Alto got hit hard, um, wasted half a million dollars on an alternative water supply study only to learn from the utilities advisory commission that it made no sense and it's been tabled.

And I encourage you to have a study session, invite us, invite Bosca, invite the SFPUC and get the truth about water and rates.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Mayor, we did receive two additional speaker cards for this item.

We do typically close the speaker list once we begin public comment, but asking for your consideration if you want to allow.

Okay, let's do that.

Thank you.

Okay, we will call Christine Padilla to the podium who will be followed by Scott Mitchell.

Thank you for um making the exception.

Um I just wanted to add to the comments about the um uh rate increases for the uh lower tiers, the tiers one and two and three and four.

I understand recovering costs of service, but I think you could also build in uh into that um incentives for conservation.

That is, you could have two tiers, one for um making sure that at least we have a level of um cost recovery, and then also a consideration for those who use more water because I I understand that um you know recovering costs is for capital is one thing, but at the same time, if you use more water, you the stress on the infrastructure is also larger, and other cities like San Carlos are maintaining their tiered rates and are still meeting the cost of service requirements.

So I would suggest or recommend that we think about amending a flat rate and take into consideration having an adjustment that both allows to have uh to cover our cost, but also providing incentives for conservation, which I think given the ongoing drought situation, we need to do, and it feels like it's backtracking on the efforts that the city has put in uh over the years and through our last drought system uh occurrences, excuse me, um, to incentivize us to um cut back on water.

I've done it and I know other people have done it, and I think that we should maintain the incentives for continuing to do that because water is a finite resource, and we can't have everybody using as much as they want and getting a benefit of a cost reduction for using more water.

So I would hope that you would think about that when you are looking at your tiered rate or getting rid of uh the tiered and going to a flat rate.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Scott Mitchell.

Thank you for letting me speak.

I just have one comment.

My water bill from the 6th uh the 20th of June to the 19th of August was 493 dollars.

I've stopped my lawn is dead.

I have a drip system for my bushes, and my water bill is outrageous.

It's increased by 15% a year for the water service charge, and it looks like it's going to be increased almost nine percent a year under these new regulations.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And that concludes public comment mayor.

Thank you, City Clerk, and thank you to members of the public who joined us today for providing their public comments.

We will bring it back to the council and we'll start with Vice Mayor.

Thank you.

I'm the chair of the utilities subcommittee, and uh we have been studying this issue.

I think my colleagues, Ms.

Padilla and Ms.

Howard can agree we've been studying it, and I want to assure everyone that we do not take this lightly.

So I just want to start us off.

Um so first of all, I'd like to thank city staff, and I want us it it bears repeating that over the last five years the city has reduced the amount of leaks or wasted water from 10% to 5% in the last five years, which you mentioned.

And I'm I'm are we gonna continue trying to reduce it even further?

Yes, of course, as much as we possibly can.

Okay, thank you, and and thank you for that.

Um I also just stay there for a minute if you wouldn't mind.

On page 16 of the staff report, I I just uh the public works department of Redwood City samples water every week to make sure it's pure.

That's right, yeah.

We sample the the water weekly.

I I just uh I just think it's important for all Redwood City residents to realize that and and thank you.

That makes me feel good.

Um so one overarching thing, it's come up a several several times during public comment is talking about a bigger picture of your first slide was about showing Hetch hetchy and the San Francisco PUC.

And I just wanted to point out on the big picture, um, one thing that we could all do well to advocate for, we are urban users.

A hundred and fifty years ago, most of California was farms, and most of water rights were doled out during a time when almost everyone who lived in Redwood in California were farmers.

And so to this day, legally, farmers get the vast majority of all water that that is exists in California because of their senior water rights.

And I think it's incumbent upon all of us to continue advocating that it isn't so, you know, that farmers not grow rice in the desert just because they can, because they have a ton of water.

It's my understanding that uh farmers didn't even have to have water meters until maybe five or ten years ago.

So in terms of a big picture, we urbanites need to continue to advocate for smarter water uses in the Central Valley with farmers.

But let me let me go now.

It was mentioned that we increase rates every year.

I want to point out that we didn't increase rates in 2020, 21 or 22, and part of the reason because of the pandemic, and we just didn't think it was fair, or my prior colleagues.

So it bears repeating that part of this is catch up.

Excuse me.

Sorry, the public common portion of the meetings ended, and we need to get through this.

So we'll go back to the vice mayor.

So then I also just want to emphasize that the Hetch Hetchy Right of Way, the Hetch Hetchy, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is 40 per 4% of the bill, and we have absolutely no control over that.

We are told what the rate is, and we have no control.

So I just want to emphasize that.

Is it more well actually before I ask you, I just want to emphasize that Redwood City has 280 miles of water pipes.

Um is that right?

That's right, yes.

And so public works, the hundred employees of Public Works, day in and day out, you're maintaining 280 miles of water pipes, is that correct?

That's correct, although the the water division is closer to 30, 35 people.

Oh, okay, 35 people whose full-time job it is to make sure the water pipes are clean, not leaking and working as they're intended.

Is that right?

That's right.

Okay, and so this is my question.

Is it is it cheaper to maintain a pipe, or is it cheaper to wait till it breaks and springs a leak and then fix it?

That's a good question.

I think in the long term, it's cheaper to replace pipes rather than to repair them repeatedly.

Okay.

Um is replacing pipes inexpensive.

No, it's not.

Okay.

So we don't incur debt right now with maintaining our 280 miles of water pipe, is that correct?

That's right.

We have no uh debt uh planned for the uh the maintenance of the water main the water system.

Does that make it cheaper without having to incur debt, pay pay interest and so forth?

Yes.

Okay.

Um I also want to point out from page 13 of the staff report that Redwood City is less bureaucratic than its peer cities.

So, in other words, um we uh we're more efficient in terms of billing people and more significantly more efficient than our peer agencies.

And again, I want to thank staff for working so hard.

Um we we don't take lightly increasing water rates.

I think I'm almost done.

I just I don't want to get into bogged down in a lot of details, but I just want to say that state law is what is requiring a unitary rate.

This is not a decision that uh this is not our decision.

And then finally, I would just say um.

Oh also um one the graphs that compare us to other cities, as you've mentioned, may be imperfect because uh other cities may just not have increased their rates yet.

But we are all faced, none of us is uh immune from general physics, which is water pipes break.

SFPUC is 44 percent of our rate structure, and um so I think we're always going to be in about the middle.

And and I'll just end by reiterating that the utility subcommittee recommends this rate increase.

We've been studying it for a couple of years.

We hired an expert, we looked at other models.

This is what we felt was best.

Um, and um we didn't take it lightly.

Thank you.

Thank you, Vice Mayor, and thank you for your service on the Utilities Committee.

Who would like to go next?

Thank you, Councilmember Howard.

Thank you.

Um I wanted to uh ask, uh I guess I I will ask you, Mr.

Chapel, aren't we one of the only cities that offers a program to help people who need some assistance to pay their water bill?

You know, I don't know how many cities currently offer.

I know we are one of the first to offer it, and it's not every city or water agency that does provide the program.

And I know it's very fair and just a lot of thoughts been given to it.

Um the reason I mentioned is because we started talking about leaks, and I remember when I had a landscape leak, and all of a sudden my bill was just crazy, and I just didn't understand it.

And I called the city and they came out and they helped me locate where the problem was.

And that saved me.

I mean, I had to pay for somebody to fix the landscaping, but uh I just realized that leaks can cost so much money.

So I'm wondering, does the city still offer the service if a customer calls you and says my water bill has gone dramatically high?

I can't explain it because I don't think I'm using it.

Would someone come out and assist the customer?

I would say yes to a degree.

I mean, we we there's some limitations on how much we can do, but we certainly will meet with the customer and try to walk them through the potential issues uh with the leak.

And we also offer uh several other uh well, at least one other uh tool now, which is uh a drop counter online water use portal, which can notify customers uh automatically if there's a detected leak.

That's really good, and we're advertising that I'm sure.

You also offer um things that uh like for shower heads and other water saving devices, I believe for free.

And uh I they'd be people you'd be happy to bring that out to a customer because that could save them a lot of money.

So I just wanted to say that that I know it's hard, water you can't do without it, but we do offer some incentives for people to to help bring their bill down, and I think that that's commendable.

I really appreciate that.

Saved me a lot of money, but uh I wouldn't have known.

I just I'm looking, I'm going, where's that?

So thank you to the city for helping me with that, and I'm glad to see you offer it to others to anyone who could use that kind of help.

Plus that um monthly credit for qualified customers, I would strongly suggest anyone who feels their bill is out of whack and they cannot afford the increases, then go and apply for it.

The money is there.

We really appreciate I think the money actually is from late fees.

I'm pretty sure that it's used.

We we collect the late fees and put it in a pot specifically divine uh designed for that purpose so that we can help customers who need the assistance to bring their payments uh up to speed.

Um and also I was uh on it's page nine of my report, but the uh single family monthly bill survey.

I think was that slide 14 or 13 figure four, they it's called online.

There it is.

Um I'm guessing because we usually usually are always in the middle, mid-range of cost increases, not only with water, but with everything we do.

It's something we pay particular attention to.

We do not want to be the highest, and we don't want to charge something that we know is going to be cost prohibitive for many of our residents.

We always try to stay mid-range.

So I see by the blue arrow that we will jump up, but I'm guessing that many of these cities or agencies have probably not looked at increases just yet, and that will shift in the next six months or so.

I would say that's correct.

I I'm not uh I don't know the schedule for each of these uh cities when their rate increases will be, but over time, yeah, I believe it will even out with Redwood City.

Having been on the utilities committee, I find that's always the way.

It's like we're first or second, and then other people follow, and I just think that uh that keeps us mid-range, which I'm very comfortable with, and I know my colleagues feel the same way.

We'd we're not looking, you can't make money with this particular uh with water or sewer.

You just have to pay for the services that we render.

So I I think mid-range makes us feel more comfortable that we're not taking advantage of customers that way.

Uh I think that answers my question.

And as far as the the new way of doing the billing, uh my understanding it's pretty basic, it's one price, but if you use more, you pay more.

So your incentive is still there to not use as much water and to do everything you can to save water in your own home.

I'm sorry, sir.

Sir, I understand that you might not disagree, but the time for public comment just ended.

If you could send your thoughts, we need to make sure that we get through all of the agenda items we have tonight.

I appreciate that.

I understand.

Let's go back to Councilmember Howard.

Thank you, Mr.

Chapel.

But uh, I think it's designed to be that way and to be compliant with state law, and so I I feel comfortable with the decision we're about to make tonight.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Howard.

And we'll go online to Councilmember Chu.

Um, so thank you for this presentation.

And you know, I guess I I appreciate that this is very challenging uh for our residents, and you know it's it's very challenging for us too.

I don't think you know raising water rates is something any of us want to do.

Um as Vice Mayor Aiken notes, this is not something we do lightly.

Uh, it was done after much deliberation.

Um I do think that you know uh the the context of of the uh maintenance costs was was important context um and that you know this these rates are a pass down, you know, we buy from ASCA, and um the cost of delivering the service is not something that that we set internally.

Um I did want to to just you know again highlight the the offer of you know financial assistance for those who need it.

Um I think that that's a very helpful program.

Um, and I would love, you know, going forward for us to really, you know, really have you know in-depth conversations and and think of creative ways where we can help our residents either use less water, um, you know, we well, we never have a bond, uh, but we are front yard is pollinator plants, they use very little water uh because they're drought tolerant, and as an ancillary benefit, we have tons of hummingbirds and and bees, it's fun.

Um, things like that, where there's creative strategies to to really help people use less water, and then as a city, uh, you know, really doubling down on the purple pipes and and these other sort of innovative strategies to reduce our overall water use.

I did appreciate the the comment.

Uh I'm sorry, I don't remember the gentleman's name.

I didn't quite catch it about uh I I did find his letter where he showed um the Bosca demand projections compared to actual demand.

If that's something we could look at, um, I think I think it would be terrific to look at that.

Like if that impacts the price that we have to pay for water if we overestimate how much our city needs.

Um, yeah, I don't know the details of that, but that would be worth considering um.

And you know, just finally, I really appreciate that we are not going into debt to finance the maintenance of our water systems.

I I would like to continue in that vein uh and have conversations about how we make sure that we're incorporating maintenance into any budgeting that we do.

Uh so I I really appreciate the presentation and the work of the utilities committee uh inside in the streets.

Thank you, Councilmember Chu.

We'll bring it back to the days.

Who would like to go next?

Councilmember G.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

We'll come to this at the day as now.

So um, you know, thank you to the utilities committee.

I mean, this is not easy work, it's a lot of analysis, and whatever we decide affects all of us in one way or another, either directly or indirectly, but we all pay whether it's solid waste or water or sewer.

Um so Justin and Terrence and the water team, thank you.

I mean, this is not easy stuff because it's a lot of different players involved.

A lot of different comments.

Number one, thank you for not kicking the can down the road on deferred maintenance.

Uh we heard from one of the speakers, SFPUC did that, and they had to finance several billion dollars to pay for kicking the can down the road.

And that comes with not only the principal but finance and debt costs.

And this council knows I'm not a fan of deferred maintenance on water, sewer, streets, or even our buildings.

So, Terrence, you and your team do a great job not only on our enterprise funds, but even on our fleet maintenance, as we saw earlier on the consent.

You know, we set aside money every year so that we don't have to take on debt to replace things.

That is not the right answer.

And there are public institutions here in California that have kicked the can down the road so much that they can't write a check.

And so I'll do a great example of California State University System and UC two years ago, the Ledge Alice said there's 15 billion dollars in deferred maintenance.

Two years ago.

No one's gonna write a 15 billion dollar check.

So thank you for not kicking that can down the road, and thank you for not taking on debt because of the work I do in the region and throughout the state.

I know, for example, there is a city in this county that has 40 percent leakage in their underground water system.

40 percent.

And here we are at five and working harder to get towards zero.

We'll never get to zero, but five percent compared to forty percent is a huge difference.

I know we heard, you know, this council, there's a city in the East Bay that's doing a 30% increase next year.

40% and subsequent increases because they kicked the can down the road, and did not maintain their water system.

Forget what San Francisco PUC is doing.

And so maintaining the integrity of our delivery system and not kicking the can down the road and not taking on debt when it's required is a big deal.

So I appreciate the multi-year long-range capital reserve, so that we have the money there and not waiting for a major catastrophic leak.

The caution I would say is, and I appreciate using the California construction cost index.

That's a lagging indicator.

It's backwards looking, not forward-looking.

You know, during right after COVID construction cost increase in the first six months after whatever after the pandemic was 14%.

So just a caution on the using that CCI index as a metric because it's backwards looking, not forward looking or projecting.

The last thing is what council member Howard asked was slide 14 about the other.

I do know other cities are looking at water rate increases.

Yeah, and they're not in effect yet.

So that's a static slide.

And I do expect we will drop where we are in this position on the slide, as some cities have control of their water rate increases, and others do not have any control over their water rate increases.

Um and so I expect within the next 12 months we'll drop back to where the current our current water rate position will be as other cities implement their water rate increases.

So, you know, I do appreciate the multi-year approach.

It's painful because we're all gonna pay it, but it's the right answer versus taking on a hundred million dollars in debt to finance repairs and maintenance and if you know when something major happens, because that's gonna be a lot bigger than the $10 every two months or five dollars a month increase that we're considering for single family residents.

That's what I think if I remember correctly, maybe a latte at Starbucks right now that I'll have to give up to pay for that every month.

So, but thank you, and thank you for maintaining our system and maintaining our capital reserves that we have funds to repair and maintain our system.

Thank you, Councilmember G.

Who would like to go next?

Councilmember Sterkin.

Thank you, Mayor.

Firstly, thank you for the presentation for your hard work on this.

This is a really tough pill to swallow.

I mean, the for the tier one, that's a really sharp increase.

Like if I am calculating this correctly, the tier one households, it's like a 25% increase from six to nine dollars.

And please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Um, and our utility rate assistance program, I have some questions about that.

So my understanding is we have about 300 households participating across the city, right?

Thank you.

How many of those folks are specifically participating for their water bill?

Or is it if they participate their their bit getting the benefit for all utilities, right?

Well, I don't have the exact numbers, but um, because a water service area is larger than the other service areas we have, every participant in the uh the program does receive the benefit for water service, and they may or may not receive it for solid waste or sewer.

Right, because we served like Emerald Hills, for example.

Right.

Okay.

Uh thank you very much.

And what is our capacity to serve additional households with that program?

Like what you know, with the current funding, how many more households would you say we could serve?

That's a good question.

You know, I don't have the number off the top of my head, um, but I think we could get back to you with that.

Sure.

Um, and I apologize, I spurned this question on you right now.

But I mean, even if you could just give me like a ballpark-like another 50, another 100, you know, and I won't quote you on it right.

I mean, I would guess around another 100.

Okay.

Thank you.

I want to jump in a little bit.

So um, this is kind of like uh very rough idea that you know, like we do have an urban water management plan that projected for the city water usage for the uh next five years.

And this is kind of like all these factors are playing and then new developments are coming and then new homes are being built, and then like new assembly required to build a accessory uh dwelling units and things like that.

So we don't have a like a crystal board to tell you exact number of it, but the way that the city is growing, we will be having enough water for next water, 2040 or 2045.

2045 for that uh enough water to uh current the our water allocation that we have with the SFUC.

Thank you, Director John.

Um and thank you, Mr.

Chappell.

So, yeah, I did review uh the outreach that was conducted, and I I looked on our Facebook page and saw the specific locations where we did tabling for not only the water um rates but also for solid waste, of course.

And I'm really pleased to see the outreach we've conducted, especially in multiple languages and at um locations across the city.

But the the numbers in terms of engagement with people was a little disappointing in some cases.

Um I really would like to see us to do more robust outreach.

Uh as you know, Councilmember Vidya usually mentions, um, and I you know, as part of my background, like doing door-to-door, like people don't know this program exists.

Just they don't know.

Um, they don't follow our us on social media or on our website.

They toss the mailer, it um they toss the mailer when we run.

But anyway, um I wanna just really emphasize that we need to do more outreach and expand eligibility.

Uh looking at the 50% area median income uh income limits for the county for one person, that is $67,700.

And knowing how skewed incomes are in this county, that's leaving out a lot of people who really need that assistance but just aren't eligible for it.

And I would like to see us even just project how many more households would be eligible if we were to increase eligibility to say the 60% AMI element, and also I would love for the utility um subcommittee, if you haven't already, to look at this program, how we can expand it uh in terms of eligibility, but also how we can fund it because I I know funding is limited and and based on uh penalties, I think as was mentioned by one of my colleagues earlier.

So I really do think we need to expand eligibility, conduct more robust outreach, and increase funding for the assistance.

Uh with these rate increases on those who are using the least.

Um I also want to mention that you know, while I as a renter don't have to pay for water, I'm one of the lucky few, and you know, an older complex where my landlord doesn't do that, um inevitably we will see these increases passed along to renters in the total rent.

So it's gonna come down on renters harder as well, and so that is another reason to really look more comprehensively at our URAP.

So yeah, thank you for listening.

I again I do really appreciate your hard work on this, not trying to beat anyone up here.

I just think we need to do more.

We're doing a great job, but we need to do more.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Sirkin.

We'll go back to the vice mayor.

I just have a quick follow-up piggy backing on Councilmember G's uh phrase kicking the can down the road.

There is a city in the East Bay that has a comparable size to us, and they they um their utilities committee told them, you know, you need to increase, and um the council didn't.

And and so after maybe 10 years, they had to do one increase of 44 percent, and that in just one time, and that same jurisdiction has um homeowners in their jurisdiction.

This made uh Bay Area news that um the piping doesn't exist anymore, and they don't have running water in their home and haven't for months and months and months.

So, you know, things happen if you don't maintain your pipes.

Thank you, Vice Mayor.

Go back to Councilmember Padio.

I just want to I'll make it brief.

I just actually I was thinking, I I have a nine-year-old in our public schools, and I was I just wanted to commend you because there is certain outreach that I think is going on that is awesome, and it's the partnership with our school district.

I know that right now my daughter has been working on a poster about how to conserve water, and somehow all of my silver mixing bowls are on the bottom of my shower because she's taking them and now we've turned off the irrigation and she's watering them.

So I I want to be optimistic that we have a really great group of children and youth who are gonna view water consumption differently and who are gonna be proactive.

And I just wanted to thank you for your efforts to partner with our school district and get our youth so engaged in um conserving water.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Padilla.

Seeing no one else's lights on, I'll add my thanks for the great presentation.

TK Justin, thank you both.

Um, I'll start off with a question.

Um, something that I heard one of our community members mentioned just about the amount of projected water that the city would use.

Um is there a way for us to be able to after the fact go to SFPUC to let them know what we are seeing residents use, and maybe if there's an opportunity for reimbursement, well, just add with our agreement with SFPUC.

Um there's always a reconciliation process for actual water purchases with them between what their retail customers use and what the wholesale customers uh members of Bosca like Redwood City use.

So there's a balancing account, and if you know one side between the wholesale customers and retail customers gets too heavy, the there's a uh kind of a shift in future years and a payback from one to the other.

So we really at the long term we only pay for the water use that we actually use and not more, but the capital costs are bur, you know, shared by all customers, including San Francisco retail and the wholesale customers like Redwood City.

Right, okay.

Thank you, Justin.

And um, you know, we can't be the only city that's trying to do something around conserving our resources.

Is there could you share any details around what the conversations look like at Bosca or at SFPUC around that?

Sure, yeah.

I mean, a lot of the programs that we have for water conservation that are actually start with Bosca.

So it's really us signing on to their programs that allows us to provide them to our community.

Um so I think you know, aside from that, you know, the statewide, everyone's looking at conserving uh water more to meet new state regulations.

The um you may have heard uh the uh water conservation as a California way of life.

So those regulations are coming uh through, and luckily for Redwood City, we're we're meeting our standards for that already.

Uh, but there's not to say that those those restrictions are gonna get or regulations get more strict over time, but I think we're still uh positioned really well to meet that, given the the way the community has responded in the past um to water conservation efforts.

Great.

Thank you, Justin.

And then my very last question is just the the URAP.

No, you mentioned we're one of the first cities to create that program.

Um is that something that residents could take advantage of for not just water, but you know, I saw the you know, waste service solid waste services.

Can you double dip or you know apply for where the help or I'm sorry for help where you need it?

Yeah, so well, the application is for all the three utilities that the city provides, and if you receive those services from the city, one application uh is makes you eligible for the discount for all three.

Amazing.

Okay, thank you, Justin.

Um, you know, those were my questions.

I appreciate the presentation again.

I want to thank our members of our utility subcommittee for working on this.

And um, you know, I will add my support for um for maybe taking another look at the URAP and wanting to deepen exactly who that's gonna benefit.

Um 50 percent of our AMI is not going as far as we may want it to go, right?

And so finding out exactly how many more families we can help or individuals if we were to stretch that, I think makes a lot of sense.

And you know, I know this is really a big pill to swallow, um, and it's something that our council is always being considering uh considerate of.

I know I'm hearing Alicia Aguirre's uh comments in the back of my mind where you know she always wanted to make sure that if we were going to increase the rates, right?

We're trying to break it down so it's never double digits right for our residents, and that it's something that they can start planning for.

Um, so you know, I want to make sure that we're we're following that spirit and making sure that you know these rate increases are properly noticed, but absolutely that we're also going out to the community and you know, trying to do more on that front.

Um, I spoke to my counterpart in San Carlos, and um, you know, I also realize we're in a also unique position that we we get to have a little flexibility with what our rates look like, and she you know mentioned the struggles in their city where they don't get that flexibility and the the rates unfortunately that they put on are exactly as they get it from the state SFP.

I'm sorry, the state PUC.

So I know it's it's not perfect, but it is something that we can work towards.

Um so I'll leave my comments there.

Um thank you again, both of you, for the great presentation.

And is there a motion on this item?

Vice Mayor.

Move to approve staff recommendation on water rates.

And is there a second?

I'll second that.

Great.

That was a motion from Vice Mayor Aiken, a second from Councilmember Howard.

Could we get a roll call vote, please?

Certainly, and before I take the vote, I just want to state for the record that we did not receive a majority protest against the proposed rates.

We'll start with council member Padilla.

Yes, Councilmember Sturkin.

Yes, Councilmember Chu.

Yes.

Councilmember G.

Yes.

Councilmember Howard, yes.

Vice Mayor Aiken, yes.

Mayor Martinez, the vice.

Motion passes unanimously.

Thank you, everyone, for the discussion.

With that, we will move on to our next item, which is item 8C.

And we have our public works service director, TK, who's back to introduce the item, and we have assistant public works director Adrian Lee, who will give the presentation.

And again, we have city consultant Gabe uh Sasser from HFH consultants available on Zoom for any questions.

Thank you, Mayor.

Good evening, Mayor Um Sabayo and uh Vice Mayor.

I am member of City Council.

I'm Terrence Joe, Director of Public Work Services department.

Thank you for the opportunity to provide you with a short presentation for the proposed solid waste rate for the year 26-2027.

Uh for this um presentation to our assistant public work director, Adrian Lee will present.

We also have a member of the Recology, our solid waste service provider, in the room to answer any question that council may have.

With that, I turn it over to Adrian for the presentation.

Good evening, mayor, vice mayor, city council.

My name is Adrian Lee.

I'm the assistant public works director.

Thank you for the opportunity to present tonight.

So here's uh tonight's uh presentation outline.

And here are some questions for uh the city council.

Um, does the city council have any questions about the proposed solid waste rates, uh chapter 14 of the municipal code, or about amendment two to the amended and restated uh franchise agreement.

We'll show these again at the end of the presentation.

So just a little bit of background uh to include uh information about our key partners for solid waste services.

Um Redwood City is one of 11 member agencies of a joint powers authority called Rethink Waste or South Bayside Waste Management Authority.

Uh Rethink Waste primarily provides strategic oversight, support and management of our service providers, and owns and manages the Shoreway Environmental Center in San Carlos.

Um that's that's the facility that receives the black, blue, and green cart materials from all of the member agencies.

Um the board of directors for Rethink Waste is comprised of one elected official from each member agency, and our own council member Stirkins currently serves uh on the board with a council member Padilla serving as the alternate.

Um the two main service providers uh we have are uh Recology San Mateo County and South Bayside Industries or SBI.

Uh Recology is the one that uh goes around uh and performs collection services.

Uh they're the ones that drive the trucks around, um picking uh and collecting uh materials from the green, um uh blue and black bins and carts throughout the throughout the city.

They then deliver the materials uh to Shoreway Environmental Center where SBI sorts and eventually disposes of the material.

And then finally, HFNH uh was brought on to uh assist the city with um the analysis um behind uh behind the proposed rates.

There are consulting firm specializing in many areas of local government, including solid waste.

Um the analysis is specialized work and the city does not have the staff expertise um in these areas.

Additionally, uh utilizing HFNH gave us the uh um kind of their expertise and their uh familiarity and their experiences from other agencies across the state.

So we gotta see uh uh um that that got to take advantage of that experience as well.

So just um our current rate structure.

Um, so our current rate structure um currently charges lower rates for the 20 and 32 gallon carts, and this was originally set up this way to encourage recycling and landfilling.

Uh, today about 85% of our uh residential customers subscribe to one of these two carts.

Uh although the city authorized um only authorizes maximum rates to promote fairness and equity, the city has endeavored to um make rates proportionate to the cost of service for each customer class.

Each year, a rethink waste determines how much revenue is required to cover the cost of processing, disposal, and other related uh costs for solid waste services in Redwood City.

For 2026, that amount is approximately 29.8 million dollars.

If the city were to take no action and left solid waste rates unchanged, uh we would expect a shortfall or a deficit of about 1.8 million in 2026.

Uh, we have already used money from the rate stabilization fund and rates must be increased to eliminate that deficit.

Historically, the city has looked at uh uh the revenue requirement annually and an approved maximum rates uh for one year.

This year we are looking to approve maximum rates for 2026 and 2027 now.

Um approving multi-year rates is uh a common practice among other agencies, and uh Redwood City has also taken its approach for water and sewer rates.

Um by eliminating the need for uh to come back uh for in for another public hearing next year for 2027 rates.

The city can save on uh staff and city council member time.

Uh we can reduce costs such as printing and mailing um costs, and we can provide taxpayers, uh, provide ratepayers with the knowledge of the 2027 rates a full year earlier than they would have otherwise.

So this slide this slide uh should have a table that shows the proposed rate increase uh of six dollars per month for both 2026 and 2027.

So on the far left column, it's the cart size, and then it goes to the current rate as of now, the $6 proposed increase for 2026, uh, then the 2026 proposed rate, and then again uh six dollar increase proposed for 2027 with the proposed 2027 rate.

So some of the feedback from the community uh has asked for all cart sizes uh to have the same percentage increase or to even uh raise rates on smaller carts by a smaller amount.

Uh unfortunately, these approaches are not advisable for the city, as the rates should reflect the cost of providing the service.

Many of the costs for solid waste um services are fixed and do not change when carts are smaller.

So, as an example, uh regardless of which cart size you subscribe to, uh a residential customer also receives a 64 gallon uh blue recycling and a 96-gallon green organics cart.

So, you know, a 20-gallon uh subscriber is actually getting um 180 gallons of total material removed from their household every week.

Um, you know, 20 gallons on the black, 64 gallons in the blue, 96 gallons in the green.

Um similarly for 96 gallon subscriber, um they're also getting those that same uh blue and green cart, but they're um and you know, on top of their 96-gallon black, so they would get a total of 256 gallons of material uh removed each week.

So the next four slides uh show our current 2025 rate and proposed 2026 rate against other member agencies in the area and their current 2025 rates.

So the solid light gray bar is our current rate, and the hashed gray bar is our proposed rate for 2026.

Um many of the other agencies are currently in the similar process as we are now, and so these comparisons will definitely change over time.

Um, and rates can vary from agency C to agency due to a number of reasons such as uh travel distance to and from the processing facility, topography of the city, uh density of routes, things like that.

So this slide is the 32 gallon comparison.

Again, our 2025 rates and proposed 2026 against others 20 current 2025 rates.

Same comparison, but for the 60 gallon, 64 gallon cart.

And finally, the 96 gallon cart uh comparison.

So based on based on past feedback from city council, uh staff is evaluating and exploring uh options to uh solid waste services.

Uh some of the things we're looking at are uh potential changes to the frequency of service or a change to the number of available cart sizes.

Um Justin Chapel previously spoke about this, but I just wanted to take another opportunity to highlight it.

Uh that the utilities rate assistance program, it's a program that was specifically set up to assist those in need and is unique in that very few cities offer the same uh level or type of assistance program.

Um, and those that do usually only provide assistance on maybe one or two of the utilities, not all of them.

Um, and so uh for um you know if you um apply and you are eligible, you would get all three credits if you know if you get service for all three from us.

And for what uh for solid waste specifically, it the the credit monthly credit ranges from 10 to 16 dollars per month, depending on the uh cart size.

So this slide just shows uh some of the notification and outreach outreach efforts that were um conducted.

Tonight we are also asking uh for city council to waive the first reading and introduce an ordinance uh amending chapter 14 of the Redwood City Municipal Code to allow uh for a waiver from from the requirement for a ref uh for refuge service, allow for self-hauling, and allow Recology uh to assume billion responsibilities.

It also states that the maximum rates charged by any collector shall be approved by resolution uh by the city council.

And finally, we uh tonight we're asking city council to adopt a resolution to approve and authorize the city manager to execute amendment number two of the amended and restated franchise agreement with Recology Samiteo uh to allow Recology to perform billing services for solid waste and to set franchise fees for 2026 and 2027 and beyond.

So uh this is the uh uh recommendation of council action open and close the public hearing and determine whether there's a majority protest of the maximum rates uh by motion adopt a resolution approving and authorizing city manager to execute amendment number two of the amended and restated franchise agreement with recology Samateo and approving maximum 2026 and 2027 solid waste collection rates and approving solid waste charges.

Uh direct staff to continue to promote the URAP and also waive the first reading and introduce an ordinance amending chapter uh amending Article 1, Article 2, and Article 3 and Chapter 14 of the City Municipal Code.

And these are the questions that were posed in the beginning of the uh presentation, and that concludes my um presentation and I'm happy to take any questions.

Thank you.

Adrian, thank you for the great presentation.

Before we bring it back to council, we'll open the public hearing for any public comments.

Thank you.

We do have one speaker card, Mark Fowell.

And if you've joined us on Zoom, feel free to raise your hand to speak on this item.

I'm gonna read the letter I sent you today.

And maybe you all can set me correct if I'm incorrect in some of my assumptions.

Um I wish to protest the rate increase proposed for 2026 for the solid waste service.

The proposed increase for 2026 and 2027 for my 32-gallon cart service are 11% and 10% respectively.

My rate increases already were 11% in 2023, 18% in 2024, and 15% in 2025.

Five years of increases of 10% to 18% seem unjustified.

The current consumer price index year over year is only about 2.9% for this coming year, or at this point compared to last year.

I have been told by the public works department that the increases at least in part are due to a required rebalancing of the rates by cart size.

Apparently, the larger cart size rates are subsidizing the smaller cart size.

The disproportionate increases are intended to allow a better match of rates servicing costs.

However, even the lowest of the residential increase to the 96 gallon proposed cart rates are projected to increase by six percent in 2026 and 4% in 2027, which is still higher than the 2.9% CPI annual increase.

The overall rate increase may be more than halfway between 6% rate of the 97 uh 96 gallon carts and the 15% increase for smaller 20 gallon carts because there are many more of the smaller carts that are receiving the higher increases.

If the rates are still out of balance, even after ongoing corrections since 2023, then please do a correction once and for all in 2026 instead of continuing to spread the correction at least through 2027.

Then hopefully price increases will truly reflect underlying cost that the city incurs from recology for collection and from South Bay Industries for costs related to the San Carlos facility.

As a note, the large increase in rate should not be attributed to the increased costs of recology taking building responsibility.

Okay.

And I have other comments too, but um Adrian has read my letter, I assume, and maybe has had time to at least offer some comments of where my assumptions are.

Thank you, sir.

And you can always send your full comments to us at council at roadcity.org and the full council will get them.

Oh, I did I turned it in today for the instructions for the comments.

Great.

Thank you.

And seeing no speakers on Zoom Mayor, that concludes public comment.

Great.

Thank you, City Clerk, and thank you to the public for your public comments.

We'll bring it back to the dais, and we'll start with Vice Mayor Aiken.

Just because again, I'm chair of the Utilities commission, I'd be very, very brief.

First of all, I'd I'd really like to thank you, Mr.

Stirkin, for serving on the recology board.

And I I feel sorry for you is the wrong word.

I feel for you, because you have to look at three budgets, not one.

You have to look at rethink waste budget, recolleges budget, and South Bay Industries budget.

And I know for me, when I look at Redwood City's budget once a year, I spend hours and hours and hours and hours.

And I know that you are fly specing these three budgets from these three entities.

When you go to those meetings, and when you ask staff questions, I know you are really representing us, and you are really asking hard questions and getting really uh specific answers, and thank you for that.

So the other thing that I wanted to ask staff, um, this change is to single uh residences, it is not to commercial and it is not to multifamily.

Is that correct?

It's to the um any of the cart sizes, so that anywhere from the 20 to the 96 gallon cart sizes, it would not make changes to the bins to um large commercial bins, correct?

Say again.

So it's to the carts.

So the to the 20, the 30 uh 32, 64, and 96 gallon pricing.

No, no, um, no other uh prices are changing.

Okay.

Thank you.

And I would just again reiterate that um we've we've looked long and hard at this, and and we are um we are going to be studying in the utilities commission committee subcommittee other ways of um collect you know this the size of the carts.

We we're also you know thinking about the frequency, but you know, uh public safety, it's really really important not to have garbage hanging around for a long time.

So we're kind of disfavoring the idea of having collection less often, but we are gonna do a deep dive.

Um I just want to assure the public, we are gonna do a deep dive and and work on this more.

But but we worked with our consultant and studying and and this is we we support it's not fun, but we support this at this for now.

Thank you for getting us started, Vice Mayor.

Who would like to go next?

Councilmember G.

Thank you.

Even thank you, and Terrence, and thank the entire team.

This is this is a much more complex issue than just rate increases.

I mean, we've seen, you know, with three bins, regardless of where they're located, three trucks driving down the street every week, picking up the green, the blue, the black, regardless if they're there, they're still driving down the street.

So I think one of the greatest opportunities that we need to take a look at is level of service.

I mean, with the depending on the bin sizes, and they work together, it is plausible to reduce from four every week to every other week, and seeing the impact on that cost of service.

And I think that's something that I would be interested in because I've been asking for that for several years sitting up here at the Dais.

The other component of this, though, given all the regulations for increased composting and sorting, the other big piece is extending the life of Ox Mountain.

And at one point in time, we were looking at filling and closing Ox Mountain by now.

What that means is that all the composting and recycling and trash would be trucked somewhere east of us.

And if you think that's going to increase cost, that's going to increase cost big time to truck all of our refuse to the East Bay up to a mountain and to bury it somewhere.

And so my curiosity is with all the work we've done to sort compost and avoid landfill.

Do we know how many years we've extended the life of Ox Mountain?

We're up to 2042 right now.

Um that's uh Monica, she's from uh uh ecology and she's um said 2042, I believe is what thank you, Monica.

That's a big deal because if we had kept the course we were on before, we would have closed Ox Mountain by now.

It would have been full.

So going from 2025 to 2042 is a big deal because that's several years of not having to truck our refuse to the East Bay and beyond.

And so as much as um, you know, I'm not happy about continuing rate increases.

I think having looking at alternatives to level of service and maybe smaller carts or both will have a bigger impact on potential future rate increases than just looking at how much diesel costs and what a new recology truck's gonna cost and all that fun stuff.

I think this is a good start, but it can't be the ending point by allowing, if I'm reading the staff report correctly, residents to opt out of service, is a big deal, and to let them figure out what they want to do with their own trash is a good step to self-haul.

I think that's the right language to about level of service again.

I can choose not to have my trash picked up and I can figure out on my own where I want to take it and how often I want to take it.

That's a start into looking at the level of service and how we can we as a property owner can self-manage some of our costs and potential future cost increases.

So again, I've been asking for level of service taking a look at that for years, and I think this is the beginning.

And thank you to the utility subcommittee for carrying that study further.

And hopefully by the time we do this again in 27, we'll have better answers about what we can do and what homeowners or property owners or residents and businesses can do to manage their own refuse costs or solid, I guess the right term is solid waste costs.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember G.

We'll go to Councilmember Piddy.

Thank you for that presentation.

I'm also on the utility subcommittee at meeting, and I just want to personally share that I actually completely disagree with uh councilmember G.

I don't even think we should entertain the idea of scaling back.

I I think what we what I want to say is what scaling back service really means is leaving garbage on our streets, and I think not only is that problematic that's problematic for so many reasons, and I I think it's important to go over some of them.

Pests, rodents, there will be issues.

I am constantly hearing about people battling rodents and all kinds of things already, and I think if we leave trash out for prolonged periods of time, we will have more issues.

There are hygiene issues.

I think it will increase littering.

I think we will find that we will be welcoming illegal dumping.

I look at places like Oakland, and I never want to have our streets look like that.

I think to depend on people, the good in people to get rid of their garbage is a is a noble idea, but I don't in theory, but I don't think I trust people that much, to be quite frank.

And I think that it will have a disproportionate effect on families, families with children, people have diapers.

Believe me, if you have a small child, you can go through a tremendous amount, and that is human waste.

And I wouldn't want my neighbor to have next to my gate a big garbage can for two weeks of pampers.

Um, so I I honestly think that, you know, climate best to me is not just the temperature here, it's how it looks, and I want to think that we are inviting to future residents, and we aren't also discouraging economic development.

I think it's important to have our garbage picked up.

That is something that I value and appreciate.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Padilla.

We'll go to Councilmember Chu online.

So thank you for this uh great presentation.

Um, you know, I I do appreciate all of the community members who came and expressed concern about us increasing rates.

Uh, you know, as uh Vice Mayor Aiken noted before, this these kinds of decisions do not come lightly.

Um, and the the state law does require that the city rates reflect the cost of service, and so we do have limited flexibility as a result.

Um and so uh, you know, I I will be supporting uh this ordinance uh tonight.

Um I I do think that we should be thinking creatively about how to reduce the costs of collecting garbage.

Um, you know, I I was trying to come up with a way to do every other week, and every everyone I could think of ran into moral hazard.

You know, if you had like a dumpster at the end of a street where everyone could just bring their garbage, you're gonna get that.

Somebody's gonna game it and take advantage of it.

So I don't think that's an easy problem to solve, but I do think you know, if there's other cities that have had innovative, clever solutions to reducing waste.

Um, I know there's some really clever innovative things going on, for example, in the EU.

As these sort of um clever approaches are adopted, I'd be interested in piloting them if there's good ideas.

Um I'll leave it there.

And I'd also like to second uh council member Aikens uh, sorry, thanks to Chris, uh for serving on our ecology board, really appreciated.

Thank you, Councilmember Chu.

We will go to Councilmember Sherkin.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Um I guess first thank you to my colleagues uh for the appreciation.

I I have big shoes to fill with former mayor uh DC Aguirre's uh service on the on the board.

I'm still trying to fill them.

Um anyway, and you know, one of the tough questions I asked of staff at the last board meeting, recology board meeting was, you know, what is the minimum necessary uh percentage increase required to meet the cost of service, and what was proposed actually increases includes rather about a one to 1.5 percent additional increase to go towards reserve, and that really does go to Councilmember G's um comments about preparing for capital infrastructure improvements, maintenance, repairs, um looking ahead to when Ox Mountain closes and you know less than 20 years.

Um so it is a necessary investment, um, but I don't take lightly how costly it is.

Um and with that in mind, I you know did just want to reiterate my interest in the utility subcommittee looking at the ERAP eligibility, um, even if more funds aren't available for that program, just the eligibility to have 100% subscription.

Let's fill those 50 to 100 estimated additional households um or spots that households could uh take advantage of this program and have a hundred percent subscription.

So, then I wanted to just talk about the utility rate is uh the stabilization fund um allocation to reduce next year's rate from seven to six dollars increase right and in one of the things that we discuss at the board we think waste board is about you know deferring costs and I appreciate the interest in offering a discount next year to soften the blow ever so slightly as much as we can but I'm concerned that while well intentioned doing so will just defer the full rate increase uh and ultimately end up costing ratepayers more in the future because you know money costs it doesn't go as far in the future right you know with the inflation your your dollars are going not as far year after year after year um and so my kind of question is you know much like we offer credits with the URAP you know what would a credit look like with that rate is rate stabilization fund like my question is more in terms of timing so if we're offering this discount to next year's rate from seven dollars to six dollars you know that's not going to go into effect until well next year of course if we were offering a credit it you know is it possible to do so on a monthly basis like we are with the ERAP could that 250K be credited back to ratepayers now each month instead of them having to wait to receive that discount until the following year or the year after that and you know please feel free to um correct me if I'm misunderstanding this but can you speak to how quickly we could get those dollars back to residents.

If I'm understanding the question correctly so the the way it's set up right now is we would we're um reducing the impact right from uh the necessary seven dollars to six dollars and um but you by utilizing some of those one time funds um that one time funding it you know regardless of whether you use it uh right now or or in starting January one the the there's like a it's a complicated system of like kind of a balancing uh like a balancing account at the end of the year so there's kind of true ups and and you know we either um overcle um we either did not uh generate enough revenue um to to meet the uh uh uh estimated expenditures in which case we owe money and sometimes you know there may be a case where okay we collected enough and so that that could be utilized so it it in some ways it's already being how do I say it's it's already being accounted for in in the rate it's just that they're not seeing the discount on it right now it's it's kind of um uh I don't know how else to describe it it's uh um the the money the money is is is being put towards their the their person's account it's just not it wouldn't be reflected on their bill this at this minute but over over time over the next year it would it would reflect it we wouldn't be there's not any mechanism at this point to discount them on the current bills I guess is kind of yeah I think I was just gonna interject it to say the same thing just to be clear that it's kind of like the rate stabilization fund is taking off a portion of the cost off the top so the the ratepayer never sees that benefit so maybe what you were suggesting is instead of raising the rates by six dollars the rates get raised by seven we're I am just more questioning were you thinking that maybe we raise them by that amount, but then show a credit on the bill, and that that would be the case while the rate stabilization fund is used, and then that goes away.

Is that the way you were thinking of it instead?

In a way, thank you.

Um, I just there's this pattern of our rates not reflecting the actual cost of service and us kicking the can down the road when it ends up becoming more expensive for ratepayers in the long run.

So I want to avoid that as much as possible, even understanding that I'm suggesting a seven dollar increase rather than a six dollar increase.

And that's not what I want to do.

But what I do want to do is make sure that we're not deferring costs and increasing the burden on ratepayers in the future.

So I think if I'm following you, city manager, you're suggesting you're saying that they're not seeing, because okay, so because it's funded by ratepayers um from under expenditures of funds collected through rates.

They're not seeing that cost on their bill, right?

Right.

Yeah, it's all kind of back-end accounting.

So you all decide we all know kind of here's what the cost would be if we weren't using that one-time fund from the rate stabilization fund, and then we have the net amount that gets charged to ratepayers, which they see, but they don't see all the calculations kind of in the back end unless you know they read all these reports.

Okay.

Yeah, I just want to make sure that we're getting that money back to repairs as soon as possible.

And it was really helpful what you explained about how it, you know, we're teeing up things at the end of the year once we've done our reconciliation and whatnot, uh, and then realize that we have these funds available to then discount upcoming rates.

Um let me stop there.

It's been too long.

Uh thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Surgen, for policing yourself there.

Appreciate it.

Um, but something councilmember Sergen raised.

Um, gave me a question.

Is there anything preventing us from saying this is exactly how much the city is helping subsidize using the rate stabilization fund on somebody's bill?

Um I'm not sure the kind of how much um space uh we have on the bills themselves, but in our other communications, I think one of the things that we've been trying to communicate, and maybe it's not come through so clearly, is we are trying to ease the impact on residents in kind of three important ways.

One is it is phasing in the rate increases over two years.

Second is using the rate stabilization fund to make it possible to to do that that phasing in.

And then for those who qualify by income, we do have a rate payer assistance program.

So there are things that the city is trying to do to make the burden a little more manageable, as as you all have said, nobody likes raising rates, um, but these are necessary to make sure that our system is there when everybody needs it.

Thank you, City Manager.

We'll go to Councilmember Howard.

Thank you.

Um I did want to ask uh Recology, uh the hauling, um, the updating of chapter four 14 self-haul.

Um, why was that recommended?

Who's doing it?

And do you have great results from this program?

That that's why you thought we should do this.

Am I asking the right person or oh, sorry?

It's thank you, uh Councilman Mahoward.

I will take on that question.

So the saw hall option is an option that we introduce with this public hearing.

The reason being that's a like Councilmember G, one point mentioned it like an option for community member to try out the RO managing the uh solid waste.

So that is a process and procedure that they have to follow in because we have a lot of regulatory requirement, the organic waste disposal, and you know, the solid waste copies, treasure disposal and recyclable.

So both who wanted to participate in the saw hall options, they will uh contact the Robert City Public Works.

We have a process and procedure in place to give them a guideline how to do it.

So if it is they know how to manage their program, they're willing to manage a program.

We will be monitoring it and making sure that they are in the compliance with all the regulatory requirements if so that is an option, just like a you know, those are the type of situations.

Now that you are uh cell hauling by yourself, and then you gotta haul your trash to transport station, or you have to haul your uh trash to Ox Mountain by USL, and then you have to trial USL, and then you have to have a some sort of containment system to make ensure that it's not really impact the health related, you know, consequences.

So I'm asking, is anyone done this?

You're introducing a whole new idea here.

That is an option.

Um, the bamboo situation, uh, that type of option is generally much more expensive than the uh we have an economy of scale with their ecology, they're picking up trash uh throughout the street, and then now that you have to manage your own.

Uh will there be a way to monitor this closely to see if it's successful at all because I'm concerned about this because what if someone I shouldn't say it because I don't want to give anybody ideas, but use your imagination on how people might choose to get rid of their garbage if they were so inclined.

How do you make sure this is done properly?

Yes, so that that is a very good question.

And we just wanted to make sure that the those who that participate in the cell haul options, they follow through that guideline that we will provide it to them to make sure that they have to submit it uh amount of trash that they produce, and uh they may have to provide the uh the place that they dispose, and those are kind of like one of those check-in processes that we have to do a quarterly or you know annually that auditing, so auditing part will come together with that cell hall option.

And if I may um maybe add to that, thank you, Terrence.

I wanted to be clear that actually the ordinance um that the city has a municipal code already allows for a self-haul.

And what staff has introduced is a more involved system that has those checks and balances.

So before it was a one-sentence allowance that um that somebody privately disposed of their refuse.

And here now we're adding an entire system in there.

A permit is required.

They need to, you know, make sure that all of the uh requirements that staff is imposing are met in order to be able to privately dispose or self-haul, and rather than using the city service.

So I did want to just clarify that the city is uh creating a more involved system in order to protect against the concerns that you're raising.

Thank you.

That's very helpful, and I I guess that will come back to utilities committee fairly regularly.

I'd love to know if it is actually working and how many people are doing it.

And I um think the utility committee uh I I would like to see a study uh other possibilities, such as I'm gonna call it having a garbage partner, your neighbor working with your neighbor, saying we're gonna share cans and things like that, something that's a little out of the box that maybe we can um help uh some neighbors do if if that that's something.

Maybe having fewer cart sizes is a really I think a good idea myself, but um, those kinds of things need to be studied, and the maybe the less frequent pickup.

I have concerns as does council member Padilla.

I I am concerned, especially after listening to your very very thorough answer.

I even more concerns than before I started, but I'm certainly willing to study it and see if if it's something to consider as an option.

So but thank you very much for a very good report, and I'm sorry we have to do this, but it's what we need to do.

Thank you.

Thank you to my council colleagues.

Thank you, gentlemen, for the great presentation.

And um, you know, I don't want to belabor this.

I know we're we're now running a few minutes behind, so we'll go ahead and um, you know, really just quickly say I appreciate Council Member Sturkin's continued service, Councilmember Aguirre's um, you know, work on on that body.

Um we absolutely need to come up with some creative solutions, and I think you know the utility subcommittee is gonna do um a great job at exploring I you know um putting on my Silicon Valley clean water hat.

I know that you know that agency is looking at creative ways of taking on other municipalities, compost, right, and taking that in.

They have biodigesters that are able to turn you know that into energy that's stored on site, and so really interesting.

It's compost, right?

So a little different than solid waste, but um, I wonder if those are the types of solutions that we could be you know generating with our subcommittee.

Um, so I am open and all open to all of the ideas that come from this.

Um, absolutely have some concerns around you know what the quality of life impact would look like in the neighborhoods, but um absolutely we need to be in our exploratory phase right now.

So um thank you in advance to the committee for working on that, and um and with that, just to make sure that we get out on time today, hopefully today, um, I will entertain a motion.

Vice Mayor, motion to approve the uh staff's recommendation on garbage rates, and is there a second?

Second, I'm sorry if I may um just because vice mayor, you said on garbage rates.

Are you recommending all of the staff recommendations or just regarding the rates?

Thank you for clarifying that's a great question.

I am recommending all of the staff recommendations.

Thank you, great.

Second it, thank that was a motion from Vice Mayor Aiken, a second from Councilmember Padilla.

And could we get a roll call vote, please?

Thank you.

And again, I'll confirm we did not receive a majority protest.

We'll start with council member Sturkin.

Yes, Councilmember Chu.

Yes, Councilmember G.

Yes, Councilmember Howard, yes, Councilmember Padilla, yes, Vice Mayor Aiken, yes, Mayor Martina Sabayos, yes, motion passes unanimously.

Thank you, everybody.

We will keep things moving.

We will now go to item nine.

We have no staff reports scheduled for this evening.

That takes us to item 10, matters of council interest, beginning with 10A.

Um the proposed city council meeting calendar was included in the agenda packet and was previously shared with the city council.

And I will turn it over to the city clerk to share any updates to the calendar.

Thank you, Mayor.

So since the calendar was shared with the council and published in the packet, I did want to flag that there is a conflict with the August off site, which we typically have first, second or third Saturday in August.

Um we do have a conflict with that date.

So just letting you know that I'll be polling you for a date that works for everyone in August, probably the 22nd or the 29th.

So more to come on that.

Great.

Thank you, City Clerk, and thank you for your team's uh hard work on this.

I know that not only were you looking at the federal holidays, but you're looking at state holidays, cultural holidays.

Um so appreciate the due diligence.

Is there any are there any comments from my colleagues?

Councilmember Howard.

Oh, sorry, I thought you were reaching.

Any comments, Councilmember Surkin?

Motion to approve.

Great.

That's a motion from Councilmember Sturkin, a second from Councilmember G.

Could we get a roll call vote, please?

Sure, and just to clarify that we are accepting the calendar this evening, not approving it.

We'll start with councilmember two.

Yeah, councilmember G.

Yes, Councilmember Howard, yes, Councilmember Padilla.

Yes, Councilmember Sturkin.

Yes, Vice Mayor Aiken.

Yes, Mayor Martinez Saballos.

Yes, motion passes unanimously.

Thank you, everybody.

We will move on to item 10b, City Council member report of meetings and conferences attended, beginning with 10 A.

Does anyone have any report outs?

Not seeing any, we'll move on to item 10 C, which is our City Council Committee reports, beginning with our utilities subcommittee.

And Councilmember Padilla has a report.

Okay, thank you, Mayor.

Let's see.

On Friday, November 7th, we met with uh Marcus Burt and Monica DeVinci Deventy.

Sorry, Monica.

De Vincenzi, I'm so sorry, okay.

She's not there anymore, but I still want to say her name right.

Uh so they they reported to us about recology service and community engagement efforts.

Staff also presented various design options for a Redwood Shore sea level rise protection project.

Finally, staff presented on the city's cross connection control program and new requirements.

The subcommittee received and discussed all of these items.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Padilla.

We'll go on to uh I have a quick city manager recruitment ad hoc committee reports.

The committee comprised of myself, council members Chu and G met on October 30th and again on the 31st with the executive recruiter to finalize the city manager recruitment and appointment.

The committee's work will conclude once the city council approves the appointment of a new city manager.

And I also have a report out on 10184, our ad hoc committee.

Uh we, the committee comprised of council members G, Chu, and myself met on November 7th.

Port Commissioner uh Chair Stan Maupin also joined the meeting as well.

The consultant reported on the project status, including a review of the pro the property right of way acquisition progress, design progress, and agreements needed for construction as well as ongoing advocacy efforts.

The consultant also updated the committee on the schedule, budget, and next steps for the project, and the next ad hoc committee meeting will be held January 16th, 2026.

And with that, we will pass things over to Councilmember G.

Thank you, Mayor.

It's really awkward to say 2026 all of a sudden.

So the BRSSD, Belmont River Shore School District, City of Belmont and River City held this two by two by two, and hopefully we're on a regular schedule finally.

Each organization provided an update on their current initiatives.

And their staff will be at their temporary location on Old County Road for about a year until October 2026.

In addition, because of a recent bond measure, the district is completing several capital projects using those bond proceeds and also improving the parking lot at Sandpiper School.

Like many districts on the peninsula, the district is seeing declining enrollment as the population ages in the Bay Area.

And early next year, district will be considering how best to use school facilities in light of these future trends.

City of Belmont provided an update on their housing development and the use of the Notre Dame de Nemours campus by the University of California.

And Belmont may be looking at a revenue measure next year to raise funds for a new community center.

Just as importantly, as we are the oldest city in the county, Belmont will be celebrating their 100th anniversary next year of being incorporated.

We also talked about traffic management and efforts to improve active transportation, and the next meeting is scheduled for January 7th, 2026 at the RSSD, district office.

Unreal, how fast the year is gone.

We will go on to item 10 D, City Manager Oral Udate.

Thank you.

So quick three quick updates for this evening.

Just a reminder that city offices will be closed tomorrow in observance of Veterans Day.

We do invite community members to come to the celebration that is being hosted by the American Legion post 105 at Courthouse Square starting at 10 with the ceremony at 11 a.m.

And also want to thank the 27 Redwood City employees who are um former veterans and served in the U.S.

Armed Forces.

Secondly, earlier, the mayor mentioned the flyer that was prepared last week related to food resources.

We did hear from many council members anxious to make sure we shared with the community the many ways that Redwood City does step up to try to help support food needs in our community.

So in addition to those resources listed on the flyer in the press release and other communications that we've sent out through our networks.

We have mentioned all of the services that we provide directly and that are provided through local partners.

We'll keep resharing that and encouraging residents to do so as well.

And then last we've started community engagement and outreach related to the Redwood Shores Sea Level Rise Protection Project, which will be looking at raising the levies that surround Redwood Shores and protect the commercial and residential properties there as well as important public facilities.

We have a new dedicated project website, which is redwoodcity.org backslash Redwood Shores SLR.

And that has project background as well as opportunities for residents to sign up to get information about the project.

We have a dedicated mailing list.

We will be doing a survey, short survey, and taking in community information.

The project is really seeking to not only raise the levies to ensure that it can be accredited, but also to integrate nature-based solutions where possible and to enhance recreational amenities for the community.

So encourage residents to check that out and to stay in touch with that project.

Thank you.

Thank you, City Manager.

And with that, we will move on to item 11.

The city council will now convene closed session regarding labor negotiations and public employee appointment with our labor negotiators as identified on the agenda.

Before we convene the closed session, I'd like to ask the city clerk if there's any public comment on the closed session items.

Thank you, Mayor.

No public comment at this time.

I'll give one more moment for folks online to raise their hand for public comment if they wish.

Seeing none, I'll turn it back to you.

Thank you, City Clerk.

We'll now adjourn to closed session.

As this is the last item on tonight's agenda, and there will be no reportable action.

The meeting will be adjourned immediately following the conclusion of closed session, and the council will not return back to the dais.

With that, we thank you for joining us tonight.

Our next city council meeting is Monday 24th at 6 o'clock.

We wish everyone a meaningful Veterans Day and a great week ahead.

Thank you.