Sand City Council Regular Meeting – August 19, 2026
Sand City Council Regular Meeting – August 19, 2026
The Sand City Council held a regular meeting on August 19, 2026, at 5:30 PM. Mayor Carbone presided, with Vice Mayor Diaz and Council Members Adams, Scudder, and all present. The meeting included announcements, public comments, consent calendar approval, a presentation on the Regional Vision Zero Safety Action Plan, adoption of the FY 2026-2027 fee schedule, a decision to hold the November 3, 2026 municipal election, discussion on the Granite Rock mural selection, and authorization of an exclusive negotiation agreement with CHISPA for the Art Park affordable housing development.
Announcements
- Mayor Carbone reported on HR1 impacts: 12,500 to 19,000 Monterey County residents could lose Medi-Cal and 10,000 lose CalFresh due to new six-month eligibility checks; Natividad Hospital faces a $76 million deficit.
- Upcoming events: League of California Cities conference, Monterey County Chamber leadership lunch (Sept 18), West End festival (Aug 22-23).
- City Manager reported: Pro-housing grant not awarded in this cycle; D-cell facility offline since mid-February due to new Division of Drinking Water requirements; Car Week events went well with no major incidents; two flock cameras cut down at end of July (under investigation); General Plan Update first workshop Aug 26; Opportunity Zone selection recommended for the city; bike trail concept presentation to TAMC board pending (Aug 31 or Sept 14); two businesses moving into Sand Dollar Shopping Center; old street sweeper auctioned for $37,000; Coastal Commission unanimously approved King Ventures hotel project (100-room hotel, restaurant, 25-unit tent campground) with habitat restoration and public access improvements.
- City Attorney reported: Working on offshore oil ordinance and shopping cart enforcement ordinance; recognized city staff and manager for Coastal Commission success.
Consent Calendar
- Approved: (1) Voting delegate and alternates for the 2026 League of California Cities Conference; (2) June 2026 financial report and quarterly summary of cash and investments. Motion carried unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Harry Parker (Surfrider Monterey): Requested city logistics support for two annual beach cleanups (Sept 19 Coastal Cleanup Day and another). Noted large debris from homeless encampments behind dunes that is too heavy for volunteers to remove. Suggested partnership to remove debris and protect Western snowy plover habitat. Mayor committed to follow up with police chief.
- Pete (resident): Opposed paid wristband requirement for an event on a closed public road (Del Monte). Argued residents should not be charged to access public streets. Asked that any future event requiring road closure keep paid components on private property. Also condemned cutting down of flock cameras.
- Luke Kilpatrick (during election item): Supported appointment process to avoid government waste; said he and Justin Rumps planned to meet residents regardless.
Discussion Items
- TAMC Regional Vision Zero Safety Action Plan (Presentation): Lacey Brown (DKS) presented. Sand City had zero traffic deaths or serious injuries during the study period – the only jurisdiction in Monterey County. Recommendations focus on intersection safety, pedestrian/bicycle improvements, and education/enforcement. Next step: adoption at a future meeting.
- FY 2026-2027 Fee Schedule (Public Hearing): City Manager described 3.8% CPI increase for all fees, new fees (property history letter, sign permit), and clarification on CEQA fees. Maintains 50% cost recovery to encourage development. Public comment supported low fees for permitting. Council approved unanimously.
- Appointment of Nominated Officials & Cancellation of Nov 3, 2026 Election (Item 9A): Mayor recused. Vice Mayor Diaz chaired. One candidate (Mayor Carbone) for mayor; two (Luke Kilpatrick, Justin Rumps) for two council seats. Staff recommended options: appoint nominees or hold election. Council split: Councilmember Scudder and Vice Mayor Diaz favored election for democratic process and write-in potential. Vote to hold election passed 4-0.
- Art Committee Mural Selection – Granite Rock (Item 9B): Presentation by Talking Walls (Cameron, Crystal) and Mobilis. Arts committee recommended Leon Kier (Dutch artist) for a stone-relief playful mural ("Carved Imagination") with trucks, toys, beach elements. Alternative – Julie Engelman (California-based) – depicted traditional Sand City history. Council debate: Councilmember Adams and Mayor Carbone supported Kier for uniqueness and technique; Councilmember Diaz and Councilmember Scudder opposed, calling it too childish and unrelated to Sand City. Tie vote (2-2). Council decided to continue the item to a future meeting, allowing staff to work with Granite Rock and the artist on modifications.
- CHISPA Art Park Mixed-Use Affordable Housing Development – Exclusive Negotiation Agreement (Item 9C): City staff and CHISPA representatives presented. The project envisions 16 affordable units (8 low-income, 8 very low-income), artist housing/workspaces, community plaza, commercial space. Council approved the exclusive negotiation agreement (120 days with extensions) to formalize partnership. Unanimous.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Calendar: Approved unanimously.
- Fee Schedule: Approved unanimously (motion by Councilmember Scudder, second by Vice Mayor Diaz).
- Election Decision: Vote to hold the November 3, 2026 municipal election – passed 4-0. (Motion by Councilmember Scudder, second by Councilmember Adams.)
- Mural Selection: Tie vote (2-2) on staff recommendation; item continued to future meeting for revised design.
- CHISPA Agreement: Approved unanimously (motion by Councilmember Adams, second by Councilmember Scudder). City Manager authorized to execute the exclusive negotiation agreement.
- Vision Zero Plan: Presentation received; plan to return for adoption.
- Council Comments: Councilmember Adams reported on Salvation Army visit. Councilmember Scudder noted Flock camera contract changes available on ACLU website; staff to follow up on agenda item.
Meeting Transcript
Okay. Well, good evening, everyone, and welcome to the San City Council regular meeting of August. And the time is 5:30. At this time, I would like to ask our city clerk if she could call roll. Mayor Carbone here. Vice Mayor Diaz. Here. Council Member Adams present. Council Member Scudder. Here. All present. Thank you, ma'am. And with that, uh, if I could have uh perhaps our chief if he would honor us in leading the as with a pledge of allegiance. One meeting under individual with liberty and justice form. Thank you, Chief. And with we'll go ahead and move on to item three. This is announcements by the mayor, the city attorney, and city manager. So on the table over there, there's some mayor reports uh for the month of August. If uh anybody wants any updates, they're they're there and they've been handed out to the council. Uh there's I think there's quite a bit of information in there, but um uh I would uh touch on during the mayor's uh the mayor's uh association meeting that there was a uh presentation for uh Natividad CEO Harris regarding the impacts of HR1 and um so those are cuts uh to medi medical and um those cuts are there's an immediate crisis so uh federal bill HR one will cause 12,500 to 19,000 Monterey County residents to lose Medical and 10,000 to lose CalFresh due to strict new uh six-month eligibility um checks. So now every six months folks have to uh re uh their it's not a year, they have to get updated. So there's quite a bit of things, but there are some impacts to the local hospitals, and um so I believe that the hospitals uh are that makes up about 20 percent of hospitals uh patients, and so the hospitals at Natividad uh faces a targeted 76 million dollar deficit, and uh it is affecting a lot of the hospitals. So I just want to put that if anyone asked if there's information here, I have more information if you want. I thought that was really important to uh just bring up for residents um and then and for the whole community. Um with that also um I did want to mention that there will be a conference coming up, the League of California Cities, and um also the uh the there will be a uh Monterey County Chamber um uh leadership lunching coming up, I believe September 18th, if anyone is interested, and there's quite a bit of meetings and uh things. We did do some uh backpack giveaways here in July, and it was uh there was quite a bit of kids who came and uh so I'm thankful with a partnership with San City and uh TANF uh that they do this every year. Um there was also uh Monterey Bay Division meeting where they selected to uh they had elections of officers, and uh so the new officers are listed here. I did keep one seat open for second vice president and thought to wait till after the election that maybe somebody may be interested in that. So we kept one open and quite a bit in here. Uh I'm gonna leave uh also on the 10th. We've went met with uh at the Monterey Aquarium for an offshore oil and gas drilling press conference with Monterey Aquarium CEO Jenny Gray and other elected officials to highlight the potential threats of offshore drilling and the effects of the on the central coast environment. Uh also we did attend a coastal commission uh meeting, but I'm gonna wait till the city man, I'm gonna actually let let the city manager go ahead and uh she could go uh into that, but um very favorable for the city and uh win wind all the way around. Uh so with that I just finished two days sort of uh working up at the seaside middle school, so I'm free for a year. Uh so I work with the eighth grade classes there, and uh uh I dedicate two days a year for them. So we talked about many things about uh being a mayor, indigenous mayor and uh mayor and the things happening in SAM City, and so it was very good and very tired. And so, but uh I'm here and with that, uh so all that information's here and plenty more. So please feel free to take a copy or for you to read. And with that, we'll go to the city. Thank you. And I think um I will get to the wonderful news from the California Coastal Commission, but I thought I'd start with a little bit of sort of bad news first. We'll get it over with and then go to the good news. Um on the bad news front is the pro housing grant. We were not awarded the grant in this cycle. Um, according to HCD funding was limited, so uh the awards would attend by the applicant scores allocation within their geographic region. I guess we scored a bit lowering on some of our fellow um applicants in the region. But all is not lost because we will reapply, and apparently um applicants who do not get the surround are prioritized in the next round. So um another little bit of bad news. Um the D cell facility has been offline since mid-February. Um I have requested and received an update from Spencer Bartanian. He's the director of operations, the new Chris Cook at Calam.
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