Our committee liaison, Sarah Jordan, will provide information instruction for the public to participate in today's meeting.

Sarah?

Thank you, Chair Elo Rivera.

While members of the public are able to attend the meeting in person, this meeting is being televised and live streamed on the city's website, and the council administration will continue to make arrangements for the public to use to comment using the Zoom webinar platform.

Members of the public who wish to provide testimony via a call-in or an internet-based service option must enter the virtual speaking queue within five minutes after conclusion of in-person public testimony or before the virtual speaking queue is exhausted, whichever occurs first.

This will allow for better meeting management between the two platforms and ensure the committee is able to manage and conduct city business.

Council President Lacaba.

Chair Elo Rivera.

Also attending the meeting today is City Attorney Representative Nicole Dino, Mayoral Representative Randy Wilde, and IBA Representative, Jordan Moore.

If you're in person, please complete a speaker slip located at the entrance of chambers and place it in the speaker slip box on the on the table in the front of the room.

Please do so in a timely manner to ensure proper meeting management.

Members of the public can join the webinar by computer, tablet, or smartphone by accessing the link which is listed online in the preamble language of the agenda on the city's webpage.

To join the Zoom webinar by telephone, please dial 1669, 2545252.

And when prompted, input webinar ID 161-907-2156 pound.

Please note that if you're watching via City TV 24 or online, there may be delay.

Please participate via the audio on your phone and mute your TV or computer when it is your turn to speak.

If you wish to speak to a particular item, please wait for that item to be called and then raise your hand to speak by tapping the raise your hand icon.

Or if you're a call participant by selecting star nine on your cell phone or landline.

If you raise your hand during a non-comment period, your hand will be lowered.

All right.

Thank you, Chair.

Per rule two point seven on agenda public comment as an opportunity for members of the public to comment on items that are not on the agenda but are within the subject matter jurisdiction of this committee, and each speaker will have two minutes.

And again, if you're watching on City TV at the live stream online and you'd like to call in in the meeting to speak, please dial 1669-2545252.

Inputting webinar ID 161, 907-2156 pound.

We've not received any speaker slips here in chamber, so I will begin the five-minute timer for all those in the virtual queue to indicate if they wish to provide non-agenda public comment at this time.

Beginning testimony with Terry Ann Skelly.

Please unmute and provide your comment.

You will have two minutes.

Good afternoon, Chair Elo Rivera and Environment Committee.

My name is Terry Ann Skelly.

I'm a planning group member whose planning group's greatest interest in is the environment around where our homes are located, especially trash and littering on the trails between and behind our homes.

We recognize that tobacco products and packaging are one of the major sources of this trash and litter.

The World Health Organization recently released a document entitled, and I quote, Tobacco is Poisoning Our World.

Tobacco's impact on the environment includes the creation of air pollutants and fouling our recreational work and living spaces.

The widespread scattering of non-biodegradable toxic cigarette butts.

Leaches heavy metals and plastics into the soil, harming wildlife and ecosystems.

Newer products like e-cigarettes also contribute hazardous materials, including lithium ion batteries and microplastics to the growing problems of waste.

Cigarette butts, vaping debris, and other forms of tobacco product waste poison our streams, contaminate beaches and waterways.

And marine animals can ingest littered cigarette butts, and the toxic chemicals from the butts can poison aquatic life.

One significant first step in improving San Diego's environment is banning of smoking and vaping in public places, including nicotine and marijuana products of all types.

The time has come.

Five other cities in our county have already done this.

Thank you for hearing my concerns this afternoon.

Thank you for your testimony.

Our next speaker is Peggy Walker.

Please unmute and begin.

Thank you.

I'm here to discuss a tobacco problem as well.

It's a health equity issue for those who live in leased or rented properties.

It's the problem of third hand smoke.

I'm familiar with this issue through members of my youth group.

Many are from low-income families renting and multi-unit housing complexes who've expressed asthma related and other respiratory problems resulting from both second and third hand smoke.

I feel very badly for them because many of these parents are afraid to speak out to management for fear of losing their apartments, and they have no one to advocate for them.

Third hand smoke is tobacco smoke residue.

It's a mix of toxic chemicals that can cause DNA damage, cancer risk, impair cell repair, and worsen lung functioning.

This residue, unfortunately, can linger for years on furniture, walls, flooring furniture, and other surfaces after someone smokes.

And it's toxic to humans, especially children.

And it's important to note that professional cleaning cannot remove this residue.

The remediation often requires very costly and complete renovation.

So currently, California law does not mandate disclosure of third-hand smoke and rental agreements.

And while landlords must disclose environmental hand hazards of another kind, third-hand smoke, unfortunately isn't yet classified as such.

So as a spokesman for many harmed by third-hand smoke, I urge you to consider a strong reason to smoke to support a smoke-free multi-unit housing law so that all residents can enjoy health equity.

Thank you for hearing my concern.

Thank you for your testimony.

Our next speaker in the queue is Madison.

Hi, good afternoon.

Thank you, Environment Committee, for the chance to talk about some environmental pollution that I've noticed lately, which is tobacco and e-cigarette waste.

Yesterday, my kids were asking about what pollution is.

And we had a great discussion about air pollution, water pollution, and ground pollution.

My older son had learned some things in his STEM class at elementary school, and they both had an excitement to take care of our earth.

Something that has been studied right here in San Diego is just how much tobacco waste is littered.

Cigarette butts are the number one littered item worldwide.

And here in San Diego, they wash into our beaches, clog storm drains, and pollute the bay.

Well, it looks like cotton is actually plastic.

These filters never truly break down.

Instead, they leach arsenic, lead, and nicotine.

We work so hard to protect.

E-cigarettes and vape pods add new dangers.

They combine single-use plastics, toxic metals, and lithium batteries.

When tossed into trash cans or on sidewalks, they can leak hazardous chemicals or even spark fires.

And unlike bottles or cans, there's no easy system to recycle them.

Most end up in landfills or scattered in public spaces, which I have seen all over our neighborhood, parks, all over the place.

Solutions include stronger waste collection, education campaigns to shift behavior, and holding manufacturers accountable for safer design and disposal programs.

Please remember these kids who are worried about taking care of the planet.

And let's work together to find ways to protect our environment for future generations.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

The five minute timer has concluded.

We have four hands remaining in the virtual queue, and we'll take no other callers beyond these remaining individuals.

Blair Beekman, please unmute and begin.

All right, thank you.

Uh Blair Beekman.

To reread some of my non-agenda public comments from the end of July.

Is San Diego City Council, City Government staff, and everyday community together going to continue to openly review the Encanto and Radio Towers ADU development projects?

A reminder that City Council can still recall housing developed agenda items if deemed a risk to the environment or public safety.

As hillsides, as the hillsides that are both uh natural and uh man-made, uh seem to be designed only for a limited amount of ADU development to also mention.

As Civic Center TV has a reputation and being notoriously busy and slow to respond, I hope we all can be talking with Civic Center TV at this time.

As Civic Center TV should be able, I mean uh City Center TV, City TV, sorry about that.

City TV, San Diego, should be able to uh uh quickly replace and have some duplicate video copies available to replace the public common time that was cut out last week in its initial public meeting video.

And can we not fear to have continued open dialogue that San Diego can reduce its current AOPRs by 25, 50, 75 or 100 plus?

And from this, we should be able to continue to fill most of the current public safety and coverage needs for local San Diego neighborhoods, and that this can be a budget savings of up to 100,000 or more in 2026.

I hope everyone of San Diego can be in agreement in the these decent good intentions of these efforts, and how we can also uh all help to ask to improve civil protections, privacy rights, and accountability for surveillance uh techno and data collection technology in this new and sometimes questionable federal administration.

Thank you.

Our next caller is phone number ending in 8700.

Phone number ending in 870.

You can unmute by pressing star six.

Uh thank you, Sarah.

Uh good morning, everyone.

Uh, this is Joyanta District 3.

I have three topics this morning on the environment.

Uh, number one is uh a uh it's just a beginning report on what's happening downtown with the 22 block radius uh plan that uh the downtown partnership and the Padres uh are partnering, partnering, and of course the city would be involved with that in in certain ways, but it's happening, and I can feel it, I can see it.

Some of the grids are being taken care of around the trees, uh the sidewalks are cleaner.

I I think I'm seeing more sidewalk washing.

I may be wrong on that.

Uh, but I just feel like they're getting the the business owners are more involved.

I do have a very big concern about the grand jury report on the um the gas lamp district.

We shouldn't read it.

I think it's 26 pages, and the IBM has IBA has written has issued a report on that combined with the uh the grand jury.

So we've got to look at that and and see uh, you know, exactly how we're gonna address that.

So, and I don't know what we're gonna do with the elevator at the uh pedestrian bridge.

It's really uh a tough one.

Okay, now we'll switch to the Navy Broadway complex.

Now I think called the uh I won't get this right, but the Manchester Gateway.

And uh years ago when this was coming through C C D, C C D C I worked on it.

And I went over there for the first time, I think in 10 years and walk through it and what it's got now.

And there's these it's a concrete jungle.

And but as a public, being this little human walking through there, the promenade is fabulous.

I invite everyone if they're downtown.

If you can get over there and walk through the promenade, it is so so beautiful amongst that concrete jungle.

So be sure and do that.

Thank you.

That does conclude your time.

Thank you for your comments.

My last topic was sequence.

Our next speaker is Becky Rapp.

Please unmute and begin.

You will have two minutes.

Good afternoon.

My name is Becky Rack, and I'd like to highlight an environmental health gap in San Diego's affordable housing policy.

HUD requires all public housing to be 100% smoke free.

But if a project is privately owned, even when it receives taxpayer support through vouchers or local housing funds, those protections don't apply.

That leaves thousands of low-income families, seniors, and children without the basic right to breathe clean air in their own homes.

This is not just a health issue, it's an environmental justice issue.

San Diego already struggles with poor air quality.

Communities along our industrial corridors like Barrio Logan face even higher burdens in these neighborhoods, as my emergency room visits and are more than double by the county average.

Families in affordable housing are disproportionately exposed to both outdoor and indoor pollutants, whether from traffic, industry, or secondhand smoke seeping through shared walls and ventilation.

We cannot continue to allow public dollars to support housing that compounds these environmental risks.

Secondhand smoke is a toxic air pollutant.

When we permit it indoors, especially multi-unit housing, we increase asthma, heart disease, and cancer risk for the very populations we claim to support.

Adopting a citywide policy that requires all affordable housing projects, public or private, subsidized with taxpayer funds to be designated smoke-free with close this loophole.

It would reduce cumulative exposure to air pollution, improve health equity, and align San Diego's housing policies with our environment and climate health goals.

This is simple, cost effective, and ensures our public investments are consistent with our commitments to clean air and environmental justice.

Thank you.

Thank you for your testimony.

And the final speaker in the queue is Ken.

Ken, if you can please unmute and state your name for the record, and please begin.

Can you hear me?

We can hear you, please begin.

Oh, great.

Okay, thank you.

Um for the opportunity to comment.

I am Dr.

Ken Kobiyashi.

My family and I live in Whispering Palms and oppose the expansion of any activities at Surf.

One of the reasons we chose to buy in this area was peace and quiet of the neighborhood.

However, now on game days, we can hear the noise from the playing fields indoors with the doors and windows closed.

To give this some perspective, I was in the Tokyo Tower at a height of 820 feet and witnessed a noisy demonstration in the street below.

The bullhorn messages and chants were clearly audible at that height, and the police were concerned enough that they were closely monitoring sound levels to ensure compliance with local sound regulations.

In comparison, we live about one quarter mile or 1,320 feet from the surf grounds.

And as noted, the noise is also clearly audible.

We also lived in Japan during the Fukushima earthquake in the aftermath of the tsunami.

Cleanup revealed that many of the deaths occurred because traffic congestion along the only two roads out of the valley prevented timely escape.

Via de Val Delavalle and El Camino Real are the only major thoroughfares out of this area that support large-scale evacuation.

On a game day when games are in progress, traffic tie-ups can extend two miles, turning a six-minute drive from the I-5 to our home to more than 30-minute drive, and serious traffic accidents involving drivers exiting surf have further snarled traffic.

Consider that the games bring 2,000 to 4,000 vehicles into the park on top of normal residential traffic.

And I ask you to imagine the chaos and consequences if a wildfire flood or other emergencies should necessitate urgent evacuation on a game day.

In conclusion, the surf games are disruptive to the quality of life of the residents and pose a clear and present danger to all should an emergent evacuation be needed.

The original legal agreements have already been stretched on the case.

Thank you for your comments.

This does conclude your time.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And chair, this concludes non-agenda public comment.

All right.

Thank you so much.

Do we have any committee, mayor, city attorney, IBA or city auditor comments?

All right.

Hearing none.

Do we have any requests for continuance?

I don't hear any of those either.

Let's move to our agenda, which consists of our uh consent agenda.

Uh any requests to pull items from the consent agenda.

Hearing none, um Deputy City Attorney Uh Danao, you have some comments.

It's my understanding that um the public utilities department would like to come forward to provide some additional information on uh the two consent items.

Uh come right ahead.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Okay, thank you.

Good afternoon.

Uh, my name is Doug Campbell.

I'm an assistant director in the public utilities department.

And I want to provide a quick update on the uh agenda consent agenda item for with the contract with Evoqua for bioxide to provide odor control in our wastewater collection system.

Um we're pleased to announce that thanks to our ongoing negotiations with the vendor, they've agreed to reduce the contract price for the first year from $4.70 per gallon to $3.99 per gallon.

So this will result in a savings of about $600,000 in that first year.

And we'll make sure that all the agenda items and the pricing schedule are updated uh before council.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right.

Um, with that, do we have any public comment on the consent agenda?

Thank you, Chair.

The public comment period for the consent agenda is now open.

The consent agenda includes items number one through three.

Item one, approval of the committee minutes from July 17th, 2025.

Item number two is the second amendment to the contract with Ivoqua water technologies to purchase calcium nitrate double salt solution for wastewater collection facilities.

And item number three, acceptance of a floating restroom from the California Department of Parks and Recreation Division of Boating and Waterways.

Each speaker will have one minute per item with a maximum of three minutes.

And if you can please indicate which item or item you'll be speaking to, we'll begin with virtual testimony as we've received no speaker slips here in chambers.

Blair Beekman, please unmute.

And if you can indicate which item or items you'll be speaking to.

Items two and three.

All right, two minutes to manage, please begin.

Thank you.

Well, I hope my Zoom did not cut out and did something weird at the end of my public comment previously.

Um I had uh a few additional words to simply offer it this day of 9-11.

Uh, I hope we can ask Trump to not be beating his drums on war rhetoric and really calm that down and work towards peace and not war for our future.

We're doing that with our tech accountability.

Good luck in our continued efforts.

Uh for items number three.

Uh I'll start first.

The voting restroom in the middle of a lake.

Um, it's an interesting idea that has been brought up from time to time in our council meetings.

Um, it seems a bit silly and goofy, but it actually may do something interesting in that I think it uh considers how we can have uh better bathroom use, say in the downtown area.

It asks those sort of questions that we can be working on those issues.

So good luck, how to be working on this issue and public utility, public uh safety concerns for people uh with restroom use.

It actually can be a good topic of conversation.

Thank you.

And to go on to item uh two, uh the uh solution things.

Uh I was curious.

I heard on a national uh news report that uh Mexico is actually starting to work on pure water systems for the uh you know their their sewage management programs.

I don't I've heard that not true.

I've heard that uh Mexico has been working towards um sailing solutions, salt uh uh you know solutions, uh decalonization, uh that future for the their sewage issues and have rejected the pure water systems.

That's why I've been reporting here.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Joy Sanyata.

Excuse me, phone number ending in 870.

If you could please unmute and indicate which item or items you'll be speaking to.

Yes, thank you, Sarah.

I will speak you to all three.

All right, three minutes, please begin.

Uh on number one, I here's what I wanted to say about the minutes, and I don't have any corrections, but uh I want to thank you for being so um relaxed.

Uh, maybe I'm wrong on that, but I I think you're really uh allowing people to speak their voices on the minutes, and I thank you very much for that.

I looked at the minutes, I read them all, and uh I think you do a really uh darn good job of of uh you know writing what they've said.

So uh thank you, thank you for that.

And uh it's it's turned into kind of an interesting thing for me to see hear what the public says about the minutes they face.

So on to number two.

Now, I excuse me because I am going to be excited.

Today is 9 1 1 and PUD.

I want to hug you.

Please give a hug to everyone in your department that worked on the contract with the chemicals, because I can't believe we're gonna save $600,000, and the price is going down from $4.70 a gallon to $3.99.

That's historic in my opinion.

I've been looking at these prices for a long time and don't understand them how you accomplish this.

I do not know.

Council member von Wilpert.

Uh, I I'm sure you've heard this and PUD.

I love you.

Keep working on this.

I I just cannot believe a 9 1 9 11 that this has come forward.

This is so positive.

So uh excuse me on that, but please celebrate with me.

This this $600,000 is huge.

So anyway, I had much more to say, but let's go on to the restrooms because I I uh found that very, very interesting and uh something new for me.

So I love the grants, of course.

And um I I just had a question, kind of an interesting question about them you know, floating on the water and and the restrooms and and the things, you know, the waste that comes from that.

So uh I don't know if the boats are licensed or regulated that when they're out on the water, they have to use the bathrooms on the boats that they have to bring them back onto land and uh empty them on land and how that's all done.

I hope none of that gets illegally put into the uh waterways.

So gosh, you know that's a human need, and uh it's you know it's vast.

So thank you, thank you for whatever you're doing on the floating uh restrooms.

And I am concerned about any pollution that would be coming forward uh from other boats that we don't have restrooms, uh floating restrooms all over the place.

So um very sad, of course, with the 9-11 uh historical uh thing that happened, and uh we all are there.

Thank you.

That does conclude your time.

Thank you for your comments.

Thank you.

Sorry, have a great Judy Strang, please unmute and if you can indicate which item or items you'll be speaking to.

I was going to speak to the meeting notes from July.

Okay, and first of all, I thank you for your efforts in collecting those meeting notes and synopsizing it.

I know that's uh kind of a bit of a thankless job, and I read what was thought to be the focus of the talk that I provided something about the health and environmental impact of tobacco and marijuana waste.

But what I actually thought I spoke about and looking at my notes was to mention that smoking and vaping was not a fundamental right, but what is a right is the right to clean air and water, and it has been recognized by the World Health Organization, the United Nations in our own state of California.

It's written into their laws and in our constitution.

So I'm just sort of adding that to the notes, not correcting the notes.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And Chair, this concludes comment for the consent agenda.

All right, thank you so much.

Uh with that, we will uh entertain a motion or questions and any questions and comments related to the consent.

I'll move the consent agenda.

Thank you, Council President.

I will second that motion.

Um do a uh voice vote here.

Uh all those in favor of uh approving the consent agenda say aye.

Aye.

Uh that passes unanimously two to zero.

Um with that, we are at the end of our agenda.

And I will say thank you to Sarah, uh the public and all other staff who participated today.

And we'll adjourn this meeting of the environment committee to the next regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, October 16th, 2025 at 1 p.m., where we will have a more substantial agenda.

We're adjourned.