Walnut Creek City Council and Parking Authority Regular Meeting - May 6, 2025
Walnut Creek City Council and Parking Authority Regular Meeting - May 6, 2025
The Walnut Creek City Council held a special closed session at 4:30 PM and concurrent regular meetings (City Council and Parking Authority) at 6:00 PM on May 6, 2025. The regular meeting included proclamations, a consent calendar, public communications, councilmember reports, and two major discussion items: the Fiscal Year 2026 and 2027 Proposed Budget Overview and the Draft 2026-2035 Ten-Year Capital Improvement Program (CIP) and Capital Budget. Councilmember Silva was absent due to a planned vacation. The meeting adjourned at 9:47 PM.
Consent Calendar
- Approved minutes from April 15 and April 22, 2025 (City Council) and May 7, 2024 (Parking Authority).
- Accepted warrant registers and payroll transfers.
- Adopted Ordinance No. 2249 amending parking requirements in Title 10 of the Municipal Code.
- Adopted Resolution No. 25-19 accepting the Police Department’s 2024 Military Equipment Report, renewing Ordinance 2215 and Policy 708.
- Awarded Contract 24-11 (Sierra Strom Drain) to FJ&I Engineering for a total of $424,825 (base $237,075 + Bid Alternative 1 $117,750 + $70,000 contingency) and transferred $206,415 from Capital Fund.
- Accepted work as complete for the Shadelands and Wiget Pedestrian Improvement project (Contract 23-08) and authorized filing of Notice of Completion.
- Items 2e, 2f, 2i, and 2j were pulled by Mayor Pro Tem Wilk for discussion then approved unanimously:
- 2e: Authorized the City Manager to enter into Master Consultant Services Agreements with eight firms (total not-to-exceed $300,000 each over five years) for on-call civil engineering.
- 2f: Authorized a five-year contract with Data Ticket for parking citation processing (not-to-exceed $1 million, effective May 15, 2025).
- 2i: Accepted work for the Boundary Oak Golf Course Driving Range Renovation (Contract 23-10) and authorized Notice of Completion.
- 2j: Adopted a Proclamation declaring May 2025 as Mental Health Awareness Month.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Rev. Mary Holder Naegeli (Walnut Creek resident) expressed concern about e-bike and scooter safety, urging an educational campaign for youth.
- Barbara Ginos (Walnut Creek resident) argued against converting the Lime Ridge Quarry Social Trail into an official multi-use trail, citing conflicts with the Lime Ridge Master Plan and municipal codes.
- Renee Zeimer (Moraga resident) spoke about Rosenwald Schools and encouraged support for Measure T (Acalanes Union High School District parcel tax).
- Dr. Jane Wang (Walnut Creek resident, prosthodontist) invited council to her office’s 25th anniversary open house.
- Kathy Hemingway (Executive Director, Walnut Creek Downtown Association) updated on new board leadership, a new website, painted piano program, and Locust Street Festival.
- Bob Linscheid (Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau) thanked the city for hosting Leadership Contra Costa and promoted the Art and Wine Festival (May 31-June 1).
- Bob Weede (Walnut Creek resident) provided written comments on the budget, urging scenario analysis for the Heather Farm Aquatic Center project.
Discussion Items
- FY26 & FY27 Proposed Budget Overview: Budget Manager Ryndie Azevedo presented a $107.35 million General Fund revenue projection for FY26 and $111.14 million for FY27, with an ongoing deficit of $4.97 million (FY26) and $6.33 million (FY27) before budget balancing actions. Proposed balancing measures included $1.27 million in personnel reductions (3.75 FTE), $2.0 million in operations/maintenance cuts, revenue increases, and use of pension trust resources ($1 million FY26, $2 million FY27) and $1.23 million from General Fund contingency for the General Plan update. The budget would result in a net contribution to fund balance of $370,000 (FY26) and $250,000 (FY27). No contributions to reserves were recommended; instead, FY25 year-end fund balance would fund the catastrophic emergency reserve. Council requested additional information on the outdoor dining program (pro forma, costs, incentives) and discussed police overtime reductions ($450,000 cut from downtown overtime assignments). The budget will return June 3.
- Draft 2026-2035 CIP and 2026-2027 Capital Budget: Senior Civil Engineer Alex Wong presented a $108 million two-year capital budget. Key projects included: Heather Farm Park Aquatic and Community Center (construction scheduled 2026, total project cost ~$77 million, with $45.75 million to be financed); Clark Pool and Pool House Repurpose Master Plan (starting fall 2025); Ignacio Valley Road intersection improvements (funded by Glen development mitigation); Highway Safety Improvement Program grant; South Main Street bridge replacement (federal grant, 89% funded); arterial overlay on Ignacio Valley Road; North Locust Street parking garage repairs; and sustainability projects. Council discussed sidewalk funding challenges, bike trail connections (Olympic corridor along Newell Avenue), and pickleball court resurfacing. No formal action; the CIP and capital budget will return June 3.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken on the budget or CIP; both items will return to the City Council on June 3, 2025 (finance committee on May 15) with final adoption scheduled for June 17.
- Council directed staff to provide additional information on outdoor dining options (pro forma from Walnut Creek Downtown Association, possible incentives) and to explore funding sources for downtown vitality.
- Council expressed support for continued police recruitment efforts to address sworn vacancies (currently 9 vacancies) and acknowledged the overtime reduction was a difficult but necessary cut.
- Council requested staff to communicate sidewalk improvement options (including special assessment districts) to interested neighborhoods.
- Council noted interest in prioritizing the Olympic Boulevard trail connection and resurfacing pickleball courts at Rudgear Park.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon. I'm Cindy Darling, Mayor of the City of Walnut Creek, and welcome to the Tuesday, May 6, 2025 special meeting of the Walnut Creek City Council. The special meeting is called for the purpose of holding a closed session related to the following conference with real property negotiators. Does any member of the public wish to comment on a closed session item? As a reminder, each speaker will only have two minutes to make their remarks. Seeing no speakers in the city council will reconvene in closed session. Thank you. All right, good evening. I am Cindy Darling, the Mayor of Walnut Creek, and welcome to the Tuesday, May 6th concurrence regular meetings of the Walnut Creek City Council and the parking authority. The City Council is conducting this meeting from the City Council Chamber. This meeting is being video streamed and can be viewed late live or later on the city's website. As some attendees may be participating in their first Walnut Creek City Council meeting, I wanted to welcome everyone and talk briefly about the public comment process. For each agenda item, there will be an opportunity for public comment on the item. Thus, if you desire to speak on an item that's on our agenda this evening, please hold your comments until the city council gets to that agenda item. Additionally, we have a section on the agenda titled Public Communication, which is for public comments on items that are not on the agenda. Any comments during the public communication should not relate to an item that is on the agenda this evening. Consistent with section 9.5 of the city council handbook, we will allocate 30 minutes for public comment at the beginning of the meeting for items not on the agenda. And we will have additional time for public communication for items not on the agenda. They'll be provided at the end of the open session portion of the meeting if necessary. If you desire to provide a public comment, please compete, complete a speaker identification card and line up behind the lectern at the appropriate time. I'll call you up for the each item. Wait your turn, and then when you approach the lectern, please state your name, City of Residence for the record, and you'll have two minutes to address the city council. Please keep in mind that this is a city business meeting. The City Council has adopted rules of decorum to ensure that meetings are conducted efficiently and effectively and that all members of the public have a full, fair and equal opportunity to be heard. The City Council handbook outlines decorum expected in the council chamber and can be found on our website. All remarks should be addressed to the City Council. Please do not use threatening, profane, or abusive language which disrupts, disturbs, or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of the council meeting. Again, each speaker will have two minutes to make their remarks and written comments submitted and received up to two hours before the meeting have been posted to the city's website for public review and are included in the meeting record, but we will not be read separately into the record. And this is the last time I'm going to have to read all that because it's going to be videotaped next time. So right now, go ahead and please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. And to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God. Indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Okay, roll call, please. City Clerk Susie Martinez. Councilmember DeVinny. Here. Councilmember Francois. Here. Mayor Pro Tem Welk. Here. Mayor Darling. I am here. And Councilmember Silva is absent due to a planned vacation. Okay. And at this time, I invite Deborah Ahrens, the Executive Director of the Contra Cross of Midrasha, to accept a proclamation. Just come up here and I will introduce the proclamation, then I'll be over, I'll meet you over there. Since our earliest days, Jewish Americans have been an important part of the American story and have greatly contributed to all areas of American life and culture. On April 20th, 2006, the federal government proclaimed May as Jewish American Heritage Month, stating, as a nation of immigrants, the United States is better and stronger because Jewish people from all over the world have chosen to become American citizens. And so we have many generations coming here to our country, and that diversity is part of what makes our country so strong.
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