Walnut Creek.

Welcome to the Tuesday, May 5th, 2026, special meeting of the Walnut Creek City Council.

This special meeting is called for the purpose of holding a closed session related to the following of a Chris Conference with legal counsel existing litigation and conference with legal counsel anticipated litigation.

Under California law, public comments at special meetings are limited to subjects on the agenda only.

Therefore, public comments will be received at this time for the item previously mentioned.

Seeing nobody here, we will uh we will uh resume this meeting up in closed session and then be back for our opening session at 6 p.m.

I'm Kevin Wilk, mayor of the City of Walnut Creek, and welcome to the regular meeting of the Walnut Creek City Council.

The City Council is conducting this meeting from the City Council Chamber.

This meeting is being video streamed and can be viewed 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 to an item on the agenda this evening, please hold your comments until the city council considers that item.

Additionally, we have a section on the agenda titled Public Communications, which is for public comments for items not on the agenda.

Any comments during 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.

30 minutes will be initially allocated for public communications for items not on the agenda.

Additional time for public communications for items not on the agenda will be provided at the end of the open session portion of the meeting if necessary.

If you desire to provide a public comment, please complete a speaker identification card and line up behind the lectern at the appropriate time.

Wait your turn, and then when you approach the lectern, please state your name and city of residence for the record.

You will 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 your remarks.

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 will not be separately read into the record.

So for any of you in this room, you're gonna see it live, and maybe we're gonna rely on you to tell everybody what happens.

But in any case, so just hang tight about five more minutes.

Thanks.

So we're not going to be broadcasting.

So he found a way to broadcast.

It's just that the PowerPoint doesn't show.

So what he'll do is once it's presenting, he'll come out with a camera.

So it will be broadcasting.

But the PowerPoint will be on a separate camera.

Okay.

Okay.

All right.

We're back.

Uh we do a little bit of MacGyvering in the background.

We'll let uh we'll make sure that there's this is going to be recorded as well, so people will see this.

There'll be a broadcasting component to it, a little bit different than usual, but uh we're on.

With that, good evening.

I'm Kevin Wilk, mayor of the City of Walnut Creek, and welcome to the Tuesday, May 5th, 2026 concurrent regular meetings of the Walnut Creek City Council and Parking Authority.

And would you all please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance?

One nation under God and indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

And City Clerk Susie Martinez, would you please call the role on this Cinco de Mayo?

Councilmember Darling.

Here.

Councilmember DeVini.

Here.

Councilmember Silva here.

Mayor Pro Tem Francois.

Here.

And Mayor Welk.

Here.

All right.

The first item is we have a proclamation for Bike to Work Week.

And I invite the Walk Bike, Walnut Creek, and Bike East Bay forward to accept the proclamation.

And while they're coming up, I will just quickly read a few of the proclamation information.

Whereas throughout the month of May, the City of Walnut Creek will celebrate biking and the sense of freedom, joy, and well-being that it inspires.

May is National Bike Month, and May 14th, 2026 is Bike to wherever Day in the Bay Area.

And city staff, schools, parks, and recreation departments, police departments, public health districts, hospitals, businesses, and civic groups will be joining the League of American Bicyclists in promoting bicycling during the month of May 2026.

And whereas these groups are also promoting greater public awareness of bicycle operation and safety education during bike month and year-round in an effort to reduce collisions, injuries, and fatalities, and improve health and safety for everyone on the road.

I, Kevin Wilk, mayor of the City of Walnut Creek, on behalf of the Walnut Creek City Council, do hereby declare May 2026 as bike month in the city of Walnut Creek and encourage Walnut Creek residents and citizens to join me in this special observance.

So welcome here.

And if you have a few words that you'd each like to say.

And Danny, while we know who you are, would you like to introduce the people that are up here?

These are my daughters, Sage Tennyson and Sky Tennyson.

Great.

Second and fourth grade.

And they bike to school every day.

Wonderful.

Wonderful.

And I talk at all.

Yeah, uh, I'm Kate Ming.

I am a bike advocate, and one of the reasons I love living here is the bike trails.

There's definitely a lot of work to do, but I see that work is happening, however slow, but happening, and so I appreciate that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thanks, Mayor, City Council for the proclamation.

I'm Robert Prince, advocacy director with Bike East Bay.

Um, I'd like to invite everybody to celebrate bike month, all month with us and bike to every day on May 14th by finding an energizer station um in your neighborhood.

All the location maps for all across the East Bay are available at Bike Eastpayorgslash BTWD for bike to wherever day.

Um we've got fun free events happening all throughout the month to help encourage more biking and safer riding.

Thank you.

That's great, thanks.

And we're promoting this within the city websites as well and social media.

So why don't we take a picture?

Okay.

Thanks very much.

Here you go.

Oh, yeah.

All right, next, uh we have a proclamation for National Police Week.

And I see some of Walnut Creek's finest in the audience here, too.

So I invite Officer Shane Blats with the Walnut Creek Police Department to come forward to accept the proclamation.

And I'll read a few words on this.

Whereas in 1962, President John F.

Kennedy designated May 15th as Peace Officers Memorial Day, and the week in which that date falls as National Police Week.

There are more than 800,000 law enforcement officers serving in communities across the United States, including the dedicated members of the Walnut Creek Police Department.

The names of these dedicated public servants are engraved on the walls of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C.

since the first recorded death in 1786, where there are more than 24,000 law enforcement officers in the United States who have made that ultimate sacrifice and have been killed on line of duty.

And whereas the service and sacrifice of all officers killed in the line of duty will be honored during the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Funds 38th Candlelight Vigil.

I therefore, Kevin Wilk, mayor of the City of Walnut Creek, on behalf of the Walnut Creek City Council, do hereby proclaim the May 15th, 2026 as Peace Officers Memorial Day, and encourage that U.S.

flags be flown at half staff in honor of all fallen officers and their families, and that the week of May 10th through 16th, 2026 be recognized as National Police Week.

Thank you.

Yes.

Shane Blats wanna creek POA president.

I'll keep this real brief because I know my colleagues want to get home like I do.

Just want to say thank you on behalf of all of us that uh are dedicated and serve this community.

Uh we always appreciate this uh recognition.

So thank you.

Great, thank you.

Well, why don't we take a picture together with your with the team?

None of you guys sit in the back.

No, that's uh double.

All right, all right.

One summarized and I two talk a little bit more about the police later.

Uh but for now, I want to move on to the consent calendar.

And consent calendar items 2G and 2H relate to compensation payable to the city attorney and city manager.

If these items are approved, a rate increase of 4% effective July 1st, 2026, and an additional rate increase of 3% commencing on July 1st, 2027.

Contingent upon the city attorney receiving a satisfactory or better evaluation in spring of 2027 would be implemented for Redwood Public Law for General Legal Services, labor and employment services, cost recovery, and litigation services.

For the city manager, which is item two H, it would amend the city manager employment agreement to increase Mr.

Buckshy's salary by 4%, effective with the pay period including June 30th, 2026, and a further increase Mr.

Buckshire's salary by an additional 3% effective with the pay period including June 30th, 2027, following a satisfactory or better performance evaluation by the city council in the spring of 2027.

The amendment to Mr.

Buckshay's contract also extends the time frame to not involuntarily terminate Mr.

Buckshy from 90 days to 180 days following the seating of a new council after an election and increases the severance payout provided for in the contract from nine months to 12 months and includes health benefits as part of the severance benefits.

State law, specifically government code section 54953, requires a verbal announcement of the compensation change prior to action by the city council.

With that said, would any council member wish to pull an item for discussion?

Yes, I would like to pull items to C and two D to be discussed together.

Any other items?

Okay, I would like to pull items 2 F to G and H.

And does any member of the public one second?

So does any member of the public wish to comment on an item on the consent calendar?

And there's a reminder each speaker will have two minutes to make their remarks.

Written comments submitted have been posted to the city's website for public review and are included in the meeting record, but not be separately read into the record.

Jam, come on up.

And just let us know which item you'd be speaking to.

Good evening, Jan Warren from the Woodlands.

I'm pulling I.

The wonderful affordable housing that's going to be uh built.

And I wanted to thank everyone's work on this.

And I had just a little bit of a question.

Um in terms of the uh funding in terms of our money.

Uh I read that uh oh over the past three years we've come gotten revenues of about 500,000.

So after we uh uh have awarded this 2.9 million for the SAHA project, how much money will be left for us to um have next year?

Or are we anticipating I don't know if you you know how much new revenues coming in from all the construction or not?

If you have any idea whether we're gonna wait, you know, a couple of years or or whatever before we can get some more uh affordable housing, but I really appreciate um the and I wanted to pull it and celebrate.

Thanks.

Great.

Thank you, Jan.

Any other member of the public wish to speak on an item on the consent calendar?

No, okay.

Seeing that, I'll enter a motion for items that have not been pulled.

So I can make the motion, but do we want to answer the question from the public before we take the before we do that uh on two I?

Yeah, if uh we can ask that city manager that come on up, Jennifer.

While she's walking up here, I'll make a motion to approve consent calendar items to A and B through M.

Not I JKLM.

We'll have to take care of that separately.

Okay.

Uh second.

Uh so I believe the question was how uh how much money will remain in the commercial linkage fee fund and in the housing in lieu fee fund if we distribute the 2.9 million dollars.

And so I actually have the uh current balances uh for those funds.

There is currently about 1.3 million in the commercial linkage fee fund.

So we would subtract 500,000 from that for a balance of 800,000 in the uh housing in lieu fee fund.

We have about 3.5 million.

We would subtract 2.4 million for a balance of 1.1 million.

So between both funds, it would be about 2 million based on current balances.

Thank you.

My motion still stands with you including I and uh I will second still second that Councilmember Silva, hi Mayor Welk.

Council Member Darling, yes, Councilmember Davin, and Mayor Pro Tem Francois.

Okay, let's uh go to items consent calendar two C and D.

Councilmember Silva?

Yes, I had some questions, and I think staff is prepared to um respond to the questions.

Thank you very much for taking the time to do this.

Good evening, Mayor.

Uh Charles, Mayor City Council, Charles Ching, Assistant City Manager, available to answer any questions.

So we're doing the second reading of an ordinance around the entertainment zones tonight, and we're also approving the management plan as proposed by Walnut Creek downtown.

That's correct.

So uh a few questions.

The entertainment zone that we're establishing is one multi-block congruent area.

It is um it's not the only downtown area.

Could we have multiple entertainment zones?

Could a second one be brought forward in a couple of years, for example, involving Broadway Plaza?

That is correct.

Um multiple entertainment zones can be established within the same area.

So I I had some exciting questions that were coming to me from people outside the city as well as to local residents who were talking to me at the farmers market.

So just because there's a zone does not mean it has these entertainment hours, just allowed 365 days a year.

Correct.

Only um events put together by uh qualified nonprofit in this case the project sponsor W Walnut Creek downtown.

And as an entertainment zone, when it's being used for these special events, are the streets closed and so that there's more free flowing of participants along the sidewalks and in the street itself?

That is correct.

There the event area will be closed.

There will be designated um ingress and egress areas uh for these events where uh a check of valid ID and in age will be done.

And this is in compliance or what's allowing with this is Senate Bill 969 or is it Assembly Bill 969?

It's Senate Bill.

Senate 969.

The um the days we're proposing to do this in the ordinance itself, it talks about Friday and Saturday, and then it talks about Sunday through Thursday.

In the management plan, it talks about Friday and Saturday, and then Sunday through Thursday.

But then it also talks about weekends and weekdays.

Would it perhaps be better if we just consistently used the specific days so there's no confusion as to what days we're talking about?

Yes, we can certainly make that change within the management plan.

Now the hours and the ordinance are 10 a.m.

to 1159 p.m.

on week on Fridays and Saturdays, and 10 to 10 on Sundays through Thursdays.

Then the management plan talks about this being from 10 to 11 on Fridays and Saturdays, and 10 to 10 on Sundays through Thursdays.

I'm looking at this whiteboard in my head that I'm trying to remember all this detail from.

Why is there an in is that inconsistent or is that just basically tearing it down where it's a fewer hours in the management plan, but the ordinance is broader?

That's correct.

That's a good question.

Um the the intent is under the ordinance, this is the outer limit of the amount of hours or the operating hours of an entertainment zone.

Um the management plan is a subset of the ordinance, and so the management plan for WCD only allows them to operate on the weekends from Friday to Saturday from 10 a.m.

to 11 p.m., which is a shorter time compared to the ordinance, and same with uh weekdays, which is Sunday through Thursday, which will be 10 a.m.

to 10 p.m.

And does each event that might occur have potentially even shorter hours or fewer days?

Yes, I believe the latest event WCD puts together ends at 9 p.m.

Management plan refers to public safety, health, sanitation, trash, but yet I don't see any specific references to restroom facilities, which can be an issue when you're having a lot of people in an area.

Um can that be addressed in the management plan?

It can certainly be added.

Um that said any event that is done within the entertainment zone requires a special event permit from the city, which explicitly outlines the amount of restroom facilities that is required per event.

But we can certainly add that land.

Which might be portable or temporary facilities as well as the establishment, the facilities with within each of these establishments that are participating.

That's correct.

I think those were the questions did I ask you any other questions that I I didn't remember.

Uh there was one additional question about ensuring that all per participating businesses within an event has the necessary ABC licenses and business license.

So we can incorporate that into the management plan as well.

Because by ensuring they have the business license, that also means they are basically a member of the bit the business improvement district because they've paid that fee as well.

That's correct.

Okay.

I didn't have any further questions, although I'd like to recommend that we make those minor updates to the management plan so there's remove ensure clarity and remove the likelihood of debating on the day of an event whether porta potties are required or not.

No, I appreciate that.

In fact, uh, this item I was going to pull it as well because of clarification that I relicense our last meeting.

A lot of calls came in from the media, a lot of social media, everybody thinking that Walnut Creek is going to the dogs now because look what we've done, and others can't wait to celebrate like it's 1999.

So uh I appreciate the clarification on this.

It uh it'll absolutely help spread the word of what this actually means and what it doesn't mean.

Mayor, if I may, we I actually um prepared a slide that outlines the three proposed changes put uh forward by councilmember Silva.

That way City Council can visualize what those are.

I can make a motion that includes them.

That's correct.

He's got a slide.

That's they're looking for the slide.

At least the electronic mouse.

Technology is not our friend tonight.

Here you go.

These are the three proposed changes to the management plan.

Under section Roman numero numeral number two, one G, under sanitation measures, we would add the language project sponsor to provide restroom facilities required under the city's special event permit to address the concerns about restrooms.

Under section Roman numero 4 4B, hours of operation, just to clarify that the hours specified under the ordinance is different from the hours in the management plan at the end of the first paragraph in parentheses, we will add that, which is less than what is allowed under the Walnut Creek Municipal Code, just so that to eliminate confusion.

And finally, under section Roman numeral numeral number four seven permits, we will add to the end of the section that the project sponsor is responsible for ensuring that all business establishments have all the permits and licenses necessary to participate in the event, including but not limited to uh ABC permits and business city business licenses.

There's one other one in item section two item one B it rather than saying weekends and weekdays, it would say Friday, Saturday, and third and Sunday through Thursday.

Right.

So we will explicitly say the days so I'm happy to make the motion to approve item C with the typographical correction that was provided at the DIS that it's SB969, and then with the changes and the uh updates to the proposed management plan.

And I will second that.

Okay, we have a motion and a second.

Councilmember Silva.

Hi.

Council Member Darling.

Aye.

Councilmember DeVinny.

Aye.

Mayor Pro Tem Francois.

Hi.

Mayor Welk.

Aye.

All right.

I would just like to thank staff and Walnut Creek Downtown for bringing this forward and working out all the details.

Well, I'm sorry?

Sure, if you'd like to speak for a minute, of course.

Good evening, Kathy Hemingway, Walnut Creek Downtown.

I just wanted to share that between now and the 30-day waiting period, information is available on our website.

And so we have a web page just for the entertainment zone.

So there's um facts and um logistics and information available at Walnut Creek Downtown.com.

So thank you.

Okay, thank you, Kathy.

All right.

Um I pulled item two F uh regarding the projects for fiscal year 2627 uh proposed funding by SB1, the road repair.

And I less questions and really more of uh I just wanted to make sure to amplify the message regarding Nacy Valley Road.

I get a lot of questions, especially living on the east side of Walnut Creek, down Ignacia Valley Road into the Northgate area.

A lot of questions come of when's road repair going to be happening down ignatio all the way down to the city limits.

So if we could just talk a little bit more about that as it relates to this, we'll get that message out.

Sure.

Um so first off, thank you for you know, I guess pulling this comment, letting me speak on this.

Um Austin, I'm assistant engineer for the public works division.

Um so as far as Ignatio Valley Road, the plan is to go in construction next year in 2027.

We're currently um you know communicating with Caltrans to receive the the construction funding um to provide um or to construct that project next year.

That's the plan, and that's what we are aiming for.

And will that be to complete all the work on Ignacio Valley Road or just one section of it?

Um I believe it's just was that Oak Grove.

To Oak Grove Road.

Oh, city limits.

To the city limits, Oak Rove Road to the City Limits, which is up to the hill before you get down into Concord.

Great.

All right.

Thank you very much, Austin.

Thank you.

I think your first time up here, right?

Sorry, yeah.

Second, you did great.

Thank you.

And uh I will make the motion to uh to approve item two F.

Second.

We have a motion and a second.

Mayor Welk.

I Councilmember Darling.

Hi.

Councilmember David.

Councilmember Silva.

Hi.

Mayor Pro Tem Franco.

Aye.

All right.

And lastly, I pull items 2G and H.

We already talked about these at the start of the consent calendar.

But I just really wanted to mention because our city attorney and city manager are far too humble to talk about how fortunate we are to have them here.

And uh we did have their performance review a few weeks ago, and uh we are very fortunate to have Steve Mattis as our city attorney uh with Redwood Partners and our city manager, just to let you know, because I think we hear from Dan Buckshai up here, and of course we know what he does within the city is essentially the CEO of this organization that we call the City of Walnut Creek.

We are a basically the board of directors of that.

Uh but we are I hear from people, as my colleagues do, from throughout the region from throughout the state, they will come to us.

City managers from other cities come to us and tell us how fortunate we are to have Dan Bukshy as a city manager.

Um newer city managers that are in the East Bay have mentioned that they look to Dan as a mentor to help their own progress.

His financial acumen has got us through the pandemic previously and helps keep us on a path where we can approve budgets even if we've even if we have to cut back on budgets by a little bit without there being significant effect that the public sees.

And so a lot of it is done in the background where our residents don't feel the impact as much and the many challenging issues that Dan has helped us navigate through.

Again, the the residents and a lot of visitors don't notice that, and that's what we like.

That's great.

But we recognize it within the city council, and that's why we have uh we are happy to have Dan here as our city manager, and that we have read that we have uh updated the contract, and we look forward to having Dan Buksha here as our city manager for many more years.

Thank you.

And with that, I will make the motion to approve items two G and H.

Second.

We have a motion and a second.

Mayor Welk.

Aye.

Mayor Pro Tem Francois.

Hi.

Council Member Darling.

Aye.

Councilmember David.

Aye.

Councilmember Silva.

Aye.

All right.

On to public communications.

This portion of the meeting is reserved for comments on items not on the agenda.

Under the Brown Act, the council cannot act on items raised during public communications, but may respond briefly to statements made or questions posed, request clarification, or refer the item to staff.

Consistent with section 9.5 of the city council handbook, 30 minutes will be allocated at this time for public communications for items not on the agenda.

Additional time for public communications for items not on the agenda will be provided at the end of the meeting if necessary.

Written comments submitted have been posted to the city's website for public review and are included in the meeting record, but will not be separately read into the record.

And at this time, I'll note that the time is 6.39, and we will take public comments on items not on the agenda until approximately 7.09, and then the remainder of any such comments at the end of the open session portion of the meeting.

And if anybody would like to speak on public communication, now is the time to do so.

And please state your name and city for the record.

Yes, just for the record before I start.

Okay.

Good evening.

I'm Joe Warren, resident of the Woodlands section since 1985.

This regards city regulations in whatever form requiring rentals of property such as homes listed through VRBO to be over 31 days, tracking state law.

But property across from me is rented regularly, a few days to two weeks under 31 days.

The listing realtor agent apparently has a long-term lease with the 13-year owner and sublets for short periods, but represents otherwise.

This is clear from verbo listings, including user reviews and neighbors' observations.

City staff have known of this since at least mid-2025.

Code enforcement says that while planning had not directed the agent to remove listings under 31 days, owner was advised to remove such listings until a conduce conditional use permit cup might be approved.

Yet rentals under 31 days continue, and staff seem to ignore.

On April 15th, I jointly emailed code enforcement and planning.

Copy the city manager.

I subsequently provided receipts.

Planning referenced a commission hearing schedule for May 28th, but did not ensure compliance.

Planning also cited a more lenient standard for B and Bs that the agent might prevail, but requires a Cup that does not exist.

Neighbors want action.

We expect the city to enforce its regulations in whatever form and not disregard residents who are informed who have informed of and documented violations.

Thank you, Mr.

Warren.

I'll be kind of short because we weren't sure whether my our neighbor could join us or not.

Her husband had some health issues.

So I'm also here to speak about this house across from our driveway.

And I actually uh brought it up in August.

And then in November, uh I uh followed up on it with the mayor.

And uh there was some confusion later that we I was hearing.

Well the uh this agent was gonna get a it was considered getting a uh use permit, and then it was gonna it was trying to uh get an appeal for it, and then pulled it back, and so it took a couple of months before I even heard what was going on.

Um and and and yet the the short-term rentals have been ongoing.

Uh and so you know they're they're all nice folks.

Not a problem with the people coming.

The problem is I brought it up because my concern was about okay.

If if somebody comes to our city and and stays at one of our nice hotels, the city gets some revenue from that.

And if they're you know, staying in somebody's home, it's not a B and B, they're not fixing them breakfast.

That are we getting any funding?

And if not, why not?

And what sort of rules do we need?

And we've just we've talked to a lot of different people and emailed, and it doesn't seem like any one person is is in charge of this.

And uh it's a business model for this person.

He does this with.

Uh, and so um we're interested in what is the city's policy, does it apply to this house?

And if not, and if so, it should be enforced, and if not, just let us know.

Thanks.

Thank you, Jan.

Good evening.

My name is Lisa Blanco from Walnut Creek, and I am said neighbor.

Uh and I'll just add just some color to um what uh Mr.

and Mrs.

Warren provided.

And so I first contacted the city about this property because I was awoken at 3:30 a.m.

in the morning by a uh a guest of uh this home looking for the uh they called it an Airbnb.

Um we have found it on verbo repeatedly, and you can certainly um make a a reservation on verbo, which is vacation rentals by owner.

Uh the gentleman's not the owner.

I do know that because I've spoken with him.

He did represent the property as a long-term rental.

He told me directly that that would be for a month or more for people who are moving, et cetera.

Um, but that's not the case at all, because we can see people coming in, going and coming and going.

There's also been uh oh, my time's running out.

Okay.

Anyway, we've got 44 seconds.

You're good.

There has been, I at least I know of from talking to neighbors in the area, um, you know, some noise complaints and things.

Also, there's a school two blocks away, an elementary school Valley Verde.

Um, and so there's concerns among uh other neighbors as well that uh about their children coming and going to school and having people kind of rotating in about every weekend or so.

Um so that's um pretty much it.

I have 11 seconds, that's okay.

I'll give I'll I'll not reclaim my time as they say.

Thank you for listening.

Thank you very much.

Um I appreciate you, the three of you coming forward and bringing this up.

I know this has been an ongoing issue.

What I'd like to do is have you speak to our director of community development, Erica Vandenbrand in the back and get some more details on this, and the city will follow up.

And the city will follow up.

Thank you.

Do we have any more public comment?

Tonight.

All right.

Seeing none, I will close public communications.

Uh does anybody beyond what we just heard?

Does anybody have anything directed to staff?

I I had one mayor.

I think related to this, it might be helpful to get at some point a clarification on the rules on short-term rentals, less than 30 days, more than 30 days, what's allowed, what the permit requirements are as a public service announcement at some point.

I think that makes sense.

Thank you.

I would agree with that.

I know state law has intervened on telling us what um the tenure tenure of those rentals can be, I think.

So I and I'm not sure that a real estate agent that doesn't own the property can get a conditional use permit.

That seems a little incongruous because the use permit goes with the property owner's property, but I'm not the land use attorney.

Yeah, I again I think we've all seen this is this has been an ongoing issue, so I think this does make sense to have staff follow up uh on things.

Great, thank you.

So we'll close public communication now.

And we'll bring it in to council member and staff announcements, reports on activities or requests.

And do we have any closed session announcements?

Um Mayor, there were no reportable actions from closed session this evening.

And City Manager Report.

Yeah, good excuse me.

Good evening again, Buckshai City Manager.

Just wanted to highlight that this week is municipal clerks' week and wanted to thank our uh city clerk team, Susie Martinez.

Elena Branson and Sophia Jacobs uh for all their work that they do as uh as your council knows, but many do not.

Uh our city clerk team does a lot behind the scenes.

They are official record keepers, they are notaries, they manage uh at some point if you ever wanted presentation and all the things that they manage it.

The public comes in uh that are related to any official business associated with the city, and then also they are active in working on elections to ensure that uh they are safe and that they are fair and they are done accurately and appropriately in concert with the county clerk's office.

So thank you for all you do and happy clerks week.

Thank you.

Uh why don't we start with Councilmember DeVinny on uh any of your activities.

Yes, good evening.

Um busy couple weeks.

Uh on the 23rd of April, we had the state of the chamber and tourism uh update uh where we were able to hear from the the Chamber of Commerce and the visitors bureau on the progress they're making there.

Um was uh attended with our uh my fellow council members, so uh that was a good event.

Um on that same day, we uh we went to the uh to Rossmore to hear from uh one of our gubernatorial candidates, uh Katie Porter.

And then uh later, Steve Lesher opened up the Lessure Theater and hosted uh Javier Bessera.

Uh so it was great to hear from two candidates uh about their agenda for California.

Uh the following day, the 25th, we had the author's gala.

That's the uh 15th anniversary of the uh authors gala that supports our two walnut creek libraries.

Uh we were fortunate enough at our table to have uh Barry author, comedian, broadcaster, and entertainer Brian Copeland.

So uh I wanted to thank him personally for being there as well as all the other authors who gave their time and to everyone who made that event possible.

It was a big fundraiser for our libraries and uh very appreciated.

Um following day we had the Challenger baseball jamboree over at Heather Farms where Mayor Wilk and I attended.

Uh that's really uh uh turned into a great community event.

Um it's sponsored by our own Walnut Creek Else Club.

Uh we have Boys Team Charity there, the little league.

Um what it is is it's uh what what used to be a small kind of uh baseball tournament has grown into one of the largest uh events of its kind where uh kids with special needs come from cities uh near and far to uh to play in this tournament, and um it's really uh really a joy to to be a part of that.

The uh we had uh then on the 27th, uh the walnut Creek uh police department had their awards ceremony.

So congratulations to all those in our police department who received their awards.

Uh it is very nice to see law enforcement getting recognized here in Walnut Creek for the great work that they're doing.

It was um really a family affair, great turnout.

Um, and uh again a pleasure to be a part of the uh 28th.

Uh we uh were we were fortunate at our local rotary club to have uh Chief Hibb come and speak to us.

So thank you, Chief Hibbs, for speaking to the Rotary Club.

We got to listen to all that is current in uh policing here in Walnut Creek, and so that was very informative and appreciated.

On the 29th, uh Teleferic Barcelona had their 10th anniversary celebration.

It was a very impressive celebration complete with music and flamenco dancing and food and drinks, and uh so thank you for um hosting that.

Uh thank you for having that event, inviting us uh teleferic Barcelona, and congratulations on your 10th anniversary.

See, on the uh 30th Cal Cities East Bay, we had our division meeting.

Uh, there was uh an e-bike uh legislative or e-bike update, um, which I know has been a very important uh topic, not just in our community, but in the communities across California.

There are no less than 12 legislative bills that will be uh up this year in regards to uh legislating e-bikes in our communities.

Um there was some discussion that these bills may not be successful, um, partially to do with this being the the fiscal constraints right now at the state level, and uh if these uh some of the bills require uh increased spending, so that may be a challenge.

And also the ongoing issue of how to enforce how to police these uh e-bikes when you can't tell the difference now between a class one, a class two, a class three e-bike, um, an unclassed e-bike, an e-moto.

They all look very similar, and so a big struggle is how how to how to construct a bill that will meaningfully uh reduce sort of the um what we what we could say is maybe the abuse of um e-bikes um or unclassed e-bikes and uh the dangers that they pose.

Um I want to uh remind everyone that on May 9th, so this Saturday, uh Sustainable Contra Costa is having their 5K um run in the open space that is at 9 a.m.

Marshall Drive.

It is to benefit sustainable Contra Costa's youth leadership team.

So there are still spots available.

Um I will be there with my family and hopefully see some of some of you as well.

Uh this past weekend, I want to recognize uh we did earlier um national uh police week.

I've also wanted to take this time to recognize um this past weekend was national uh fallen firefighters uh memorial weekend.

The uh flags were flown uh at uh half staff this past Sunday.

So we want to remember and honor our brave men and women of the fire service who have given their lives in the line of duty.

And that's all I have.

Uh thank you, Councilmember DeVinny, Mayor Pro Tem Francois.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh I wasn't quite that busy.

That was quite a list.

Thank you for doing all that.

Uh after our last council meeting, I had a makeup day for uh Read Across America because I wasn't feeling well in March and got over to Buena Vista Elementary and was able to read to Mrs.

Choi's first grade class.

And uh that's a great that's a great activity.

I would encourage anyone who wants to restore their faith in humanity to go and spend some time with some first graders.

And uh was able to share with them one of my favorite books from that time period, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.

And they had not, it turns out it was a band book at one point for reasons unknown, but uh it was nothing controversial in it.

One young gentleman asked me at the end, how come you don't have any hair?

I said, Well, there's this thing called male pattern baldness.

Oh no.

I said, Well, everybody has different hair.

Some people have blonde hair, some people have black hair, some people have no hair, but we're all different, and it's okay.

So it's just refreshing to uh get that honesty and have that interaction with young people.

Uh I was also able to attend the quarterly uh chair, vice chair, commission uh update.

I'm gonna let the mayor give more of an update.

It was good to hear from all the commissions.

There seems to be a lot going on in planning.

Uh one of the items we'll be hearing tonight on the safety element was uh talked about.

There's also some comments about how they appreciated um it's helpful when they get uh housing project come before them, and they might have limited discretion that they can at least uh have an environmental impact report, explain to the public that the impacts of the project have been addressed, similar to the Builders Remedy project we had heard kind of earlier last month.

So I thought that was helpful feedback.

Also attended the authors gala and had a really nice evening.

They raised a lot of money for our two libraries.

Um author was uh Kevin Smokler, who has written a number of books, including what attracted me to him was he has delved into 80s pop culture and has written a book called Brat Pack America, sort of about all the movies of that time frame and where they're located and how that's you know spoke to that period in time of in a in our culture, and it was fun to sit down and talk to him.

And he's also written a recent book about women directors, and so he he's like an encyclopedia encyclopedic mind in terms of film discography, and he could if you told him your three favorite movies, he would pick out kind of a deep cut and recommend it for you.

So it was it was really fun to sit with him and interact, and the mayor came over at one point and shared in that, and that was a good time.

Along with uh council member Silva, I serve on the Recycle Smart Board, and we had a busy meeting a week or two ago.

We had our annual performance review evaluation of our executive director.

He got extremely high marks from all the members of the board as well as his staff.

Uh we also adjusted our uh staff salary schedule and updated our policy on how we allocate costs and revenues.

Most of that is done on a per tonnage basis.

Uh the one exception is on collection costs, which are done by route hours, and that's we're going to keep that going for the time being until we come up until we can adjust that rate salary schedule.

We also talked about the diversion recycling program and budget and of note there.

Two programs there's the school recycling and organics program, which has gone on for some years now, and we'll get an update on that, I believe, at our next meeting or this meeting in May.

What I'm always impressed with is Walnut Creek schools routinely get the Wastebuster award for having diverted the most track items out of the landfill into the recycling and organic.

So proud of the kids for starting early and learning those skills.

And then there will be, and I believe this is the first time they're doing this authority-wide, a household hazard waste drop-off event.

The details on on that are to be determined in including the contents and the location and the date and so on, but I'll give an update on that, or councilmember Silva will at a future meeting.

And I believe that's it for my update.

Thank you.

All right, thank you.

Next uh council member if you come to me first.

I can add on a couple of things too.

All right, we're going to jump over, Councilmember Darling to Councilmember Silva.

They'll come back.

Um, I would continue on the recycle smart presentation just to clarify or elaborate on how we share costs.

It's six agencies work together to form recycle smart, but we all have different rates that we in Walnut Creeks rates are different from those that are being used in Arinda and Danville.

And the costs that we are expenses and our revenues are calculated based on sharing.

It's not the same.

So in Walnut Creek, the routes are flatter by and large than they are in Arenda.

So Arenda takes longer to pick up the garbage, so they pay more in their collection rates.

And see something you didn't know.

How would you share?

And so that's really important.

And so how we calculate that is really important.

And the other thing I would mention is in the school programs, what we hear about a lot in recent years is they are getting better and better at the recycling.

But one of the things that they do is they share their food at lunchtime.

Now it's not a sandwich that's already been eaten.

It's basically if they have a piece of fruit, the kids are taught that if they have a piece of fruit, they can put it into the share bin.

And then another kid can pick up that apple, for example, and have that apple for lunch.

So they're taught to not throw away food, but somehow to put it back into the into circulation, so to speak.

And then I will mention that in two weeks ago was the city leaders' summit for the League of California cities.

There were about 400 of us in Sacramento.

There were two reasons to be in Sacramento.

One was to advocate for certain pieces of legislation that we're promoting with the legislature.

There was a lot of things that we were advocating about.

From this area, we met with Assemblymember Bower Cahen with Assemblymember Anna Maria Avalafarias and also with Senator Tim Grayson.

And we talked about a number of bills that we were promoting.

One is SB 922, that's Senator Laird's bill that will allow it's gonna clarify that cities may recover the cost of street maintenance and road repair that results from the damage of roads from very heavy vehicles like garbage trucks.

And so that's an important bill.

And we were getting universally the assembly and the senators, the assembly members and the senators were going, well, that makes sense.

So hopefully that will continue to move forward.

Another bill we were advocating for was in the homelessness and housing arena.

Two bills to mention.

One is AB 2296 by Assemblymember Papen out of the peninsula, and it's basically we're sponsoring a bill that would allow our cities to start earlier work on their housing elements so we have more time to get it right.

And then it also requires the state to improve the housing element review process and provide greater certainty.

So being more objective and providing feedback.

And finally, I would mention that we also advocated for a minimum one billion dollars in ongoing funding to the homeless housing assistance and prevention grant program.

Right now it's been it was a billion dollars per year for a number of years, and it was reduced last year to 500 million, and it's sitting at the January proposal had it at 500 million, so we're hoping to increase that funding.

And also we're advocating to allocate 400 million dollars to fully implement proposition 36, which is the public safety um constitutional amendment that the voters approved.

California voters approved like 80 percent in the last general election.

And so that's Cal State Board also met during that whole meeting.

And a couple of things to note, we we voted um to take a no position, an opposed position on the Howard Jarvis initiative that is moving toward the ballot in November, and it's a constitutional amendment that would change how local government can adopt certain taxes and prohibit existing and future property transfer taxes that local governments may impose.

This could basically result in a loss of about two billion dollars annually in funds to city municipals, cities and counties across California, but more importantly, or just as importantly, it's retroactive.

And so those have been all approved, but those that are on the books right now and have been approved by local voters would be null and void.

So there's a lawsuit waiting to happen if it's passed.

And we decided to take no position on a statewide ballot measure that will be on the ballot in November that will remove the prohibition on general law cities to enact public campaign financing.

Currently, charter cities, which two a third of us in the state or charter cities are allowed to have campaign financing programs for their local elections, but general law cities are not allowed.

And this initiative, if approved, will allow general law cities like Walnut Creek to put public financing if we chose to do so, a public financing in campaign for the local elections.

So we took a no position.

We took a we took no position on that.

It was so and there were other bills, but e-bikes were a robust discussion for over an hour.

So they always are now.

Yes, thank you very much.

Thank you.

All right, so my experience in going back to school was distinctly different than the mayor pro tem.

I um as an MCE board member, John McCormick from the Lafayette board board member and myself went back to school and took a about a week-long class from um two graduate professors from the Haas School of Business on the Energy Economy.

And I tell you, I've never written so fast in my life and said, wow, what are these people explaining to me?

But they were explaining to us how the energy markets have changed over the last 20 years since the energy crisis and with the onset of the um community choice aggregates and the CAISO and everything.

And it did make a lot of what we do at MCE make more sense.

Um Director McCormick and I, our heads are now bigger as a result.

Um we are touring the Mulqueney um wind project tomorrow.

It's out of lot out of um it's in the foothills over by Livermore, and it is a new project.

The MCE is going to build on one of the things that we've been trying to do at MCE.

We have a lot of solar which works during the day.

We're looking for additional power resources that work when the sun is not shining.

And this is one of the things we also have a large geothermal project coming online as well as significant battery storage.

Um the city manager and myself went to East Bay Mud Luz Gomez, our uh local rep on the East Bay Mud board, had her local workshop.

Um I brought up the issue we had faced a couple years ago with the cost of the um water meters for low end uh for affordable housing is sometimes a real barrier.

And they said they are working on it.

Um, and then I think the city manager brought up making sure that good neighbors in the area around the treatment facility and a few other things.

Um the mayor put mayor and I were at the Meals on Wheels rubbing cutting, but I'll let you cover that.

I did the state of chamber, police awards, the library gala was especially fun.

Brian Copeland, who was at our table.

Um, he was doing a writing uh thriller about somebody that is trying to go through and prove a murder, whether or not a murder occurred.

But he sets it in an area of the town of Hayward that was not incorporated, where basically that is the only place where people of color could afford to live back in the last century, and that the businesses that wanted to take over that area did some things to encourage people to move, including setting fires.

And my husband was like, really?

Did they do that?

I'm like strange things happened back there in the days of redlining.

And so that was a I was a really he was a fun author to have.

And I do want to say a huge thanks to the mayor pro tem because he his wife carried the burden this year on setting that gala up, and she did a great job.

And we appreciate you lending your wife for such a wonderful job.

So thank you.

That's it.

All right, thank you.

And I'll uh I'll wrap it up here.

Uh yeah, regarding the authors, Gala also, Brian Copeland auctioned off uh that people could be in his next book, uh their name could be in his next book.

So that was a cool auction item.

We didn't bit on that.

Uh you didn't bid on that, and I and IMC'd and helped with the uh the auction, and that and that was a lot of fun too.

And uh hopefully a lot of money was brought in for the library.

So the uh there's mayor's visits that happen typically every quarter, but usually three or four times a year, and I happen to go to two in the last few weeks.

One of them was the Hilton Garden Inn, where myself, along with our city manager and our economic development team uh and assistant city manager visited the Hilton Garden Inn and got a uh tour of their hotel.

That's the newest hotel property in Walnut Creek.

They seem to be doing a great uh weekday business uh occupancy, which is it's terrific to see our tourism ministry doing as well as they are.

And then just yesterday we were at Original Joe's and met with the ownership and the management team there.

Uh no surprise, original Joe's is now the busiest restaurant in Walnut Creek.

And they, by the way, just to let people know when we have a new restaurant that comes in, this is a obviously a bit of an outlier, but they have over 200 staff.

They provide 200 jobs for our city and region.

So we certainly support our local business community.

Uh as we heard Councilmember DeVinney State of the Chamber, uh just a shout out to Angela Ashley, the president of the chamber this year, and Nicole Hangton from Visit Walnut Creek, uh, giving a great overview of what we're what we've had in the chamber and what we're looking forward to.

You heard briefly about the mayor and uh Mayor Pro Tem and Chair Breakfast Roundtable.

So this is the first time that we had a chance to meet our new chair person, chair people and vice chairs of the different commissions, and we always give an update of what's happening, not just in the city but in the different commissions, and we hear from staff and some of the different updates as well.

It's a great way for the community to and especially in this instance of the chairs and the commissions to find out what's happening truly before almost any other buddy in the city.

So that's a plug for if you're interested in also getting an early ear to the ground of what's happening in the city, apply for commissions when it comes around again.

Uh other things I did want to we we heard briefly about the Walnut Creek PD Award ceremonies.

I just want to shout out congratulations to the all the award honorees and Eric Young as Officer of the Year and Officer Greg Mars Swift, who received our rookie of the year.

So big congrats out to them.

And uh lots of openings, celebrations, reopenings.

We heard about Teleferic Barcelona, uh Meals on Wheels in Shaylands now has their new Shade Lands uh campus there.

Uh Diablo Ballet just opened within the last two weeks as well.

And lest we forget Taco Bella North Main Street celebrated their 20th anniversary, so was there along with our economic development team as well.

They do a lot of business, by the way, just to let people know.

And uh and then lastly, but not least, I do want to say that this afternoon we had Congressman Mark DeSalnier come and present us with a check for body-worn camera equipment upgrades for one million dollars.

And this is the grant funding that came from Washington, our federal government.

Let's spend this check.

And we'll get that equipment.

And uh thank you to our police chief Ryan Hibbs and uh Captain Holly Connors who were in attendance for this.

Uh this is why we continue to advocate uh at our regional levels with county, our state levels with our with our assembly members and state senators, and our federal representatives, that is Congress members.

So thank you very much, Congressman DeSony.

And now for the real fun stuff, the public hearings.

So next on the agenda is adoption of a resolution approving the community development block grant 2026 to 2027 annual action plan, fiscal year 2027 community grant program funding plan and authorizing associated contracts exceeding 125,000.

And I invite administrative analyst Jennifer Lama.

Is it Lamas or Yamas?

Yamas.

Yamas.

Forward to provide the presentation.

I want to make sure we get your name right for the record.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor Wilk, Mayor Pro Tem Francois, Council members.

My name is Jennifer Yamas.

I'm a housing analyst in the community development department.

For tonight's first public hearing, I will be presenting on the fiscal year 2027 community development block grant annual action plan and the corresponding community grant program.

Is it working?

We're not gonna get these lots of technical difficulties tonight.

The city is an entitlement jurisdiction for the federal community development block grant known as CDBG.

As such, the city is required to submit an annual action plan each year to the U.S.

Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The annual action plan outlines how the city proposes to use the federal funds that are granted for that program year.

The fiscal year 2027 annual action plan is due on June 3rd and represents the second year of the city's five-year CDBG consolidated plan, which sets overall priorities and long-term goals for serving residents with the greatest needs.

Fiscal year 2026 was an application year during which a competitive request for proposals was issued.

Accordingly, fiscal year 27 is a renewal year.

Um it begins on July 1st, and it means that programs that were funded last year may be considered for continued funding based on performance and available resources.

The community grant program connects Walnut Creek residents to a broad network of um services, including crisis intervention, senior support, homeless services, job training, and affordable housing.

These services are delivered by local and regional organizations.

For fiscal year 27, all programs requesting funding were also supported in fiscal year 26.

Collectively, all the programs address the consolidated plan's highest priorities: housing stability, economic opportunity, and access to essential services for low-income residents.

Okay.

The community grant program is supported through a combination of federal, state, and local funding sources and is adjusted annually to reflect changes in funding availability.

For fiscal year 27, the total available funding is $1,050,000.

Taking into account the CDBG categories, as well as the School Crisis Counselor Program, the recommended fiscal year 27 community grant program funding total is $942,667, which includes about $80,000 for grant administration.

While it may appear that the total available funding exceeds the recommended amount, it is important to note that $150,000 of the available funding reflects a one-time pro housing incentive program allocation designated to be spent over a three-year period and is not an ongoing annual funding source.

Staff recommend funding all renewal programs at the full amounts requested.

One program that required policy consideration was the core dedicated outreach team.

Prior to fiscal year 2022, the city funded a half-time core team with the remaining 50% of time contracted to the city of Concord.

For fiscal year 2022, when faced with the option of discontinuing core services or fully funding the team, the city elected to fund a full-time team with the increased service levels supported by state PLHA grant funding that was available to the city at the time.

For fiscal year 27, in consultation with Contra Costa County Health Services, staff evaluated two service models.

A full-time core team at an estimated cost of about 300,000 and a halftime team at about 150,000.

These represent the only service levels currently offered.

Under a halftime model, the core team would operate at its original service levels and be shared with the neighboring jurisdiction.

Walnut Creek would receive designated service days, supplemented by countywide core teams when the dedicated team is assigned elsewhere.

The county has indicated that this model is operationally feasible and appropriate for Walnut Creek, as it allows the city to maintain access to dedicated outreach services while more efficiently allocating resources and preserving funding capacity for future needs.

The halftime model right sizes the level of service with Walnut Creek's current needs and service demand.

On April 16th, the city's housing and community development committee considered these options and supported returning to a halftime core dedicated outreach model with the understanding that the city would coordinate with the assigned neighboring jurisdiction to optimize service delivery.

Consistent with the committee's direction, the total funding recommended in the agenda report as well as the annual action plan assumes a halftime core team.

In conclusion, staff requests the city council adopt a resolution approving the 2026 through 2027 annual action plan, which includes the fiscal year 27 funding plan.

The resolution also authorizes the city manager to execute community grant program contract amendments for agreements exceeding 125,000.

And staff is available for questions.

Thank you so much.

Councilmember DeVinny.

For who are gonna fund with the CDPG grant money?

Is that is it assumed that?

I mean, I'm I'm thinking if I'm another organization and there's so many good ones in the community, is it assumed at that point that if those those agencies continue to perform that they're more or less locked in for the five years, and then it's at the end of the five years that we go out for RFP again and entertain new sure?

I can clarify.

Can we go back to the so I can clarify the uh consolidated plan period?

So there's actually uh so it's a two-year cycle and a three-year cycle.

So we're at the end of the two-year cycle, so next year is the beginning of the three-year cycle, which a new competitive request for proposals will be issued, and at that time any organization can apply.

Okay, yeah, thank you for that clarification.

Um if we were to adopt the recommendations, we'd have a little money uh left over.

Does that go back into the um the PIP fund?

It would remain in the PIP fund.

It would remain in the PIP fund.

Yes.

Okay, okay.

And then I just wanted to add to there was a question earlier from the community about we were spending 2.9 million, but we have seven million in our fund for affordable housing, right?

So in it was you clarified I had this question for you earlier in the day, and and so I thought maybe other people would have the same question, which is you know how do we wind up with seven million there?

It's just there haven't been a lot of affordable housing projects in the city, and that's why we've accumulated seven million and we are now having some come to fruition, and that's where the 2.9 million is getting spent.

We have more left over to spend on other projects.

Correct, yeah.

So uh annually we issue the affordable housing request for proposals if council allows it, and so at that point the the RFP gets issued typically around October, it closes December.

We evaluate um the proposals um with a panel consist that consists of uh various city departments, um, and then based on the scores, we make the recommendations for projects to be funded.

Great, thank you.

Councilmember Downing.

No, I think um we had a good discussion of this at the committee.

The um halftime core team.

If wishes were horses, we would be able to keep going, but in light of when we decided to go to a full-time it was because a half time wasn't available, and so staff assured me that the halftime was right size for our community, especially in assume knowing that our hop team through PD is fully stood up and in the field at this point.

So member Silva?

I do have a couple of questions, but just to add and elaborate on the comment.

Um we also heard after the meeting as in a sidebar conversation with some of our providers that there perhaps is another way to deliver those services, social services, um, an alternative service delivery model to the county.

And so perhaps we would have staffed to take a look at those issues and opportunities in the coming year before we this comes back.

Um two questions.

Well, one is a comment, which is the funds that we um provide for affordable housing projects are from our how affordable housing fund and our commercial linkage fee.

Those funds are different from the we don't have anything up on in front of us.

So if you could go back to the sources of funds, that that slide.

Those can C D BG funds to clarify are from the federal government, the housing and urban development department.

And then the other funds that are there are all city funds from the general fund that have been allocated and set into special funds.

Yes.

Uh with the exception of the pro housing and housing incentive, which comes from the state.

Yes.

And maybe if they decide to the state decides to open up their coffers a little bit, there might be some hap money that would be coming down the pike, but we'll we're not gonna hope hold our breath.

Um so that's just clarification.

We're we can't take these funds.

Well, are any of these funds available to be put toward affordable housing projects?

Yeah, so CDBG um does have caps in how we can use the money.

65% must be allocated to economic development and uh infrastructure and housing activities.

Um and so the programs that we currently have under that umbrella include habitat for humanities low-income home rehabilitation program, and then we have some really great economic development programs through Coco Kids, Trinity Center, um, and so that kind of is what fits under that umbrella.

So we're able to use some of the funds, but probably not enough of the funds would aggregate together to address the.

Right.

I think uh it's about 260,000 that would be allowed from that amount, yeah.

And another question part of what we have to approve is if the city manager would sign for the project contracts that are exceed 125,000.

Yes.

Somewhere in here I saw that there's a reference to five of them, but I only count four that exceed 125,000.

There's only four if I made a mistake of five.

Yeah, thank you.

There's only four, yeah.

The fifth one was eighty-two thousand dollars for habitat for humanity.

Oh, so the clarification with that is that what because we're amending it, it would go over a hundred twenty-five thousand.

Thank you.

Yes.

I didn't ask my question the right way.

Thank you very much, Mayor.

Mayor Burham.

Okay, coming in.

I've got just two questions on the PIP funding.

Yes.

The total for that is a million, right?

Yes.

And then we've got 150 here.

Where is the rest of that money, Alex?

Yeah.

So 150,000 is designated for homeless services, and 800,000 is designated for the creation and preservation of affordable housing, and then 50,000 for uh grant administration.

And that application um we applied last year, I think it was March, maybe, or maybe later in the year, um, and that uh those options were presented to council, and that was um what we submitted to the state.

Okay.

Thank you for the reminder.

So that the large chunk of that money then goes into the affordable housing fund?

Correct, yeah.

Got it.

And then in terms of sharing the cost of the core team, is there do we know which other jurisdiction we're likely to do?

Not yet with yeah.

Okay.

That's it.

All right.

Can I circle back just really quickly?

Has the 800,000 that's in the PIP funds?

Has that been allocated to, for example, is it in the bucket that went to Saha?

No, it's not.

It will be part of this new RFP.

Great.

Thank you.

All right, thank you so much.

Let's uh open it up if there's any questions from the public, and uh we'll open that up for public comment.

Please step forward to the podium.

Uh please also can be a speaker card.

Cards are available on the counter near the entrance doorway.

And once at the podium, please introduce yourself and city of residence for the record.

Consistent with city policies, related to public comments.

Each speaker will have two minutes to make your remarks, written comments submitted, if any have been posted the city's website for public review and are included in the meeting record, but will not be separately read in the record.

Hello.

Hello.

Good evening, Mayor, Council members, city staff.

I'm Molly Fow Klopp.

I'm a Walnut Creek resident, and I'm also board chair for Trinity Center.

And I'm here tonight to express our deep appreciation for the city's continued leadership through the community grant program and to underscore just how essential this funding is to the people that we serve every day.

At Trinity Center, this supports uh three critical programs.

Our day shelter program, which provides a safe, welcoming place where individuals can access meals, showers, case management, and connection to housing resources.

For many, this is the front door to stability.

The winter evening shelter program provides life-saving refuge during the coldest and most dangerous months of the year, and our workforce development program creates pathways out of homelessness by helping individual individuals build skills, gain employment, and move towards long-term independence.

Together, these programs form a continuum of care from crisis response to long-term stability that aligns with the city's priorities and Trinity's mission.

We also recognize this year presents real challenges, particularly with the loss of some of the state housing funds, and this makes the city's commitment to maintaining support even more meaningful.

Last year alone, Trinity Center welcomed over 1,450 unique individuals, more than 18,000 services.

Uh times providing over 47,000 services.

I get those numbers hard to say altogether, but these numbers are real people.

Neighbors working every day to move forward, and your support makes that possible.

So on behalf of Trinity Center staff, uh members and uh the board, thank you for your partnership and for continuing to prioritize these essential services that strengthen our community.

Thank you very much.

Just a quick question.

So if somebody was moved to help Trinity Center, what would be a good fundraiser for them to attend in the near future?

But we're gonna see lots of you there and appreciate your support.

Thank you, and thank you for everything that Trinity does.

Thank you.

Thank you, Molly.

Good evening.

My name is Matt.

I uh work for Contra Costa Senior Legal Services.

I'm a resident of Concord, but we serve the whole county.

Um just I want to echo a lot of what was just said.

Um and thank you for the vote to support uh the social services.

Senior um, and maybe some of you are even even among that category of seniors.

Uh but um it's a it's a growing group of people.

Um and they can be fairly vulnerable.

Their um income is often limited.

Uh, and in a in a world of rising costs, um, that is not a recipe for success.

And so the number of seniors that we see coming to us looking for help is growing year by year.

The funding is not.

And so we're grateful that you're maintaining this funding.

It's not your problem to fix the world of funding that's supposed to be supporting our seniors.

But I just want you to think about how in a lot of places funding is being cut back, and yet the number of seniors is growing.

And that's just a policy issue that the world needs to address at some point.

But I'm very grateful for all of you.

This is actually our 50th year in the county.

So wish us a happy birthday.

We're having our big birthday party on September 9th at Boundary Oak, and you're all invited.

So thank you for uh supporting all of the great social services.

Actually, I'll speak on behalf of all those uh choice in aging, empowered aging.

I'm trying to remember there's four senior services, and I think meals on wheels and us.

So thank you for uh on behalf of all of us that serve seniors.

Thank you very much.

All right, let's bring it back to council if there's any further comments, any further questions or a motion.

I just wanted to say for all the every time I look at this UBDD program and this solicitation, I am blown away with how much these applicants are doing with so little money, and they're doing it for our vulnerable seniors, for you know, homeless folks, for just a whole different variety of people.

And I really appreciate it, and I really appreciate the effort they put into it.

And I would move to adopt the resolution approving the 2627 annual action plan, including the FY27 funding plan, and authorizing the city manager to execute community grant program contract amendments for five agreements exceeding 125,000.

I will second the motion if we can add and um direct staff to explore alternative service delivery models for the um outreach services that we've had to cut back from the county.

I'll accept that amendment.

We have motion and a second.

Councilmember Darling.

Yes, Councilmember Silva.

Hi, Council Member Devini.

Hi.

All right.

Moving right along.

Next item on the agenda the public hearing for the adoption of resolutions adopting a negative declaration and approving a general plan amendment to update the safety element to comply with state law.

I invite principal planner.

Can I ask a question?

Okay.

The third item seems very short.

Should we ask if they would like to go first?

So that do you have there are questions on the there are a lot of questions on the second one.

Okay, so okay, never mind.

Never mind.

All right.

We're ready to go anyway.

So invite principal planner Crystal DeCastro forward to provide the presentation.

Hi.

Thank you.

Uh, I'm Alison Restick, associate planner with uh community development department.

Crystal DeCastro is also here in support.

Um I'm here.

Um good evening, Mayor Wilk, Mayor Pro Tem, Francois, and members of the council.

Um before you tonight is the safety element update, which reflects current state requirements and strengthens the city's approach towards hazards, emergency preparedness, and long-term resilience.

This update would not have been possible without participation from our community, our safety subcommittee, which was comprised of staff from the city manager's office, the public works department, the police department, our community development department, and Contra Costa County Fire Prevention District.

Um, of course, uh most importantly, our consultant team who has been vital in helping us with this effort, uh, Harris and Associates, which is led by Darren Newfeld, senior director.

Um, I will now turn it over to Darren who will walk you through key highlights of the update.

Okay.

Good evening, Mayor Wilk and Council members.

My name is Darren Newfeld.

Uh the item before you tonight is an update to the general plan safety element.

To start, I'll provide a brief overview of the general plan and the role of the safety element.

The general plan is a state-mandated long-term policy framework that guides the future of development of the city.

The safety element is one of the required elements of the general plan.

It addresses risks from natural and human-caused hazards, including wildfires, floods, droughts, earthquakes, and climate change.

Its purpose is to integrate safety considerations into land use and transportation planning to reduce risks to life, property, and the local economy.

This is achieved through goals, policies, and actions that help the city prepare for hazards, respond effectively during emergencies, and reduce long-term vulnerability.

With that, I'll walk through why an update to the safety element is needed.

The city's current safety element was last adopted in 2006 with the adoption of the 2025 general plan.

Since then, several key updates and regulatory changes have occurred that have triggered the need for an update.

The housing element was adopted and certified in 2023.

State law requires that the safety element be reviewed and updated concurrently with the housing element.

The city adopted its local hazard mitigation plan, or LHMP in 2025, which outlines strategies for hazard preparedness and response following state and FEMA requirements.

Recent legislation has expanded the safety element requirements to address specific hazards such as wildfire and flooding, incorporate climate adaptation strategies, and evaluate evacuation routes for capacity and reliability.

Together, these changes require the safety element to be updated to remain consistent with current data, evolving conditions, and state law.

The safety element update has since resumed and incorporates both of these updated resources along with new state requirements.

A key part of this process was community outreach, which helped inform the update.

Outreach included two public workshops and an online survey.

Participants identified top concerns as climate change, drought, extreme heat, and wildfire risk.

Many shared experiences with poor air quality from wildfires and emphasized the importance of vegetation management, like removing dead trees to reduce fire spread.

Most respondents also reported experiencing power outages during extreme weather events, and relatively few felt prepared for emergencies, highlighting the need for improved public education and evacuation planning.

This feedback informed the priorities of the safety element update.

In addition to community input, the update was guided by a cross-departmental team of partner agencies.

A cross-departmental team, also known as the Safety Subcommittee, with support from partner agencies and the consultant team provided technical guidance throughout the process.

The subcommittee ensured alignment with the city's vision and existing policies, including the Sustainability Action Plan and the LHMP.

They conducted a thorough review of draft and final documents to ensure consistency with city policies, state laws, and community concerns.

By combining technical guidance with community input, the safety element is both data-driven and reflective of resident priorities.

Building on that input and coordination, I will now summarize the key updates in the draft safety element.

The draft safety element update builds on the city's existing safety element and continues to address core hazards like seismic activity, flooding, hazardous materials, fire, and public safety.

The most significant updates focus on two areas emergency planning and preparedness and climate adaptation and resilience.

There are new goals to increase community preparedness and reduce climate-related vulnerability, and strengthened evacuation planning policies based on route analysis.

There is a new section addressing climate change impacts, especially on vulnerable populations.

There are policies to prepare for hazards like extreme heat, heavy precipitation and drought, and additional updates include stronger wildfire and vegetation management policies and expanded public education and outreach for residences and businesses.

The safety element update also supports implementation of assembly bill 2140, which allows jurisdictions incorporating federally federally approved LHMPs into the safety element to qualify for additional state cost sharing funding for eligible disaster recovery projects subject to legislative approval.

An initial study was prepared in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act.

The analysis determined that the update would not result in significant environmental impacts and a negative declaration was prepared.

The initial study negative declaration and draft safety element update were circulated for public review from February 9th to March 11th.

During the period, the city received five comment letters, none none of which required substantial revisions.

One comment letter from the California Geological Survey recommended expanding discussion of landslide risks and updating the fault zone maps as new data becomes available.

The state is currently updating their maps with revisions expected in May and November, which will be incorporated into the safety element once released.

These informational updates will not affect the goals, policies, or actions of the safety element update.

On March 26th, the planning commission reviewed and considered the item.

Planning commission considered and recommended council adopt the negative declaration and safety element update to the general plan.

This concludes our presentation, and we are available for questions.

Thank you.

Appreciate the update there.

Let's uh questions.

Councilmember Silva Silva, do you have questions?

I have a few, thank you.

And I submitted many of my questions in writing, so and they were answered a lot of them in the errata sheets that we received.

Um but let's go back to the beginning.

So in 2005, we had our 2006, we adopted general plan 2025, and chapter six at that time was the safety and noise element.

So now we've removed the old safety sections.

Is chapter six going to remain as just noise element?

That is correct.

And then where does this one go?

And I know we're starting the general plan process, but I feel like I'm a little bit in no man's land.

Um, what do we do with this document and all the other documents that are now attached to it, the LMPH LM, and etc.

Um similar to our housing element, it'll be a standalone element, so it will still be a portion of the general plan.

Um it just won't be numbered as a chapter as the other chapters are in the 2006 version.

Okay.

So then as we go through into the new general plan, will it come back into the new general plan then?

Correct.

And two to four to five years, depending on how long it takes us to get that done.

Correct.

All right.

So what I all these pieces of legislation seem to have come up with a long list of triggering events, which it's somewhat interesting when you talk about safety and hazards and it seems like if you're doing redoing your housing element, which we do every eight years, you have to do the safety element again.

If we're doing a general plan, we have to do the safety element.

How many times are we going to do the safety element again over the next five or six years?

Well, the government code as it currently reads, you know, new law can get passed, and we could be required to update for other reasons.

But the government code says to update at least every eight years in conjunction with the housing element or the LHMP as necessary.

So we are updating with current state law now.

Okay.

Depending on what happens in that time frame, it may not be necessary.

A wholesale revision may not be necessary.

It just depends on what the state does and how the general plan changes.

But each time we now are about to touch the general plan, and then the housing law element is going to come pretty close right after the completion of the update to the general plan.

So do we anticipate looking at this again?

It twice in the next few years, and that's might be good because this was a lot of work to embrace.

Yeah, so the safety element, so land use, housing, circulation, open space, have to incorporate safety element policies to reduce public exposure to the population.

Public safety information helps guide where various land uses are located.

The transportation element will provide framework for safe and efficient circulation, which is uh beneficial for evacuation and the safety element.

So as the other elements get updated and open space as well, will be uh critical to protect hazard hazard situations as well.

So as those elements get updated, um the safety element might also get updated.

So we hear a lot about I'm changing subjects just slightly here.

Um landscaping, outdoor items and residentials uh homes, and zero zone zero regulations, et cetera.

I know Cal Fire is working on that, the state fire marshal.

What's what's going to happen with that?

And is that it is has it been addressed in here adequately for the time being?

We we have uh revised one of our policies to make reference to the Cal Zone Calfire zones, zone zero, one, two, and I think all the way out to three by recommendation, and that zone zero is the first five feet.

Um so that is now in a policy to educate and encourage those that information for residences.

Okay, we get asked about that at farmers market.

You're gonna make me take out all my landscaping within five feet of the I know.

Um another question, and just for um reminder to my council colleagues, I am a governor appointee to the California Seismic Safety Commission.

And one of the things Calfire, which we're part of Cal OES talk about now a lot is fire following earthquake.

The worst case scenario is an earthquake occurs, and not only does it damage your home, but it damages the water lines, it causes gas lines to break, fires to start, and then your if water lines break, the supply of water available to fight the fire is now diminished.

It's multi-hazards.

Is have we addressed that in here, or are we so we can become more aware of it?

It seems like these the safety chapter seems to have individual seismic fire, landslides, and it's like, no, what if they all happen at once?

Yeah, which is part of why the government code asks us to look at water pressure and things like that, so that as a baseline, we're already set up with the right pressure to begin with, because to your point, uh all that drops during emergency or can drop during emergency.

So we have updated the element to specifically point out that earthquakes can be a major cause of fires afterwards, and then the evacuation route analysis just looks at fires in general, but which could be caused by a whole host of things, including earthquakes or down power lines.

Okay, thank you.

My last question is really about the evacuation routes.

Whole chapter on it was really fascinating.

Ooh, how do you go from here to here?

Um what is the intent of having the analysis?

It's not really, I would assume it's not really to tell people what to do exactly and where to go.

Yeah, I live on one of those streets that has only one way in and out, and it's over a bridge with water under it.

So what is the intent?

What is this document supposed to tell us to do or the public to do?

So the the main intent be behind the evacuation route analysis, which is required through a few different um state laws that were supposed to look at the um under a host of scenarios, and so there could be an infinite number of scenarios, um, but with the safety subcommittee, we chose the scenarios that were in the document.

Those scenarios are principally developed to inform goals, policies, and actions for the city to take.

It is not an emergency management plan.

Um it won't be picked up by somebody if there's an emergency, it's really just to inform and guide development of the goals, policies, and objectives for the future.

So then does it dovetail into the general plan process related to the circulation element?

Yes, it does.

Yes.

Great, thank you.

And we we did most and basically how it does it is we look at the capacity of roadways, and those are roadways you want to get to, the greatest capacity.

So yeah.

Thank you.

Just a couple quick questions.

Um the um zone zero and the the right now it sounds that we are encouraging non-conforming development to update contemporary fire standards.

And I know that that could get replaced by what the state fire marshal does.

Um of the things that is frequently very confusing to people that come up to me at the farmers market, is that your home insurance doesn't care what this plan says.

Your home insurance wants what it wants, correct?

Note everybody at home, they're shaking their heads.

So people that I know that have had the most draconian things happen, it's usually in response to their homeowner's insurance, not to a city inspector.

And that's just the way that is.

Um was a question in some of the recent fires, um, particularly in Paradise and some of the areas up there.

Um those learnings incorporated into the work that you guys did on when you call for an evacuation.

How soon do you call if it's in a congested area?

Yeah, so we we did through the safety subcommittee, we did work with uh Contra Costa Fire Protection District and police.

Um, who whom are here?

We do have Deputy Fire Chief McAllister and Captain Connors if we have further questions on lessons learned and things like that from previous wildfires.

Um but I understand yes.

Yeah.

And then I know we have a cabin in a high fire area and watch duty 10 has just blown all other reporting uh mechanisms out of the water as far as knowing what's going on in real time.

Have we talked about integrating with the nonprofit watch duty app or you know um to my knowledge it's not specific specific to which app, but the um the element does make it a point to incorporate um communications improvements and things of that nature.

Okay.

Yeah.

The evacuation route analysis also has a section on lessons learned and um tools uh to consider which we list the known apps or at least some of them and programs, um many of which FIRE is aware of and in investigating and already uses.

And I'd also just quickly add that um we wanted to keep it also a little bit general because it may change over years different aspects on this stuff, yes.

Um those were my questions.

Thank you guys.

Okay, thank you.

Any doesn't look like we have any further questions.

So let's um close the questions for now.

We'll open it up to the public.

And is there anybody from the public that would like to make any comments here?

Please complete the speaker card and come on up.

You'll have two minutes.

And there isn't anybody.

So you did a great job.

There's no more comments on that.

Uh all right, we'll close the public comment portion, bring it back to council for either further comments or a motion.

Who wants?

First of all, I want to start by thanking staff and the community for being involved and all of the various agencies that came together to work on these.

They are you when you read this, you get I mean, I found myself getting emotional with worry.

If we don't plan, we can't be prepared to respond to these things.

So planning is a good thing to do.

Plan ahead.

Um, but it's also mindful that we all have to take individual responsibility for these things.

It is not local government cannot protect, they don't have the bubble that they can put around everybody, and then nothing will happen.

Instead, we have to be working together as a community.

So thank you for the work.

Thank you for helping to prepare the plan.

And I'm happy to make the motion to adopt the resolutions adopting a negative declaration and approving a general plan amendment to update the safety element to comply with state law, including the um amendments that were provided tonight at this at the DIS.

I'll second.

We have a motion and a second.

Councilmember Silva.

Aye, Mayor Will.

Hi.

Councilmember Darling.

Hi.

Councilmember DeVini.

Mayor Pro Tem Franco.

Hi.

All right.

I think we have a fairly short.

Thank you very much.

Uh we probably have a pretty short item, but if people need me to stop for a break.

Uh okay, let's take a five-minute break.

Uh we will resume at eight o'clock.

You gotta let me know beforehand.

It could take a little bit longer.

All right.

Welcome back.

We have our last item on the agenda, which is a public hearing for the adoption of a resolution making required findings pursuant to government code section 4217 SEQ approving sole source energy services contracts and authorizing the city manager to execute such contracts with eco-green solutions for energy efficient lighting improvements for city owned facilities and authorizing associated Pacific Gas and Electric or PGE on bill loan financing and inviting Director Rich Payne from Public Works forward to provide the presentation.

Yes, thank you, Mayor.

As you said, my name's Rich Payne.

I'm your public works director and good evening, Council.

Tonight I'm in uh I'm I will be presenting a resolution uh for your consideration to adopt the required findings under government code 4217.

The action would authorize the city manager to enter into three sole source contracts with equal green uh solutions for turn cre turnkey lighting upgrades at three facilities and to execute on bill financing um with PGE uh to fund the project.

Okay.

So what is on bill financing?

Uh in this case, on bill financing is uh PG ⁇ E program that provides uh eligible public agencies with zero financing for energy efficiency uh uh improvements.

The improvements um to qualify for these improvements uh you need to generate utility savings, and those savings are then used to repay uh the cost over time through the utility bill.

This allows us to compete needed energy savings improvements while supporting sustainability and minimizing upfront uh capital costs.

To streamline the process, we are using government code AB 4217, which allows municipalities to award green energy projects without going uh through a complicated RFP process.

So this illustrates how simple it is.

Uh the city of Walnut Creek enters an agreement with PGE.

PG ⁇ E pays EcoGreen to come in and do the work, um, and then uh we reap the benefits and the benefits are pretty straightforward.

Uh minimal upfront capital costs.

Uh the energy savings helps offset uh repayment of the uh lighting project in this case, and then it supports supports our sustainability goals.

We've used this uh on-bill financing process before on many of our projects, as you know, about 95 percent of our street lights uh have been paid through uh on bill financing uh from all the savings.

Um I don't I'm some of you were here at the time, but we replaced all the HVAC units at Shaylands, the gardens at Heather, and also Wint Lindsay Wildlife, and then all of our city-owned garages have been retrofitted with LEDs.

So we've we've tested and proved that this process is really a great program.

So our project scope uh includes three buildings, the Lesher and the Clay Arts, and uh the uh WC Library, Walnut Creek Library.

And um, as you might uh know, the Clay Arts is probably the oldest building up here, and uh you know it's still has uh fluorescent lighting, and so the savings in this uh building is gonna be substantial.

Um the Lecher still has uh fluorescence throughout, and then which was surprising, the library actually has fluorescent lighting as well, so there is a lot of good opportunity to upgrade uh upgrade that building as well with lighting.

This is uh this is pretty substantial savings if you look in this uh at this chart.

It shows how the uh lighting upgrades translates into real energy and cost savings.

At the Clay Arts facility, we expect the largest percentage reduction at 64 percent.

At the Leisure, we're expecting 46 uh 40 six percent reduction at 9600 uh per year.

And then at the library uh uh we're expecting 50 a 56 percent reduction uh and the highest financial impact saving about 29,000 a year.

So um and the bar on the right, if you could just look at the comparison between uh what we're currently paying and uh what it looks like after uh we install LEDs.

It's it's a pretty compelling argument.

Um next slide shows uh overall we're looking at uh the project cost of about 44,000.

We included a contingency of 40,000.

We as of right now we don't know what we don't know, and uh as we get into these projects, we might run into you know um the need for uh an electrical upgrade or run into some hazardous material that might uh require additional work.

We're hoping that that doesn't happen as we go through this.

We're hoping that we don't use any of that contingency and the the project goes smoothly.

But the estimated annual savings, as you can see, is 41,500, uh, which is substantial, and over 10 years, which is really the duration of the on-bill financing, we're looking at uh 415,000.

And this is this last number here is the estimated energy savings of uh you know about 1.2 million kilowatt hours of of power in terms of the reductions.

So tonight um I'm uh proposing uh at this time and requesting city council to approve uh and adopt the resolution approving uh to sole source energy services service contracts and authorize the city manager to execute such contracts with eco uh green solutions incorporated for energy efficient improvements for city-owned facilities and authorize uh associated PGE on-bill financing is at this time I'll take questions.

Thank you, Rich.

Yes, Council Robert Darling.

Thank you, Rich.

This is a great you know, I was looking at there was a graph showing electrical use in the United States and the what went to each one lighting used to be way up there and now it's way down there.

So this is a great project.

I was curious, um you have estimates of cost savings.

What are the assumptions about future rates and rate, you know?

We all assume rates are going up, but what were the assumptions about the So I have the consultant with um Eco Green here?

Yeah, his name is Anthony Mitchell.

Do you want to come up and answer that?

Anthony, come on up.

Hi, come up with Hi there.

My name is Anthony Mitchell.

I'm the uh managing director of Echo Green Solutions.

Um the question you asked is really a kind of a quiz crystal ball question, right?

But I can tell you that we do hear rumblings of requests from the public utility commission and the utility specifically asking the PUC, hey, I want to increase dollars and cents and rates.

Uh what we were told is that they've already drafted a proposal to increase your rates by 14% over the next 12 months.

Um we've also been told through because we also have a renewable side, which we do work hand in hand with MCE.

Uh MCE also did get involved in these projects to figure out what they could do, and PGA had the basically was the best deal that they could get you guys, right?

That was gonna be my next question.

Yeah, yeah.

So so what we have been told though is by the end of 2030 going into 2031, double what you guys are paying now.

Um and that's coming from just all the incentives going away with the federal incentives in the solar and the battery space.

Um after that, the last really big incentive is programs such as this, which is still basically brick and mortar uh through the utility commission and through the utility directly.

Um and then um there are some rumblings that hydrogen might be around to about 2035, right?

And so we're just trying to use those dollars while they're there for you guys.

So in coming up with the cost estimates, you use the current MCE rates, because we're on MC Deep Green, I believe, in the city, and you use that and projected it forward.

If the the rates change, if the rate change is not as quick and the savings are not as dramatic, what happens?

Can we extend out the financing or is it limited?

So they're giving you guys a 10-year program.

Um if the rates go up, it just means that tomorrow's dollar is worth more, obviously, than today, right?

So what we're trying to do is use today's make today's story because that's basically take a pinpoint in time and say, okay, we're gonna start with today's rates, knowing that they're gonna continue to climb.

Um it's hard for them to basically say, hey, three years from now, you're gonna pay X amount more because that's obviously a bunch of things they have to do to get that passed, right?

Some pass, some don't.

They actually were trying to do one last year that didn't get passed, right?

So as it continues to go up, it just means that, well, one, they give you conservative hours.

They only let us use about 40 to 50% of the actual runtime.

Right.

So the other hours that you are using, that don't that goes back to the city that you guys get the savings directly.

The utility doesn't say, hey, you save more energy, you owe me one, right?

So the savings that you actually get becomes more valuable.

So the risk.

Is it are we bearing the risk that the rate or the utility PGE bearing the risk that if the usage doesn't pencil out the rates change in a way that doesn't isn't reflected here?

The risk is total so the program is fixed.

So they want to get the intention is to have it bill neutral to where the savings pays for it.

And in that, they don't allow us to claim all the hours.

They actually buffer the hours, for instance, if their lights are on all night long, they only let us claim a percentage of those hours to make sure they're not pushing the and the the bloody edge of the envelope, right?

So they're ultra conservative on the hours that they let us use.

And then the bill is on average over the last 12 months usage as far as the consumption and the rates that you've been paying.

And then from there, they say, okay, we're gonna basically take this point in time and say, here's where we're gonna make the the contract um calculations at, and then they know that it's not gonna go down, it's gonna basically increase from this time forward.

So what they're looking at is the usage.

As long as the usage stays the same, everything is bill neutral.

If your usage goes up, all that additional usage and cost that you guys would accrue, you actually get all that savings.

PGE doesn't bill you back for that.

So it's a flat fixed amount they take every single month for the duration of the program.

Okay, so if the rates don't increase I guess I I maybe maybe another way of I understand what your question is a good question.

What's our generally our experience been with some of the other programs with the tenure programs and the and the on-bill financing, have they been basically revenue neutral?

Actually, um they've done better than expected.

So with regard to uh the savings.

During periods when there were rate increases.

Right.

Yeah.

And and to the extent that they are greater, we get the benefit of that.

It doesn't go to PG and E.

That's right.

Yes.

Yeah.

That's correct.

I was trying to do that.

I I'm looking at your face.

I guess he's saying yes, really, yeah.

Yeah, it is.

Okay.

Yeah.

I I I just we deal with this sometimes in natural gas on my day job, and and sometimes the difference in what ends up happening can go to different people depending on.

So I just want to make sure the city gets the benefit if it comes to our fa in our favor.

Yeah, it's hard to project.

Yeah, it is hard to protect.

And it's so volatile right now with regard to I mean, we you know better than I do.

It just it's crazy in terms of the cost of energy right now.

So thanks.

Can't go over to Vinny.

Uh a couple just quick ones.

I was curious, just I mean, 404,000 worth of light bulbs, it's like mind-blowing number of light bulbs.

Um the lumens, will you try to keep the lighting the same?

Is there an opportunity to improve lighting in areas while we're doing this?

That was sort of one question.

Yes, yes, sir.

Yes, so we actually have conducted demos um with staff.

And so what we did is we actually took in um we used the facilities and used the like for like to make sure that you guys would you'd be see what you're getting.

We match the color, we'll match the lumen output and the um the spread, so to speak, as far as the coverage on the floor, right?

And so all of them came in and said this is satisfactory.

Um typically they're about 20% brighter.

And so if there is a scenario you guys are like, hey, it's a little a little too hot in here, um, let us know because we can through the program, we can add dimmers and what have you to make sure that whoever is experienced in the lights can actually be be satisfied with the total outcome.

Okay.

Okay.

And then uh you mentioned some of the buildings being just like fluorescent bulbs that we're converting.

And I understand there's a a mercury issue associated with fluorescent bulbs, and so I was curious with that quantity of light bulbs, what your your um program is for handling that that hazardous material.

Yes, uh full turnkey recycling throughout the whole process.

So uh the state passed a bill called um AB2208 in 2024.

Uh that bill basically made it to where you can no longer, if you're a supplier, buy the bulbs, and if you're a factory, you can no longer make the bulbs.

And then as of January of 2025, they made it to where even if you have them, you're not legally allowed to install them, and if you're a contractor, you're not legally allowed to install them either.

So we have seen bulbs go from four dollars a lamp to over 45 dollars a lamp just for people that are just stuck having to replace them with a like for like solution.

So this is like for like same color output, same aluminum output, recycling is fully included to where even if you have lamps, I'll tell you guys right now if you have any extras, please give them to us.

We will take them off your hands and recycle them for you so you don't have to pay for it.

It's part of the program.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Just on that point, then so if one were to have fluorescent lights in their garage, you're saying you in order to replace them now be 45 dollars a bulb.

So we just did a uh community college, uh quest of community college district.

They were buying boxes of bulbs for an average of about four dollars a piece.

Uh this was probably about uh middle of Q3 last year.

Okay.

Um we just talked to them right around Christmas and they said that same box of lamps are charged about 45 dollars per lamp.

And so it's just supply and demand, and people see an opportunity and they're getting they're getting stung.

So this fixes that.

So when they go out, replace them with LED or something that's not fluorescent.

Yes, sir.

Um and then in terms of the projects themselves, um, exciting project.

When when will they be installed?

So actually, it's another question for you.

When do you need to go up with it?

Um we can actually get started in about two weeks.

So depending upon when you guys are ready.

Um the contracts that you guys have, we just need those signed to send it to PG and E.

Once PGE gets those contracts, they will issue what they call a notice to proceed.

Once we get that notice to proceed, which takes about 48 hours from the time they receive the contract, they will cross-sign that contract, which we will send back to your staff, and then we are ready to go as soon as you guys are.

So it's just a matter of going through the formality of this process this evening, and we can get started probably within the next two weeks, plus or minus, maybe the week after next at the earliest, maybe the week after that at the latest.

And how long to do the install?

Um, the leisure center, I'm gonna say will probably be a full day.

Um that's it.

So actually, that's that's the only one that's got a weird schedule because of the existing classes.

So we're gonna get in and get out before those classes start.

Um the library, um, I'm gonna say that's probably gonna take about seven full installation days.

Um the lessons the leisure center will probably take five to seven days, just depending upon nuances and difficulty of fixtures being opened and what have you.

So I'd say probably three full weeks to do the whole portfolio.

That's great.

And Rich, these are not projects that are in our CIP or capital budget.

We're doing them through this program instead.

Correct.

Okay.

Thanks.

All right.

Uh I don't think we have any public comments here.

So uh we'll open it up for a minute.

If anybody runs in.

But uh since I don't see any public comment, we'll close the public comment, bring it back to council.

So I have to ask the city attorney a question.

I think I was supposed to recuse myself.

Because my husband's a retiree of PGE, and some of our income comes from PG.

I would recommend that you that you not participate any further in the which is why I've been saying nothing.

Okay.

All right.

Well, uh with that, do we have any further comments or a motion?

Let me let me just say this.

For the record, I am recruiting myself from this item because I could perspectively have a financial conflict of interest from my husband's earnings from PG and E retiree.

Thank you, Councilmember Silva.

And I'll make a motion to adopt the resolution approving sole source uh energy services contracts and authorizing the city manager to execute such contracts with Eco Green Solutions Inc.

for efficient energy lighting improvements for city-owned facilities and authorizing associated PGE on bill loan financing.

And I'll second.

We have a motion to second.

Councilmember Devine.

Aye.

Councilmember Darling.

Hi.

Mayor Predam Francois.

I mayor welk.

I'm motion carries four to zero with the recusual recusal from Council Member Silva.

All right.

And that was to get out of here.

That was the last item.

With that, we are adjourned.

Thank you.

Oh, Ryan.

Where to go?