CITY OF ARCATA
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
COUNCIL CHAMBER NOVEMBER 16, 2022
1 A regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Arcata was held on the above date at 6:00 p.m. as a hybrid meeting, via teleconference utilizing Zoom Video Communications and in person, with Mayor Atkins-Salazar presiding. Notice of this meeting was posted on November 10, 2022.
PRESENT: Atkins-Salazar, Schaefer, Matthews, Stillman. ABSENT: Watson. STAFF PRESENT:
City Manager Diemer, City Attorney Diamond, City Engineer Khatri, Director of Environmental Services Sinkhorn, Building Official Bishop, Deputy Director of Environmental Services— Community Services Benvie, Deputy Director IT Savage, City Clerk Dory.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Mayor Atkins-Salazar read a statement acknowledging that Arcata (Goudi'ni) sat on ancestral Wiyot land.
FLAG SALUTE
Mayor Atkins-Salazar led the Pledge of Allegiance.
CEREMONIAL MATTERS
A. Proclamation in Recognition of National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, November 12-20, 2022.
Councilmember Matthews read the proclamation and presented it to Winchell Dillenbeck, from Affordable Homeless Housing Alternatives (AHHA), who thanked the Council for the recognition.
B. Proclamation in Recognition of Adoption Awareness Month, November 2022.
Mayor Atkins-Salazar read the proclamation and presented it to Cindy Savage, from Adoption Horizons, who read a statement on the history and focus of Adoption Horizons.
C. Proclamation in Recognition of National Hospice and Palliative Care Month, November 2022.
Councilmember Schaefer read the proclamation.
D. Proclamation Designating November 26-December 31, 2022, as the Season of Wonder and Light in Arcata.
Councilmember Stillman read the proclamation and accepted it on behalf of Arcata Main Street.
EARLY ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
Mayor Atkins-Salazar invited public comment.
Gerardo Hernandez requested the City Council continue looking at ways to address the housing crisis in Arcata.
Fred Weis said the City was hopelessly behind on the Gateway Area Plan schedule prepared by PlanWest Partners. He said the updated version of the Plan did not include anything that did not agree with the first draft of the Plan.
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Joanne McGarry said she thought about the "overview effect" in terms of humans' relationship with the Earth. She said she looked forward to transparency, truth, trust, humaneness, honesty, caring, compassion, community, courage, bravery, boldness, and decisiveness—remembering the past and looking to the future.
James Becker said he hoped the Council would consider designating the L Street corridor as a linear park.
Mayor Atkins-Salazar closed the public comment period.
CONSENT CALENDAR
Mayor Atkins-Salazar invited public comment. None was received. Mayor Atkins-Salazar closed the public comment period.
Councilmember Matthews removed item A for further discussion.
ON MOTION BY STILLMAN, SECONDED BY MATTHEWS, AND WITH A UNANIMOUS
VOICE VOTE, THE COUNCIL ACCEPTED THE BI-WEEKLY REPORT ON DISBURSEMENTS. AYES: ATKINS-SALAZAR, SCHAEFER, MATTHEWS, STILLMAN.
NOES: NONE. ABSENT: WATSON. ABSTENTIONS: NONE.
A. Item VIII-A was moved to Items Removed from Consent Calendar.
B. Bi-Weekly Report on Disbursements.
ITEMS REMOVED FROM CONSENT CALENDAR
A. Approve the Minutes of the City Council Meeting of November 2, 2022.
Councilmember Matthews corrected the minutes in item IV-A to change the spelling of "Winkler" to "Winker."
ON MOTION BY MATTHEWS, SECONDED BY STILLMAN, AND WITH A FOUR-TOZERO VOICE VOTE WITH ONE ABSENCE, THE COUNCIL APPROVED THE MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 2, 2022, WITH THE CORRECTION IN ITEM IV-A TO CHANGE THE SPELLING OF "WINKLER" TO "WINKER." AYES: ATKINSSALAZAR, SCHAEFER, MATTHEWS, STILLMAN. NOES: NONE. ABSENT:
WATSON. ABSTENTIONS: NONE.
NEW BUSINESS
A. Introduce Ordinance No. 1561 Amending the Arcata Municipal Code Pertaining to the California Building Code and Companion Codes, Title VIII—Building Regulations, Chapter 1—Building Codes, Articles 1–9, 11, 13, and 14.
Building Official Bishop said this ordinance would accomplish an update to Arcata's Municipal Code to reflect state law in the Building Codes.
Mayor Atkins-Salazar invited public comment. None was received. Mayor Atkins-Salazar closed the public comment period.
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ON MOTION BY STILLMAN, SECONDED BY MATTHEWS, AND WITH A FOUR-TOZERO VOICE VOTE WITH ONE ABSENCE, THE COUNCIL INTRODUCED ORDINANCE NO. 1561, AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
ARCATA AMENDING THE ARCATA MUNICIPAL CODE PERTAINING TO THE
CALIFORNIA BUILDING CODE AND COMPANION CODES, TITLE VIII-BUILDING REGULATIONS, CHAPTER 1--BUILDING CODES, ARTICLES 1-9, 11, 13, AND 14; AND WAIVED THE READING OF ANYTHING BUT THE TITLE. AYES: ATKINS-SALAZAR, SCHAEFER, MATTHEWS, STILLMAN. NOES: NONE. ABSENT: WATSON.
ABSTENTIONS: NONE.
B. Introduce Ordinance No. 1560, An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Arcata Amending Solid Waste Management Provisions of the Arcata Municipal Code to Incorporate Mandatory Organic Waste Disposal Reduction Requirements; and Authorize a Letter of Commitment from the City of Arcata Dedicating Flow Control of Source-Separated Organics.
Deputy Director of Environmental Services—Community Services Benvie said that Arcata's organic waste was about 27,000 tons a year. She said that Ordinance No. 1561 reducing organics waste was required to be adopted by the end of 2022. She listed the steps the City needed to take in order to comply with state law. She noted the ordinance's key provisions included: the addition of an organic waste bin to curbside collection; revisions to the opt-out eligibility terms; establishment of community compost operators; establishment of multi-family and business requirements around container labeling, contamination, inspections, and education; provisions for commercial food generators in relation to an edible food recovery program; and provisions for food recovery organizations and services. She directed the Council's attention to the required letter confirming Arcata's commitment to providing Arcata's organics' tonnage to Humboldt Waste Management Authority. She answered questions from the Council.
Mayor Atkins-Salazar invited public comment.
Isaac West, Full Cycle Compost, said they appreciated there was flexibility in the ordinance to accommodate community compost processors and allow them to be authorized haulers. He requested that provision be kept in the ordinance.
Joanne McGarry said the state law existed to reduce methane gas to help combat climate change.
She urged Arcata to do revolutionary work in this regard.
Claudia Alfaro Hernandez, Northcoast Environmental Center, said that access to a regional green waste processing facility would not be accomplished until late 2023. She asked that Arcata provide low-cost or free at-home composting bins and green waste processing services as a means to bridge the equity gap between residents and composting.
Patricia Cambianica asked if businesses could opt-out of the program if they did their own composting. She also asked if the City would still have its partnership with Wes Green for yard waste.
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James Becker said he felt that if people generated their own compost, they should not have to pay for curbside pick-up. He said he liked local solutions.
Fred Weis spoke about an article on Arcata1.com about recycling of food waste and how it was currently being addressed in Korea.
Mayor Atkins-Salazar closed the public comment period.
ON MOTION BY MATTHEWS, SECONDED BY SCHAEFER, AND WITH A FOUR-TOZERO VOICE VOTE WITH ONE ABSENCE, THE COUNCIL INTRODUCED ORDINANCE NO. 1560, AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
ARCATA AMENDING SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT PROVISIONS OF THE ARCATA
MUNICIPAL CODE TO INCORPORATE MANDATORY ORGANIC WASTE DISPOSAL
REDUCTION REQUIREMENTS, WAIVED READING OF THE TEXT, AND CONSENTED TO READ THE ORDINANCE BY TITLE ONLY. AYES: ATKINS-SALAZAR, SCHAEFER, MATTHEWS, STILLMAN. NOES; NONE. ABSENT: WATSON.
ABSTENTIONS: NONE.
C. Authorize an Amendment to the Strategic Infill Redevelopment Program Contract with Planwest Partners and a Budget Adjustment Totaling $118,000 for Additional FormBased Code Scope of Services.
Mayor Atkins-Salazar announced that because she and Councilmember Stillman would have to recuse themselves from the discussion and vote on this item, there would not be a quorum to continue the meeting and address the item. Therefore, the item was being continued to a future meeting.
ORAL AND WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
Mayor Atkins-Salazar invited public comment.
Fred Weis said he was in favor of increasing the budget for Gateway-oriented projects, most specifically form-based codes. He urged the Council members to carefully read the updated version of the Gateway Area Plan as he felt it had problems that needed correction.
Joanne McGarry suggested a written version of the Wiyot land acknowledgment be made available in print version. She suggested fundraising for non-profit organizations to provide reusable food containers.
Mayor Atkins-Salazar closed Oral and Written Communications.
COUNCIL AND STAFF REPORTS
Councilmember Stillman suggested the Planning Commission begin receiving presentations on various topics from the Building Official, Cal Poly Humboldt, the Arcata Fire Protection District, Aldaron Laird, etc. She suggested the consultants for the Gateway Area Plan consider super blocks.
She also said she wanted to see form-based codes for all of Arcata.
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At the request of Councilmember Stillman, City Manager Diemer reported on the status of the conversion from chlorine disinfection to ultraviolet disinfection at the wastewater treatment plant.
DATES OF FUTURE MEETINGS
A. Confirm a Meeting to Certify the Election Results and Swear-In New City Council Members, Thursday, December 15, 2022, at 6:00 p.m., in the Council Chamber.
BY GENERAL CONSENSUS, THE COUNCIL CONFIRMED IT WOULD HOLD ITS
ANNUAL MEETING TO CERTIFY ELECTION RESULTS AND SWEAR-IN NEW COUNCILMEMBERS ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2022, AT 6:00 P.M.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 7:42 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Bridget Dory
City Clerk