CITY OF CARMEL.BY.THE.SEA
CITY COUNCIL
SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES
Monday, May 5, 2025
CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
Mayor Byrne called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m.
Roll call: Councilmembers Jeff Baron, Hans Buder, Alissandra Dramov, Mayor Pro Tem Delves, and Mayor Dale Byrne were present.
CONSENT AGENDA
Councilmember Buder pulled item #2, and Mayor Byrne pulled items ll4 and #6 from the consent agenda.
Motion by Mayor Pro Tem Delves to approve consent agenda items # 1,3, & 5, seconded by Councilmember Dramov, and approved 5-0-0-0 by the following roll call vote:
AYES: Gouncilmembers Baron, Buder, Delves, Dramov, and Mayor Byrne NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
Item 1 - March 24,27 , and 31 ,2025, Special Meeting Minutes and April 1,2025, Regular Meeting Minutes - Approved 5-0-0-0
Item 3 - March 2025 Check Register Summary - Approved 5-0-0-0 Item 5 - Receive the Carmel Police Department's2024 Military Equipment Annual Report perAB 481 - Approved *GG0
ITEMS PULLED FROM CONSENT
Item 2 - March 2025 Monthly Reports - Approved 5-0-0-0
Councilmember Buder requested clarification from the Police Commander regarding three Fire or Ambulance call response times in the March monthly report. Commander Trayer said he researched these calls and provided explanations for their longer durations.
Councilmember Buder requested a clearer distinction between poor trees scheduled for pruning versus removal in the monthly Forester's Report. He also sought a clearer comparison of the City Council Special Meeting Minutes - May 5,2025
number of trees pruned or removed based on their condition against the fiscal year goals for removaland pruning.
Public Comment: None
Item 4 - Adopt Resolution 2025-038, authorizing the City Administrator to execute an Agreement for Contractor Services with QOVO Solutions lnc. for Police Department Access Control and Door upgrade, with a not-to-exceed budget of $81 ,082.42 - Approved 5-0-0-0 Mayor Byrne asked for clarification about the replacement of eight doors at the Police and Public Works Building. City Administrator Rerig confirmed the necessity of replacing all eight doors for safety, costing over $81,000, and noted that the old doors would be salvaged for reuse.
Public comment: None
Item 6 - Resolution 2025-039 amending the Professional Services Agreement with Conti, LLC, and Purchase Order with OuttaTheWoods, to increase total project costs by $36,963 from $110,543 to $147,506, to complete AudioA/isual upgrades to the Council Chambers - Approved 5-0,0-0
Mayor Byrne asked for clarification on the increased cost for the chambers' audio/visual (AV) upgrades. City Administrator Rerig responded that most of the increased cost is going towards the upgraded technology equipment, with a slight increase in labor.
Motion by Mayor Pro Tem Delves to approve consent agenda items #2,4, & 6, seconded by Councilmember Buder, and approved 5-0-0-0 by the following roll call vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Baron, Buder, Delves, Dramov, and Mayor Byrne NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
ORDERS OF BUSINESS
Item 7 - Consideration and recommendation of FY 2025-2026 Council Discretionary Grant Funds and provide direction for the disbursement of the funds to various organizations Mayor Byrne announced that he serves as President of Carmel Cares, a non-profit organization that has applied for a discretionary grant. He clarified that he receives no compensation for this role and has not been a member of the organization's Board of Directors since June 2024. He requested that this information be formally recorded in the meeting minutes, and that based on the advice of the City Attorney, he confirmed that he is permitted to participate in discussions and decision-making related to this item.
City Council Special Meeting Minutes - May 5,2025
City Clerk Romero gave a presentation on the discretionary grant process, a summary of the grant requests received, and the staff's proposed grant distribution.
Public comment
Tim Twomey
Councilmember Baron raised concerns regarding Pac Rep Theatre's outstanding debt to the City for the inspection fees for their new theater, the Mayor's involvement in Carmel Cares, and the CRA's history of lobbying the city. He said he opposed funding these grant requests and suggested putting the $5,000 savings towards the youth grants.
Councilmember Buder and Mayor Byrne proposed equally distributing $30,000 among all 19 applicants, supported by Mayor Pro Tem Delves, who highlighted CRA and Carmel Cares' benefits and Pac Rep's summer program for students. Councilmember Dramov was open to reconsidering Pac Rep's funding based on Baron's concerns related to their outstanding debt to the city.
Motion by Mayor Pro Tem Delves to approve $36,000 total for FY 25-26 for Discretionary Grants, and award a grant of $1,500 to each of the 19 applicants, seconded by Mayor Byrne, and approved 4-1-0-0 by the following roll callvote:
AYES: Councilmembers Buder, Delves, Dramov, and Mayor Byrne NOES: Councilmember Baron
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
Item 8 - Discuss proposed changes to the Budget Policies and Financial Guidelines for inclusion in the FY 2025-2026 Operating Budget Book and provide direction to staff Finance Manager Jayme Fields presented proposed budget policy changes to simplify fund balance reporting by consolidating three reserve balances into one, as explained by Mayor Pro Tem Delves of the Financial Stewardship Ad Hoc Group. City Administrator Rerig supported the more tangible and understandable changes. Councilmember Buder clarified the guidelines, limiting operating expenses to 90% and requiring a minimum 10% for capital expenditures, while allowing the use of "rainy day" funds. Council asked clarifying questions throughout the presentation.
Public comment:
Maria Ruess
Karen Ferlito
Council discussed the proposed policy changes. Councilmember Baron generally supported the changes but suggested more flexibility for Council to allocate additional funds to capital projects, noting the increasing costs of delaying such improvements.
City Counci! Special Meeting Minutes - May 5,2025
Council gave consensus direction for staff to include the proposed policy changes in the FY 25- 26 Budget Book, and to return in June with a Resolution and redlined revision of Financial Policy C94-01 for formal adoption.
Item 9 - Receive a presentation on street addresses public vote options; presentation will include a brief overview of the street addresses work group and election costs and timeline requirements for a ballot measure in a 2025 Special Election and a 2026 Election. Staff recommends City Council action and direction on (1) whether to proceed in preparation for a ballot measure and election, and (2) which, if any, election year.
Mayor Pro Tem Delves reported that the Street Address Working Group is developing a comprehensive "booK' on street addresses, which will include chapters on the history of Carmel's addressing, community input, address standards, a prototype system, emergency response impacts, and an implementation plan for AMS-compatible addresses. He said the goal is to make the implementation process easy to understand and inclusive of all perspectives. Administrative Analyst Emily Garay said that tonight staff also requests the Council to give direction on whether or not to hold a special election in2025 regarding street addresses, and outlined the timeline and cost estimate involved.
Mayor Pro Tem Delves reported that the Street Address Working Group is creating a detailed book on Carmel's street addresses, with chapters covering history, input, standards, a prototype, emergency impacts, and implementation for AMS compatibility, aiming for an easy and inclusive process. Administrative Analyst Emily Garay then requested Council direction on a potential2O2S special election for street addresses, outlining the timeline and estimated costs.
Public Comment:
Betty Kullas
Colleen Logan
Kimberly Cole
Linda Califiore
Donna Jett
Maria Ruess
Susan Viere
Karen Ferlito
Chris Hardy
Laurel Overit
Linda Smith
Melanie Billig
Harvey Billig
Councilmember Buder expressed concern about the street address workgroup duplicating past efforts, noting that the city already has years of staff research and presentations on the subject.
He urged focusing on implementation, preserving Carmel's character, and issuing an RFP to City Council Special Meeting Minutes - May 5,2025
explore addressing systems. Councilmember Dramov thanked the workgroup for their efforts and proposed sending a postcard survey to all registered voters to gauge public opinion as a lowercost alternative to a special election. She said this may provide some closure to people to see how many residents actually want addresses. Councilmember Baron reiterated his opposition to the workgroup but supported Councilmember Dramov's survey idea. He called for Councilmembers to publicly state their positions, set a clear goal, such as having GPS-findable addresses by a certain date, and outline steps to achieve it.
Mayor Byrne stated that if the City Attorney, Police Chief, and Fire Chief all agree that street addresses are needed for the village to be safe, then we should listen to that advice and do something about it. Mayor Pro Tem Delves agreed the book content is largely complete and the Working Group should now move to researching implementation. He recommended including a legal analysis chapter. He concluded that there appears to be consensus from Council to move forward with the book and to get it out to the public for more feedback.
City Administrator Rerig requested clear direction from the Council on whether to proceed with a 2025 special election on street addresses, per previous Council direction.
Mayor Pro Tem Delves made a motion to not have a special election in 2025 on street addresses, and the motion was seconded by Mayor Byrne.
Councilmember Baron said he is against this motion, stating that it sets things back by undoing the direction of the previous Council and making the process start over. He also expressed concern that the current Council doesn't have a clear goal or plan in place which is why he can't support it.
Motion by Mayor Pro Tem Delves to not have a special election in2025 on street addresses, seconded by Mayor Byrne, and approved 4-1-0-0 by the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Buder, Delves, Dramov, and Mayor Byrne NOES: Councilmember Baron
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
Recess
Council took a recess at 6:47 p.m. and returned at7:10 p.m.
Item 10 - Receive a report and provide direction to staff on the allocation of 14-acre feet of water received by the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District (MPWMD) Principal Planner Marnie Waffle presented to Councilthat the MPWMD increased Carmel-bytheSea's water allocation by 14 acre-feet and that this unallocated water requires City Council direction on allocation. She said options include: 1) keeping it in unallocated reservesforfuture use, with 10o/o ol it (1.4 acre-feet) specifically for affordable housing for very low and low-income City Council Special Meeting Minutes - May 5,2025
residents, or 2) directing the Planning Commission to review potential allocation options and provide their recommendation to Council. Ms. Waffle then responded to questions from the Council members.
Public Comment:
Karen Ferlito
Nancy Twomey
Maria Ruess
Linda Smith
Donna Jett
Council discussion resumed. Council agreed on the importance of allocating some of the reserves to affordable housing to incentivize these types of projects, but were hesitant to make lasting preemptive decisions before they hear about the housing element update later this month.
Council consensus directed staff to return with a Resolution for the council to adopt that will allocate 3 acre-feet of the 14 acre-feet reserve water to very low and low-income housing, and further direction on the remaining 11 acre-feet water reserve at a future meeting date afier the Council receives an update on the housing element amendment.
Item 11 - Receive a presentation and provide direction on the 2025 Fire Hazard Severity Zone (FHSZ) map, \Mldland-Urban lnterface areas, and associated Carmel-by-the-Sea MunicipalCode modifications
Community Planning and Building Director Anna Ginette presented the 2025 FHSZ map update from the California State Fire Marshal, released March 10. She stated that the updated map revises local fire risk designations, affecting building codes and defensible space requirements.
She summarized that the new map increases the "Very High" fire risk area to278 acres and introduces "High" and "Moderate" risk zones. Ms. Ginette said that by law, the City must adopt the updated map, or a stricter version of this map, by Ordinance by July 8. She recommended adopting the map, expanding the Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) to cover the entire city as a Wildland-Urban lnterface (WUl), and applying Public Resources Code Section 4291for improved defensible space enforcement. Ms. Ginette and Deputy Fire Chief Cooper answered questions from the Council.
Public Comment:
Linda Califiore
Karen Ferlito
Nancy Twomey
Scott Mace
Donna Jett
Melanie Billig
Chris Hardy
Linda Smith
City Council Special Meeting Minutes - May 5,2025
Constance Hess
Karyl Hall
Councilmembers expressed concern about the impact of the updated fire hazard map on Carmel's character and the rushed timeline for adoption. Councilmember Baron proposed small fire risk reduction measures, like limiting wood roofs, allowing gravel ground coverage, and using drones for risk assessment. He also questioned broader policy implications. Councilmember Buder advocated for a proactive response, suggesting updates to the municipal code and the formation of a working group to take on this task, including representatives from the Planning Commission, Forest and Beach Commission, city staff, and legal counsel.
Councilmember Dramov opposed state pressure and strongly objected to the Fire Department accessing private property without owner consent. Mayor Byrne echoed concerns about preserving Carmel's character and noted that while tree removal isn't required, new plantings must meet updated fire zone regulations. He acknowledged the City's limited options, and recommended adopting staff's Option #1 to comply with the State and asked staff to propose short-term code amendments.
Motion by Mayor Byrne to return in June with an Ordinance with the associated municipal code amendments to adopt the 2025 Fire Hazard Severity Zone (FHSZ) map as updated by the State, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Delves, and approved 5-0-0-0 by the following roll callvote:
AYES: Gouncilmembers Baron, Buder, Delves, Dramov, and Mayor Byrne NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
Gouncilmember Baron made a motion to direct staff to return with an urgency Ordinance to make some quick fixes to the municipal Gode discussed, such as allowing gravel site coverage, roof materials, changes to fences. Motion was seconded by Mayor Byrne, and failed 2-3-0-0 by the following roll callvote:
AYES: Councilmember Baron, Mayor Byrne
NOES: Councilmember Buder, Delves, Dramov
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
ADJOURNMENT
Council adjourned the meeting at 9:47 p.m
APPROVED
Dale Byrne, h/layor Nova
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