REGULAR MEETING OF THE
CONCORD CITY COUNCIL
CITY COUNCIL CHAMBER
1950 PARKSIDE DRIVE
CONCORD, CALIFORNIA AND VARIOUS
TELEPHONIC/ELECTRONIC LOCATIONS
TUESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2026
The Concord City Council met in a regular meeting in the Council Chamber, located at 1950 Parkside Drive and via various telephonic/electronic locations at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 13, 2026, with Mayor Nakamura presiding. The pledge of allegiance was led by Councilmember Hoffmeister.
Minutes follow in abbreviated form per Resolution 3361 and Council Minutes of September 26, 1966.
ROLL CALL
COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT: Dominic Aliano, Pablo Benavente, Laura Hoffmeister, Carlyn Obringer, Laura Nakamura
STAFF PRESENT: Valerie Barone, City Manager; Susanne Brown, City Attorney; Justin Ezell, Assistant City Manager; Joelle Fockler, City Clerk; Monique Robinson, Deputy City Clerk; Mark Bustillos, Chief of Police; Jasmin Loi, Director of Human Resources; Mindy Gentry, Director of Community Development; James Nakayama, Police Captain; Colleen Awad, Community Relations Manager; Aaron Sage, Planning Manager; Carlton Thompson, City Engineer; Frank Abejo, Principal Planner; Abhishek Parikh, Deputy Director of Public Works; Sara Castro, Senior Human Resources Analyst; Bernard Enrile, Senior Civil Engineer; Bruce Davis, Senior Civil Engineer; Ben Ulrey, Associate Planner; Scott Watkins,
Associate Planner; Tianjun Cao, Associate Civil Engineer; Kevin Wheat, Associate Civil Engineer
MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
WHO ADDRESSED THE COUNCIL: John Tague, Concord; Linda Olvera, Martinez; Sethu Ramu, Concord; Aidan Chavez, Concord; Evan Prejeelh, Concord; Anderson Chu, Concord; Seth Bertolucci; Jeremy Drake;
Monica; Marcia Oliver Brown; Angie Hunter; Anonymous
PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD
John Tague, Concord, spoke.
Linda Olvera, Martinez, expressed concern regarding the transfer of the San Francisco Immigration court to Concord.
Sethu Ramu, Concord, raised awareness on the dangers of underage riding E-bikes.
Aidan Chavez, Concord, spoke about underage E-bike usage.
Evan Prejeelh, Concord, raised awareness on the dangers of minors riding E-bikes.
Anderson Chu, Concord, spoke on awareness of the dangers of E-Bikes Seth Bertolucci, introduced himself and shared information on the upcoming local news and media app “Small World” coming to Concord.
City Council Minutes January 13, 2026
2 Jeremy Dake, Small World, introduced himself the City Council and public to their upcoming local news and media app called Small World.
PRESENTATIONS
MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY – January 19, 2026
Public comment was provided by:
Monica
Marcia Oliver Brown
Angie Hunter
CITY COUNCIL CONSENT CALENDAR
No Public comment was received.
APPROVE MINUTES – December 2 and 9, 2025, Regular Meetings and December 9 and 16, 2025, Special Meetings
A motion was made by Hoffmeister and seconded by Benavente to approve the minutes of the December 2 and 9, 2025, Regular Meetings and the December 9 and 16, 2025, Special Meetings. The motion passed by unanimous vote of the Council.
ADOPT ORDINANCE NO. 25-8 – Amending Concord Municipal Code, Title 15 (Building and Building Regulations)
A motion was made by Hoffmeister and seconded by Benavente to adopt Ordinance No. 25-8 entitled, “An Ordinance Amending the Concord Municipal Code Title 15 (Building and Building Regulations) to Include the 2025 California Building Standards Code and the 2024 Uniform Swimming Pool, Spa and Hot Tub Code, and Ratifying Amendments to the 2025 California Fire Code and 2025 California Wildland-Urban Interface Code Contained in the Contra Costa County Ordinances No. 2025-14 and No. 2025-15." Ordinance No. 25-8 was introduced on November 4, 2025, by reading of the title only and waiving further reading. The motion passed by unanimous vote of the Council.
ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 26-1, AND ACCEPT GRANT FUNDING FROM MTC – Rocketship/Glenbrook Sidewalk Gap Closure
This item was pulled from consideration on the Consent Calendar by Councilmember Obringer.
A motion was made by Obringer and seconded by Benavente to;
1. Adopt Resolution No. 26-1 entitled, “A Resolution Approving a Request to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission by the City of Concord for an Allocation of $208,000 of Transportation Development Act Article 3 Pedestrian and Bicycle Project Funding for Fiscal Year 2026-27 for the Rocketship/Glenbrook Sidewalk Gap Closure Project, Located on Olivera Road between Hillsborough Drive and Thunderbird Drive” and
2. Authorize the City Manager to accept and appropriate grant funding from MTC up to $208,000 and execute all necessary documents in a form acceptable to the City Attorney.
The motion was passed by unanimous vote of the Council.
City Council Minutes January 13, 2026
3 DEFER IMPLEMENTATION OF OBJECTIVE 4.7
A motion was made by Hoffmeister and seconded by Benavente to defer the implementation of Objective 4.7 2023-2031 Housing Element to facilitate affordable housing development on property owned by public education agencies. The motion was passed by unanimous vote of the Council.
AUTHORIZE DESIGNATION OF THE UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE OFFICE BUILDING This item was not considered by the City Council.
AUTHORIZE INCREASE TO CONTINGENCY ON EXISTING CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT – Residential Pavement Maintenance Phase E Project (Project Nos. 2613 & 2621) A motion was made by Hoffmeister and seconded by Benavente to authorize an increase to the contingency from 15% to 21% (an increase of $453,780) on the existing construction contract with Bay Cities Paving & Grading Inc. for the Residential Pavement Maintenance Phase E Project located on Port Chicago Highway and the St. Francis Park and Holbrook Heights neighborhoods (City Project Nos. 2613 & 2621) to cover additional paving and fiber optic work.
AWARD CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT, APPROVE BUDGET TRANSFER, AND ACCEPT IMPROVEMENTS – Citywide Accessibility Improvements No. 12 (Project No. 2728) A motion was made by Hoffmeister and seconded by Benavente to;
1. Award a construction contract in the amount of $400,988 to Rosas Brothers Construction, authorize staff to utilize the available project contingency for contract change orders up to 10% of the contract amount, and authorize the Mayor to execute the contract in a form acceptable to the City Attorney; and make the NEPA and CEQA determinations as provided in this staff report; and
2. Approve related budget transfers in the total amount of $210,000 from Street Maintenance Project No. 1 (Project No. 2736); and
3. Authorize the City Engineer to accept the improvements upon completion of Project No. 2728 and direct the City Clerk to file a Notice of Completion.
The motion passed by unanimous vote of the Council.
DEFER IMPLEMENTATION OF HOUSING ELEMENT OBJECTIVE 16.1
A motion was made by Hoffmeister and seconded by Benavente to defer the implementation of Housing Element Objective 16.1, facilitating tiny homes and cottage developments on religious institution sites. The motion passed by unanimous vote of the Council.
ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 26-2 – Accepting Development Impact Fee Report for FY 2024-2025 – AB 1600
A motion was made by Hoffmeister and seconded by Benavente to adopt Resolution No. 26-2 entitled, “A Resolution Finding that there Remains a Reasonable Relationship between Current Needs for the Housing Inclusionary In-lieu Fee, Parking In-lieu Fee, Offsite Street Improvement Program (OSIP), Art in Public Places, and Master Storm Drain Fees, and the Purposes for which they were Originally Charged (Government Code Section 66000 et. Seq).” The motion passed by unanimous vote of the Council.
ADOPT RESOLUTION No. 26-3, AND APPROVE TASK ORDER – Enhanced Collision Dashboard (Project TRA-26-001)
A motion was made by Hoffmeister and seconded by Benavente to; City Council Minutes January 13, 2026
4 1. Adopt Resolution No. 26-3 entitled, “A Resolution Accepting and Appropriating a $300,000 Grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) to Enhance the City’s Collision Dashboard and Approval for use for the development of the Enhanced Collision Dashboard for Concord (Project TRA-26-001);” and
2. Approve a Task Order with TJKM Transportation Consultants under the existing Master Services Agreement (MSA), Agreement No. CCA-6083, in an amount not to exceed $300,000 to develop and configure OTS grant-funded dashboard features and authorize the City Manager to execute the task order in a form acceptable to the City Attorney.
The motion passed by unanimous vote of the Council.
APPROVE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT – Mount Diablo Creek Restoration Study Project (Project No. 2805, FAIN No. HQ00052510032)
A motion was made by Hoffmeister and seconded by Benavente to approve a Professional Services Agreement with Environmental Science Associates in a not-to-exceed amount of $250,750 for project design and related services for the lower Mount Diablo Creek Restoration Study Project (Project No. 2805, FAIN No. HQ00052510032), and authorize the City Manager to execute the agreement in a form acceptable to the City Attorney. The motion passed by unanimous vote of the Council.
APPROVE TASK ORDER NO. 3 –Storm Drain Master Plan Project (Project No. 2732) A motion was made by Hoffmeister and seconded by Benavente to approve Task Order No. 3 with Geosyntec Consultants, Inc. in the amount of $100,700 for a new total not-to-exceed amount of $291,356 to provide design engineering and related services for the Storm Drain Master Plan Project (Project No. 2732), and authorize the City Manager to execute the Task Order in a form acceptable to the City Attorney. The motion passed by unanimous vote of the Council.
CITY COUNCIL CONSIDERATION ITEM
APPROVE CITY MANAGER CANDIDATE PROFILE
Sara Castro, Senior Human Resources Analyst, presented the staff report.
Public comment provided by John Tague.
A motion was made by Hoffmeister and seconded by Obringer to approve the City Manager candidate profile. The motion passed by unanimous vote of the Council.
CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING
INTRODUCE ORDINANCE NO. 26-1 – Amending Concord Municipal Code Title 18 (Development Code) and Implementing State Law and Objective 2.6 of the 2023-2031 Housing Element Public comment was provided by
John Tague
Anonymous
A motion was made by Hoffmeister and seconded by Benavente to introduce an Ordinance No. 26-1 entitled, “An Ordinance Amending Title 18 (Development Code), Chapters 18.30 (Residential Districts) and 18.40 (Office and Commercial Districts) to Increase Maximum Residential and Mixed-Used Building Heights in the Community Office (CO), Commercial Mixed Use (CMX), and Residential High Density (RH) Zoning Districts to Implement State Law and Objective 2.6 of the 2023-2031 Housing City Council Minutes January 13, 2026
5 Element” by reading of the title only and waiving further reading. The motion passed by unanimous vote of the Council.
CORRESPONDENCE
a. Agenda Item No. 7.a – Letter to Melanie Koslow, Mt. Diablo School District re: support for Mt.
Diablo USD’s CEC GFO-25-301 (EPIC) DRIVES Grant Application dated November 10, 2025. b. Agenda Item No. 7.b – Letter to Rabbi Kesselman re: standing in solidarity with the Jewish communities in Concord, dated December 17, 2025.
c. Agenda Item No. 4.e – Benched Correspondence
d. Agenda Item No. 6.a – Housing Element Update: Objective 2.6 - PowerPoint Presentation
COUNCIL REPORTS
APPOINTING COUNCILMEMBERS TO REPRESENT THE CITY COUNCIL ON COUNCIL
COMMITTEES, REGIONAL BODIES, AND BOARDS OF VARIOUS EXTERNAL ORGANIZATIONS Mayor Nakamura announced appointments to the Council Committees, Regional Bodies, and Boards of Various External Organizations for 2026 as follows:
APPOINTEES
CHAIR MEMBER
Standing Committees
Policy Development and Internal Operations Nakamura Aliano Housing and Economic Development Obringer Benavente
Infrastructure and Franchise Aliano Hoffmeister
Recreation, Cultural Affairs & Community Services Benavente Nakamura Youth and Education Hoffmeister Obringer
MEMBER SECOND MEMBER
OR ALTERNATE
External Council Appointments
Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG)
General Assembly Aliano Benavente
Central Contra Costa Transit Authority (The
County Connection) Hoffmeister Nakamura
Contra Costa Mayors Conference Nakamura Aliano
League of CA Cities Board of Directors (East Bay
Division) Aliano Benavente
Transportation Partnership and Cooperation
Regional Committee (TRANSPAC) Obringer Nakamura
Marin Clean Energy Board Nakamura Aliano
Green Empowerment Zone Obringer Benavente
City Council Minutes January 13, 2026
6 Innovate 680 PAC Obringer Hoffmeister
No public comment was provided.
A motion made by Obringer and seconded by Hoffmeister to accept Councilmember appointments to represent the City Council on Council Committees, Regional Bodies, and Boards of Various External Organizations. The motion passed by unanimous vote of the Council.
Councilmembers shared information on events and activities in which they had participated since the last meeting and commented on items of interest.
ADJOURNMENT
By order of the Mayor, the meeting was adjourned on January 13, 2026, at 8:31 p.m. /s/
LAURA M. NAKAMURA
MAYOR
/s/
JOELLE FOCKLER
CTY CLERK