Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: REGULAR AGENDA (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: 2022 Review and 2023 Workplan for the Veronda Falletti Ranch Date: December 13, 2022
Written by: Damien O'Bid, City Manager
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council review and provide feedback on the proposed 2023 workplan and approve, by motion, the workplans for Farmster and Sandy Loam, including authorizing the requested funding to implement the workplans.
Background
The City purchased the 4.37-acre Veronda-Falletti Ranch (Ranch) in 2008 through the Open Space and Agricultural Preservation District’s (Open Space District) Matching Grant Program. As part of this program, the funding recipient (the City in this case) is required to provide a 50% match for the property purchase, which is memorialized in the matching grant agreement and agree to the recordation of a conservation easement on the property. Both documents have certain restrictions and requirements that the City must comply with. In addition, the Open Space District requires review and approval of certain activities through a City work plan and pre- approval of some types of infrastructure.
In 2016, the City completed the initial phase of work to begin allowing more public access to the Ranch, which consisted of a new walking path along the East School and El Rancho sides of the property, a new picnic area at the corner of El Rancho and East School Street, and some related crosswalk, sidewalk, and landscaping improvements at the community center building across East School Street from the Ranch.
In 2018, after public workshops and a request for proposals selection process, the City Council granted a license agreement to Farmster to operate the Ranch and provide for public programming. The license agreement was for an initial term of 3 years and options for three additional 5-year extensions.
Additional infrastructure work was performed by the City in 2020, including reconstruction of the water tower and extensive refurbishment of the ranch house to make it safe and useable for programming.
Although interrupted by COVID-19, activities over the initial license term have focused on livestock, events, camp programs, and building infrastructure for expanded public access.
The license agreements intend to be general in nature to cover the primary conditions of use of the property for a 5-year term, while relying on an annual Farm Work Plan process for operational and programming details to maintain flexibility as community needs dictate. On August 24, 2021, the City Council reviewed and provided feedback on the proposed joint Farm Work Plan for 2022 submitted by Farmster and Ammamma Tati (aka Sandy Loam) for the initial year of programs.
Farmster and Sandy Loam also entered into a cooperative agreement, which spells out their access and operating relationship since they operate in adjacent and sometimes overlapping areas of the Ranch. Staff is also working on developing template agreements for third parties that operate under the licensees, which will help provide additional clarity moving forward.
Staff have been working on an updated working concept for the barns at the Ranch, with an initial public workshop and a planned second workshop in January 2023 to get final comments on the concept before moving to the design phase.
Analysis/Discussion
In 2022, Farmster and Sandy Loam piloted several programs to better understand community needs. The proposed workplans for 2023 are designed to respond to the demonstrated needs of the community, as well as retain flexibility to continue to pilot new ideas and respond to new opportunities.
For 2023, Farmster and Sandy Loam propose the following programs, which are described in more detail in the attached workplans. Farmster primarily manages the livestock and adult educational programs. Sandy Loam is the lead on most youth educational programming. While each licensee has some overlapping responsibilities, each has areas of primary responsibility which is further clarified in an operational agreement between the parties.
Farmster
Farm Management & Development. Farmster will coordinate the routine maintenance and daily care for the facilities, animals, & plants within Farmster’s designated license area, as well as around the large greenhouse and annual garden beds. Farmster will also participate in development and community engagement activities, hosting monthly workshops and tours and assisting in city led events (primarily the Spring and Fall Festivals).
Animal Husbandry. Farmster will continue to manage the City’s herd of sheep, goats, and cows.
These common farm animals are essential to effective rotational grazing, which contributes to the building of the soil. Additionally, Farmster will continue to provide and manage a flock of chickens. The animals will be incorporated into demonstrations, events and workshops to further farm based educational opportunities.
Horticulture. Farmster will expand horticultural activities on the property around the annual production beds, a greenhouse nursery with featured aquaponics demonstrations and a variety of composting systems. Farmster will host a variety of ongoing public engagement activities including senior gardening programs, community workshops, internship opportunities, volunteer programs and more.
Sandy Loam
Property Management. This primarily includes property management, landscape management, and janitorial services for facilities on-site.
Program Management. This includes overall program administration and curation/design, including the Farm and Chicken-Keeping Field Trip Program for Youth, Paint it Bright Summer Camps (4 sessions), Youth Open Ranch Days (6 days), Early Release Enrichment Program, Spring Campout, Community Workshops for youths and families (3 total), Youth Gardening - Spring & Fall and Birds – Summer, and assisting with the City-led Spring and Halloween Fall Festivals.
Financial Considerations
Experience has shown that the best arrangement is to directly fund community programs so that the City retains direct insight and control over the registration process, including setting registration fees to ensure the programs remain accessible. Therefore, these programs will generate some revenue to offset the program expenses, but given the uncertain revenue, only program expenses are accounted for in this financial summary.
The proposed Farm Work plans require a total commitment of up to $202,100 over calendar year 2023. No current budget appropriations are necessary as the current fiscal year budget includes $125,000 for these work plans. Based on fiscal year expenditures to date at 51.3% of budget, the budget is likely to be expended by July 2023.
During the upcoming budget study sessions staff will propose any budgetary adjustments required for fiscal year 2022/23. Additionally at these sessions, staff will propose the budget for fiscal year 23/24 that includes the remaining balance for calendar year 2023 expenditures as well as estimated additional funding for the estimated costs for the second half of fiscal year 23/24 (first two quarters of calendar year 2024).
The City is also committed to the terms of the matching grant agreement, which need to be satisfied to be competitive for future matching grants (particularly at the Veronda-Falletti Ranch).
In accordance with this agreement, the City has a matching grant obligation of $3,650,000 to match the Open Space District contribution of $3,135,000 for the purchase of the Ranch. The City has continued to make progress towards meeting this matching requirement, with the current match through October 31, 2022, at $1,430,974.
Summary of Costs to Date (Through October 31, 2022)
Operations & Maintenance $ 279,966
Capital Improvements $ 1,151,008
Total $ 1,430,974
Environmental Issues
This action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it is not a project which has a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, pursuant to CEQA Guideline section 15378.
Attachments:
Farmster FY21-22 Accomplishments and 2023 Outlook (PDF) 2023 Farmster Workplan (PDF)
2023 Sandy Loam WorkPlan (PDF)