Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: REGULAR AGENDA (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: 2024 VERONDA-FALLETTI RANCH WORKPLAN, LICENSE
AGREEEMENT AMENDMENT AND MOU TO ESTABLISH A
PILOT COMPOST HUB IN COTATI
Date: February 13, 2024
Written by: Damien O'Bid, City Manager
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council review and approve, by motion: 1. The proposed 2024 workplans for Farmster and Sandy Loam; and 2. Authorize the City Manager to execute the amended license agreement substantially in the form attached as approved by the City Attorney; and 3. Authorize the City Manager to execute a Memorandum of Understanding with Zero Waste Sonoma to run a pilot Compost Hub in Cotati substantially in the form attached as approved by the City Attorney.
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 preapproval of some types of infrastructure.
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. In 2021, after completing a refurbishment of the ranch house and a complete rebuild of the water tower, the Ranch was ready for expanded public access and programming.
Therefore, the City updated Farmster’s license agreement and co-licensed the Ranch to Sandy Loam for expanded children's programming.
The license agreements are intended to be general in nature to cover the primary conditions of use of the property, while relying on an annual Farm Work Plan process for operational and programming details to maintain flexibility as community needs dictate. Beginning at the end of 2021, the City Council has reviewed and provided feedback on the proposed Farm Work Plans submitted by Farmster and Ammamma Tati (aka Sandy Loam) for 2022 and 2023.
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 that are further clarified in an operational agreement between the parties.
Analysis/Discussion
In 2022, Farmster and Sandy Loam piloted several programs to better understand community needs. Based on feedback from this initial year, the workplans for 2023 were designed to respond to the demonstrated needs of the community and retain flexibility to continue piloting new ideas and responding to new opportunities.
For 2024, Farmster and Sandy Loam propose to continue programs that have the highest level of community interest. This year, Farmster also proposes to add two new elements, the addition of a Farm Stand for farm products and the addition of a Compost Hub (the details of which are described in Farmsters Community Engagement section below). To implement the Compost Hub, the City has been in discussions with Zero Waste Sonoma (the solid waste Joint Powers Authority in Sonoma County) about hosting the first Sonoma County compost hub, available to all residents at no cost.
Proposed Farmster Workplan Summary
Farm Management. 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 Fall Festival).
Animal Husbandry. Farmster will continue to manage the City’s herd of sheep, goats, and cows.
In compliance with the recent Agricultural Ordinance, the chicken flock was downsized and will be managed by Sandy Loam for use by all licensees. The animals will be incorporated into demonstrations, events and workshops for all ages to further farm-based educational opportunities.
Horticulture. Farmster will be the lead in building and managing a Farm Stand for display and sales, as well as updating the production beds, continuing the aquaponics system, and maintaining existing landscaping. The focus of horticulture activities will be to produce products for the Farm Stand.
Community Engagement: A significant new activity proposed this year is partnering with Zero Waste Sonoma to run a community compost hub. The pilot is proposed to run on the first Saturday and Sunday of each month for 4 hours each day, and by appointment. Other activities proposed include monthly workshops, volunteer days, and participation in Farm Trails.
Proposed Sandy Loam Workplan Summary
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 following programs:
• Farm and Chicken-Keeping Field Trip Program for Youth. This is a free program for all Cotati pre-schools and is proposed to be expanded to broader school-age groups and nonprofits. • Farm Camps (6 summer sessions). This is 3 camps for children 4-6 and 3 camps for children 7+, with a focus on farm, nature, and art-based education. • Youth Open Ranch Days (5 days). This is a drop-in program open to everyone to explore the Ranch, with a focus on families.
• Early Release Enrichment Program. This program is for school aged children in the local school districts, which provides farm, art and nature-based education on school district early release days.
• Spring Campout. This program is for families with elementary-aged children and is a safe, local, good old-fashioned camp out for up to 6 families at the Ranch. • Community & Farm life Workshops (5 total). This program is focused on youth and includes Farm to Table Cooking Classes and workshops on topics like backyard wildlife, chicken keeping and animal care.
• Assisting with the City-led Halloween Fall Festival. The Fall Festival will expand on the initial festival held in 2023, which is open to all ages. The Fall Festival will be held over two consecutive weekends and include activities incorporating Ranch products such as pumpkin painting, flower arranging, interacting with the animals, Culinary and beverage experiences for adults, and lots of ranch themed games for youth.
License Agreement Amendments
The license agreement edits are primarily intended to ensure clarity on cost recovery and standardize license language for third-party sublicensees by providing a template sub-license agreement. The proposed changes are included in the marked-up license agreement, attached.
Note that the sample attached uses Farmster, but the same template would also be used for an updated Sandy Loam license agreement.
Compost Hub Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
Zero Waste Sonoma (ZWS) approached the City with a concept to provide free compost to all residents, modeled after a similar program in Alameda County. The Compost Hub is proposed as a pilot program, with an initial term of 1 year to evaluate the program. The basic terms of the attached MOU is that ZWS will purchase and deliver compost to the City as no cost. The City is obligated to provide this compost to residents, free of charge, at least two days per month. The City would assist in publicizing the Compost Hub and must be on-site during Compost Hub hours. Residents would self-load compost.
Given the natural fit at the Ranch, it is proposed that the Compost Hub pilot program be hosted at the Ranch. The Farmster workplan anticipates that Farmster staff will be on-site for the City during Compost Hub hours.
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 $201,461 over calendar year 2024. No current budget appropriations are necessary as the current fiscal year budget had an adopted amount of $202,000 for the fiscal year and through December an estimated $80,000 has been expended. As such, a budget amount of $122,000 remains for the rest of the fiscal year.
Due to more programs during the late spring and early summer the City anticipates the full budget amount to be expended by June 2024. However, if necessary, staff will propose any budgetary adjustments required for fiscal year 2023/24 at year end close out.
At the upcoming budget study sessions, staff will propose the budget for fiscal year 24/25 that includes the remaining balance for calendar year 2024 expenditures, as well as estimated additional funding for the estimated costs for the second half of fiscal year 24/25 (first two quarters of calendar year 2025).
The City is 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 January 9, 2024, at $1,701,870.
Summary of Costs to Date (Through January 9, 2024)
Operations & Maintenance $ 522,850
Capital Improvements $ 1,179,020
Total $ 1,701,870
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.