Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: CONSENT CALENDAR (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION APPOINTING THE
ENGINEER OF WORK FOR PREPARING THE COTATI
LANDSCAPE AND LIGHTING ASSESSMENT DISTRICT FOR
FY 25-26 and AND ESTIMATE FOR FY 26-27
Date: January 28, 2025
Written by: Henry Babits, Engineering Technician
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council of the City of Cotati adopt a resolution appointing the City Engineer, as the Engineer of Work for the FY 2025-26 and estimate for 2026-27 Cotati Landscape and Lighting District and directing the preparation and filing of the Annual Engineer's Report pursuant to Section 22622 of the Streets and Highways Code.
Background
In FY 17/18, the City consolidated the ten landscape and lighting assessment districts into one District. The ten Cotati Landscaping and Lighting Assessment Districts (“Districts”) were initially formed by the City from 1989 to 2003 in accordance with the Landscaping and Lighting Act of 1972 (“Landscaping and Lighting Act”) to pay for costs associated with maintaining landscaping and streetlights within developments. The ten initial districts are kept separate within the consolidated District as individual zones, each with their original name.
Analysis/Discussion
The Landscaping and Lighting Act requires that the City undertake certain proceedings for any fiscal year in which assessments are to be levied and collected. These proceedings are typically accomplished at three separate Council meetings with the following actions: 1) Adopt a resolution appointing the Engineer of Work and directing the preparation of the annual Engineer’s Report. 2) Approve the Preliminary Engineer’s Report, declare the City Council’s intent to levy and collect assessments and set a date for a public hearing. 3) Conduct a public hearing, approve the Final Engineer’s Report and authorize the levying and collection of assessments for the upcoming fiscal year. The attached resolution begins the proceedings for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 Fiscal Years. The Engineer’s Report will analyze the anticipated FY 2025- 26 and FY 2026-27 costs for each zone in the District and determine the corresponding assessment amounts. Additionally, the Engineer of Work will estimate the same for the second fiscal year (FY 26-27) for the upcoming two year budget. The City Council can make changes to the Engineer’s Report once it has been prepared and filed. There are no annexations to the District anticipated for FY 2025-26 or 2026-27.
Financial Considerations
Costs associated with the annual proceedings and the annual operation, maintenance and administration of the Landscaping and Lighting Assessment District are recovered from the annual assessments levied on the properties within the District. The City prepares the annual engineer’s report in-house with no consultant, as such no budgetary appropriation is required.
Environmental Issues
Where it can be determined with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA review.
This general rule can be applied to activities which could be subject to the CEQA process, but which logic dictates should not be subject to CEQA review. Therefore, based on the information provided above, the proposed resolution assigning an engineer of work is exempt from CEQA pursuant to Section 14.03.021 of the CEQA Guidelines in that there is no possibility that the activity may have a significant impact on the environment.