MINUTES
JOINT MEETING OF THE COTATI CITY COUNCIL AND THE SUCCESSOR AGENCY TO THE
FORMER COTATI COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
City Council Chamber, City Hall 201 W. Sierra Avenue
Tuesday, May 26, 2026
6:00 PM REGULAR MEETING
1. CALL TO ORDER - ROLL CALL
Mayor Lemus called the meeting to order at 6:00pm.
Attendee Name Title Status
Sylvia Lemus Mayor Present
Susan Harvey Vice Mayor Present
Ben Ford Councilmember Present
Laura Sparks Councilmember Remote
John Savage Councilmember Present
Staff Present: City Manager Damien O’Bid, City Attorney John Bakker, City Clerk Kevin Patterson, Director of Administrative Services Angela Courter, Director of Community Development Noah Housh, Director of Public Works/City Engineer Craig Scott, Police Chief Chris Simmons
During Roll Call, Councilmember Sparks announced that she would be participating remotely under the just cause provisions of Government Code Section 54953.8.3(c), due to a need to recover from surgery.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES AND NOTICE OF WAIVING OF READING OF ALL
RESOLUTIONS AND ORDINANCES INTRODUCED AND/OR ADOPTED UNDER THIS
AGENDA (ACTION)
A. COTATI CITY COUNCIL – REGULAR MEETING – MAY 12, 2026 No public comment.
Councilmember Ford noted that some of the Councilmember titles in vote counts needed to be corrected.
RESULT: APPROVED AS AMENDED [5 – 0]
MOVER: Ben Ford, Councilmember
SECONDER: Susan Harvey, Vice Mayor
AYES: Lemus, Harvey, Ford, Sparks, Savage
Cotati City Council Minutes May 26, 2026
3. PROCLAMATIONS (ACTION)
A. PROCLAIMING THE MONTH OF JUNE 2026 AS PRIDE MONTH
Councilmember Savage read the proclamation. Proclamation was accepted by Joy of LGBT Connection of Sonoma County.
No public comment.
4. AGENDA REVIEW (ACTION)
City Manager O’Bid advised that the Closed Session currently on the agenda was no longer needed.
There being no objection from the Council, the item was removed.
No public comment.
5. CITIZEN BUSINESS AND PUBLIC COMMENT FOR CONSENT CALENDAR ITEMS Any member of the public wishing to speak to the Council on any item(s) listed on the Consent Calendar or any matter(s) not listed on the agenda that are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Council may do so at this time. Pursuant to the Brown Act, the Council is not allowed to consider issues or take action on any item not listed on the agenda. Pursuant to City Council Policy 2025-03, comments of any member of the public are normally restricted to a total of three (3) minutes in length per person for matters not on the agenda and a total of three (3) minutes per person in length for any and all items on the Consent Calendar. The Mayor may extend the time limit for a reasonable time where a disability accommodation has been requested. To facilitate public comment, the timer indicator lights will display yellow when there are thirty seconds remaining, and red when time has expired.
No public comment.
6. CONSENT CALENDAR (ACTION)
A. CONSIDER RESOLUTION APPROVING THE PURCHASE AND INSTALLATION OF
FIXED GENERATORS AT THE QUAIL HOLLOW AND NEW CENTURY SEWER
LIFT STATIONS
B. CONSIDER APPROVING A CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT WITH GRANITE
CONSTUCTION FOR THE LA SALLE AVENUE VALVE REPLACEMENT PROJECT C. APPROVAL OF A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH HARRIS AND ASSOCIATES TO DESIGN THE 2026/2027 PAVEMENT PRESERVATION PROJECT RESULT: ADOPTED [5 – 0]
MOVER: Susan Harvey, Vice Mayor
SECONDER: Ben Ford, Councilmember
AYES: Lemus, Harvey, Ford, Sparks, Savage
7. DIRECTION OF FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
None.
8. REGULAR AGENDA (ACTION)
C. DISCUSS CAL CITIES REQUEST FOR LETTERS OPPOSING AB 1383 (MCKINNOR) AND SB 866 (BLAKESPEAR)
Before the start of the Regular Agenda, Mayor Lemus requested to move this item to before item Cotati City Council Minutes May 26, 2026
8A. Mayor Lemus also announced that she would recuse herself from the vote on this item, due to having discussions with public safety officials about SB 866. There being no objection from the Council, the item was moved to the start of the regular agenda, and Vice Mayor Harvey chaired the item.
Presentation by City Manager Damien O’Bid.
Councilmembers comment.
No public comment.
RESULT: APPROVED [4 – 0]
MOVER: John Savage, Councilmember
SECONDER: Ben Ford, Councilmember
AYES: Harvey, Ford, Sparks, Savage
RECUSED: Lemus
A. DISCUSSION ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING IMPACT FEES
Presentation by City Manager Damien O’Bid.
Councilmembers comment.
No public comment.
Council provided the following feedback for Staff:
-Build in an automatic CPI escalator for fees
-Ok with proposal to allow fractional units to pay impact fee. -If a developer proposes an alternative method, costs should be equivalent to building a unit onsite. -Open to reducing fees, but want to see the full stack fee comparison for surrounding communities
-Support for allowing rental projects under 20 units to pay a fee in lieu of building affordable housing
-Staff to return with developed options for City Council consideration.
B. APPROVAL OF GARBAGE FRANCHISE AGREEMENT AMENDMENT AND TERM
EXTENSION WITH RECOLOGY
Presentation by City Manager Damien O’Bid.
Councilmembers comment.
Public Comment:
Logan Harvey of Recology
RESULT: ADOPTED [5 – 0]
MOVER: Susan Harvey, Vice Mayor
SECONDER: Ben Ford, Councilmember
AYES: Lemus, Harvey, Ford, Sparks, Savage
Cotati City Council Minutes May 26, 2026
9. 10.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT & PLEDGE OF ALLIGIANCE
The City of Cotati recognizes that we’re on the ancestral lands of the Coastal Miwok, who are the original caretakers of this area. We respectfully acknowledge the Indigenous peoples who have been stewarding and maintaining a relationship on this land as knowledge keepers for millenia. This acknowledgment does not take the place of authentic relationships with Indigenous communities but serves as a gesture of respect to the land we are on.
CITY MANAGER'S REPORT & COUNCILMEMBER REPORTS
Report by City Manager Damien O’Bid.
Councilmembers report out on local and regional events and meetings.
11. CLOSED SESSION
A. CONFERENCE WITH CITY LABOR NEGOTIATORS (GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54957.6) CITY DESIGNATED REPRESENTATIVE: CITY MANAGER OR DESIGNEE. EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATION: COTATI EMPLOYEE ASSOCIATION (CEA) AND POLICE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION (POA)
This item was cancelled during Agenda Review.
11. INFORMATION RECEIVED AFTER THE AGENDA WAS POSTED
12. ADJOURNMENT
Mayor Lemus adjourned the meeting at 7:52pm.
/s/ Kevin Patterson, City Clerk