Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: REGULAR AGENDA (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: SANTA ROSA PLAIN GROUNDWATER SUSTAINABILITY
AGENCY JOINT POWERS AGREEMENT UPDATE
Date: October 13, 2026
Written by: Damien O'Bid, City Manager
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council adopt a resolution approving the changes to the Santa Rosa Plain Groundwater Sustainability Agency Joint Powers Agreement and authorizing the Mayor or City Manager to execute the amended Joint Powers Agreement on behalf of the City.
Background
The Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement (JPA) for the Santa Rosa Plain Groundwater Sustainability Agency was fully executed on May 25, 2017. On August 8, 2019, the City of Sebastopol joined the GSA per Section 5.03.
JPA Section 4.06 – Public Meeting for Periodic Review of Agreement requires that “to ensure that the Agency's governance structure addresses the interests and concerns of those affected by its activities, the Board shall conduct a public meeting at the following milestones to review the terms and conditions of this Agreement and discuss whether any amendments to this Agreement are necessary or advisable:
o Upon completion of the initial fee study
o Within three years of submittal of the GSP to DWR
o At least once every ten years after adoption of the GSP At such public meeting the Administrator and Agency Counsel shall make a report to the Board recommending any amendments to the Agreement, and if directed by the Board shall draft proposed amendments to this Agreement for consideration by the governing boards of each Member.”
Two of JPA Section 4.06 milestones were met in recent years (completion of the initial fee study in June 2019 and submittal of the GSP in January 2022). During the current year, GSA staff and General Counsel have been reviewing the JPA in collaboration with member agency staff to see if the past eight years of operational experience warranted any proposed amendments. The agency’s Bylaws, approved by the Board of Directors on February 8, 2018, were also reviewed.
Based on this review, GSA staff found the JPA and Bylaws to be predominantly effective in addressing the interests and concerns of member agencies and constituents. Some proposed changes were identified in both documents that in staff’s opinion would add clarity, improve efficiency, and increase operational and process flexibility as the agency evolves. A first draft of these proposed changes was shared with the Board at the October 30, 2025 meeting.
Since that meeting, GSA staff, General Counsel, and member agency staff have incorporated Board feedback and reviewed the proposed changes to ensure consistency with other GSA policies. Proposed changes are found in JPA sections 6.02, 7.06, 9.03, and 10.06 and Bylaws sections 3.1 and 5.1. There are other proposed minor edits throughout.
Analysis/Discussion
Potential Edits to Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement
Section 6.02: Directors & Alternates: To address a recurring challenge of convening a supermajority (8) of Board members for business items identified in the JPA, GSA staff recommend adding the option for Members to appoint a Second Alternate Director, if necessary, who would be appointed by an official action of their respective Member. The Second Alternate Director would be limited to attending no more than two meetings per calendar year. This change could provide GSA Members additional personnel options to attend quarterly Board meetings.
See Attachment 2 for proposed language adjustments.
Section 7.06: Supermajority Voting Requirement: To better align with the Bylaws and clarify that a supermajority (8) vote is required to adjust the total number of Advisory Committee seats or categories of appointments; and clarify that individual biennial Advisory Committee appointments do not require supermajority votes, GSA Staff recommend updating the “Modifications to the composition and number of Advisory Committee members” section.
Potential updated language: “Modifications to the composition of the Advisory Committee as set forth in Section 6.3(b) of the Bylaws, including changes to the total number of Advisory Committee members, Member appointees, and interest-based appointees, including changes to the categories of interest-based appointees.”
Additional updates recommended in Section 7.06 include adding references to other supermajority items referenced in other sections of the JPA to improve clarity.
Section 9.03: Employees and Management: In order to simplify voting requirements and align with the Petaluma Valley and Sonoma Valley JPAs, GSA staff recommend changing the supermajority vote requirement to a majority vote requirement for contracting with member agencies for technical and outreach services. Administrative services would continue to require a supermajority vote per a request from member agency staff. See Attachment 2 for proposed language adjustments.
Section 10.06 – Budget: Existing JPA language requires that the GSA adopt a budget by April 1st of the prior fiscal year, which can be challenging to meet. In order to provide increased flexibility of the timing of annual budget approvals, GSA staff are recommending changes that would allow for the budget to be approved anytime before the start of the Fiscal Year that the budget is for, unless the GSA is directly funded by Member contributions, in which case the preliminary budget for the GSA would be adopted no later than 90 days before the start of the ensuing fiscal year.
Additional Changes: Minor additional changes were made throughout to contextualize the document as the amended and restated JPA, remove language that is no longer relevant, update definitions, and clarify language. All of these changes are included in Attachment 2.
Potential Edits to Bylaws
Section 3.1(a) APPOINTED STAFF: Administrator: To provide clarity on the Administrator’s ability to represent the GSA via written correspondence, GSA Staff and Counsel recommend adding Administrator authority to prepare, sign, and transmit routine written correspondence on behalf of the Santa Rosa Plain GSA so long that it is consistent with and advances the sustainability goals of the GSP. For nonroutine/policy correspondence where the Board has not given prior direction or the GSP is unclear, then the proposed language would direct the Administrator to obtain majority approval from the Board. However, if the matter is time sensitive, then the proposed language would allow the Chair or Vice Chair of the Board to approve the letter, as long as it is disclosed and submitted to the Board at the next meeting. See Attachment 5 for the exact proposed language changes – Section 3.1(a)(i)(N).
Section 5.1. LOCATION; TIMING: GSA Staff and Counsel recommend updating Section 5.1 to accurately reflect current meeting timing and provide for more flexibility in meeting scheduling.
Under the proposed language, the Board would annually adopt a resolution establishing the regular meeting schedule for the ensuing fiscal year, allowing for greater flexibility based on the current needs of the agency. See Attachment 5 for the exact proposed language changes – Section 5.1.
Additional Changes: Minor additional changes were made throughout to update the Bylaws to align with the proposed JPA updates, enhance the clarity of the document, improve compliance with relevant laws, or better align with standard operations of small government agencies. See Attachment 5 for the exact proposed language changes.
Financial Considerations
The proposed JPA edits do not have any direct fiscal impact to the City.
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 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.