City Council Meeting Page 1 of 17 February 13, 2023
7 City of Lafayette
City Council,
Meeting Minutes
Teleconference Meeting – Watch on the City of Lafayette’s YouTube Channel at February 13, 2023 http://bit.ly/LoveLafayetteYouTube Submit public comments to [email protected] 7:00 p.m. before or during the meeting.
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City Council Meeting Page 2 of 17 February 13, 2023
1. CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Anduri called the Regular City Council meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. via teleconference.
2. ROLL CALL
Present: City Council: Mayor Anduri, Vice Mayor Dawson; Councilmembers Candell, Gerringer, and Kwok
Absent: None
Present: Transportation & Circulation Commission: Chair Carl DiGiorgio; Vice Chair Bart Carr; Commissioner Stella Wotherspoon
Staff Present: Niroop Srivatsa, City Manager; Tracy Robinson, Administrative Services Director; Patrick Golier, Transportation and Circulation Program Manager; Suzanne Iarla, Communications Analyst; Mala Subramanian, City Attorney; Joanne Robbins, City Clerk
3. ADOPTION OF AGENDA
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Kwok/Gerringer) to adopt the agenda. Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Anduri, Dawson, Candell, Gerringer, and Kwok,; Noes: None).
4. PUBLIC COMMENTS – (For items not on the agenda).
BUCKLEY HUGHES said there is a substantial amount of workload that perhaps needs additional support and he would ask the Council and Commissions to reach out to the community to form subcommittees as support for helping staff to assist with a substantially funded year of future work.
5. PRESENTATIONS
A. Mary McCosker, President, Lafayette Historical Society Celebrating 175+ Years of Lafayette History
Recommendation: Receive and file.
This item was continued to February 27, 2023.
B. Lt. Ben Alldritt, Chief of Police
Introduction of New Officers: Detective Sergeant Amanda Sears; Sergeant Scott Pliler; Sergeant Danny Wells
Recommendation: Receive and file.
Chief of Police Lt. Alldritt introduced and provided a brief background of new police officers, Detective Sergeant Amanda Sears and Sergeant Danny Wells, and Sergeant Scott Pliler is absent tonight. The department continues to attract high quality candidates and sergeants are key in mentoring, coaching, and getting cases solved.
Mayor Anduri and Councilmembers welcomed Detective Sergeant Amanda Sears and Sergeant Danny Wells.
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Both Sergeants provided introductory remarks and thanked the Council and staff, stating they look forward to serving the Lafayette community.
C. Transportation and Circulation Commission
2023 Annual Update on Goals and Accomplishments
Recommendation: Receive and file.
Carl DiGiorgio, Chair, Transportation and Circulation Commission, introduced Vice Chair Bart Carr and Commissioner Stella Wotherspoon, gave an overview of the Commission’s role, presented the 2023 annual update on the Commission’s goals for the upcoming year and accomplishments from 2022, thanked Transportation and Circulation Program Manager Patrick Golier for his support and work with the Commission, and said they were available for any questions.
Councilmembers prefaced their questions and comments with thanks to the Commission and Mr. Golier.
Councilmember Gerringer referred to Item J the flow chart and confirmed with Mr. Golier that the work on School Street Class I project in the third quarter will initiate the planning and design phases of the project.
Councilmember Candell asked if there is money for design work in the budget for an expanded drop-off zone and extended sidewalk along St. Mary’s Road. City Manager Srivatsa said she believes traditionally the City looks at a CIP project as a whole and Mr. Golier has advocated for doing design and CEQA work ahead of applying for grants to be ready and more qualified for grants.
Councilmember Candell referred page 3 of the staff report regarding future expansion of sidewalks and drop-off’s on St. Mary’s Road would be a separate initiative for the existing School Street. She asked if this was because the City did not include it in the OBAG grant or is it a decision by Trans Circ Commission to make them separate.
Mr. Golier said this was not part of the OBAG scope. The portion for a drop-off zone on St. Mary’s and expanded sidewalk is something he included in the report as one priority project the City could initiate design on. The Commission debated it at its last meeting and prioritized that project as well as a complete walkway on Quandt Road.
Chair DiGiorgio stated he spoke with Mike Moran and these should not be considered as “either/or.” The funding for St. Mary’s Road drop-off must be identified and his opinion was that Topper Lane pathway is a separate project.
Mayor Anduri said the Council received 14 pages of public comments today and asked and confirmed with Mr. Golier that the earmarked funds Congressman DeSaulnier secured for the City are purely for School Street, and the OBAG 3 money is School Street, Topper Lane, and a portion of St. Mary’s. He asked if it is possible that this scope can be expanded to include the St. Mary’s drop-off.
Mr. Golier said this is unknown at this time. He thinks it would require discussions with CCTA and MTC.
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Mayor Anduri asked and confirmed that the public process for anything that happens on School Street or Topper Lane has not begun and will begin in the third quarter, and no decision with respect to Topper Lane has been made. He noted at the last Council meeting when this was discussed, each Councilmember guaranteed the public there would be no decision made until they have had a full public process and it returned to the Council. Therefore, he confirmed and emphasized that no decisions will be made before there is a public hearing.
Mayor Anduri opened the public comment period.
J. ELLIS thanked the Mayor for the clarifications regarding how OBAG funds can be used. She believes there is a deficiency in how the funding process has evolved. While she realizes Mr. Golier came into the process late, staff members applied for a grant for an initiative that had no public discussion, without consensus and a lack of prioritization on this effort and asked for more transparency. It was a shock to many residents that the City had applied for both OBAG funding as well as the DeSaulnier earmarked funds, as they have talked a lot about grants and funding and what has been applied for School and Topper, and the DeSaulnier grant did not come up in any of those conversations.
JOHANNA GLADIEUX thanked the Mayor for clarification, but she is still confused because they were told the OBAG scope was what it was and then Mr. Golier indicated that he would have to talk with CCTA about whether the money can be redirected to a project on St. Mary’s Road. They are working hard around Topper Lane, are developing a list with photos they will present when the time is right, and part of the list of what they are devising to make a holistic picture around the Stanley School zone work is the St. Mary’s drop-off and walkway, which is essential. Residents on Topper Lane know it intimately and they were never asked how it works here and she asked that the project be done.
Councilmember Candell commented that if residents on Topper Lane have ideas, she would not recommend waiting until the third quarter. She asked to send them to the Council and Staff as soon as possible.
Ms. Gladieux said she sent a letter to Councilmember Gerringer asking about timing and when the Council wants them to present their alternative ideas, and she did not think the third quarter was a great time to receive public input, given people are gone.
Councilmember Gerringer recognized receipt of the letter, and she said when she and Mr. Golier met with Ms. Gladieux, they asked her to send their ideas to Mr. Golier as soon as they are ready so they can review them.
GARY RISKE said he and his wife sent in a message and there is a lot of concern on Topper Lane. They were not involved in the initial grant application that seemed to catch everyone by surprise. He acknowledged that Councilmembers came to their house and had a conversation about applying for funds, including Topper as an addition to the St. Mary’s Road which everyone is supportive of. They were also told by Amy Worth that once the funds come through there is a scope for re-prioritization or changing the directive of those funds if they met the original purpose of safety around schools.
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St. Mary’s Road drop-off is a much higher priority for him and a much better use of the funds than to build a pathway on Topper that will benefit 6-8 students that want to walk this direction versus the other and getting access down to the trails area that leads right to the school. In terms of the semi-rural nature of Topper Lane and given the City’s right-of-way not being 40 feet, he questioned the ability to even put in a pathway, so he encouraged Mr. Golier to reach out to CCTA and MTC and look at whether extending the sidewalk on St. Mary’s Road down to the Stanley area could be done rather than Topper Lane.
BUCKLEY HUGHES said in past meetings they have had in 2022 with the Council, comments were made regarding potential rescoping was available. They had to wait and see to get all the information but his comment earlier about getting support for staff is imperative in that there are many details that need to go into the projects the City has in total. He believes Lafayette is on the right track with foot paths, but to go after funding and then hold their feet to the fire when something has come up and must give money back is difficult. He questions whether the City is making smart use of the money. The City has $50 million in the bank of funds. If they needed to use that, they seem to have that available if they were to use it.
They could buy the two properties downtown for potential parking and staff support as well. He is not in support of the Topper Lane pathway and expanding the pathway down St. Mary’s Road will add 100 more homes to the pathway. So, he thinks they should be rescoping and re-looking at it and viewing it as a potential submission back to the MTC and CCTA before the third quarter.
Councilmember Kwok clarified that $50 million in cash the City has is more like $9 to $11 million in the General Fund which is available for discretionary use.
SCOTT ELLIS thanked those he was able to speak with for those discussions and the Council has heard feedback from Topper Lane residents. He reiterated that at the core, what is proposed for Topper is not the right use of funds or priority. It is a pathway that would be under-utilized. He would encourage the Council to conduct the study to demonstrate that. Secondly, it is about the prioritization of the resources.
There is no question there are plenty of places to use any amount of funds, but he thinks they need to think about how to maximize the impact for the community, and any proposal for Topper Lane fades in comparison to what can be done on St. Mary’s Road. So, given everyone knows it is so important, he asked how that was not included in the original application for funds. He feels this has gone backwards and he is struggling with how the City did not include it so that now they are playing catchup with the biggest impact they could have for the school and the community. He asked to focus on the priorities for the community and make sure this is what the City submits funding applications for.
CHERYL MACDONALD echoed the prior speakers’ comments about wanting to know when grants are coming up and are being applied for, said the Trans Circ Commission is amazing and recognized their openness to discussions and interaction, and she looks forward to meeting Patrick Golier in person in March.
Chair DiGiorgio said Mr. Moran said one of the reasons why Topper Lane was applied for in terms of a Class I path was that had come up through several different studies over the years, and the residents are correct they did not have any discussion before that was applied for, but it was not just an idea. There is a history there, but this might be something staff might want to include in a third quarter report as to what is the history.
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One issue is traffic issues around School Street and drop-offs. The second is the connection of pathways and creating a greater pathway network within Lafayette which is part of the stated goals of the City. It is true many people might not use the pathway to go down Topper to School Street for school, but no one is going down Topper south of St. Mary’s Road because there is not a good bike or pedestrian network.
So, he does not have preconceived notions as to how to approach this, but he would like more history to be brought forward when this issue comes back.
He also made a comment to one resident that just because they have funding does not mean the City has to spend it. If the funding cannot be changed and it does not make sense, the City will not spend it just to build it. There will be a public process and if it does not make sense, they will not move forward with it.
Councilmember Gerringer said following on Chair DiGiorgio’s comments, on the OBAG 3 grant application through CCTA has Topper, School Street, part of the sidewalk from Birdhaven. It had set criteria and it was measured and scored against other County projects. In the federal grant, the community benefit grants aka “earmarks” that Congressman DeSaulnier got in the allocations School Street was that project. So, that is the overlap. Topper is not in both of those. She said CCTA and City staff are in discussions and if scoring can be changed, the City would be asked to give some of the funds back. As of now, they do not have an answer as to whether it can be expanded.
Councilmember Candell asked how can the City be more transparent in their grant applications and asked if there is a way to get the information out to the public. She is happy Councilmember Gerringer is getting clarity from CCTA regarding possibly expanding it, thanked residents on Topper Lane and asked them to reach out to the Council and staff with their ideas, and thanked the Trans Circ Commission for their great work.
Vice Mayor Dawson echoed thanks and reminded everyone of their strategic planning session on Saturday.
Councilmember Kwok echoed thanks and said he was looking forward to Stanley Middle School circulation and asked what can be done to improve the circulation and make it safe. He would like to see a holistic recommendation that contemplated north, east, south and west portions and how the current funding can help build pieces to get them there.
Mayor Anduri echoed comments of Councilmember Kwok and said he would like to see this money in the next FY budget in April and then adoption in June. It is better to look at the issue holistically and thinks the City is fortunate to have the two grants to work with.
Mayor Anduri and Councilmembers thanked the Trans Circ Commission and Mr. Golier for their work.
6. CONSENT CALENDAR
Mayor Anduri asked and confirmed Councilmember Gerringer wished to remove Item G. Staff requested removal of Item E. There were no public members wishing to speak or remove items.
A. Minutes
1. January 23, 2023
Recommendation: Approve.
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2. January 30, 2023
Recommendation: Approve.
B. Resolution 2023-11 Allowing for Video and Teleconference Meetings during the COVID-19 State of Emergency under AB2361
Recommendation: Adopt Resolution 2023-11.
C. Resolution 2023-08 Ordering the Preparation of a Report Proposing the Levy of Assessments for FY2023-24 for the Core Area Landscape and Lighting District 1979-1 Recommendation: Adopt Resolution 2023-08.
D. Resolution 2023-09 Ordering the Preparation of a Report Proposing the Levy of Assessments for FY2023-24 for the Residential Lighting District 1979-2
Recommendation: Adopt Resolution 2023-09.
F. Quarterly Investment Report for Quarter 2 FY2023
Recommendation: Receive and file.
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Dawson/Candell) to adopt Consent Calendar Items A.1, A.2, B, C, D, and F.
Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Anduri, Dawson, Candell, Gerringer, and Kwok; Noes: None).
7. OLD BUSINESS – None
8. STAFF REPORTS – None.
9. PUBLIC HEARINGS
A. Tracy Robinson, Administrative Services Director
Consideration of Joining the California Municipal Finance Authority (CMFA) and Adopting the BOLD Financing Program for Creation of Community Facilities Districts for Facilities and Impact Fees
Recommendation: Conduct public hearing. 1) Adopt Resolution 2022-69 Approving, Authorizing and Directing Execution of a Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement Relating to the California Municipal Authority. 2) Adopt Resolution 2022-70 Authorizing Use of the Bond Opportunities for Land Development (“BOLD”) program and authorizing the California Municipal Finance Authority to Accept Applications from Property Owners, Conduct Proceedings and Levy Special Taxes Within the Territory of City of Lafayette Pursuant to the Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act of 1982, as Amended; and Authorizing Related Actions.
Administrative Services Director Tracy Robinson gave the staff report and overview of the item, stating the City last year considered joining the CMFA and adopting the BOLD Financing Program for the creation of Community Facility Districts. At that time, the Council was generally supportive, but had questions for staff to research, which outlines some of those questions.
She reached out to several cities that are currently part of the CMFA and the BOLD program, specifically to Truckee because this was the closest city in terms of size, demographics, etc. She was able to talk to a former Administrative Services Director in Truckee who was instrumental in joining CMFA and the BOLD program.
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During their conversation, she brought up items which would be prudent for the Council to consider before taking any steps of approving the program. They have a public infrastructure financing policy which if the City is still interested in pursuing this kind of program; however, it would be helpful for Lafayette to flush out before setting it in place.
A couple of examples of their policies and criteria include:
1. Where in the City these developments could be considered; They used their former RDA district and Lafayette might want to consider just in the downtown or not;
2. They wanted clear, quantifiable eligibility criteria, making it a very high threshold to say “yes” and very clear and unequivocally to say “no”, so they had adopted a number of policies and criteria for what would be eligible for this public financing;
3. To be eligible, the project must provide extraordinary benefit so there is some leeway to negotiate with developers in terms of what public benefits they will provide for the privilege of using the public finance;
4. They set some clear thresholds for what the total tax on the property could be. This might be a concern of the Council since using this public financing, paying this back becomes the responsibility of the people who eventually purchase these properties;
5. In terms of the size, they said it must be a substantial project that is clearly a priority type land use. They limited this to development projects that were valued at a minimum of $20 million so again, they wanted to target large projects and not have smaller projects. These are all parameters so it would behoove the Council to think carefully about this before the City starts taking applications and before they specifically join the BOLD program;
6. One thing she had not considered but is important in terms of how these financings may or may not affect the City’s credit rating even though she believes the financing is not considered a debt to the City. Some rating agencies apparently consider them overlapping financing with financing the City has. So, she would want to research this more carefully because the AAA credit rating is very important, and the City would want to preserve its own ability to borrow at good rates.
There are some members of the team in the audience that could answer some questions, such as whether Lafayette could join CMFA and put off implementing the BOLD Program until they had flushed out some of these criteria. The recommendation was to approve both, but in coming across this additional information she believes the Council should take a few more weeks to speak to Councilmembers and come up with criteria to bring back to the full Council.
Vice Mayor Dawson said she was concerned with the issue of how this would affect the City’s credit rating and she would like to hear someone from the team, given it may affect residents who will live in the district as part of the financing area. She also wanted to understand how the community benefit works.
Councilmember Candell said there was a comment that the program would apply in “unincorporated Lafayette” and she asked if this would have to be done by the County. Ms. Robinson said this is a good question and those are the parameters the City could decide specifically if the City wants it to apply only in their downtown, for example, and those things are up to the City.
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Councilmember Kwok thanked Ms. Robinson for following up with the Truckee’s former ASD. He asked if overall was the Truckee manager supportive and glad Truckee did this.
Ms. Robinson said yes, she spoke to the former manager and current manager. They have done several development deals and have been very supportive. They think it has worked out well for them, but they stressed that they took the time in the beginning to come up with those parameters so they understood what they were getting into so the developers had a very clear idea of the kinds of benefits they would be asked. Honestly, they pushed very hard for what they call “significant public benefits” and thought strategically about it. This is a question the Council was concerned about, i.e., how will they tell residents they are paying more money and so they want to be sure if they are going to do that they get some significant public benefits for the entire public.
She knows that at least one member of the team represented here was very complementary about working with them and they were very supportive of helping the City come up with the guidelines. Then, when projects came to the City and working through that. One of the questions that came up was how much of a burden on staff would this be, and if there are clear guidelines, what the benefits are, what will be done, what the criteria is, it is much easier for staff to evaluate that and make a recommendation to the Council to decide. If they are very clear guidelines, it would not take as much time with staff.
Councilmember Kwok said the concern mentioned was where the developments can be considered geographically, such as only in the downtown or broader areas. He asked what was the rationale from Truckee’s point of view. He asked if there was a disadvantage to having funding in one place or another.
Ms. Robinson said she has not read through the 80 pages of Truckee’s staff report so she did not know for them as to why they would limit it. In some cases, one of the limitations was on the size of the project, for example, if they wanted to limit projects to a certain dollar amount. She thinks after reading the staff report and minutes from them, the Council and staff can determine how they came up with some of the criteria.
Mayor Anduri asked if the development team members wished to comment.
MIKE WHIPPLE, DFA, said he is happy to answer questions and said he was part of the team that worked with Truckee to adopt those policies as they relate to the use of CMFA and BOLD financing, as well as others and including Dennis McGuire with Piper Jaffrey and now Piper Sandler. What they did was created an ad-hoc committee that met for 12-18 months in negotiating certain topics and issues, pros and cons that were discussed from the public and private side.
They came to an agreement on a set of policies of what they thought were beneficial to both parties.
Regarding where projects needed to be that could utilize public financing, the initial discussion identified projects within the old redevelopment area. The thought process was that since redevelopment funds were previously identified to go towards those projects and now the State took that source of funding away, it made sense to provide a secondary source or a new form of public financing that would benefit those projects and provide access to the redevelopment funds they lost.
Projects outside that redevelopment area could also participate in BOLD funding. He believes they identified different types of criteria for projects that were within the initial RDA and for projects outside of the RDA. So, he believes there was a two-tiered system they looked at and benefits they would be providing to the overall community for participating.
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They were able to effectively put some policies into place. So far, they successfully formed 3 CFDs in the Town of Truckee, have issued bonds for a fantastic residential project in the downtown area of Truckee right off Donner Pass Road, which he believes includes a commercial piece. They were able to develop an affordable housing complex outside the boundary of the district and several entry level market rate homes, as well.
There are also a few other projects that will utilize the program as well. They are working on another project that is scheduled to issue bonds later this year that helps develop a large commercial piece of property in that town, and there is another residential mixed use project that has utilized a program and anticipates issuing bonds at some point. What they are asking for is to become a member of CMFA and adopt the BOLD program, understanding the time it takes going through many of the policy issues and need for these projects moving forward. Prior to any applications being submitted, it would give them sufficient time to work out some of these policy constraints or issues the City may want to implement before deciding on what type of applications to receive.
Mayor Anduri asked what is their timing, given the recommendation is to look at this further and then agendize the item in the future.
Mr. Whipple said he thinks Mike Howell was going to be on who is a project manager for Miramar Capital and he can give more information about project timing, but based on their conversation in December of last year, he thinks the anticipation was to submit an application during the summertime.
MIKE HOWELL, Project Manager, Lafayette Lane, said they have time, are in plan check, and while they would like to have the program instituted, they are okay with postponing it a few more weeks to make sure everyone is comfortable and supportive. They have made themselves available to talk with all Councilmembers and staff as needed and answer questions, and he would like to continue the relationship and do that proactively and supportively.
Mayor Anduri said if the Council were to bring this back the first meeting in April he asked if that would fit their schedule. Mr. Howell said yes, as long as they can make some progress getting towards some of the goals and policies the City can enact so they can get to the final line.
He suggested Councilmember Kwok and Vice Mayor Dawson work with Ms. Robinson on developing the proposal for the Council. He knows the team are very accessible and can meet to develop this.
Councilmember Kwok agreed to take on this assignment. He asked how the financing affects the City’s credit ratings and he asked Mr. Whipple if he had to prove extraordinary benefit for the Truckee case, and he asked how does he interpret that guidance.
Ralph Holmes, Piper Sandler, said they are the bond underwriter on the program. In terms of assessment district financing security of the bonds are the special taxes on the property. It is not the City General Fund. You typically would not see any impact on a City’s General Fund rating resulting from a project specific credit like a CFD.
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Councilmember Kwok questioned “typically not seeing any impact” and asked what is Truckee asking the City to watch out for. Mr. Holmes said he has never seen that. In response to Ms. Robinson’s questions, they will put together some answers and give her somewhere to reference it. He can also send an email to one of the rating analysts and ask how they could consider this and receive a response.
Mr. Whipple said as it relates to Truckee and extraordinary public benefit, he does not have Truckee’s policies open in front of him so from memory, in the policy statements they worked on with Truckee there is a defined term “extraordinary public benefit.” They went through many iterations as what they defined as “extraordinary public benefit” and what was not considered “extraordinary public benefit.” In that policy statement, it provides a list of about 1-8 items that would qualify as “extraordinary public benefit” such as things like constructing facilities of regional nature. It also clearly defines things that are not, such as found in conditions of approval.
There was definite criteria and something one could point to in a policy statement that you could quantify as you are providing your application to the Town where you could go through and say, here are the things that qualify and here is the value of that extraordinary public benefit that the project is providing to the Town of Truckee, and then they can identify whether that meets the goal or not in accordance with other policy statements that the Town had adopted. He cannot remember all those line items, but it was clearly defined what qualified as extraordinary public benefit in their policy statement. Honestly, that was one of the things that took the most time to go through, but at the end of the day, the process worked very well, and they were able to come to an agreement on all points.
Vice Mayor Dawson said one concern she had was financing for what normally would be impact fees and conditions as opposed to something of a broader nature. She said she would be glad to work on this with Councilmember Kwok, and hopefully they can tap into Mr. Howell’s experience.
Mayor Anduri opened the public hearing, and there were no speakers.
Mayor Anduri said the proposal is for Councilmember Kwok and Vice Mayor Dawson work with Ms.
Robinson on a proposal that will return to the Council on April 10, 2023.
Ms. Robinson stated she thinks this can be streamlined a bit by using Truckee’s work.
Councilmember Candell said she is surprised and bewildered the Council did not hear about this policy until today. She partly attributes this to people who have spoken to her directly and given there are open meetings, this was never mentioned even though other cities do it. But, she is very glad the City will do the right thing and make this happen, supports the project, is happy with the work staff is doing, but is surprised it was late.
Vice Mayor Dawson said Mr. Holmes said he was with the bond underwriter, and she asked if he was with CMFA then and Mr. Wawrzyniak’s role. Mr. Holmes said he is with the firm, Piper Sandler, which used to be Piper Jaffrey.
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James Wawrzyniak said he is with Jones Hall in Lafayette. They are the bond counsel on the firm on the BOLD program. They represent CMFA, have worked with Ms. Robinson on the staff report and resolutions before the Council tonight. Should the program move forward, they work with CMFA to implement the bond financings for each project. He referred to the language about unincorporated Lafayette which they can look for. This is not the intention. It would be only the City of Lafayette. They will make sure to clean up this language moving forward.
Councilmember Kwok said it was a bit of a surprise the Council had a report from staff showing a list of additional hoops to jump through. He asked if this is common for all cities the team is working with or is it very uncommon that Truckee happens to be the only city that had these criteria.
Mr. Howell said the Truckee model is the outlier. CMFA as a JPA works on behalf of its members which the City would be a member here so CMFA wants to do what cities want to do, but Truckee is an outlier.
For the various other entities on the list almost 99% of them have just approved BOLD generally and delegated staff authority to implement projects. He noted Placer County has a certain number of small restrictions, as well, but it is up to each governing body.
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Kwok/Dawson) to appoint Vice Mayor Dawson and Councilmember Kwok to do further research and continue the public hearing to April 10, 2023. Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Candell, Dawson, Gerringer, Kwok, and Anduri; Noes: None).
B. Tracy Robinson, Administrative Services Director
Proposed Convenience Fee of 2.9% for the processing of on-line transactions and Lamorinda Transportation Impact Fees using the 2022-23 construction cost index Recommendation: Conduct public hearing and approve a 2.9% convenience fee for online transactions and the 2022/23 Lamorinda Transportation Impact Fee as set and approved by the Lamorinda Fee & Finance Authority.
Ms. Robinson said before the Council are two new proposed fees. The first is a 2.9% convenience fee for on-line transactions. Staff has a payment processor and can process more payments on-line. However, the processing fee is 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction, and this can add up quite a bit. Fees are in the thousands, so this can cost the City several hundreds of dollars for that convenience.
The second one is the annual update for the Lamorinda Transportation Impact Fee, which has been in effect for a number of years. It is updated annually based upon an inflation factor and something that is approved by the Lamorinda Fee & Finance Authority (LFFA). Normally, the Council approves this particular fee with the budgets because it is a public hearing, as well, but due to timing issues the LFFA did not approve it in the prior year.
Mayor Anduri asked if this can be done via motion rather than having a resolution. City Attorney Subramanian said the City has done it in the past by resolution, but the Council can just approve it by motion.
Vice Mayor Dawson asked how often will the 2.9% convenience fee change. Ms. Robinson said she did not believe it will go up, but it has been this for the last year or so. If it were to go up, she would include this in her annual budget updates and call it out.
Mayor Anduri opened the public comment period, and there were no speakers.
City Council Meeting Page 13 of 17 February 13, 2023
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Dawson/Gerringer) to approve a 2.9% convenience fee for online transactions and the 2022/23 Lamorinda Transportation Impact Fee as set and approved by the Lamorinda Fee & Finance Authority. Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Candell, Dawson, Gerringer, Kwok, and Anduri; Noes: None).
10. ITEMS REMOVED FROM CONSENT
E. Stormwater Pollution Prevention Program - Resolution 2023-10 Establishing the Rate Per Equivalent Runoff Unit for FY2023-24 and Requesting the County Flood Control and Water Conservation District Adopt an Annual Parcel Assessment for Drainage Maintenance and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Program Recommendation: Adopt Resolution 2023-10.
City Clerk Robbins stated Francine Kuykendall from the Public Works Department, found an error in the staff report which is the Reserve Account Balance as shown in the 4th paragraph on page 2. The balance as of June 30, 2022 was $139,000 and not over $250,000. So, the dollar amount should read $139,000.
Nothing else is affected. The County will collect the Stormwater Runoff fees for the City.
Mayor Anduri opened the public comment period, and there were no speakers.
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Gerringer/Candell) to adopt Resolution 2023-10. Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Anduri, Dawson, Candell, Gerringer, and Kwok; Noes: None).
G. Surplus Report
Recommendation: Declare that the equipment described is surplus property and donate or sell as appropriate.
Councilmember Gerringer stated she removed this item and had questioned the first paragraph and confirming the City is only discussing and putting for surplus the 2013 Chevy Tahoe, which she confirmed with Ms. Robinson.
Mayor Anduri opened the public comment period, and there were no speakers.
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Gerringer/Dawson) to declare that the equipment described is surplus property and donate or sell as appropriate. Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Anduri, Dawson, Candell, Gerringer, and Kwok,; Noes:
None).
11. COUNCIL/COMMISSION REPORTS
A. Councilmembers report on activities and consideration of matters a Councilmember wishes to initiate for placement on a future agenda.
Councilmember Gerringer thanked her colleagues, staff and members of the public who spent Saturday at the Council’s Retreat and Strategic Planning Session. The Mayor gave a lovely speech at LPI on Friday evening which was a well-attended event. The reveal was the launching of a $12 million endowment for LPI and they are already at $8.67 million due to support.
City Council Meeting Page 14 of 17 February 13, 2023
Councilmember Candell said given the number of people coming to Council meetings, there are other cities that have very robust lobbyist ordinances. If someone is a registered lobbyist, they would register with the City and they must be transparent when speaking to the Council, Commissioners, and staff. She has one other city’s lobbyist ordinance and will send it onto the City Attorney if the Council was in agreement.
Councilmembers voiced support for staff to bring this forward in the future for discussion and consideration.
Councilmember Kwok reported on the Emergency Preparedness Commission, stating they want to encourage neighborhoods to self-assemble on Firewise initiatives with their neighborhoods. The Happy Valley neighborhood will meet with Chris Giddis from the Fire Department on how to organize themselves and join into Firewise neighborhoods on February 27th via Zoom.
Mayor Anduri said Senator Glazer is hosting a Town Hall in Orinda on the 22nd at 6PM. Councilmembers are invited, and Councilmember Kwok has been invited to speak regarding priorities for Lafayette. He will be out of town next week and he thanked Councilmember Kwok for doing that.
He just learned today that Public Works has been working with the Library and the Tatzin Community Hall will be upgraded from MERV 13 filtration to MERV 16 filtration or going from 50% to 98% on .3-micron particles.
B. City Manager’s Update
Recommendation: Receive and file.
City Manager Srivatsa had the following report:
• Yesterday, there was a carjacking at the EBRPD Lafayette Moraga Trail parking lot. Officers responded and deployed Star Chase equipment which allows the police car to fire a projectile at the vehicle and they tracked the vehicle to Oakland and two suspects were caught. Both were 15 years old and they were cited and released to their guardians. The firearm used was determined to be a replica and since it was on EBRPD property, the District’s PD is conducting the initial investigation.
• A disaster recovery center is opening in Danville for both residents and businesses to file their claims for assistance. Suzanne Iarla will publicize this as to the times the center will be open, and staff will get the word out.
• The Housing Element was timely submitted to HCD electronically and in person, printed and on flash drive on January 31, 2023. Today, staff had Assistant Planner Nicole Zittle join the City who will be an asset to the department. She will be formally introduced at the next meeting. • The City’s Engineering Department was planning to repave St. Mary’s Road this year but given EBMUD needs to replace their water main a significant portion of the project from Buckeye Fields to Lucille Lane will be postponed to 2025. They will again get the word out. There will be repairs done to that stretch of the road, but it will not be the entire repaving project.
City Council Meeting Page 15 of 17 February 13, 2023
• They are looking to value engineer the redesign of the Pleasant Hill Roundabout,so vehicle speeds are reduced but drainage, new concrete curbing, and landscaping changes are minimized. Around February 21st, people will see a pre-right turn lane or a “slip lane” introduced from southbound Pleasant Hill Road onto westbound Olympic Boulevard. A public meeting was held on this and concern was voiced that this slip lane would cause traffic to back up and cause unacceptable delays. Staff will monitor this over the next few months until a final design is decided. Both of these issues will be presented to Trans Circ Commission at subsequent meetings. • The PTR Commission has been working on the Parkland Acquisition Development Plan. This plan identifies sites that the City could purchase should they come up for sale. After a 5-hour meeting, the Commission has finally approved the plan and it will be before the Council at an upcoming meeting. The Downtown is not included in this plan because the Commission will be doing a more in-depth analysis as part of the DSP update.
• A press release has been issued for the fentanyl overdose at Acalanes High School. School staff used Narcan to revive the student. Police conducted an extensive investigation which involved numerous warrants and hours of investigation. The Lafayette Detectives were able to identify the adult male who was supplying the student with fentanyl who is a Concord resident. He was arrested on February 2nd and detectives, with support of the DA’s office, has filed a case with the U.S. District Attorney’s office, becoming a federal case. • On the matter of 175+, Ms. Iarla has the City’s logos printed on stickers which will be made available to students and anyone wishing to use them, and Councilmembers will be getting copies, as well.
C. Vice Mayor Dawson and Councilmember Candell
Resolution 2023-12 Appointing Bob McClain to the Capital Project Assessment Committee Recommendation: Adopt Resolution 2023-12 Appointing Bob McClain to the Capital Project Assessment Committee.
Vice Mayor Dawson said she and Councilmember Candell spoke with Bob McClain who would like to reup his term. He has been on the Commission for the past 5 years and the City would be lucky to retain him.
They highly endorse him and recommend he serve another term.
Councilmember Candell said they explored the role of CPAC which has a more expansive role than the City is taking advantage of, so the Council may be asking more of members.
Mayor Anduri opened the public comment period, and there were no speakers.
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Dawson/Candell) to adopt Resolution 2023-12 appointing Bob McClain to the Capital Project Assessment Committee. Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Candell, Dawson, Gerringer, Kwok, and Anduri; Noes: None).
12. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
A. E-mail from Jennifer Napper requesting a proclamation recognizing March 6-10, 2023 as Divorce With Respect Week in Lafayette.
Recommendation: Consider the request for a proclamation recognizing March 6-10 as Divorce With Respect Week in Lafayette.
City Council Meeting Page 16 of 17 February 13, 2023
Mayor Anduri said this item may fall in the category of which proclamations the City Council approves, and he asked for questions or comments.
Councilmember Gerringer said as part of the City’s master proclamation agreement, she thinks in concept having divorce with respect is very important. She did some research online with a group and wondered if the Council would be supporting and referring people or elevating a group who actually will make money on the services they provide.
Councilmember Candell said it is not a non-profit organization, and she did not think this was something the Council could support as a public entity.
Vice Mayor Dawson said it is similar in the sense it is soliciting free divorce consultation on their website and did not support it.
Councilmember Kwok concurred with comments, and there is a filter on what the Council does. In this case, it is commercial in nature and suggested simply receiving and filing this and not make the proclamation. If there is not a process already in place to further filters these types of requests, he suggested one be developed.
Mayor Anduri opened the public comment period, and there were no speakers.
Mayor Anduri concurred this is not something the Council should adopt, stating this is not a pro bono offer of services, people will be compensated for their services, and he likens it with the movement for alternative dispute resolution which is a positive thing in terms of relieving congestion in the courts and finding a less litigious way of resolving disputes. But, ADR service providers are compensated as well.
Therefore, a municipality should get involved with this, and he suggested receiving and filling.
In terms of policy, it is difficult to set a policy that can be applied to every request that is received, but he would hate for the Council to get involved in a long discussion about every request; however, this has been the only one in the last year or so.
Councilmember Kwok asked if the Mayor has discretion as to whether to agendize a matter like this.
Mayor Anduri said he would not feel comfortable being the filter on this, and he thought this was in a gray area and it was worth considering but again, this has been the only one received.
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Dawson/Candell) to receive and file. Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Anduri, Dawson, Candell, Gerringer, and Kwok; Noes: None).
B. E-mail from Steve Botic resigning from the Environmental Task Force Recommendation: Accept resignation and thank Steve Botic for 3+ years of volunteer service.
Councilmember Kwok said Steve Botic has resigned from the ETF who has been extremely diligent and passionate on the Commission, but because of work and family obligations he must step down. He voiced appreciation for his contributions and wished him well. He noted that the Task Force will be requesting a reduction from the 9 members down to 7 members at a future meeting.
Mayor Anduri said while they are losing strong members, current members they have are fantastic, including the three new members appointed in the last year.
City Council Meeting Page 17 of 17 February 13, 2023
Councilmember Candell highlighted a sentence in his letter which states, “Love the Earth—the only home we’ve ever known.”
Mayor Anduri opened the public comment period, and there were no speakers.
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Kwok/Dawson) to accept the resignation and thanked Steve Botic for 3+ years of volunteer service. Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Anduri, Dawson, Candell, Gerringer, and Kwok; Noes: None).
15. ADJOURNMENT – 9:40 p.m. in honor of our volunteers and with good wishes to volunteer Lynn Hiden.
APPROVED:
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Carl Anduri, Mayor
ATTEST:
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Joanne Robbins, City Clerk