City Council Meeting Page 1 of 23 January 22, 2024
7 City of Lafayette
City Council
Minutes
Lafayette Library and Learning Center – Don Tatzin Community Hall January 22, 2024 3491 Mount Diablo Boulevard, Lafayette, California 7:00 p.m.
We acknowledge that Lafayette is part of the unceded, ancestral homeland of the Bay Miwok people.
The Bay Miwok and neighboring Ohlone people have lived in and moved through this place for thousands of years. They stewarded and shaped this land for hundreds of generations. We express our appreciation and gratitude for this profound legacy, which enhances and contributes to our lives to this day. We will strive to honor this land and strengthen our ties with the Indigenous communities that continue to live and work in our East Bay region as our neighbors and community members. We acknowledge and honor them and their ancestors, elders, and next seven generations.
As a courtesy, and technology permitting, members of the public may participate virtually. However, the City cannot guarantee that the public’s access to teleconferencing technology will be uninterrupted, and technical difficulties may occur from time to time. Unless required by the Brown Act, City Council/Board meetings will continue despite technical difficulties for participants using the teleconferencing (Zoom) option. To participate virtually in the City of Lafayette’s public meetings and provide public comment, please follow these steps:
1. Watch or Listen: Meetings are broadcast on the City of Lafayette’s YouTube Channel:
http://bit.ly/LoveLafayetteYouTube.
2. Submit Comments Before the Meeting: Members of the public can provide public comment by sending an e-mail to [email protected] for City Council meetings no later than noon the day of the meeting. Those e-mails will be distributed to City Council, the City Manager, and the City Attorney, and will be posted as part of the public record.
3. Live Remote Public Comments: Technology permitting, members of the public may submit live public comment via Zoom conferencing by using the link below. You must download the Zoom app or software. Zoom meetings can be accessed by telephone, computer, or smart device. When the Mayor invites public comment for the item on which you would like to comment, please use the "raise hand" feature (or press *9 if connecting via telephone only) to alert staff you have a public comment to provide. Each speaker is allowed three (3) minutes to speak.
4. At the time and date of the meeting, please click this URL to join the webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89008805648?pwd=ODQxRGxzaGNHSWVITUVFalFuUHBIZz09 Passcode: 426199 Or join by phone: Dial 1 669 900 9128
Webinar ID: 890 0880 5648 Passcode: 426199
City Council Meeting Page 2 of 23 January 22, 2024
Mayor Dawson called the Regular City Council meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
2. ROLL CALL
Present: City Council: Mayor Dawson; Vice Mayor Kwok; Councilmembers Anduri, Candell, and Gerringer
Absent: None
Staff Present: Niroop Srivatsa, City Manager; Tracy Robinson, Administrative Services Director; Patrick Golier, Transportation Program Manager; Mala Subramanian, City Attorney; Joanne Robbins, City Clerk
3. Disclosure and/or Take Action on Remote Participation due to Just Cause or Emergency Circumstances Pursuant to AB 2449 (Gov. Code section 54953(f).)
4. ADOPTION OF AGENDA
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Gerringer/Anduri) to adopt the agenda. Roll Call Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Dawson, Kwok, Anduri, Candell and Gerringer; Noes: None).
5. PUBLIC COMMENTS – (For Closed Session items only) - None
6. CLOSED SESSION
7. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE – Councilmember Gerringer led in the Pledge of Allegiance.
8. PUBLIC COMMENTS – (For Items Not on the Agenda)
LYNDSEY BRACKLEY said earlier this week, she learned PG&E has marked 18 trees on their private road for removal. These are mature oak trees, and their property falls on a high transmission power line, and since the late 1990’s they have worked with PG&E to trim them and maintain compliance. This was mutually agreed upon until recently. They are also not in a fire zone according to Cal Fire and in late September, PG&E assessed the property, finding one tree needing to be trimmed and stating all others complied. Earlier this week, they arrived with red spray paint marking 18 trees. Every tree on their lower property, including untouched vegetation that has never been an issue before. She seeks advice and direction on how to protect the trees, ask for a solution, and said fellow residents stand opposed to this unnecessary action. She implored the Council and anyone to help her navigate this situation.
Councilmember Candell asked Ms. Brackley to send an email to the [email protected].
Councilmember Anduri asked Ms. Brackley to describe where her property is located, and Ms. Brackley stated they were recently annexed to the City, that her property is off El Curtola and Kinney which is Dale Court. It is a private road and they have always been unincorporated. They were told the trees would be cut down within a couple of weeks. Also in jeopardy is their privacy because the trees are on a hill. She assumes the two weeks is enough to obtain a permit, and she confirmed with Planning that according to City records, her address is unincorporated.
City Council Meeting Page 3 of 23 January 22, 2024
9. CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
City Manager Niroop Srivatsa gave the following update on activities over the last two weeks for all departments:
Parks, Trails, and Recreation:
• The department thanked everyone for attending the first workshop of the Two Parks Collaborative Concept. This is for Leigh Creekside Park and the Gazebo Park. Councilmembers, representatives from EBRPD, the PTR Commission, and many neighbors attended the meeting, and more information on the two-park concept can be found at Lovelafayette.org/Two Parks. • The Community Center Playground is under construction and coming along well. Staff believes it will open in late February or early March.
• Park Maintenance Supervisor Greg Travis is retiring after 19 years of service with the City.
Engineering:
• Staff is working primarily on design drawings for the 2024 CIP and will also be meeting with the CIP Assessment Committee in early February to discuss the 2025 CIP. • The maintenance crew has been doing a great job of cleaning out storm drains.
Planning:
• On December 14th staff submitted the Housing Element to HCD for its review. On January 8th, the City was notified that they have a new reviewer and staff has sent two emails to HCD requesting a meeting so they can answer any questions. They have not heard back. HCD’s 60-day review period ends February 14th.
• There were three new below market rate units that were assigned this month; two at The Woodbury Highlands, and the third was a resale at the Marquee Townhome project.
Police:
• On January 17th there was a bank robbery in the former Bank of the West facility. Officers were able to identify a suspect and there was activity on Brook Street which is where they believe the suspect had gone. On the 19th, a similar robbery occurred in Pleasant Hill, and the two police departments worked together and determined it was likely the same suspect. They issued a search warrant on the 19th and the suspect is in custody.
10. PRESENTATIONS
A. Tracy Robinson, Administrative Services Director
Introduction of new employee – Randy Reid, Construction Inspector Recommendation: Receive and file.
Administrative Services Director Tracy Robinson introduced Randy Reid, the City’s new Construction Inspector via Zoom. She said Randy began shortly after the holiday period, and provided an overview of his experience, family, hobbies, and Mayor Dawson and Councilmembers welcomed Randy to the City.
Randy Reid, Construction Inspector, said the City of Lafayette has been one of the better jobs he has had and voiced appreciation.
B. Appreciation for Outgoing Councilmember Gerringer Upon Her Resignation Recommendation: Receive and file.
City Council Meeting Page 4 of 23 January 22, 2024
Mayor Dawson stated Councilmember Gerringer has given notice she is resigning from the Council due to retirement, and she first welcomed public comments.
MARY ANN HOISINGTON said everyone will miss Teresa. She spoke of successful fundraising for the library, voiced appreciation in the work developing the first Library Foundation Board, Teresa’s work on the School Board, her church, and her service on the City Council. She served with intelligence, compassion, and with love for Lafayette, and she wished her all the happiness.
DAVID CLARK thanked Teresa for all her time and dedication on the Council, the connections made with him and groups he has worked on. He cited the Lafayette Community Day as an idea Teresa began as well as others, which he thanked her for.
ROB STURM said he is here representing the 5-members of his family and they thank Teresa. As she steps down from the City Council, they want to thank Teresa along with the broader Lafayette community, which depends on leaders to be present which Teresa has done for countless years for the City’s betterment through dedicated, thoughtful, and caring service in various leadership roles. Teresa has selflessly served dating back well before his own family arrived here in 2009, yet during their 15 years, they have benefitted from her influence, peace of mind and stewardship she has provided. Teresa has provided a pragmatic voice of reason and elevating the community through words and action to be and do its best.
Teresa’s tenure on the Council and Lafayette School District Governing Board have been characterized as an earnest understanding of the needs of the community and a determination to make Lafayette a better place for all. Her legacy will have a depth and richness that is unique and long-standing, one grounded in compassion and a commitment to continual improvement. The Sturm family hopes that her next chapter is as bright for her as the mark she has left on the beloved community.
MEREDITH MEADE said she is talking as the current President of the Lafayette School District Governing Board and acknowledge Teresa’s amazing contribution to their schools. She has been on 18 years, has served as a delegate to the California School Board’s Assembly for many years, co-chairing a parcel tax effort or two and then leading and encouraging those to get involved in several other parcel tax measures which all passed, being a champion for the Lafayette Arts and Science Foundation, Lafayette Partners in Education, and all other organizations in the City Teresa has influenced, led, and then been a part of, such as the Library, the Community Foundation, and many other groups.
Personally, she has been a mentor and inspiration, showed her how to put her passion into action and get involved. She encouraged people to come to school board meetings, to advocate, run for office, and has an amazing leadership style she has tried to mimic. Teresa fosters relationships around the City and she gets to know people regardless of challenges. She has always remained poised and kept her sense of humor and she feels lucky to have been able to work with Teresa. Most importantly, Teresa always kept the kids and residents of Lafayette first and, as a publicly elected official, this is always the most important thing. There was a rainbow today and she immediately thought of Teresa and how she has always championed diversity and equity and inclusion, and it felt fitting to have this be Teresa’s last day on the Council.
City Council Meeting Page 5 of 23 January 22, 2024
MIA SMITH said Teresa was her first friend in Lafayette the day after she moved here from the east coast.
She was 9 months pregnant, and Teresa took her out to breakfast at Chow and taught her about Lafayette as an incredible town and she shared her blueprint for how to raise incredibly engaged adorable children.
She hopes the way her family has shown up in this community has made her proud. She will miss Teresa on Reliez Valley Road every day and will miss emailing her with another crazy idea and wait for her to say she will come over and help. Teresa has left a legacy on her family and other families, and she thanked her for her introduction to this incredible community and said her family owes her so much to Teresa.
Her son, Logan, then said they will miss Teresa.
DAVE SMITH said Teresa has been an example for all of them to understand how to step up and help serve the community. He has thoroughly enjoyed the privilege of walking the hills together, knocking on doors, and helping to support great schools, their green hills, and make this whole place a better place to live.
He thanked Teresa for creating these pathways of service from the youngest residents to those still finding their way to contribute to the community. He echoed Mia’s comments, and it will be difficult to walk or drive up and down Reliez Valley and not see Teresa on a daily basis, but he asked if she comes back, to be able to walk together again. His daughter then said Teresa has been a great friend to all of them and they will miss Teresa, but they are happy for her that she will like where she is going.
STELLA WOTHERSPOON said she will miss Teresa, stating they have only known each other for 5 years when she began on the Transportation and Circulation Commission. She found Teresa to be such an inspiration and mentor in all the work they have undertaken, and she thanked her for her dedication to the community, to the schools, and to the safety of their youngest residents.
RICHARD WHITMORE said Teresa is one of the finest public servants. He thinks her tenure has been distinguished not so much by its length or the various roles she has played, but the way she did it by always continuing to learn and grow in these roles, and partly listening to every single person who wanted to talk about anything. In the process, Teresa became a role model for the rest of everyone to engage in public service, and he thanked her for everything.
SUZY PAK said this afternoon she picked up gifts from Teresa in her packing that she is donating to some of the activities at Lamorinda Village. This sums up what kind of public servant Teresa is. She has known Teresa for about 15 years, and she was thinking about how to describe her to someone who does not know Teresa. To her, Teresa presents as one of those circular rolodexes where you have little cards separated by letters, and different categories. Each category, whether schools, traffic, working with the elderly, child abuse prevention, or Community Day, people have little categories they know Teresa in, but if you look at the whole rolodex or the whole Teresa, she knows people would be astounded and amazed at all she has been involved in, all the people she has worked with, alongside with, and inspired.
One her colleagues, Meredith, had shared that one of the lasting legacies Teresa leaves with them in 94549 is the number of people she has mentored along the way, and not just people who have held office or served on committees, but the people she has volunteered alongside and those people she has called to ask for their opinion because she heard them speak in some part of the county and wanted to know more, know more about who they are, what they think, and just to let them know their voice matters. To her, this sums up what a leader is. It is not always a title, but it is who Teresa is and how she interacts with people. They are lucky to know Teresa and that they had her for so long, and she wished her the best of luck.
City Council Meeting Page 6 of 23 January 22, 2024
DON TATZIN said he wondered why Teresa announced her retirement so far in advance of the actual date; however, one cannot keep a secret forever. Last Thursday, he was honored to attend a thank-you event for Teresa hosted by various transportation folks in the county. Tonight, it is the City’s turn to thank her for her efforts, and the schools are joining in. This leaves other times where the Community Foundation and the Library, swimming organizations, county elected officials and staff, state elected officials and staff, campaign organizers, to say nothing of the community. One needs time to plan these events for maximum impact. In Teresa’s case, all these recognitions will be well-deserved and speak to her myriad of interests and accomplishments. He thanked Teresa, does not think this will be his last opportunity, which explains he has not brought one of the resolutions the State creates. Finally, he recognized members of the Council always appreciates someone who can finish in less than 3 minutes.
BETH BROWN & FAMILY said she met Teresa about 18 years ago at Springhill Elementary School. She was someone who was so impressive to her and the things she did at the school and thing she was volunteering in. She remembers looking up to her from that time and want to be like her. She became the President of the Parent Club, got involved in the measures, and then she said that’s it. She remembers when she would try to introduce Teresa to people and said she is sort of like the Mayor who knows everybody and everything, and suddenly, she became the Mayor of Lafayette. She thanked Teresa for everything she taught her and echoed all the things Meredith and Suzy said. She is impressed by all the things Teresa has done and the people she has touched along the way and thanked her.
KRISTEN CONNELLY said she thought she had more time with Teresa, but understands she is leaving tomorrow. So many people have expressed wonderful comments which she echoed and said Teresa has had such a tangible impact on her family’s quality of life, as a resident of Lafayette, and Teresa’s leadership mentored her. She was already a superhero in her mind when she got involved in the Library Foundation.
It was clear of the impact Teresa had getting the Library built, along with other areas she has served and made such an impact. Few people that she encounters have had such a positive impact while leading with such love and integrity, which are admirable qualities we need more of in public service. She also has the good fortune of seeing her shine in her day job from which she recently retired, and she misses her very much. However, Teresa leaves everything better than she found it which is why so many people benefit.
She is a connector, someone who leads, shares, and wants everyone to have all the information.
She cited the challenges in the community, and she admired the way they officially got to serve on the City/Schools Subcommittee when she was serving on the AUHSD Governing Board, and those were not easy topics to solve. She thought Teresa brought such clarity and purpose to her work there, which is what she does with every hat she wears. She will miss Teresa, and many people will welcome her when she comes back and asked to add her to the Burton Valley wing when she wants to spend time there. She is so grateful they are friends and for everything she has done.
CHERYL MACDONALD said she had no idea Teresa wore so many hats. She will miss her and said she was a Transportation and Circulation Commission liaison, and she voiced appreciation of all the time spent participating in meetings, as this is one group she enjoys being involved with because it is an advisory board with fantastic members. She echoed Stella Wotherspoon’s comments and referred to the time Cameron Burks was on the Council and the 5 subgroups, and when she got to spend time in settings like that. She is impressed with her leadership, thanked her for being able to get to know her, be involved on the Council, and wished her happiness in the future.
City Council Meeting Page 7 of 23 January 22, 2024
Councilmember Candell said this has been a great ride together. She is sure neither one of them knew what they were getting into, but it has been a fun journey. Most of all, she enjoyed working closely with Teresa on “all things transportation.” They have put immense effort into trying to do great things for the City and her leadership on this Council as well as all the other hats she wears regionally has helped push projects forward that were very unlikely to happen without Teresa’s leadership and support. She is very thankful on behalf of all their residents, and she is glad Teresa is leaving for all the right reasons, and as always—family first. She wished her fun and much needed rest, and good luck with her next adventures.
Vice Mayor Kwok congratulated Teresa on her retirement and best wishes on her next steps. He is glad the community has come out today and thanked everyone here and those not here who want to say something to Teresa. He is moved and said Teresa deserves everything the community has said today. It is incredible, and he would say Teresa is a model public servant. The community recognizes the many decades of this, and it takes a special person to persist at it for such a long time and to do it in a way.
Teresa is a mentor to all of them in everything they do, and they are lucky to have had Teresa be part of Lafayette all these years. He said the major thing he was excited about was that Lafayette Community Day is a legacy they will remember, and who established this day. It will become stronger and better and will expand, and on behalf of the community, that is their commitment to Teresa to continue her legacy and keep it moving forward. He thanked her and said they know she will not be that far away.
Councilmember Anduri said it has been great to hear from everyone who has worked with Teresa. She really is a unique person in the community. It is hard to imagine she has been in an elected position for 25 years and all the volunteer positions for longer than that. It is often said that serving in a position like this is a thankless task. Tonight, Teresa realizes everybody here thanks her. He knows they did not get into this to be thanked but did it for altruistic reasons to leave the community a better place. They are grateful Teresa chose to do that, and he thanked her.
Mayor Dawson echoed all comments of Councilmembers and speakers. She is very grateful to Teresa personally. She has been one of those touchstones in this community, and she is inspirational, she has learned a lot from her, and will miss her. There is a grounding Teresa provided and she appreciates that.
She knows she is heading north, and what she likes to think is Teresa will just expand that network. She brings community, she is community, and the new community she is joining will benefit greatly, and the Council will miss her. She then presented and read a proclamation into the record, and a round of applause followed.
Councilmember Gerringer thanked the Council, speakers, staff, and community members for the opportunity to keep doing what she loves best for many years. She and Michael moved to Lafayette 28 years ago, raised McKenzie and Madison here, and when she first got elected to the school board, someone asked her why she was doing that. She thought if she could make it good for all students and improve the quality of education for all students, then it lifts that up for her family as well. It has been just getting involved in volunteering and she would love to name everybody by name and what this brings home for her is that no one person does this or that by themselves. She appreciates the trust of the community in re-electing her to the various positions, but it is because they come together as a community, and it is because they work together and always try to assume positive intent on the part of each one of them. They do not always agree but ultimately, they love Lafayette and that is why they do what they do.
City Council Meeting Page 8 of 23 January 22, 2024
She said she very much appreciates the comments and the attention, but everyone is making things happen together, and thanked everybody for the overwhelming and moving. She thanked Councilmembers for their comments and said she feels the support and love tonight. She was glad the announcement was not a lot longer because it is overwhelming, touching, and she did not do it for the thank you or gratitude, but it feels good. She thanked everybody for reaching out, being shocked as she still is, but it is the right time. The way we word things in City government, the question of family reasons is out there. Right now, her family are all very healthy and she wants to enjoy that and be able to enjoy time with Michael, who has been retired for 6 years and has been the number one supporter on U-Tube watching these meetings. So, it is for a good reason. She will miss Lafayette, will be back, and she will still one of the co-chairs of Lafayette Community Day, so she will continue to volunteer with Lafayette.
11. CONSENT CALENDAR
Mayor Dawson asked if there were any public comments or items Councilmembers or the public wish to remove from the Consent Calendar. Councilmember Anduri stated the Council received a request from Erling Horn asking that Item 11.C be removed. There were no public comments.
A. Minute
January 8, 2024
Recommendation: Approve
B. Ordinance 691 Amending Section 8-8164 and 8-8165 of Title 8, Chapter 8-8, Article 15 Parking Meters and Lock Boxes of the Lafayette Municipal Code Relating to Time of Operation and Parking Fees.
Recommendation: Waive second reading of Ordinance 691 and adopt.
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Anduri/Kwok) to adopt Consent Calendar Items A and B. Roll Call Vote: 5-0 (Ayes:
Dawson, Kwok, Anduri, Candell and Gerringer; Noes: None).
12. OLD BUSINESS
A. Niroop Srivatsa, City Manager and Tracy Robinson, Administrative Services Director FY2023-24 Final Municipal Budget
Recommendation: Adopt Resolution 2024-04 adopting the Final FY23-24 Workplan and Budget.
Administrative Services Director Tracy Robinson said she did not have anything to add to this item which the Council reviewed at its January 8th meeting. The only changes made is she has cleaned up some typographical errors in the budget. Vice Mayor Kwok had a question about the resolution, and they did not have a public hearing for the final budget. They only have public hearings for the budget passed in July, but she could make this clearer that there were public meetings held on it in case the Council would like this clarified as to what dates should be listed in the resolution.
Vice Mayor Kwok stated he is fine to keep this as is.
Ms. Robinson said she can take any comments, questions, additions, suggestions, edits at this time.
City Council Meeting Page 9 of 23 January 22, 2024
Councilmember Candell said she reached out to Ms. Robinson with a question because it was an outlier which was the Capital Improvement Projects. It is up to $18.5 million this year and it is typically much smaller than that by about half or less. Therefore, she asked Ms. Robinson to provide an explanation as to changes this next year.
Ms. Robinson clarified that they put all the projects identified that have been approved and that the City has funding for onto the CIP. It is bookmarked in the PDF file on a separate page where Councilmembers can see each of the projects and where the funding is coming from. They put all projects staff is currently working on which are projects that roll over from prior years, plus new year projects. This often adds up to a large number. They do not expect to do all that work in one year but over several years.
She said there were 2 large projects she thinks that pushed the amount higher so for this upcoming year, there is the Smart Signals Project at $4 million, and the Pathway Design and Construction around Stanley School at $4.5 million. Together, this is $8.5 million worth of projects. These are large projects and staff expects these will be funded primarily from various grants. This was the big reason it went from $8 to $10 million which is normal, to closer to $19 million.
Vice Mayor Kwok noted that the Environmental Task Force and Councilmember Anduri and himself as Council liaisons would like to propose allocating $10,000 in this budget for use by the ETF related to outreach related to the transition from gas to electric leaf blowers this year, which is an ordinance that will take effect in mid-summer. Therefore, the City should do a good bit of communications in the first half of the year.
They spoke about leading with education and even after the ordinance is in effect, to lead strongly with education. They know the transition impacts many households and businesses in the City, and it is a wideranging ordinance where they think most of the public would benefit from knowing in greater detail. They need a budget to assist in the printing of brochures, outreach, signage, etc. Therefore, they would like to request an incremental $10,000 to be managed by the ETF with oversight from himself and Councilmember Anduri to be used for these purposes. This would be just for printing, mailing, and communication fees, and not to supplement the lending program and not for a matching program to acquire leaf blowers. He also asked and confirmed with Councilmember Anduri he had no additional comments.
Mayor Dawson opened the public comment period.
MICHAEL GRIFFITH said he appreciates Ms. Robinson’s explanation and transparency on CIP items, which he would encourage. The Council may remember they had a situation with Measure C many years ago where there was not a lot of transparency which caused the measure to fail. He thinks it is highly advisable from a resident-perspective to offer as much transparency as possible. It would be appreciated and there may be some good input, given the expertise in the City that could be leveraged. His other thought he would offer is because $2 million would seem a lot to a layman, there will be questions of whether it is cutting or justifying it. He thinks the more open it is, the easier it will be to justify it.
City Council Meeting Page 10 of 23 January 22, 2024
He looked at some of the categories Ms. Robinson put together and was pleased to see the property and vehicle taxes exceeded inflation which, for that period is the average of the total, i.e., 19%. But he would point to the fact that some of the other aspects like sales tax, fees for service and investment revenue are relatively weak. Those are three areas that should be addressed. They have expressed concerns in the past about the hundreds of jobs and businesses that are leaving town, and this trend will not help that number. Similarly, there was discussion at some point about improving or increasing and updating developer fees. If this is an option in terms of legislation that still allows developer fees, he thinks that would be a wise move because this is another area given growth in real estate with projects in town.
Regarding investment revenue, he can relate to this because he always buys high and sells low, but would not recommend it, but still someone must be puzzled as to why there was a 23% drop. It may be a timing issue, but this would be a concern. Finally, 38% was the largest growth rate and it is in the “Other” category, which he pointed out. Obviously, the Council would like it to be in the important categories rather than the “other” category.
Mayor Dawson referred to the suggestion of $10,000 for the ETF relating to leaf blower education and outreach. As a Councilmember who sits on the Code Enforcement Appeals Board, they want to be sure they will avoid giving out citations, so education will be critical and voiced support for an education campaign and use of funds. She asked Ms. Robinson how this will be facilitated.
Ms. Robinson said if the Council votes to approve $10,000 be added to ETF, she can append an exhibit to the resolution so the motion would be to approve as amended, and she will take care of making this happen in the budget.
Councilmember Anduri mentioned that the ETF members will also work with Anna Tolle, the Planning Department liaison and with Suzanne Iarla on communications, so it will be a coordinated, City-wide effort.
Councilmember Gerringer asked and confirmed with Councilmember Anduri that the $10,000 is proposed for this calendar year only, and not an on-going additional $10,000 to the ETF.
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Anduri/Kwok) to adopt Resolution 2024-04 adopting the Final FY23-24 Workplan and Budget, as amended, to add $10,000 for this fiscal year to the Environmental Task Force budget. Roll Call Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Dawson, Kwok, Anduri, Candell and Gerringer; Noes: None).
13. STAFF REPORTS
A. Patrick Golier, Transportation Program Manager
2024 Candidate Transportation Project Priorities
Recommendation: Receive staff report and public input regarding the candidate citywide transportation projects and information on possible grant opportunities.
Transportation Program Manager Patrick Golier gave the staff report, background, and overview of the 2024 candidate transportation project priorities.
City Council Meeting Page 11 of 23 January 22, 2024
Councilmember Anduri asked if it is Mr. Golier’s view that if the Council approves this list of projects that this gives authority to make application for a grant without bringing it back to the Council. In effect, he likened it to a pre-approved list that if an opportunity arises, staff will make a grant application. Mr. Golier confirmed and said he has tried to identify the phases he would be seeking within this. In some cases, it would be advancing grants for design that would then lead to a public process and subsequently, construction.
Councilmember Anduri recited that “in preparation of a grant application does not preclude a public engagement process.” He asked if it was Mr. Golier’s view that this public engagement process could result in the project not moving forward. Mr. Golier confirmed.
Councilmember Anduri said with respect to his firm question, he will raise a question about this once Mr.
Golier gets to the Pleasant Hill Road Center Median project.
Mr. Golier then continued his presentation, starting with the first project, which he described as outlined in the staff report, along with others.
Councilmember Anduri asked how Mr. Golier includes the Pleasant Hill Road Center Median project in this list if they do not know which direction they will take with the project. Mr. Golier said he included it because the Council has directed staff to complete the detailed design phase for the center median pathway and he would expect the direction staff gets is to hold off on this and return next year once some questions have been answered, but he did not want to make that presumption.
Councilmember Candell thanked Mr. Golier for the report and said the process is very good for everybody, with transparency, and getting the list together which was monumental. She referred to the drop-off design on St. Mary’s Road and said they do not have a design for that yet, so she is assuming that will be done in-house and in the budget for this year to do the design, and this is why staff is proposing just going for construction.
Mr. Golier confirmed, and said design is happening now as part of the whole Connecting Lafayette project but they have funding for the design of the drop-off portion only right now.
Councilmember Anduri said one of the priorities of the Council is to look at the Mt. Diablo corridor and think ahead considering the additional housing units that may be built in the downtown. The first element of that which the Council has agreed they would look at is how they reimagine or redesign the downtown to provide multi-modal mobility for all new residents.
He began the discussion he had with the City Manager today with the presumption it would be better to do the plan to see if there is a way that they would need to reconfigure downtown streets, paths, bicycle routes to be able to provide pedestrian, bikeable, and vehicular access and mobility around the downtown. He is concerned if they focus on individual parts of that before doing the other that they might do something in the one most relevant which is the update to the update to the Walkway and Bicycle Master Plan so once they start on the corridor plan and see they must step back and do something more dramatic to the downtown, then this work would be in bay. He asked how Mr. Golier sees this all coming together.
City Council Meeting Page 12 of 23 January 22, 2024
Mr. Golier explained there is a lot of overlapping things happening downtown of things on the current and future workplans. In regards to a traffic study for the right-turn-on-red restrictions, the more he thought about that is if he could get some advanced traffic modeling work done so that when these questions come up staff is better able to answer those questions during the process. He agrees he would love for the Corridor Plan to include a wide range of solutions. This has not been proposed yet publicly, but there will be questions of what that would do to traffic congestion that will have impacts on some other solutions that may come out of that process. So, he would like to go into that process as informed as possible.
Mayor Dawson opened the public comment period.
STELLA WOTHERSPOON referred to the Pleasant Hill Road Center Median Pathway project item and said when she was at the Transportation Circulation Commission meeting for this, they talked about Mr. Golier and gained consensus on a way to describe it that was project-neutral or design-specific neutral. So, the intent was to be open ended because the Council had not yet made any decisions on location or future design of path. Personally, speaking as a member of the public and not a commission member, it is a little confusing to read it here and not be clear about which specific project is in mind because it states “construction as a grant application” in late 2024.
JENIFER PAUL said she would like to advocate for prioritizing the funding for Evaluation of the east side Pleasant Hill Road pathway alternatives. The recent installation of the rectangular rapid flashing beacons, streetlamps, and the pedestrian push buttons by Caltrans at all 6 of the Hwy 24 on and off ramps address many of the concerns, and she would like to see how this plays out before going with a middle bike path.
She does not believe the proposed middle bike path should be on the current list because it is funded for its design, but she believes looking for funding for construction is premature.
DAWN EAMES said it is nice to see grant applications are being offered prior to applying for them. It looks like there are many priorities and usually there are 1-3. Since staff has a heavy workload, it might be best to drop or some of them to concentrate on one larger project rather than 9 or 10 of them. Also, number 4 on the traffic study (Right-Turn-on-Red Restrictions along Mt. Diablo Boulevard) is a well-used and overly congested area that should be the high priority as mentioned in her email, and the Pleasant Hill Road median should be dropped completely from the priorities since it has a lot of push back from the community as well as those coming in and out of Lafayette.
CHERYL MACDONALD said she is also happy to see this list before it goes out to funding. Councilmember Anduri has her same concern which is the priority in which this will be done. For the Mt. Diablo project, she wanted the Council to remember that the east end is a service industry and when talking about bike paths it could also restrict the amount of parking for the very small mom and pop businesses on that end.
If dining is put in, it reduces parking by 1 or 2 spaces, and if at Leslie Pools, it reduces it more. While multimodal is great, she asked that this be considered. She supports the EBMUD project and asked if they would need the Deer Hill study if this is approved, and asked where the data is and devices that was gathered by the Police Department and when it will be put on the website. She also does not think any more funding should go towards the construction of the center lane bike path on Pleasant Hill Road, but she supported working on the alternate path. The St. Mary’s drop-off was back when Cameron Burks was on a subcommittee, and she thinks this is desired by residents, so it should also be included.
City Council Meeting Page 13 of 23 January 22, 2024
Mayor Dawson said she thinks it might be good to look at the questions regarding timing and prioritizing given they want to be prepared to apply for grants.
Councilmember Gerringer referred to Councilmember Anduri’s question regarding timing, it seems that the City was already on a list for the EBMUD Aqueduct Pathway project but does not know where it is in grant funding at the federal level.
Mr. Golier stated for last year, the City was unsuccessful for this.
Councilmember Gerringer said she hears the concern about getting too far out ahead, such as for the Mt.
Diablo Corridor. On the Aqueduct project, while adjacent, it seems it is independent and separate from that and she would like to understand how spending money on projects might conflict with others, but she believes the Aqueduct project would still be a priority given it can connect many areas of the downtown.
Councilmember Anduri agreed with this. He sees this being 90% independent of the corridor plan, and it is the one the City can do. It certainly impacts anything they do in the corridor in how they connect that corridor path to the downtown. He thinks it can be done now. He asked if Mayor Dawson was thinking of prioritizing them by number.
Mayor Dawson said yes, but because there has been discussion about the center pathway, she also suggested possibly eliminating things for now as well or just take it off the priority list. Because they are in the design phase and will not have the alternative pathway until the end of the year/beginning of next year, and it would be brought back to the community, she did not think it makes sense to go out for any grant for that at this point. Therefore, she suggested taking this off the list for now and it might be next year depending on what comes out of the public hearings on options.
Councilmember Anduri said he would support that. It is not because he is in favor of or opposed to the center median or the east side, but because they promised they would look at both projects, so it might be premature to say they are authorizing going out for a grant for either one of them at this point. Mayor Dawson confirmed that all Councilmembers agreed with this.
Councilmember Gerringer said with the over-arching of the various plans and timing, she thinks that she would leave on the Traffic Study for the Right-Turn Reductions because that would be incorporated into any plan the City would do. In terms of prioritization, the St. Mary’s Road drop-off is still a priority and the Council committed to the design dollars for that. While the design might not have been just right for the school board at that time, it is something important, so she would like to propose the Council continue prioritizing those two; the Right-Turn on Red Restrictions and the St. Mary’s Drop-off and Sidewalk Gap Closure projects.
Councilmember Anduri supported prioritization of those two projects and not go further in prioritization but picking up on some grant programs are more conducive to certain other projects than others and to let Engineering use their judgement as to which projects has the best chance for a particular grant and move forward with that one that has the best chance.
City Council Meeting Page 14 of 23 January 22, 2024
Vice Mayor Kwok agreed, and asked staff to clarify they were not necessarily asking the Council to prioritize these, as it sounds like staff could do all 6 of them within the workload. As Councilmember Anduri mentioned, staff wanted a wide range of projects so, based on different grant opportunities, they could have a portfolio of projects they could pitch. It sounds like the Council wants to remove one from the list. Mr. Golier confirmed and noted the Pleasant Hill Pathway project is removed so this would leave 5 projects.
Mayor Dawson said there is the timing issue because if these are ready, she thinks there is an issue with how the Council wants to pursue the Bike and Walkways, Corridor Plan, and said they will revisit Council priorities in March. They will also refine by what would be the Corridor Plan as well if they are going to pursue that. In the interim, if this comes up, they would want to find funding.
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Candell/Gerringer) to direct staff to remove the Pleasant Hill Road Center-Median Multi-Use Pathway Project from the list at this time until additional information is received and proceed with the remaining projects on the list for possible grant opportunities. Roll Call Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Dawson, Kwok, Anduri, Candell and Gerringer; Noes: None).
B. Tracy Robinson, Administrative Services Director
ARPA Funds Expenditure Update
Recommendation: Direct the ARPA Subcommittee to consider reallocations of all unspent and unallocated funds and return to the Council with a recommendation concurrent with the consideration of the FY24-25 Proposed Budget in June 2024.
Administrative Services Director Tracy Robinson gave the staff report and overview of where the City currently is with ARPA funds. She said there are two different tranches of ARPA funds which were each +$3.4 million. The first tranche of funds was fully allocated, but only about $237,000 of the second tranche was allocated, which leaves roughly $2.9 million unallocated.
Of the projects to which funds were allocated for the first tranche, most are very nearing completion at about 95% finished. There are a few outstanding things the City may want to do. The main thing the City has not spent money on yet but put money away was for the HVAC and ventilation system for the Community Center. According to the last estimate, the cost has escalated to possibly several million dollars. At this point, staff’s recommendation is for the Council to direct the ARPA Subcommittee to consider reallocating unspent and unallocated funds and return to the Council with a recommendation concurrent with the consideration of the FY24-25 proposed budget in June. She noted Subcommittee members were Mayor Dawson and Councilmember Anduri.
Mayor Dawson opened the public comment period, and there were no speakers.
Mayor Dawson noted the Subcommittee will meet again to discuss this, and they will bring feedback to the Council. She is appreciative of the ARPA funds which have helped the community and the City’s budget.
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Gerringer/Anduri) to direct the ARPA Subcommittee to consider reallocations of all unspent and unallocated funds and return to the Council with a recommendation concurrent with the consideration of the FY24-25 Proposed Budget in June 2024. Roll Call Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Dawson, Kwok, Anduri, Candell, and Gerringer; Noes: None).
City Council Meeting Page 15 of 23 January 22, 2024
C. Niroop K. Srivatsa, City Manager
Report on the demonstrations and protests at the El Curtola bridge Recommendation: Direct staff to meet with our legislators and state agencies to ensure motorist safety on Highway 24 and the enforcement of state laws and regulations.
City Manager Niroop Srivatsa stated the Council heard this item in 2021 when the El Curtola Bridge was a site for demonstrations and protests. The bridge is owned by the State of California and is managed by Caltrans, and the freeway is monitored for safely by the CHP. Back in 2021, the City engaged with both Caltrans and the CHP, because there were concerns about motorist safety on Hwy 24 given that the large flags and banners were distracting motorists on the freeway. At that time, the Council adopted a resolution and sent it to both agencies requesting they enforce State laws and regulations. For a period of about 3-4 months, the Police Chief was receiving accident data on Hwy 24.
The gatherings started again in October and there are people gathered on the bridge, primarily weekdays in the afternoons and sometimes on weekends. Given this is a Presidential election year, it is safe to assume there will be more gatherings on the bridge. She reached out to Caltrans last week and left a message for the District Director and for a person who had attended the 2021 Council meetings. She also reached out Senator Glazer’s Office. Senator Glazer and Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan had helped the City with setting up a meeting with the State agencies in the past. She just spoke with Don Tatzin who works with Senator Glazer, and they are prepared to send out a letter requesting that meeting.
She said this late afternoon, she received a phone call from the Branch Chief for Public Affairs and Community Engagement from Caltrans acknowledging her voicemail to the District Director. She informed her that she would speak with the Director and get back to her on what steps Caltrans would take in the next couple of days. She passed this message onto Don Tatzin, as well, stressing the fact that the concern is really distraction of motorists on the freeway. They were told there was a person who stopped their car on the freeway during the last protest and was trying to engage with demonstrators, which is of concern.
She acknowledged the public comments received over the last several weeks and stated that staff will engage in Caltrans and CHP to see what actions they will take to uphold their laws, rules, and regulations.
Mayor Dawson stressed this is about safety, and she appreciated the City Manager’s efforts and the update from Caltrans.
Councilmember Candell stated she was involved in the meetings in 2021 and it obviously did not get to where they wanted it to go. She said they had talked about putting something on the fencing to make it opaque. She remembered that it was going to be very hard to put something on that bridge because a support structure would need to be built underneath the slats. She said these were vertical slats that would fall, but if there were horizontal slats or designs, she asked if the City Manager had this information from the last time.
Ms. Srivatsa said she recalled that when they raised the matter with Caltrans, Caltrans said the City could do it and the City would have to pay for it.
City Council Meeting Page 16 of 23 January 22, 2024
Councilmember Candell suggested bringing out those designs again and determine what other things exist now that they may not have thought of back then with Caltrans. Ms. Srivatsa said she can pull as much information as possible regarding this.
Councilmember Kwok said he knows this has been something that has a multi-year history and in reading some of the documentation today, it talked about how CHP does defer as a courtesy to the local Police Department to act on its behalf. He asked whether the City’s Police Department has done anything to address this.
Ms. Srivatsa said unfortunately, Chief Alldritt could not attend the meeting. She noted in 2020/21 there were some incidents of people blocking the roadway on the bridge and altercations on the bridge. As a health and safety matter, the City’s local Police Department was out enforcing the law. The CHP does defer to the City on immediate problems that occur, but the freeway itself is still the purview of the State and Caltrans.
City Attorney Mala Subramanian said this is correct. To supplement the City Manager’s comments, the City also has a maintenance agreement with Caltrans so when there is graffiti on the bridge, the City comes in and paints this over and covers the graffiti as quickly as possible. Any signs attached or affixed to the bridge are Caltrans’ responsibility and it would not be something the City would enforce, nor would the City’s sign ordinance apply since it is State property.
Councilmember Anduri asked if the City’s noise ordinance apply to activity on the overpass. Ms.
Subramanian said she believes it does, and back in 2021 there were instances where there were bullhorns and music blasting, which members of the public could speak to. The City deals with this on a code enforcement basis. She does not think those types of issues have resurfaced in more recent interactions.
Councilmember Anduri said he is trying to determine what the City can do as opposed to what they are pre-empted from doing by either Caltrans or the CHP. If there is an immediate threat to public safety on the bridge or to someone on the bridge, he said our police can act. But, if it is something that might endanger someone on the freeway, the City is not able to act, and Ms. Subramanian confirmed this is correct.
Mayor Dawson opened the public comment period.
GARRETT HARLEY first congratulated Councilmember Gerringer on her retirement and thanked her for her service. He said this has been a 5+ year issue starting with the last campaign. He loves the fact that the Mayor is more interested in focusing this on public safety and they have a way to go to school on some of this because it has already happened in the State of California. Not too long after 9/11 there were groups of organizers that went out on an overpass over Hwy 17 near Santa Cruz County. What ended up happening is as soon as you have any of the first group shows up, they are bound to include or invite counter-protestors that want to come out. It does not matter what the message is. It is not the issue, but it gets sticky because many people think the defensible position is you do not want to touch the First Amendment.
City Council Meeting Page 17 of 23 January 22, 2024
So, the whole thing went to court. Caltrans went to court, and that case is within the case file with the City Attorney. What the State decided was essentially that it seems like overpasses should not be places that the public should assemble because it is a distraction to the roadway, and public safety is their priority. They said you cannot use an overpass as a public forum, period. The overarching reason why they said that was important was because of the roadway safety. There have been things that have fallen from the bridge recently, and folks must go around the right-of-way they should not be in that is fenced by Caltrans to retrieve those items which also is not safe. Kids can sneak through those things when there and there are no bathroom facilities, and they will sneak inside the fence and do what they need to do until they put porta-potties out there for organizers.
He thinks the interesting part is that it is difficult to be able to figure out how to address it because most people focus on the messages rather than the safety. If you already have a settled case law, he thinks this would be the way the City can apply pressure to affect a multi-agency response. CHP points the finger at Caltrans, CHP is the enforcement for Caltrans, and the City can get involved with certain things happening on the overpass specifically for public safety concerns from blocking the roadway, noise, or altercations.
He feels like the State could give better clarity on exactly what the settled case law is and then decide who the enforcement agency should be that wants to help. This would be something that should not be difficult to get an answer to, but they are 5 years into that answer, and this is shameful.
STELLA WOTHERSPOON said she agrees it is a public safety concern. She has driven across the bridge and on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day there was a large group of people on the bridge. The sidewalk itself is very narrow, and the number of people congregating on the sidewalk were very close to the edge of the curb.
In one case, two children jumped out to go around someone to get to some other people, so there is not enough room to circulate. It is not a gathering place but a pathway to get from one point to the other.
She did not know much about the information the previous speaker gave, so she suggests getting the State and Caltrans to agree to some type of a public gathering application process to the appropriate law enforcement and other bodies so they know there will be people there for traffic control, etc., while also understanding it is not the City that can create this application for public gatherings. This would be an idea for the State to act on.
NOOPUR LIFFICK thanked the Council for adding this to the agenda for the meeting tonight. She appreciates this is finally being addressed as someone who lives very close to the overpass and can see it every day and who drives on it every day. She thanked the City Manager for addressing the safety of motorists on Hwy 24, but she stressed that the public safety of the individuals and motorists on the overpass and connecting streets is just as important, if not more.
As the previous commenters have mentioned, there are cones being placed on the overpass so cars must go into the other lane when driving over it. Many of the individuals are standing on the sidewalk and the portion on the west side of the overpass is a very narrow sidewalk. People are spilling out into the streets, so it is a major traffic concern for people driving over the overpass, so traffic enforcement is needed there and there has not been any at all to date.
City Council Meeting Page 18 of 23 January 22, 2024
On the MLK Day when there was a huge gathering there were over 50 people. There was no enforcement of parking rules. She knows there is a short stretch of Camino Diablo that is painted red because there is a fire hydrant there, but this is not a place where there is room for parking. It is a major thoroughfare with cars coming and going to and from the Walnut Creek side. She appreciates for the City to conduct some type of enforcement of parking rules, traffic, and protecting individuals who are trying to walk their dog across the overpass. She is sad they must address this again after a couple of years, but if they do not act now, it will continue to happen, especially in the months leading up to the election this year.
Mayor Dawson asked if the case law pertains to overpasses or routes in general.
City Attorney Subramanian said the case mentioned is Brown v. California Department of Transportation.
It related to Caltrans having a policy back in pre-2001 that prohibited any affixation of signs or banners or flags except the American flag. So, they created an exception for the American flag which the court overruled because it was not viewpoint neutral. So, they did go into the comments and raised the issue of it is not a public forum, an overpass, because at the time the people were putting up banners related to 9/11. Therefore, they talked about signs and flags being a distraction and why would an exception be made for the American flag.
This is the case referenced, which is Caltrans policy of what is permitted. Caltrans does not permit anything to be affixed but it is for Caltrans to enforce. It is her understanding that if something is affixed, they eventually do come to remove it, but not when people are there and standing. They do not direct staff to engage with people who are there affixing flags and standing at their overpasses. It is about the policy they had related to prohibiting everything except the American flag.
Councilmember Candell said it seems like they are congregating and assembling and affixing not the American flag for many of the protests. She asked if there is any way to push on them to enforce this in real time.
Ms. Subramanian said she thinks this is what the discussion will be. She does not know that the congregation itself would be an issue, but the prohibition on affixing anything to the fence would clearly violate the policy, but it is just how they are enforcing it. This would be the discussion, to encourage realtime enforcement and getting the word out that they are violating a prohibition the State has.
Councilmember Candell asked if Caltrans has a licensing department or a place to sign up for event applications. Ms. Subramanian said she does not know whether they do or whether it is permitted, but also does not know it is prohibited.
Councilmember Candell said it might be on other properties and possibly it is a general thing. Ms.
Subramanian said this again would go through Caltrans.
Mayor Dawson said she does not think there is a permitting process with Caltrans for overpasses.
Councilmember Candell said in general if someone wanted to take over a road for an event or parade, she wonders if they have a process at least in place for some of their facilities.
Mayor Dawson noted the Council and staff will be following up with Caltrans directly and will be meeting with them.
City Council Meeting Page 19 of 23 January 22, 2024
Councilmember Anduri said this is extremely frustrating because they had the CHP and Caltrans here last time and they basically shirked their responsibilities. He thinks this is shameful. There is either an administrative or legislative finding that this kind of activity on the overpass is a threat to public safety.
For the CHP to say they will not take any action until someone is hurt on the freeway is absurd. The legislature has already said this is activity that is dangerous, so it is their responsibility to do something about it.
He agrees with the next step in meeting with the legislature and state agencies to see what can be done, but he hoped it can be done soon, come back to the Council, and think about next steps. He starts from the viewpoint that there should be no banners of any kind on the overpass because all of it is distracting to motorists. People are demonstrating on the bridge telling the Council that they have distracted motorists, so he does not know what more they need. There should be no one on the overpass with flags, banners, marches, or anything, and it should not be a public forum.
Vice Mayor Kwok thanked Councilmember Anduri for raising this and bringing this as an agenda item and thanked staff for putting together the report to do the quick research and the public for participating in this very frustrating issue. He also takes the position it is a safety issue. It is not a message, and it does not matter whether he likes the message or not. If it is dangerous for the community, it needs to be addressed.
When it was a 9/11 memorial and they used to gather there over a decade ago, he went out there as that 9/11 meant a lot to him. When he was out there, he did see there was an accident that happened because a driver looked up and he drove straight into a car and traffic right in front of him. He immediately said this is a terrible thing and they should not be here on this bridge. Now, he can understand why they do not do that any longer, but again, no matter what the message is, it is not the issue for him, but it is to make sure they are not creating a safety hazard in the street below or at the level.
If the State does not act in a way that is effective, he would like to better understand whether the Police Chief would be willing to do. He thinks he heard the City Attorney say the State does not intervene with actual gatherers, so this tells him there is something to be looked at in terms of gathering only if they are posting. He would like to understand that rationale and respects the Chief’s need to address the safety and other priorities in the city. Hopefully, the City will not let this drop into the two jurisdictions but say someone must step up to do something. He thanked staff for continuing to research this on how they can act.
Mayor Dawson said once they get a report back, the Council can decide if they need a task force to look further into what solutions are available. They also must consider the local safety on the bridge for people crossing it. If there is blockage of the road, it is important to contact police so they can come out because this is unlawful and unsafe.
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Anduri/Kwok) to direct staff to meet with our legislators and state agencies to ensure motorist safety on Highway 24 and the enforcement of State laws and regulations. Roll Call Vote:
5-0 (Ayes: Dawson, Kwok, Anduri, Candell and Gerringer; Noes: None).
14. PUBLIC HEARINGS – None.
15. ITEMS REMOVED FROM CONSENT
City Council Meeting Page 20 of 23 January 22, 2024
C. Resolution 2024-05 Setting Time of Operation for Parking Meters Pursuant to Section 8-8164 of the Lafayette Municipal Code.
Recommendation: Adopt Resolution 2024-05.
Councilmember Anduri said he wanted a response from Ms. Robinson to Erling Horn’s message and what he is suggesting.
Administrative Services Director Robinson stated at the last meeting they pulled this out as a resolution so it would be easier to change the hours should they want to do so; however, staff is not prepared to make any recommendation on changing the hours at this time because there quite a few considerations she thinks should be studied. Merely changing the hours from 9:00 to 10:00 would cost the City about $50,000. They just raised the amount because this fund is in a deficit right now, and it will take a couple of years to pull out of that. So, adding another $50,000 a year would be prudent.
The other option would be to add hours onto the end to match the private lots which charge until 8:00 p.m. This is an option, but they have spoken to the Police Department who manages the parking control officer. They have some concerns about supervision and management if they lengthen those hours. It is difficult on the other end to figure out how much money the City might make on the other end and there is no data on this. Other things they would need to consider is whether there is permanent signage on poles that list the hours and these would need to be changed which is a cost. Therefore, it is not a matter of passing a resolution and making a change. There are many things to consider.
They have been in conversations with the Chamber of Commerce. They are aware that they have not made a final decision. They are still studying it. She and the City Manager have spoken and think it might be a good idea to have on-going conversations with the Chamber. Part of the concern is there is confusion because the private lots have different hours than the streets. They may want to bring those into alignment, but she pointed out that unless the City starts enforcing on Sunday or they stop enforcing on Sunday, they will never get 100% parity, so there still may be confusion if that is the goal.
So, they continue to study it. They have not made a final recommendation because they would like to be more thoughtful about it because it is not just something they can change back and forth easily. The resolution just keeps it the way it is for right now.
Vice Mayor Kwok referred to the purpose of the resolution. He heard that the resolution keeps the status quo as is. He asked if it is necessary to adopt the resolution tonight. Ms. Robinson confirmed and said it is because staff pulled that part out of the ordinance, so they need the resolution to set the hours. If they do not pass it today, they will be in limbo.
Mayor Dawson opened the public comment period.
JOHN MCCORMICK, Chamber of Commerce, said he wanted to discuss what the Executive Committee meant with the letter sent to the Council along with conversations held. They do get an inordinate number of complaints about parking, and he gets them as a business owner. The people seem to feel the Chamber is somehow responsible for parking in town.
City Council Meeting Page 21 of 23 January 22, 2024
He thinks there are two aspects—consistency, which the Chamber wants to see as much as possible between the private lots and the City-owned lots. People shopping have no idea of what lot is private and public. The second aspect is that they have heard from coffee shops and others that they want to delay starting metering until 10:00 a.m. so it will make it easy for people who want to get a quick coffee, and it would not cost people $1 or $2 to do that. The Chamber’s feeling is that if it were to go later for dinner, it is a lot easier to handle than the cost of a coffee. This was the Chamber’s position to be consistent and to shift the hours to match the private lots as much as possible. From a monetary perspective, it would be a good trade-off because people will park longer in the evening hours and spend more money in town.
Councilmember Candell asked if Mr. McCormick is proposing going all the way from 10:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. Mr. McCormick said they want to match as much as possible what the private lots do, either 7:00 or 8:00 p.m. Even if enforcement was not as diligent in that last hour, it would still be satisfactory.
Councilmember Anduri asked if Mr. McCormick would be okay with the Council passing the resolution tonight so they can continue to enforce. Mr. McCormick said yes, absolutely. This seems a necessary precondition to eventually changing it. With the resolution, it seems like a much easier and more flexible way to change the hours. He said if the public knows they are making steps towards rationalizing those two lots, this is acceptable.
Mayor Dawson asked for a motion, with the understanding the Council will revisit this.
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Gerringer/Kwok) to Adopt Resolution 2024-05. Roll Call Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Dawson, Kwok, Anduri, Candell and Gerringer; Noes: None).
16. 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 Councilmember for being great colleagues and she knows that with Mayor Dawson’s leadership and everyone working together, Lafayette is in good hands. She looks forward to email blasts and said she is not completely going away and would be happy to be a sounding board.
Councilmember Candell reported she is on the League Governance for the East Bay Division, and they held a meeting and presentation from Common Cause who is studying AI in elections. Apparently, the EU passed a sweeping set of AI reforms and controls, but they import all their AI tools and not like America where we build it here and get influence from the companies not to regulate them. So, it will be harder for America. At the bare minimum, she suggests making it a crime if posting something fake about a candidate or any elected. She hoped to get the League of California Cities to push hard on this.
She said the School Bus Transportation Board met, and Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer Kahan’s staff is working hard and will cooperate on a legislative solution for getting the City 60% funding for buses and Superintendent Brent Stephens reached out and said if they do not get that, our school board will work hard to make this happen.
Mayor Dawson referred to EBMUD and said she knows Councilmember Anduri attended the two-part collaboration. They were talking about the damage to the trail. Dee Rosario was present as well, and he will be following up on that and she recommended getting in touch with him.
City Council Meeting Page 22 of 23 January 22, 2024
B. Mayor Dawson and Vice Mayor Kwok
Resolution 2024-06 Appointing Three Members to the Code Enforcement Appeals Board Recommendation: Adopt Resolution 2024-06 Appointing three members to the Code Enforcement Appeals Board.
Vice Mayor Kwok stated they had 4 excellent applicants for the 3 vacancies and he and Mayor Dawson interviewed all candidates. They would like to recommend Bob McClain, Gregory Meronek, and Jennifer Paul be appointed to serve 2-year terms on the Code Enforcement Appeals Board.
Mayor Dawson opened the public comment period, and there were no speakers.
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Kwok/Dawson) to adopt Resolution 2024-06 appointing Bob McClain, Gregory Meronek, and Jenifer Paul to the Cod Enforcement Appeals Board for 2-year terms. Roll Call Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Dawson, Kwok, Anduri, Candell and Gerringer; Noes: None).
17. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
A. Requests from Sara Regan, Executive Director, Lafayette Chamber of Commerce, and Matt Pease, Rotary Club of Lafayette, for upcoming events in 2024:
1. Request to use Lafayette Plaza on Tuesday, May 21 from 4:00-8:30pm for the annual Taste of Lafayette. The Chamber will secure an ABC daily liquor license and provide a certificate of insurance naming the City as an additional insured. Street closure and No Parking areas described in Resolution 2024-03 Exhibit A.
2. Request to use Lafayette Plaza for the Rock the Plaza summer concert series on Friday evenings, June 7, 14, and 21 from 4:00-10:00pm and Friday, June 28 for the Lamorinda Arts Council’s annual Lamorinda Idol performances. The chamber will provide a certificate of insurance naming the City as an additional insured. Street closure and No Parking areas described in Resolution 2024-03 Exhibit B.
3. Requests for the annual Lafayette Art & Wine Festival from 7:00pm Friday, September 20 until 10:00pm Sunday, September 22. Permission to continue the banner program on the medium light poles, cooperation and coordination with the police and public works departments, and the City’s assistance in publicizing the event in the Vistas, Roundup and the Park and the Park and Recreation newsletter. The Chamber will provide a certificate of insurance naming the City as an additional insured. Street closure and No Parking areas described in Resolution 2024-03 Exhibit C.
4. Requests for the annual Lafayette Res Run for Education Sunday, October 20 from 6:00- 11:00am. Assistance, cooperation and coordination with the police and public works departments, the City’s assistance in publicizing the event in the Vistas, Roundup and the Park and Recreation newsletter. The Chamber will provide a certificate of insurance naming the City as an additional insured. Street closure and No Parking areas described in Resolution 2023-07 Exhibit D.
5. Request to Use Lafayette Plaza for the annual Trick-or-Treat Street Friday, October 25 from 4:00-6:00pm. The Chamber will provide a certificate of insurance naming the City as an additional insured. Street closure and No Parking areas described in Resolution 2024-03 Exhibit E.
City Council Meeting Page 23 of 23 January 22, 2024
6. Request to use Lafayette Plaza on Sunday, December 8 from 4:00-6:00pm for the annual It’s a Wonderful Life in Lafayette Holiday Celebration. A holiday tree will go up in the Plaza until January 1, 2025. The Chamber will provide a certificate of insurance naming the City as an additional insured. Street closure and No Parking areas described in Resolution 2024-03 Exhibit F.
7. Sustainable Lafayette, the Lafayette Environmental Task Force, Lafayette Chamber of Commerce and Lafayette Library and Learning Center request permission to Plaza Way and a portion of Golden Gate Way on Sunday, April 21 from 8:00am-4:00pm for the annual Lafayette Earth Day Festival. The Chamber will provide a certificate of insurance naming the City as an additional insured. Street closure and No Parking areas described in Resolution 2024-03 Exhibit G.
8. The Rotary Club of Lafayette requests permission to close a portion of Golden Gate Way and Plaza Way Sunday, April 27 from 9:00am-1:00pm for a new community event “Keep On Truckin”. The Rotary Club of Lafayette will provide a certificate of insurance naming the City as an additional insured. Street closure and No Parking area described in Resolution 2024-03 Exhibit H.
9. The Lafayette Chamber of Commerce, the City Lafayette, and the Lafayette Community Foundation requests permission to use Lafayette Plaza Saturday, June 1 from 7:00am3:30pm for Lafayette Community Day. The Chamber will provide a certificate of insurance naming the City as an additional insured. Street closure and No Parking areas described in Resolution 2024-03 Exhibit I.
10. The Rotary Club of Lafayette requests permission to use the parking lot at 3503 First Street for the Lafayette Rotary Club Community Celebration and Dinner on June 22 from 5:00- 9:00pm. The Rotary Club of Lafayette will provide a certificate of insurance naming the City as an additional insured. No street closures necessary.
Recommendation: Approve special events and adopt Resolution 2024-03 for the special event street closures and no parking areas.
Mayor Dawson stated the Chamber of Commerce requests a variety of events, and she opened the public comment period, and there were no speakers.
Councilmember Anduri confirmed the recommendation is for approval of all 10 items and noted that 9 of them have street closures, which are included in the exhibit in the resolution.
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Gerringer/Anduri) to approve special events and adopt Resolution 2024-03 for the special event street closures and no parking areas. Roll Call Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Dawson, Kwok, Anduri, Candell and Gerringer; Noes: None).
18. ADJOURNMENT – 9:27 p.m. in in honor of Teresa Gerringer on her retirement from the City Council.
APPROVED:
ATTEST:
__________________________________
_________________________________ Gina M. Dawson, Mayor Joanne Robbins, City Clerk