City of Lafayette
City Council Minutes
LAFAYETTE
SETTLED I3O — INCORPUHATED 5A3
Lafayette Library and Learning Center - Don Tatzin Community Hall October 28, 2024 3491 Mount Diablo Boulevard, Lafayette, California 6:00 p.m.
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:
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City Council Meeting Page 1 of 6 October 28, 2024
INDEXED DEC 18:202
Mayor Dawson called the Regular City Council meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. She reported that Vice Mayor Kwok is participating remotely from 7510 N. Pennsylvania Street, Indianapolis, Indiana.
2. ROLL CALL
Present: Mayor Dawson; Vice Mayor Kwok (remote); Councilmembers Anduri, Candell, and McCormick
Absent: None
Staff Present: *Tracy Robinson, Administrative Services Director; 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 Candell/Anduri) to adopt the agenda. Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Dawson, Kwok, Anduri, Candell, and McCormick; Noes: None).
5. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Led by Mayor Dawson.
6. PUBLIC COMMENTS (For Items not on the agenda).
JAMES CHERAYIL said it is election time and he referred to flyers regarding housing and he voiced concerns with the amount of housing the City approved due to the State mandate. As a former Caltrans employee, he asked if there is a traffic management master plan. In the future, the City will need to manage traffic and can only do so much with signalization.
MIKE HAYES spoke about Al for business networking and sustainability and asked the City of Lafayette to establish an Al media literacy committee or commission, develop Al literacy programs for residents, advise the Council on Al related policies, explore economic opportunities in the Al sector, enhance City services using Al, and address ethical considerations of Al adoption.
LIBBY HENRY said all candidates are well-intentioned people but individuals are needed to direct and keep track of the staff and said what is ignored is how much the Council relies on staff to give information and recommendations for actions. She referred to the hiring of the housing element consultant, the lack of transparency years ago in the City's deficit, cited the lack of integrity across local, state, and national
7. CITY MANAGER'S UPDATE
Administrative Services Director Tracy Robinson gave the following update on behalf of the City Manager:
From the Planning Department:
City Council Meeting Page 2 of 6 October 28, 2024
• The department is actively working on three key areas of the Municipal Code: 1) the Tree Protection Ordinance Update is set to be reviewed by the City Council for adoption this fall; 2) the ADU Ordinance Update is scheduled for review by the Planning Commission in November and the City Council in December; and 3) Amendments to the Zoning Ordinance aimed at implementing the Housing Element will be presented to both the Planning Commission and the City Council by the end of the year.
Councilmember Candell asked if the zoning changes will go to the PC first and then to the City Council, and Ms. Robinson confirmed.
8. PRESENTATIONS
A. Banner Advisory Committee
Annual Update
Recommendation: Receive and file.
Lori Lane, Chair of the Banner Advisory Committee, said she is here with Committee Member Larry Blodgett. Judith Klein Flynn is another member as well as Arman Hadilou, Chair of the DRC. She also introduced the Chamber of Commerce liaison, Sarah Regan, who attends their meetings. The most recent banner was produced in 2021 in November which is "Shop Local Lafayette".
In 2021, they reduced the number of rotations.In 2024, the rotations are a mix of about two months.
They are a bit behind in their goals for 2024, given staff resources and scheduling. They need to: Assess the banners they intend to retire; Take inventory of the banners, make sure they are in good working order and the color is still viable for the banner's useful life; As they talk about new banners, they bring those before the Council if and when appropriate; And they are still under wat for exploring opportunities to repurpose retired banners. They think there might be a useful aftermarket for those; The banner policy update is also underway, and they appreciate being able to serve in this capacity and welcome any questions.
Mayor Dawson thanked the Committee for their work over the years and said the banners have brought vibrancy to the downtown.
Councilmember McCormick agreed that the banners add such charm and mark the seasons downtown.
He asked the Committee to expand its comment on the update of the banner policy.
Larry Blodgett, Committee Member, stated the policy for the main banners on the central light post is in effect. Originally, when Plaza Park was developed with the shorter Battery Park lights, there were discussions about other banners being hung there. They were approached by the Community Foundation about possibly developing a banner for that area, which was slowed by COVID. They are trying to develop a program specifically for Plaza Park and the unique challenge they have is they do not do individual organizations and so that has been a real challenge. This is the policy they are working on. A number of years ago, we had Town Hall approach them wanting banners and this is how they developed "Lafayette Has History" banners which was successful.
Mayor Dawson opened the public comment period, and there were no speakers.
City Council Meeting Page 3 of 6 October 28, 2024
Councilmember Anduri thanked members for their service on the committee, said the banners add to the downtown, and pointed out there is $35,000 set aside in the budget for the 2024/25, but most likely the amount spent this year is $12,600.
Mr. Blodgett said the Chamber of Commerce is actually responsible for the Art and Wine banners, and they are produced at the expenditure of the Chamber and they incur some of the cost of that, as well. At one point, the cost of the banners was $10,000 to produce a set of banners for everything but as the City has expanded its light poles, they have more banners. They are hopeful that Measure His successful because he understands that this committee is probably the "lowest hanging fruit" in the City's budget so they will think good thoughts.
Mayor Dawson thinks it is a "good bang for the buck" and wonderful addition to the downtown. She and Councilmembers thanked the Banner Committee for their presentation and update.
9. CONSENT CALENDAR
Mayor Dawson asked if there were any requests for removal of any items, and no public requests or public comments.
A. Minutes - October 15, 202
Recommendation: Approve.
B. Quarterly Financial Report - 4** Quarter, Fiscal Year 23/24 Recommendation: Receive and file.
C. Carol Lane Residential Parking Permit Program
Recommendation: Continued without consideration to November 12, 2024.
D. 2024 Road Paving Project, Final Acceptance of Construction Contract Project, Project No. 014- 9741
Recommendation: Accept the construction contract with JV Lucas Paving Inc. as complete and authorize staff to file a Notice of Completion for the 2024 Road Paving Project, Project No. 014- 9741.
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Anduri/Candell) to adopt Consent Calendar Items A, B, C, and D. Vote: 5-0 (Ayes:
Dawson, Kwok, Anduri, Candell, and McCormick; Noes: None).
10. OLD BUSINESS - None.
11. STAFF REPORTS - None.
12. PUBLIC HEARINGS -None.
13. ITEMS REMOVED FROM CONSENT - None.
14. COUNCIL/COMMISSION REPORTS
City Council Meeting Page 4 of 6 October 28, 2024
A. Councilmembers report on activities and consideration of matters a Councilmember wishes to initiate for placement on a future agenda.
Councilmember McCormick reported attending the Library Day and art tour. There were 40 community members who got a tour of the public art inside and outside the Library, which is fantastic. He also called out two recent Chamber activities-Treat Or Treat Street where they had 1,000 trick or treaters and parents toured downtown, visited many businesses, and restaurants were buzzing all night. Recently, they had a Res Run, as well, with 2,000 runners come from all over to enjoy the event. The money raised for the run goes back into the community to schools, and it was very successful.
Councilmember Candell reported on her attendance to Cal Cities and said the resolution the Council considered at its earlier October meeting and voted to abstain on about having the State lawmakers only pass rules for local officials that also apply to them, such as the Brown Act and campaign finance rules. The resolution was changed a bit in the governance transparency and labor relations subcommittee and was recommended to pass by a vote of 20-4 in the subcommittee. She went to the meeting at the Long Beach event before it goes to the General Assembly and there it passed by about 75% approval, as well. But, when she attended the full League at the General Assembly, they were 17 people shy of quorum, so now it goes back to the Executive Board and they will meet sometime this month and conduct the final vote on Councilmember Candell also learned that in May 2024 Senator Glazer successfully requested an audit of the HCD Housing Element review process which is underway. The audit will not be concluded until sometime in 2025 and there have been several panels held on it at the APA, California Conference on Housing Elements Improvement and Reform, and participants and panelists universally expressed frustration with the 6th cycle process and strongly emphasized the need for adequate time, consistent review standards, simplification, and additional transparency for the 7" cycle.
They also had panels at the APA in California and also expressed universal frustration of the 6* cycle. Cal Cities apparently had two planner round tables in October and she hoped staff was able to participate.
What has happened is the City of Pleasanton's Planning staff wrote a letter to the auditor about their experience. There was a push by many cities to do the same thing-to take Pleasanton's template, update it accordingly, and send it to the auditor. This is the only they will know what happened. With the Council's support, she said she can send the letter from Pleasanton to Planning staff and have them review it.
Councilmembers concurred and also confirmed that staff can make it public and send it to the Council.
Lastly, Councilmember Candell said one of the noteworthy sessions she attended was the California Economic Forecast on Navigating Economic Trends. UCLA, Anderson School of Management Professor Jerry Nickelsburg was on the panel and of interest, he is confident that California's long-term forecast is good. Also, he said a lot of housing will be built in California but it will not become affordable.
The other important item relates to the City's sales tax. He said that the best way for cities to get a piece of the on-line sales tax revenue since he does not think Sacramento will be willing to spread the on-line taxes from the distribution center cities anytime soon, is to pass a local sales tax which is what Measure H is. Whenever anybody orders anything on-line, Lafayette will get one-half cent of that sales tax instead of being filtered and watered down by the County.
Mayor Dawson reported that Recycle Smart held their meeting last week and gave contracts out for post- collection starting in 2027 for the next 10-15 years. They also issued the new RFP for collection.
City Council Meeting Page 5 of 6 October 28, 2024
Councilmember Anduri reminded everybody that this Saturday, November 2nd is Night at the Library, and there are still tickets available. He referred to Slow Down Lafayette campaign, the most important evening of the year to slow down is Halloween, so he asked everybody to observe the speed limits and below on Halloween.
15. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
A. Email from Lori McDonald, Contra Costa CAER Group, Inc., requesting a proclamation recognizing November 6, 2024, as "Shelter-In-Place Education Day" in Lafayette.
Recommendation: Approve the proclamation recognizing November 6, 2024, as "Shelter-In-Place Mayor Dawson opened the public comment period, and there were no speakers.
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Anduri/Candell) to approve the proclamation recognizing November 6, 2024, as "Shelter-In-Place. Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Anduri, Candell, Kwok, McCormick and Dawson; Noes: None).
16. ADJOURNMENT - 6:30 p.m.
APPROVED:
Mine M. Dansan
naM. Dawson, Mayor
ATTEST: OF LAFAYET
JULY 29
*
1968
panne Robbins, City Clerk
CALIFORN P
City Council Meeting Page 6 of 6 October 28, 2024