City Council Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 18 January 13, 2025 7 City of Lafayette
City Council Minutes
Lafayette Library and Learning Center – Don Tatzin Community Hall January 13, 2025 3491 Mount Diablo Boulevard, Lafayette, California 5:45 p.m.
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City Council Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 18 January 13, 2025
1. CALL TO ORDER – 5:45 P.M.
Mayor Candell called the Regular City Council meeting to order at 5:45 p.m.
2. ROLL CALL
Present: Mayor Candell, Vice Mayor Anduri, Councilmembers Cervantes, Dawson, and McCormick
Staff Present: Niroop Srivatsa, City Manager; Tracy Robinson, Administrative Services Director; Sonia Urzua, Assistant Building and Planning Director; Mike Moran, Engineering and Public Works Director; Jonathan Katayanagi, Parks and Recreation Director; Mala Subramanian, City Attorney; Joanne Robbins, City Clerk
Disclosure and/or Take Action
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 (Anduri/Dawson) to adopt the agenda. Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Candell, Anduri, Cervantes, Dawson, and McCormick; Noes: None).
5. PUBLIC COMMENTS (For Closed Session items) 5:45 p.m.
None.
6. CLOSED SESSION
The Council considered the following matters under Closed Session:
A. Leamy, et al. vs. City of Lafayette
Contra Costa Superior Court, Case No. MSC20-02456
B. Vesce vs. City of Lafayette
Contra Costa County Superior Court, Case No. MSC-20-01130 C. Hoffman, et al. vs. City of Lafayette, et al.
Contra Costa Superior Court, Case Nos. C24-02589 and N24-1195 D. Employee Performance Evaluation (Gov. Code Sectio 54957 Title: Mala Subramanian, City Attorney
REPORT OF CLOSED SESSION – 7:00 p.m.
Mayor Candell announced there was no reportable action taken in Closed Session.
7. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE - Mayor Candell led in the Pledge of Allegiance.
8. MAYOR CANDELL
Land Acknowledgement Statement
City Council Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 18 January 13, 2025 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.
9. PUBLIC COMMENTS (For items not on the agenda) 7:00 p.m.
None.
Mayor Candell announced that Item 15.A; the appeal hearing in Happy Valley Glen will not be discussed, noting the application has been pulled.
She also reported the Lafayette Police Department and the Contra Costa Fire received a mutual aid request from the Fire Captain Hans Christian from Homeland Security Section of the Los Angeles County Fire Department requesting directly from Lafayette’s Police Department, John Cornell, the Emergency Services Coordinator, and she read his letter into the record to Chief Williams to assist with the Palisades incident, specifically his expertise to deliver and set up the D-Drone drone detection equipment critical to their operations.
The D-Drone is an anti-drone technology, and the request is to identify unauthorized drones flying in the operational area which is hindering the Fire Department air support efforts to put out the Palisades Fire.
Mr. Cornell flew to LA yesterday, set up and handed off the D-Drone to the LA County Fire Department and returned to work today. She and Councilmembers thanked Mr. Cornell for his extra efforts to help during this terrible time.
10. CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
City Manager Niroop Srivatsa gave the following updates:
• The Lafayette Youth Commission is proud to be bringing back the 7th and 8th grade Tri-City Dance on January 24th. Tickets are available on the City’s website. • From Engineering, staff is completing a couple of capital projects and the department will be hosting a public meeting for the Pleasant Hill Road Pathway Project, which is adjacent to Springhill School. The meeting will be held this Thursday, January 16th. There will also be a meeting on January 22nd about the City’s large repaving project which includes a large portion of St. Mary’s Road and the very west end of Mt. Diablo Boulevard. Additionally, the City’s Maintenance crew is taking advantage of the dry winter conditions and completing temporary pothole repairs and striping and signing Work Orders.
• As the Council is aware late last year, the String of Pearls sculpture in the basement level of the library was damaged by someone throwing a water bottle at it. The Public Art Committee is pleased to report that Ann Webber, the artist, repaired the sculpture in the Library and noted that the visible repair reflects the sculpture’s evolving history and has documented the restoration with a dated note inside the piece.
City Council Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 18 January 13, 2025 • From the Planning Department, the revised ADU and Tree Ordinances officially went into effect last week. Updated permit applications and materials are available on the website. Notably, two tree permit applications have already been submitted under the new guidelines reflecting early engagement from the community. And, consistent with State law requirements, the Planning Department launched the pre-approved ADU program or the P-ADU program. This requires the City to upload pre-approved ADU plans onto the website and allows homeowners to take advantage of those pre-approved plans, reducing approval time and encouraging more housing development in alignment with the City’s goals.
Mayor Candell opened the public comment period, and there were no speakers.
11. PRESENTATIONS – None.
12. CONSENT CALENDAR
Vice Mayor Anduri requested removal of Item 12.G. Mayor Candell asked and confirmed Rob Lavoie wished to pull Item 12.F.
A. Minutes
1. December 9, 2024
Recommendation: Approve.
2. December 16, 2024
Recommendation: Approve.
B. Ordinance 696 Adopting Amendments to the Municipal Code and Zoning Map, Rezoning of Certain Areas, and Establishing Objective Development Standards Recommendation: Waive second reading and adopt Ordinance 696.
C. Resolution 2025-01 Request for Allocation of TDA Article-3 Funds for Olympic Boulevard East Leg RRFB Crossing and Adoption of a CEQA Notice of Exemption Recommendation: 1) Adopt Resolution 2025-01 approving the request to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission for an allocation of $55,000 from the TDA Article 3 Pedestrian and Bicycle Project funding for fiscal year 2025/26. The request would include a local match of $10,000. 2) Adopt a CEQA Categorical Exemption for the project under Section 15301(c) for the project and authorize staff to file a Notice of Exemption.
D. East Side Pleasant Hill Road Pathway and Pleasant Hill Road Corridor Study by CCTA Update Recommendation: Receive and file.
E. Resolution 2025-02 Appointing of Standby Officers to the Lafayette City Council Recommendation: Adopt Resolution 2025-02.
H. Potential Acquisition of 3425 Mt. Diablo Boulevard – APN 233-051-019 Recommendation: Schedule a closed session at the end of this meeting to discuss price and terms of payment.
City Council Meeting Minutes Page 5 of 18 January 13, 2025 ACTION: It was M/S/C (Dawson/Anduri) to approve the Consent Calendar Items A.1, A.2, B, C, D, E, and H.
Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Candell, Anduri, Cervantes, Dawson, and McCormick; Noes: None).
13. OLD BUSINESS – None.
14. STAFF REPORTS
A. Niroop Srivatsa, City Manager and Tracy Robinson, Administrative Services Director FY2024-2025 Final Municipal Budget
Recommendation: Adopt Resolution 2025-04 confirming Council priorities and adopting the Final FY24-25 Workplan and budget.
Administrative Services Director Tracy Robinson gave the staff report, stating the final budget refines the proposed budget adopted by the Council in June and it incorporates changes approved by the Council since then, as well as recommendations from Department Directors that respond to current conditions.
For the last three years, the budget’s five-year model anticipated a structural funding deficit of more than $2 million annually.
In June 2024 when the Council adopted the proposed budget, the Council approved using the remaining ARPA funds of $2 million in order to extend the City’s ability to meet the General Fund Reserve requirement through 2025/26 while contemplating more permanent solutions to the deficit. Towards that end, the Council moved to put a sales tax measure on the November 2024 ballot to avoid making substantial cuts to service. In addition, the City froze four open positions, as well as cut back on on-going project costs as a precaution in case the measure did not pass.
As a result of the City’s actions, the City remains in overall good financial health with a General Fund balance of $18 million at the end of FY June 30, 2024. That equals 100% of the annual General Fund expenditures and it seeds the 60% target by $7.2 million. However, given that some projects were carried forward from the prior year, the projected Reserve at the end of FY 2025 is 82% or $4.6 million over the Reserve target. Also, in November 2024, Measure H, a one-half cent sales tax lasting seven years was passed, with 65% of the vote. The additional sales tax is estimated to bring in $2.4 million per year and is enough to continue City services at their current level. She pointed out this money has also been included in the five-year model in the current budget.
She reiterated that it is important to note that the projected sales tax revenue is only enough to address the current deficit but not enough to fund additional programs or projects or to address the future maintenance needs of the City’s existing infrastructure which are significant. While the passage of the measure has allowed some breathing room within the budget for the next several years, staff recommends that surplus reserves be directed towards increasing and establishing funds to address ongoing maintenance of the City’s infrastructure which includes buildings, paths, signals, streetlights, and safety equipment such as the flashing crosswalk signs.
Further, staff recommends the Council consider funding an economic stabilization fund that is separate from the emergency reserve so that the City can weather potential financial downturns more smoothly in the future. The residents of Lafayette passed Measure H by over 65% signaling that they value the services the City provides and that they trust the Council to be responsible financial stewards of their tax dollars.
However, there are challenges that persist, and it is recommended that we remain vigilant to take actions now that will ensure the City’s fiscal sustainability in the future.
City Council Meeting Minutes Page 6 of 18 January 13, 2025 There are several recommendations Ms. Robinson provided, as follows:
1. Authorize staff to prepare a thorough analysis of capital maintenance needs for all City infrastructure as part of the preparation for the FY 2025/26 draft budget which the Council will see in June.
2. Based on this analysis, consider using a portion of the excess reserves to catch up sinking funds that are currently allocated to infrastructure maintenance as well as to fund some immediate needs.
3. Consider establishing a separate reserve fund for economic stabilization using some of the current excess reserve. These are sometimes known as rainy day funds. The current reserve has traditionally been earmarked to assist the City in dealing with potential environmental disasters such as an earthquake or wildfire. There is no reserve dedicated towards addressing economic downturns such as a prolonged recession, a nationwide economic upheaval, or another pandemic.
4. If the Council wishes to establish such a reserve, staff will need to draft a policy for its size, use and replenishment. Staff can bring this forward as part of the 2025/26 budgeting process.
5. This was not in the original memo, but it would be remiss if she did not mention given the events in Southern California, the Council may want to consider using some of the excess reserve to fund fire mitigation projects given that wildfire prevention preparedness and responsiveness is one of the Council’s primary goals. The details and scope of these projects will need to be studied together with the Fire District to see what is feasible and also note that this excess reserve money is one-time money. Any projects would need to be specific and finite because there is currently no funding in place for on-going programs.
Tonight, the Council can discuss any questions about this final budget and the Council has the option to adopt it tonight or to continue it to the next meeting for adoption.
City Manager Srivatsa provided an update on the Council’s priorities which were set early last year. The Council established three priorities:
1. Develop a Fiscal Sustainability Plan. To achieve that, the Council placed a sales tax measure on the November ballot, and Measure H passed with a 65% vote. Much effort went into it on the Council’s, the community’s, and staff’s part, but together they were able to see a successful outcome for Measure H.
2. Wildfire Prevention Preparedness, Responsiveness, and Utility Safety. The City has done more than what it has done in the past and was able to partner with Con Fire to clear brush along evacuation routes which the City has not done before. They have increased the number of Firewise neighborhoods, assisted Con Fire with the Firewise Chipping Day, held education events such as the Lamorinda Safety Fair, the National Night Out, and conducted Web EOC drills to prepare the City in the event of an emergency.
As Ms. Robinson mentioned, there may be things the City can do in partnership with Con Fire that would create a greater impact and would allow the community to be safer. This could include one set of annual inspections on homes to ensure that homes are hardened and vegetation around homes are at a safe distance from their structures. She does not know whether Con Fire is set up to do that for Lafayette, whether Lafayette may have to contribute towards that, but this is one idea she would like to discuss with the Fire Chief and it can be brought back to the Council when she hears more.
City Council Meeting Minutes Page 7 of 18 January 13, 2025
3. Create a Downtown and Mt. Diablo Corridor Specific Plan. No work was done on that. The Planning Department spent all of last year on the Housing Element which tonight will come to an end and hopefully will be certified by HCD very soon. Once the Housing Element is adopted, staff will begin the process of a scope of work for the Downtown Corridor Plan.
Ms. Srivatsa said staff’s recommendation is for the Council to re-affirm these three priorities. She asked that the Council not add any more tasks this year because the City will not be collecting the sales tax revenue until mid-year 2025 and the Council has just lifted the hiring freeze so it will take three to six months to fill all positions.
Vice Mayor Anduri said in the final budget on page 5 of the staff report, there are four unfunded requests.
The first one is $650,000 for the Patio at Buckeye Fields. He said even if the Council wanted to include that request in this budget, he asked if there is staff to carry that out.
Ms. Robinson said no; not in the six months left in this fiscal year.
Vice Mayor Anduri said he had the same question for the Buckeye Parking Lot and the Community Parking Lot. Even if the City wanted to apply the money to it, he asked if they could actually do it or he asked if they should be looking to 2025/26 for these projects. Director of Parks and Recreation Jonathan Katayanagi replied, yes, for all three projects.
Vice Mayor Anduri said for the $80,000 for the remote-controlled mower for weed abatement. He thinks the Council has seen the video of how that works. This might be an interesting item to put in this year’s budget to get more vegetation removed. But he asked if this is the product staff thinks is the best for the City to get.
Mr. Katayanagi said yes; there are two mowers which staff held a demonstration of. The $80,000 represents the larger of the two mowers. There is a smaller, more versatile one they have demonstrated, as well. Either of those pieces of equipment will work very well. He thinks he would want to consult with Engineering and Public Works Department on the final decision. The funding is similar between the two and he would say the trailer for the $80,000 mower is a little shorter than they would need to move it, and it would require a larger trailer. A larger landscape trailer is something the department needs as well.
They are removing two, 20-yard skips a week right now, and the trailer they are using is not quite built for that. As far as fire needs, the trailer and the mower would be very effective, and he confirmed the trailer would cost $10,000.
Vice Mayor Anduri said on the fourth bullet, funds for traffic calming requests has been almost entirely depleted. He knows the City set new procedures and September or October was the deadline. They got applications, and he asked if the City received applications and have the funds to carry out any of the requests.
Public Works Director Mike Moran said the City received a few applications and denied several of them in evaluating them regardless of whether there was money or not. He believes they have some carry-over funds from the previous year for the original traffic calming funds the Council released to put in speed humps in other neighborhoods. The City has approximately $24,000 left and it may be enough to cover the traffic calming locations staff would recommend pursuing. They did not get a big surge like they did in the last couple of years because they took care of some backlog.
City Council Meeting Minutes Page 8 of 18 January 13, 2025 Therefore, going forward there will likely always get some requests. He does not know what an annual budget might look like. In the past for years, they had a sinking fund of about $100,000 that they did not tap into and over the last four years, they have depleted that with the exception of about $24,000. They will be okay for this fiscal year, but this will come to the Council ultimately with staff’s recommendation and, if they needed $35,000 they would make that request at that time with options for funding or request it from the General Fund. So, going forward, if they receive requests in 2025 and they want to implement them in 2026, so we will need to move forward with a sinking fund that is replenished from year to year.
Vice Mayor Anduri referred to page 5 again and said there are four bullets for deferred maintenance. He asked if the Council can assume staff is looking at those for 2025/26 and not for this year.
Ms. Robinson confirmed and said staff needs to do a thorough inventory and do some analysis with costs, which have probably increased, so she would like to come back with a recommendation in the next fiscal year in June.
Councilmember McCormick referred to the five-year budget forecast on page 9. Staff mentioned including the Measure H funds which is helpful. He does not understand the usage section or second section where there is a potential savings line item and asked staff to explain this.
Ms. Robinson stated generally every year they want to be accurate but do not always spend every single dollar they budget. Sometimes they have to carry things forward. There are a couple of things they know they are probably going to not spend which is around $200,000. They have 999 funds which are funds when a department underspends their budget, they are allowed to keep up to $25,000. This is just to allow some flexibility in the budget. Overall, this is about $200,000 that the City never spends up to its maximum.
In the past, they have also had savings from the Police Department. Last year, they saved $250,000 from that budget. There are sometimes vacancies to account for, so this is just to give the Council an idea. They forecast savings so the Council does not become alarmed when seeing that the bottom line may be tipping over to a negative number. She wants to be as realistic as possible and noted the City usually saves some money or about $500,000 on a $20 million budget.
Councilmember McCormick likened the budget to being a very conservative approach, which has historically been the situation where spending is about $500,000 less than the budget accounts for. Ms.
Robinson agreed, and said the reason is they do not want to pressure and cut something when we know there will be savings across the entire budget.
Councilmember McCormick noted there is also the $1 million line item for the additional road repairs. He assumes that is an artifact of the Measure H conversation and going forward, this will be rolled up in a single number.
Ms. Robinson confirmed this is correct. She did want to call it out. She did actually add an inflation factor to this $1 million because she does not believe it is realistic that the cost of road repairs is going to stay the same, so she increased that amount annually by 3% and hopefully this is enough. Again, she wanted to be realistic.
City Council Meeting Minutes Page 9 of 18 January 13, 2025 Councilmember McCormick said to circle back on the recommendation of having the economic stabilization fund, he asked how much that may be. Ms. Robinson said she did not recommend how much it should be and thinks this would come out of a longer conversation. Right now, the City has an excess of $4 million but this is a discussion for possibly the Finance Subcommittee to look into. She said staff is already collecting policies from other cities, so she thinks this would come out of a larger discussion.
Councilmember McCormick asked and confirmed with Ms. Robinson that this would be one-time money.
Councilmember Cervantes said he likes the approach of looking at deferred maintenance and other items.
He said there is a $4 million one-time bucket of funds truing up some of the City’s accounts where they may be below an appropriate threshold with respect to deferred maintenance. He thinks of other potential risks or liabilities the City has storm drains and stormwater and asked if this is something that would be appropriate as well to put into the calculus of what should be considered.
Ms. Robinson said Measure H addressed some of those gaps such as stormwater and the Downtown Assessment District. Anything the Council would like to do could be appropriate, but she thinks the City is very underfunded. She called out infrastructure in particular because the City has been putting money away which is good, but they put away the same amount of money every year and the costs for replacement or for maintenance is increasing every year. So, again, this is a good reason to find out in more detail how underfunded they are.
Councilmember Cervantes said in this exercise, they are looking ahead to the next year’s fiscal budget, there would be some calculus done to say the City has “x” in this fund, but it is really “x” plus “y” they have to figure out the “y.”
Ms. Robinson explained there are two components—one is catching up the funds the City is already saving and the other is establishing funds for things they do not currently include, such as building a path where the City gets a grant, but the path will need to be maintained. The City currently does not put money away for things like that. She knows if the Council is going to talk about buying parkland or parks, the City has money for that, and they need to start putting away money for maintenance. So, it is both beefing up those sinking funds they have and establishing sinking funds for infrastructure the City has not had before.
Mayor Candell opened the public comment period.
GAIL GABRIEL, referred to her email and thanked Ms. Robinson for addressing all questions she had. She asked for an explanation of the $130,000 cost for a consultant to undertake a Fee Study which will allow the City to increase Planning and Engineering fees to ensure the City is accurately capturing its costs for service.
City Council Meeting Minutes Page 10 of 18 January 13, 2025 STELLA WOTHERSPOON thanked the Council for placing wildfire prevention, preparedness, responsiveness, and utility safety on the 2024/25 priorities list. She hopes the City retains this priority in the 2025/26 list the Council will be working on. She is deeply concerned by the behavior of the wildfires in Los Angeles, and she worries about Lafayette’s preparedness and whether the systems the County and Con Fire has in place are adequate. They are seeing an out-of-control situation in LA and have seen it so many times in northern California and she questions when Lafayette’s time will be coming up. They see these wind-driven wildfires which start in the wildland urban interface which the City has a lot of, they spot two to three miles away during the intensity of the winds, they infiltrate neighborhoods, and they have hasty evacuations, so she thinks they should expect to see that here should this come to the City.
The City has control over one wildfire lifeline, and this is their arterial roads, and it is critical that Lafayette invest in a City-driven local evacuation analysis. They need to understand their evacuation capacity before changing roadways or land uses around arterials. The City commissioned a very high-level General Plan Emergency Evacuation analysis as part of the Housing Element Final EIR years ago, and this report suggested several expanded analyses, one of which is an investigation of constrained roadways and intersections. This analysis is also in the Safety Element policies and programs. She understands the City hopes to use the CCTA evacuation study Countywide in lieu, but she is concerned that a Countywide analysis will lack the precision that the City requires. So, she asked staff to provide an update about the CCTA Countywide Evacuation Study to understand specifically what data and insights Lafayette will receive from it. A timeline would be helpful. She noticed the City Work Plan talks about the end of 2025 for the study and it would be nice to know if that will happen or not. Secondly, she asked to consider a City-driven local analysis for the 2025/26 budget.
Mayor Candell referred to the question from a speaker about the Fee Study.
Ms. Robinson said there are impact fees which need to be updated, and consultants need to be hired for this because the City must show there is a nexus between what the City is charging and what the fees are for. The Council cannot just decide a fee will be “x”, so those studies are relatively complicated. The second which could be done in-house -- but staff may need consultant work -- are general service fees for planning fees, service fees, and the City has not increased its fees for a number of years. Again, they need to make sure the fees are set in line with what the City is actually spending and cannot just decide what the fee needs to be.
Mayor Candell said the Council should decide on the unfunded requests, should discuss wildfire safety, and the other four recommendations, and suggested discussing the wildfire safety first.
Wildfire Safety:
Mayor Candell said she wants to express their shared concerns about the horrific fires in Los Angeles and are sad about what has been going on and those affected by the fires. Many here were affected by the Oakland Hills fires so they share empathy for their Southern California neighbors. She would like to discuss this because there is some extra time and money in this budget and wants to see where everybody sits on this and asked for comments.
City Council Meeting Minutes Page 11 of 18 January 13, 2025 Vice Mayor Anduri said they also need to re-affirm the priorities, and he definitely is in favor of them. He did not think they should add anything. Regarding wildfires, if there are things the Council can identify they know will make a difference, he thinks they should do it. He suggested being careful about jumping in on things without thinking them through. At this point, he is in favor of using funds for the mower which will make them more efficient in terms of clearing out brush and grasses. The City Manager mentioned talking about annual inspections for homes and the Chief indicated residents can call and receive inspections, but he recommended following up and seeing what their capacity is, which would be useful, particularly when combined with encouraging people to become part of Firewise neighborhoods.
Mayor Candell said these priorities last through June and that is part of the budget right now, and wildfire is on the forefront until June.
Councilmember Dawson said she knows the Emergency Preparedness Commission has been working on this, and a lot of the feedback was use of chippers and finding out where the nexus is with CCTA on the countywide evacuation plan and how detailed it is for the City’s local roads. They began thinking about that ever since the Housing Element and the Fehr’s and Peers analysis brought up attention to that, as well as the disparity about times it took from different neighborhoods to evacuate. So, she was not sure how to start with this analysis, but she thinks it would be important to invest in it.
Mayor Candell said it seems ideas suggested would be good and staff can bring them back to the Council and analyze what actions the Council needs to take.
Councilmember Cervantes said he is conscious of the fiscal year calendar and the fire calendar. If they want to get things done it is by August, so approaching this and starting work this fiscal year makes a lot of sense. He is with the Firewise group in his neighborhood, and they had the fire inspector come by which is very helpful, but driving around town almost everyone has plants in that 0-5 feet zone and there are only a handful that do not. Also, Con Fire inspectors have said they recommend residents do this, but they are not requiring it. They are taking a lower key position than MOFD in that regard, and that may be a discussion point as to how much Con Fire wants to assert that, or possibly the City is able to do that.
That is likely the biggest single thing that could be done and also the most controversial one. They might want to think about the range of things they should be considering here.
The other thing he comes across is that the fire inspector will say brush is a key problem and not so much the trees which need to be limbed up. So, clearing brush has been something they started and would be important to continue or step up. The thought of driving along Springhill Road in a major fire situation with brush on the roadway scares him.
Vice Mayor Anduri said he agrees completely and is just thinking about what the City can do between now and fire season. If they focus on fuel reduction, particularly brush reduction this would be a great thing to do. That would not only be City properties with the mower but also working with agencies that have public land within Lafayette because they do not necessarily do what the City would like them to do. So, starting early to get their cooperation would be great and also work with all homeowners, recognizing if they have 80 mph winds nothing will make a difference. But, if they cut down the brush and there is a discarded cigarette and another spark, it will be less likely. So, he suggested focusing on brush.
City Council Meeting Minutes Page 12 of 18 January 13, 2025 In stepping back, with this tragedy, the City will learn a lot and one of the things he never would have thought about the EBMUD Reservoirs and how they get refilled, now that must be on the agenda and thinking about how protected are they. One of the big lessons here is everybody has designed the system for the one house and the two house going up, but not fighting the whole neighborhood. To his knowledge, that has never been raised, but maybe the Emergency Preparedness Commission has.
Councilmember Cervantes said he thinks that is an excellent point. There is a Reservoir up by Martino and he wondered if there should be another one if the entire neighborhood goes. If there is a significant fire in Springhill Valley and Happy Valley, he suspects that water pressure will drop rather significantly.
Hopefully, EBMUD is starting to assess this because it is just not just that storage tank but district-wide.
Mayor Candell agreed, questioned how fast can it be refilled, and whether the pumping station is protected.
Vice Mayor Anduri said they are also going to learn a lot about what difference it made with respect to vegetation clearance because looking at some of the pictures of the Alta Dina area, the houses are gone, but the trees are still there. When you see houses that are still standing, they have vegetation all the way around them. He does not want to rush into doing things that may or may not be helpful, but clearing brush is going to be helpful, and there is a lot they can learn from this. There will be a much higher cost to remedy it if they want to do something about it.
Councilmember McCormick agreed and there is heightened awareness right now and he thinks they need to hear lessons learned, what worked well, Zone Zero is interesting, but he thinks clearing the underbrush might be more effective. When he thinks of what this means for Lafayette, they are the edge of Con Fire which has many different terrains and territory to think about. They think about evacuation with Moraga and Orinda, how can they do these things in silos, and this is what he views as Lafayette’s unique value is because they are at the intersection of Lamorinda evacuation routes and trying to get MOFD and Con Fire to work together. If MOFD is doing something and Con Fire is doing something else, the City is in between.
He would personally like to see someone from Con Fire to come and give them an updated list of what lessons are there, what recommendations do they have, where does their responsibility stop, where does the City’s stop, and whether they are looking for the City to do things. He thinks there needs to be a tight integration with Con Fire and then working with Moraga and Orinda on what they are doing and expecting with evacuations.
Mayor Candell said a suggestion would be to hold a Town Hall.
City Manager Srivatsa said the Council is scheduled to hold a Tri-Cities meeting in the first quarter of this year. Orinda is going to be hosting it, and the three managers are getting together and discussing the idea of doing emergency preparedness wildfire prevention.
Mayor Candell asked if the City should hold a separate Town Hall. Ms. Srivatsa said she would like to speak with the Fire Chief to understand lessons learned and what Con Fire intends to do with the lessons they have learned. This might take a few weeks to gather.
Councilmember Dawson said she knows stakeholder partnerships is very important like EBRPD, EBMUD, and PG&E. She knows EBPRD when they met with them, they were interested in getting Lamorinda cities together and Orinda was interested as well as Moraga as getting PG&E answering to it. Their transmission lines run through their cities, so there are ways to start working with those entities.
City Council Meeting Minutes Page 13 of 18 January 13, 2025 Councilmember McCormick agreed and suggested holding joint meetings with liaisons and then they can report out. This way, they can do preparation to ensure the Tri-Cities meeting is as effective as possible.
This is a good amount of time to get something on the calendar.
Vice Mayor Anduri said he thinks the only agency not covered by the liaisons is Caltrans so someone must reach out to them. They did a good job of taking down the trees, but they need to make sure they are taking care of the grass.
City Manager Srivatsa stated this is great feedback she can use to talk with the City Managers and Chief Broschard and try and formulate a sound agenda for the Tri-Cities meeting where the focus is wildfire preparedness or emergency preparedness, and each City can report back and have MOFD there with Con Fire as an added bonus.
Mayor Candell said she also heard about school evacuation and suggested having the City/Schools on the agenda as well. She is not hearing concrete items they want to add to the budget as of tonight, except for planning and trying to come up with ideas they might want to add.
Vice Mayor Anduri said he would like to see the mower added and the trailer and focusing on fuel reduction between now and fire season. He wondered how to best spend money to do that. There is a lot being spent on shaded fuel breaks and he would want to see additional fuel breaks, but it would be interesting to see if that made any difference in Southern California. He would guess with 100 mph winds it made no difference at all. He is printing out articles that are lessons from the fire and how they are learning is moving faster now, so it is scary.
Mayor Candell said the Emergency Preparedness Commission is meeting once a month and hopefully they will be focusing on this too. City Manager Srivatsa said she will also pass the message onto Chief Williams so he can share the Council’s message to the Commission.
Unfunded Requests:
Mayor Candell referred to unfunded requests of $650,000 for the patio and the $270,000 for the parking lot. It sounds like the City does not have the staff to do this, so she assumes the Council will support those dropping off for this year. Councilmembers concurred.
Mayor Candell said the $80,000 for the mower is also $10,000 for the trailer to haul it, and Councilmembers agreed with this request.
Mayor Candell said the funds for traffic calming seems like it might be covered, but that item will come back if that changes.
Councilmember Dawson asked if the City did put away sinking funds on an annual basis. Ms. Robinson said the City did and the Council might want to consider doing that again. She can work with Mr. Golier and Mr. Moran to come up with a recommendation of what might be a good number for next year. If the Council approves a sinking fund, there may be monies left over from the previous year, so that might be something to consider as something the City has done in the past.
Deferred Maintenance:
City Council Meeting Minutes Page 14 of 18 January 13, 2025 Mayor Candell referred to deferred maintenance and said there are many things here. The Council can discuss each one of them or in Option 2; consider using a portion of the reserve excess to catch up sinking funds allocated to infrastructure maintenance as well as fund immediate needs. So, she asked if the thought is to go through each item.
Ms. Robinson said no, staff would do an analysis for the next fiscal year. She was just asking not to spend $4 million today.
Mayor Candell asked if Councilmembers were in agreement with specific deferred maintenance.
Vice Mayor Anduri said he agrees completely with the first two recommendations which deal with deferred maintenance. The City does nothing now, and then he confirmed they will get the analysis.
Councilmember McCormick said they are not indexing the sinking funds for inflation. He asked if this should be done going forward and he asked why they have not done it thus far. Ms. Robinson said it has been precedence in dealing with the money the City has. They are trying to stretch the money they have to many different things, but because it has been so long since the City has indexed them, that needs to be a practice. With the next fiscal year, she would suggest start increasing them with a CPI which will carry over into the five-year budget, as well. In the five-year model, the City has a number of sinking funds, but she may pull out specifically for maintenance so the Council can see those and how much it is impacting the budget going forward.
Mayor Candell then referred to each of the recommendations.
Authorize staff to prepare a thorough analysis of capital maintenance needs for all city infrastructure as part of the preparation of the budget: Councilmembers agreed.
Based on this analysis, consider a portion of the reserve going to the catch-up sinking funds and allocate infrastructure maintenance: All Councilmembers agreed with consideration of this after the information is available.
Consider establishing a separate reserve fund for economic stabilization: Mayor Candell stated she would like a lot more information on this from other cities as to what they have done and determine where the Council sits on this.
Vice Mayor Anduri agreed, and he thinks the Finance Subcommittee of the Mayor and Vice Mayor should work on this and bring it to the Council, and Councilmembers agreed.
Councilmember Cervantes said he loves reserves, but theoretically they could have a $40 million reserve and at some point there are other pressing needs, which is the balance staff will look at. The economic stabilization seems “mushy” to him. He likes the concept but would want to see how that plays out relative to other needs the City is facing.
City Council Meeting Minutes Page 15 of 18 January 13, 2025 Vice Mayor Anduri noted there was a discussion a couple of years ago about whether it is better not to have reserves but spend now on items. What he thinks what they are doing now is getting a good handle on what the City’s obligations are going forward. Once they get that, they can consider whether they establish the reserves for that. Another thing they need to look at is how to layer their investments, so they are getting the maximum return if they actually have $40 million in the funds. He asked what the basic rate.
Ms. Robinson said it did very well last year because they had some 5% rates, but on average, rates have come down a bit. They ladder it so some they have outstanding at the lower rates, but the new things turning over have done very well with investments this year, but again, the City cannot count on that.
They are also limited as to what the City can invest in. But the economic stabilization was an idea because they were very fortunate they had the ARPA money to tide them over or they would have had to make significant cuts. She was not sure what the right dollar amount is, if it is a dollar amount you keep adding to, a percentage of the budget, but staff can return with some ideas. But, if there are immediate needs, the money should not just be continually saved.
Mayor Candell confirmed all Councilmember agreed with the third recommendation.
Adopt the Final Budget and just including the mower and trailer as the unfunded requests: Mayor Candell questioned if a motion was needed. Vice Mayor Anduri asked if they should approve it now or in the future as to what the City might spend between now and June on fuel reduction and how much they would want to allocate for that.
Ms. Srivatsa said she will do her best to get this information for the Council’s next meeting when the Council can adopt the budget.
Vice Mayor Anduri said they could adopt it now, and in March they could always add it, which he confirmed was supported by other Councilmembers and staff.
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Anduri/Cervantes) to adopt Resolution 2025-04 confirming Council priorities and adopting the Final FY24-25 Workplan and budget, as amended, with the caveat that the Council will hold further discussions about wildfire safety and possible budget items relating to that in this year. Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Candell, Anduri, Cervantes, Dawson, and McCormick; Noes: None).
15. PUBLIC HEARINGS
A. Anna Tolle, Assistant Planner
Appeal of staff’s determination of ineligibility for SB910-24 McGrew (Owner), R-20 Zoning (Request for an SB9 Housing Development to construct a 3,735 sq ft two-story single-family home, including 441 sq ft JADU, with a max height of 28’-1” in the Hillside Overlay District at 1183 Glen Road – APN 245-080-004.
Recommendation: Adopt Resolution 2025-05 Upholding denial of SB910-24 (McGrew) Owner for an SB9 Housing Development at 1183 Glen Road – APN 245-080-004.
Mayor Candell announced that the appeal has was withdrawn and the application was fully withdrawn.
16. ITEMS REMOVED FROM CONSENT
F. Resolution 2025-03 Adopting the Proclamation Calendar for 2025 and 2026 City Council Meeting Minutes Page 16 of 18 January 13, 2025 Recommendation: Adopt Resolution 2025-03.
Mayor Candell opened the public comment period.
ROBERT LAVOIE objected to any proclamations for specific groups, especially with those with controversial political identities. He thinks the City should join many companies that are trying to become politically neutral including backing away from DEI, removing all sexual and transgender products in the case of Walmart and Target, references to LGBT pride events, and stop participating in Human Rights Council’s LGBT Equity Index, etc. Reasons are that the Council will always offend some group and there will never be a way to include all groups. He continued with examples, and said he recently submitted a letter to Lamorinda Weekly which hopefully get published in two days about one City Council candidate who was very poorly treated on social media, so he asked to focus on things like the fire, how to prevent that, and things they can actually do something about and not create more controversy and remain politically neutral.
NIKKI COWGER said she is still shocked by the comments and said everything on the proclamations is validating humanity and positive regard of this community for individuals who may or may not fit within the definition of the majority. She does not think identity and recognition of diversity of the community has anything to do with political correctness. She thinks it is a moral imperative that they identify people, particularly in this time in history, are being persecuted, threatened, and put under extremely constrained conditions by virtue of the fact of who they are. She is very appreciative of the proclamation coming to bear in the first place and thinks the “whereas” clauses can sometimes be dry and humorless, in this case, they are very meaningful. These are about bringing people together and about human dignity which is important for the community to recognized, and voiced support of the Council moving forward.
ALISON HILL voiced her support of the proclamation calendar which has been useful and appreciated in the community in the past and the Council should continue with it. She did not think it is political or made political but is a matter of human rights and acknowledgement of our fellow citizens and again voiced her support for continuing.
ELLEN POLING echoed Ms. Cowger and Ms. Hill’s comments, said she is present on behalf of her husband, Steve Poling who has taken up the leadership of the DEIB Committee and the Council is in receipt of his email supporting the proclamation calendar, which she reiterated.
Councilmember Cervantes said in his travels and career in public finance there was only one city in California that had the word “Love” in its slogan. This is special and it struck him as something unique to this city. This is a community that really celebrates its diversity and growing diversity and all of the different individuals that make it up. So, in the fall when running as Councilmember, he met with individuals from the LGBTQ community who told him his concerns were about feeling safe and their kids feeling safe in the schools which resonated. By having something which is a transgender day visibility and celebrating pride month is special. It indicates this is a place that welcomes a broad array of individuals that make this place great. So, he fully supports the proclamation calendar, and the City should do more to celebrate this community because it is all of the different individuals from very diverse backgrounds that make it something to celebrate and make it stronger.
Councilmember Dawson thanked speakers for their comments and made a motion to adopt the resolution. Vice Mayor Anduri echoed the sentiment that the City should be doing more rather than less and seconded the motion.
City Council Meeting Minutes Page 17 of 18 January 13, 2025 Councilmember McCormick added that they are not taking away from one and doing the other. It is including all pieces that make the community safe, both physically, emotionally, and this is important.
Mayor Candell said she could not agree more. The concept of doing more and tying it to safety is what the City is about. It is their number one concern, and it is a real concern for some of these groups, and people see it and it is true. They do feel unsafe, and it is under the Council’s purview to bring awareness and education. If there are more, they consider these as they come in. She also completely supports the item.
Vice Mayor Anduri added that one of the reasons the Council does this is that groups in the community can plan up to two years out for programs, programs at the library, programs when the Park Theater opens, music festivals supporting different areas, and so people can plan.
Councilmember Dawson noted that the Council is a non-political body, and this is non-political which they are raising awareness and understanding of. In light of that, she hopes this is also kept in mind.
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Dawson/Anduri) to adopt Resolution 2025-03. Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Candell, Anduri, Cervantes, Dawson, and McCormick; Noes: None).
G. Adopting the 2025 City Council Assignments
Recommendation: Adopt the 2025 City Council Assignments.
Vice Mayor Anduri asked and confirmed that Councilmember McCormick agrees to swap his Alternate position as Liaison to the Environmental Task Force for his Alternate spot on the DRC.
Mayor Candell opened the public comment period, and there were no speakers.
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Anduri/Dawson) to adopt the 2025 City Council Assignments, as amended, to swap Councilmember McCormick’s Alternate position as liaison to the Environmental Task Force for Vice Mayor Anduri’s Alternate position on the Design Review Commission. Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Candell, Anduri, Cervantes, Dawson, and McCormick; Noes: None).
17. COUNCIL / COMMISSION REPORTS
A. Mayor Candell and Councilmember Dawson
Fifth Amendment to the City Manager Employment Agreement with Niroop K. Srivatsa Recommendation: Authorize the Mayor to execute the Amendment to the City Manager Employment Agreement with Niroop K. Srivatsa.
Mayor Candell stated the Council must execute the City Manager’s agreement and since Mayor Dawson was Mayor at the time, she turned the item over to her.
Councilmember Dawson stated this item is tied to performance review and this was held at the Council’s last regular meeting on December 9th. This resulted in deep appreciation for the work of the City Manager throughout the year, and last year was particularly trying and also leading the incredible staff of belttightening and stretching funds along with all of the City’s regular work. They want to acknowledge that the review is also in the range of the cost-of-living increase.
Mayor Candell opened the public comment period, and there were no speakers.
City Council Meeting Minutes Page 18 of 18 January 13, 2025 ACTION: It was M/S/C (Dawson/Cervantes) to authorize the Mayor to execute the Amendment to the City Manager Employment Agreement with Niroop K. Srivatsa. Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Candell, Anduri, Cervantes, Dawson, and McCormick; Noes: None).
18. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
A. Letter from Jim Cervantes resigning from the General Plan Advisory Committee Recommendation: Accept the resignation and thank Jim Cervantes for 4 years of volunteer service.
Mayor Candell stated because Councilmember Cervantes was elected, he needs to resign from the GPAC.
The Mayor opened the public comment period. There were no speakers.
ACTION: It was M/S/C (Dawson/McCormick) to accept the resignation and thank Jim Cervantes for 4 years of volunteer service. Vote: 5-0 (Ayes: Candell, Anduri, Cervantes, Dawson, and McCormick; Noes: None).
Mayor Candell suggested receiving an update about GPAC in the future.
B. Councilmembers report on activities and consideration of matters a Councilmember wishes to initiate for placement on a future agenda.
Councilmember McCormick reported that the construction fencing is up around Park Theater and the demolition permit has been pulled with work starting.
19. CLOSED SESSION
Mayor Candell opened the public comment period, and there were no speakers. The Council then adjourned to Closed Session at 9:47 p.m. to discuss the following item:
A. Conference with Real Property Negotiators (Gov. Code Section 54956.8) Property: 3425 Mt. Diablo Boulevard (APN 233-051-019)
Agency Negotiators: Niroop K. Srivatsa, City Manager and Jonathan Katayanagi, Parks and Recreation Director
Negotiating Parties: Edward Joseph Carey, Property Owner Under Negotiation: Price and terms of payment
REPORT OF CLOSED SESSION
Mayor Candell announced there was no reportable action taken in Closed Session.
20. ADJOURNMENT – 10:58 p.m.
APPROVED:
__________________________________
Susan Candell, Mayor
ATTEST:
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Joanne Robbins, City Clerk