MINUTES
SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF CITY COUNCIL AND NCIP COMMITTEE
CITY OF MONTEREY
Thursday, July 18, 2024
7:00 PM
HILLTOP PARK CENTER, UPPER ACTIVITY ROOM, 871 JESSIE ST.
MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA
Councilmembers
Present: Barber, Garcia, Haffa, Smith, Williamson
Absent: None
NCIP Committee
Neighborhoods
Present: Aguajito Oaks (Purdy), Alta Mesa (Stocker), Casanova-Oak Knoll (Schmidt), Deer Flats (Cohick), Del Monte Beach (Fields), Del Monte Grove-Laguna Grande (Hanson), Downtown (Tipton), Fisherman Flats (Baker), Glenwood (Whitney), New Monterey (Ogbonna), Oak Grove (Adam), Old Town (Ricketson), Skyline (Duke), Villa Del Monte (Jennings)
Absent:
Unrepresented:
City Staff
Present:
Monterey Vista (Jannasch)
Naval Support Activity and Presidio of Monterey
City Manager, Assistant City Manager, City Attorney, Parks and Recreation Director, Public Works Director, City Clerk, Senior Engineer, Recording Secretary, Systems Analyst, Deputy Public Works Director/City Engineer, Recreation Manager, Recreation Supervisor, IT Applications Engineer II, General Services Superintendent
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Williamson called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. City Clerk Klein called the roll with the Council and Neighborhood and Community Improvement Program (NCIP) Committee present as indicated above. All attending members of both the Council and the NCIP Committee were present in person in the Upper Activity Room.
PUBLIC APPEARANCE
1. Overview of the Neighborhood and Community Improvement Program (NCIP), Current Status of the NCIP Program, Condition of City Infrastructure, and the NCIP Committee/City Council Relationship (Not a Project under CEQA per Article 20, Section 15378 and under General Rule Article 5, Section 15061)
Action: Received presentation and discussed
City Manager Uslar, Assistant City Manager Rojanasathira, Senior Engineer Paulding, and Public Works Director Renny gave the staff presentation and answered Councilmembers' and NCIP Committee members' questions together with Mayor Williamson.
Public comment was received from: Luis Osorio, who stressed that the Council has the full authority on using NCIP funds and recommended that the City allocate a percentage to public facility maintenance; Tom Reeves, who asserted that there were still neighborhood-based City Council Minutes July 18, 2024
2 projects needing to be addressed and that NCIP was not driving the City into financial ruin; Pat Venza, who urged the NCIP Committee and City staff to work together to ensure each annual program is consistent with staff's capacity; Jean Rasch, who said that the City should submit its infrastructure and maintenance projects to the NCIP Committee for consideration through existing NCIP procedures; Rick Heuer, who said that the NCIP was not to blame for how funds had been spent and stated that a large percentage of NCIP funds had gone to maintenance projects; Adam Pinterits, who said City staff should not take comments personally and urged the Council to listen to its dedicated NCIP Committee members; an unidentified woman, who said that it was too bad that staff had chosen to disrespect the NCIP and NCIP Committee representatives; Roberta Myers, who said that the City should have realistic Capital Improvement Program (CIP) funding and urged the Council not to coopt NCIP funding for CIP projects; Bob Evans, who urged City staff to bring needed infrastructure and maintenance projects to the NCIP Committee for consideration; Esther Malkin, who thanked past and current NCIP Committee members and welcomed new ones and praised staff for doing a lot for NCIP with existing resources; and Lori Mazzuca, who said she would have liked to have heard NCIP Committee's presentation and said that the meeting did not feel collaborative. During public comments, Councilmember Barber left the room at 8:37 p.m. and returned at 8:39 p.m.
On discussion with NCIP Committee Chairperson Fields, Mayor Williamson allotted the NCIP Committee time to make a presentation. NCIP Committee Chairperson Fields made the presentation.
Mayor Williamson reopened public comments to hear remarks on the NCIP presentation, which were limited to one minute per speaker in the interest of time. Public comment on the NCIP presentation was received from: Jean Rasch, who complimented the presentation; Adam Pinterits, who stated that the City had a spending problem; Rick Heuer, who added that the City also had a collaboration problem and should give more credit to the NCIP Committee; Howard Fosler, who said that the City received more Transient Occupancy Tax than any other city in the county and that it was important for City residents to have a say in how the money was spent; and Esther Malkin, who said there wasn't just a spending problem but a problem with how staff has handled projects including pulling them without explanation.
The NCIP Committee discussed the matter. Comments were made stating that even without the NCIP, the City still had a mismanaged budget and that it was the City Council's job to find the funding for its infrastructure and maintenance projects. It was stated that the NCIP was not material to the larger City budget but was very material to the residents of Monterey. It was stated that the NCIP Committee should have heard about the City's serious needs sooner. It was stressed that anyone could submit a project to the NCIP by the deadline, and that the City was urged to follow the process. Comments were made that referred to the past relationship between Neighborhood Associations and the NCIP Committee. It was stated that the NCIP Committee had a lot of knowledge and took their jobs seriously to try to help the City. It was suggested that there should be a mechanism by which older projects that had not yet been completed could be let go of, in order to start fresh and move forward productively. It was stated that the City had a communication problem and that City projects had been pushed to the NCIP Committee with a feeling that questions were not allowed. It was stated that this meeting would hopefully provide a reset and begin to work toward resolving communication issues, because everyone had the same goal to make the City the best, and compromises would be needed from both sides.
The City Council began to discuss the matter. On question, City Manager Uslar stated that the City's projects had been submitted in February 2024 with the other NCIP projects, and that the City followed the NCIP process. He stated that nothing had been sprung on the Committee. The Council said that this was an opportunity for the Council to look at the NCIP timeline and figure City Council Minutes July 18, 2024
3 out when to bring City projects to the NCIP. It was suggested by the Council that they could meet with the NCIP Committee annually.
City Manager Uslar clarified to correct misconceptions that had been stated regarding the City's budget. He shared the percentage of funds that went to City employees to conduct the services expected by the public. He said that the pie chart shared by NCIP Chairperson Fields had been inaccurate when compared to the actual discretionary funds available to the City. Assistant City Manager Rojanasathira made a verbal presentation explaining details of the City's special funds and budgeting.
Regarding designating a percentage of NCIP funds for maintenance, City Manager Uslar stated that when the City brought projects to the NCIP it was pointed out what amount would be needed for maintenance. NCIP Committee members stated that the NCIP had funded maintenance projects in the past and supported such projects, and that they just needed to understand the funding better and know the City's maintenance needs before they made decisions in the annual NCIP cycle. It was stated by the NCIP Committee that having a City Council liaison to the NCIP would be great to improve collaboration and communication. City Manager Uslar said that the Charter prohibited allocating NCIP funds for ongoing maintenance.
He said that the City and the NCIP Committee needed to be able to agree on the semantics of what counted as maintenance.
The Council continued to discuss the matter. It was expressed that the NCIP was a valuable program that should be protected, and that the Council had the intention to make it work. It was stated that it would help to differentiate infrastructure needs that had existing funding sources.
The Council asked to learn more about what was legally allowed for attending other public meetings, such as NCIP Committee meetings, without influencing activities and decisionmaking processes.
Regarding the NCIP process, it was stated that it would help for the Council to work with the NCIP Committee to develop a collaboratively determined set of criteria and guidelines. On the other hand, it was stated that the Council should not interfere with the NCIP process, and that the Council's mission, vision, and value drivers served as a guide to the NCIP Committee. It was stated that holding a joint meeting once per year could be good. It was stated that the Council, NCIP Committee, and staff should work together on refining processes and improving communications, including collaborating to find out what timeline works well for all for bringing City projects to the NCIP, and coming to a joint understanding on what maintenance means for NCIP projects. It was stressed that every resident should have a say in NCIP projects, regardless of whether they pay dues in a neighborhood association. It was suggested to have an annual limit of the number of projects that would actually be doable per staff capacity. It was noted that certain projects were brought to the NCIP that maybe shouldn't, such as fuel reduction, because there was not sufficient funding except through the NCIP. It was stated that it would be problematic if it weren't approved, and if it was always approved, perhaps bringing it to the NCIP regularly was a waste of the NCIP Committee's time. It was stated that there was flexibility at the founding of the NCIP for percentage allocations to different needs, and that the City should be open to that. It was noted that the Mayor was the liaison to the NCIP Committee according to the outside agency appointments chart.
The Council thanked the NCIP Committee for the hours they put into this important volunteer work.
ADJOURNMENT
The City Council and NCIP Committee adjourned at 10:26 p.m.
City Council Minutes July 18, 2024
4 Respectfully Submitted, Approved,
Clementine Bonner Klein Tyller Williamson
City Clerk Mayor