Minutes of the Regular Joint Meeting of the Oakley City Council/Oakley City Council Acting as the Successor Agency to the Oakley Redevelopment Agency/Oakley Public Financing Authority held
May 9, 2023
1) OPENING MATTERS
1.1 Call to Order and Roll Call of the Oakley City Council/Oakley City Council Acting as the Successor Agency to the Oakley Redevelopment Agency/Oakley Public Financing Authority
Mayor Aaron Meadows called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. in the Oakley City Council Chambers located at 3231 Main Street, Oakley, California 94561. Vice Mayor Anissa Williams and Councilmembers George Fuller and Hugh Henderson were also present. Mayor Meadows announced Councilmember Shannon Shaw was absent.
1.2 Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag (Dominic Leonor, 5th Grade Gehringer Elementary School Student)
Dominic Leonor led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
1.3 Presentation of Proclamations 1. Building Safety Month (Brent Smith, Community Development Director) 2. Public Works Week (Kevin Rohani, Public Works Director/City Engineer) 3. National Police Week (Paul Beard, Chief of Police) Mayor Meadows presented proclamations to Brent Smith, Community Development Director, Kevin Rohani, Public Works Director/City Engineer, and Paul Beard, Chief of Police. Chief Beard was joined by officers Sergeant Foreman, Officers Burton and Navarette and Lieutenant Roberts. Chief Beard mentioned Sergeant Roberts will be attending National Police Week in Washington, D.C. along with his son, a Sherriff with the Contra Costa County Sherriff’s Office, and he shared events that will occur in recognition of officers, fallen officers, and their families.
1.4 Update from Oakley Library Manager Lisa Cano-Loomis Oakley Library Manager Lisa Cano-Loomis provided a Canva presentation focused on digital resources (newspapers) available through the Library in response to Councilmember Fuller's request during the previous meeting.
Councilmember Fuller thanked Ms. Cano-Loomis.
Ms. Cano-Loomis mentioned the Library is recognizing Free Comic Book Days all week, May 8- 13 at the Library. She shared someone from Oakley won the bookmark design contest for this event. She announced there will be a virtual author talk on Thursday. 2) PUBLIC COMMENTS
Bud Chaddock thanked Oakley Police officers. He mentioned there is an amazing amount of action taken on their behalf to control drug issues and guns and they are getting a good grip on it which he commended them for doing. He expressed that he loves that Oakley Police posts its achievements on social media; it keeps everyone abreast of what is going on, but he saw in one photo 3 baggies of pot buds and a ghost gun. He mentioned his friend who is familiar with 3-D printers says they have never done so good selling this stuff; it has gone off the charts with people making this stuff. He commended Oakley Police for getting it off the street. He discussed the proposed pot cultivation in Oakley and mentioned the City is going to need a lot of extra resources. He shared areas in Oakland and San Francisco have people getting raided and people held hostage. He inquired what the City is going to do about those issues and how it will keep the load off officers. He mentioned there are other sources for revenue and the location is too close to the school. He added that it will place an unneeded burden on officers who are already working to keep our streets safe and this will only increase crime. 3) CONSENT CALENDAR
3.1 Approve Minutes from the Regular Joint City Council/City Council Acting as the Successor Agency to the Redevelopment Agency and Special Public Financing Authority Meeting Held April 25, 2023 (Libby Vreonis, City Clerk)
3.2 Accept Report Out of Closed Session Memo (Derek P. Cole, City Attorney)
3.3 City of Oakley Investment Report (3rd Quarter FY 2022/23) (Tim Przybyla, Finance Director)
3.4 City of Oakley as Successor Agency to the Oakley Redevelopment Agency Quarterly Investment Report (3rd Quarter FY 2022/23) (Tim Przybyla, Finance Director)
3.5 Two Resolutions Initiating the Fiscal Year 2023-24 Oakley Street Lighting and Landscape Assessment District No. 1 proceedings; initiating the process and declaring the intention to levy and collect assessments, and setting June 13, 2023, as the date for the Public Hearing (Kevin Rohani, P.E., Public Works Director/City Engineer)
3.6 City of Oakley General Plan Annual Progress Report Calendar Year 2022 (Ken Strelo, Planning Manager)
3.7 Consideration of a Resolution Amending an Agreement between Tyler Technologies and the City of Oakley for the Conversion from the Tyler Eden Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System to the Tyler Enterprise ERP System to Add Tyler’s Managed Detection and Response Service and Authorizing the City Manager to Execute the Amendment to the Agreement (Tim Przybyla, Finance Director)
It was moved by Councilmember Fuller and seconded by Councilmember Henderson to approve the Consent Calendar. Motion was unanimous and so ordered. (4-0) 4) PUBLIC HEARINGS
4.1 City of Oakley 2023-2031 Housing Element (Optional Amendments) (Ken Strelo, Planning Manager)
Planning Manager Ken Strelo presented the staff report and provided a PowerPoint presentation.
Councilmember Fuller inquired since the rezoning is already on the Housing Element, if it automatically converts or comes back.
Mr. Strelo responded that it will come back. He explained the properties with the existing AHO overlay from the previous Housing Element would still need to come back either way to have the rezone done. He mentioned if HCD finds that the affordable housing overlay is insufficient those properties would need to be rezoned at the base zoning level.
Councilmember Fuller commented that in other words, it would be entirely open again to rezoning if they decide rezoning needs to be done.
Mr. Strelo confirmed that is correct.
Mayor Meadows opened the public hearing and called for public comments. There being none, he closed the public hearing.
Councilmember Fuller mentioned it is not staff’s responsibility, but if the state keeps sending this back there is a chance that things don’t go exactly as planned and it makes him nervous and bothers him to do that. He mentioned he will vote in favor, but he is hesitant about the constant changes they have to deal with.
Mayor Meadows mentioned it is not staff as Councilmember Fuller mentioned but rather the state.
It was moved by Councilmember Henderson and seconded by Vice Mayor Williams to adopt the resolution. Motion was unanimous and so ordered. (4-0)
5) REGULAR CALENDAR
5.1 Update on the Oakley Senior Center including a Resolution that would Approve the Third Amendment to the Lease Agreement between the City and the Oakley Senior Citizens (Joshua McMurray, City Manager)
City Manager Joshua McMurray presented the staff report.
Donna Baker, First Vice President of the Oakley Senior Center commented that recently someone asked if their doors were going to close, and she said unequivocally “absolutely not” and she doesn’t believe the Council will let that happen either because they believe there should be a senior center for Oakley. She mentioned they are one of the few senior centers in the Bay Area and possibly the state that is independent of the city for which they serve. She indicated they are working very hard to up their financial status and have many more things planned, all in the proposal. She expressed that she understands the building will probably be torn down in the next 4 years and hopefully the seniors will be part of a new building with the Oakley Veterans whom they currently share the property with and possibly the Library. She mentioned she would appreciate acceptance of all the amendments Mr. McMurray has worked so hard on for the Seniors. She shared that she understands $20k is limited support and hopes that they only have to tap into it when needed so they are not going to try and take advantage.
She asked the Board members to stand, members of the senior citizens to stand, and audience members who believe Oakley should have a senior center. She mentioned she wrote both documents but she had the help of everyone.
Scott Creamer apologized for not being here last month. He mentioned he is a Board member and volunteer at the Senior Center. He shared that they offer much to the community at through the Senior Center, not only for seniors; it is where self-defense class, country dance class, exercise class, hot lunches, and sewing are offered, and they have food give aways to anyone who comes in the door. He also mentioned they offer bingo, safe driving classes, monthly potluck lunches and more, and he encourages everyone to come on down. He thanked the Council for its support now and in the future.
Diane Merritt shared she is a Board member. She commented that she is happy to see the Council is interested in seeing the Senior Center thrive. She shared they have been working on several successful fundraisers and business establishments are contributing food and gift cards to support the Senior Center. She thanked the Council for its support. She shared that the Senior Center supports not just seniors but anyone needing assistance with food.
Mayor Meadows announced one public comment was received online and will be made part of the meeting record. It was submitted by Candy Hogan.
Allan Perry submitted a written comment in support of the Senior Center and did not wish to speak.
Vice Mayor Williams commented that the City pays for a grant writer and she thinks it is a flat fee. She inquired if there is any way to leverage the grant writer to help the Seniors if it doesn’t incur additional cost to the City.
Mr. McMurray commented that he does not see an issue with that and can speak with the grant writer to start searching for grants they may be eligible for.
Vice Mayor Williams commented that she was excited to see the Senior’s spaghetti dinner fundraiser as profitable as it was. She inquired if there will be an opportunity for them to use the Recreation Center for future events.
Mr. McMurray responded that the Recreation Center can be used by the Seniors, they have 3 future events already scheduled at the Recreation Center, and the City is working with them to waive the fees and for the deposit to be kept for all of the events.
Vice Mayor Williams commented that the City has big plans for the Library, Senior Center, and Veterans. She inquired what the plan is for temporary housing for Seniors and Veterans as there are really important services they are providing all of the time.
Mr. McMurray commented that he doesn’t have an answer at this time. He explained that staff is in a phase of that project where it is going to hire a few more consultants on board to validate its initial assumptions and once validated, and there is a plan and path forward, staff will work on a temporary house for them until a permanent facility is constructed.
Vice Mayor Williams shared that she attended the Elected Women's Luncheon and got people from the County and people from Choice in Aging galvanized behind the Seniors so the Seniors should start getting calls from those folks.
It was moved by Vice Mayor Williams and seconded by Councilmember Henderson to adopt the resolution.
Councilmember Fuller requested clarification if something was added or changed.
Mr. McMurray explained the item for approval is the third amendment to the lease agreement; the other items he is committing to work with the grant writer, space for the Seniors if they should need to be relocated, and to use the Recreation Center for larger events, but these other items are not part of the motion.
Motion was unanimous and so ordered. (4-0)
6) REPORTS
6.1 CITY MANAGER
(a) City Manager
City Manager Joshua McMurray reported that the City has hired Danielle Navarro as the Assistant City Manager who has over 20 years of municipal experience and mentioned she will add value to the services the City offers to the community. He thanked the Council for allowing organizational changes to occur to change the position from Assistant to the City Manager to Assistant City Manager. He announced that the Taste of Oakley has been canceled due to not enough registrants, Oakley’s Got Talent will be held May 20th at the Recreation Center, the Memorial Day Remembrance Ceremony will be held May 27th at the Civic Center Park Amphitheatre, the City of Oakley will host the Contra Costa Mayors’ Conference on June 1st, Friday Night Bites paired with a summer concert by Locked and Loaded will be held at Civic Center Plaza June 2nd, the Retro Summer Block Party and movie in the park, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, will be held at Civic Center Plaza June 3rd, and Summerfest will be held July 1st beginning at 10am in Downtown Oakley.
6.2 OAKLEY CITY COUNCIL/OAKLEY CITY COUNCIL ACTING AS THE SUCCESSOR
AGENCY TO THE OAKLEY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
(a) Reports from Council Liaisons to Regional Committees, Commissions and Boards AND Oakley City Council/Oakley City Council Acting as the Successor Agency to the Oakley Redevelopment Agency
Councilmember Henderson reported he attended the Diablo Water District meeting on April 26, the swearing in of Oakley’s newest Police Officer on May 1, and Friday Night Bites and first concert on May 5 which had nice attendance even though the rain tried to slow it down a bit.
Vice Mayor Williams reported she attended the Tri-Delta Transit meeting where an update from the CEO was provided regarding Transit Worker Appreciation Day; Tri-Delta and some its partners offered free fairs that day which resulted in a 28% increase in ridership in the Tri-Delta region alone, so they have asked them to look at possible supplementation. She mentioned there is a concerning trend happening as there have been 27 incidents of bus windows that have been shot by a BB gun; there have been no incidents in Oakley; the bulk of incidents have been in Pittsburg, Antioch and Brentwood. She mentioned Police are aware and it can impact our residents because drivers are getting PTSD so they are having some issues with staffing drivers. She added that they are coming up with different solutions to provide protection and this is the first week since November that there has been no incident. She also reported Antioch has a crisis response team and there was a transitional housing ribbon-cutting that just happened so there is an opportunity to get people off the street. She also reported she attended the local Elected Women’s Luncheon and got support for various things and discussed E. Cypress Road and the Seniors so hopefully they will start to get some galvanization from other officials.
Mayor Meadows welcomed Assistant City Manager Danielle Navarro. He reported he attended the Mayors Conference last week and the City of Oakley will be hosting the Mayors Conference June 1st with the business meeting in the Council Chambers followed by the business dinner at Skipolini’s. He also reported he attended the swearing in ceremony for the 38th of 40 approved Police Officers and he attended Friday Night Bites which was a good event; it was lighter attended than other events due to weather.
City Manager Joshua McMurray requested a brief pause to get the City Attorney back on the phone. City Attorney Derek Cole attended the meeting remotely via teleconference. (b) Requests for Future Agendas
Councilmember Fuller commented he was going to request correction to the 4/11/23 minutes during the last meeting but thought it would be better to review the transcript and unfortunately could not get one through the City so he made his own. He provided a handout of the revisions requested. He began to discuss the revisions.
Mayor Meadows inquired if there is a request for a future agenda item.
Councilmember Fuller commented that he wants to bring the 4/11/23 minutes back for reconsideration and he wants his support for Vice Mayor Williams’ future agenda item from 4/11/23 to be included.
Mayor Meadows inquired if that was picked up by staff.
City Manager Joshua McMurray confirmed it has been added to the list for future agenda items.
Councilmember Fuller commented he would also like to include in his comments that he was saying it was not speculation. He commented that he would like to move to reconsider his vote for agenda item 3.3 on the 4/25/23 agenda, the minutes for 4/11/23.
City Manager Joshua McMurray commented that there is a process that may be helpful for the entire Council to hear and understand.
City Attorney Derek Cole explained that a motion to reconsider must be made at the same meeting at which the motion occurred; generally once the meeting is over they cannot bring it back for reconsideration; however, the caveat is that the Council can vote to suspend the rule of parliamentary procedure and could take a second vote to consider whether to reconsider, and if the second vote is in the affirmative, staff would schedule it for the following meeting. To summarize, he mentioned there would be three steps:
1. The Council could vote to suspend the rule of parliamentary procedure which requires 2/3 vote; 3 Councilmembers would need to affirm tonight, and, if affirmed; then
2. A motion to reconsider can be made which requires a majority; 3 Councilmembers would need to affirm; and
3. If affirmed, staff would place it on the next agenda for a vote.
It was moved by Councilmember Fuller to suspend the rule of parliamentary procedure to allow for reconsideration of the 4/11/23 minutes.
The motion died for lack of a second.
7) WORK SESSIONS
7.1 General Overview of City?s General Fund Budget and Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for Fiscal Year 2023-2024 (Tim Przybyla, Finance Director and Kevin Rohani, P.E., Public Works Director/City Engineer)
Finance Director Tim Przybyla presented the staff report and provided a PowerPoint presentation.
Councilmember Fuller inquired about the City’s total revenue that will come to the treasury.
Mr. Przybyla commented that he doesn’t know yet, but he will have a figure on June 13 when he brings the entire budget to present to the Council.
Councilmember Henderson commented that they did really well on assessed valuation last year. He inquired what they are expecting for the future.
Mr. Przybyla commented that they are projecting a 6% increase over last year for the current fiscal year; they believe this is a realistic conservative projection for property tax.
Mayor Meadows commented that it is aggressive this year; the resale of homes is almost nonexistent; new home sales are slow, which are the driving force behind an increase, unless there is still some lag with buildings coming online with the Logistics Center. He mentioned he believes they heard last week at the Mayors’ Conference that the County is using 4%.
Mr. Przybyla commented that he discussed all of this with the consultant, and he is still comfortable with the 6% projection; the consultant mentioned there is an automatic 2% increase and they are not dealing with what is being built this fiscal year; it is based on assessment that is an increase from the prior fiscal year, so he thinks they are in good standing with that projection but he will look at it closer as the Mayor doesn’t seem comfortable with that figure.
Mayor Meadows commented it is a good point because it is coming in from last year. He explained that 1st and 2nd quarter sales were okay, but they fell off in the 3rd and 4th quarters.
Mr. Przybyla agreed and continued his presentation. (Police Over Hiring slide) Public Works Director/City Engineer Kevin Rohani joined the PowerPoint presentation to discuss current and upcoming street and park projects.
Vice Mayor Williams mentioned there is no design done for the Bridgehead Road Widening project. She inquired if staff can include bus access/complete streets. She mentioned there is tons of infrastructure money available, this is a direct path for Tri-Delta on Main Street, and it would also provide public transit access for Amazon workers. She inquired if staff can start working on more public transit/access.
Mr. Rohani explained any project Oakley or other Bay Area city designs has the complete streets program which includes pedestrian, vehicle, bike, and public transit and this project will start the conversation. He mentioned this widening project will lay the groundwork to work with future vendors south of the Amazon campus when they develop and even on E. Cypress Road will have complete streets.
Vice Mayor Williams shared that she saw cool stuff in Washington D.C., i.e., taking 2-lane streets and putting in a center island for public transit so she wants the City to think about the different ways people get around when looking at projects, and she knows Amazon has reached out a lot to Tri-Delta to try and figure out a route for the buses. She expressed she would like to have public transit become more at the forefront, especially on Main Street areas.
Mr. Rohani commented that they have reconstructed the intersection at Main and Bridgehead in conjunction with the Oakley Logistics Center project; they re-did the frontage along Bridgehead with their project, so the missing piece is the project they are proposing, from the railroad track to Main Street.
Councilmember Fuller inquired if staff will adjudicate the budget from the CIP when it comes back so there will be two separate approval processes.
Mr. McMurray confirmed that is correct; staff will continue that process. 8) CLOSED SESSION
None.
9) ADJOURN
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m.
Respectively Submitted,
Libby Vreonis
City Clerk