Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Oakley City Council held July 19, 2023
1) Call to Order and Roll Call
Mayor Aaron Meadows called the special meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Oakley City Council Chambers located at 3231 Main Street, Oakley, California. Vice Mayor Anissa Williams and Councilmembers Dr. George Fuller, Hugh Henderson and Shannon Shaw were also present.
Mayor Meadows led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. 2) Introductions
Director of Public Works/City Engineer Kevin Rohani introduced Brian Fletcher, President, Zachary Katz, Project Manager, and Dania Castro, Project Designer, with Callander and Associates.
3) Formal Presentation of the Park Master Plan
Brian Fletcher, President of Callander and Associates, provided a PowerPoint presentation.
Two options were proposed, a traditional park theme and an outdoor recreation theme. 4) Community Input Session
Brian Fletcher mentioned community input would be taken at tables until 8:00 pm.
Mayor Meadows invited everyone to provide input at the tables.
Mr. Fletcher welcomed everyone to take stickers on one of the concepts they would like to see.
Ms. Castro and Mr. Fletcher discussed community feedback.
Public Comments
An online public comment was submitted by Meghan Bourgeois and made part of the meeting record.
John Cain, Senior Conservation Director with River Partners shared that they have done the planting on the Dutch Slough project. He mentioned he has been involved with the project since 1998 and he is very happy the City is planning and he and his organization are interested in helping the City find funding. He suggested the City think about regional amenities to get state and federal funding for a local park. He also suggested the City integrate the project into the Dutch Slough restoration site to show it is integrated. He mentioned UC Davis has determined the site has more plant and animal wildlife than any other site on the Delta so it is a unique resource and the more the City can show the site is compatible to the Dutch Slough restoration project, it may have more opportunity for funding. He asked the Council to consider how to phase it as it is hard to get $15 million at once; he would like to work with everyone to get the trail open around the Dutch Slough project.
Katie Bandy, Dutch Slough Project Manager with the Department of Water Resources (DWR) echoed comments made by Mr. Cain. She extended support to work with the City. She mentioned when the site was acquired by DWR from coastal conservancy funding, it included the 55-acre park and highlighted shoreline access and while the park has been through many reiterations, the Dutch Slough project is complete, and they should do their best with the investment the state has already made. She suggested with grant funding a good way to start is with the trails and then a phased approach.
Jimmy Ramirez, Planning Commissioner, mentioned he learned about pollution in 3rd grade at Oakley Elementary and had the most incredible environmental education here in Oakley. He shared that native peoples were always spoken of as people of the past, not the present, and coming home from class and knowing his family was indigenous was jolting. He expressed that he sees this park as an opportunity to honor the original indigenous people, as well as indigenous people today or in the future in Oakley.
Nick Cloutier commented he is a professional fisherman and is drawn to the outdoor recreation option. He shared that fishing tournaments bring 200-300 boats for 2 days that generate a lot of revenue for Oakley. He also shared that there are many private fishing opportunities in the area, but not public; this would be a place where kids could fish, and it would bring revenue. He shared that there are ball fields elsewhere in the City and this site provides a unique destination. 5) Adjourn
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:19 p.m.
Respectively Submitted,
Libby Vreonis
City Clerk