CITY OF PACIFICA
CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
Council Chambers
2212 Beach Blvd
Pacifica, CA 94044
Mayor Sue Vaterlaus
Mayor pro Tem Sue Beckmeyer
Councilmember Mary Bier
Councilmember Tygarjas Bigstyck
Councilmember Christine Boles
City Council Regular Meeting 1 February 12, 2024
February 12, 2024 (MONDAY)
www.cityofpacifica.org
Mayor Sue Vaterlaus called the meeting to order on February 12, 2024 at 7:07 PM 7:00 PM OPEN SESSION
Call to Order
Mayor Vaterlaus called the meeting to order at 7:07 p.m.
Attendee Name Title Status Arrived
Sue Vaterlaus Mayor Present
Sue Beckmeyer Mayor pro Tem Present
Mary Bier Councilmember Present
Tygarjas Bigstyck Councilmember Present
Christine Boles Councilmember Present
Staff Present: Kevin Woodhouse, City Manager; Michelle Kenyon, City Attorney; Lisa Petersen, PW Director; Yulia Carter, Asst. City Manager; Maria Sarasua, Police Chief; Ron Myers, Fire Chief; Todd Johnson, Dep. Fire Chief; Bob Palacio, PB&R Director; Louis Sun, PW Dep.
Director-Wastewater Div.; Roland Yip, PW Dep. Director (Field Services/Engineering); Sarah Coffey, City Clerk; Emily La, Dep. City Clerk.
Reading of Land Acknowledgment
Mayor Vaterlaus read the Land Acknowledgment.
Salute to the Flag led by Councilmember Bier
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
A. Proclamation - Pacifica Sports Hall of Fame Week & 2024 Inductees Mayor Vaterlaus read a proclamation honoring the Pacifica Sports Hall of Fame Week and the 2024 inductees: Brent Crowley (Terra Nova / Oceana High School wrestling coach), Gary City Council Regular Meeting 2 February 12, 2024
Hernandez (University of California Berkeley All-American baseball athlete), Keith Hernandez Major League Player), and Natalie Talbot-Thorne (California Interscholastic Federation Executive).
Horace Hinshaw, President of the Pacifica Sports Club, thanked Council for recognizing the inductees and shared some history of sports in Pacifica. He felt it was great to have the support of Council and the City. Mr. Hinshaw stated that there are 170 people on that wall in the last 33 years and he hoped to eventually expand around the other side of the wall.
Councilmember Bier thanked him for always bringing our community together.
Councilmember Bigstyck stated that it was inspiring to know how many athletes our community has, especially when it comes to the children who participated and learned good values about cooperation, being good competitors, and what it means to play a game in a positive way. He thanked him for enshrining what sports means to Pacifica as a community.
Mayor pro Tem Beckmeyer echoed the sentiments from Councilmembers Bier and Bigstyck.
Councilmember Boles thanked him for bringing this to Council’s and the community’s attention.
She knows it’s an inspiration for our youth to see that they have athletes that have made it at a national level.
Mr. Hinshaw stated that, when he started working for the Pacifica Tribune, he thought it was important to recognize the athletes, as some have gone on to outstanding history in sports, not just in the U.S. but also overseas. Mr. Hinshaw stated that they used to have the Athlete of the Week years ago, and people would come up to him and remember their stories.
Mayor Vaterlaus thanked him because she felt privileged to be on the Wall of Fame.
Mayor Vaterlaus asked if anyone from the public wanted to speak. Seeing no one, she stated that they could take a picture.
Dep. City Clerk La stated that they had one raised hand after they closed public comment.
Mayor Vaterlaus re-opened public comment.
Sue Digre, Pacifica, stated Mr. Hinshaw deserves many honors and she congratulated all the athletes.
CONSENT CALENDAR
Mayor Vaterlaus asked if any Councilmembers want to move anything from the consent agenda.
City Clerk Coffey stated that, before they proceed with the consent calendar, she had a note for one of the items on Consent: Item No. 9, Chit Chat Café lease agreement, requires a minor revision in Section 3.2 (Base Rent) to read “the monthly base rent for the initial term shall be $1,900 per month for a total of $22,800 per year,” and that is to be consistent with the base rent amount listed in the basic lease information portion of that agreement, i.e., a typographical error that needed to be corrected.
City Council Regular Meeting 3 February 12, 2024
Mayor Vaterlaus thanked her, and with no Councilmember requests, opened public comment.
David Leal, Pacifica, stated he is speaking as a member of the community, a father and a coach. He stated he was speaking on Item 12. He urged Council to approve staff’s recommendation and approve the construction services agreement with Armour Fence to replace the Fairway Park backstops, stating his thoughts on the item.
Mayor Vaterlaus closed public comments.
Councilmember Boles had a minor correction to the minutes, in Item 2a on packet page 33. The paragraph beginning “Councilmember Boles understood” and in the middle of that paragraph, she stated the following changes: First, “...and then they have something that they cannot approve again” to “...and then we have something that we cannot approve again” and last, in the final line, “...then come back to them instead of ...” should be changed to “...then come back to us instead of...”
Councilmember Boles also commented on Item 10. She referred to the money they are getting for their Edible Food Waste Recovery Program, and she supports that half is the money is going to the PRC for them to accept money from restaurants and distribute them. Now it is showing that the almost other half of the money, Public Works has spent some on compost and mulch, but the rest is going back to the county. She was hoping they can see how we might be able to keep this money in the city in the future. She had a conversation with Alejandra Warren from Plastic Free Future, and her response was it sounds like those $19,000 could be used to design a program for Pacifica gardens without any need for additional staff bandwidth. In fact, Plastic Free Future has been dreaming of a community compost hub in Palmetto for years. There are members of the community that have some ideas and Councilmember Boles understands staff does not have the capacity to take this forward, but maybe we can consider some of those and keep our money here in town in the future.
Mayor pro Tem Beckmeyer wanted to tag onto what David Leal said about Item 12 and the backstops. She has been hearing about backstops for a long time from many members of the community, and this is one of those examples where staff worked hard to make this happen.
She thanked PB&R Director Bob Palacio and our engineering staff. She stated that it is a team effort and they did an amazing job with it. She thanked him for what he did to make that happen for all those kids.
Councilmember Bier thought the partnership between the City and Little League is important.
She was proud that the city is coming in and partnering with Little League.
Mayor Vaterlaus agreed.
Councilmember Boles moved approval of the consent agenda with corrections to the minutes (Item 2a) and corrections to Chit Chat Café lease (Item 9); seconded by Councilmember Bigstyck.
RESULT: ADOPTED AS AMENDED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Christine Boles, Councilmember
SECONDER: Tygarjas Bigstyck, Councilmember
AYES: Vaterlaus, Beckmeyer, Bier, Bigstyck, Boles
City Council Regular Meeting 4 February 12, 2024
1. Approval of Disbursements for 01/01/24 through 01/31/24.
PROPOSED ACTION: Receive and file the Monthly Check Register Report for the month of January 2024.
2. Approval of Minutes
PROPOSED ACTION: Move to approve the minutes for the following: (1) January 8, 2024 Special and Regular Meeting of the City Council and (2) January 22, 2024 Special and Regular Meeting of the City Council.
3. Continuation of Proclamation of Local Emergency of the Pacifica Coastline from Westline Drive to the End of Beach Boulevard.
PROPOSED ACTION: Accept report and make a determination that conditions of local emergency continue to exist within the Pacifica Coastline from Westline Drive to the end of Beach Boulevard.
4. Continuation of Proclamation of Local Emergency at the Anza Pump Station.
PROPOSED ACTION: Accept Report and Make a Determination that Conditions of Local Emergency Continue to Exist at the Anza Pump Station at the Pacifica State Beach.
5. Continuation of Proclamation of Local Emergency related to December 28, 2023, High Tide/Large Wave Events
PROPOSED ACTION: Accept Report and Make a Determination that Conditions of Local Emergency Continue to Exist related to December 28, 2023 High Tide/Large Wave Events.
6. Resolution to Approve an Additional Operator III – Plant Operation position for Public Works Department
PROPOSED ACTION: Adopt a resolution approving to add a full time Permanent Operator III - Plant Operation position to the position control in Public Works Wastewater Division, at an estimated annual cost of approximately $192,000.
7. Resolution Authorizing Master Consulting Service Agreement, Task Order No. 1 and 2 with S. R. Rose Engineering Inc., Inc. for the On-Call Project Management and Development Review Staff Augmentation Services Project
PROPOSED ACTION: Move to Adopt a Resolution Authorizing Master Consulting Service Agreement, Task Order No. 1 and Task Order No. 2 with S. R. Rose Engineering Inc., in the amount of $458,505 for the On-Call Project Management and Development Review Staff Augmentation Services Project; and Authorize the City Manager to execute all documents related to the project.
8. Resolution to Approve First Amendment to Communications Site Lease Agreement between the City of Pacifica and American Tower Company PROPOSED ACTION: Adopt a Resolution to Approve the First Amendment to the Communications Site Lease Agreement between the City of Pacifica and GTE Mobilnet of California LP d/b/a Verizon Wireless (American Tower Company) for Expanded Lease Space Area at Frontierland Park, 900 Yosemite Drive Site.
9. Resolution Approving the Lease Agreement between the City of Pacifica and Chit Chat Cafe LLC
PROPOSED ACTION: Move to Adopt the Resolution Approving the Lease City Council Regular Meeting 5 February 12, 2024
Agreement between the City of Pacifica and Genevieve Davis, Branden Jenkins of Chit Chat Cafe LLC and Authorize the City Manager to Execute the Lease Agreement for the 2100 Beach Boulevard Location at the Pacifica Pier.
10. Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the County of San Mateo Supporting Pacifica Resource Center’s Edible Food Recovery Program
PROPOSED ACTION: Adopt a Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the County of San Mateo Supporting Pacifica Resource Center’s Edible Food Recovery Program.
11. Resolution to Approve Purchase Agreement with DXP Enterprises Inc for Purchase of pumps for CCWRP Pump Replacement Project (P004)
PROPOSED ACTION: Adopt a Resolution that:
A. Authorizes the City Manager to award and execute a sole source Purchase Agreement for three KSB pumps with DXP Enterprises Inc. (Authorized distributer of KSB pumps); and
B. Approves a total project budget of $66,461.19; and
C. Authorizes the City Manager to execute all documents related to the purchase agreement.
12. Resolution to Approve a Construction Services Agreement with Armour Fence for Fairway Park Backstops Replacement Project
PROPOSED ACTION: Adopt a Resolution to Approve the Construction Services Agreement with Armour Fence for Fairway Park Backstops Project.
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON ITEMS NOT ON THE POSTED AGENDA
Shreya Joshi, Pacifica, stated she is with Pacific Coast Television. She stated that there have been additional people coming in on behalf of PCT and they wanted to let them know each year PCT trains 30-40 college interns for television production and Council meetings are one of the vital productions for that training and they apologize for any distractions.
John Kontrabecki, Pacifica, stated he is an attorney and has a client who made an application for a 20-unit residential development in Linda Mar called Hillside Meadows which includes 4 below market rate units as well. He detailed the process stages since the completed application
3.5 years ago and has requested help from Council to get update on the status to move this forward as soon as possible.
COUNCIL COMMUNICATIONS
Councilmember Bigstyck began his communications with the passing of NCCWD President Jack Burgett. He asked Mayor Vaterlaus to adjourn the meeting in his honor. He read City Manager Woodhouse’s op-ed in the San Mateo Daily Journal. He participated in the One Day Homeless Count and there will be information coming in late May. He was invited to a session called “Ombudsman Services” which is a federal program that goes through the County and the idea is they are advocates for seniors. He met with some people in that group in an interesting session about conservatorship. That evening, there was a Peninsula Clean Energy meeting and they were briefed about the Nexus Project which is solar over irrigation canals; he understood it was a pilot and will cost $20 million for a mile in which solar panels hang about 3 feet over the water which has the two-fold effect of conserving the water in the waterway City Council Regular Meeting 6 February 12, 2024
because so much of it is lost to evaporation between north and south California and on the other hand they have solar so they simultaneously have water conservation and solar power. He thought it was a pilot to see how it works and the beginning for something potentially exciting for California and how they conserve water and gain energy. He stated usually PCE stays 5% under PG&E rates, and they decided not to follow PG&E’s rates and instead keep rates where they are which approximates between 10-15% savings instead of the standard 5%, depending on the kind of customer. He attended the Council of Cities/Santa Clara Cities Association/Peninsula Division of Cal Cities Legislative Update night. He was happy to co-host that with his fellow Legislative Action Committee member Vicki Veenker from Palo Alto. He was invited to the Chinese Consulate by his friend, Deputy Consul General Zhao, for the 45th anniversary of US-China relations and also a Chinese New Year’s celebration. He attended the Library JPA meeting and InterEthnica will be helping us with strategic planning for 2025.
They also addressed various library policies, including about book access in this time. He stated that the San Mateo County Library System has resolved to not ban any books. He attended a special LAFCO meeting because of an appeal by the East Palo Alto Sanitary District and they decided to continue to go with the decision they made in November that they should be made a subsidiary of the city and that process will now move forward. The next LAFCO meeting is March 20. They also talked about how they are prioritizing municipal service reviews. There is a number of criteria that the state looks at for each municipal service review and we are supposed to go through all of them approximately every five years. He stated that there are 20 cities and 22 independent districts that they would be doing MSRs for and it becomes important how they prioritize what they are doing and how. In some of the variations, coastal cities would come up within a year or two or three. He attended CCAG and they found about a tax measure that may be on the ballot coming up, adding that they are also developing a strategic plan. He attended the Pacific Beach Coalition surf movie. He stated there was a Peninsula Division CalCities meeting about the various events coming up.
Councilmember Boles participated in the One Day Homeless Count for the first time and got to ride with Councilmember Beckmeyer. She thought it was interesting to get a firsthand look at our vulnerable community. She is interested in seeing the data when it comes out. She attended a Webinar on SB4 with Penny Nixon. She stated that SB4 is the new state law that allows churches and other institutions to build affordable housing on their sites and adjust ministerial review. She was also participating with the Unhoused on the Coast group and some of those people are starting to reach out to churches here in Pacifica to see if there is interest as well. She referred to the CalCities legislative update and thanked Councilmember Bigstyck for helping to organize that. She was impressed by State Senator Wahab from Alameda, who was tuned in on the need for affordable housing, especially for single moms and seniors; one thing that she said that struck Councilmember Boles was that she said there was a silver tsunami coming and that the numbers of seniors going into homeless could triple by 2030. She attended the Pacifica Environmental Family event about the Coastal Act and the Coastal Commission and she thought it was well put together and informative. She stated that Dr. Charles Lester who used to be the Executive Director of the Coastal Commission had a great presentation and answered hard questions from the public. She thought there was some good information there as they try to carry our conversation here forward, understanding the public trust land and the shorelines moving and that becomes state land after a while. Some inspirational stories from the City of Monterey, knowing that they have to give room for the extra water to move in and creating a bigger shoreline with more recreation space. She stated sometimes there are alternatives to the standard armory that can actually improve the city, so hopefully we can move past the fear and vision a little bit about what we want for our town as we move forward. She stated that, after that, there was a comment from a constituent in Shoreview and she reached out to them and had a long meeting to understand a project that they were trying to get through City Council Regular Meeting 7 February 12, 2024
the Coastal Commission now with a revetment. She had her first meeting with County Supervisor Ray Mueller about electric homes and affordable housing and sea level rise issues and she is also working on a water capture project along the coast with him with the San Mateo Leadership Council and it was good to get some feedback from him on that. On the next day, she met with Anthony Yoshida from State Senator Josh Becker’s office; they talked at length about the bills that Senator Allen had introduced in the past that had made it through the legislature two years in a row and then were vetoed by the governor. They were bills that would provide a revolving fund so vulnerable properties could be purchased and then rented back so nobody has to leave right away and made whole for the amount and value of the property but it gives us a chance to plan for the future. He promised to dig into that and try to understand why the governor vetoed them and they might be able to be reintroduced. She watched the fivehour long Planning Commission meeting on our Housing Element objective design standards and she wanted to thank the Planning Commissioners for doing that hard work. They have the Housing Element submitted but this is a document they are working on that will come to Council as well and provides some basic standards to try to make room for about 2000 new units of housing. She referred to fundraisers held by the Pirates of Manor and the Pacifica Beach Coalition, which were fun.
Councilmember Bigstyck stated he was reminded when Councilmember Boles was talking about the Planning Commission meeting that they all had their power out in that moment. He thanked staff (Public Works, Fire, Police and PB&R) for again getting us through the storm.
Councilmember Bier attended the Age Friendly Task Force meetings. They look forward to completing the online survey about age-friendly cities and they are going to be having focus groups in a town hall meeting tentatively scheduled for February 27. She stated that they have a coalition meeting on February 13 and they will be moving forward in all the information they collect from the surveys and focus groups and will then inform out upcoming action plan with AARP. She stated the HEART Board meeting was cancelled this month. She attended the CCAG Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee meeting where they reviewed ten projects from the Transportation Development Act, Article 3 funding. They have until February 26 to complete those scorings. She is grateful to be at the table in part of those conversations and the opportunity to bring more projects to our region and eventually us too. She watched the PCT recording of the Pacifica Environmental Family’s Education forum about the Coastal Act. She wanted to thank PCT because she couldn’t have watched if they weren’t there to record it. She stated that was going above and beyond what they are regularly contracted to do so it was awesome that they have a public television station that goes out of their way to make sure we get the information that we need moving forward. The legislative panel was wonderful at CalCities. She thanked Councilmember Bigstyck for being a part of that. She stated that it is always good to hear from all of our leaders across the state. She met with a group of constituents who are concerned about water safety after the accidents that happened during their King Tides. She attended a webinar about the cold impacts on health and the County’s Inclement Weather Program. She coordinated the Pacifica Collaborative meeting, which included Tree City Pacifica, and they also has a project with the Sanchez Art Center and Pacificans Care, Art for a Peaceful and Just Community; they are having all kinds of different kindness activities across the year in different sectors, i.e., they are doing read alouds at elementary schools, a youth summit based on kindness, and an event coming up which is “Leap Into Kindness,” a free community sing along on February 29 at the Mildred Owen Concert Hall.
She stated that it is a way for us to get together and share some joy. She thought it was important to understand that, even when the world is so horrible, we can create these pockets of kindness that are going to trickle out into our community and have a ripple effect. She wants to thank Cindy Abbott from the Sanchez Art Center and Bill Michaelis from Pacificans Care which City Council Regular Meeting 8 February 12, 2024
is sponsoring the event. She attended the Coast Pride board meeting. She attended the Mental Health Service Act Steering Committee meeting where they talked about Proposition 1, which is going to be re-routing our Mental Health Service Act funding for the county. She met with constituents about short-term rentals and after that meeting she went home where there was a short-term rental advertised for 19 people with noticeably more than 19 people there over the weekend. She has to cover her kitchen window because they can see into the window and it wasn’t a comfortable thing to feel you have to cover a window. She wanted to make that public comment as there are a lot of people who have that kind of thing happening in their neighborhoods. She stated that they are going to be having a Pacifica Youth Summit on March 16 at IBL, and they are looking for youth-centered agencies and groups to table at that event.
Councilmember Boles wanted to add that Councilmember Bier and her are on the ad hoc committee for the BBIRP, and she wanted to remind everyone that the meeting for that is on February 22 on Zoom.
Mayor pro Tem Beckmeyer reported on the Beautification Advisory Committee. The committee was fortunate to have a presentation and update from Cindy Abbott on the Mural Subcommittee, which specifically focuses on beautification through public art, and she went through the whole policy and mentioned murals that have been approved on city-controlled public property or adjacent that are controlled by other public agencies. What was an interesting outcome of that conversation was a discussion about other possible kinds of public arts that might not be as expensive to produce and as lengthy to produce. She learned a new acronym she wanted to share with them, i.e., MUTCD, the Department of Transportation’s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. She attended a lot of other meetings. She stated the legislative updates were fantastic and she was so proud of Councilmember Bigstyck. She stated that they were treated to the opportunity as this was a collaboration between Council of Cities and the Santa Clara County Council of Cities and CalCities, three organizations that all have overlapping interests.
They were able to enjoy some comradery from legislators, hear legislative updates, participate in great panels, and also be in a very historic space for Silicon Valley. She participated in the One Day Homeless Count for the first time ever. She stated that their day was well-spent and all that data will be rolled together for not just Pacifica but for the county and released back to us at some point several months from now. She stated that it was exciting for her to see PRC staff in action. She stated that they hear updates from Anita Rees all the time, and she thought it felt like a ride along. They were fortunate to have one of the homeless outreach workers with them.
She met with the Mayor and the City Manager on what she was calling strategic goal setting.
She chaired her first Coastal Cities group meeting, where they mostly talked about their work plan and it was all about communications. They will be talking about ocean protection and sea level rise. She was at an all-day Lion’s Club District meeting. She stated that the benefit of that was that people came up to her who are members of other Lion’s Clubs around the area who live in Pacifica. She stated that the Lions have been an active group in Pacifica for many years, longer than we had a town, since 1948 or 1949. They have the opportunity occasionally to do some benefit work for non-profits in town and community groups and we were able to do some grants. She knows how much the groups depend on that income and plan on it and incorporated into their budget.
Mayor Vaterlaus attended the Home for All meeting on church properties and there was a lot of information provided. She learned about Charles Lester and the Coastal Act and attended Council of Cities. She attended the OneShoreline meeting which is all about sea level rise but mostly on the bay side. She was also present for the discussion on the check distribution for Fog Fest. She went to the Housing Our People Effectively (HOPE) meeting and they talked about the new law that, in the county, if you are homeless and you do not take the help, they City Council Regular Meeting 9 February 12, 2024
can cite you. Someone asked a question of how many encampments there are and in the county there are eight, with 68 people living in those encampments; they do not plan on arresting anybody or citing anybody and the goal is to get people help but they did say there are lots of people who do not want help. She attended the movie night. At the CCAG Legislative meeting, they talked about the budget and the changes in staff and local bills. She attended the regular CCAG meeting, mainly doing part of the strategic planning. She stated that the legislative meeting did talk about the changes in staff in the state which is really important. She went to the Shared Prosperity Council, which was formerly the COVID-19 Recovery Council, and they got massive statistics on jobs, housing, income, and everything involved in the whole county. She watched the Planning Commission meeting. She talked to many constituents about short-term rentals, dogs, trash, etc.
STAFF COMMUNICATIONS
City Manager Woodhouse stated during the storms that the major impact seemed to be the extremely high winds that day with a lot of trees down, power lines, etc., and unlike previous storms, Pacifica lost all power. He stated that they made the call that day to open up the Community Center as a comfort center with electricity and power available to people. He thanked PB&R Director Palacio who staffed it in addition to all of the first responders from Police, Fire, and Public Works who were running around the city dealing with stuff. He stated, in his experience, that was the first they had opened the Community Center as they have a generator that runs to allow that to happen if the power is out at the Community Center. He then flew to Los Angeles for the League of California Cities City Manager’s Department meeting. He is a member of the Cal ICMA which is the state affiliate of ICMA, International City/County Managers Association. They had a strategic planning session. The comment he will make about Cal ICMA and ICMA generally focuses on professional development with pipeline or local government management and ethics and it is very near and dear to his heart. He stated that the profession has lots of great contacts through that which help with recruitment and retention of the quality employees in our profession in Pacifica and in our region, and it is a very important organization. He also sits on the Executive Committee for the League of City Managers Department and they had their business meeting Wednesday morning before the conference started; it was incredibly informative because it was a very large overview of what is happening statewide. League Executive Director Carolyn Coleman gave presentations as well as a lot of policy committee members. He stated that statewide this is going to be an unbelievable year legislatively and leading up to the election in November and one message is layered onto that of some artificial intelligence capabilities that, for better or worse, will be used in various ways during the election. He stated at the conference there was a keynote speaker about artificial intelligence and some of the creative ways that can be used in our profession of local government management. There was some discussion about some of the challenges with that.
He then referred to Councilmember Bigstyck’s comment that the op-ed piece he had written was for PublicCEO entitled “Pacifica Seeks Creative Pragmatic Solutions to Coastal Planning Challenges”. He stated that the piece in the San Mateo Daily Journal did run a piece and Planning Director Murdock and Coastal Commission staff Stephanie Rexing were both quoted in that Journal article which is talking about our LCLUP process. City Manager Woodhouse wanted to mention a few meetings that are upcoming and some have already been mentioned:
the Beach Boulevard Infrastructure Resiliency Project meeting (February 22), the third meeting for the Local Coastal Land Use Plan process which will be held at the Terra Nova Theater (March 2), and the City Council’s strategic plan update process for this year (March 9). He stated that the other announcements he wanted to mention are that they will make the determination and a press release relating to opening half of the main pier on Wednesday, February 14. They are likely to open it on Wednesday, but the actual determination will not be City Council Regular Meeting 10 February 12, 2024
made and the release done after some last final work. He stated that the most westerly half of the pier will need to remain closed and only the most easterly half will open at this point in time.
He also wanted to talk about the Sanchez Library Outpost technology that is going to be implemented and is under construction. He will read what they wrote in Connect with Pacifica and he wanted to make a clarifying point that, right after he put the information out on Friday, February 9, they heard from the County Library team and the construction team that Sanchez was going to be closed this week due to the concrete pour for the facility but a final ADA survey needs to be completed before the concrete pour. He stated that the Pacifica Sanchez Library is open this week, to be determined when it will be closed to facilitate the concrete pour, but progress is occurring and the Outpost will increase access to the library’s collection through easy to use 24 hours, seven days a week, automated library vending hubs. It does not replace the in-person Sanchez Library services but augments it and, during the construction, the library services continue to be available and is expected to be completed this spring. Putting it into the context of Pacifica’s libraries project is that this will be the first of its kind in the county lending machines which is exciting and puts us on the path towards cutting-edge library services and fits with Pacifica’s and San Mateo County Libraries and the community’s vision for modernization of Pacifica’s libraries. It is a step toward our open access model that was envisioned for the Sanchez branch to allow that kind of 24/7 access to browsing collection and materials, in addition to the in-person library program and the services currently provided. He thought the City and San Mateo County Libraries are working toward a vision to bring modern library facilities to Pacifica with a new full service Sharp Park Library and renovation of Sanchez Library, and the construction of the Outpost is moving us in that direction.
Mayor pro Tem Beckmeyer thanked him, City Clerk Coffey, and Management Analyst Elizabeth Brooks for extra effort to get that word out. The goal was to try to get the word out because there are a lot of people who use that library and to suddenly have it be closed and there had been no forewarning. She also asked, regarding the LCLUP meeting at Terra Nova High School, if they have a timeline on the mailer.
City Manager Woodhouse stated the LCLUP meeting mailer is probably in the mail or will be in the mail very shortly as they were waiting until they absolutely verified that Terra Nova Theater is going to work.
Mayor pro Tem Beckmeyer thanked him for looking for a large venue as she thought, with the volume of emails and comments she has been receiving, they are going to need a big venue as this is becoming an issue of grave concern to many Pacifica residents. She wanted to follow up on what Councilmember Boles mentioned regarding to the Allen bill. She knows that Coastal Cities group took an opposed unless amended position on that bill which fed into CalCities position which had to do with the funding. She understood that it does not mean a bill cannot be crafted that would address those concerns, and that would be something they will be hearing about through the legislative updates through Coastal Cities group, and she will bring updates when there are any.
Councilmember Boles added she was communicating that we do not have the money for this.
Mayor pro Tem Beckmeyer stated that what it is about is that we are in charge of Pacifica and this job is to keep our funding straight and help our city move forward; thus, we have to rely on staff and all the moving parts that cost money, not just our money generated from property taxes but funding that they bring in such as Councilmember Bier was talking about the bicycle situation with $300,000 bike lane that we do not have the money for but through a grant process we will. She referred to the $19 million pier update, which will be funded through continuing to City Council Regular Meeting 11 February 12, 2024
work with our legislators and getting the word out about this important, critical regional asset and the need to repair.
Mayor Vaterlaus stated that she went by the Community Center when she had no power and she was happy to see the people who were there. She thanked staff for everything.
Councilmember Boles stated their libraries could potentially be a community resilient hub too.
Mayor pro Tem Beckmeyer understood that pallets of phone charging units with some snacks, etc., were dropped off at Sharp Park Library and made available to people. There were a lot of people and they were coming to a place where they could work.
PUBLIC HEARINGS - NONE.
CONSIDERATION - NONE.
ADJOURN
Mayor Vaterlaus stated the final thing they want to do at this meeting is to adjourn in memory of Jack Burgett. He called her periodically as they were going through similar things and he was the best. They had a meeting with him and he gave stories of how he met his wife, being a coach, and his life, and she was thankful to have him still coming to their meetings. She wanted to say how they are going to miss him.
Mayor pro Tem Beckmeyer realized when they met with him and heard different stories, she knew him and his wife, and before she knew them, she ate the Shrimp Louie salad that they were responsible for making at the Moose Lodge on the first Friday of the month for years. She is sad that she did not get a chance to know Jack better than she did and she is grateful for the amount of time she did get to know him. She stated he was a kind person, a Marine, and a coach for generations of football players. She ran into an article about San Francisco State University honoring him. She felt he wanted to see the North Coast County Water District project done and opened, and she thought he will be looking down and he will be communicating with them about the project. She will miss him.
Councilmember Bigstyck had the ad hoc to solve the moment of consternation as they seemed to have a difference of opinion between organizations. He saw that Jack very much wanted to speak the truth and be done with it, and at the same time he struggled with the part of himself to communicate where his heart and mind was and to work with other hearts and minds that may have a different approach. He contemplated how many people he taught to be upright and cultivated themselves as well as sense of community. He stated that getting to know Jack unfolding before him and he saw him open up way past the training that he cultivated himself.
Jack led with nothing but respect for him and in those moments where he had no choice within himself but to show agitation, at the end of the day, he knew how to pull it back, look you in the eye, shake your hand and get on with it. Councilmember Bigstyck had every respect for someone whose service was finding the entirety of himself so he could serve the best for all of them.
Councilmember Boles was sad that she did not get to know Jack Burgett as well as the other Councilmembers did. Her relationship with him was mostly in this chamber where he was always present early. She thinks about his illness and his strength in fighting it and hoped that he would be here longer with us. She stated that it is the measure of a person to see how they City Council Regular Meeting 12 February 12, 2024
handle being here only a certain amount of time and he kept living every day the same way, true to his character. He was always so welcoming and glad to see people and make each of them feel special when they walked in the room.
Councilmember Bier stated Jack showed up dressed with a suit and tie to the NCCWD meetings and he was the same way when he coached. She stated he was so incredible and she was sad that he is gone. She thanked some of our staff members who sat in the back of the room with him and helped him. She noted Capt. Clements made sure that Jack got in and out of the chambers okay and things like that make a difference in community as that is how they take care of each other. She went to school with Jack’s kids, so when they had the opportunity to be in our ad hoc meetings with him, she got to tell him about times from when she was a kid. She stated that he was scary but tough, and he was also a great coach. She stated that every time athletes spoke to him, they called him coach and that is such a sign of respect.
She stated that the beauty of coming together as an ad hoc committee surpasses any disagreement or uncomfortableness between agencies. They were able to take that opportunity and create relationships that go way beyond any decision made or any argument, and that is what they did with Jack. She stated that she will miss him terribly.
Mayor Vaterlaus stated that they will take 30 seconds of silence to remember him. She then adjourned the meeting at 8:49 p.m. in memory of Jack Burgett.
Transcribed by Barbara Medina, Public Meeting Stenographer.
Respectfully Submitted,
Sarah Coffey, City Clerk
APPROVED: 5 - 0; 3/11/2024
__________________________
Sue Vaterlaus, Mayor