CALL TO ORDER 6:00 PM
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE and MOMENT OF SILENCE
ROLL CALL
CITY STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT:
Mali LaGoe, City Manager
Kirsten Powell, City Attorney
Taylor Bateman, Community Development
Director
Sarah Wikle, Senior Planner
Cathie Simonovich, City Clerk
ELECTED OFFICIALS
PRESENT:
Randy Johnson, Mayor
Derek Timm, Vice Mayor
Jack Dilles, Council Member
Donna Lind, Council Member
Allan Timms, Council Member
SPECIAL SET MATTER
MINUTES
Meeting of the
Scotts Valley City Council
Date: September 4, 2024
Time: 6:00 PM
CONTACT
INFORMATION
MEETING LOCATION POSTING
City of Scotts Valley City Council Chambers The agenda was posted 1 Civic Center Drive 1 Civic Center Drive on 8-30-2024 at City Scotts Valley, CA Scotts Valley, CA 95066 Hall, SV Senior Center, 95066 OR SV Public Works
(831) 440-5600 Zoom Video Conference Building, and on the https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83295730901 Internet
at www.scottsvalley.gov.
The City Council meeting was called to order at 6:00 PM.
1. Mayor's Proclamation honoring Jacob's Heart Children's Cancer Support Services and declaring September 2024 as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
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COMMITTEE REPORTS
Mayor Johnson presented this proclamation to honor Jacob's Heart Children's Cancer Support Services and to declare September 2024 as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Accepting on behalf of Jacob's Heart were Sandy Montes and Argenis Ramirez. Ms. Montes and Mr. Ramirez thanked the Council and the Scotts Valley community for their ongoing support.
CM Lind attended a Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District (METRO) board meeting.
METRO will be offering free rides to the Santa Cruz County Fair, as well as discounted tickets for adults and children.
CM Lind announced that the 5th Annual 9/11 Stair Climb will be at Seacliff State Beach on Wednesday, 9/11.
CM Timms attended the Age Well event at Cabrillo College which was a preview of the Santa Cruz County Age Well survey results. The summary report will be distributed when it is available, but a few statistics of note are: 1 in 4 seniors who live in Santa Cruz County leave the county to obtain essential services; 25% of care givers describe their mental health as fair or poor due to low pay, high stress, and lack of support; and in Scotts Valley, the lack of urgent care is a big problem for seniors.
CM Timms attended a Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) meeting, and they received a report on the Central Fire District, specifically regarding operations since their merger with La Selva Beach. The also received a partial report on the CSA48 study which is still in process.
CM Timms attended a special meeting of the Central Coast Community Energy (3CE) where they are considering reducing the size of their board from approximately 19 to 9.
This generated a long discussion with no resolution at this point. They are forming an ad hoc committee to study this further.
CM Timm attended a Town Center community meeting at the community center which was well-attended. Community feedback on the three Town Center options has been gathered at two different events and there is another opportunity on Saturday for residents to provide feedback. The Town Center outreach team will be at the Multicultural Fair on Saturday, 9/7, from 10:30 AM to 3:30 PM.
CM Dilles attended a meeting of the Santa Margarita Ground Water Agency where they received a ground water sustainability program update. The data will be input into a statewide web portal which the public will be able to access. They received an update on the changes to the County's well ordinance, including a plan to create a requirement that any large (more than 2 acre feet/year) new or replacement wells will need to have meters installed.
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CITY MANAGER REPORT
CM Johnson also attended the Town Center community meeting and found it to be very productive.
Town Center Outreach: The Town Center outreach team will be at the Multicultural Fair on Saturday, 9/7. There are postcards on the back table this evening which show the various ways to provide feedback, and these postcards also include the web address and the QR code to the online survey. The City has already received 100 survey responses in addition to the feedback from the in-person events. The feedback will be compiled in order to move forward with a preferred plan based on the community's input.
Pothole Repairs: The repairs to the potholes on Mt. Hermon Road near Highway 17 have been completed after a complicated process working with Caltrans. The repairs cover about 200 feet of replaced asphalt.
PG&E Work on Mt. Hermon Road: The work continues near the Whispering Pines intersection.
New Associate Civil Engineer: The City welcomes our new Associate Civil Engineer, Andrew Lee, who will start next week. Our Engineering Department is now fully staffed! A huge thank you to our Public Works Director, Rodolfo Onchi, who has staffed the department with very experienced individuals. With this team in place, the City will be able to design many projects in-house.
Field Conditions: City Manager LaGoe has been receiving regular updates from the Maintenance Manager, Matt Spencer-Cooke. Matt also did an update presentation to the Parks and Recreation Commission last month to keep the Commission and the community informed about the work that has been happening in the parks, as well as the challenges the staff has encountered. The Council has also been kept informed. In early summer, during the hottest days in June, the Wastewater Treatment Plant experienced a major upset which impacted the production of recycled water. This lasted about 3 weeks and took its toll on our ability to water the grass on the fields and in the parks. The staff worked very hard to resolve this issue, and now we are producing more recycled water than we have historically, thanks to the solutions implemented under the direction of our Wastewater Plant Manager, Jeremy Long. The fields have begun to rebound from this, but the Skypark field was also damaged from the Art, Beer & Wine Festival. Staff replaced over 20 sprinklers, repaired lines, and lifted sprinklers that had been driven over. The fields are watered every night from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM. The dead spots in the grass are due to high traffic and gophers.
The fields will need to be re-seeded, and this will have to be completed when the fields are not used so heavily, most likely in December. Regarding the gophers, the staff has been certified to use the Gopher-X machine weekly, and trapping is also performed twice each week. So far, a total of 53 gophers have been trapped as well as numerous gophers that have been eliminated by the Gopher-X machine. The staff is using topsoil to fill the holes.
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PUBLIC COMMENT TIME
ALTERATIONS TO CONSENT AGENDA
CONSENT AGENDA
One volunteer has signed up to help with this effort, and anyone else interested in volunteering please contact Matt Spencer-Cooke. The City also has vacancies for two maintenance workers, so please pass along this information to anyone who might be interested.
Housing Updates: We received our standard agreement from the State for our Permanent Local Housing Allocation (PLHA) funding in the amount of $430K. The majority of these funds will be used for pre-development activities for affordable housing as part of the Town Center project. Also, the draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Valley Gardens project is out for a 45-day public comment review period and is available on the City's website on the Planning Department/Current Projects page. The public comment period is open until October 14, 2024.
Fred Zanotto, a resident of Scotts Valley and frequent volunteer, spoke regarding the poor condition of the fields.
Chris Matthews, a 9-year resident of Scotts Valley and volunteer coach for soccer, spoke about the poor condition of the fields.
John Lewis, a resident of Scotts Valley, thanked the City for the public newsletter that is distributed every other week.
Sara DeLeon, a volunteer in Scotts Valley, spoke about the poor condition of the fields at Siltanen Park and the volunteer efforts to fill in the holes on the fields. She understands the need for raising fees but wants the condition of the fields to reflect the increased fees. She acknowledged that her former non-profit company owes money to the City, and she pledged that it would be paid by the end of the month.
M/S: Lind/Timms
To approve the Consent Agenda with no alterations.
Carried 5/0 (AYES: Johnson, Timm, Dilles, Lind, Timms)
1. Approve City Council minutes of 08-21-2024
2. Approve check register dated 08-17-2024 through 08-30-2024
3. Approve Community Development Block Grant - Program Income (CDBG - PI) Funding Allocation
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ALTERATIONS TO REGULAR AGENDA
REGULAR AGENDA
4. Investment Report for the Quarter Ended June 30, 2024
5. Second reading and adoption of Ordinance No. 73.3 regarding City Council Member benefits
M/S: Lind/Timm
To approve the Regular Agenda with no alterations.
Carried 5/0 (AYES: Johnson, Timm, Dilles, Lind, Timms)
1. Disaster Recovery Multifamily Housing Program (DR -MHP) – Letter of Support Request to assist with financing a proposed 100% affordable housing project located at 4444 Scotts Valley Drive (APNs 022-491-04, &-06).
City Manager LaGoe thanked the Council and the staff for getting the Housing Element approved and she noted that this agenda item is proof that the City is serious about the Housing Element implementation.
Community Development Director Bateman presented this item, and both City Manager LaGoe and Director Bateman responded to questions from the Council.
Ty McConnell, a resident of Scotts Valley for over 44 years and a tenant at 4444 Scotts Valley Drive, spoke on behalf of all the tenants regarding their concerns about having to move out and find new commercial space to run their businesses. They are concerned not just about the high cost of moving, but also about finding suitable new locations.
Stacy Nagel provided a written public comment in support of the project (see attached).
Jack Burlison, a representative of the company CRP Affordable (the applicant) spoke about the property and the financing. In response to the public comment from the tenants, he noted that CRP will be offering relocation assistance, including financial assistance, although this has not been communicated to the current tenants because the ownership has not yet been transferred to CRP.
The Council Members asked questions and there were discussions which included relocation assistance for the current tenants, how the property will be managed, how the Housing Authority will prioritize the applications, and if the plan will remain similar to the picture in the agenda packet. The Council Members expressed concern that housing for our local workforce will not be prioritized, however they also expressed that they are happy to see a project which is 100% affordable.
M/S: Timms/Dilles
To authorize the City Manager to sign the letter of support for the applicant's funding application to the disaster Recovery Multifamily Housing Program which would assist with financing a proposed 100% affordable housing project on Docusign Envelope ID: 6E05939C-7812-494A-9F11-E2053596A357 City Council Meeting Minutes
Date: September 4, 2024
property designed in the Housing Element as a candidate site for increased housing capacity.
Carried 5/0 (AYES: Johnson, Timm, Dilles, Lind, Timms)
2. Future Council Agenda Items
None.
The meeting adjourned at 7:21PM.
Attest:
Cathie Simonovich, City Clerk
Approved:
Randy Johnson, Mayor
ADJOURNMENT
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