PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE and MOMENT OF SILENCE
ROLL CALL
CITY STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT:
Mali LaGoe, City Manager
Kirsten Powell, City Attorney
Jayson Rutherford, Police Chief
Rodolfo Onchi, Public Works Director
Stephanie Hill, Administrative Services Director
Taylor Bateman, Community Development
Director
Brian Froelich, Senior Planner
Cathie Simonovich, City Clerk
ELECTED OFFICIALS
PRESENT:
Donna Lind, Mayor
Steve Clark, Vice Mayor
Krista Jett, Council Member
Derek Timm, Council Member
Greg Wimp, Council Member
SPECIAL SET MATTER
MINUTES
Meeting of the
Scotts Valley City Council
Date: April 1, 2026
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 3-27-2026 at City Scotts Valley, CA Scotts Valley, CA 95066 Hall, SV Senior Center, 95066 OR SV Public Works Building,
(831) 440-5600 Zoom Video Conference and on the Internet https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83295730901 at www.scottsvalley.gov.
CALL TO ORDER 6:00 PM
The City Council meeting was called to order at 6:01 PM.
1. Mayor's Proclamation for Arts, Culture, & Creativity Month, April 2026 Mayor Lind presented the proclamation for April 2026 as Arts, Culture, & Creativity Month. Jim Brown, Executive Director for the Santa Cruz Arts Council, accepted the proclamation
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2. Mayor's Proclamation for California Cities Week, April 19–26, 2026 Mayor Lind recognized April 19-26 as California Cities Week.
CM Jett, along with Mayor Lind, joined the Women Lawyers of Santa Cruz County for a meet and greet.
CM Jett attended Assemblymember Pellerin's annual Women of the Year celebration.
CM Jett, along with Vice Mayor Clark, City Manager LaGoe, and Director Bateman, attended the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) annual conference.
They attended seminars, networked with retail professionals, and promoted Scotts Valley.
CM Jett participated in the Scotts Valley High School (SVHS) Wellness Walk, and she commended SVHS student Dylan Turzak for her hard work in coordinating this amazing event.
CM Jett attended a Childrens Network Cabinet meeting where they debriefed about the Childrens Network Symposium event. The leadership group expressed gratitude for the local leaders who attended the Civic Summit, including Vice Mayor Clark. They also heard a presentation from the Friends of County Parks organization who are working to make open spaces available and accessible to everyone in the County.
CM Wimp attended Assemblymember Pellerin's annual Women of the Year celebration.
CM Wimp attended some of the surprise announcements for the Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce annual awards and he noted that the Arukah Project was recognized as Organization of the Year.
CM Wimp attended the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) graduation ceremonies and enjoyed listening to the student essays. He thanked Officer King for running this program.
CM Wimp attended the Bite of Reality student event at Scotts Valley High School.
CM Wimp attended the Wellness Walk at Scotts Valley High School. He also congratulated Dylan Turzak for organizing this event and he noted that Dylan has also been recognized as Student of the Year by the Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce.
This event raised $37K for the SVHS Wellness Center.
CM Wimp attended a Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) meeting where they discussed the budget.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
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CITY MANAGER REPORT
VM Clark announced that the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) has scheduled the first board meeting of the newly formed Santa Cruz County Coastal Rail.
The bylaws will be adopted at the RTC meeting on April 2 and VM Clark will serve as the Vice Chair for this board. Also, during the RTC meeting they will vote on entering into an administrative coordination and licensing agreement for a freight carrier for the lower three miles (Watsonville to Pajaro) of the rail trail.
VM Clark attended the Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce's surprise announcement for Roaring Camp as Business of the Year.
VM Clark commended Chief Rutherford and the entire Police Department for another successful D.A.R.E. program.
VM Clark attended the ICSC conference.
Mayor Lind attended the RTC meeting.
Mayor Lind was honored to be able to speak at each of the three D.A.R.E. graduation ceremonies. She noted that she is a strong supporter of this collaboration between the City and the School District.
Mayor Lind attended a Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District (METRO) meeting where they received the preliminary 2027-2028 budget, and she noted that they are working on a potential sales tax measure to bridge the gap in funding. They also passed a modified fare structure.
Mayor Lind announced that the Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce Awards Gala is scheduled for May 8. She noted that the Teacher of Year is the Scotts Valley Unified School District's Counseling Team, the Organization of the Year is the Arukah Project, and the Man of the Year is Adam Cosner.
Mayor Lind reported that there was a press conference today in the Council Chambers with Congressmember Panetta regarding the grant funds for the dispatch equipment.
This morning, the City held a Press Conference in the Council Chambers thanking Congressional Representative Panetta for the $682,000 Community Project Funding grant for new dispatch equipment. The funding has started to arrive, and the equipment will be installed in the coming months.
Last week all three elementary schools held their D.A.R.E. graduations. City Manager LaGoe gave a huge thank you to the City's new School Resource Officer (SRO), Officer King, for leading the D.A.R.E. program this year.
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The first session of Citizens Academy was Monday this week, and we have a great group once again. The participants toured the Scott House and learned the basics of local government and Scotts Valley’s City government.
City Manager LaGoe and Community Development Director Bateman, along with Councilmembers Clark and Jett, attended the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) annual conference last week in Monterey.
The deadline for questions on the Town Center Developer RFP was last Wednesday, and the City received a total of 28 questions. Answers will be posted to the Town Center webpage by the end of this week.
Planning is well underway for the City’s 60th Anniversary, which is August 2nd. The Summer Recreation Guide will be published soon with a full spread of the activities that the city will be hosting this summer to celebrate.
City Manager LaGoe attended the MBASIA board meeting and noted that the budget is coming in better than projected and MBASIA is outperforming other JPAs on claims, as noted by a decrease on the actuarial report for liability claims. This means that the City's premium increase won't be as much as initially forecasted, although the City will still spend well over $1M on insurance each year.
Several staff have been participating in our new procurement and contract management software training this week. This is the next module of the OpenGov platform that the City is implementing to improve our procurement responses and systemize the procurement process from Bid or RFP through contract management and purchase order tracking.
The City currently has bids posted for the Granite Creek Road Culvert Replacement and the Scotts Valley Drive/Mount Hermon Road Improvement projects.
The City will welcome a new Wastewater Operator on April 6, and an offer has been accepted for the final Dispatch position, which means the City is once again fully staffed with no vacant positions. We also promoted two dispatchers to higher responsibility positions, and they will be officially sworn into their new roles on April 15. [The following segment was an “April Fools” joke and is not to be taken as true or real] Next, an announcement that, after extensive public outreach, it has been determined that the highest and best use of the Siltanen ball fields is to immediately convert them into the largest dog park in Santa Cruz County. Off-leash dogs will be able to run and play in bliss without fear of slipping on a rogue softball or bat, and they can dig up the gopher holes to their hearts’ delight. With this change, we can then build 50 new pickleball courts at Al Shugart Park where we were planning the new dog park. These courts can be open 24/7 with permanent lights and the neighbors at Skypark won't hear a thing. This park reconfiguration solves multiple problems with a shortage of both Docusign Envelope ID: 55B7AC32-D85B-8CB7-80E7-496CD7923277 City Council Meeting Minutes
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PUBLIC COMMENT TIME
ALTERATIONS TO CONSENT AGENDA
CONSENT AGENDA
ALTERATIONS TO REGULAR AGENDA
REGULAR AGENDA
dog and pickleball facilities in the City. However, in Skypark, the sound of pickleballs will soon be replaced by airplane traffic as the FAA has asked the City to reopen the Skypark airport in order to address the delays at SFO and SJC due to the shortage of TSA workers. A new runway will be constructed this week spanning the town center site through Skypark to accommodate small commercial flights. When walking the site with the FAA today, I was told there is some risk that some houses could have shingles blown off or a window or two broken with the planes taking off and landing so close, but at least they won't have to listen to pickleballs. Oh, and that means that soccer will be moved to Macdorsa park for the rest of this season. APRIL FOOLS! And finally, to stay informed of all these developments, follow the city on social media and sign up to receive the City's newsletter.
The following people spoke regarding their desire for Council to pursue a ban on the sale of filtered tobacco products in Scotts Valley: Katie Thompson, Morganna Johnson, Priyanka, Tara Leonard, Sunny Johnson Gutter, Darcie Connell, and Cindy Clark.
M/S: Timm/Clark
To approve the Consent Agenda with no alterations.
Carried 5/0 (AYES: Lind, Clark, Jett, Timm, Wimp)
1. Approve City Council Regular Meeting minutes of 03-18-2026 and Special Study Session minutes of 03-12-2026 and 3-13-2026
2. Appoint Jack Dilles as a public member to the Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District Public Financing Authority (EIFD PFA)
3. Adoption of the Santa Cruz County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan 2025 Update
M/S: Clark/Jett
To approve the Regular Agenda with no alterations.
Carried 5/0 (AYES: Lind, Clark, Jett, Timm, Wimp)
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CLOSED SESSION SUBJECT(S)
1. Approve the Housing Element Annual Progress Report and authorize submittal of the Annual Progress Report to the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) Department
Brian Froelich, Senior Planner, presented this item and responded to questions from the Council. Director Bateman was also available to answer questions.
Joanne Dawid, a resident of Scotts Valley, expressed concern about the 4575 Scotts Valley Drive development.
M/S: Timm/Clark
To direct staff to make the submittal of the 2025 Annual Progress Report (APR) to the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) and State Office of Planning and Research (OPR).
Carried 5/0 (AYES: Lind, Clark, Jett, Timm, Wimp)
2. Appoint new members to the Scotts Valley Parks and Recreation Advocates to take actions necessary to dissolve the Scotts Valley Parks and Recreation Advocates
M/S: Timm/Wimp
To appoint Stephanie Hill, Kendra Reed, and Taylor Bateman to the SVPRA Board of Directors, and to authorize the SVPRA Board of Directors and City staff to complete the dissolution of the SVPRA and transfer remaining assets to the City of Scotts Valley to be used for parks and recreation purposes in accordance with the SVPRA Articles of Incorporation.
Carried 5/0 (AYES: Lind, Clark, Jett, Timm, Wimp)
3. Future Council Agenda Items
CM Timm requested that the Council consider flying the Pride Flag in the month of June as done in previous years. Consensus was achieve for this as a future agenda item.
The City Council convened to closed session at 7:15 PM to discuss the following item:
1. Conference with legal counsel regarding real property negotiations Legal Authority: Government Code Section 54956.8
Location: 2 lots between 201 and 241 Kings Village Road, Scotts Valley; APNs 022-601-05 and 022-601-13
Staff Present: City Manager, City Attorney
CONVENE TO CLOSED SESSION
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REPORT ON ACTION TAKEN DURING CLOSED SESSION
ADJOURNMENT
The City Council reconvened to open session at 7:33 PM.
The meeting adjourned at 7:33 PM.
Attest:
Cathie Simonovich, City Clerk
Approved:
Donna Lind, Mayor
RECONVENE TO OPEN SESSION
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