Sebastopol City Council
March 15, 2022

City Council
Mayor Patrick Slayter
Vice Mayor Neysa Hinton
Una Glass
Sarah Glade Gurney
Diana Rich
City Manager
Larry McLaughlin
[email protected]
Assistant City Manager/City Clerk, MMC
Mary Gourley
[email protected]

CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING – 6:00 PM
MEETING OF MARCH 15, 2022
The City Council Regular meeting will be held via teleconference pursuant to AB 361. Pursuant to AB 361 (2021), Teleconference Restrictions of the Brown Act Have Been Suspended, as Well as the Requirement to Provide a Physical Location for Members of the Public to Participate in the Meeting. The City of Sebastopol City Council meeting will not be physically open to the public and all City Council Members will be teleconferencing into the meeting via Zoom.

As Approved by the City Council at their regular meeting of April 5, 2022 6:00 pm Convene City Council Meeting - Meeting Start Time (ZOOM VIRTUAL FORMAT) CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Slayter called the regular meeting to order at 6:01 pm.

ROLL CALL:

Present: Mayor Patrick Slayter – By video teleconference Vice Mayor Neysa Hinton – By video teleconference
Councilmember Una Glass – By video teleconference
Councilmember Sarah Gurney - By video teleconference
Councilmember Diana Gardner Rich - By video teleconference

Absent: None
Staff: City Manager/City Attorney Larry McLaughlin
Assistant City Manager/City Clerk Mary Gourley
Administrative Services Director Ana Kwong
Fire Chief Bill Braga
Engineering Consultant Toni Bertolero, GHD
Planning Director Kari Svanstrom
Police Chief Kevin Kilgore
Public Works Superintendent Dante Del Prete
SALUTE TO THE FLAG: Mayor Slayter led the Salute to the Flag.

PROCLAMATIONS/PRESENTATIONS:

The following was presented:
• Proclamation - Proclaiming March 20-26th 2022 as National Surveyor Week • Proclamation - Proclaiming Saturday, March 26, 2022 from 8:30 pm – 9:30 pm as Earth Hour in the City of Sebastopol
PLEASE NOTE:
 Public Comment on all items listed on the agenda will be limited to two minutes, per person, per item.

 The Public Comment Portion of the Agenda will allow for 20 minutes at the beginning of the meeting and public comment not heard during those 20 minutes will continue at the end of the agenda, following the last calendared item and before Reports.

Council welcomes and encourages additional comments via email. Public Comment Emails can be sent to:
[email protected]

COUNCIL PROTOCOLS FOR MEETING:

City staff read the protocols for the meeting.
• This meeting is being conducted utilizing virtual settings for teleconferencing and electronic means consistent with State of California Executive Orders regarding the COVID 19 pandemic and AB 361. • Live stream and zoom are being utilized for this meeting. In case of technical issues, meetings will be uploaded to the City web site as soon as possible after this meeting. • Members of the public may view and listen to the meeting by use of Zoom and Live Stream as noted on the City’s website and as noted on the agenda.
• Members of the public wishing to speak to the City Council may do so during public comment or may comment on agenda items during the discussion of each item and must be logged into Zoom. Live Stream is a viewing only format.
• Anyone using abusive, vulgar, offensive, threatening, or harassing language, personal attacks of any kind or offensive terms that target specific individuals or groups will be muted and removed from the meeting.

PUBLIC COMMENT FOR ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA : During General Public Comment, the public is invited to make comments on items of public interest that are within the City Council’s subject matter jurisdiction and that are not listed on the current agenda.

Speakers are allowed to speak for a maximum of three minutes so that all speakers have an opportunity to address the City Council.

Power point or visual presentations for public comment shall not be permitted unless approved by the Agenda Review Committee two weeks prior to the requested meeting date.

Speakers may not "yield" a portion of their allotted time to others.

The Mayor has the authority to limit or extend the time allowed for speakers dependent on the number of speakers in attendance.

The Mayor can poll the members of the public for an indication of the number of people wishing to speak, then call on individuals to speak.

It is the goal of the Council to conclude the public comments portion of the agenda within 20 minutes. If the public comment period exceeds twenty minutes, the presiding officer, typically the Mayor, reserves the right to reduce the time per speaker or carry over public comments to after all business items are completed.

The City Clerk will monitor the time for public comments and inform the speakers when the time limitation has been reached.

The Mayor could survey the members of the public, as appropriate, to move agenda items up or back to address the members of the public items of concern.

Public participation is encouraged on all public agenda items.

Council and staff will treat participants and each other with courtesy. Derogatory or sarcastic comments are inappropriate.

The public will likewise be encouraged by the Mayor to maintain meeting decorum.

In Council meetings when citizens are agitated, the Mayor may call a short recess to calm the situation.

If a member of the public is unable to attend the Council meeting, written communications may be sent to the City Clerk by e-mail or by regular mail.

Communications received after distribution of the agenda packet will be made available to the Council at/or as soon after the meeting.

The following public comment was received:

Angela Ford commented as follows:
• In October of 2021, the City Council hastily and unanimously passed a nearly $5 million proposal to upgrade our city.
• Nearly half of this, $2.2 million, is devoted to converting all 3,000 of Sebastopol traditional water meters to smart EMF transmitting meters and I ask why.
• This will mean adding a layer of electromagnetic frequency to our transmissions throughout the town and bringing with it well documented health challenges to all living beings, humans included.

• It means introducing a 5G turnkey operation into our town, just like the smart water meter system in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in which a February 2021 report to their administration governing body states, have been notified that cell service providers are moving forward with replacing 3G network for 5G system and equipment.
• As the City's end points are mostly 3G, we have been encouraged by service provider Orion to move ahead with a more aggressive replacement schedule to get end points upgraded to 4G LTE or 5G. • This will mean loss of privacy, control and security of our public and personal data making individuals and entities more and more vulnerable to cyber hacking and malware. Our City recently experienced the loss of a sizeable amount of money for this very reason.
• Losing local control of our most precious resource, our water. As our data moves faster and further beyond to increasingly distant corporate entities, so will our ability to influence our water's use. In the end it is also sad such a boondoggle we citizens deserve better. There is at got to be a way out of this mess.

Linda Collins, Chamber of Commerce, commented as follows:
• Just wanted to do a shout out for our Sebastopol annual Apple Blossom Festival and Parade on April 23rd and 24th.
• We are going to have a stellar event
• We do need volunteers. I had asked some of you if you would speak with your groups that you belong to and ask and share our link that we have on our website for signing up for volunteers. • It does take a whole town and a village to put this on Linda Berg commented as follows:
• Just want to applaud Angela. Angela, thank you so much for speaking up. • We need more people to speak up
• If anybody has been paying attention to the PG&E case that the County has sued PG&E over the fires in criminal court, not the first time they've been sued in criminal court, but it is the first time that they have been charged with environmental crimes
• That will change a lot if they are found guilty of the ash particulate that were a result of the fires that PG&E's lines caused.
• Where I’m going with this is the wireless water meters and all the more manmade pulse radiation placed on us is also an environmental crime.
• It is ironic that you all are talking about protecting the planet when your policies are doing just the opposite.
• In addition to the radiation that is harming all living things, there is also a plastic that is now prevalent in our environment that is coming down in the rain and yet with these wireless water meters that are made out of plastic
• They're just going in the opposite direction of what you're saying you are.

Rei Blaser commented what is the status of the Ned Kahn art work project and what is the status of the Bodega Avenue resurfacing project.

Jann Eyrich commented as follows:
• This is an invitation to downtown and all businesses in the area to participate in a round table coming up in April.
• This round table is called the Main Street round table. • We're going to focus on improvements that might be able to happen to main street.

• We want ideas about design. We want ideas about how to go about this. • It's just a very casual meeting that's going to take place at the Gypsy Café on the 13th of April, between 6:30 and 8:00 pm. and Paul Fritz is going to present basically a couple grants and what the possibilities are in responding to those grants to improve main street
• The focus on Main Street is particularly appropriate tonight Mayor Slayter responded to public comment as follows:

Ned Kahn art work
Planning is the Department responsible for this project and Staff will obtain that information and provide it to the Council and public
Bodega Avenue resurfacing
GHD commented it is in Phase 1 and construction will begin late this year or early next year and will be from High Street to Nelson Way
Mayor Slayter gave an update on the response to the Ukrainian situation. • Provided an update on largely what the actions of Sebastopol World Friends and our community at large has been doing in response to the Ukrainian crisis
• They have mobilized and there is a display that has actually been in planning for months and months down at our public library
• The timing was unfortunately coincidental, so you can go there and provide messages of peace or get peace flags, and you can check out books about Ukraine
• You can pick up a flag to display in your front window that is a message of support for Ukraine • Public Works is assisting in installing those large Ukrainian flags with the message of support • There's three of our four cardinal point entries into the city at the welcome to Sebastopol with the sister cities
• Those will be a very prominent display of support for Ukraine. • The news on the ground that I have through Sebastopol World Friends of our sister city organization in Ukraine, our counterparts there, is that so far they are safe and not suffering the attacks in Saharan proper.
• The general sense is that they don't have any major tactical targets near them. Hopefully that safety will continue for the foreseeable future
• Both Santa Rosa and the City of Sonoma have Ukrainian sister cities, and their organizations have also been very active
• I know that the City of Sonoma is hosting the Ukrainian consul from San Francisco soon, and I don't know if, if we are also planning on having him up here. I've met him personally, and have had meals with him, and he's a wonderful human being, very delightful person as that country is representative here. • The other thing that I’ve been thinking about is not only the humanitarian crisis, but in so many ways the environmental crisis that this unlawful invasion is, and just the increase in GHG not only from those heavy machinery and tanks and things that are moving a round over there, but all the infrastructure that will need replacing.
• All of that is an environmental disaster. Habitat is being destroyed. • We just need to keep those wonderful people in our thoughts STATEMENTS OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: Conflicts of interest may arise in situations where a public official deliberating towards a decision, has an actual or potential financial interest in the matter before the Council. In accordance with state law, an actual conflict of interest is one that would be to the private financial benefit of a public official, a relative or a business with which the Councilmember is associated. A potential conflict of interest is one that could be to the private financial benefit of a Councilmember, a relative or a business

with which the Councilmember is associated. A Councilmember must publicly announce potential and actual conflicts of interest, and, in the case of actual conflict of interest, must refrain from participating in debate on the issue or from voting on the issue and must remove themselves from the dais.

Councilmember Glass commented as follows:
• Just wanted to make a disclosure that one of the agenda items being presented is by the Sebastopol Center for the Arts
• It is not a monetary conflict of interest for me.
• Just wanted to disclose that I’m Co Director for the Center for the Arts

CONSENT CALENDAR: The consent agenda consists of items that are routine in nature and do not require additional discussion by the City Council or have been reviewed by the City Council previously. These items may be approved by one motion without discussion unless a member of the City Council requests that the item be taken off the consent calendar.

The Mayor will read the consent calendar items; ask if a Councilmember wishes to remove one or more items from the consent calendar; and then open public comment to the members of the public in attendance. At this time, a member of the public may speak for up to three minutes on the entire consent calendar and request at that time that an agenda item or items be removed for discussion.

If an item or items are removed from the consent calendar, the item shall be placed at the end of the regular agenda items unless otherwise determined by the Mayor or Mayor Pro Tern.

Councilmembers may comment on Consent Calendar items or ask for minor clarifications without the need for pulling the item for separate consideration. Items requiring deliberation should be pulled for separate consideration and shall be placed at the end of the regular agenda items unless otherwise determined by the Mayor or Mayor Pro Tem.

Mayor Slayter read the consent calendar.

Mayor Slayter opened for public comment on the consent calendar. There was no public comment on consent calendar items.

Mayor Slayter asked if any Councilmember wanted to remove a consent calendar item. There was no request to remove any item from the consent calendar.

Mayor Slayter asked a question regarding Item Number 8 but not requiring it to be pulled off consent and questioned what is the bottom line for a typical residential bill.

Nikki Burke, Recology, commented as follows:
• What we're talking about here is a change to the MDA and the franchise hauler agreement. • This is not going to change the rates.
• What it is doing is moving a gate rate that was previously included in the tipping fee that was paid to Republic into your rates.
• You are already paying it when you pay Republic and moving that into your rate so that all of the costs of the new law, SB 1383, can be in one place.
• Any changes to the rates that are occurring related to SB 883 were covered when we spoke to you in January under that.

Mayor Slayter called for a motion.

MOTION:

Councilmember Gurney moved and Councilmember Rich seconded the motion to approve Consent Calendar Item(s) Number(s) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.

Mayor Slayter called for a roll call vote. City staff conducted a roll call vote.

VOTE:

Ayes: Councilmembers Glass, Gurney, Rich, Vice Mayor Hinton and Mayor Slayter Noes: None

Absent: None
Abstain: None

1. Approval of the February 15, 2022 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes (Responsible Department: City Administration)
City Council Action: Approved February 15, 2022 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Minute Order Number: 2022-085

2. Approval of the February 23, 2022 City Council Special Meeting Minutes (Responsible Department: City Administration)
City Council Action: Approved February 23, 2022 City Council Special Meeting Minutes Minute Order Number: 2022-086

3. Approval of the March 1, 2022 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes (Responsible Department: City Administration)
City Council Action: Approved March 1, 2022 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Minute Order Number: 2022-087

4. Approval of Resolution Extending the City of Sebastopol City Council Proclamation of Existence of a Local Homeless Emergency (Responsible Department: City Administration)(Needs to be Extended Every 60 days).
a. First Proclaimed: November 30, 2021
b. First Extension January 18, 2022
c. Second Extension Needed: March 15, 2022
City Council Action: Approved Resolution Extending the City of Sebastopol City Council Proclamation of Existence of a Local Homeless Emergency (Responsible Department: City Administration)(Needs to be Extended Every 60 days).
a. First Proclaimed: November 30, 2021
b. First Extension January 18, 2022
c. Second Extension Needed: March 15, 2022
Minute Order Number: 2022-088
Resolution Number: 6413- -2022

5. Approval of Award of Contract for City Web Site Redesign with a Not To Exceed Amount of $35,000 (Approved in Budget for FY 21-22) Awardee: Planeteria (Responsible Department: City Administration) City Council Action: Approved Award of Contract for City Web Site Redesign with a Not To Exceed Amount of $35,000 (Approved in Budget for FY 21-22) Awardee: Planeteria Minute Order Number: 2022-089

6. Approval of Second reading and adoption of an Ordinance 1137 for Mandatory Organic Waste Disposal Reduction (SB 1383 regulations – Responsible Department: City Manager/GHD) City Council Action: Approved Second reading and adoption of an Ordinance 1137 for Mandatory Organic Waste Disposal Reduction (SB 1383 regulations)
Minute Order Number: 2022-090
Ordinance Number: 1137

7. Approval of Second Reading and Adoption of Ordinance 1138, An Ordinance of the City of Sebastopol Rezoning 7950 Bodega Avenue from R7 Multifamily to PC Planned Community (Responsible Department:

Planning)
City Council Action: Approved Second Reading and Adoption of Ordinance 1138, An Ordinance of the City of Sebastopol Rezoning 7950 Bodega Avenue from R7 Multifamily to PC Planned Community Minute Order Number: 2022-091
Ordinance Number: 1138

8. Approval of Omnibus Amendment to Waste Delivery Agreement and Franchised Hauler Agreement (this “Amendment”) is entered into as of January 1, 2022, by and among the City of Sebastopol (“City”), Republic Services of Sonoma County, Inc. (“Republic”), and Recology Sonoma Marin (“Recology”). (GHD/City Administration)
City Council Action: Approved 1138

8. Approval of Omnibus Amendment to Waste Delivery Agreement and Franchised Hauler Agreement (this “Amendment”) is entered into as of January 1, 2022, by and among the City of Sebastopol (“City”), Republic Services of Sonoma County, Inc. (“Republic”), and Recology Sonoma Marin (“Recology”).

Minute Order Number: 2022-092

9. Approval to pursue Active Transportation Program (ATP) grant, cycle 6 for the Joint City/County Ragle Road West Side Bicycles and Pedestrian Access Project (GHD) City Council Action: Approved Pursuit of Active Transportation Program (ATP) grant, cycle 6 for the Joint City/County Ragle Road West Side Bicycles and Pedestrian Access Project Minute Order Number: 2022-093

10. Approval of Purchase of Fire Truck: Approve the Purchase of a New Type 3 Wildland Fire Engine to Replace the Existing 1996 International Type 3 Wildland Fire Engine and Adopt Resolution Authorizing an Amendment to the Vehicle Replacement Reserve Fund (Responsible Department: Fire Chief) City Council Action: Approved Purchase of Fire Truck: Approve the Purchase of a New Type 3 Wildland Fire Engine to Replace the Existing 1996 International Type 3 Wildland Fire Engine and Adopt Resolution Authorizing an Amendment to the Vehicle Replacement Reserve Fund
Minute Order Number: 2022-094
Resolution Number: 6414-2022
INFORMATIONAL ITEMS/PRESENTATIONS:

11. Informational Presentation – Cynthia Stefenoni Sebastopol Center for the Arts SEBASTOPOL DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL, March 24-27, 2022
Cynthia Stefenoni, Sebastopol Center for the Arts, provided an informational presentation to the City Council.

Mayor Slayter opened for questions of presenter. There were none.

Mayor Slayter opened for public comment. There were none.

City Council Discussion and/or Deliberations:

There were none. The Council thanked the presenter for the presentation.

City Council Action: No action needed. Informational only.

Reference Order Number: 2022-095

12. Informational Update - Climate Action Committee (Requestor: Kenna Lee/Responsible Department:

Planning)
Kenna Lee, Climate Action Committee, provided an informational presentation to the City Council.

Mayor Slayter opened for questions of presenter. There were none at this time.

Mayor Slayter opened for public comment.

Linda Berg commented as follows:

• Yet another survey about which I had never heard of.
• If after I am done here, if somebody could put out a telephone number where I could contact somebody to get my hands on a survey because as many of you know, I am consumer free, knowing I am being cooked alive from electro sensitive.
• If I could participate in the survey, I would love to do that. • In order to arrive at the best solution, we need to consider all the variables that go into climate change. one of the things that additionally needs to be considered is weather modification. • The particulate rains down on us commonly known as chem trails. They're clearly not clouds. We need to look at that.
• You can get more information than you want from geoengineering.org. but there are a lot of other things that need to be considered, too such as the effect of microwave radiation, cell phones and all this other wireless stuff works.
• It works on 2.4 giga hertz, the very identical frequency that heats up microwave ovens. It heats up the environment and heats us up, it cooks us from the inside out. • In addition, the electricity, you think is clean is less clean than you think because it has electromagnetic fields, the effect is cancer, you're turning into a huge cancer cluster with the policies this City Council is putting in place.

Steve Pierce commented as follows:
• I want to thank Kenna and Phoebe for doing an excellent job tonight, giving a synopsis of what we've done to date and the need for funding to move forward from here • In particular, the grant writing service that can be used by multiple departments in the city, not just for climate action.
• I want to circle back on an item that's earlier on the agenda regarding Recology. Just to put a bee in your bonnet, the contract for Recology is up at the end of 2023 • I think it will be a great time for the city to pursue an electric garbage truck. Healdsburg has already done this. They anticipated 65 metric tons reduction in greenhouse gases compared to the electric truck that they are using, which is 35 metric tons.
• It's a way we can move the city forward in terms of greenhouse gas reduction • On the climate action framework, we're off to a good start. • I’m hoping we can see what kind of actions the City can take.

Jann Eyrich commented as follows:
• This is exciting to entertain change.
• It's something that I think this town can embrace better than most. • Thank you for that presentation.
• With regard to sustainable efforts, you want foot traffic, you want bikes, all these things are so important and so necessary.
• The funding is there so I have to back up the grants, not back up hiring a grant person. • What we're proposing or hoping to entertain by the round tables on main street coming to your town April 13th, this is huge.
• This is all about sustainability
• This is about Caltrans standing there like with egg on their face asking why are you not asking us for money? Other groups are saying the same thing.
• Let's get the ball rolling and support hiring a grant writer that would transcend.

Courtney Klein commented as follows:
• I love the idea of having a grant writer.
• The more grant writers, the better.
• No one wants to deal with the headache of looking for grants, writing them, following up, making sure that all the little nooks and crannies are ticked off.
• I really feel like hiring someone who will always be there to do that job is the best way to go. • I would love to see the grant writer.
• I'd love to see a grant writer with special services.

Angela commented as follows:
• I'd like to invite the committee to please consider moving beyond sustainability and move to generative. • We need to go beyond the status quo.

Michael commented as follows:
• I just want to remind Council all the trash receptacles and the recycling receptacles on Main Street and in the plaza, that while it looks good, when you throw your recycling into those containers and you separate it with the compost and the recyclables, when the truck comes along, it's a single container trucks it all goes a single truck
• You can ask Public Works. It's a single-container truck. • All of the Main Street receptacles are dumped into the same area. • I know it's a complex problem. I don't know how we're going to solve it. • I've known for the last six years that's how it's been. • I don't know what the point of having the recyclers on Main Street if we're going to throw it into the dump.

City Council Discussion and/or Deliberations:

Councilmember Rich commented as follows:
• I just am so impressed by our climate action committee. • I look at the slides and having seen them go through the process, this is so true. • This is a group of really dedicated locals who have put their heart and souls and expertise into this effort. • Makes me proud of this town and proud of this dedicated group of volunteers. • We're so lucky.

Councilmember Gurney commented as follows:
• I was going to say something similar.
• I am so grateful for their extensive volunteerism here and public service. • I would like to just point out, Josho who is here in person on Zoom, this is a fellow you can see in committee serving regionally as well.
• Again, thank you to everybody.

Councilmember Glass commented as follows:
• Thank you also to all these people working on this committee. • We do have an incredible brain bank of expertise in this community on this particular matter. • We're very fortunate to be getting what's probably hundreds of thousands of dollars of professional advice
• I'm wondering, it was mentioned that there is no more gas station ordinance moving forward.

• I was wondering if there is any timing on that.
• The other thing I was wondering about is there any discussion of what is similar to Santa Rosa which is an electric city and getting our future investment in natural gas. • Getting used to having all electric.

Mayor Slayter commented as follows:
• The gas station ban is on the April 5th meeting
• The other one regarding an all-electric code, that is something that is hotly contested, and we talk about it at our Sonoma Clean Power board of directors meeting with regularity • Discussed the legal lift and what has been seen with other smaller cities and what they go through and the difficulties they encounter legally.

The presenter commented as follows:
• On one of the slides one of the things we're working on currently is evaluating reach codes. • That's what that means.
• It's like a reach code, when you're going beyond all electric. • We're evaluating reach codes and stuff that wouldn't be as difficult of a legal list, that would go beyond what we're doing now but not open us to litigation possibility. • That is up for this committee to solidify what recommendation, we should be seeing something fairly soon on that topic.
• The other point on that is how many new houses actually get built in Sebastopol. • A reach code probably does make a lot of sense in communities that are building hundreds of thousands of homes.

Vice Mayor Hinton commented as follows:
• Thank you for the presentation.
• It was excellent.
• Discussed the comment from the public member about the downtown garbage is going to a single chute. • I'm assuming the answer to that is it's contaminated. • I also wanted to bring up we have a major retailer, Safeway does not offer paper bags as an option. • I'd really like someone or this committee to discuss that with Safeway • I appreciate the detailed presentation tonight for the possible grant writer position.

City Manager/Attorney McLaughlin commented as follows:
• We did assessment of the recycling cans, the zero waste committee. • We've had discussions And representatives of Recology there. • The public will not follow the guidelines in terms of separating their trash from recyclables so it has always been a state of contamination.
• We're not sure what we can do about the problem.
• It is not Recology's fault.
• It is basically the consumer, the decision to segregate their material.

Councilmember Gurney commented as follows:
• I'm very much in favor of a grant writer particularly as it's mentioned this evening, a grant writer that can serve as multiple departments.
• I'm anticipating that's gone from the discussion and then we're going to talk about it on a agenda item later this evening.

• I wanted the action team on the public know I'm very much in favor of it.

Councilmember Rich commented as follows:
• It was such a content that focused on their presentation. • I wanted to go back to Phoebe, who created, as provided, I hope everyone recognizes a really wonderful start to a climate action framework that incorporates the voices and comments of many people in the community.
• I think it they've focus on the bigger goals and how do we get there, retaining the vision. • Thank you, Phoebe, we appreciate what an incredible job you're doing.

The Council thanked the presenters and Committee attendees.

City Council Action: None Required. Informational only.

Reference Order Number: 2022-096

13. Informational Item – Information/Process of Expansion of Business Improvement District (BID) (Requestor: Councilmember Gurney/Responsible Department: City Administration) City Administration provided an informational presentation to the City Council.

Mayor Slayter opened for questions of presenter.

Councilmember Gurney commented as follows:
• I did want to acknowledge I was the person that asked for this information. • I thought it was important for the council and the businesses and our larger community to understand what might be ahead of us in terms of potential work load, potential expenses, potential time lines, and our city manager and assistant city manager have done an excellent job providing that primer. • That was my request to getting information out there because, look, we have the budget work ahead of us.
• We have a whole new calendar year coming up, et cetera, et cetera. • I'm grateful to be informed about how to do this.

Councilmember Rich commented as follows:
• Thank you for the presentation and the information.
• The he requirement that there be no more than 50% opposing the effort, does that mean 50% of the new additions to the B.I.D.? Or would it be 50% of all the businesses within the boundaries of the newly proposed B.I.D.

City staff commented it would be of the entire district, not just the new proposed area.

City Manager McLaughlin commented that's correct, because it changes the boundaries that directly affect all the businesses that were in the present existing B.I.D. as well as those who proposed to join it.

Councilmember Rich commented if there is sufficient support for B.I.D., do businesses within that B.I.D. have the option of opting out? Or are they required to participate and pay the assessment? City staff commented they are required to participate and pay.

City Manager McLaughlin commented:
• That's the whole idea.
• That's why there is a protest procedure
• There can be a significant amount of protest, yet, the district goes ahead and is formed. • The protesting businesses will, nevertheless, be assessed.

Councilmember Glass commented as follows:
• Thanks for that presentation.
• I had been to several business improvement district seminars at the California cities. • Yours is at least as good as theirs, I thought.
• I also wanted to ask staff, isn't this the notion of examining this, is that part of the re-launch work that our re-launch committee and our re-launch contractor is doing? • Examining that, is that part of the mix of what they're working on? City staff commented is was proposed as part of the scope of work but is not in their current priorities and the City has asked Relaunch Sebastopol to focus on other priorities.

City Manager McLaughlin commented as follows:
• If a proposed new BID fails, the former assessment district would remain in place and continue forward. • The vote wouldn't have been do you want to not have a B.I.D. at all. • It's do you want to change it.

Councilmember Rich commented staff indicated that the process was lengthy. What does that mean? City Manager McLaughlin commented as follows:
• We would proposing having to use a consultant.
• It's a pretty elaborate process, almost an engineering type process to figure out the role of assessment proposed for each individual business.
• Similar to what our city engineer does to list all the various citizens who have paid towards the lighting assessment district, you do a report.
• In this case the consultant has to figure out what is the assessment proposed for each individual business. • I believe that is the lengthy process.
• I don't know how long it would take.
• I believe there are consultants setup to do this so I imagine they'd have to be really efficient at it, but you have to do that study.
• It's fairly stream lined and not a very lengthy process to go through the legal maneuvers of sending out all the notices and adding up all the protests after you've done the work of setting the assessments. • It's however long it takes the consultant to do that work, and that's difficult to answer.

City staff commented as follows:
• On top of this the time line you have to add on we have to do proposals for our consultant. • You would need to add to that time line
• There's a whole management plan that the consultant would do and then the time lines for notifications, Council resolution, public hearings, etc.
• I would say you're looking more at a year by the time add that request for proposal for consultant to a council agenda at some point.

Vice Mayor Hinton commented as follows:
• I'm just going to go back in history because I was around when the first one was done. • I don't believe a consultant per se was used, but I can recall and it was driven by the downtown association.
• They really wanted to assess themselves because they saw that as a way to have a robust downtown. • The people that helped them do it, it was done in numerous cities across Sonoma County, Santa Rosa, downtown.
• It was pretty common.
• When I'm listening to the process tonight that's being described, and I know it's 30 years later so everything is more complicated, but curious was there research on how it was done in the past and did the City pay for a consultant
City staff commented as follows:
• There was no research into how it was done originally • Not aware if a consultant was used or not
• In making this report we assume the greatly enlarged business improvement. • The present B.I.D. was much smaller.
• I don't recall any part of that process.
• It was a much, much smaller B.I.D.
• That was a much smaller district.
• Vice Mayor Hinton commented as follows:
• The city manager just described a large business improvement district. • That makes me think of the entire city
• Discussed what we have currently and what we had before was what we call a downtown business district, which I think the talk I've heard was to expand the downtown business district because the downtown now includes merchants right next door in Barlow, for example. • Maybe those different visions out there I guess what my comments would be. • That would be different depending on what the vision was it might not be as big of a process or district that would cost a lot of money if we weren't talking about the whole city.

City staff commented as follows:
• This is the generic staff report.
• We already have the B.I.D.
• In making this report we assume an expansion, significant expansion though it's not worth the effort so we assume a larger distance.
• What its boundaries might be, we didn't look into that.

Councilmember Glass commented as follows:
• I was always thinking that if we were going to expand it, it would be somewhat similarly to the former Redevelopment Agency boundaries.
• Didn't we have a boundary map that basically followed the 116 corridor • I always think that was sort of a logical way we would go in all the redevelopment map, and that bring in most of our businesses in town
Mayor Slayter commented as follows:
• I'm trying to understand, and this is coming from a place of knowing enough to probably be dangerous.

• As you might know I'm the new alternate for the mayors and councilmembers association position for LAFCO
• So I've now been to a couple of meetings, and I'm not actually sure this would need to go through LAFCO or not because it's a district but a district wholly within the city of Sebastopol. • The city is within the authority, the boundary of cities. • I don't know if a subdistrict wholly contained it also. • If it is then that's another extension of the timing.

City Manager McLaughlin commented I'll go out on a limb and say I don't think it's involved for the reasons you said, but I'm not 100% sure without absolute research.

Mayor Slayter opened for public comment.

Jann Eyrich commented as follows:
• As usual it's very thorough.
• However, council, this expansion of the downtown district is a waste of time. • The size of the district expansion is irrelevant.
• So here's the deal, the focus on business is not untimely. In fact, I appreciate for bringing it to the forefront. In fact, the focus on business is critical at this time. • It's confusion in the minds of 75,000 residents and 964 businesses at least according to the economic development bureau.
• As for the functions of the business oriented groups currently represented, this confusion is unnecessarily difficult for visitors, prospective residents, new businesses desiring to live and work in Sebastopol. • I'd like to point out at present we have five offices devoted to businesses at our town. • The visitors center, the chamber of commerce, the new income and business development office, aka, the relaunch consultants or contractors, and the City itself • These are five entities that need to work together in vision to inspire each effort, each of their mission. • It's time to help focus the mission of each group. But they're not part of this conversation. • I also hope they reach out to the economic development board and extend their reach to other towns and counties.
• These five groups can work together.

Jill commented as follows:
• As a business owner here and actually as a board member for the last two years for the SDA up until last week I want to say as a matter of process first of all I totally appreciate the hard work that you've done and the staff have done to put this together.
• It's very informative. I totally appreciate that.
• But as a matter of process, wouldn't it be appropriate if this is going to be considered, and this is aimed toward councilmembers - Wouldn't it be appropriate to at least reach out to the board members of the SDA to inform them you want to explore this?
• It doesn't matter the folks who actually run businesses and volunteer for the organization and manage this money
• We talk about inclusivity and we actually have a liaison. • It seems a matter of respect the board would at least be reached out to instead of seeing this on the agenda and everyone scrambling trying to figure out what was going on with this. • I also want to echo what Jann had to say, it is so important. There are five organizations. I've been involved with nearly all of them.

• In addition to what the city representing, we also have the Experience Sebastopol that represents some things in the city and some not.
• Yet at the same time we see so many empty or vacant spaces and towns. I think there needs to be more coordination.
• I'd just ask in the future when you're discussing an organization and expanding it might be nice to actually reach out to the people who are putting in the time to actually manage that organization.

Michael commented as follows:
• This is an issue I studied thoroughly for years being a part of the SDA. • To understand the B.I.A. it's quite simple and governed under the parking and business improvement area of law of 1989 which actually the district was formed under, just the current modification of that. • In chapter 4 it says modification of boundaries, assessments, improvements or activities. Section 36541 says the city council shall modify the basis and method of the assessment and for the boundaries of the area by adopting an ordinance after holding a public hearing on the proposed modification. • The current district does not get dissolved, it gets expanded. • The SDA as a separate entity could be dissolved and then a new business organization that's made up of business owners to handle the money would be formed at that point. • If you look at Sebastopol municipal code section 506 you simply have to redefine the boundaries, and that's simple. The boundaries are the whole city limits, so that's quite simple. • Then in order to figure out the assessment you just look at the business licenses which are 741 in the city, and then you look at the assessment that is on the business license. So 1 to 3 it's $90 for 50%. • You can calculate that. For 4 to # 7 employees it's $135. You look at 15 or more employees which is 340 you define that by 2, actually the maximum is $125.
• With an average of $100 per business it's really simple and not going to cost a lot of money and really studied it.
• We're looking at about $70,000, which is really the district could do a lot with that in hiring these doing advertisement, raising funds for the district. There's a lot that can be done. • If I could suggest that the downtown association liaison get together with me and we look at all the information I have and then come back to staff and say it's not as difficult as you think, I would appreciate that.

Rei commented as follows:
• As I'm on the exiting process from the board the downtown association emails have not been consistently checked, so, Sarah, my apologies for not returning a response as you did reach out to the SDA asking to connect with the SDA members regarding the meeting tonight. • Apologies as I didn't see that until today.
• To support what Michael just shared when I was applying as part of the peace town group for the RFP with relaunch, did a lot of research and came up with the same points that he mentioned. • Staff mentioned were brought up in their process in that working with the engineering department just doing the paperwork, the legwork, and they did have a contract. For them it was a year process, and it was $48,000 for that contract.
• Just to put it out there whether or not you have to go that direction whether or not you pursue it, it's going to go over that amount.
• To support what Michael was sharing having spent the last five years on the SDA, I spent a lot of my hours -- I spend over 200 hours each year -- probably more than that but upkeeping the Website, marketing, working with newspaper outlets and Instagram.

• When you expand with the idea and supporting the idea of pursuing this direction of expanding it to the city limits, then extra business money is then put in to support the hiring of an executive director. • That person would then be footed with those tasks that the volunteers scramble to take of. • I understand what Jann is sharing, that there are these multiple agencies, and it's not a real logical position to take it on with what they're doing under this contract. • They're not planning either.
• You really don't have a strong city for visitors.
• By expanding the business district as taken here would the SDA then be renamed for it greater business community.
• You would then have the existing Website that I created for the SDA encompass all of the city. • There it's the Sebastopol business community.
• The chamber cannot do that because their members are outside of Sebastopol, so you still don't have something that encompasses the Sebastopol community.

City Council Discussion and/or Deliberations:

Councilmember Gurney commented as follows:
• I feel successful in bringing this informational item because look at the dialogue wave already got started. • We clearly and some research and even other research and I'm just thinking maybe this is the jump start for the business community to engage in a maybe more connected conversation with each other and with the council.
• There's a lot of assumptions here that I think are incorrect, and I'm hoping that the SDA board, the new one can get impaneled.
• Vice Mayor Hinton as our liaison can be part of the conversation if that's what the business people would like to do.

Vice Mayor Hinton commented as follows:
• As a liaison I'm happy to meet with Sebastopol downtown members. • I think I heard a member of the public say they weren't notified. • I think when Councilmember Gurney brought this forward it was off another previous discussion we had, and that's when we hired the team.
• I think everybody needs to be part of the conversation and we're just trying to support our business community in which ever way and direction they want to go. • I'm happy to meet with Michael, Jill and whoever.
• I know there was a new officer election and bring this back to council if that item that they want to go forward on.
• We've been talking about this as long as I've been on this council, so now we have the vitality group. • If they want to move this forward I think the council has interest listening, and I don't think it was meant to leave anyone out of the loop.
• It's an informational item and we just want to try to refresh our memories from 30 years ago when this was created.
• Obviously Michael has studied it more than I recall.
• Happy to get more info on that.

Councilmember Glass commented as follows:
• I just wanted to mention that when I attended some of the seminars on business improvement districts there had been recent legislation probably within the past five years that was designed to mitigate a lot of the redevelopment agency.

• There is state legislation, and I think they had three specific kinds of business improvement district kinds of things.
• I don't know all the details of that, but I'm just mentioning you may want to as this conversation continues to find out more about that in the state because there are some that are benefiting different specific kinds of things.
• Some of them were marketing oriented, and some were infrastructure oriented. • I do think that it may be that what happened in the past may be augmented by new state laws that make it either more complicated or more directed.
• It's either harder, simpler or exactly the same.

The Council thanked staff for the presentation.

City Council Action: None Required.

Reference Order Number: 2022-097
Mayor Slayter called for a break at 8:00 pm and reconvened the meeting at 8:11 pm.

PUBLIC HEARING(s):

14. Public Hearing - Introduction, first reading and consideration of Amendment to Ordinance XXXX:
(Responsible Department: Fire)
a. Proposed budget for modifications to the Emergency Operations Center located at the Sebastopol Police Department as well as proposed budget for modifications to the backup Emergency Operations Center located at the Sebastopol Fire Department; b. Amendments to the Emergency Management Ordinance to be consistent with Emergency Operations Plan; (This will need to be a public hearing) c. Update on conducting of annual mock training drills/exercises to ensure staff is prepared for emergency situations and maintain certificates of training; and d. Proposed Appendixes to Approved Plan to include but not limited to:
i. Location of Cooling Center(s)
ii. Location of Buildings with City Generators
iii. Location of Evacuation Center
iv. Procedures for opening said buildings (Cooling Centers, Evacuation Center, etc.) v. Location of Ham Operators
Fire Chief Braga presented the agenda item recommending the City Council approve for first reading and introduction of Ordinance Amending the Emergency Management Ordinance.

Mayor Slayter opened for questions of presenter.

Councilmember Rich commented I understand the staff report is very complete, but I would honestly appreciate an overview of some kind from our fire chief about the key issues that he's presenting in the staff report.

Councilmember Glass concurred.

Fire Chief Braga provided additional information to the agenda item report.

Mayor Slayter asked for additional questions of staff.

Councilmember Glass commented as follows:

• It would be hopeful to see the documents and the checklists that are referred to or that would underlie this checklist of items.
• For example, if we have a training and if we're requiring training of certain kinds of people, if we have a spreadsheet with a checklist of who's getting trained, do we have a calendar of when these trainings are going to occur?
• That would be useful information for us to see as kind of an attachment to this. • Do we have that schedule in place
Fire Chief Braga stated it is listed as attachment C. Attachment "C" is the required courses that the city management needs to take in order to be at a command level or minimum management level and then down to a supervisory level.

Councilmember Glass commented as follows:
• Attachment C is from Cal OES
• It would be useful for us to see a list of all our personnel that shows us 90% who have completed trainings and to do due diligence and have a check off of who has had training • This also applies to a having a training schedule
• What program do we use for training schedules
• Is there a calendar of trainings
• Instead of we are going to do this is there a schedule of when we are going to do this Chief Braga commented as follows:
• I do not have the training schedule tonight.
• I do have a listing, though of our current city staff I do have a listing of what level they are, and I can get that out also.

Councilmember Glass discussed vehicular evacuation routes and questioned the status of the evacuation route plan.

Chief Braga commented as follows:
• The evacuation maps and zones is a part of our local hazard mitigation plan that is currently under review by Cal OES.
• It's a part of that plan.
• That is under review right now.
• As soon as they bless our plan or provide information where we need to make some changes or updates or modifications to our plan, it then goes to FEMA.
• FEMA reviews our local hazard mitigation plan.
• From Cal OES it goes to FEMA and then FEMA will probably take, unfortunately, but they may take a couple months of reviewing our plan and then potentially you know, sending information back where they want updates and but the goal obviously is we get the blessing from Cal OES and then the blessing from FEMA and then the local hazard mitigation plan will come back to you to city council as an agenda item and a public hearing.
• Stated it is possible to agendize this for June
Councilmember Glass commented as follows:
• Discussed maps that staff has discussed regarding zones • Discussed seeing the maps with zones listed for Sebastopol

• Requested information on actual route map like zone one goes out route three. • Are their evacuation route maps, not zone maps
Chief Braga commented as follows:
• We do have those maps already completed.
• The county of Sonoma has copies of those map and if something was to happen in the county of Sonoma as it did couple years ago with the Kinkaid fire and the city of Sebastopol was asked to evacuate on a Sunday morning at like 6:00 A.M.
• If that was to happen again the County Department of Emergency Management has our evacuation zones and maps.
• We are split into four quadrants instead of a mass exodus of 8,000 to 10,000 people, based upon where the emergency is located or where it's projected to move to, we can actually start sending people away from the city based upon the zones, so it would not be a mass exodus. • It would be annex exodus and evacuation routes based on the four zones that are now part of the city of Sebastopol
Councilmember Glass commented as follows:
• Understands the zone information
• Requested information on vehicular evacuation routes, not zones Chief Braga commented as follows:
• Because the routes change, we're going to use the two main state highways, Highway 12 and Highway 116 North and South and Highway 12 East and West
• Those will be our main routes and then depending where the emergency is or where it's heading then we'll be able to use social media such as Nixle
• The county used Nixle and police department uses Nixle • We can use SOCO alert, another social media through the county and then there's more broader emergency alert system, wireless emergency alerts, we would be announcing for our residents to dial in to our local radio station like KSRO, the police and fire vehicles are now equip with high-low siren, that's an alert system that is new to the county.
• We'll get that out to everyone to advise them if they here a high low siren coming through their neighborhood it's time to grab your go-bag and to evacuate. • Again the route will be decided upon where the emergency is or which direction it's coming. • We can't tell everybody to get on Highway 12 at Moore Street or Sebastopol Avenue and head east. • We will say that that's a main emergency route but again it's going to be really decided upon where the emergency is.

Vice Mayor Hinton commented as follows:
• My questions are regarding the budget, suggested, I think it's attachment, page 17, and in you refer to the training on 18.
• Our main responders are you and the chief of police and then managers • I would suggest that all of the city staff as far as I know managers have laptops provided by the city. • It concerns me when looking at $10,000 budget, I'm looking at this going well we're going to have five laptops waiting for an emergency and we know how fast technology goes out of whack both on largescreen monitors and laptops which kind of make up the majority of this budget. • It looks like this is kind of standard maybe budget put together to outfit a room for a police department, I'm curious about that and why it would seem to make more sense that managers would bring their

updated city laptops if they're coming to respond versus buy five that sit unused waiting for the next emergency.
• When we refer to training is there no cost involved on these training programs? • The budget proposed is $10,000 to staff the room but all this training usually training requires some sort of payment so I was curious about that.

Chief Braga commented as follows:
• We actually pay for training
• It's a budgeted item that I have in the fire department, we pay the county of Sonoma Department of Emergency management $2,000 a year and that's for the operational area for every city pays into this cost and not only we hold weekly meetings on weather, the fire season or the flood season, but again, it also includes free training.
• Not technically free as we pay $2000 a year
• To the list of item, I can't argue on that one, when it comes to the laptops. • In a moment's notice we get the big shaker, we get a big earthquake, and the Sebastopol police department is up and running and the conference room EOC is untouched, it's safe, I budgeted five laptops and obviously that's negotiable but in the case of if one of the city managers, city staff department, if they're not able to bring a laptop with them for whatever reason they will be at the EOC • These five laptops will have the SIM card that is a first-responder SIM card. • What that means is we have a priority over all other users of cellphones, laptops and iPads and all electronic devices that tie up the Wi-Fi and cell towers with thousands of people logging in to check on mom and dad all that.
• We will have first responder SIM card in those laptops to provide us the capability and priority to be up on top of the list for those devices not go down unless the whole system or the whole county goes down and then, you know, that's something that we can't control. • But when the Internet gets really busy and you can't make a calls those five laptops sitting at the EOC would be a priority laptop with that special SIM card embedded.

Vice Mayor Hinton questioned if the Fire Chief and Police Chief don't have those SIM cards already in your laptops Chief Braga commented as follows:
• I do have the card in my phone, which I carry with me 24/7. • I believe the police chief does also.
• I have an older laptop and no at this point in time it does not have that special SIM card inside the laptop.

City staff commented the item is for adoption of ordinance to amend the current ordinance and that the budget is a place holder in your proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year but not for action tonight.

Councilmember Rich commented she wanted to make sure given that the staff report talks about how the EOC and back up is fully prepared with appropriate equipment that this list that you have in the packet includes equipment for both locations?
Chief Braga commented no, and the budget information was to bring it to everyone's attention the initial expense would be to outfit the police station not the fire station.

Councilmember Rich commented as follows:
• I understand we'll talk about it further during the budget process.

• I see obligations placed on the city council and want to make sure we understand what those obligations entail.
• The Disaster council is described and seems to include Mayor, Vice Mayor and plus staff members and describes some obligations of that disaster council and they seem to be fairly meaty obligations so I just want to make sure that down under, the final paragraph on that page it says the Sebastopol disaster council is empowered and develop And recommend for adoption by city council emergency and mutual aid plans and agreements and ordinances and resolutions, rules and regulations • Are we creating a committee that's now going to make recommendations to the city council? • It sounds like that's what the city council is being obligated to do, Mayor and Vice Mayor to be part of a disaster council that has the obligations that are listed there. • It was the mayor or designee, director of emergency services and assistant director of emergency services and suddenly that council is being replaced by five councilmembers who have no training in emergency services, I just need an explanation.
• There is confusion to the language and there needs to be clarification • Are all councilmembers on this disaster council in a new iteration? Chief Braga commented as follows:
• Unfortunately I'll need to get back with our former Police Chief Don Mort, he was the writer, I was out of town in September with fires.
• Don Mort graciously took September 7th and September 21st staff reports and wrote these up. • I will need to do a little research on that.

City Manager McLaughlin commented as follows:
• We need to clear this up
• I think the idea is at the time of a major emergency you need a designated disaster council to come forward to pass resolutions and things of that nature for emergency proclamations things you have to do in an emergency, to take certain action and spend money to support whatever is going on by those who are actually responding to the emergency.
• You might look at this as another name for city council. • City council's going to meet and pass emergency documents needed to continue the governance of the city during the time of a big disaster where buildings may not be occupied, Business is not going to be conducted like usual.
• I think that's the intent of this.
• I don't know that there's special training involved.
• Council needs to be designated as an emergency disaster council. • You meet and you take those actions needed to continue the operations of the city while others are responding to the actual emergency.

Councilmember Rich commented as follows:
• My follow-up concern related to this is that this disaster council which prior to this modification really consisted of staff.
• Is supposed to be which now includes the city council is overseeing all of these emergency mutual aid plans and agreements and ordinances, perhaps that language should be modified to clarify that that's a staff obligation not this disaster council reviewing annually and passing all those provisions. • Questioned the heating and cooling evacuation provisions • The reference is to locations and wonder if Chief Braga has had an opportunity when you were preparing this document to speak with community church or consider which entity West County Community

Services or SAVS or some entity might be responsibility for overseeing a warming/cooling center and finally whether there was a funding piece there.
• You may not have gone into that depth but curious whether there was an inquiry there.

Chief Braga commented as follows:
• No, I didn't actually be able to kind of really dig too deep into it. • Obviously the Sebastopol community cultural center has been extremely supportive over the years for both an evacuation center, cooling, warming centers
• I did get the okay from the senior center for either one of those, cooling or warming, however, the commitment there was only for during business hours. Not after business hours like the community was offering up.
• I did not reach out to the churches.
• The veteran building on a side note with the Sebastopol Center for the Arts that has, quite honestly, I appreciate their support but it's been problematic.
• Whenever there's a disaster say the flooding we need to open the building and the Center of Arts advise them we need to open up and it could take them from six to eight hours for them to prepare the building and in that time the county then has backed off and because we have done our due diligence and we have reached out obviously to the community center the youth annex, the high school, the gymnasiums. • I would like to say we could use the veterans building but it is problematic, when we're told we have a few hundred people in route community center has always worked with us and has opened up.

Councilmember Glass commented as follows:
• First of all if Chief Braga ever need the Center for the Arts to open up, Chief can always call me • Secondly to just to say something about the Vets building there has been some changes in personnel. • I think that's one of the actually pointing to one of the issues within emergency plan and that's that there needs to be at least annual if not semi-annual update of all of the contact information for various personnel that are related to any cooling center, et cetera. • To my knowledge we haven't been asked for our updated information. • I'm getting kind of baffled about we're working this agenda item Is about this ordinance but meanwhile I'm seeing that this document and there's things in here that I feel are lacking, like, what's the role of the ham radio group and let's get detailed about that, because that's one of our best ways to communicate. • Because you know, back to the last big emergency we had we didn't have power so we're not going to be using social media.
• Cell towers are down
• So those kind of things need to be in there emergency operations plan. • Part of the emergency operations plan and to my mind should have an appendix which has all of the contact information for everybody to do with the main centers in here and how we access those, like the cooling centers, or the warming centers or the emergency centers, et cetera. • I'm feeling like we need a lot more information in the plan but I don't think that's what we're dealing with tonight, right?
Mayor Slayter commented the plan is now being reviewed by Cal OES and what's starting to make sense to me is to pause on this item until we have that other approved plan and then we make sure they dove tail that they talk to each other.

City staff commented that the item would not be continued to a date/time specific meeting as staff would not know when some of the information would be received and recommended re-noticing of the item for a public hearing once the new date has been determined.

Mayor Slayter opened the public hearing.

Kyle commented as follows:
• First, I want to be very clear that our safety and security in a time of an emergency is super important. • By no means do I suggest that we don't take this serious needs and decisions on funding and taking care of that.
• But it's got to be done in a smart way.
• The city clerk suggest this agenda item is mere will the on the ordinance and not the budget however as we've seen in this body time and again the passing of an ordinance or signing of a deal separate from a fiscal discussion gives this body a blank check down the road without further discussion to the ordinance or deal already passed so please get into the thick of it when it comes to items funding like this. • I assure you it will be worth it in the future when you willing to admit how deep in the red you're willing to go in the coming years
• Chief Braga has a priority device with a SIM card this is all that is needed in the process of creating a wireless hot spot currently exists in all modern cellphone devices dropping $2,000 for a laptop is a waste but I digress.
• Anyone in the last evacuation is aware the prolonged lack of electricity brought down our back up generators in the area that were no longer functioning so I'm concerned with the evacuation procedures • Our highways were clogging residents into Santa Rosa to be massively evacuated at 4:00 A.M. and people taking six hours to drive 30 minutes nothing I heard tonight suggests this will be any different next time we're asked to evacuate.

Suzanne commented as follows:
• In the past when we had plannings for disasters, I've been around a long time and I was involved with Palm Drive and I had to do a lot with disasters, but the public was involved. • We got training, we got everything from map your neighborhood to you know, how to lift things if a structure fell on my neighbor that I would find people to help lift it up but I learned a little bit too. • But if you don't involve the public it could be way challenging because all of the highway 12 and highway 116 and Bodega Avenue
• We could have big fire, we could have earthquake, we could have, I don't know what, we could have all kinds of things
• We need the community to have some knowledge.

Hearing no further comments, Mayor Slayter closed the public hearing.

City Council Discussion and/or Deliberations:

Councilmember Rich commented as follows:
• In terms of direction, there are a couple items that are important, I think, from my perspective to share with our fire chief.
• One is as we'll discuss probably more fully during the report from the ad hoc committee for the unhoused is a need to provide a more robust and detailed plan in terms of warming cooling centers that would include identification of the entity that would be responsible for overseeing the warming and cooling

centers, the location that would work from a practical perspective and would include the input and advice of individuals who actually have operated the recent warming centers. • That would be the entities, community church which made its space available and the volunteers including Suzanne Landing and George and also Saves and West County Community Services. • There is a template that was tested the last few times and so, I think there's an opportunity there to put together a more robust plan.
• Regarding the evacuation plan, I echo the comment made by one of my fellow city councilmembers, I think Councilmember Glass, about the lack of detail in this particular report regarding support from ham radio, GMRS radio the efforts that SCNU our community group has been engaged in, I see no evidence of that here and you think since there's time to do revisions that's of essential need for us. • Related to that is my final comment which is that the equipment that's been described and that Chief Braga you're considering doesn't seem to include any equipment that would be specific to radio communications and I suspect having been in the police department once to look at the equipment there that there probably is a need for upgrade.
• Those would be my three points that I hope would be considered since there's going to be time to be looking back at this.

Mayor Slayter commented as follows:
• The last appendix about evacuation, heating and cooling, I realize this as proposed is an informational piece.
• I'm wondering if those if heating, cooling stations and those procedures need to be separated from evacuations.
• To me they're not the same.
• Somebody may be evacuating from a hot to a cooling center but is not the same as West County is on fire, the city needs to evacuate.
• I wonder if that would help to clear that up and in order to get to that point, and this is something that staff can come back with a recommendation of also, does the ordinance need to say we will have vaccination centers go to X, the policy and procedure can be updated without needing to go back and update the ordinance, it is able to be updated more frequently as new information comes around and so we would maybe need that for evacuations and also for heating and cooling stations.

The Council was in consensus to have this item returned for clarification at a future City Council Meeting.

City Council Action: Council was in consensus to have this item returned for clarification at a future City Council Meeting.

Minute Order Number: 2022-098

14. Public Hearing – Introduction, First reading and Consideration of Ordinance XXXX Adding a New Chapter

8.70 to the City of Sebastopol Municipal Code Regarding Police Acquisition and Use of Government Body Specific Equipment (Responsible Department: Police)
Police Chief Kilgore presented the agenda item recommending the City Council approve for first reading and introduction Ordinance adding a New Chapter 8.70 to the City of Sebastopol Municipal Code Regarding Police Acquisition and Use of Government Body Specific Equipment.

Mayor Slayter opened for questions of presenter.

Mayor Slayter commented I can imagine some of the incidents that have created what is the need for this piece of legislation and I would venture that Sebastopol is on the extremely low end of a spectrum as far as the use of equipment that's on that list and questioned if that is accurate.

Chief Kilgore commented that is correct; there are several items listed in the government code under this Bill and we are only in possession of those item.

Councilmember Rich commented for purposes of our complete understanding, could you give a brief answer to explanation of why this particular item -- this tool for the police force -- is necessary, because there's no reasonable alternative that can achieve the same objective.

Chief Kilgore commented as follows:
• Right now the only other less lethal option we carry on our belts are a taser, you have to be within a 21- foot range to use a taser.
• We carry batons, but you have to be within six-foot range to have an actual striking distance. • We also carry OC spray which is only effective for the distance it will spray typically around 10 feet. • Without any other option such as this, we don't have the ability to create distance and there's two significant things that come in the use of force situation, many times we can deescalate a situation not only with the verbal conversation that we have with people when we arrive on scene but if we can create that distance we create a safer environment not only for those who we're dealing with but also our officers as well.
• Time and distance is what helps deescalate these situations as a whole and when we have the availability of creating that distance and the use of a bean bag shotgun we're able to use that bean bag shotgun more effectively from a longer range that may allow us time and more effective outcomes that are positive outcomes that don't end with what could potentially be a deadly situation.

Councilmember Rich commented it looks like from your staff report that from your conversations with the staff currently in place, it just is true that there just has not been in their memory an instance when there's even been a need to use this particular item.

Chief Kilgore commented at this time yes.

Councilmember Gurney commented as follows:
• Just to be clear is this related to jury street report or at or independent. • My impression was it was independent and necessary.

Chief Kilgore commented No, this was a result of legislative acts and did not have anything to do with the independent audit.

Councilmember Glass commented this proposed ordinance is granting permission for this piece of equipment that we already have.

Chief Kilgore stated that is correct.

Councilmember Glass commented this ordinance is preventing us from obtaining any additional military equipment without specific direction by the council?

Chief Kilgore commented that would be correct; the department would come back to council asking for your approval if we were to purchase any other equipment that fell within Assembly Bill 481.

Councilmember Glass commented the city can continue to own this equipment that it already has and deploy it if necessary but if the department were to want to purchase anything else that is on that list you would return to the council and go through a robust vetting and approval process that was engaged with the full council.

Chief Kilgore commented that is correct.

Mayor Slayter commented as follows:
• For everybody's education, things that are on that list are things like harbored or weaponized vehicles, large-caliber firearms, explosive projectile launchers, explosive breaching tools, and flash bang grenades and other things but those are the biggies at the top of the list. • I am so grateful that I live in a community where we're so far away from those things, we're very lucky.

Mayor Slayter opened the public hearing.

Kyle commented as follows:
• I understand that there's a current assembly bill that provides classification of particular weapons that's achieved as suggested the bean bag projectile weapons classified under and that the mayor has given a list of some of these items but I am much more curious about our departments use and reliance on specifically 1033 weapons transfer programs which authorizes the transfer of military equipment to police forces across the country.
• In addition to whatever is authorized by this assembly Bill I would love to hear what type of surveillance equipment and any other military equipment that is being transferred to our department as military equipment under the 1033 weapons transfer program or any other related program. • I appreciate transparency and openness, it's not about risking the safety of officers by sharing that information it's about having a public knowledgeable about what our officers have on them.

Linda commented as follows:
• Discussed the military weapons
• Stated all you have to do is go ten miles down the road to the Sheriff’s Department who probably has flash bangs and armored vehicles and they like to use the stuff they have so they badly need reform. • I want to thank the police chief and our officers for all that they do. They are wonderful. • I'm fully supportive of them, of course, as we all should be. • They deserve whatever they want but I'd also like to take another sentence here because I was unable to get through on the last item.
• What we need to have in the emergency thing, we need to have land line phones and it's pretty easily done, computers can run off fiberoptics and Sonic, our local Sonic, formerly sonic.com, they are great and their service is great and we have them here and they can be used also along that same line. • It would be a really good idea if we start installing pay phones, land lines around the city the way we used to, once the cell and wireless grid goes down, it could, you know, with an EMT, elect row magnetic pulse.

Hearing no further comments, Mayor Slayter closed the public hearing.

Mayor Slayter responded to public comments as follows:

There was a question about the 1033 weapons transfer.

Chief Kilgore commented to my knowledge we have not exercised the use of the 1033 exchange program we have not done so since I've been here, I'm not aware it was done before hand, and I'm not aware of any items in our possession that have been utilized as a result of the 1033 exchange program.

City Council Discussion and/or Deliberations:

Councilmember Glass commented as follows:
• I have another question and that's does this ordinance preclude our police department from using an exchange program, which means, not purchasing, an exchange program or some other method of acquisition of military-style weapons
• Does this ordinance preclude our department from acquiring those kinds of things without major oversight of the city council, without having to go to the council so it's in the non-budgetary thing Chief Kilgore commented as follows:
• No it does not
• The items that have been identified by the legislature that would have an interest to the community and the council are all very explicitly listed in the Assembly Bill and so any type of increase in or request for the purchase of those types of items would be coming back to council as it's related into this ordinance. • This ordinance only pertains to Assembly Bill 481 and will only provide language as it relates to Assembly Bill 481 because that is the requirement.

Councilmember Glass commented are you saying that if one of those items that are listed in 481 were available through the 1033 exchange program for free you would still come to Council.

Chief Kilgore commented we would still have to come to council because this ordinance and this legislative action supersedes that.

Councilmember Glass commented as follows:
• Requested clarification on section 8.70.050.
• Use in exigent circumstances notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter the police department may use defined military equipment in exigent circumstances without following the requirements of this code. • Discussed B
• Requested an explanation of the meaning of what that has to do with Chief Kilgore commented as follows:
• If we had a school shooting and we needed to utilize equipment because a person had gone in and barricaded themselves in the school, taken hostages and we had no other way to get in but by use of equipment that would allow us to get in effectively which might be listed on this type of list with the Assembly Bill that would be an exigent circumstance
• I'm not going to come to council to ask you to use that because my priority is the safety of those who are in danger in a school-shooting situation or barricaded situation. • If we had to take equipment from another department that was accessible through them in order for us to utilize getting into a building for that type of exigent circumstance we'd be doing so because our priority is life and safety.
• Not to come to council and ask for the use of that.
• But you'll see in Section B of that that we have to provide notice to you and that would be the type of exigency we're looking at in those types of matters.

• The likelihood is we have other agencies in the county who would be utilizing and we would not be utilizing the equipment we have here because it's much more exigent circumstance and we're going to take the all of the means necessary to keep people safe and alive.

Councilmember Glass questioned who makes that decision.

Chief Kilgore stated myself or the Police Lieutenant or whoever is overseeing the incident and we'll be maintaining effective communication with the city manager as well.

Councilmember Glass commented is this exigent circumstance allowed with the California law having that as an exemption.

Chief Kilgore commented the way the ordinance is written is in compliance with the assembly bill.

Councilmember Glass commented it seems like then we have this entire ordinance saying we can't do this, except for if we decide not to.

Chief Kilgore commented as follows:
• That's not what that purpose is.
• Stated that we could “what if” a lot of things but the bottom line is that is if there's an exigency and it's saving people's lives, it doesn't matter what we do
• We're going to do whatever we can to save people's lives • If we have time on our hands, we're going to provide that information to you and we're going to ask for your approval to do so.
• This is when time is of the essence and we don't have that opportunity. • I will take every risk I have to in order to save others.

Councilmember Rich commented as follows:
• I think within the context of what we see here, I'm definitely in support of the chief's request here. • We clearly have a format here, a chief alert to the need for compliance to new laws, you've gone beyond requirements, demonstrating commitment to compliance and coming back to the city council. • I think it's fabulous our officers have not generally taken advantage of this use and even better continue to have regular training and experience so they're ready to use it if they need to. • That commitment to annual training is fabulous.
• I love there's an annual report required that details complaints and system for complaints from the public being submitted and tracked.
• It's sad we live in a world where this sort of tool is useful, but it's great this is the most lethal item we happen to have on our police force.

MOTION:

Mayor Slayter moved and Vice Mayor Hinton seconded the motion to approve waiver of further reading and introduction of Ordinance Adding a New Chapter 8.70 to the City of Sebastopol Municipal Code Regarding Police Acquisition and Use of Government Body Specific Equipment.

Mayor Slayter called for a roll call vote. City staff conducted a roll call vote.

VOTE:

Ayes: Councilmembers Gurney, Rich, Vice Mayor Hinton and Mayor Slayter

Noes: Councilmember Glass

Absent: None
Abstain: None
City Council Action: Approved waiver of further reading and introduction of Ordinance Adding a New Chapter

8.70 to the City of Sebastopol Municipal Code Regarding Police Acquisition and Use of Government Body Specific Equipment.

Minute Order Number: 2022-099
Proposed Ordinance Number: 1139

REGULAR CALENDAR AGENDA ITEMS (DISCUSSION AND/OR ACTION):

15. Discussion of Bike Lane Modifications to Morris Street as Discussed at the October 5, 2021 City Council Meeting (Responsible Department: City Engineer/W Trans) Mario Landeros GHD, City Consultant, presented the agenda item recommending the City Council discuss the options for the bike lane modifications for Morris Street and provide direction to staff. City Traffic Consultant, WTrans, was introduced with Cameron Nye (the presenter) giving a brief presentation on options and the recommendation.

Mayor Slayter opened for questions of presenter and staff.

Mayor Slayter commented as follows:
• A question that's related to the recommendation of staying with the status quo • It's been my understanding that due to the seven foot or less than eight foot dimension of the parking lane, that because it is not in compliance with the vehicle code for parking width, that parking regulations are not enforceable.
• Is my understanding incorrect?
Police Chief Kilgore responded that parking regulations are enforceable, however parking that encroaches on the bicycle lane is not enforceable.

Mayor Slayter commented so for the seven foot parking width, we can put up signs, enforce it.

The presenter stated that is correct.

Mayor Slayter commented as follows:
• On option three, the southbound lane is ten feet, northbound traffic lane is nine feet. • Is there any logic to splitting the difference 9.6 each direction? • What is the one foot difference thinking.

The presenter(s) commented as follows:
• That's another option, a sub-option of the option.
• The key is you don't want to go with that because of the functional classification and commercial activities that occur on Morris Street.
• Morris Street does have centerline stripe.
• That would leave that in the present location.
• To do otherwise, to split the difference, would require a removal of the stripe and put it back or not, in all likelihood because of the collector status, probably want it replaced.

• For the added cost and subsequent maintenance cost, you're not gaining real safety component. • Don't see any, turn to public comment on this item.

Mayor Slayter opened for public comment.

Eris commented as follows:
• I'm happy the original proposal to eliminate the bike lanes is not happening. • If I could wave my magic wand and have anything on that street, I would have parking eliminated from one side and use that space to add buffers to the bike lanes, but I highly doubt that's going to be on your agenda today.
• A couple of points that have been made I would like to respond to. • I'm hoping that the new ordinance will solve the problem that cyclists are experiencing there. • That's enforcement issue so we'll see how that happens. • I often hear in this conversation and other places an assumption that people do not ride their bikes at night.
• Those who ride for transportation in the wintertime, and I'm frequently riding home from work at night. • So 10:00, not so much, but 7:30 in the morning is on the ride to work. • I don't understand the idea that you cannot enforce parking obstructing the bike lane when the vehicle code clearly says that obstructing the bike lane is not legal, there's something about that enforcement piece that doesn't make sense to me.
• Talking about it's okay under the AASHTO standards to take vehicle lanes down to nine and concern about not doing that, narrower lanes slow people down.
• I don't see that necessarily being a problem.

Kyle commented as follows:
• Echo the last speaker's suggestion of eliminating parking from one side of Morris Street, perhaps the west side.
• Council is quick to in middle of the night change parking on the west side of Morris Street in attempt to reduce the amount of RV parking that happened there at request of local businesses. • But I think with a RV ban that you have now enacted and are spending a bunch of money on signs to and paying police officers to enforce, that the elimination of parking would reduce a lot of that headache and provide plenty of space for bicycle lanes on Morris Street and with your shiny, brand new RV parking ban, there will be plenty of daytime parking for the local businesses on Morris Street. • Good luck with your decision making.

Arthur commented as follows:
• Unfortunately the staff report, in preserving the status quo, does nothing to address the safety issues that prompted this review in the first place.
• There will still be encroachment.
• Report seems to misread the ordinance, all it does is clear RVs in the day, will still be vehicles of any other kind, large commercial vehicles, ups trucks, people making deliveries to the businesses. • All will be still there encroaching.
• It is still a safety issue.
• Report here continually talks about enabling the police department to write tickets. • I don't think that's anybody's goal here.
• Goal here is to have safety.
• This will still be safe parking area at night for revolution as the representative of the bicycle coalition said.

• In the early morning and evening hours, will still be revolution there with open doors and people at risk of getting doored.
• Previous city engineer had recommended eight feet as normal parking width. • Chief Kilgore said the parking lane here is not proper under industry standards almost for any vehicle except for something like a Prius.
• Engineer Gaffney recommended a mixed use, open the street to use by everyone, not confined to bicyclists with illusion of safety they think they have in bicycle lane of any length. • I would ask you go back and consider the shallows, the points here, and do something other than preserving what is determined to be unsafe status quo and dangerous condition of public property.

Mayor Slayter responded to public comments:

Narrow parking, substandard parking width, if parked vehicle was encroaching into the bike lane that could not be enforced.

Vehicle code clearly prohibits encroachment into a bike lane.

Chief Kilgore commented as follows:
• In order for us to enforce anything, the vehicle code states you can't encroach into a bicycle lane, you have to have properly marked parking lanes as well.
• For instance, if the parking lane we chose to be five foot wide and we chose the bicycle lane to be seven foot wide and vehicle were to encroach on the bicycle lane, that's not a legal parking width, so vehicle can't be held liable for misstriping on the roadway that does not meet the requirement which would by default create ability for encroachment.
• We can't issue citations when a vehicle encroaches on that bicycle lane.

Seven Foot Wide Parking Lane Adequate for enforcement:

The presenter(s) commented the existing lane width is seven feet for parking, the recommendation was to maintain that.

Mayor Slayter commented for us to have enforceability, we need the lane to meet the width that is set by the standards, which is what width?
The presenter(s) commented that there is a desirable width of eight feet but do not think there's a hard minimum number out there that says eight feet shall be the minimum parking lane width.

Chief Kilgore commented as follows:
• The lane is inconsistent up and down the street.
• Some point seven foot, some point 6'7".
• Until we remark it to eight feet, vehicle that encroaches into a bicycle lane on inconsistent striping is not something enforceable in my opinion, and not something I would ask our officers to enforce. • I am a bicyclist, I totally get it and love to be able to ride in a bicycle lane and not have vehicles encroached upon it.
• However, I've got to look at this with neutrality, and that is going to go to the person who is parking in a lane that believes they are parked legally and when we don't meet the requirements, it's on us to correct that issue or to not have enforceability with it.

Sharrows

Mayor Slayter commented:
• They're not as safe and useful as we would like to think they are. • They're more of a statement of values than actual useful tool for providing safety for cyclists.

The presenter(s) commented going from a condition where you have bicycle lanes to a condition where now you do not would result in a reduction in safety for cyclists.

City Council Discussion and/or Deliberations:

Mayor Slayter commented as follows:
• I don't have a problem with making the roadway narrower for vehicles if we can provide a compliant and standard eight foot parking width, maintain the existing width of the bicycle lanes, and take six inches out of each northbound, southbound roadway or foot out of each, forgetting the math. • Traffic calming measure we've seen around town, we do it intentionally other places around town. • To me that feels like something that might make more sense.

Councilmember Gurney commented as follows:
• I can agree with you, Mr. Mayor.
• I think we've got to put it together in way to meet priorities. • Number one address the safety issue.
• If that becomes enforcement issue for the chief, got to do what the chief says he can enforce, gets us back to the mayor's math, eight foot parking lane reducing the car space. • I don't think reducing car space is going to make it more dangerous but I do believe the cyclists need full five feet, absolutely need the white stripes both sides, and we need parking enforcement down there as well.

Vice Mayor Hinton commented as follows:
• We hired a consultant and we have a recommendation.
• When we talk about car traffic as the consultant mentioned in this and previous meeting, there's a lot of truck traffic down there.
• I drive down there five days a week, there's a lot of truck traffic going on that road. • When you talk about narrowing the roadway, it isn't like a neighborhood, as they pointed out. • The City hired a consultant and got a recommendation, my inclination is to listen to what they're talking about.

Chief Kilgore commented as follows:
• I would like to note there was a lot of conversation around this with GHD, W Trans and others about this. • The caveat to all of this is RV parking ordinance restricts RV parking on Morris Street and on these areas. • That's where he were seeing violations with recreational vehicles. • I understand people ride at nighttime, however bicycle traffic and rideability is drastically reduced in evening hours.
• If you recall the original RV parking ordinance went until 6:00 in the morning and was requested by council we went to 7:30 to allow people to be able to have more reasonable time to clear out of that space.
• Majority of the problems with encroachment was oversized vehicles like recreational vehicles that didn't fit into the parking space there.
• We're eliminating that during the daytime hours, yes, still going to be people biking at night time but will be reduced amount of safety compromising issues related to recreational vehicles during the daytime

when the majority of people are exercising the use of a bicycle during daylight hours. The presenter(s) commented as follows:
• Want to make it clear that the recommendation isn't do nothing ever. • It's do nothing at this time and see how the ordinance plays out. • See if the perpetrators are the recreational vehicles, perhaps it could take care of the problem.

Councilmember Glass commented as follows:
• I have driven along there and seen a number of vehicles encroaching into the bike lane that are not recreational vehicles
• We are a rural community, lots of people with big trucks parking on there. • Practically only thing that fits is something like a Prius and everything is encroaching on there. • Everybody knows opinion about the whole thing, whole thing makes me mad. • I think we just did this to get rid of RVs and unhoused. • The other thing is we're supposedly fixing the bike lane problem and I don't think we're fixing the bike lane problem.
• Discussed 9 1/2 feet, I agree, I thought we liked narrower streets because it is traffic calming, makes things slow down.
• Even more so, we want that with trucks.
• We don't want trucks to have a speedy Right-of-Way to sail down really fast. • We want people to slow down.
• I see we went through this whole thing, I got incredibly mad at last presentation by the bike coalition what they said about unhoused people
• I had to sit through that, now we're not even solving the bike lane problem and that bugs me. • I tend to think we should go for 9 1/2 and 9 1/2 and a bike lane that's in compliance so that it's actually enforceable.
• That makes sense to me.
• Anyway, that's what I'm thinking.

Councilmember Rich commented as follows:
• If we look at this 9 1/2 foot travel lane in either direction, I'd like to hear from Chief Kilgore and from our consultant, from Cameron, how awful is that?
• Chief, you're out on the streets all the time, would this be a huge mistake? Chief Kilgore commented as follows:
• Doesn't bother me in any sense.
• I think it makes it more enforceable.
• Looking at this as overall fiscal responsibility matter, the recommendation comes in this format because of the exuberant cost it will take to restripe the entire roadway.

Councilmember Rich commented as follows:
• What would that be?
• Was it in the staff report?
• Do we know what estimate of that cost for option number, I think three, might be? Mayor Slayter commented as follows:
• It's on page 306.

• Estimated cost of this option is 12,000 to 18,000 depending on whether the center travel lane is removed, assume that means moved or not.

Councilmember Rich commented as follows:
• I'm either in the let's see how it goes and keep this in our back pocket as a possible resolution.’ • In other words, leave it as it is, and plan on reassessing after we see how it goes out there on Morris Street.
• From budget perspective, sitting here, just going into budget period and allocating money in advance, I'm kind of feeling bootstrapped here.

Chief Kilgore commented as follows:
• I would agree with Councilmember Glass there are vehicles that encroach in the bicycle lane that are not recreational vehicles.
• That is one of the things that is an issue with leaving the parking lanes the same. • One availability we do have though is if a vehicle is greater than a foot away from the curb, then we have that availability of citing for that.
• We just can't cite for the section that encroaches into the bicycle lane. • Also would like to point out no matter what the lane width is for a parking lane, there is always potential for being doored, no matter what, because it does open into the bicycle lane no matter what the width is.

Councilmember Gurney commented as follows:
• I'm thinking we got notice from several cyclists of this conflict of the RVs intruding over the bike lane. • We have notice of a dangerous situation.
• Bicycle coalition then notified us because they had heard of the same conflict, second notice. • We've heard tonight, Mr. George said we have a problem and our solution, recommendation didn't address the problem, and Councilmember Glass said the same thing. • City is on notice that we have something that's a conflict of views and dangerous situation for cyclist and potentially a motorist and not do something about it.
• $12,000 to $18,000 for repainting is not expensive at all if you consider the enhancement the safety feature would be if we had enforceable width to parking space, legal minimum width for bike lane at five feet and nine or 9 1/2 foot, whatever the math car lane and slow trucks down. • We have to address it.
• I don't know how we can take a pass on it when we know there's a problem in front of us brought forward publicly and waited on it since October or whatever the time was. • Still preferring the Mayor's suggestion tonight, suggestion number three Councilmember Rich commented as follows:
• Is there an option in midst of the budget process to make a decision here. • I would support option three, refer the funding piece to the budget process with direction from council. • Is that workable option assuming anyone else on the city council would consider it.

City Manager McLaughlin commented as follows:
• Council can c give direction and then refer the budget part to the budget committee, who I'm sure will find the funds somewhere, potentially out of traffic impact. • You're still spending money.

Councilmember Rich commented as follows:
• I'm with the let's do the right thing, go with option which I think now is number three.

• Just listening to what my fellow city councilmembers have to say and concerns of the community. • That's where I am on that.

Vice Mayor Hinton requested clarification on option 3.

The presenter(s) commented as follows:
• The design guidelines recommend parking lane widths between seven to nine feet. • What they also recommend is ten feet as a minimum for vehicle travel lanes. • While you can have travel lanes less than ten feet wide, it's typically in a residential setting without a centerline stripe not a commercial area like Morris Street. • If you narrow the travel lanes, there is an increased likelihood of motorists encroaching on the bicycle lanes rather than parked vehicles encroaching on the bicycle lanes. • Now you have eliminated the parking problem on that side of the bike lane but you have to consider an additional problem where now you have the motor vehicles traveling down the street closer to bicyclists. • That's also something you have to consider.

Mayor Slayter commented as follows:
• Given all the discussion we've had on this and our desire to do the right thing, I think we're getting lost in the minutia of it.
• I can understand why staff came with the recommendation to let it ride and see how the new ordinance plays out.
• While I would like to think that my ideas are the greatest, I know they are not. • That's being self-realized.
• Understanding the budget piece, where we are in the fiscal year piece, if staff is saying let's let it play out and maybe revisit this in the fall if something needs to happen, maybe that's what we need to do rather than spend $18,000 on a change that functionally may not have a difference. • So what we've got here Is a roadway that's about 12 to 24 inches too narrow. • What we're trying to do is thread the needle.
• If there wasn't the budget piece and could do this for free, we could try something and then try it a different way.
• But that's not the case here.

Councilmember Rich commented as follows:
• I'm glad that Vice Mayor Hinton had us look at the diagram, and had the commentary, talking about safety.
• Looking at this, now creating another safety risk for cyclists. • If we could actually get eight foot parking lanes on both sides, and five foot bicycle lanes and then at least 9 1/2 each lane of traffic, I changed my mind seeing staff's logic of their perspective at this point. • I would say that part of it is since I'm uncertain about the right outcome, I agree. • Spending money right now on an outcome that may not meet our goals is less interesting to me than not spending money and seeing if we continue to have problems. • Maybe we need to check in with the bicyclists and coalition. • That's my thought, leave status quo, assess it later.

Councilmember Gurney commented as follows:
• I'm not convinced that delay is better than safety measures for cyclists.

• Yes, we could make this ten feet and nine feet, 9 1/2, 9 1/2, and what we would know is probably every cyclist in town has ridden on roads in town much narrower than this. • I mean Morris Street and Jewell are our biggest roads of all I think and they're not consistent in their width.
• I don't think a six inch difference or foot difference is going to make a cyclist more at risk from a car but I do think if we have a conflict in parking lane we can't ticket illegal person parking, we're just okaying a situation we've been put on notice is wrong and unsafe.

Vice Mayor Hinton commented as follows:
• I think I'm in the wait and see camp as well at this time. • This whole item was broached because we had RVs up and down crossing into the bike lane, and that problem with our parking ordinance will be solved shortly. • We never had any complaints before we had RV park up and down that lane. • I feel like I would like to wait and see on it.
• We also are in budget process and I don't know the answer either.

Mayor Slayter stated there appears to be three Councilmembers in support of leaving the status quo.

Councilmember Gurney commented as follows:
• I don't think we can live with a budget process that inhibits our decision making for three months before the budget comes for discussion for the council and two months before the midyear budget process because pretty soon we can't talk about anything, eight months of the year getting ready for the budget, having the budget, getting ready to change it.
• We have to be nimble and make decisions in the year that cost money. • This is pretty small amount of money for purpose of correcting a safety issue for drivers and cyclists on that street.
• I think the safety part is much more important for cyclists and for that area. • I have no certainty that the street camper situation will resolve itself, I'm hopeful, too. • But wait and see means a problem we've been put on notice about is still there and we just keep passing on it.

Councilmember Glass commented as follows:
• I have to say, as I said in my most impassioned way, I just think we just went through all this stuff. • I was not in agreement with the parking ordinance but if we're going to say this is a problem and it's not all about RVs, it's about people sticking out into the bike lane, and it's not just RVs but people in trucks, all kinds of things.
• If it's not safe, it does seem like we should more prone towards 9 1/2 and 9 1/2 and eight foot parking lane that's enforceable.
• But I now know I'm in the minority and everybody would rather save money I guess until we get this figured out.
• To my mind, I personally think it was actually safer having a bunch of RVs in the lane when riding your bike rather than three vehicles that are parked and it is not enforceable seems worse • I would be for 9 1/2, 9 1/2, five and eight but I'm in the minority.

Vice Mayor Hinton commented as follows:
• Wanted to clarify comments

• First of all, primary decision doesn't have to do with waiting on the budget, has to do with I'm taking staff recommendations, we hired a consultant, they're recommending to wait and my own personal experience.
• I drove down the street this morning, except for a few RVs out there, nobody infringing on the bike lane and did drive down Saturday, very busy day, when overflow parking in every spot was full, except for the RVs, I did not see infringement on the bike lanes.
• Chief also pointed out while he can enforce the 14 inches from the curb, so I know that's ticketing opportunity and if someone's infringing on the bike lane, depending on what they're driving, might be 14 inches from the curb and could be ticketed and enforced. • Last question, my understanding of current bike lanes, they're as proposed. Five feet right now right? • It's just the parking lanes we're talking about with restripe and drive lanes, correct? • So same amount of space for the bikers now as what's recommended. • Councilmember Rich commented as follows:
• It's not about budget so convinced here that we are creating a safe environment for the cyclists. • That's what my decision is based on.
• I continue to feel that wait and see and monitor activity, which we're capable of doing through our chief, and recognizing we hired consultants to take a closer look at this to spend much more than the hour or so we spent on it this evening, at assessing safety.
• I'm still on the wait and see part.

The majority of the Council was in support to provide direction to staff at this point to wait and see, monitor it, understand that the council has significant interest in this item and we trust that the chief and engineering and consultants will come back to us when, not if, we decide to get serious about making that roadway truly safe for cyclists and motorists, and also pedestrians.

City Council Action: The majority of the Council was in support to provide direction to staff at this point to wait and see, monitor it, understand that the council has significant interest in this item and we trust that the chief and engineering and consultants will come back to us when, not if, we decide to get serious about making that roadway truly safe for cyclists and motorists, and also pedestrians.

Minute Order Number: 2022-100

Due to the Council protocols for ending meetings by 10:30 pm, and due to the lateness of the hour, the Council was in consensus to continue Item 17 and Item 19 and continue items 18 and 20.

17. Discussion and Consideration of Recommendations from the Committee for Unhoused / Approval of Reallocation of Funds/SAVS Pilot Program (Requestor: City Administration/Committee for the Unhoused) City staff presented the agenda item recommending the City Council discuss the reallocation of funds (loan) and continuation of Ad Hoc Committee.

Councilmember Glass commented as follows:
• This isn't actually increasing our spending
• I it's just wanting the money earlier, getting it back, and then spending it as we were planning on spending it in the budget anyway.
• We are not spending more and it is exactly the same bottom line. • This is a bridge loan.

Councilmember Rich commented as follows:
• Tother reason is we still need to deliver on the promise to hold the town hall. • We have ad hoc committee with tentative date of April 14th, extending to April 19th would allow the ability to hold that town hall.
• That's only two key pieces.
• Everything else can be addressed at later meeting.

Mayor Slayter opened for questions of presenter. There were none at this time.

Mayor Slayter opened for public comment.

Adrienne, SAVS, commented as follows:
• Thanks for considering this.
• We're a small organization and waiting two months at beginning of the project with a lot of infrastructure costs has put us in a real bind.
• We really appreciate that the staff and ad hoc committee is recommending this. • Makes a huge difference to us.
• I hope it's no stress on anything with you.
• I'm disappointed I don't get to tell you all the good things we're doing over there but I'll get to it another time.

Linda commented as follows:
• Good to hear your voice again Adrienne
• We ought to chat, aside from that, like to take this opportunity. • I live very near the RV village up here, anyway, the thing is it is coming along, and what the effect is on the neighbors, they're hunkered down and putting up a bunch of no trespassing signs and so on but otherwise everything seems to be okay.
• I've met several of the people there, interesting and nice, and some have jobs and stuff like that. • The security guy is very nice. Full of information, answers questions. • Issue I want to mention is Lucky’s has ongoing problem with staff from people in the RV village. • Asked theft.
• Asked the clerk how do they know it's them, she responded she knows who her regulars are. • Anybody you talk to, managers and clerks will tell you same thing, that that is a fact. • She also added they used Lucky’s as walk-in refrigerator. • I hope maybe you can have the security extended for another month.

Arthur commented, Homeless advocates, quickly encourage and request the council to make this bridge loan to extend the money to maintain all the forward progress that has been accomplished with the village and continue the work that the council has done To make this a reality.

City Council Discussion and/or Deliberations:

There was no further discussion.

MOTION:

Mayor Slayter moved and Councilmember Gurney seconded the motion to approve reallocation of funds for a loan to SAVS and addendum of contract and extension of Ad Hoc Committee for the Unhoused to April 19 2022

Mayor Slayter called for a roll call vote. City staff conducted a roll call vote.

VOTE:

Ayes: Councilmembers Glass, Gurney, Rich, Vice Mayor Hinton and Mayor Slayter Noes: None

Absent: None
Abstain: None
City Council Action: Approved reallocation of funds for a loan to SAVS and addendum of contract and extension of Ad Hoc Committee for the Unhoused to April 19 2022
Minute Order Number: 2022-101
Resolution Number: 6415-2022

18. Approval of Amended City Purchasing Policy and Approval of Amendments to Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Policy (Responsible Department: Administrative Services/GHD) City Council Action: None. Item Continued.

Minute Order Number: 2022-102

19. Discussion of In Person/Hybrid Meetings; Protocols; And:

Resolution Authorizing Continued Use of Teleconference Meetings Based on Circumstances of the COVID-19 state of emergency and that the following circumstances exist:
a. The state of emergency as a result of COVID-19 continues to directly impact the ability of the members of City Council and the members of the City’s subordinate Committee’s, Commission’s, and Boards to meet safely in person; and b. The State of California and the City of Sebastopol continue to impose or recommend measures to promote social distancing.

Resolution needs to be submitted to Council every 30 days. (Due to the 30 day requirement, the April 5th meeting would be too late) (Responsible Department: City Administration/Administrative Services) Continuation of Virtual Meetings: First Approved: September 21, 2021 Resolutions Approved Every 30 Days: a. October 19, 2021 b. November 16, 2021
c. December 7, 2021
d. January 4, 2022
e. February 1, 2022
f. March 1, 2022
g. March 15th 2022 (due to reporting requirements, April 5th Meeting would be too late
City Administration presented the agenda item recommending the City Council approve the Resolution Authorizing Continued Use of Teleconference Meetings Based on Circumstances of the COVID-19 state of emergency and that the following circumstances exist:
a. The state of emergency as a result of COVID-19 continues to directly impact the ability of the members of City Council and the members of the City’s subordinate Committee’s, Commission’s, and Boards to meet safely in person; and
b. The State of California and the City of Sebastopol continue to impose or recommend measures to promote social distancing.

Mayor Slayter opened for questions of presenter. There was none.

Mayor Slayter opened for public comment. There was none.

City Council Discussion and/or Deliberations:

There was no further discussion.

MOTION:

Councilmember Glass moved and Councilmember Rich seconded the motion to approve Resolution Authorizing Continued Use of Teleconference Meetings Based on Circumstances of the COVID-19 state of emergency and that the following circumstances exist:
a. The state of emergency as a result of COVID-19 continues to directly impact the ability of the members of City Council and the members of the City’s subordinate Committee’s, Commission’s, and Boards to meet safely in person; and
b. The State of California and the City of Sebastopol continue to impose or recommend measures to promote social distancing.

Mayor Slayter called for a roll call vote. City staff conducted a roll call vote.

VOTE:

Ayes: Councilmembers Glass, Gurney, Rich, Vice Mayor Hinton and Mayor Slayter Noes: None

Absent: None
Abstain: None
City Council Action: Approved Resolution Authorizing Continued Use of Teleconference Meetings Based on Circumstances of the COVID-19 state of emergency and that the following circumstances exist:
a. The state of emergency as a result of COVID-19 continues to directly impact the ability of the members of City Council and the members of the City’s subordinate Committee’s, Commission’s, and Boards to meet safely in person; and
b. The State of California and the City of Sebastopol continue to impose or recommend measures to promote social distancing.

Minute Order Number: 2022-103
Resolution Number: 6416-2022

20. Consideration of Amendment to City Council / City Staff Committee Assignments: Request for Second City Council Appointee to the City Wide Staffing Assessment Study Ad Hoc Committee (Requestor: City Administration)
City Council Action: None. Item Continued.

Minute Order Number: 2022-104
The following were not discussed due to the lateness of the meeting.

CITY COUNCIL REPORTS:

21. City Manager-Attorney/City Clerk Reports

22. City Council Reports/Committee/Sub-Committee Meeting Reports: (Reports by Mayor/City Councilmembers Regarding Various Agency Meetings/Committee Meetings/Sub-Committee Meeting /Conferences Attended and Possible Direction to its Representatives (If Needed) on Pending issues before such Boards)

23. Council Communications Received

24. Future City Meeting Dates/Events (Informational Only): (See City Web Site for Up-to-Date Meeting Dates/Times)

ADJOURNMENT OF CITY COUNCIL MEETING
March 15, 2022 City Council Regular Meeting will be adjourned to the April 5, 2022 City Council Meeting, 6:00 pm, Zoom Virtual Meeting Format.

Mayor Slayter adjourned the City Council meeting at 10:59 pm.

Respectfully Submitted:

Mary C. Gourley
Assistant City Manager/City Clerk, MMC