December 2025
Public Works Department Activity Report
Toni Bertolero, Public Works Engineer, [email protected] Erik Billing, Public Works Supervisor, [email protected] Noteworthy Information:
1. Interim City Engineer Update. The contract for interim city engineering services with GHD was set to expire December 31, 2025. Public Works released a Request for Proposals for city engineering services on November 6, 2025 and the deadline for proposals was December 15, 2025. No proposals were received. The City is required by law to have a city engineer and therefore the GHD contract was extended to April 30, 2026. Staff will continue to seek permanent city engineering services and the goal is to have a permanent city engineer board before the GHD contract expires.
2. SB 270 Reusable Grocery Bag Program ends December 31, 2025. Jurisdictions were notified that effective January 1, 2026, stores are prohibited from distributing single-use plastic carryout bags to customers and will only be allowed to distribute recycled carryout paper bags to customers at the point of sale for a minimum charge of ten cents per bag. Jurisdictions have the authority to enforce the statutory requirements and for any questions can consult with the City Attorney.
3. Tidal Wave Car Wash. On December 23, 2025, Public Works sent a notification letter to the owner of the car wash, located on Gravenstein Highway S, regarding water service shutoff which occurred on January 5, 2026. The service shutoff was due to violation of the required pretreatment maintenance regulations under their wastewater discharge permit. The car wash previously violated their permit in November 2022.
4. Americorp Trail Extension Project. Work has been substantially complete and a Notice of Completion is scheduled for Council approval in February 2026. Staff is currently working with the County Ag & Open Space District on a conservation easement for the area and this easement is required before the City can request reimbursement for the grant.
5. Police Station Emergency Generator. Additional information was provided by the City’s electrical and mechanical service contractors to help with determining optimal size of the generator. The assessment report is estimated to be completed in January 2026. Once the report is completed, preparation of plans, specifications and cost estimate will commence soon after.
6. Water Master Plan Update. Work is ongoing and the consultant provided a preliminary list of projects that was presented to Council on December 2, 2025. The administrative draft report is estimated to be submitted to staff for review in February and the draft report should be ready to present to Council in March.
7. Flood Resiliency Master Plan. Consultant’s (Wood Rodgers) progress for the short month (due to the holidays) included customizing the City’s GIS database structure to include various City information such as pipe materials. The consultant completed the conversion of the City’s entire storm drain network as shown in the 2005 City drainage map to the GIS data-based mapping.
8. Sewer Master Plan Update. Public Works released the Request for Proposals on December 15, 2025 and the due date for Proposals is January 15, 2026.
9. Burbank Farm ADA Path and Restroom Facility Project. The City issued the Notice to Proceed with the construction to commence January 5, 2026. The work is estimated to be completed by April 2026, weather depending.
10. Bodega Avenue Bike Lanes and Rehab Phase 2. The construction contract was awarded to Team Ghilotti and the City issued the Notice to Proceed with the construction to commence on January 12, 2026 with work estimated to be completed by May 2026, weather depending. The City received notice that their grant request for the additional paving work between Valley View Drive and the city limit was approved by the SCTCA Board on December 8, 2025 and will save the City approximately $300k in SB 1 funds that they can now use for other paving work. Council approved the amended funding agreement at their meeting of January 6, 2026.
11. Bodega Guardrails Project. The final plans and specs are estimated to be completed in January 2026 and an allocation letter from Caltrans (similar to a funding agreement, but less formal) is estimated to be received in January 2026, at which time the work can thereafter commence. The construction work is under the $225k threshold and under the State public contract code, can be informally bid by the City. Under the City’s Purchasing Policy the City Manager is authorized to approve the award of contract.
12. Citywide Digouts and Repairs Paving Project. A preliminary list has been compiled with the draft list of streets and map scheduled for Council discussion and review on January 20, 2026.
13. Go Sonoma Cycle 2 Grants. Public Works staff completed their re-submittal of the five priority projects to SCTCA that was due on December 30, 2025. The re-submittal was suggested by SCTCA staff in order to enhance the grant applications for better positioning for award selection.
14. Letter Request to Caltrans re SR 116 and SR 12 Improvements. The city engineer and Public Works Engineer held a meeting with Caltrans regional project manager on December 31, 2025 concerning the three requests in the City’s letter signed by the Mayor dated November 18, 2025. To summarize, i) Caltrans is exploring grant options for the request for bike sensors at four locations on the State Highway and will work with staff on those options as they become available and viable, ii) Caltrans will work on public outreach/education including an informational sign located at SR 116 at McKinley to improve traffic congestion at the intersection, and iii) Caltrans anticipates their Traffic Operations division respond the request to increase the visibility of the blinking yellow light at the crosswalk near Barnes Avenue at SR 12 by the end of January 2026. Staff will continue to update Council as information is received from Caltrans.
15. SCTCA Cycle 2 Grants. Met with SCTCA and based on meeting will be revising and enhancing the five priority grant applications for resubmittal in December.
16. Sebastopol Cultural Community Center Plan. The ad-hoc committee met
17. Miscellaneous Public Works activities.
• Annual tree lighting.
• Install holiday decorations and lights downtown and at city hall. • Installed patio lighting in the plaza.
• Filled numerous potholes.
• Performed monthly sanitary sewer flushing.
• Read water meters, investigate and complete water service requests. • Smog the city vehicles.
• Performed the annual service and load testing of the back up generators. • Performed upgrades at city hall and the police department to the conference and training rooms.
• Storm preparations and clean up.
• Repaired the road and a lot in Park Village in preparation for a new tenant.