January 2026
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 has reached out to John Moe, Moe Engineering of Santa Rosa, who has performed similar work in Sonoma and Marin County. Staff will be negotiating a contract for city engineering services and will be bringing the contract to Council for approval.
2. Americorp Trail Extension Project. Work is now completed and a Notice of Completion was approved on February 3, 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.
3. Water Master Plan Update. The administrative draft report has been submitted by the consultant and staff is currently reviewing. It is estimated that the draft report will be presented to Council in March/April.
4. Sewer Master Plan Update. Public Works released the Request for Proposals on December 15, 2025 and two proposals were received on the proposal due date of January 15, 2026. Staff is currently reviewing the two proposals and will be selecting the most qualified firm to perform the work. Staff will be finalizing the scope and fee and present the contract to Council for award in March/April.
5. Burbank Farm ADA Path and Restroom Facility Project. The construction is well underway with construction estimated to be completed in April.
6. Bodega Avenue Bike Lanes and Rehab Phase 2. The construction commenced in January with work estimated to be completed by May 2026, weather depending. During the construction and preconstruction staking, it was discovered that the City needed additional right of way to install the new bike lanes in front of the Memorial Lawn Cemetery. The City has been in communication with the owner and is working out the details for the grant of the additional right of way.
7. Bodega Guardrails Project. During the final review of the plans and specifications for the project, it was discovered that a 2-inch high pressure gas line is located under a section of the new guardrails on the north side of Bodega Avenue. Staff is currently working with PG&E regarding relocation of the gas line to avoid conflicts during construction. The project schedule will need to be extended in order to address the PG&E gas line matter before going out to bid.
8. Citywide Digouts and Repairs Paving Project. The preliminary list has been compiled with the draft list of streets and map and was presented to Council for review on January 20, 2026. The final list will be presented to Council for review and approval in March 2026.
9. Go Sonoma Cycle 2 Grants. The new (preliminary) schedule for the cycle 2 grants was released by SCTCA and it is now estimated that the City’s grant applications (5) will be reviewed and recommendation for award will be in the summer 2026.
10. 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. For one of the requests, Caltrans anticipates their Traffic Operations division would respond to 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. To date, staff has not heard back from Caltrans and will continue to follow up on this request.
11. 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.
12. Sebastopol Cultural Community Center Plan. The ad-hoc committee met in January and the final report was finalized. The report will be presented to Council at a meeting in March and will include short and long term recommendations.
13. Miscellaneous Public Works activities.
• Removed and placed in storage holiday decorations and lights from downtown and at city hall. • Assembled and installed new trash receptacles in the plaza and downtown. • Filled numerous potholes.
• Performed monthly sanitary sewer flushing.
• Read water meters, investigate and complete water service requests. • Maintenance and repairs of vehicles and equipment.
• Replaced some leaking water services.
• Repaired compromised sewer lateral.
• Inspected water and sewer ties for multiple housing projects. • Installed new water meters for one of the housing projects. • Storm preparations and clean up.
• Coordinated with PD to mark and clean up several unhoused encampments in the laguna. • Made repairs to several government building and facilities.