City Council
Mayor Jill McLewis
Vice Mayor Sandra Maurer
Councilmember Phill Carter
Councilmember Neysa Hinton
Councilmember Stephen Zollman
Interim City Manager
Mary Gourley
[email protected]
CITY COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA
Regular Meeting of Tuesday, March 17, 2026
6:00 pm Start Time
Meeting to be held in Person and Virtual /Remote Participation In Person Location: 425 Morris Street, Sebastopol, CA 95472 City Council is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: City Council Meeting - March 17, 2026
Time: Mar 17, 2026 06:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 858 7882 3174
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Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/event/5424056
COUNCIL PROTOCOLS FOR MEETING:
This in person and virtual/remote meeting is compliant with the Governor’s Executive Order allowing for a deviation of teleconference rules required by the Brown Act. Traditional Brown Act and AB 2449 requirements can be utilized for all City Council meetings as long as required notice and posting is conducted per the Brown Act.
Please Note the presiding member of the legislative body conducting a meeting or their designee may remove, or cause the removal of, an individual for disrupting the meeting. “Disrupting” means engaging in behavior during a meeting of a legislative body that actually disrupts, disturbs, impedes, or renders infeasible the orderly conduct of the meeting.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Due to the length of recent City Council Meetings, it is strongly encouraged that written comments be submitted to the City Council by sending them by email to: [email protected] with either General Public Comment Written in the Subject Line or the Specific Agenda Item Number or Title Written in the Subject Line. Emails are distributed to the City Council as well as posted to the City Council meeting as public comment. Public Comment questions may be directed to City staff for a response at a later time.
CALL TO ORDER
ROLL CALL
SALUTE TO THE FLAG
REMOTE PARTICIPATION UNDER AB 2449 (IF NEEDED): To consider and take action on any request from a Council Member to participate in a meeting remotely due to Just Cause or Emergency Circumstances pursuant to AB 2449 (Government Code Section 549539(f)). Assembly Bill
2302 (2024) (“AB 2302”) revises rules for when members of local legislative bodies may participate in meetings remotely. Specifically, it amends the number of meetings that may be attended remotely for just cause and under emergency circumstances and clarifies the definition of the term “meeting,” for purposes of remote attendance. AB 2302 caps the number of remote meetings a member can attend each year based on the frequency of a legislative body’s meetings: Five meetings per year for those meeting twice a month.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: The City of Sebastopol acknowledges that we live and work within the unceded ancestral homelands of the Southern Pomo and the Coast Miwok people. We pay our respect to the past, present, and future generations of these peoples, including the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria.
REMEMBERING THE HISTORY OF SEBASTOPOL
PROCLAMATIONS/PRESENTATIONS/INTRODUCTIONS: None
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.
PUBLIC COMMENT FOR ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA (FIRST COMMENT PERIOD): Up to Twenty (20) Minute Time Limit (Two Minutes for up to ten speakers). Additional public comment will be held at the end of the discussion and action items for up to an additional twenty (20) minutes. Mayor has discretion to allow for additional time beyond the 20 minutes allocated for public comment dependent upon the subject matter or number of speakers.
Process for calling on Speakers: Mayor or designee shall ask for public comment as follows: Speakers to be called on in an alternate manner (One speaker in person to be called on first; then one speaker remote to be called on second with additional speakers to be called on in the same manner) based upon the time limit.
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 aloud the title of each consent item (either full agenda title or a simplified version of the agenda title), and 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 two (2) minutes on the entire consent calendar and request at that time that an item or items 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. Council Members 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.
1. Approval of City Council Meeting - Regular Meeting - Minutes for Meeting of March 3, 2026 Responsible Department: Interim City Manager
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the minutes is covered within existing budgeted salaries. No additional financial impact is anticipated with approval of this item.
2. Approval of City Council Meeting – Special Meeting – Closed Session Minutes for Special Meeting of March 9, 2026
Responsible Department: Interim City Manager
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the minutes is covered within existing budgeted salaries. No additional financial impact is anticipated with approval of this item.
3. Approval of Professional Services Agreement with Luhdorff & Scalmanini Consulting Engineers (LSCE) for Preliminary Design of Well 4 for amount not to exceed $ 378,095.00. The design work is phased with the preliminary design and site investigation being done in Phase 1 which is the proposed contract. Phase 2 (final design) will occur in FY 26/27 and will be added to the FY 26/27 CIP draft plan.
Responsible Department: Public Works
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda report is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
The fiscal impact for this work is accounted for in approved CIP Budget and CIP Project No. 0822-24.06
4. Acceptance of Grant Deed from Memorial Lawn Cemetery for Bodega Avenue. The owner of Memorial Lawn Cemetery is granting approximately a 2-foot strip along the cemetery frontage to accommodate the Bodega Avenue widening for the new bike lanes as part of the Bodega Avenue Bike Lane and Pavement Rehab Phase 2 Project.
Responsible Department: Public Works
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda report is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Memorial Lawn Cemetery granted the City the easement for $10.00; this cost is included in the project’s CIP budget. The fence is also part of the project and will come from approved project funds.
5. Approval of Changes to Committee Assignments for FY 2025-26 pertaining to Public Works staff assignments. The City recently hired a new Public Works Director and changes to the committee assignments are recommended to accommodate the new staff.
Responsible Department: Public Works
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda report is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
There is no additional fiscal impact with approval of this item.
6. Approve the Letter of Support for the City of Santa Rosa Energy and Water Funding Request for the Regional Llano Trunk Sewer Line Rehabilitation Project to representatives Schiff, Padilla, and Thompson.
Santa Rosa is requesting federal earmark funding for the Llano Trunk Sewer lining project. The City would benefit from any funding received since this project will be paid for by all Subregional partners.
Responsible Department: Public Works
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda report is covered within existing budgeted salaries. There is no additional fiscal impact with approval of this item.
7. Receipt of Annual General Plan Progress Report (APR).
Responsible Department: Planning Department
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the APR and agenda report is covered within existing budgeted salaries. There is no additional fiscal impact with approval of this item.
8. Clarification of Council Motion Regarding BayREN Payment – February 17, 2026 City Council Meeting.
This item is to clarify the direction in the agenda report versus the actual Council motion at the February 17th City Council Meeting. It is recommended the Council adopt a resolution confirming the Council motion from February 17, 2026 the approval of a one-time settlement payment to BayREN to fully resolve and close out the Water Upgrade Save (WUSave) program, with $5,731.29 paid from the Water Fund holding account and the remaining $7,409.94 paid from the General Fund Responsible Department: Administrative Services
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the staff report is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Other Fiscal Impact: The total settlement payment to BayRen would be $13,141.23, of which $5,731.29 would be paid from the Water Fund holding account and the remaining $7,409.94 paid from the General Fund. The $5,731.29 from the Water Fund consisted solely of repayments received from property owners participating in the WUSave, and not from rate revenue. These funds were collected specifically for the City to make payments to BayRen as they become due
INFORMATIONAL ITEMS/PRESENTATIONS: Informational Items or Presentations are items that are informational only and do not require action by the City Council. Presentations shall be scheduled as necessary for
the promotion of an event or service or general information items to the Council and should be limited to ten (10) minutes total in length of item (total length includes questions of Council to presenter and public comment).
NONE
PUBLIC HEARING(s): None
REGULAR CALENDAR AGENDA ITEMS (DISCUSSION AND/OR ACTION):
9. Consideration of Animal Control Services. Item is to consider approval to:
a) Award a three-month interim contract to the Humane Society of Sonoma County (HSSC) for sheltering services (April 1–June 30, 2026) at a prorated cost of approximately $9,680.25 (~$3,226.75 per month), with authorization for the City Manager to extend month-to-month as needed until longterm solutions are secured in collaboration with HSSC and Sonoma County; and b) Authorize the City Manager to pursue emergency/short-term options for animal control field services (e.g., via Sonoma County Animal Services discussions, City of Sonoma, or other providers); and c) Authorize Police Department personnel to process animal licenses in the interim; and d) Authorize the City Manager to issue a notice of termination to North Bay Animal Services (NBAS) for the existing month-to-month agreement; and
e) Approve Budget Amendment Resolution
Requestor: Mayor McLewis/Councilmember Zollman
Responsible Department: Police Chief
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda report is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Other Fiscal Impact: The proposed annual cost for Humane Society for a shorter-term option, such as a three-month contract to bridge services until the FY 2026-27 budget is prepared and adopted (typically by June 2026), costs could be prorated at approximately $9680.25 for three months or $3226.75 per month (one-quarter of the annual fee)
Due to the urgency of this item, this item was not presented to the budget committee prior to review by City Council as staff was still working with the Humane Society and County on contract costs.
10. Consideration of Fiscal Agent for the Sebastopol Downtown Association Business Improvement District Funds. Item is to consider:
1. Authorize the City of Sebastopol to serve as the Fiscal Agent for the Sebastopol Downtown Association Business Improvement District (BID) funds, to be used solely for the following purposes as authorized by the BID ordinance and California law:
A. Acquisition, construction, and/or maintenance of parking facilities for the benefit of the Business Improvement District;
B. Decoration of public places in the Business Improvement District; C. Promotion of public events in public places in the Business Improvement District;
D. Furnishing of music in public places in the Business Improvement District; E. Promotion of business activities in the Business Improvement District; and F. Any and all other purposes authorized by law, the ordinance establishing the Business Improvement District, and/or the City Council
Direct staff to:
1. Rescind the prior resolution and terminate the existing agreement with the Sebastopol Chamber of Commerce as Fiscal Agent (see attachments); and
2. Establish a Standing BID Oversight Committee consisting of:
One City Councilmember;
City staff liaison(s) (e.g., from Administrative Services); 4-5 representatives from downtown businesses, appointed by participating BID-assessed businesses or their association.
The Committee shall meet at minimum twice per year:
Once to develop and recommend the annual BID budget for Council approval; Once to prepare and present an Annual Report summarizing goals, accomplishments, expenditures, and fund balances for the prior calendar year; Additional meetings as needed.
OR, alternatively, direct the Interim City Manager to collaborate directly with downtown business representatives on budget development, reporting, and fund use without forming a formal standing committee.
Responsible Department: Interim City Manager/Administrative Services Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda report is covered within existing budgeted salaries. Additional fiscal impact will be staff time if a committee is created to prepare BIA budget for upcoming FY as well as any additional committee meetings.
11. Finalize List of Streets for Digouts and Repairs. The Digouts and Repairs project is included in the FY 25- 26 CIP Budget and was discussed at 3/2/26 BC mtg. This item will finalize the list of streets that will be included in the Digouts and Repairs CIP Project. Note: that Palm Ave. will be included in a future agenda item in April.
Responsible Department: Public Works
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the staff report is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
The fiscal impact for this work is accounted for in approved CIP Budget and CIP Project No. 0520-22.09.
And is summarized in Table 2.
Table 2 – Funding Sources for Digouts and Repairs
Funding Source Amount
100-General Fund Measure U $200,000.00
200-Gas Tax 150,000.00
241-Go Sonoma Roads (GSR) 150,000.00
Total all funds $500,000.00
12. Consideration of Approval of Emergency Operations Plan. The item is to adopt the City of Sebastopol EOP which is to establish clear authorities, responsibilities, and procedures for managing emergencies that may impact the city.
Responsible Department: Police
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda report is covered within existing budgeted salaries. All work related to the EOP update has been conducted within existing departmental budgets.
13. Emergency Sewer Main Replacement –High Street. This item is to request that the City Council:
(1) declare that an emergency exists pursuant to California Public Contract Code Section 22050 related to the failure of the City’s sewer main on South High Street, (2) authorize the Public Works Director to proceed with the emergency replacement of approximately 156 linear feet of sewer main between Calder Avenue and Maple Avenue, and (3) adopt a resolution approving a budget amendment for the project funded through the Wastewater Reserve Fund in an amount of $81,720.00
Responsible Department: Public Works
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda report is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Due to the urgency of this item, this item was not presented to the budget committee prior to review by City Council. This repair was not included in the Fiscal Year 2025–26 adopted budget and will require a budget amendment funded through the Wastewater Reserve Fund in an amount of $81,720.00.
14. Approval of Extension of Interim City Manager Contract. The City Manager position is currently vacant and the current interim contract expires March 31, 2026. Extension would be under same terms and conditions contained in Amendment Four of Employment Agreement.
Responsible Department: City Personnel Attorney/Human Resources Consultant Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare agenda item report is covered within existing budgeted salaries. Staff is not asking for any additional appropriations to cover the cost of the extension of the interim position.
ADDITIONAL PUBLIC COMMENT FOR ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA: Two minutes per speaker for up to twenty (20) minutes total for public comments but can be reduced at Mayor’s discretion depending upon the number of speakers or Mayor has discretion to allow for additional time beyond the 20 minutes allocated for public comment dependent upon the subject matter or number of speakers.
COUNCILMEMBER(S) REQUESTS FOR FUTURE CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEMS
CITY COUNCIL/CITY STAFF REPORTS/COMMUNICATIONS/ANNOUNCEMENTS/FUTURE MEETINGS:
15. City Manager and/or City Clerk Reports: (This will be either verbal reports at the meeting, or written reports provided at or prior to the meeting)
a. Gravenstein Commons Update Report
b. Monthly Departmental Reports
c. City Council Goals Submission Reminder to Council and Community (Verbal Reminder)
16. 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. ((This will be either verbal reports at the meeting, or written reports provided at or prior to the meeting)
17. Council Communications Received (Information/Meetings/Correspondence Received from the General Public to Councilmembers)
CLOSED SESSION: NONE
ADJOURNMENT OF CITY COUNCIL MEETING
March 17, 2026 City Council Regular Meeting will be adjourned to the next Regular City Council Meeting of Tuesday, April 7, 2026 at 6:00 pm, Sebastopol Youth Annex, 425 Morris Street, Sebastopol, CA.
American Disability Act Accommodations/Accessibility: A request can be made orally or in writing, and submitted to the ADA Coordinator by email: [email protected] or to the City Clerk’s Office so as to avoid delay in reviewing and processing the request. Requests can be made by contacting the ADA Coordinator’s Office at (707) 823-8597, via email at [email protected] or by mailing such a request to the ADA Coordinator’s Office located at 7425 Bodega Avenue, Sebastopol, CA. Note that if you contact the ADA Coordinators Office, via mail, you need to make the request early enough that a response can be timely provided. The e-mail subject line should read "ADA Accommodation Request" or "Language Assistance" and the e-mail should include your name, address, telephone number, and a description of the request.
NOTICE: All Resolutions and Ordinances introduced and/or adopted under this agenda are waived of all reading of entire resolution(s) and ordinance(s). The City of Sebastopol is a general law city formed under the laws of the
State of California. With respect to adoption of ordinances and resolutions, the City adheres to the requirements set forth in the Government Code. Unless otherwise required, the full reading of the text of standard ordinances and resolutions is waived.
SB 751 Legislative bodies of local agencies must publicly report: (1) any action taken and (2) the vote or abstention on each action taken by each member present for the action at a meeting.
If you have any questions regarding this meeting, please contact the City at Email: [email protected] or [email protected] or please call: 707-823-1153. The public is advised that pursuant to Government Code section 54957.5 all writings submitted to the City Council are public records and will be made available for review at City Hall during normal business hours. The Sebastopol City Council welcomes you in person or remotely to its meetings that are generally scheduled for the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of every month. Your interest and participation are encouraged and appreciated.
Government Code Section 54953.
(a) All meetings of the legislative body of a local agency shall be open and public, and all persons shall be permitted to attend any meeting of the legislative body of a local agency, except as otherwise provided in this chapter.
(b)
(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the legislative body of a local agency may use teleconferencing for the benefit of the public and the legislative body of a local agency in connection with any meeting or proceeding authorized by law. The teleconferenced meeting or proceeding shall comply with all requirements of this chapter and all otherwise applicable provisions of law relating to a specific type of meeting or proceeding. (2) Teleconferencing, as authorized by this section, may be used for all purposes in connection with any meeting within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body. All votes taken during a teleconferenced meeting shall be by rollcall.
There are times that the City Council open meetings may not be live streamed due to technical issues; if that is the case, the meeting will be video-taped and uploaded as soon as possible to the City Web Site. In the event of a disruption that prevents the legislative body from broadcasting the meeting to members of the public using the call-in option or internet-based service option, or in the event of a disruption within the local agency’s control that prevents members of the public from offering public comments using the call-in option or internet-based service option, the legislative body shall take no further action on items appearing on the meeting agenda until public access to the meeting via the call-in option or internet-based service option is restored. Actions taken on agenda items during a disruption that prevents the legislative body from broadcasting the meeting may be challenged pursuant to Section 54960.1.
COUNCIL PROTOCOLS FOR MEETING RESTATED:
This in person and virtual/remote meeting is compliant with the Governor’s Executive Order allowing for a deviation of teleconference rules required by the Brown Act. Traditional Brown Act and AB 2449 requirements can be utilized for all City Council meetings as long as required notice and posting is conducted per the Brown Act.
Please Note the presiding member of the legislative body conducting a meeting or their designee may remove, or cause the removal of, an individual for disrupting the meeting.
Prior to removing an individual, the presiding member or their designee shall warn the individual that their behavior is disrupting the meeting and that their failure to cease their behavior may result in their removal. The presiding member or their designee may then remove the individual if they do not promptly cease their disruptive
behavior. This paragraph does not apply to any behavior described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b).
(b) As used in this section:
(1) “Disrupting” means engaging in behavior during a meeting of a legislative body that actually disrupts, disturbs, impedes, or renders infeasible the orderly conduct of the meeting and includes, but is not limited to, one of the following:
(A) A failure to comply with reasonable and lawful regulations adopted by a legislative body pursuant to Section 54954.3 or any other law.
(B) Engaging in behavior that constitutes use of force or a true threat of force. (2) “True threat of force” means a threat that has sufficient indicia of intent and seriousness, that a reasonable observer would perceive it to be an actual threat to use force by the person making the threat.
How can I provide Public Comment on Zoom?
The Mayor will request public comment during the Public Comment period on the agenda and during each Public Hearing and Regular Calendar Item. Once the Mayor has announced the public comment period, please do one of the following.
USING A COMPUTER OR SMART PHONE:
• Click on the “Raise Hand” feature in the webinar controls. This will notify City staff that you have raised your hand and you would like to speak.
• City staff will unmute your microphone when it is your turn to provide public comment. • A prompt will appear to confirm you would like to be unmuted. Once you accept the prompt, you will have two minutes to provide public comment.
• Once your public comment has ended, you will be muted again.
USING A REGULAR PHONE:
• Dial *9 (star 9), this will notify City staff that you have “raised your hand” for public comment. • City staff will unmute your microphone when it is your turn to provide public comment. *6 (star 6) is used to mute/unmute.
• You will hear “you are unmuted” and then you will have two minutes to provide public comment. • Once your public comment has ended, you will be muted again