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, April 7, 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
REMOTE TELECONFERENCE PARTICIPATION
Pursuant to Government Code §54953(b) of the Brown Act, the following Councilmember will participate in this meeting remotely: Mayor McLewis
Mayor Jill McLewis will be remote and logging on from the following location:
Location: Sheraton, 2255 Kalakaua Avenue, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, 96815; 808-213-7155
City Council is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: City Council Meeting - April 7, 2026
Time: Apr 7, 2026 06:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87525860234
Meeting ID: 875 2586 0234
Passcode: 008587
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https://us02web.zoom.us/meetings/87525860234/invitations?signature=W6zVqqnVif6JAW1nV2eJLUPAc34m37JUBa8t7BLI6E Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/event/5424057
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:
• Sexual Assault Awareness Month
• WOTYC Proclamation - (Week of the Young Child)
• NPST Week - (National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week) • MOVES Proclamation - (Children's Memorial Day) 4th Friday • National Library Week Proclamation
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 Regular Meeting Minutes for Meeting of February 17, 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 Regular Meeting Minutes for Meeting of March 17, 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. Adopt a Resolution authorizing John Moe, P.E., to sign certain documents as City Engineer. Mario Landeros, Interim City Engineer with GHD Inc., will be retiring from his role and John Moe, has been selected to perform this role.
Responsible Department: Public Works
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda item is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
No additional financial impact is anticipated with approval of this item as budget contains approved allocation of $9,000 for Engineering Contract
4. Approval of Catastrophic Policy -City Wide. This policy establishes a voluntary Catastrophic Leave Bank consistent with IRS guidance for medical emergency leave-sharing plans. The bank allows employees to donate accrued vacation, compensatory time off (CTO), or administrative leave for use by eligible employees who experience a medical emergency resulting in prolonged absence and substantial income loss after exhausting paid leave. A medical emergency may involve the employee or an eligible family member.
Responsible Department: Human Resources/Administrative Services Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the staff report is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
No additional financial impact.
5. Authorize the opening of a recruitment process to fill the upcoming term for the City of Sebastopol’s representative on the Sonoma County Library Commission and approve the Requirements for City Appointed Position to the Sonoma County Library Commission.
Requestor: Councilmember Zollman
Responsible Department: Interim City Manager
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the minutes is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
There is no additional fiscal impact with approval of this item.
6. Approval of Notice of Completion for Emergency Sewer Repair South High Street Responsible Department: Public Works
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare this agenda report is covered within existing budgeted salaries. The emergency sewer main line repair, with a final cost of $81,725, will be funded through a budget adjustment from the wastewater reserve fund.
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).
7. Informational Item: 2nd Quarterly update from Building the Commons Committee Responsible Department: Public Works
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda item is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
8. Informational Item: Development Agreement Annual Report – Piazza Hotel. Annual Report for the Development Agreement is required by State law and the DA itself. City staff will provide information on timeline of Development Agreement and What would happen upon expiration of development agreement.
Responsible Department: Planning
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda item is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
PUBLIC HEARING(s): NONE
REGULAR CALENDAR AGENDA ITEMS (DISCUSSION AND/OR ACTION):
9. Special Event Fee Waivers - Kiwanis Club April 4th Easter Egg Hunt. Fee Waiver has been requested in the amount of $400.00
Responsible Department: Public Works
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the minutes is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
The fee that would be waived for this event amounts to $400.00.
10. Approval of Memorandum of Understanding with Service Employees’ International Union Local (SEIU) 1021
Responsible Department: Administrative Services
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda item is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Additional fiscal impact: The total estimated financial impact of the successor Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) over the full contract term is approximately $374,200, including workers’ compensation and general liability costs. Of this amount, $50,500 is attributable to FY 2025–26. The estimated cost for FY 2026–27 is $113,640 and will be incorporated into the proposed budget. The remaining $210,060, covering FY 2027–28 through June 30, 2029, will be incorporated into future budgets.
All costs are contingent upon City Council approval of the successor MOU. At this time, staff is not recommending any budget adjustments. The January through June 2026 costs can be absorbed within existing departmental budgets due to savings associated with vacant positions.
11. Consideration of Good Cause Determination for Automatic Removal of Planning Commissioner Due to Absences Pursuant to Sebastopol Municipal Code Section 2.24.030 Responsible Department: Planning/City Attorney
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda item is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
There are no further budgetary impacts.
12. Consideration/Discussion of Request for Direction to Staff for Researching City locations for Soccer Fields.
Requestor: Councilmember Carter/Wesco Soccer
Responsible Department: Public Works/Planning
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda item is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
However, estimated processing costs for each location are listed as follows.
Youth Annex Site: $18,250 minimum deposit
Downtown Site: Planning/Zoning/CEQA: $14,00 minimum deposit + archeological monitoring costs
13. Consideration of Approval of City Council Protocols:
a. Addition of Mandatory Training Added to Policy Number 6:
i. Fiscal and Financial Training (SB 827) – Effective January 1, 2026, all local agency officials must complete at least two hours of fiscal and financial training every two years. Newly appointed or elected officials must complete the training within six months of assuming office. Officials serving prior to January 1, 2026, must complete it by January 1, 2028 (unless their term ends earlier).
b. Policies:
a) Policy Number 11: Use of Travel Funds for City Council – City Council Conferences/Training (This incorporates approved City Council Resolution) b) Policy Number 12: Ethics and Professional/Personal Conduct (Incorporates approved City Council Resolution)
c) Policy Number 13: Process of City Council Meetings
d) Policy Number 14: Conflicts of Interest and Ex Parte Communications e) Policy Number 15: Best Practices for Councilmembers
Requestor: Ad Hoc Committee
Responsible Department: Interim City Manager/City Attorney Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda item is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Additional fiscal impact: There is no additional budgeted impacts as review of the policies by the City Attorney are contained within the approved budget.
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:
14. 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)
15. 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)
16. Council Communications Received (Information/Meetings/Correspondence Received from the General Public to Councilmembers)
CLOSED SESSION: NONE
ADJOURNMENT OF CITY COUNCIL MEETING
April 7, 2026 City Council Regular Meeting will be adjourned to the Special City Council Goals and Priorities Setting Meeting of Tuesday, April 14, 2026 at 6:00 PM.
April 14th 2026 Special City Council Meeting will be adjourned to the next Regular City Council Meeting of Tuesday, April 21, 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.
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