City Council
Mayor Jill McLewis
Vice Mayor Sandra Maurer
Councilmember Phill Carter
Councilmember Neysa Hinton
Councilmember Stephen Zollman
City Manager
Mary Gourley
[email protected]
CITY COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA
Regular Meeting of Tuesday, July 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 City Council is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: City Council Meeting - July 7, 2026
Time: Jul 7, 2026 06:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 870 9769 0257
Passcode: 651067
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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
REMOTE PARTICIPATION
SALUTE TO THE FLAG
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:
• Proclamation- Parks Make Life Better Month
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 Minutes for Regular Meeting of June 16, 2026 Responsible Department: City Manager
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the minutes is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Additional Fiscal Impact: None
2. Approval of City Council Meeting Minutes for Special City Council Meeting – Closed Session - Meeting of June 29, 2026
Responsible Department: City Manager
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the minutes is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Additional Fiscal Impact: None
3. Approve Task Order (TO) Number 6 with Moe Engineering to Provide Engineering Services for the FY26- 27 Fiscal Year.
Responsible Department: Public Works
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda item is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Additional Fiscal Impact: There is no additional fiscal impact with this item as it is approved in FY27 budget as a not to exceed contract in the amount of $50,000.
4. Approval of Job Description(s): City Clerk
Responsible Department: Human Resources Consultant Deborah Muchmore/Administrative Services Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda item is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Additional Fiscal Impact: There is no additional fiscal impact with this item as salary is currently budgeted within the City budget.
5. Approval Authorizing Mayor to Sign Letter of Support and Use of City Logo. California Intergovernmental Risk Authority (CIRA) of which Sebastopol is an agency member, has joined California Association of Joint Powers Authorities (CAJPA) in supporting a statewide coalition advocating for meaningful tort reform and addressing the growing cost of public entity liability claims.
Responsible Department: City Representative to CIRA (Councilmember Zollman)/City Manager Gourley Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda item is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Additional Fiscal Impact: There is no additional fiscal impact with approval of this item.
6. Approval of Consultant Services with 4Leaf for Planning Services for Specific Scope of Work. This item would be to continue coverage of Planning Services until such time that the Request for Proposals Process has been completed. Estimated length of contract: Six months or until completion of RFP Process.
Responsible Department: City Manager/Human Resources/Personnel Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda report is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Additional Fiscal Impact: None; Contract funding would be covered by salary savings of vacant position(s) and the monthly not to exceed is the same as the current contract for 4Leaf ($18,964). There has been no increase for extension of the current contract. Any planning consultant work done for Deposit Account Applications are separate from this contract and reimbursed from Deposit Accounts and not from the general 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. Third Quarterly update from Building the Commons Committee Requestor: Building the Commons Committee
Responsible Department: Public Works
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda item is covered within existing budgeted salaries Additional Fiscal Impact: There is no additional fiscal impact with receipt of this item.
PUBLIC HEARING9S)
8. Public Hearing – Capital Improvement Budget: This item was continued from the June 16, 2026 City Council Meeting for remainder of CIP Discussion.
Responsible Department: Public Works/Administrative Services Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda item is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Additional Fiscal Impact: The proposed expenditures for the FY 2026-27 Capital Improvement Projects totals $10,116,087. $3,860,457 of that total is unfunded/unsecured grant. The balance of $6,255.630 is funded with grant or local funds. The proposed CIP includes a combination of secured funding sources and future grantdependent projects identified as “Unsecured Grant” funding. Major funding sources include Sewer Capital Funds, Water Capital Funds, Measure M funds, SB1 Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation funds, Go Sonoma grant funds, Development Impact Fees, Gas Tax funds, Flood Mitigation Fund, Building/Facility Infrastructure Reserve funds, and Measure U. The Measure U funding includes $510,000 allocated toward road repair in the FY 2025–26 budget, as well as $612,800, or 40% of the FY 2026–27 Measure U revenue, which will also be allocated toward road repair. These funds will advance the FY26 Citywide Pavement Improvement Project (0521-25.05) and the FY27 Citywide Pavement Improvement Project (0522-26.01).
REGULAR CALENDAR AGENDA ITEMS (DISCUSSION AND/OR ACTION):
9. Discussion and Consideration of Approval of Waiving of First Reading and Introduction of OrdinanceCity Council Compensation Responsible Department: City Attorney/City Manager
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda item is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Additional Fiscal Impact: The increase would raise annual compensation costs from approximately $18,000.00 to $57,000.00 (+$39,000.00 per year). The new rate will not take effect until January 2027. $18,000 has been allocated in the FY 26 27 budget (January – June 2027).
10. Discussion and Consideration of Suspension of Tiered Water Rates and FY26/27 Water Rate Increase Effective July 1, 2026 until such time that a new Water Rate Study can be completed.
Responsible Department: Administrative Services Department/City Attorney Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda report is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Additional Fiscal Impact: Suspending the July 1, 2026 rate increase will cause a projected revenue loss to the Water Enterprise Fund of $95,800 for this Fiscal Year. Assuming FY25/26 rates, suspending tied water rates effective July 1, 2026 will cause a projected revenue loss to the Water Enterprise Fund of $445,000 for this Fiscal Year. The actual amount of lost revenue may be significantly less if a new rate study is adopted before the end of the fiscal year. The loss of revenue will be built into the FY 26 27 Budget if approved tonight.
11. Consideration of Request for Direction to Staff to Prepare Zoning Code/Map Amendments and/or Return with Options to Allow Commercial Outdoor Barbecue (BBQ) Operations with Permits in Certain Zoning Districts or on Specific Parcels. City Council is asked to provide direction to staff to return to a future City Council meeting with proposed Zoning Code/Map amendments and/or an item evaluating potential Zoning Code/Map amendments (and other options as appropriate) that would allow commercial outdoor barbecue (BBQ) uses within specified zoning districts, subject to approval of a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) or similar discretionary entitlements.
Requestors: Councilmember Hinton and Councilmember Carter Responsible Department: Planning/City Attorney
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda report is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Additional Fiscal Impact: Implementation of Council direction is estimated to require approximately 25 to 30 hours of staff time, including approximately 22 hours of Community Development staff time and 3 to 4 hours of City Attorney time. The actual time required will depend on the type of application directed by the City Council and the level of California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review required. Following Council direction and further project definition, additional environmental review under CEQA may be necessary. If consultant services are required to prepare the environmental analysis, those costs would be incurred in addition to staff time. This estimate does not include direct project expenses, such as public noticing, mailing costs, newspaper publication fees, or other application-related costs.
12. Discussion of approval of Budget Amendment for Initial Invoices for Testing/Mold Removal/etc. and Discussion of Proposed Costs/Timeline for Library Remediation Responsible Department: Public Works
Fiscal Impact: Phase I emergency response costs totaled $47,687.55, with Sonoma County Library reimbursing 50% of those costs.
Additional Fiscal Impact: Approval of this item authorizes up to $175,000 for Phase II-A remediation and investigative demolition. City staff will return to a future Council meeting with a full agenda item detailing the costs for complete remediation, reconstruction, and repair once the investigative phase is complete and more accurate estimates are available. Approval will keep the remediation moving while deferring the bigger reconstruction/repair decisions until there's better information.
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:
13. 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)
14. 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)
15. Council Communications Received (Information/Meetings/Correspondence Received from the General Public to Councilmembers)
CLOSED SESSION: NONE
ADJOURNMENT OF CITY COUNCIL MEETING
July 7, 2026 City Council Regular Meeting will be adjourned to the next Regular City Council Meeting of Tuesday, July 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