 I'd like yet to ask the interpreter currently on the Spanish channel to commence translation of this meeting For those just joining the meeting live translation in Spanish is available and members of the public or staff wishing to listen in Spanish Can join the Spanish channel by clicking on the interpretation icon in the zoom toolbar? It looks like a globe once you join the Spanish channel. We recommend you shut off the main audio So you only hear the Spanish translation Charles, can you please restate this in Spanish? For those just joining the meeting live interpretation in Spanish is available and members of the public or staff wishing to listen in Spanish Can join the Spanish channel by clicking on the interpretation icon in the zoom toolbar? It looks like a globe once you join the Spanish channel. We recommend you shut off the main audio So you only hear the Spanish translation Good afternoon and welcome to our February 14th meeting Let's go ahead and call the the roll, please Councilmember Schwedhelm here councilmember Sawyer here councilmember rogers Councilmember Fleming here vice mayor alvarez President mayor rogers here let the record show that all council members are present great We begin our day with our study session. That's item 3.1 Madam city manager Good afternoon mayor rogers and members of council Today's study session is the ambulance service delivery option and it will be presented by scott westrop our police fire chief. Thank you Thank you city manager smith. Good afternoon mayor rogers members of the council Scott westrop fire chief of the city of santa rosa Next slide please So as an overview and as a review of where we're at to date If you recall on november 30th 2021 the fire department presented a study session examining the current state of the rfp process being managed by snowman county Related to the exclusive operating area or eo a ambulance service franchise The at the time we did an assessment of the anticipated options for ambulance service specifically a comparison of a private nd franchise versus a public entity franchise If you recall this very anecdotal in nature and we reviewed three main topics as we looked through that It was the service delivery of the system system control and the business model Next slide please As a result of the the first study session the fire department received direction to examine a couple things Number one was the feasibility of withdrawing from eo a1 Which will explain more in detail in a moment and establishing an eo a exclusive to the santa rosa city limits We also were asked to explore contracting and ambulance service for that newly developed eo a This study session will examine the following information as it pertains to that direction Number one, we're going to look at the legal risk benefit analysis of such an enterprise And also look at some of the available datasets we now have related to the current ems system As it stands today looking at performance and compliance Next slide please So as we get into the legal framework and in what the city attorney's office reviewed I'll present and obviously we have The city attorney on and also assistant city attorney genica hepler on as well I'd like to thank Miss hepler for all of our help and and really diving in and doing a fantastic job in looking at this legal analysis So essentially we posed five questions to the city attorney's office to look at number one Is can a charter city withdraw itself from a county exclusive operating area or eo a Number two, can a new eo a be created to serve within the city limits or contiguous to the city limits Number three, what would be the process for creating a new eo a and contacting contracting directly for ambulance service within the city limits? number four would be What would be essentially the scope of work and the timeline for such an enterprise And number five would be one of the legal hurdles that the city would have to overcome in order to take on such an enterprise Next slide, please So the next few slides are really going to explain The answers to all those questions in some detail You know, we really felt it was important to explain the why of of how the city attorney's office reached these conclusions and some of that starts with a little bit of background so Really, this is all around the ems act and the ems act was was established in 1980 So keep in mind that we're looking at 42 year old legislation at this point But the ems act of 1980 established a statewide policy for the provision of emergency medical services in california And really the the the act looked at doing a couple things. It was to achieve integration and coordination amongst both governmental and ems providers and and outside entities To really make sure that the ems delivery system was consistent throughout the state and the realm of pre hospital emergency medical services And really what it did is created a hierarchy of regulations starting at the state With the stoke with the state level emergency medical services agency And then the state Basically putting the the onus down onto the counties So the the hierarchy was down to the county level for control of the system So it wasn't the wild wild west anymore as we saw in the 70s and early 80s where There was ambulances in and departments fighting over calls for service It really tried to create that consistent and and fair and equitable approach next slide, please So to follow on to that The ems act grants counties the authority to designate a local ems agency that would administer emergency medical services countywide The local ems agency may be a county health department a county agency a contracted entity or joint powers of authority Each local ems agency may create one or more exclusive operating areas or eo a next slide, please So just as a bit of background for everyone in Sonoma county coastal valleys emergency medical services agency or cv ems a Which lies underneath the Sonoma county of department health is our local emergency medical services agency or lemsa There is a single exclusive operating area which is referred to as eo a one which the city of santa rosa resides within And just as a point of reference eo a one was developed in 1991 Currently and as we talked about on november 30th an rfp has been issued for ambulance services within eo a one It is not a countywide eo a is only within the the boundaries of eo a one Next slide, please And a little bit more of you you've seen this slide before this map before but this looks at eo a one in its entirety So the yellow line Essentially draws out eo a one. You'll see the darker gray blue portion in the middle of eo a one is santa rosa Which constitutes about 75 percent or so of the business of the eo a we're obviously the busiest part of the system We have the most calls for service within the system and so Really that the core area is is where we're focused on But eo a one and this is important to remember later on in the conversation Also includes areas such as runner park kenwood sabastapool again incorporated areas with santa rosa And now it is part of this new rfp. It also includes the area previously covered by vera health, which is now Um as part of the oa one, which is technically the occidental area Next slide, please So going back to talking about the ems act or health and safety code section 17 97 And talk a little bit about what we refer to as 201 rights So it's a subsection of health and code health and safety code section 17 97 And essentially the 201 rights refer to being grandfathered having a grandfather status to cities They were providing ems services on june 1st 1980 and have continued to do so without interruption since then So commonly referred to as what you'll hear us say is 201 rights It's important to note a couple things Santa rosa's entitlement to section 201 rights is subject to proof and would likely be challenged Reason being that santa rosa specifically has not provided paramedic or advanced life support services since 1980 We actually just started providing paramedic level of service in 2002 So that's where we lose the grandfathering the city of santa rosa loses its obvious grandfathering rights In regards to this section next slide, please So beyond section 201 rights the health and safety code is silent as to the city's rights to withdraw from an existing EOA Or to create its own EOA There have been several prior court decisions that have indicated that city's rights are limited to the grandfathering provisions of section 201 Most importantly, the california supreme court has upheld these decisions with the valley medical transport decision in 1998 And the san Bernadino decision in 1997 Currently the california of court of appeals Just recently upheld this decision as well with the city of oxnard versus the county of ventura, which we'll talk more about on the next slide Next slide, please However, there may be avenues that are open to the city santa rosa is a charter city However, seminal cases cases did not distinguish between general law or charter city status The question for the courts and really the the ultimate issue here is That will whether is whether a charter city has greater authority or autonomy Under the emsx status given the police fire and emergency services have historically been deemed matters of municipal affairs Currently referring back to the uh the oxnard case the city of oxnard versus the county of ventura It's been appealed for it's gone through the court of appeals and is now being Requested to be heard at the california supreme court again. Um, but the supreme court has not acted on that decision Next slide, please So sort of jumping over to what the scope of work in the timeline would be If we so choose to go down this path This is all dictated primarily in snowman county code 28-8 response zones Um, essentially what would start the process is the city council would request a change to ambulance service Provider to the local emergency medical services agency or lemsa That matter would be heard at one of their regularly scheduled meetings The lemsa would consult with lafko or the local agency formation commission To see if any matters fell within lafko jurisdiction The lemsa would take into account the medical appropriateness of the request and the operational impact on the coordinated system So not just santa rosa, but the entirety of the e oa impacted The lemsa may recommend changes They might deny the change where they can conduct a competitive bid process Next slide, please Based on the lemsa's decision if the city disagrees with the decision It can request a hearing under section 28-21 of the county code, which has to be done within 15 days um, the hearing officer would render when would render a final administrative decision within five days And the final administrative decision would be subject to just judicial review under a writ of mandate The writ of mandate would take several weeks to prepare and the judicial hearing would occur somewhere around at 180 day mark So really what we're looking at here is a six a six day a month process even to get to a judicial judicial hearing It's important to note that the judicial decision would strongly consider the impact of surrounding communities And their ability to contract for high quality ems services If you go back to it, if you recall back to the map in e oa one We have to look at not just santa rosa, but the smaller jurisdictions including rona parks, sabastopol, kenwood and the unincorporated areas And occidental and how that would impact them and what that leads back to is does does the ems service delivery And the impact thereof of creating a new e oa Become a state level issue and does it it doesn't meet the essence of the ems act Next slide, please So to summarize the legal analysis Essentially, the city could consider requesting a creation of a second e oa The time and cost of this endeavor is unknown Both would likely be extremely high There would be significant court proceedings It's it's more than likely it's for sure based on what we've seen out of apple valley out of san bernardino and out of oxard And the process is likely beyond likely to extend beyond the award of ambulance contract under the current rfp And these bullet points are just a reminder Under the current rfp proposals are due march 1st of 2022 so two weeks from now Which is when we would have to make a decision by and and be in the process The proposal review and selection process takes place on march 16th and the notice of award goes out April 5th So taking into account the six to eight month timeline of this process in the very lofty Legal process we would have to go through Does not match up with the the current timelines that we have on the process right now Next slide, please So the second part of this presentation is looking at the data requests that we've made in a data analysis of the ems system And so we made several requests. We made requests for data from amr from red com Which is uh our dispatch center as a jpa dispatch center that uh center is as a part of and coastal valleys emsa And really what we we focused on was eo a contract compliance And as we move forward, there's a couple things I want to call out or quick number one is we're looking at trends We're looking at a three to five year analysis of the data that we received And really we're looking at the the trend data as we go through these next couple slides Another point I want to call out is that 2020 for all of us was a was a very very much an anomaly In the emergency medical services realm or in the fire service realm This is the first time in history. We actually saw a decline in calls This was related to co that obviously As we saw across the board better to impact on our business just like any other business And really what that relates to is the you know uptick in use of telemedicine It was people not going out. It was people not wanting to be in the hospitals early was the call from Public health departments not to be out not go to hospitals and not impact the hospital system. So We did see a general decline across the state and calls for service in 2020 So it is a bit of an anomaly and I wanted to call that out And lastly before we move on is these are pure numbers. These are pulled from reports submitted from Amar to the county None of these numbers have been skewed in any way but as with any data sets They are nuanced In this world, there's a lot of different Regulations and rules as far as how the data is managed and how response times are managed So so there's going to be nuances everywhere We really tried to take a raw approach to it Look at aggregate data and put together the best analysis we could with what we have Based on where we've been since november 30th of last year Next slide, please So the first slide we're going to look at is instances of level zero and what level zero is means There's no ambulances available in the EMS system in the core area And so as we look at this bar graph through the last six or seven years of of data The green bar looks at true level zero. That's the number of times there was zero ambulances available within the EOA And this could have been for 30 seconds or it could have been for minutes So that's the raw numbers that we're looking at The blue middle line, which is a little bit smaller looks at the times that level zero was at five minutes or more So that's you know, that's the differentiation between the two You know the green bar is much bigger because it could have been for a short amount of time The blue bars when we've been there for five minutes or greater And the yellow line looks at the level zero where a penalty occurred and what that means is Penalty events are are occurred after mutual aid exemptions are applied So the times that AMR would be going out of the system are removed from the process and the yellow bar Is essentially looking at Times that they were at level zero where they reached the penalty level And what we're really looking at here going back to the trends is an increase in the trend across the board across all subsets of the category And it's attributed to a lot of different things and You know call volume staffing all these different issues But we're just we're sort of looking at the trends in a general sense and seeing if there is an upward trend in the level zero instances in the EOA Next slide, please So this side looks at this slide looks at mutual aid by AMR going out of the EOA So essentially AMR leaving the exclusive operating operating area to provide service to other parts of the community The multiple colors aren't necessarily important But we're really looking at it's in the top line And what we see is that is a downward trend of AMR going out of the EOA Roughly 1200 times in 2019 down to around 900 times in in 2021 This is excluding a couple months particularly december of 2021 But it just shows a trend where we're seeing a decrease in the number of times AMR is going out of the system And that could be because the other the other parts of the system are stronger Or it could mean lack of availability. It's really hard for us to determine based on the raw numbers Next slide, please So mutual aid into the EOA. So this is looking at other ambulances or other service providers coming into the EOA to run for calls Again, the colors aren't terribly important This is just looking at the trends across the top line where we see an increase from Roughly 900 times a year to 1500 times a year where ambulances are coming into the system This is one slide that is very nuanced in that when we looked at the raw data and looked at, you know, a very broad look at the data It includes ALS inter-facility transfers So essentially this looks at the times that paramedic ambulances are requested to move patients from either hospital to hospital or hospital to another care facility We included that data Which may actually change the data a little bit if we looked at just 911 calls within The inclusivity of the EOA it may change a little bit I just wanted to bring that nuance to light So it may not be as drastic as it really looks But again, we're just looking at that that trend data and And really really trying to take a broad look at how many times the Other agencies are coming into the EOA Next slide, please So this slide appears to be a little bit complex However, we'll try to break it down here. This is looking at response times And the analysis of response times throughout the entirety of the EOA So what we did is we aggregated all the data If you look at response time data in the compliance report it's broken up into a lot of different areas Different subsets of different areas rural semi rural And so there's a lot of data there and then code to code to calls Which is emergency lights and sirens calls versus code to calls, which is non-emergent calls Are broken out. So we tried to aggregate everything to make this as simple as possible The green line looks at raw data and it just looks at the raw response time data And that's impacted by a lot of things and I'll talk a little bit more about that But I really wanted counsel to be able to focus on and the community to focus on is the blue line and that's That's the adjusted data sets. So that's where particular calls are taken out where there was Circumstances beyond the system's control That reduced the amount of times that the ambulances were able to be within the response time standards So if we look at the blue line and we're looking across the top at the aggregate numbers We see that am or was it within the response time standards of 90 percent across the board There was a small dip there But for the most part we see that they're across the board and they're currently in within compliance response times within their contract However, we do see a decreasing trend overall Of early january of 2019 to current we see a general decline In response times, however, they still are compliant And real quickly to talk about the adjusted Standard and the exemptions applied. So Essentially adjusted means that exemptions were applied for and were approved And so there's a couple reasons for exemptions There's a lot of reasons for exemptions, but essentially as am or submits their data They apply for exemptions on certain calls Some examples may be Mutual aid out of the EOA. So the times that they're leaving the EOA to go to other calls. That's a that's a Approved exemption Interfacility transfers, which we talked about before again, those are exemptions that are granted, but they are counted in this response time data Upgraded or downgraded response. So times where an ambulance was dispatched code 3 and reduced to code 2 or vice versa Those are exemptions Long ambulance wait wall times You you might hear refer to refer to as apoc times Essentially, this is the amount of times where an ambulance shows up at a receiving hospital And there's no beds available may have to leave the patient on their gurney And and they're unable to respond to other calls for service Because of the long wall times which we're seeing across the state is a is a major problem As we face the coded pandemic It could be a second ambulance was requested to the scene The second ambulance is going to have the same dispatch time as the first ambulance And so that's going to extend their time. So that's an exemption exemption that is granted And even you know, we could you know, the fire department can be responsible for some of these where we request an ambulance To their scene of a structure fire 20 minutes into the incident Their dispatch time goes back to our first unit's dispatch time. So it looks like a very long response time One thing I wanted to point out is the significant and acute drop-off that we see in july of 2021 And there's actually a good reason for this AMR has tried to adjust to the apoc times or the wall times by adding a BLS ambulance or a basic life support ambulance to the system What this requires is for an advanced life support ambulance to arrive on scene first Complete an assessment with our ALS engine or truck company and determine a BLS ambulance Transport is is requisite and so the BLS ambulances requested to the scene But the way the system Set up currently and I know everybody's working on changing this is that that ambulance has the the response time of the first dispatch ambulance so Again, it's very complicated and very nuanced But I wanted to call out that significant drop-off is actually because there was an adjustment to the system that the system hasn't caught quite up yet with Next slide, please So this slide's looking at response times overall and really it's looking at the times that Ambulances were late to arriving on scenes around time really to arriving on scene. So looking at the green bar and a majority of majority of the bar graphs is The green bar is the number of times per total that the ambulance has arrived on time to calls for the response time standards The blue line is the sum of late calls with exemptions, which we talked about before So they were late, but there was exemptions granted and the yellow line looks at Times that ambulances relate to calls without exemptions And really what i'm looking at here is the is the trend overall in seeing You know more late calls more late calls with and without exemptions and it's while it's very it's very minor It is a trend that we we noticed and we want to explore more Next slide, please So going back to november 30th I think what november 30th really did for us is opened up a lot of avenues for data sharing and data requests That we have previously not been able to obtain And really appreciate our partners for for opening their their books and sharing with us As you might expect it is a a lot of data It's very complicated. It's very nuanced But we're really appreciative of the council taking the position and putting us in a position where we could I'm sure this data more readily What we're seeing out of the data that we've seen so far is AMR is meeting the terms of their contract. There's there's no denying that We are seeing though on the other side of that is You know really the anecdotal analysis that we brought forward where we were talking about how crews feel like they're waiting for a long time on Scenes for ambulances. There's a lot of Switching off and a lot of different ambulances in the system. That's verified by what we've seen in that There's a lot of reasons for that But we are seeing That historic service delivery not sharply declined but come down a little bit And so it's something we want to be apprised of and work with our partners on moving forward Sort of our next step In the process that we're going to continue to look at this data on an ongoing basis Continue to analyze and work with our partners on this But we have to do that and we have to do that together A couple of the areas we really want to draw out We really need to learn more about As response times as it related to exemptions So we need to learn more about that process and what it looks like And making sure that that we're part of the process and being above board And we also need to look more in-depth at the EOA contract compliance reports They're very complicated and complex And we just want to understand them better and work with our partners to understand those reports better We do need some additional data For instance, one of the areas that we really are drawing on and you really need to look at is daily EOA system staffing It's very complex To to draw that data out apparently so we want to continue work with our partners to to draw that data out And really the conclusions of this is this opened as I said a lot of doors and a lot avenues for us to to be better partners and to Look at data together and work as it is an entire system on data reports So really it did create a lot of opportunities. We haven't seen before and to work on the system as a whole The transparent monitoring of EOA compliance and guiding Santa Rosa fire in the city of Santa Rosa On the creation of a new frowls contract Research response a ls contract Or really any program that we developed in the emergency medical service delivery realm is going to be important And then we're just going to continue with those data sharing opportunities. So So this really did crack the door for us and we look forward to working with our partners in the future on this Next slide, please So in closing taken into totality everything that we've talked about so far today or that I've talked about so far today The options for moving forward is Based on where we're out with the timeline based on where we're at with the legal challenges We would face there's a there's a couple options that We think are most prevalent for the council to consider number one is we would use this time as an opportunity To negotiate a new first response a ls contracts with whoever the new EOA one ambulance provider is as chosen by the county rfp And this this new contract would focus on service delivery first so Previously, you know my sense is that our contract was built from the finance perspective down And my take would be and in talking to the city attorney and city manager Our take generally would be that we need to build our new contract from service delivery as bedrock And the business model will follow so focus on service delivery first and worry about the Business model as a service delivery model really transpires So that's the first piece The second piece would be using this time as an opportunity to lobby for And to work on and join the conversation on changes that need to be made to not only local ordinance But to the health and safety code particularly section 1797 To allow cities to have additional rights regarding emergency medical service delivery in their community Essentially go and change that 42 year old legislation To something where cities have more rights and can determine their own future and set their own course for For their community and for their citizens So a lot of work a lot of that work is being done by california fire chiefs A lot of that work is being done by california professional firefighters And and i think it's prevalent the city joins that conversation and uses our stands with our lobbying teams to to go forward and make that legislative change So looking at a five-year plan when the the when the rfp comes up for the eo a1 again in 2027 We now have a legislative stance behind us both locally and at a state level So where we can make a good business decision and a good service delivery decision on ambulance delivery service into the future Next slide please Quickly before getting into questions. I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank Assistant city attorney jessica hepler. I'm sorry jennica hepler. I was worried about screwing up your last name when I screwed up the first name jennica hepler She really dug in and did some amazing work in a short amount of time coming up the legal opinion Again going back. I just wanted to have the city's legal opinion on that To make sure that we are making a decision based on where our city attorney's office stood on this I'd like to thank our ems chief steve suitor and our technique technology application specialist Alondra gutting for all our work on the data side and all of our partners for working with us So just wanted to get those quick. Thank you's out and I will open it up to any questions and and obviously jennica is here as well to answer any questions on the legal side. Thank you All right, thank you so much chief really appreciate the follow-up and all of the work that's been done on this Council, let's see if we have any questions to start councilmember rogers chief Thank you for the presentation. I wanted to know How long did it it seems like we're on a very short timeline and I wanted to know how long exactly did it take to Receive the the data that you requested because I believe you said you were going to request this data back in november So i'm just wondering why We're on such a short timeline Sure. Thank you for that councilmember rogers So we did request the data the study session that we held was on november 30th. We requested the data on november I'm sorry december 1st And it took some time to get the right data and get it in our format that we could Interpret and understand We were receiving data interpreting data up until five o'clock yesterday afternoon So it's it's number one. It's a change in business proceedings for all of us And so making sure that everybody's comfortable with what's being shared that we're Within of our legal all of our legal guidelines So it took a while to get the data, but really it took a long time to interpret the data So as you can imagine, it's it's not a simple excel spreadsheet It's it's reams and reams of data and so it took a long time for us to interpret But it took a little bit of time But our partners did cooperate with us and we did get the data in a timely fashion um and second question is I know we started to look at this really Because of service delivery and us wanting to provide the best service to our residents Is that has the county changed their stance in wanting to work collaboratively? With us regarding What they are doing or are they still of the same mindset that they were back in 2021? I would say there's been a significant change and and really I think the study session in November Helped guide that course it showed that the Santa Rosa note is aware of what's going on and we're going to take a You know a sort of position in in this realm And so again going back to my previous statement it opened a lot of doors And we really had a positive response working with county You know, we're hoping that we can spend the next couple years preparing for the next rp process and changing Changing some of the ordinance and legislation That exists to where we do have a parody and decision making and a parody parody and system design And that's just going back and changing language that exists right now So we've seen a positive response and and we're continuing to look forward to continuing that positive partnership And really making the emissive system the best it can be for all communities But particularly for us the best students of Santa Rosa Any council member any other questions? Let's go ahead go to public comment then If you are interested in providing a public comment on this item hit the raise hand feature on your zoom We'll start with mike Mike once we get the screen up you'll have three minutes We won't get into a back and forth right now, but we will take down Questions and be able to ask them and and provide follow-up from staff Thank you. Mr. Mayor council members. Good afternoon. My name is mike. Stornetta. I'm the vice president for the professional firefighters of sonoma county I'm representing over 230 firefighters from around sonoma county including the city of santa rosa And the sonoma county bedega bay and rancho dobby fire districts That 1401 is looking into this topic at extreme length As the boots on the ground we are here today Confirming that the current private ambulance model in sonoma county is broken It has been proven day after day to be ineffective As pointed out in chief chief west robes presentation 700 times without an ambulance available in a single year and down training response times are absolutely unacceptable and inexcusable We have an opportunity to fix this problem by switching to a public ambulance delivery service As the collective 1401 we enthusiastically support the public ambulance service delivery system That's what's best for our communities. Thank you Thank you, mike We'll go to Keith followed by tina Hello, mr. Mayor and city council members. My name is keep jeffus, and I am the deputy director of the santa rosa professional firefighters local 1401 The women and the men of santa rosa fire department have taken an oath to protect the citizens and visitors of the city Every single one of us take that oath very seriously. Whether that be from the scourge of fire floods earthquakes or even corporate grief This issue as chief westrop said is obviously very nuanced But when it comes to how best to protect our citizens your constituents in regards to an ambulance delivery system That is without question through a public model where the emphasis is on service over profit Our citizens deserve the highest level of service available Not the minimum level required to fulfill a contract in order to maximize profits The system as it stands is deeply flawed and changes need to be made A component of this story, which is equally as frustrating is that As the level of service being provided is that the county has refused to give us to see santa rosa see the table They seem to have changed their tune recently But we seriously doubt that that could potentially have a favorable outcome for us in the future We're informed of who our ambulance provider will be and the level of service which they must provide If there are any delays in that service Fines are incurred. However These fines go to the county even though as stated over three quarters of the calls are generated in the sea limits By going to a public service model not only will we have more control It can open up additional revenue streams, which by law would be required to be reinvested into that system Resulting an even better services to our citizens We know what happens if we do nothing we maintain the status quo Well, most people notice on a daily basis Probably not But this isn't a garbage contract where everyone realizes if the truck doesn't empty their can But when someone is in their deep darkest hour when her loved one is having a medical emergency They will know the difference between an ambulance that arrives in four minutes and an ambulance that arrives in seven minutes This is not a fight that will be easily won But we want to know we want you to know that we are not alone Municipalities up and down the state are starting to push back Many are eager to jump on board We need to be a part of that push for what is right Whether that is by taking action now or working with our partners to change legislations for the sake of our citizens We want you to know that the women and the men of local 141 are here to serve Protect and help in this endeavor in any way we can. Thank you for your time Thank you so much keith. We'll go to tina Good afternoon. My name is tina revera. I'm the interim director for the sonoma county department of health services I'm here representing Sonoma county. I just want to thank you for this time to make public comment I want to call out and thank and appreciate scott westrop's Comments and feedback with respect to the collaboration that we have been enjoying here of late I do also want to say that We are committed to a renewed focus on stakeholder communication and input And it is our hope it is our goal It is our commitment to work extensively with santa rosa in any future stakeholder meetings And also I just also wanted to say that we have an opportunity together With all of our organizations to work more collaboratively The county is committed to collaboratively working with all of our agencies In order to provide quality services to our community. Thank you so much Thank you tina Last hand that I have do we have any pre-recorded voicemails on this item? We do not mayor. Okay. I'll bring it back to the council Chief first just a quick question about some of the data Do we have any way to coordinate between the response times particularly The level zero that you're talking about and the staffing level And whether or not the the fluctuation is caused by not having enough ambulances versus how many are the example that you gave Folks waiting for a bed for example Not currently mayor to be honest with you That's something where we need to get into Working with our partners to figure out exactly what the staffing levels are And once we have that information we can start to draw those parallels and determine Exactly what the cause of that is and so right now it's it's very open-ended. It's very Nuanced in its approach. It could be you know a plethora of things And so one of the issues that I think we all face is that Even talking to our partners at amr. It's it's the response time data collection system There's so many rules so many regulations so many nuances. It's very hard to extrapolate Good data out of it. So it's simplifying the system In a regard to to be able to draw those conclusions as a place that I believe we need to get to Okay, and does it have built into the rfp Language that you would need to be able to get access to that data It's not built into the rfp But that would be my direction as we move into contract negotiations for a frail's contract is Like I said, it's the service delivery up and part of that is data sharing set And so that would be a stipulation of our not to give laning negotiations But it would be something I would want to go after Is making sure that we have that provision within our contract we control Or we have controls over to make sure that we have a Affair and equitable system in as far as sharing data goes particularly around staffing concerns Great. Thank you chief council member rogers I sorry another question. Um, I would like to know and I'm very curious. Does the response time Times that The the data that you currently have do you see a change depending on the side of town With the raw data not with If one of our crews showed up right not necessarily essentially what What amar uses and what's used pretty much throughout the the industry As far as angles goes called system status management. So that's moving ambulances around Throughout the system. So that's why you don't see ambulance stations necessarily they move to different posts throughout the community and so They they rely on Santa Rosa for that because our engines count as an al s resource and so So it's very it's very there's good parity there across the community versus east west nor south is that There's an alis resources getting there quicker As far as a transport unit getting there It's it's relatively paired as well in the sense that the ambulances are equally distributed based on how many ambulances they have So so it really doesn't depend Really where the geography or demographics is it just has to depend with where the call volume is and where their system adjusts to Putting ambulances. So so there is a lot of parity there and and there's not a big disparity in that Thank you All right chief if you could could you please frame for us one more time what type of direction from council would be helpful? Sure, so the direction that would be helpful that that I would recommend is we start looking at a a five-year plan so this rfp is Do here in two weeks and so the rfp is good for five years. There is a possibility to be extended but I say we put our stake on the ground on five years And we do two things number one We will work with the city attorney's office to start building what we see to be a strong first response ALS contract Built from service delivery up to a business model. So that's the first part the second part would be the city to take the position of Looking at a five-year plan on deciding what we're going to do in the rfp process come 2027 and in that five years We invest resources into changing local ordinance So we have parity in and decision-making processes moving forward and that's codified in ordinance As well as start working at the state level In joining other partners that are already involved in the conversation Unchilling on changing particularly the EMS act or health and safety codes 17 97 In the in the provisions that then they're giving the city additional power and authority to make their own decisions Based on what we've seen as a problem throughout the state for with a with a very very old piece of legislation so So really it's those two pieces is the contract and then it's the law being to start making changes and planning for um for the 2027 rfp contract for ambulance service And how we can adapt to that and certain provide even a better service to the community at that time All right. Thanks chief. I'll look for direction from council who wants to start I see you all avoiding eye contact. We'll start with councilmember soyer thank you mayor or what i'm looking for from our ambulance provider Is the speediest most efficient? um responsive to the community um the safest Everything we are what any everything that anyone would want in an ambulance service is what i'm looking for for santa rosa And I want to be in control of the contract I want to be able to Negotiate with the provider I want to be able to be if they're if the provider is not doing what we expect of them. I want to be able to have direct contact transparency communication Again everything that it takes To be a good service provider an excellent service provider to the citizens of santa rosa Is what i'm looking for however we can achieve that Is the path that I want to take and the um taking the chiefs recommendation And changing legislation that is keeping us from being able to move forward in that direction It's it will be a heavy lift But I think it's time that we tackle that And um and be able to and it'll take it'll take five years um So taking taking advantage of this time to change the paradigm To create a service that the the citizens of santa rosa and our fire department and our public public safety officials can all be proud of And one that we could be proud of as well as as elected officials Thank you council member council member sweatel Thank you, mr. Um, thank you for the presentation chief and uh, I'm supportive of the five-year plan that the chief outlined one additional thing especially if It um, I'm encouraged to hear the uh continued or increased collaboration with the county And I know I mentioned this at our first study session I sure would like to have some santa rosa representation on the process for the selecting Uh, this next process that you just described, but um, I'm very Satisfied with we're asking the right questions, and I'm supportive of the chief's five-year plan Okay, council member fleming Thank you, mayor, and thank you chief westrope for your thorough presentation The way that I see it is that ambulance service is a core core and fundamental to who we are as a city and Obtaining and then maintaining control of it is essential because I don't believe that there's anybody who can do the job better than our employees And I want to acknowledge How hard they work to try to get this changed and how hard you've worked with the city manager To try to find in our legal team to try to find a balance That's tenable, um I'm Disappointed is the wrong word to use because that's suggested. I think that more could have been done I wish that we could be enacting a public model today. I get that that's not feasible I support your recommendation and I will support you and your team With to the best of my ability in in lobbying to get the changes made so that You and your team can have full control over The operations of our ambulance service Because that's what we owe to the residents of the city of santa rosa A couple of the things that I'd like to make sure and stress are there. You touched on it is the data I want to make sure that in the rfp that we have full access to Data in a way that's timely and digestible I think that that's what we're going to need to be able to move forward and then The collaboration with the county it was heartening to see tina Rivera on the call today And I want to thank her for making the time to Let us know that this is really important to her and her department And I want to encourage that relationship to grow. So those are my comments Thank you for councilmember councilmember rogers um Thank you again for the presentation To protect and to provide service to our residents I think is so very important Uh, I like councilmember flimmings wish that we could do this tomorrow. Um, but I understand Why we cannot? So I will back down from that one And I do agree with the the five year plan. Um, I just think that it is so Important having been one of those people that have waited for an ambulance to show up Those seconds seem like a very very long time And so I know we look at it We're looking at it in minutes But just the seconds I can assure everyone that's listening seem like a very very long time. So I'm hoping that um within the five years we can come up with a very wonderful plan to provide some Very well needed services to the residents in our community and thank you Everyone that has worked on this project so much for your diligence Um and and seeing you know trying to see this through. Thank you Thank you Thank you mayor chief. Good afternoon uh before Can I get your definition of what Calls without exemptions opposed to calls with exemptions are and I'm sorry if I missed that during your presentation sure, so Um without exemptions just raw data. It's just looking at whether it's how many times they were Um at level zero or how many times they relate to a call It's just the raw raw data set exemptions are applied essentially the The amr the provider would apply for an exemption to the county They would say hey there there was an extenuating circumstance outside of our control that made us late to that call or reach level zero or We had to use mutual aid and so Exemptions can be applied and those exemptions are really There's a lot of reasons for it. It could be like I went through the list where it's Mutual aid going out whether it's inter-facility transfers. It could be severe weather that impacts roadway systems um, it could be the train Or or a train Crossing issue There's a lot of reasons for that but amr has to apply for those exemptions to the county and they can be awarded or not So some exemptions are accepted some or not Very well, and it's some of the data that you're still waiting for I imagine you've already requested and are waiting for is how long our public Emergency responders are waiting for the for the private ones to show up or transport. Is that something information that you're still waiting? It is and and really it's not we're waiting for that data It's having to extrapolate that data. So that's comparing two two datasets from two different systems essentially so it's looking at Our arrival times versus ambulance arrival times and and trying to combine those two datasets So it is something that we're going to be looking at to make sure that You know, again, we're backing up that anecdotal Analysis, right with data sets. That's one of the elements that we will be looking at But that's just going to take us a little bit more time. We you know We put together what we could to be fair and equitable in the last 30 or 60 days. So But that's something as we move forward. We'll be monitoring Very well and to council member Sawyer's point about having information readily available for us to Take a look at I believe that this is why it's so important for us as a city to have More control the ability to give more direction To our public partners opposed to private ones. So with that being said, I definitely am supportive of of the strategy of public site Making public our emergency responders and I do agree with your with your position Of moving forward and it's true as as as councilwoman roger stated I wish we could do it tomorrow But I definitely believe that we're planting the seed so in five years We're not at this starting point here today. So with and I do appreciate the presentation, sir Thanks, sir Thank you chief. I I'm also a big believer in the public service delivery model I like the way that you frame the conversation about creating the system that we would want and Figuring out how to fund it after the fact instead of starting with how much do we have in terms of resources to put into it I agree with let's move forward with the five-year plan if if that's the best that we can do right now and I want to make sure We're pushing you out there in front to help other jurisdictions with this conversation As well because I do understand that it's a lot of advocacy at other levels of government In the short term I'd like us to continue to weigh in on the proposals that we do see come back From the county's rfp It would be more than happy to work with you to send a support letter for whichever proposal Our team feels is in the best interest of the city of santa rosa to provide that better service delivery And I understand that there's likely going to be a public option from Proposals that have been put in And then long term Let's talk about how we can continue to advocate to the county On behalf of santa rosa to get this best system that we can whether it's in the negotiations or as we move towards That potential five-year plan implementation date Very good. I appreciate that Any other comments from council? All right, thanks chief With that we're going to go ahead and recess. It's about 3 30. We come back at four o'clock for our regular council meeting So join us at that point Good afternoon and welcome back to our council meeting. Madam city clerk. Can you please call the roll? Thank you mayor Councilmember schwedhelm here councilmember soyer here councilmember rogers present Councilmember fleming here Council vice mayor alvarez present mayor rogers here that the record showed that all councilmembers are present All right, we have no report out for study or closed sessions. We have no proclamations or presentations So we'll start with our staff briefings Good evening mayor rogers and members of council So covet 19 report so today marks the final day that masking will be required indoors in most situations for people who are vaccinated Are fully fully boosted against covet 19 Starting tomorrow, february the 16th Sonoma county along with 11 other bay area counties and municipalities Will lift the mask mandate for vaccinated people in many indoor settings Following the california department of health's decision to let expire the statewide indoor mask requirement That was instituted on december the 15th Unvaccinated individuals over the age of two will continue to be required to wear mask in all indoor public settings businesses venue operators and hosts May determine their own path forward to protect staff and patrons and they may choose to require all patrons to wear mask Indoor masking will be will still be required for everyone regardless of vaccination status in the following instances public transportation health care settings congregant settings like correctional facilities and homeless shelters Long-term care facilities and in k through 12 schools and child care settings The winter surge is in set isn't a steady decline and according to the county health officials And after reaching a high on january the 10th of On january the 10th of 248.7 cases per day per a thousand residents Sonoma county's case rate has declined to 77 cases as of monday february the 14th More information about local response to covet 19 is available online at socoemergency.org I will now turn it over to item 7.2 community empowerment plan update to deputy director tell us Good afternoon, mayor rogers vice mayor alvarez Thank you so much. This is my gali teyes with the community empowerment plan Update so some really quick updates that we have for you all the mary lou the stare system has been installed the tires and rims have been Mounted and fitted to the car The city of santa rosa car club plaque will be mocked and prepped for installation For those of you that are new to the world of lowriding culture The car plaques are usually only awarded once a car club deans a car Worthy of the plaque and membership within the club So our team is very grateful to be included in this ceremony and process And we're currently taking Reservations from city staff to table at the mary lou reveal event. We're hoping to be able to have The city and our departments really come out and talk about all the wonderful services that the city of santa rosa offers So with the multicultural roots project This month we've focused on celebrating And highlighting black history month by sharing stories from influential community members within our city The office of community engagement. We'd like to thank the following community members for their time and great contributions to the city and county That's chantel reese lores bailey larry younger kirsten lange And next month For the month of march the multiculturalist project will focus on sharing the stories of impactful women in our community for women's history month and we'd like to thank For their time grace chong charlie tulito venice espinoza rima marcarian lory fong In terms of redistricting just a friendly reminder this thursday Please join the city of santa rosa staff and learn how to redraw the city's seven districts in person Staff will give a short tutorial about the mapping process And participants can bring a laptop or mobile device to draft the map pen and paper Max will also be provided materials and presentation will be available in english and spanish So once again, that's going to be at the spindly auditorium For more information, please visit s r city dot org Forward slash redistricting and that is the end of my presentation. Thank you Thank you so much deputy director. Let's see if there are any questions from the council on either of our staff reports for today Seeing them. Let's see if there's any public comment on item 7.1 or 7.2 Go ahead dwayne. Hello item 7.2 My name is dwayne d whit. I'm from roseland and Just a few moments ago. I left a meeting of the vietnam veterans of america Chapter 223 Monthly meeting in which they talked about a car show that they're going to do At the veterans memorial building on the second of july I think this would be an appropriate time to talk about that with you because the city is now helping out on some car stuff Which I think is totally interesting It's a good empowerment type of approach Do you folks remember the song low rider? When that came out the folks in my neighborhood were already doing it So this car show is another form of empowerment for the community and what we're hoping is that You'll also look to the idea of beginning to have the open government task force activities be considered a part of community empowerment That was talked about originally about eight years ago when andy lopez was murdered And it was this idea like okay. We're going to find a way to involve our community On issues that are of importance And talk about things together COVID unfortunately has had us masked up Distance from each other It's had people not really get a chance to get together and talk about a lot of these issues that would be empowerment So i'm hoping that what you folks will begin If the governor lifts the mask mandate tomorrow, which is maybe going to happen That you'll begin a process to actually empower The citizens of santa rosa to be able to participate in a more personal matter zoomed in It's sometimes zoomed out for those folks that don't have the Laptops or the mobiles that she just spoke about As a matter of fact, if you try to watch some of these meetings at the libraries They get a little concerned unless you have headphones So I bring this back to the main idea that Multicultural events involving automobiles are a good thing And they will continue to be something that people want to do Even as we look at this idea That we call resiliency and sustainability for climate adaptation And trying to get everyone over into electric vehicles Do you know for 20 years now they've been making a series of movies called fast and furious? And that young people are interested in Automobiles more now than ever perhaps Ones that are really loud They like to really burn that rubber Spin those tires and get those pipes just really roaring So i'm hoping that you folks will accept that It's something that's not going to go away quickly Thank you for doing the low ride All right, and I don't see any hands on zoom. Did we have any pre-recorded voice bills? We do not mayor Okay Let's move on to our city manager and city attorney reports. Sue. How about you start us off today? Thank you, mr. Mayor happy to do that. Um, this is our monthly report on settlements and active litigation In terms of settlements, we have just the one listed. That's the airport business center We did previously report out on that. It is a sequel challenge to our downtown station area specific plan Um, we have entered into a settlement. It's a non-monetary settlement. We entered into a parking agreement And the case has now been dismissed that case is over In terms of litigation, we have five receivership cases and one of those properties has now been fully cleared And the dismissal of the receivership case is pending The other four properties rehabilitation is underway We have eight general litigation matters and I do want to note and this is good news today The kessner case which was a prop 218 challenge to our water rates That case has now been resolved and the court entered A dismissal of the action against the city and number of other Public entities the dismissal was entered earlier today I will provide more information to you separately by email But that case has now been resolved. So that's good news We have seven personal injury matters Two of those cases are now set for trial one in late may one in september And the remaining cases are in various stages of discovery or refinement of the pleadings We have five lawsuits concerning police actions that are listed in the report this month Now three of those five cases have been resolved Two have settled and they're just awaiting the formal Filing of the dismissal. That's the rylan steamy case and the robert casey case And we have reported out on those settlements previously The third case that's been resolved is a tamrat case And in that matter the court has granted the city summary judgment So the dismissal was filed by the court on january 21st The remaining two cases are in in the various stages of litigation As terms of our writ cases we have five cases listed ABC is among those and it has been resolved the roselin action dwayne dwitt Case will soon be resolved And then the remaining three writ cases are under way two of those have been set for trial one in may and one in july In terms of new claims we have two new claims both our personal injury claims And happy to answer any questions Great. Thank you so much too Any questions from council Let's move on to our city manager report All right today. I have a couple items for you So the santa rosa police department has announced the next community police and experience otherwise known as cpe Which begins march the 16th and they are accepting applications from the community The cpe is an eight week course in which participants meet once a week It is designed to enhance relationships by familiarizing Participants with the santa rosa police department its policies and practices Participants get firsthand account of the daily responsibilities and expectations of police officers and other department employees police staff Provide the instruction and participants ask questions discuss issues View demonstrations and experience a variety A training a variety training officers complete in order to perform their myriad of duties daily Participants will also have an opportunity to experience a ride-along and a set-along With srpd police officer srpd officers and dispatchers So more information can be found at srcity.org forward slash cpe So good news for our transit riders effective monday february the 21st Santa rosa city bus will restore regular weekday schedules for route 4b Serving ring con valley and route 8 serving vented valley Following reductions related to to the omicron surge Additional service levels will be restored as staffing levels are increased Updated service schedules can be found at srcity.org forward slash city bus I also would like to remind everyone that the transit security administrative transportation security Transportation security administration policy mandates that everyone must wear a mask Even when traveling on public transportation networks through march the 18th Santa rosa transit has remained operational at various levels throughout the pandemic Seven routes continue operating under a saturday plus schedule level service And I really want to thank deputy director eed for her leadership during this time She's done a phenomenal job making adjustments with the routes. So I really want um to send my Appreciation to deputy director eed and thank you Thank you so much any questions Let's go to public comment on these items the city manager and city attorney reports Do we have any voicemail public comments? We have no hands via zoom and no voice message public comments on this item Great Let's go on to statements of abstention by council members. Does anybody have to abstain tonight? Okay How about mayors and council member reports who wants to begin? council member Fleming it is I just wanted to extend a warm. Thank you to kim hatch and james castro of our city parks department Along with carol kwantt who put together a cleanup day on saturday I was joined by the mayor and a number of community members where we really dug into franklin community park exciting thing is that after the community goes and does this At each of the parks on a rotating basis then the the park's crew comes in a couple of days later And really, uh, you know puts the final touches on getting each of our parks Really spick and span so excited to have our parks be more functional and clean and ready to roll for All the children and families and and folks who recreate outdoors in santa rosa We know it's one of our core services and we're we're happy to provide it and we want it to be shining and beautiful for you council members wedam Thank you, mr. Mayor a couple things first with ground water ground water sustainability Agency had its meeting last week and we're starting the process of a rate and fee study There's going to be two community meetings that I'd like to let everyone be aware of The first one is going to be virtual on march 22nd from 5 30 to 7 30 On the second one. We're hoping to do in person on april 27th Same thing from 5 30 7 30 the location is to be determined But it'll be an opportunity for any member of the community to learn more about the rate and fee study and how it may impact Them and then on the continuum of care. I wanted to share at our 20 january 26th meeting We made several key actions or had several key actions. We selected a new coordinated entry provider, which is a huge Process home first was selected and they will be starting the process of transitioning from catholic charities and this They'll be in place by march We also received an update on the emergency housing voucher program and of the 131 emergency housing vouchers at the san rosa housing authority Is facilitating? I think 23 already found homes, which is a very positive step Uh, we're also having some direction or additional direction was provided to continue with our centralized housing locator function Again, this is something that would be a regional approach to helping find some locations To get people housed who either have vouchers or our experience or don't have shelter yet Also wanted to make sure everyone is aware that we will be having our point in time count Um, usually it's the last week in january, but this year it was moved to february 25th. So anyone can Uh participate on that you do have to sign up. They're doing a little bit different this year where you need to have a partner You need to go online But um, I'd invite all of my colleagues to join me early at about 5 30 on february 25th for the point in time count. That's it Thank you councilmember mr. Vice mayor Thank you, mayor On february 1st the downtown subcommittee met and staff presented us with an alternative To skateboard deterrents opposed to the l bracket that you normally see on Benches and other concrete structures Uh, the downtown subcommittee felt that it was best that we approach our full council and see if it was a pleasure of either uh by motion presenting the the approval through or really the the the deterrent through study session or if It's okay for us as the subcommittee to to make that decision So the the question from the vice mayor make make sure I understand it is uh, whether council is Comfortable with the downtown committee making a decision on this or whether there's interest from council members who don't serve on the committee And hearing that item uh here before the full council correct mayor well, let's see For folks who do not serve on the downtown committee. Is there any interest in bringing this to the full council? Looks like you're empowered sounds good. Thank you. Thank you councilmember rogers A few reports, uh, the health action council met on february 4th And took a historic step to recommend to the board of supervisors to transition to the health action 2.0 Which will um the current one will sunset Um In what it does is instead of being an advisory board to the board of supervisor Board of supervisors, it will now Stand on its own And this will pave the way for a new and more inclusive health action to lead the next phase of this collect collaborative work um So that is new and exciting and we will Uh, hopefully get the support of the board of supervisors To do that and continue support. Um, this does not mean that the board of supervisors nor the county will not continue to support that initiative, but That it will just be able to act as its own body In addition the Wacken tack Meeting the water advisory committee and technical advisory committee met on february 7th um And I was appointed as the the vice chair and petaluma city council member Mike healy was appointed as the chair um And the attack finance subcommittee um is working with Sonoma water on their preparation of the Sonoma water um Budget and rates for years 22 23 and this will be presented to the city council on march 29th Prior to the WAC considering this um at their april meetings. So this will determine our rates for water I would also like to take the time to acknowledge February as black history month being a proud Uh black woman here in Sonoma county so um Whatever you can do to educate yourselves on the history of uh African americans I suggest Advise encourage You to do so because there is a lot of wonderful amazing history that we have Out there a lot of which I don't even know so I am Definitely trying to make a conscious effort to not only educate myself, but to educate my children. So Happy black history month Thank you Thank you so much council member Uh, bear with me. I've got a couple of them because it has been a busy couple of weeks We did have a Sonoma clean power meeting where we went over policy and regulative updates that are coming in the next year Particularly some legislation that's coming I'll report back to the council a little bit more in depth as some of that moves forward We had an economic development subcommittee meeting Where the topic was the first of many discussions around project labor agreements that i'm sure will have in the coming months We had a climate action committee meeting where we moved forward the city's uh gas New gas station moratorium And that'll be coming to council later this year as well and some really great work in data For council members if you want to look at it our staff did a fantastic job of mapping out Where exactly all of the gas station resources are within our community? I think the number was 44 in total across the city which really gives you a visual of Both where impacted communities are from the impact perspective possible groundwater issues or leakage issues as well as the the equity aspect Particularly along the 101 and highway 12 corridors. It's really fascinating data. So take a look We had both the mayors and council members dinner Which had a presentation on the zero waste program But also the mayors and council members legislative task force meeting Where I continue to to chair that and work with our delegation on their bills that are coming We did the smart strategic plan meeting for the smart board Online it's worth a watch particularly given that The new general manager has done a really good swat analysis strengths weaknesses opportunities and T threats, thank you I thought it was a really good path charting forward how smart can continue to move forward. It's great information Yesterday, we had our scta rcpa meeting where I took the gavel as the chair for the next two years Linda hopkins our supervisor is the vice chair for the next two years as well And there was a very good presentation and launch for the zero excuse me Vision zero master plan that the county is working on We have launched officially a dashboard If you go to scta's website and look up the vision zero plan It maps out all of the collisions throughout sonoma county Both car on car car on pedestrian car on bicycles and it maps it against the county's equity Equity priority areas and it helps us to target where our limited resources can go to try to prevent those catastrophic and severe crashes really good information With the council member fleming I too had a chance to go out for the park a month launch, which was at franklin park this saturday We did have the outgoing chair of the board of community services carol kwamp was there We had the incoming chair of the board of community services logan pits as well as the chair of the community advisory board Leslie graves and it was amazing to see leslie out there doing the work as well And a number of volunteers and some great staff work That was just good to get out in the sun and make a difference in the community This will be happening every single month There's a schedule that is online of going from park to park across the city And I'd encourage council members to get out and participate The huge thank you to all of the staff that have gotten this off the ground And uh council member fleming named a number of them. I'll also throw in jason nut as well the assistant city manager who Has been lead in this charge Last thing for the council and then i'll stop Last week the board of supervisors chose not to move forward with the acquisition of the sears site Something that we've obviously been in conversation with them about over the last year We do anticipate that there will be another opportunity for the discussion I'd like to send a letter on behalf of the council Reiterating our support, which was the position that the council took last year And enumerating all of the reasons that we think that that's the right move And the way that that would benefit our broader community If the council would like i'm happy to agendize that as a item for input Or if there's no objection i'm happy to draft up the letter and send it to the county But I wanted to make that offer to the council to see how you wanted to proceed Is is everybody okay with me sending a letter? I'm seeing nodding heads great That will go to public comment on our long and exhaustive council member reports And I do want to thank all of the council members There's a lot that is going on and it is really helpful to hear Particularly on the boards and commissions that we don't each serve on what everybody's working on I think that it helps to show that there's just a lot that's happening between our meetings as well With that let's go to our public comment And I see no one in the chambers and I see no hands raised And we had no voice message public comments, mayor Okay We'll keep going then we'll go on to our approval of the minutes We have four different minutes for today. We have 11.1. That's december 7 7th December 14th december 21st and january 11th some of those were continued from our last meeting Did council have any amendments to those four draft minutes? Seeing shaking hands shaking heads So we'll go to public comment on our minutes if anybody had a correction go ahead hit the raise hand feature All right. I'll bring it back We'll show those adopted as presented without objection We'll move on to our consent calendar Today we have four items before you on the consent agenda item 12.1 is a resolution First amendment to professional services agreement f 00 2334 with belinda m fernandez doing business as studio b Item 12.2 is a resolution Approval to transfer funds from bennett valley golf course capital fund to purchase green moors Item 12.3 is a resolution adopted adoption of memorandum of understanding with unit 9 fire safety management represented by santa rosa police management association effective july 1st 2021 through june 30th 2024 And item 12.4 is a resolution Declaring a vacancy in the office of council member district 3 And appointing diana mcdonnell to serve until december 2022. Thank you Thank you and council i'm going to start with item 12.4 In our excitement last tuesday to get a new council member We did everything right including the swearing in but did not adopt the amended resolution With the outcome so with our two-step process We do have to find if council would like that there is A reason for us to bypass our wait period to put things on the agenda so that we can add this for this evening So i'll entertain a motion to do so So moved Moved by council member fleming and a second from council member soyer. Let's see if there's any public comment on adding item 12.4 to the agenda Okay, i see none. So i'll bring it back And madame city clerk if you could call the vote on adding this item to the agenda And mr. Mayor before you vote may i just clarify that you are voting To make the determination that there is good cause due to circumstances beyond your control To move forward with this item even though it was not on the preliminary agenda. So thank you Thank you for the clarification madame city attorney Okay, thank you mayor council member schwedhelm. Hi Council member soyer. Hi Council member rogers. Hi Council member fleming. Hi Vice mayor alvarez. Hi Mayor rogers. Hi that motion passes with six eyes All right now. I will entertain a motion from the vice mayor on the Excuse me if see if there's any questions from council on items 12.1 through 12.4 Okay, we'll go to public comment if you have a public comment for the consent calendar hit the raise hand feature We'll start with dwayne dwitt Thank you, sir Dwayne dwitt from rosalind on item 12.2 It would seem it might be a good idea to hold this matter until you have item 14.2 in the report That item is about the bennett valley golf course and the scope of services for operation and maintenance If you're going to be having a new organization come in Perhaps you should have them by their own mowers I've never heard of a lawnmower costing 50 thousand dollars But I can see that perhaps there's been some negotiations going on And there's this possibility you might spend a hundred thousand dollars tonight for two lawnmowers I'm real concerned about this because it seems That having been around people who do landscaping and yard work and everything of that matter That mowers can actually be fixed and what you're saying here is our our old mowers are just too old And I bet what's going to happen is those mowers Are going to go to somebody and be used Uh, you might say they're old, but I'll bet somebody else is going to say oh, they're good And I'm curious. How are these going to be? Uh, disposed of is the term you use in administrative Discussions It should perhaps be put up to auction Those old mowers should raise funds and bring it back into the general fund And I just really believe this is putting the cart before the horse or the mower before the green You should actually have this new Organization that's going to be operating and maintaining your golf course Handle its own equipment and we shouldn't be on the hook for this I've often thought that the whole operation of the golf course over the last 15 to 20 years has been suspect and the Former director of recreation and parks who left under a bit of a cloud because of the way this was handled Should You folks look into this deeper you might find there's better ways to handle this golf course And that you could perhaps put some housing out near there I had seen signs around town saying Save the golf course and when I asked somebody why they had the sign they said oh, they want to put housing there And I thought well, what's wrong with that There was actually a proposal put forward over 25 years ago When the city was looking in to getting another golf course that you could be putting housing for affordable simple homes for people of modest means Near golf courses and this might be a good way to do it because we have such a housing crisis that you have declared a housing crisis So keep all those thoughts in mind And then let's check out. I hope they put some pictures up of these $50,000 mowers Thank you. All right, we'll bring it back to zoom. We'll go to woody Uh, thank you. Mayor rogers and council members woody Hastings. I live in unincorporated Sonoma county Speaking for myself today not representing any organization and I am also commenting on item 12.2 about the greens mowers not not green mowers, but uh Because uh, i'm assuming they're conventional assuming they're This would be a conventional purchase. It's sort of smacks of a sort of a business as usual Kind of procurement, but a business as usual for the 20th century And we're well into the 21st century. And so with the passage of the senator roses climate emergency resolution a while back It just seems like if that resolution is going to mean anything it should mean that that Procurements like they should be screened for do they do they are they? You know in line aligned with the climate emergency that we're facing and the resolution that your City council, you know adopted Just seems like there should be some kind of You know universal screen of all these kinds of especially fossil fuel fossil fuel procurements Could be all procurements and just looking at the embodied greenhouse gas emissions Um, and so Uh, I think that yeah, I think that's pretty much Uh, what I wanted to say. Thank you. Um, and actually the other thing would would just be you know Can in this case in this uh procurement can can An evaluation can be done. Uh, assume it hasn't been done of any kind of alternatives that currently exist for Either these kinds of movers to be electric or a fleet of smaller because I'm assuming these are enormous Mowers given that they're $50,000 each Um, maybe a fleet of smaller electric movers might work just kicking that out there. That's that's pretty much it. Thanks All right, thank you woody If there are any other comments on the consent calendar seeing none, we'll No voicemail public comments. We'll bring it back Mr. Vice mayor if you'd like to put a motion on the table thank you, mayor I move items 12.1 through 12.4 and weigh further reading of the text second We have a motion from the vice mayor and a second from councilmember soyer. Is there any additional discussion from council? All right, madame city clerk, please call the vote councilmember schwaitham. Hi councilmember soyer. Hi Councilmember rogers. Hi councilmember flaming. Hi vice mayor alvarez. Hi Mayor rogers. Hi that motion passes with six eyes Great, we will go ahead and welcome our newest councilmember diana mcdonald to the dais And I just want to say welcome I think we're all thrilled to have you here and I want to give you an opportunity if you want to say a couple of words Well, thanks for approving that resolution. I appreciate it greatly and I appreciate Actually all the candidates who came last week and put their names forward and Just want to do a shout out to all of them that they did such a great job And it is such an honor to serve our community So i'm i'm very happy to be here with all of you to learn from you and hear from our community On what matters to them. So thank you Thank you Oh, thank you So it is not yet five o'clock. So we will come back to our public comment for non agenda items. Let's move on to item 14.1 Item 14.1 is a report project approval and approval of the acquisition of a portion of 1400 fountain grove parkway for the permanent fire station number five rebuild project Fire station number five resiliency and relocation and this is being continued from the february the first 2022 agenda This report will be delivered by real estate manager jill scott Good evening mayor and council members. Um, I am jill scott the city's real estate manager And i'm here today with lisa welsh associate civil engineer in transportation and public works To discuss the adoption of the mitigated negative negative declaration and the acquisition approval for a new rebuild of fire station five Next slide please So fire station five was formally located on new gay court and was really unfortunately destroyed in the 2017 tubs fire next slide please in 2018 The city constructed a temporary fire station on city owned property located on park parker hill road and Currently it's being operated under a temporary use permit which expires in october of 2023 next slide please So following this tubs fire the fire department looked at their standards of coverage their deployment plans and their coverage maps and they really determined the relocation of The fire station five would allow for improved coverage to fountain grove It would help them to up for upstaffing an event And also serve as a forward command post for very large emergencies So with council's approval, um the fire department and real estate services Searched everywhere in fountain grove within that area of coverage that would be the best for the citizens of fountain grove And we looked at all available and unavailable land for the rebuild of the fire station next slide please And after a very very lengthy search, um council gave direction to staff in closed session to negotiate for the purchase of a little over two Acre portion of key sites campus, which is located at the corner of fountain grove parkway and stagecoach And depicted in the pictures um on the slide Next slide please So as far as the acquisition City staff and key site staff have negotiated a purchase agreement for a total purchase price of $205,000 and a little more than a two acre portion of key sites property And we're here tonight now seeking final approval from council for that acquisition Next slide please So a couple of different things to know about this One interesting thing is that the proposed fire station on the new site is eligible for community development block grants CDBG funding, which the city is looking into now And then prior to funding any acquisition for the city The completion of the acquisition we always do A complete environmental analysis and so for this one we did California environmental quality act sequa and we also performed NEPA because of the federal dollars that are involved with the rebuild of the fire station So i'm going to turn the next slide over to lisa welch to talk a little bit about the design and some more sequel requirements Thanks, jill. Okay, so a good evening mayor and council members. I'm lisa welch I am part of the capitol projects engineering group in transportation public works and To kick off the environmental process We hired rdc architecture from soma california And they provided us the programming and the preliminary engineering and data collection we needed for the environmental documents Which included the sequa mitigated negative declaration here tonight and the federal nipa documents Next slide Okay, so to provide a clear and descriptive documentation for sequa. We needed to come up with preliminary designs of what the building will look like So these are the proposed renderings of what it would look like the overall site on the top on the bottom right would be A close-up of what the fire station would yeah What the fire station would look like in plan and it would house the first floor would house all that Fire operations staff and their work and then in the bottom left We would we were showing the second floor and that would be more of that community space area next slide Okay, so then looking at the preliminary designs we also had these elevations rendered The first elevation would be you're looking at the fire station from fountain grove and for perspective that fire or that flag Is at the intersection of fountain grove parkway and stagecoach and then that the bottom Elevation is looking at the fire station from stagecoach rip Next slide Okay, so after the preliminary design and we did all the data collection and the site investigations We created the documents for the public preliminary public review period at that time We sent out assembly bill 52 letters And we requested any historical information known about the site to the adjacent neighbors The assembly 52 letters went out to the local tribes Though no historical information was provided On june or found On june 22nd 2021 we did receive a request for consultation from the federated indians of brayton rancheria We did conduct several virtual meetings and one on-site meeting with the tribal heritage preservation officer Where we addressed their comments through revisions and additional medication measures That were incorporated into the documents Then on october 14th 2021 We received confirmation from the tribal heritage preservation officer that they concluded their comments and we resolved them And then we allowed that allowed us to formally respond and conclude the consultation on october 26 2021 Next slide Okay with the completion of the tribal consultation and incorporation of the requested mitigation measures The city was then able to go out for our public review period. We started off with the notice of intent Being published to the press democrat and we also sent out at the same time letters to the adjacent property owners and residents Within foreigner's foot of the property and those came out in both english and in spanish Connected to those notices. We then posted the entire complete sequel documents To the city's public website and then also we allowed in-person viewing at 69 stony circle, which is mc south Um at the conclusion of that 30 day period, uh, we hadn't received We didn't receive any public comment and we were able to finalize the sequel documents at that time Next slide Therefore through the process we found that there were no significant or potentially significant effects on the environment when we implement implemented these mitigation measures and Yeah, next slide Looking ahead at the next steps after tonight After this adoption, we would be able to file the sequel notice of determination and then The federal environmental review nipa documents that's going on parallel to this and that should be concluding Very shortly and so then we would be able to close escrow by the end of march 2022 For the design next steps, we would be submitting or we have submitted the project application to the grant funding agency And we're waiting to hear back While we're waiting to hear from them. We are able to work on The design builds requests for qualifications and requests for proposals But until we get back from them, we can't finalize that design builder When hopefully we're hoping to hear back and have the design builder formally Found by july of 2022 and then bring a consent item for award For to back to the city council on september 2022 The design builder design builder would then get a notice to proceed by the end of the year And we would be looking at my construction being on On track to be completed by 2024, which is ahead of the grant funding requirements Which is good next slide I think it's back to jill So with that, um, it is recommended by the fire department transportation and public works department and real estate services that council by resolution one adopt the mitigated negative declaration and And mitigation monitoring and reporting program for the permanent fire station number five relocation and rebuild project Number two approve the project and three approve the acquisition of approximately 2.11 acres Of a portion of 1400 fountain grove parkway santa rosa california apn 173 670022 for the new fire station five And four authorize the assistant city manager or his designee to execute all documents necessary to complete the acquisition And all documents related subject to approval as to form by the city attorney And before we turn it back to you mayor and council members We just like staff would like to take this opportunity to thank key site and their staff and their board For being willing to sell the city a piece of land Um from their complex to be able to do this. We did an extensive search staff fire department real estate services looking for the appropriate piece of property to put five the new fire station five in the most appropriate area for the fountain grove community and Um key site was Very amenable and helpful And allowing the city to do this. So we just wanted to take a moment to thank them And we are available for any questions Thank you so much jill council. Do we have any questions? Let's go to public comment on this item If you are interested in providing comment on 14.1 hit the raise hand feature We'll start with andrew Can you please unmute yourself and proceed with your comment? Okay I don't know if i'm premature on asking this question, but with the previous fire station that burned down Before it got burned down. They had built it. They ran into some issues on 88 requirements Which really surprised the city and then the city went ahead and fixed it before it got burned down I hope that we won't have that problem this time Thank you. That's all I have to say All right. Thank you andrew. I'll go ahead and make sure that we ask that question when we're done with public comment If there are any other questions on zoom hit the raise hand feature Seeing none. I'll come back to the chambers duane Thank you, sir. Duane do it from roseland I was concerned about the size of the old fire station five site. It wasn't mentioned here And just through general eyeballing This will be perhaps the largest site for any fire station that we have including the headquarters downtown Two acres is a lot of land So I just want to make sure that we understand why such a big parcel is needed And then quite concerned about the idea to use community development block grant funding That funding has specifically been stated in the past by the federal government To be utilized to help disadvantaged areas The fountain grove area is not disadvantaged in any way shape or form That's probably the wealthiest area in the entire city. If not the county There are many other areas of santa rosa that need help with their infrastructure And cdbg money could be utilized for that but in the past The housing authority and other organizations have mixed the idea of working to help disadvantaged communities specific example would be corby avenue Where there's a need for two pedestrian bridges over colgan creek That needs been there for decades And now that it's in the city corby avenue could be definitely helped by cdbg monies I would advocate that you not utilize cdbg money You can get other funding fema other types of situations I don't think that this is the kind of thing that's going to break this deal If you say we're going to let cdbg money be utilized in disadvantaged underserved and overburden communities Where it's actually supposed to be targeted for thank you for your time See no other comments. Did we have any voicemail public comments? We did not mayor Okay, I'll go ahead and bring it back Jill there was a question specifically about the ADA requirements. I'm hoping you can just jump in and give some reassurance to the public I think actually that will be lisa go for it lisa You're muted lisa Thanks For the ADA related question, we will not make the same mistakes again We definitely have implemented a lot of uh fail safes to make sure that we are going to providing ADA accessible Throughout the fire station completely All right. Thank you so much Councilmember Fleming, how about you put a motion on the table for discussion? Thank you, mayor I move a resolution of the council of the city of santa rosa adopting a mitigated negative declaration and a mitigated monitoring and reporting program With project approval and improving for the acquisition of a portion of 1400 fountain group parkway For the permanent fire station number five rebuild project fire station number five resiliency and relocation and waive for the reading of the text Okay We have a motion from councilmember fleming and a second from councilmember schwedhelm. Are there any comments from council? I just wanted to on behalf of the residents of fountain grove and district four Thanks city staff for your tireless work And all of the council members who worked with our federal delegation to make this possible with the cdbg funding and uh And this just means so much You know to get a permanent fire station that will protect not only fountain grove, but the entire city You know the fires don't start in fountain grove and they don't end in fountain grove And this is essential for our entire city's safety. Thank you Thank you councilmember Madam city clerk if you could please call the vote Thank you mayor councilmember schwedhelm. Hi Councilmember soyer. Hi Councilmember rogers. Hi councilmember mcdonald Hi councilmember fleming I Vice mayor alvarez. Hi Mayor rogers. Hi that motion passes with seven eyes All right. Thanks council We are just a couple of minutes here away from five o'clock I'd Be reticent to go into 14.2. Just because I know it is a high interest item So what we'll do is we'll take just a couple of minutes break here We'll come back. We'll do public comment for non-agenda items Then we will move into Item 14.2 And then come back and do our public hearings That we'll be right back Councilmember rogers president councilmember bank donald present Councilmember fleming here Vice mayor alvarez present Mayor rogers here Let the record show that all council members are present with the exception of councilmember soyer And councilmember soyer. We'll be back to the dais in just a moment Let's move on to our public comment for non-agenda items If you are interested in providing comment on something within the city's jurisdiction that is not currently on our agenda tonight Go ahead hit the raise hand feature on your zoom Seeing none on zoom. We'll come back to the chamber My name is duane de wid. I'm from roseland Please do not discriminate against pomo indians from and in roseland Also, please do not discriminate against veterans from and in roseland Handouts given here two weeks ago Showed that some pomo indians and veterans have for many years advocated for a pomo park And a veterans trail on the south side of roseland creek However, santa rosa city staff Have been the forces of no To stifle the efforts of local citizens to honor the heritage of roseland There are concerns that city actions do not reflect the proclaimed commitment to diversity Inclusion equity that has been talked about here I guess one of the things that you folks don't realize sometimes is The actions actually speak far louder than the words People have seen for a really long time That there's been a disinterest In some of the main themes that some roseland residents would bring forward Now though that the american rescue plan act has come forward All of a sudden there's a lot of people saying they have an interest to come over there and help in roseland And they're gonna do some positive things It begins to smack of a situation of Opportunism one might think The folks who've been out there volunteering and working to try to do positive things in roseland for decades Have never sought any money There are some organizations that are Paid and funded such as the community action partnership and The sisters of st. Joseph's of orange with their community benefits initiative Different groups like that who've invested money because they're nonprofits and they have money to invest But there's dozens upon dozens of other citizens that have come forward And worked to try to get things done and what they thought was the appropriate manner within our existing governmental structure And they've become weary They have felt that not only have their efforts been neglected They're actually now being Overrun in a way And that's kind of sad. I don't want to see that happen We need to Look into these ideas of we're all in it together We've done creek cleanups out there done all kinds of things Uh to help in our community for decades And we just now after four years of annexation Are hoping that we can Get you folks to work with the community as equal partners rather than as subjects We don't need to be ruled. We want to be served by our elected officials. Thank you Madam deputy city clerk. Do we have any pre-recorded voicemails? We did not mayor. All right. I'll go ahead and bring it back Let's move on to item 14.2. Please report item 14.2 Is approval of scope of services and solicitation process for management of bennett valley golf course enterprise The report will be delivered by deputy director santos Good evening. Mayor roger's vice mill avarice and members of city council. I'm jen santos parks deputy director Go to the next slide, please Tonight we will be discussing the approval of a scope of services and solicitation process for management of the entire bennett valley golf course Enterprise including the restaurant The team that has been working on this evaluation of the golf course enterprise is comprised of The city council's ad hoc committee, which includes mayor roger's vice mayor avarice and council member soyer And for early council member tidbits was also on this ad hoc committee Also, we've had this save the bennett valley golf course group have been very much involved since early last year Contributing their insight to the analysis of the golf course enterprise And Last but not least we also have a national golf foundation started their evaluation of the golf course operations Finances and conditions since council approved of their agreement late last year In gf have they have contributed their knowledge and expertise in the recommendation for future management of the golf course enterprise And we have richard singer from a national golf foundation here tonight He will be providing the main Presentation and overview and jeff daner our golf course architect will also be here if there are any questions regarding the golf course conditions Next slide, please So as mentioned, we are seeking seeking council approval for the scope of services to Prepare a request for proposals The proposals will be seeking a future single operator to manage the entire golf course enterprise Which includes the restaurant with its banquet and event spaces We are also requesting tonight approval to move forward with establishing a proposal review committee Of the same or similar similar members that were available To review the golf course study proposals from last year Uh that review committee from last year was comprised of one council member A citizen of the golf community And staff members with integral knowledge and understanding of the golf enterprise Additionally, we'd like to delegate authority to the city manager or does it need to allow further refinement of the scope of services And the selection of the proposal review committee The schedule from the release of the rfp on march 1st to establish a management agreement is estimated Approximately four months Therefore we recognize that time is of the essence tonight and We are seeking approvals to move forward with an rfp for management of the golf course enterprise Next slide, please Richard singer from the national golf course foundation will be covering sections one through seven tonight Which will essentially provide insight into the details that have led to the recommendation for councils review tonight For a single operator Manager of the golf course and restaurant I will jump back in to cover the details of the rfp and the operational schedule And the next steps regarding the funding and recommendations Next slide, please So with this i'll introduce richard singer from the national golf foundation. Thank you Thank you gen. Good evening. First of all, let me uh, Let me ask first that can everybody hear me. This is this is all working right, right? Okay, excellent Yeah, so i'm richard singer as as mentioned from the national golf foundation and i manage our golf facility consulting practice I also have jeff daner who is working with me as our as our golf course architect and It's great to be here and to kind of meet you all virtually And to tell you that although you're you're seeing me many of you for for the first time Tonight, I can assure you you all have been a big part of my life for the last couple of months as we have reviewed Bennett valley next slide And uh, go ahead next slide We'll start by just talking about the purpose as we understood it and as to why The city of santa rosa had brought the national golf foundation in and really just to do a deep dive and thorough review Of your golf course the city of santa rosa's golf course property The condition of the property the business and how it's operated You know planning for the future and recommendations to improve the economics and Physical condition of the property and the timing was important because you have a long tenured golf professional who has been there for many years Who is scheduled to retire at the end of june this year next slide? Our activities were were pretty extensive over the last couple of months with visits to the property in november and december of 2021 There's been a lot of information exchange from city staff about contracts and records and financial records We've done all sorts of meetings with the city and and golf course people We did have some meetings both virtually and in person With the bit save the bennett valley group And we we visited some competing facilities some other golf courses in and around the santa rosa area And certainly have done some review of demographics economics and golf market data to help in our understanding Of this property Okay, go ahead So looking at the actual property itself the bennett valley golf course the subject facility next slide I think we can tell you that it's certainly a very popular facility and there's a lot of passion and support for this for this property The overall package of amenities that you offer At bennett valley is very consistent with what we see being successful in public golf Not just in this part of california, but all over the country the the event center and restaurant operation is is really a plus there But as we really start to do a deep dive into this We we note that this property is owned by the city But it's operated with a golf pro concession That seemed to have some uncertain terms that it wasn't clear to everybody involved Who was responsible for what and that seemed to come up from time to time In terms of how to operate this golf course and how to do it Efficiently the event center also had a separate concession a restaurant tour a legends that was there for for several years They vacated the lease the concession in Late 2020 because of coven and it's been basically vacant since that time next slide Operationally it's a fully public golf course and you have a mix of of of daily fee players those players who Who pay a one-time fee to golf on that particular day and there's others who have a membership or season pass The the event center has a potential to be both a restaurant And and banquet center and is a strong revenue opportunity in its own right The two concessions as we mentioned is important because There was some confusion About how the facilities are operated but the one thing that was not in confusion is that the concession agreements allowed The concessionaires to own all the revenue that they generate and are responsible for expenses to provide operation Bennett valley is is very active with residents and leagues. I think that we saw the passion A lot of santa rosa residents are members of various leagues and associations and play a lot Of the golf that is played at Bennett valley. This is definitely a facility that is serving the interest of the residents of of santa rosa Next slide The economics of it. I mean there's there's a lot of money going through this proper The total golf pro revenue that was reported was a two two and a half million dollars in in 2021 It was two million in 2020 And a couple of years prior to that it was at a 1.5 million. So what we're showing is some really strong growth In just the last couple of years And the event center revenue before that was open and operating was an additional 1.7 million You know the total revenue generated by Bennett valley exceeded four million dollars As recently as as 2019 It's an enterprise fund And the city's economic interest historically has been the collection of concession payments From your from your vendors which peaked at about 500,000 a half a million dollars in 2021 Which is the strongest performance in recent years And the city expenses that include equipment and and some site maintenance and the payment Of debt service The amount that you're collecting from your concession areas is barely enough and in many years is not enough to cover all the city expenses Next slide We did a pretty comprehensive condition of property report and I know that an an appendix Material and some photographs have been provided to you but we won't go through that Here today. I think in general we can tell you that Bennett valley is not in its most ideal condition Most of the golf course features are well past their expected useful life Some of these are mission critical to operate a golf course that if you want to have a golf course on this site You're going to have to address and correct some of these issues Particularly as it relates to the drainage issues, which were severe and an irrigation system Which is more than 15 years old and not efficient in delivering water to irrigate the property The corridors have been compressed It's a little narrower than it used to be because of some overgrowth in trees And there are some some concerns about about safety Go ahead Also how things are cited the water usage irrigation Probably need to be revisited And the maintenance budget is not well tracked or understood I mean, we really don't understand how much money is being spent to maintain this property That's one of the concerns that we have about the golf pro concession And the maintenance facility And the equipment that is being used are due for improvements A lot of the equipment that is being used to mow the greens and other things are well past They're expected useful life and are so bad that they could actually be causing damage to the property by by their use Go ahead We have done our best to make an estimate of what it's going to cost to upgrade this property And we tried to divide it up into two sections, which are the high priority items that are, you know, a need immediate attention And some other options that you can consider and certainly irrigation and drainage are the top two items on this list And also account for the the vast majority of the money that's going to be involved with this But there are some other ideas that our architect has come up with that can help you make this property more efficient for the future And I think in in the overall environment And the green environment and you know reducing your your water usage you can reduce the amount of irrigated turf you can have better Holding capacity for your irrigation water on site through some excavation and some other things Fix some car pass and bridges which could be dangerous if they're not repaired And deal with all of this is we're looking at six and a half million dollars to address it Almost half of that is the irrigation system alone go ahead Some other optional items You know to maybe improve the property greens tees bunkers the driving range I think these are things that if you really wanted to As long as you're doing some of the drainage and irrigation improvements that are necessary You might want to think about doing some other upgrades that could make this property more appealing and more desirable to golfers And that's essentially what these optional items represent and that's an additional seven million So it could be it could be very expensive You know for for doing some of these but it's something to consider as you're as you're looking at the future of this property Go ahead So in terms of the upgrade consideration considerations and our recommendations and certainly a comprehensive master plan is item number one I think to address all of these items to figure out the sequencing How are you going to do this? In what phases or what sequence you're going to do this? Are you going to close the entire property for a period of time to do these repairs? To you maybe do them nine holes at a time But at a minimum you certainly have to address the safety irrigation and drainage issues that need to be rectified as soon as possible All of the key mission critical Infrastructure items at Bennett Valley are past their expected useful life and they're only going to continue to decline It's only going to get worse Phasing as possible as I mentioned, but you're going to have to do a little more detailed study And we certainly recommend the comprehensive master plan as being the first part of that Moving ahead Okay, go ahead We looked at external factors. There are you know, and when I when I look at a municipal golf course operation for city There are things that you can control and then there are things that you can't control And you can control the property and we've talked about that But you're also operating in a competitive market environment I mean, whether you like to accept it or not the city of santa rosa is in the golf business You're in the golf facility business and it's a tough business to be in and it's a very competitive business and the good news is that COVID-19 has created a little mini boom for golf and you've experienced it here at Bennett Valley I showed you the numbers you went from one and a half to two and a half million in revenue in just two years There's a lot of new participants in this game both old and young And I think golf offers a positive outdoor experience. It's promoting a healthy lifestyle And when you consider the residents of santa rosa and the visitors to this area There's a substantial golf market here And I think that there is reason to believe that this can continue You know, at least for the next five to 10 years There is strong demand for golf and there will always be activity and demand for golf for Bennett Valley go ahead The supply and demand balance the the balance between demand and supply for golf is favorable in this area. So You know, you're in a good position with Bennett Valley and the property The amenity package compares very favorable to the competition in the area Although the golf course condition at present is not the most ideal But if it were to be enhanced and improved as we've discussed, you have a real opportunity to be the market leader for providing public golf in this area There's been a reduction in the number of golf courses in this area that has helped Bennett Valley other courses have closed And that has been a real plus to Bennett Valley and and you've you've felt the impact of that along with the demand go ahead So that's kind of a summary of of everything that that we have found and we'll we'll move on to our recommendations that we make in in studying this and we are preparing a full written report to document all of this but Basically, I think the you know item one is to go ahead and do the master plan of physical improvements I think you need to commit to the high priority Investments that we've identified the mission critical infrastructure items that need to be addressed If you want to sustain a golf facility at this location irrigation drainage maintenance facilities cart paths bridges Are high priority items that need to be addressed immediately And then I think the second piece go ahead Is a new operations plan and you know time is of the essence with this because your golf pro is set to retire on june 30th And you need a new plan to be in place by july 1st Um, and we our recommendation is that you use a single operator. There are three main elements of a golf facility operation There's the pro shop or golf operations piece. There's the golf course maintenance piece And then there's the food and beverage the restaurant piece We recommend a single operator for all three pieces one entity that can report directly to the city and manage this property for you And there are many companies out there in the golf world that do exactly this that they can manage all three aspects of it So if you're looking for a single operator, there's really two ways that that you can go about that I think one is to lease the property a full site lease to a single operator It can be a lease in exchange for a capital investment If a partner can be found this edit there was a time in golf when this was more popular than it is now But the way it is today in 2022. I don't find a lot of takers for this option Option two is a management contract essentially hire A management company someone with expertise to manage the property for you At the city established specifications, you define how this property is to be managed You set the policy you set the pricing all revenues accrue to the city All expenses are borne by the city Hopefully covered by the revenues generated from the property and you pay the operator a management fee And that's essentially the second option with that go ahead um I think that the the event center can be modified and should be modified It is our opinion as your consultants that you don't need a lot of capital investment here I think what you really want to create is a true golf clubhouse environment Right now it's more of an event center restaurant environment. You need a golf clubhouse environment And maybe you modify the space a little bit to incorporate more of a snack bar feel and maybe a little less of the white linen napkin type operation a little more of a snack bar or what is commonly referred to in golf as the 19th hole Or a sports bar type concept You can improve the outside seating Um and service spaces outside. This has become very popular, especially in the wake of of coveted where people are more comfortable sitting outside Providing that kind of service outside has become very popular at golf courses You've got a great environment to do that here at bennett valley Um, probably not a lot of capital investment required. It's just getting an operator willing to commit to some of this Um changes are more operational and you know, not so much capital investment Go ahead We made some other recommendations. I won't go into them in detail here But basically as you improve and enhance this property, you certainly need to market it Um, right now you're you're doing very well in attracting, uh, your your Residents of santa rosa of the city, but there are a lot of tourists and tournament opportunities Um coordination with hotels Enhancing your social media presence getting a better point of sale system capturing email addresses Improving your website. There are a lot of things that you can do to to promote and market this property Finding the right operating partner will help you a lot in these areas somebody who has Experience in doing this to help drive activity and new revenue to this property. I think this is a great opportunity to do that Go ahead Um, I mean, we think the pricing is is generally appropriate, but there may be room to increase it a little bit When you complete some of these improvements But ultimately you want to implement some type of dynamic pricing a model where The way I like to say it is not all rounds of golfer created equal Some are more valuable than others and golfers are willing to pay more For weekend mornings when they can be done early then maybe they are for a Tuesday afternoon And there's not a lot of that going on at bennett valley now And I think again a good operator can help you price this better to drive activity And reduce your spoilage on the operation that any any tee time that goes unsold is gone forever and you can never replace it So you want to certainly fill the property up as much as you can get golfers out there Even if you have to discount it at certain times you can do it and you can keep it affordable for your residents And maybe try to capture some of that tourist market and make it a little more expensive for them Go ahead So as you consider the structures Oh, yes, just some other issues. Yes, you certainly want to enhance the beginning of programming Generate new customers by developing beginners and seek participation non-traditional segments Minorities the female segment younger people people who haven't really grown up in a tradition of golf Really need to be brought forth to this property a little more Providing, you know rental clubs and and and all of these kinds of things lesson program to teach people golf to bring new people out And to have them enjoy this property this this city asset which is so so widely Enjoyed already Okay, go ahead So as we consider the structures moving ahead Ultimately, I think it really boils down to a couple of key questions And I think that this was brought to us back in november when we first started on this project Um, is the city going to fund these improvements or are you going to seek a private? Uh operator to a private entity to fund these improvements I think there's a couple of things with the and that ultimately leads to a lease The problems that you're going to find with finding a private operator of private funder for this is number one There may not be uh out there There may not be a lot of entities out there willing to do it and number two you have to pull it together quickly Because ultimately you're going to have to pull it together in time for july 1 Um, if the city were to fund it, I think it gives you a little more flexibility a little more time, but certainly There's the money issue And that leads to the management contract. So if the city is funding it, it's a management contract if it's privately funded It it goes to a lease Moving ahead, so just some thoughts that we were asked to do, you know some, uh, you know pros and cons of each Um, I think that you know hiring a professional management contractor, you know, it's easy to implement And I think it gives you a little bit of time to, um Plan properly for this to do the master plan that we mentioned to think it through to not rush it To have it done quickly. Um, you would get professional operation And you could retain private sector labor with the way that it's structured But you know, obviously in on the negative side, the city is going to have to fund fund the enhancements You're going to have to pay a fixed management fee to your operator regardless of performance Uh, and then there are ongoing capital requirements and ultimately, I mean is this matching the city's goals I mean you do own this this golf course, but you're not really operating this golf course Under option one you would own this golf course, but you would also be operating through a management entity go ahead Item two is essentially You know pushing this property off onto the private sector, you know full privatization is is the is the idea here You know private funding of improvements. You reduce the city's risk and you also hopefully would get professional operation But as I mentioned, you may find it's hard to find a willing partner Um, and a lease payment is unlikely to cover the bond payments I mean if you go out to the street and you look for a private operator to come in and fund these improvements You may be able to find somebody willing to fund the improvements I think it's highly unlikely. You'll find somebody who would fund the improvements and also cover your existing debt service Um, and it's a lengthy process to implement I mean you're looking at several months or a year To find somebody to come in and do it and then they're going to have to do their planning For a year. It may be a long time before you can really, you know Put a shovel in the ground and really start doing some of these improvements and that's that's always a concern, especially when you consider Um, how important some of these uh issues are Go ahead Go ahead. So we did some financial projections and looking at what this business looks like and we tried to to show you what this business would look like If the city were operating it Through some type of management entity Um, first of all, I think it's realistic for Bennett Valley to do four and a half million dollars a year in revenue That's from all the green fees and cart fees and membership fees and golf fees Plus the restaurant and banquets and all of that If it's improved And if it's improved with the drainage and irrigation fixes we're talking about the capacity On the golf course would be enhanced. You could play more rounds. You could generate more income I think that it's reasonable for four and a half million dollars a year And operating expenses are probably three and a half to four million dollars. So Ultimately, this is a facility that could contribute five hundred thousand dollars a year Um in net operating income may be a little more in some good years Maybe a little less in some years that aren't as good There are unforeseen risks in terms of weather and other things, but that's essentially what this business looks like It's four and a half million in revenue Three and a half to four million in expenses Maybe you could improve on that and do a little bit better, but that's ultimately what the what the business looks like Go ahead So i'll just wrap up I mean, this is a great amenity for the city I think that you're in a you know in a great position. You've got a really fine Golf facility for your community But I think that the city has to ask itself, you know, what do you want this to be? Um, it needs new investment. It's the property condition is not ideal and it's only going to get worse Um, your time is of the essence because of your pending pro retirement You're going to have to come up with a plan or undo something by july 1st Um, you know the golf participation is also aging It tends to be older people over 50 and uh, you know more needs to be done to attract younger golfers To bennett valley and I think a good operator can help you with that I think that there is opportunity in the daily fee segment the non-resident segment the tourists and visitors to the area If it's properly promoted and it's a good quality golf course, there's more revenue to be earned there Um, and I think you could compete at the highest level of the market This this has great potential To be an outstanding golf course property It just needs a little more tlc right now and to correct some of its deficiencies But the inherent layout is good The location is good and it has great potential to be a good golf course property. So With that, I think I guess I turn it back over to jen. I think you're next Thank you richard, uh, yeah makes me perfect. Um, so, um The goal with the release of the rfp honor before march 1st is to have as little days As possible without golf And to have t time start on july 1st at the end of the current contractors contract Or within about three to five days of this date The rfp if the rfp is released honor before march 1st, then the proposals would be due on march 24th Which allows for um, the question and answer period and a thorough site visit of the entire operation and allows for a comprehensive proposal to be submitted From future management operators The review committee will be expected to provide the review within a week or two of receipt of the proposals So that our top ranked management proposals may be interviewed It'll then take some time to finalize the details of the management agreement to be ready for council approval on june 7th Uh, for example when we draft a council item to approve the management agreement That council item is due in early may so there's still we still have some timelines within that May 1st to june 7th date that are Mission critical to make sure that we can have a new operator by july 1st The expectation and working with a national golf foundation Is that the management company can begin Shadowing the current operations and preparing to offer golf tea times beginning july 1st 2022 And that the restaurant will open shortly thereafter Um for as close to july 1st as possible with permits required and of course the maintenance will begin immediately on july 1st So in reviewing the schedule, there is um Very little time to spare and therefore the ad hoc committee and staff are making this recommendation to move forward with the scope of services Uh for the rfp honor before march 1st for the management operations You've heard richard discuss the two types of operating going forward the management or the lease agreement Uh, you know, one of the main reasons we'd like to see this is for all the reasons that richard mentioned but also Um with a lease agreement, we would be Potentially closing the golf course With a marketing agreement with a management agreement, excuse me We would be able to start golf again as soon as possible on july 1st Um with a three to five year contract Potentially which will allow us to come back and consider should we move to a lease agreement? In the future or should we keep with a management operation? Next slide, please So as of here this evening from national golf foundation, there are future funding decisions to be made And the golf course team will be evaluating with the chief financial officer The options for funding the future operations some of the items that will be uh further evaluated are reviewing the Revenue available in the current golf enterprise We'll be analyzing the funding needed to support the transition from the current operator to the new management company We'll need to review the funding options to provide for the potential capital needs if we move forward with those Um, so therefore staff will be planning to come back in late spring To provide this information for counsel's consideration likely is part of this larger study session so we can really understand The full depth of funding needs And then of course staff will return on june 7th to counsel for a final recommendation for approval of a management operator And we'll also be looking for any funding necessary to support the transition of a new operator at that time Including the management fee that national golf foundation provided although it's a It's a fee that would be set annually we would be paying on a monthly basis So we want to have that discussion going forward But for now for tonight the decision is about the approval of the scope of services and there no Is no immediate Funding impact for moving this forward and as we've all been talking about time is of the essence We really do need to move forward with this if we want to consider this in the future In june when we come back to counsel um So next slide please so With that then it is recommended By the Bennett Valley golf course ad hoc committee and the transportation and public works department that the council by motion approve a scope of work for management of Bennett Valley golf course And to authorize the release of a request for proposals to solicit for a single operator management organization to operate and maintain the Bennett Valley golf course and restaurant and three approve the review committee composition And for delegate authority to the city manager or designee to further modify the scope of work and for RFP process And composition of the review committee provides such changes are consistent with or do not otherwise conflict with council direction And with that all of us are here to answer any of the questions Uh that you may have thank you All right. Thank you so much jen Thank you richard and your team for all of the work that you've been doing as well Uh, I understand you when you say you've been living this and living Bennett Valley for the last couple of of months the work really shows and I know that we've been trying to move quickly Let's bring it to council and see if there are any questions on The presentation and the recommendation Councilmember schwedham Thank you, mr. Mayor and thank you for the presentation. I have a couple questions I think the first one for jen and the staff report. It talked about the privately operated cell tower Generates some revenue for the enterprise fund, but I didn't see a dollar amount. What is our annual revenue from that? We usually it's an average of about $50,000 a year okay, and then For you richie on a couple of the uh on the attachment and on slides 14 here talked about The safety concerns can you spend a little bit more on that? Some of the comments where bridges pass present dangerous situations Two-thirds of them seem okay or others don't seem safe and Having been out there. I've never Had a safety concern there, but could you expand on that a little bit more? Richard you're muted Sorry, I was going to let jeff daner address that our physical review manager Thanks, richard. Thank you, mayor vice mayor I'm jeff daner helping the ngf with the physical evaluation of the golf course and specifically related to the bridges Two of the three seem fairly structurally sound although, you know, they're declining in their condition, but There's one and I believe it's I think it's on a whole 15 That may have been struck by a falling tree and The railings are showing some sign of falling apart and some rotting as well of the board so I don't know for sure that that one is structurally compromised, but it looked like it could be and would strongly recommend Um some further evaluation from a from a structural engineer to get that sorted out And at the very least if they are structurally sound maybe replace some of the rotting boards and railings and things that are Are meant to keep people safe Some of the other can say safety concerns that we noticed out there are You know They're not atypical for golf courses of this age. A lot of it has to do with The footprint of the golf course itself Um, you know as time has passed and there's been an improvement in how far the golf ball flies and Um, you know, the further the ball goes the further offline it can go as well So the the safety setbacks that we would have used You know 10 15 20 years ago are just getting wider and wider Now Bennett valley does have the benefit of some very old large trees Which can help to knock down shots and things but on the same token They can also cause a situation where Players on one hole may not see where players are on another hole Um, thereby making it hard for them to yell for if they don't know people are Are on the adjacent hole and their ball flies that far offline so having some Awareness of players on the next hole over is a huge benefit. And so I think um, the course could really benefit for from some elaborate tree management Now on that note as well, there's also a number of dead trees out there I believe the number is is anywhere from 50 to 100 And some of them are are leaning and you know could come over at any time Um, and others are also causing some issues with the current path as far as the roots spreading far enough to To cause the the concrete and the path to heave Um, you know making some of the the turns and ups and downs on you know on cart travel a little bit difficult And uh, somewhat dangerous in our view Um, not to mention they could be a tripping hazard as well with all the You know the curbing that you have out there, which is something that is not widely used on golf courses anymore Um, so I know that's you know, that's quite a bit to cover there But um, those are items that you know caused us a little bit concerned as we were going around touring the golf course I appreciate this and I don't know if this would be for the city attorney for gen I mean, what's the data show are people getting hurt out at our Golf course because now that we've been told By our consultants saying it's not safe. I'm a little perplexed as to what our next step would be And or if the ad hoc committee addressed any of these safety issues I Don't just answering the the last question first. I don't recall the ad hoc addressing the safety issues specifically But maybe member of the ad hoc would The mayor shaking his head I'm not aware of any claim Since I've been here related to injuries on the golf course But that's not to say they could they could happen and we will certainly want to look at a list Of what the risks are and and address them We're certainly on notice now so I just I think it puts us in an awkward position now if we've been told Because i'm not aware of any safety issues that have been out there I totally get the age of some of the bridges and whatnot, but when someone is saying it's a safety issue I think we're kind of compelled. Let's make sure are we comfortable with what is currently out there or do we need to stop Doing something if the potential is someone's going to get hurt Right, I think what we'll need to do and and jim may want to weigh in is that we're going to need to go out and evaluate it ourselves as well and and decide what's uh, what's what What if anything is needed to be done, uh, you know more sooner than later and what uh What does not present a significant risk that immediate actions require, but that's going to take an evaluation Of what's out there? What are the costs? What are our resources? They and I totally get the flying golf balls. That's part of the part of the game That doesn't concern me, but it's some of the other issues that were addressed in that report um And then just on the capital investment the high priority list and i'm making the assumption these are the recommendations Lake construction, um, do we have a lake out there and could someone come expand a little bit more about that? Suggested $88,000 investment Yeah, the the lake construction item is specifically related to creating a new lake for benet valley golf course for for storage purposes Um, right now the storage for the irrigation system is through the creek Um, which I believe has been going on for a number of years and is not necessarily Um kosher with the authorities. However, um, it's something that has been You know sort of going on for some time So we feel it is a a very high priority for the city to consider creating their own storage on site um in order to um You know fill the the irrigation system with the water that you need to distribute on the golf course and um Related to that some of the water is actually leaving the site currently So we feel like there's um a big opportunity for you guys to capture and store your own water Um, you have wells out there that you can use and the idea would be to get benet valley golf course completely Removed from the creek With respect to using it for any kind of storage capacity Um, it would be better for the environment. It'd be better for the golf course You guys would have a surplus of water kind of etcher to use as needed And um, it would also add, you know an aesthetic element to the course as well and potentially The opportunity to create um, you know some interest to some of the holes Okay, thank you Council member Fleming Yes, thank you. Um, I have all the questions one is around the Turning the clubhouse into more of the sports bar 19th hole feel You mentioned in one part of the presentation that the that that Part of the golf course has potential to be a revenue generator for events Is that lost if it goes from being a more formal setting to being a more informal setting? No, certainly not. I think that it's a flexible space and it can it can do both One of the things that that really stood out to us is that It seemed from the meetings that we had and from the interviews that we did that the golfers don't use the event center and restaurant They just leave the property after their round of golf Um, I think that the the building is designed in such a way that the space can be flexible That the section of the event center that is an event center can remain an event center But other sections that were currently or prior to the pandemic being used as a restaurant Could be modified into more of a of a 19th hole or sports bar type atmosphere during the day for golfers And then modified a little bit every evening to become more of a restaurant in the evening I think that that's that's certainly something that can be done um And uh, the space is flexible enough to accommodate that Okay, that's helpful to know the other one is around recruiting, you know, younger people women people of color Uh, I just wonder what techniques are are working and what really when I talk to people who are you know more fit that demographic And that includes people like myself, you know, the there was one huge barrier that they can't get around with just time And the amount of time that it takes to play golf just isn't really accessible to many working parents and younger people So how do we make sure that this is an asset that can be used by a wide swath of our community? And how have you how have you specifically dealt with the time commitment issue associated with golf? Yeah, it's a great it's a great point and and we have often identified that in our own research at ngf That time is the number one issue. It's not even it's not even money. It's it's time availability um a couple of responses to that I think that in general to improve participation from less traditional segments, we have found that programming that is targeted to them Is the number one way to do that? various group programming and lessons and camps and things like that tend to work really well Targeted specifically and in terms of the time availability. I think that Allowing your patrons to bite it off in a little smaller chunks The availability of nine whole rounds some golf courses have been even really flexible in an offering Three-hole and six-hole loops that people can use and you also have a really nice driving range there That can be used for for a little better time commitment. There is a growing segment In golf that of what we call range only participants And that is people who are participating in golf only using a driving range never actually playing on a golf course So that is certainly still golf participation A lot of times they they learn and start to get involved on the driving range And then they can work their way up to playing a three-hole or six-hole or nine-hole loop and then work their way up to 18 holes So I think that through programming and making a commitment having your operator make a commitment to this I think we'll go a long way to address that Thank you. I appreciate it That's member rogers Hi, thank you for your presentation I had a question about the the clubhouse are there No improvements that need to be made in the clubhouse that investments would need to be Put into the clubhouse. Is it just ready to go or was that just not a part of this presentation No, it was a part of the presentation. I don't think there are any major issues I mean it's been closed for a while So there may be some things that you'll have to do to kind of restart it But we did not observe anything that was a major capital investment You know a roof issue or hvac or things like that that that are going to require large-scale investment to address There may be some re you know starting starting back up again because it's been closed for a while And and maybe some modification of space and some interiors that that you could pretty up a little bit But no we did not see any large-scale capital investment that would be required with that building this Uh, correct me if i'm wrong Was there not an issue in the kitchen that would need some investment to fix kitchen refrigerator grading water um Help me don't smile I'm going to jump in there and just say that there There are some minor improvements it will have to make related to ADA compliance And fixing the freezer for those of you who've been on out to take the tour of the golf course and the restaurant There's some minor modifications to reopen The kitchen floor is not a requirement to reopen and get going again. Um, but we do have some other minor modifications um, such as paint and fixing places where signage was attached and Some minor modifications to ADA compliance that can be covered with the current Capital improvement program we have right now. So we're in a good position to reopen on july 1st Thank you That's member mcdonald Thank you for the presentation I do have a few questions if you don't mind clarifying for me The first question I have is have you seen an increase to golf during Covid Because it's an outdoor sport and have you seen that across the board and is there any concern Because of the flexibility of work schedules right now that the revenue that you're you're projecting is based on maybe a current time I think both of your observations are are exactly correct That is exactly why we have seen a a surge in golf One has been that it's an outdoor activity and it's something that people felt safe doing in the early parts of the pandemic And it really attracted a lot of new players Who gave it a try and seemed to really and enjoy it and then secondly has been the flexibility of scheduling And to the extent that that becomes permanent for a lot of workers I think that there's great opportunity for people to get out and enjoy golf and control their schedules a little bit better And I think those two things are that is exactly correct. That is exactly what is driving this little mini boom in golf that we've seen the last two years Thank you. Um as far as the um investment I saw that there was one slide that was about 6.5 million And then there's another slide that's 7 million So are you suggesting that the council consider 13.5 million over time and the initial investment would be 6.5 million With the option of investing another seven I think that's exactly again. That's exactly the way to present it. Yes. Thank you mission critical items and then the other pieces option Thank you. And um How long would the golf course be closed after you start the improvements? If we were to start during the timeline that's recommended Yeah, there's a lot of it depends there. I'll let jeff address that a little bit I mean ultimately you probably just wanted to get it over within one fail swoop To just you know get to minimize the disruption But that means shutting it down and you're not going to have revenue and some some other communities Up to try to do it one piece at a time so they can try to keep some revenue coming in But um, I don't know jeff. I mean how long total do you think? Yeah, I mean Ideally you would do everything at once. It's the most cost effective and time efficient way, but um I can say from experience it rarely happens that way. Um If you were to go all in on this course, um right now and pursue all the improvements And you had a good contractor and good weather and everything. Um, you could probably expect nine to 12 months Um of it being closed for the renovation But if you go with a more phased approach, um, then obviously there's a whole range of timelines that you could get into depending on Whether you want to close nine at a time and and keep nine open for play or you know Do certain items on this list one year and do it the next year That's that's really where a long-term master plan is going to help you It's actually kind of a roadmap Into your future and through that exercise You'll find out, you know, what the highest priorities are And what the phasing of all this work could look like Again in an ideal world you do it all at once and just be done with it, but um, that's not always realistic Thank you, and I just have um one more question and then a comment How much is a membership or a season pass currently and what would be the recommendation? I didn't I didn't see it if I apologize if I didn't Read it correctly I forgot what that number is Pull it out. I don't remember off the top of my head I believe it's about $2,000 Yeah, I was going to say Richard you might be able to correct me But what I have here in my latest list from January 1st, 2021 Is the annual single pass is $1,930 for a couple. It's $3,090 And for a single weekday's only it's $1,150 and for senior week limited weekdays only couple it's $1,840 for annual passes Right Right and there aren't many of them. I mean, I think that the numbers that I was given there's only like 115 total Of these memberships that that are out there in the public. So the vast majority of play At bennett valley is a single single use paid for play Thank you So my only other question is um for those that were on the task task force Did we work with the chamber in any way around this and how to Work on promotion or do we do that typically in this Circumstance and and thank you so much for your thorough answers. I appreciate it I'm going to kick it over to the uh chair of the ad hoc For our response. Thank you. Thank you for the question. We did not work with the chamber The concepts of promotion will be partially dependent on What exactly we do out there and how we improve it when we improve it But i'm sure that that conversation will be taking place when we can offer A fairly clear picture as to what we're planning on improvements and a timeline as well And then uh, they probably won't be won't be the only organization that we enlist for Recommendations and involvement as well because it is a community asset But thank you And I will mention and I'd mentioned at a previous discussion on this My intention is to keep the ad hoc In place up through the new contractor Taking uh effect and then in the past santa rosa has had a standing committee on golf That has allowed for public participation in partnerships with the chamber and other organizations that would like to participate My intention is once we have the new operator in place for some of these longer term issues to reconstitute that standing committee As that avenue for public engagement on these topics Are any other questions from council I think gen the only question that I Have and I know the answer to it But I also know the public wants to keep hearing a response is with the approval tonight Does this keep us on track to have continuity of play at the golf course? I know that that's been the chief concern that a lot of folks have and and actually when I hear the the 9 to 12 month Timeline for making these changes One of the things that I'm particularly weary of is Don't lose a captive audience right that we've been through the pandemic. You have people who've started to play We've seen this increase We know that we have these investments that we need to make so how do we make sure that we don't lose people by losing continuity of play particularly through the new operator, but then also as we talk about the Investments that we need to make in the course Right I I 100% agree one of the primary targets we've had is looking at these two ways of moving forward With a management company that will allow us To provide that continuity of service get as close as we can to within three to five days Hopefully zero days without golf But we're looking at, you know, possibly a maximum of five days without golf t times, but With this management operation and approval of the scope of services tonight, we'll be in A good position to be able to have Continuity of operation starting july 1st Great. Thank you And richard when you've seen other communities go through this approach Have you typically seen One operator that specializes in all three at the same time? Or do you see partnerships where maybe there's two partners that come in with a proposal where one? Specializes in the event center and the 19th hole type of a situation and one opera once the golf operator What do you typically see? And typically both. I mean there there are certainly operators entities out there who who you'll feel confident and have the experience to do all three elements of a golf operation But others may look at this opportunity as unique And recognize that the bennett valley offering is unique and in order to put their best foot forward in their bid toward the city They may look to bring in a more of a restaurant food and beverage type partner To to augment their bid and say well, you know, we can run the golf and we'll help We'll get some help from another entity who can help us with the event center Great. Thank you. Let's go ahead and go to public comment on this item And others quite a few folks in attendance on zoom if you are interested in providing comment hit the raise hand feature on Your zoom function. I'll also look to the chambers to see if we have a public comment here Go ahead. Mr. DeWitt My name is DeWayne DeWitt. I'm from roseland. I'm quite concerned about this whole endeavor It's been a situation that appears to be a bit of a white elephant I would offer full privatization And a private entity to fund everything is the best thing for the taxpayers Right now Mr. Singer had said the city income barely covers expenses He also pointed out that the maintenance budget is not well tracked The thing that was most important to me was he said the city has to ask itself what it wants So with that in mind That would mean Rather, what do the citizens and the taxpayers for the entire city want? Said there was currently 115 memberships That's all in a city of 180 000 people Also said that The funds may Depending upon weather and other situations Cover the expenses that come up A question you should ask before you make any decision tonight is How many people actually use this course? I didn't hear that in this discussion in the sense of On a daily basis on a monthly basis on a yearly basis And how many of those people are Santa Rosa residents? That's important because it's been almost 25 years Since Santa Rosa was looking to do another golf course in the past And this gentleman tonight pointed out that some golf courses have closed Santa Rosa didn't need to do another golf course At the turn of the century The city came forward with an idea that they would do a place to play park And that there would be a Santa Rosa youth athletic field trust that would help to make that park a reality That park is still struggling It has never even obtained its basic potential So you have an entire West side of the city Hoping that a place to play park will get finished up 20 years down the road And here you're dealing with this golf course Which became a problem through mismanagement Of a highly paid city employee So I would really recommend and ask That you reach out to the entire city not just the bennett valley save the golf course folks Reach out do some sort of a survey And say young people are you going to go out here and do this? Give it a thought maybe go home and watch a caddyshack Or happy gilmore And get those young people laughing about golf and they might get on out there Carl the assistant screenkeeper Mentioned he had made a high-bred grass Kentucky bluegrass in northern california sinse mea. Thank you Thank you, mr. Dewitt And I will respond just really quickly whenever we do an approval for any park or any amenity for the city We do reach out to everybody including our youth. So I do want to just make that clear I'll come back to andrew followed by steve on zoom Yeah, this is andrew smith One thing I did not hear tonight On the combining of the golf course operations with the restaurant Did anyone look at the situation with windsor? Do they have a single vendor for both the golf course and the restaurant? And then they subcontracted out for the restaurant I know my wife and I go there periodically It does not seem to cater to the golfers And I will make a comment that you know most golfers don't really use the The restaurant when it was open other than getting some drinks and everything So as anyone looks at what windsor is doing has a reference point. That's number one I understand the need to invest and I think that's great because it's lacking We just can't drive up the cost to play too much. This is a competitive business And there's lots of good public golf courses around real nearby So keep that in mind as far as the trees issue A tree is a part of then a valley golf course and they've grown up and It's like a forest out there. You just learn to deal with it But I haven't had any issues or seen issues of people being hit by golf balls I know time is of the essence But I would hope you would look at the windsor situation What they're doing to guide you through this. Thank you very much Thank you. We'll go to steve Yeah, thank you Mayor rogers and the rest of the city council appreciate the the presentation and I just like to reinforce the The community here citywide and as well as other Members of other cities here that are appreciative of the asset that The city of santa rosa provides the public This the the benna valley golf course is an amazing asset here in our community and The use by I think all members of the community old young and new golfers Is is something that the city needs to support along with the other Amenities that the city has you know with the the parks the the swimming pools It's it's it's a part of a comprehensive community outdoor ability to to use the the beautiful Um environments that we enjoy here. I appreciate the The input from From richard and and jeff on on improving the golf course and I think they're dead on With their assessment of the irrigation system and drainage as the primary needs for the to really improve the course out there I think that's the the biggest asset that are the biggest need for the asset um And I uh, excuse me I hope that the city approves this this proposal and moves forward with um golf operations and We can figure out a way to To integrate the the improvements with continuing play. I think that's a pretty easy thing to do out there I think the the folks who play out there have been used to the Struggles that our existing maintenance staff have gone through to try to keep this this course operational and and frankly have done a fantastic job of With bubble gum and bailing wire to keep that that golf course as playable and beautiful as it is And I will say for the the restaurant operations The the patio out there is the best sit in sonoma county You sit out there In an afternoon like we had this afternoon and if we don't utilize that asset for the entire community Um, we're wasting the asset that is underutilized at this point So I think getting that off the restaurant operations back up and running and optimizing them for folks who Golf and folks who don't golf. It's a it's a great setting and a great place for us to enjoy Our community and I hope that there's an opportunity to Bring in folks with the expertise For restaurant operations for event operations. I think that's a good place to bring that into into play as well So I appreciate your time and thank you All right. Thank you steve. Do we have any pre-recorded voicemails? We do not mayor. All right. I'm going to bring it back to council Richard one of the questions that was asked was specifically about looking towards Windsor And lessons learned from that golf course. Can you talk a little bit about what your process was and what you learned by looking at theirs? Yeah, I didn't look that closely specifically at Windsor We looked at several others and there's a lot of different mixes of how These things can be run, but I think the primary finding that we came up with is that Focusing that a food and beverage operation at a golf course should focus on the golfers That's your primary source and I think a good operator a smart operator is going to do that And to make sure that the golfers are happy and comfortable and then if there's additional revenue they can pick up with some other Events or restaurant activity and things like that They'll do it But the priority is for for the golfers and I think that that's really the main part of our focus on in our recommendations And mayor if I could chime in I have had conversations with Windsor operators and they concur with Richard's point which is the restaurant even though they attend and they try to support the Golf operations and the golfers themselves It is just it's just not the place that they're interested in going either during or after The round of golf and so While I know that there's interest in trying to make that convenient that that's the discussion that I had with Windsor's operator All right. Thank you so much Jason and thank you for your work on this Uh councilmember Sawyer, let's put a motion on the table for discussion Thank you mayor So i'm going to introduce a motion to approve Let's see hold on a second To approve a scope of services for management of bennett valley golf course and number two authorized release the request for for proposals RFP to solicit for a single operator management organization to operate and maintain the bennett valley golf course And restaurant and three to approve and review To approve the review committee composition And for delegated authorities to the city manager or designee to further modify the scope of work and or the rfb process And composition of the review committee provided such changes are consistent with or do not otherwise conflict with council direction That's it We have a motion from councilmember Sawyer The second from councilmember mcdonald Do we have any discussion on the item? councilmember mcdonald I just had a question if we reached out to the santa rosa city schools to find out if they had golf teams at any of the High schools and what facility they currently use Or if they would be interested in working with us on on something on the bennett valley golf course for their golf teams Well, it's a good question. And I I think that you know once we have a A company in place that's looking to Help us move forward in the reparations of the golf course You know with there as a you know the management company themselves Would be very interested in I would believe in furthering their visibility as the golf course's visibility and and coming up with creative Possibilities like you just mentioned to increase increase play at the golf course. So they will be That's part of the reason to have a management company Is they will have Good ideas not, you know, not unlike the one you just mentioned to increase play at the golf course once the reparations are in place And the management are those reparations And I'll also share in doing outreach and talking with neighbors The stories that I heard that were the most impactful were when Parents were telling me about how important it was to their kids to be able to play there And that if particularly when one of the things that we had talked about was potentially moving it into an executive course To make it shorter and faster to play that would make them ineligible for a lot of Hosting of other high schools and their own high schools to play So that was one of the big concerns that I heard repeatedly from folks was Make it accessible to kids make it accessible to our high school youth and give them a place to be able to play So I do want to share that And if I could mayor, um, I would like to Especially thank before we take our vote Um, because the work was in place Um, Jen and her team for coming up with a scope of services that was amazingly comprehensive. It's a it's a very well thought out um, and complete Um document that will help guide The selection of a an operator at the golf course. So, um, thank you, Jen for and and Jason as well I mean, there are so many people involved in the my the ad hoc committee. Thank you for your diligence And meeting to to help guide the this this process And to save the the bennett valley golf course organization as well that represent Not only the people in in bennett valley, but city-wide That were, uh, heavily involved in Helping to guide the decision making. Um, so no small amount of community involvement there and the national golf federation recommendations as well appreciate their thoughtful recommendations and their challenge to identify those Issues that are most important To rectify as we move forward. I think that's being able to prioritize is going to be very very important Um, and having a plan in place Um, it will be equally as important and I look forward to that as well Thank you councilmember. Any other comments Councilmember rogers I have a question So Let's say this is approved tonight um And the rfp goes out and then they find someone at the Funding the money doesn't quite Make sense Um, then what happens? Well, I would say that we we do have a bit of funding right now in the golf course enterprise that we'll be looking at uh going forward and We'll have options to consider on how to report, but there will be Um, we will be looking at it comprehensively And I think it gets back to that question that richard asked on as a city. How do we move forward with this? Do we keep it rolling or do we? Um, do we close it and you know our recommendation as well as the bit of valley golf course is to look at keep it going Look at keeping it going Certainly the higher Cost of improving the golf course. We'll be coming back to the council with options on how to fund that And I think it's a it's going to be an interesting discussion on how to move forward and I know that Richard and his team have already done some early evaluation on how to fund those larger Um, larger construction issues, but as far as operational means, I think we're looking at a smaller um A smaller dollar amount moving forward and I think it's something we'll be able to consider as we move forward and make those Make those considerations at that time But in order to get there we we've got to have we've got to get started with the rfp process And I don't know for sure if you have anything else to Add as far as your early financial analysis so far Well, I think the only thing I would add to that is is is in the way Council councilman's question Is there short term and long term implications of that? I think short term It looks like you've got it covered That you should be able to deal with the transition to get this up and running on july 1st But longer term, you know, if a year from now two years from now three years from now You're operating with your management company And the city is taking full control of bennett valley and you find that you're not operating profitably Then I think you're gonna have to you might have to revisit this at some point, you know down the road as to how you're running it Um, we project that you will be able to do it profitably But it's uh, it's a tough business and you're at the mercy of things you can't control like like I mentioned earlier So the there's always a possibility that it may not work out, but short term. I think you look covered long term It's just a wait and see So through the mayor councilmember rogers We're here Um One of the things that we could look at is doing alone from our general fund But at this time we don't have a way to pay for this I know So the rfp goes out, but nothing is signed until we actually Have a way To to fund To fund this Right the rfp will go out and we'll we'll receive the proposals back rfp's standard As a routine basis Do include a provision that all proposals can be rejected Um, if we got to the point where we received the proposals the proposals did not pencil out That would be an option. Um, we would be also looking at what financing um at my understanding from um From gen is that we will be bringing that separately kind of the funding element of this all To you. Um, and I don't know the timing how that You know what the exact timing of that in in connection with rfp responses And if I can if I can help out as well, we're we're talking about uh, two different things One is the rfp for the continuity of services at the golf course That's what we're talking about tonight the other and I think the question's getting conflated Is the seven million dollar price tag for the immediate needs and then the potential additional six that were in there Though those are separate from this conversation about the continuity of services though could be accounted for in the rfp What I heard from richard and what I've heard from the team consistently is With the funds existing in the enterprise fund We we are fairly confident about the transition into a new operator But then the long-term aspects or the long-term investments. Those are what we'll have to talk about either through The way that it's managed or Other types of funding that comes from the city Thank you So when you say that we have the for the for the transition Does that mean that we have the? Uh 6.5 million dollars No, I So we've got uh You're saying it's it's two different things But for me it's the same thing if i'm putting out a rfp That's like me going and looking for a contractor to do work on my house And I know I don't have enough money in my bank account to cover the the contractor And so for me I look at it. It's all connected Well, I think part of it The list of improvements that need to be made One have not been signed off on by the city So as the city attorney said she'll probably need to have folks from the city go out and do some of the assessment as well And then we haven't prioritized it as a council either. So for example the recommendation about not being able to see Uh onto the the next course over the next hole over and the potential of not knowing to call for In the in the meantime when I know tom's on the course I'm just going to assume that I'm going to hear for and keep my my wits about me That might not be the top priority of what we're going to invest in so we haven't had that conversation yet What we're talking about is keeping the course Open and accessible with a new operator and then talking about a long-term strategy after that to make the investments to make it a better course Right now it's a functional course It does need irrigation. It does need either other upgrades, but right now it's functional I I was just playing it not too long ago. And so that's kind of what that's why I'm saying it's kind of two separate conversations I do see that alan I do see that alan is waiting to be promoted as well. So he might be able to weigh in And and mayor I could offer if if possible Some additional discussion as well I think one of the comments that Richard made early on is is revenue associated with golf play And with operations of the restaurant and event center equal roughly about four and a half million dollars annually That's the fund source that would end up paying for the maintenance or for the management contract That we would like to solicit for right now That's irregard irrespective of future capital investment, but from an operational perspective It's the revenue stream from golf operations and the restaurant operations and event center that would pay for the management company's Cost of providing service But and if I may add on to that the well what we could do with this under this option Is that it provides us the time To allow us to figure out what a financing plan would look like how we could Move forward from either a financing standpoint or through a loan standpoint, whatever it may take in order to do that Yet still maintain the operations going at its current current way So it buys the city some some time to figure out the the more longer term on it Thank you Is there any more council member sire? Thank you, mayor. I'm a couple things First of all, I don't think it is necessarily fair to Compare the future Of this golf course and its operation with the past We have a major opportunity here We have funding available to Begin part of the work We have an obligation as an enterprise fund to make this asset fully sustainable Independent of the general fund Might there be some Some play in that Temporarily yes potentially that we may be looking for Alternative funding, but also what alan mentioned was that there are opportunities there But we are we are we have an obligation that this be a self-sustaining property And asset for the city because that as an enterprise fund that that is the nature of it And that we will endeavor to do that and it according to the national golf federation recommendations They believe that that the the future Is bright for the golf course, but not inexpensive in especially in the in the short and mid term But we have to look to the future and Santa Rosa I think is We'll we'll be looking at this asset differently after the repairs are made and the The community has full use of the course again Regardless of how we have to phase it if we end up phasing it which is probably what we would end up doing But I just I think it's important not to look back At how it was run before and and and the lack of profit that came to the city That is part of what we are looking to change that is part of that is the dynamic and the paradigm that we are looking to change with this With these recommendations So I think it's you know, it's we have to be you know, think boldly about this golf course It is a major asset and I don't think anyone would argue that But we need to We it needs investment. It has there's a lot of deferred maintenance And that was part of the A lack of management and oversight at times That we are trying to correct that is that that is our task And I'm I'm hoping that it that we that the council gives this asset an opportunity to shine any other comments Go for it councilmember Um, so I've been out to the bennett valley golf course and I cannot argue that it is a very beautiful asset that We have um here at the city um But I also can't can't argue when I look at the price tag that that is very frightening for me knowing that um We have departments that we need to restore to full staff capacity um that we can increase our recreation staff and have More programming that we have roads that need um improvements around the city um that we need help with our um Our unhoused residents there there are so many Things that we need to do Within our city. So I I am very concerned when I see something with such a high price tag um And I look at those dollars and where they could just go towards other things within our community or other projects Um within our community that to me Will touch and reach more people That live within our community that live in the city of santa rosa. So I think that ad hoc for all the work that they have done And I I think the groups within bennett valley that have been showing Their passion and I'm sorry for my my line of questioning Sorry, not not so sorry, but um like for my line of questioning But I just I'm looking at the price tag and it's just Like it's a lot when I'm thinking of all the other things that we can do in our community to help so many um So many people So that is uh my line of questioning and why I'm asking the question is because I don't want to put the cart before The horse and us not knowing and then we will have to figure out how we're going to pay for something When we've already gone so far down A road so thank you House member mcdonald Just for clarification under fiscal impact for the staff report I see that there is no fiscal impact on general fund As far as we moving for us moving forward on an rfp process and that will not have a fiscal Impact at all in the general fund and that there was a revenue Due to cell phone towers of $50,000 a year that's currently coming in to general fund if i'm not incorrect, so While I really appreciate your comments Council member rogers I do think that it's important for us to move forward To the on the rfp process to continue to get the golf course up and running And at a later time we'll be able to come back and discuss the improvements and how we would be able to fund that Through a different item agenda item if i'm if i'm reading this all correctly So thank you And jason did you want to jump in there? Okay any other comments Mr. Vice mayor Thank you mayor Whether whether we realize or not the decision To fund and fix this project was made Probably before legends was introduced into the property uh The reality is That we as a public entity created this issue And I think that we're morally obligated to fix The issues that exist on this property Irrigation being one of them and I remind folks that This is indeed an enterprise district or an asset Unlike a park We hope that it generates funds Makes revenue And i'm reminding my father's words when he says If you don't put in money Don't expect to get money Rosalind is a prime example of that And thinking of housing and thinking of all the needs that we have sent roses in need There are 175 acres of prime real estate land there That can easily compensate any investment that we make today or tomorrow I don't want to see real estate developments on a gem But ultimately We must show our residents of san rosa's a whole That we were willing to go the extra mile To achieve a yes And that is why i'm confident in the investment that must be made for this project. Thank you Thank you councilmember All right, madam city clerk. Can you please call the vote? Thank you mayor Councilmember schwedhelm. Hi Councilmember soyer. Hi Councilmember rogers. Hi Councilmember mcdonald. Hi Councilmember fleming Vice mayor alvarez. Hi Mayor rogers. Hi that motion passes with seven eyes Thank you council So we let's do a little time check here at 6 30 I do want us to get through item 15.1. That's the first of two public hearings tonight Let's do that Take a quick dinner break and then come back for item 15.2 Just want to remind folks we do have to make sure that our public hearings begin Prior to nine o'clock. Otherwise, we cannot hear them. So let's get 15.1 See where we're at take a dinner break and then come back for 15.2 Public hearing item 15.1 is a resolution authorizing filing a grant application for fta section 5310 funds for purchase of replacement a da pair transit vehicles And this is a continuation item from february the 1st 2022 Oh, there's been a change in them and staff member Deputy director deputy director ead will be presenting the The report Thank you. Actually, there there is a little bit of a change there Yuri closlin our transit planner will present the item tonight, but I will be here as well to provide any additional Information that's needed. Sorry about that Thank you, rachel Mayor council. Thank you for your time We're here tonight for a public hearing and resolution authorizing the filing of a grant application for fta section 5310 funds for Americans with disability act Basically a da pair transit vehicles next slide these this grant is a It's a federal grants federal trans administration section 5310 program. It's authorized under title 43 The funds are to improve mobility for seniors and persons with disabilities It's administered through caltrans. So caltrans is the recipient of the 5310 funds and is responsible for administering these funds next slide So the 5310 grant has two project types There's the traditional which is funding of vehicles or equipment and then there's the expanded which Is as cool as to kind of expand the pair transit services provided the city is applying for the traditional program Um, there are other community organizations that historically And and for this round of grant that that are seeking funding under the expanded program Here at city bus, we do continue to look at those funds as a possible source for different programs and as we kick off the short-range transit plan process Here in the summer we'll we'll be seeking the public's input on Different services we can provide which some of those may be able to be Funded in the future through the expanded program but for tonight. We're talking about the traditional program next slide So the traditional application process Requires public agencies like ourselves to certify that there are no other nonprofit agencies readily available to provide The proposed services readily available means willing interested and capable of providing the proposed services at similar cost To the same clientele same service area With the same hours of frequency and an equivalent level of service And next slide So just to quick on what the pair transit services and what what these vehicles would be used for so Santa Rosa pair transit is essentially a required requirements the federal Federal transit administration essentially all Transit agencies that have fixed route buses are required to provide pair transit services within three quarters of a mile of this Of that fixed route and these are for people who can't all the time access city bus The services provided with city owned vehicles and city contracted operations Um other nonprofits may competitively apply for the funds in the traditional program even if not replacing our pair transit services Historically we have sought these traditional funds and in 2017 we asked for five vehicles and we're awarded for 2019 we asked for seven vehicles and we're awarded one And and now we're seeking Some of those seven vehicles in this application process next slide So the vehicles that we are requesting our our Gas vehicles And they're not electric. So we want to make sure that we address that concern as city buses leading an effort to Build chargers and electrify our fixed route fleets the the state requirement to start purchasing Fixed route vehicles that are electric does not apply to the pair transit gas and vehicles In 2026 this this may change but currently there there There are no vehicles that at least that that are available that are available to use federal funds That are electric vehicles so the electric vehicle market is quite limited and And we're still waiting on our infrastructure to build so there's there's a number of unknown factors But as we in the next round that we seek for a pair transit vehicle replacement we expect to to take another look at this next slide So we're holding this public meet public hearing to meet the federal 5310 requirements determined if any private nonprofit is readily available to provide pair transit services within the city within the city We're ensuring that nonprofits within santa rosa have been notified of this opportunity and are able to comment on 5310 on our application We've published a notice Of this public hearing in the press democrat We've also directly emailed All the available The list of nonprofits so we're aware of that include 35 nonprofits and governmental organizations letting them know that this public hearing was occurring and that we are seeking For these vehicles And and just to date Staff have not received any correspondence that there are not that there are any nonprofits that are available in range to provide this service So we're we're also so we're also seeking that beyond beyond the public hearing We want to seek that that the city manager or designee is Authorized to execute about a grant application with caltrans for the for the FTA and such a 5310 Program to purchase these five replacement EDA pair transit vehicles Next slide So the benefits, um, you know, there's the community support community support service. This is the the the pair transit service provides trips for many day programs and Many many services as well as individuals To date we have received the city's received eight letters of support for this application including some of the very well known Agencies in in Santa Rosa including the robom center for the of the blind chops team team club and Catholic Charity Center here This this grant will allow us to modernize our continue to modernize our fleet The majority of the grant majority of our funds are grant funded and this grant covers the majority of the costs of the vehicles And we just continue to invest in and sustain infrastructure here at the city Next slide So the recommended it is recommended by the transportation and public works department The council in the one all the public hearings determine whether any nonprofit is readily available to provide pair transit To the city and to by resolution authorized city manager or designee to execute and file a grant application with the California Department of Transportation Caltrans under federal transit act section 5310 FTA seem 90 70 got 1g to purchase five replacement avian care transit units With that you take any questions Great. Thank you so much Yuri So I'll I'll start with just a couple of questions particularly around the electrification question What is the timeline that we're talking about from submittal of the grant to award To purchase to actually seeing the vehicles on the road great question our Our 2017 vehicles We got on the road about three years after the award so So that's I think that's that's you know that that was during some covid related issues But I think three years is an approximate time frame and With the proposed upgrades that we have to the fleet yard Will the electrification Capacity have increased enough to potentially have these vehicles At this point, you know that the the procurement options that we have for these vehicles do not include an electrific electric Paratransit vehicle these are take you mind these are smaller vehicles than our than our larger 40 foot And the kind of state focus is and and and the availability of vehicles on the market Are really focused on these larger vehicles We have committed to having nine Electric 40 foot fixed route vehicles in place by 2025 Um, and that's going from zero right now Uh, you know, we have four on order, but so including those four five additional vehicles Um is is the commitment that we have Uh, agreed to Does that answer your question? Yeah, and you got to the core of where I was going with the the question is it because so we're not Proposing the grant for electric ADA vehicles Largely not because the city isn't trying to electrify our fleet, but because there's no option that's available currently in the marketplace Correct. Yeah, the the vehicles of the smaller vehicles that require that have the Under this grant would require the federal testing Those vehicle the the the size vehicle does not has not gone through that testing process Okay, that's really helpful. Thank you And if I could just chime in mayor, I just want to add, you know, one one thing that is a potential A plus is that, you know, these vehicles have a much shorter useful life than the fixed route buses So fixed route buses we're replacing every 12 to 15 years these vehicles. Their useful life is only five years So, you know, these vehicles are purchasing now where we don't have that option to purchase electric vehicles We'll have a much shorter time frame to be back again to replace them and potentially then be In a position where the market is providing, you know, a federally altuna tested product And we will have further developed our charging infrastructure to be able to effectively charge them as well So, um, you know, we'll be we'll be we'll have a chance again Sooner than we do on the fixed route side to replace these vehicles with electric Great, that's really helpful. I appreciate that. Thank you, rachel and urie. Let's see if there are any other questions council member Fleming Thank you, mayor. The mayor asked the majority of my questions, but the the last one is Is there a federal testing program in in the work so that Because what I would hate to do is be here in five years again Is already giving me heartburn to buy more gas-powered vehicles period so am I going to be Doing that again in five years I know there are a number of Vehicle manufacturers that are waiting to get on to the altuna course And there are some that have been through some of the early stages of that testing And then there's there's and then there's there's also the procurement mechanism. We typically use the states Contract to that they've already that they've procured through and so then that that process also has to To There has to be a new bid opportunity in which those manufacturers are able to put Their electric vehicle on that bid and more of us to buy it. But yes I I At the conferences you you see the manufacturers just just waiting to line up to get their vehicles tested and You know trying to get Get on to the bid so I don't expect we'll be here in you know, we have one Fair transit vehicle that Is it's kind of the next Next in line for purchase that one may may not be able to get it with that That particular vehicle, but I would accept expect in the next grouping of vehicles You would you would definitely see it. Um But we we will say um Um, you know a breath of any New developments in that field for sure. Thank you so much Is there anything that we as a city can do to make sure that The vehicles that do meet the federal testing guidelines do land on the state procurement list In terms of advocacy Yeah, I'll take that one Yeah, for sure, you know, we're working very closely with our industry association on on these issues around electrification one because of our our interests along with the councils and climate action but also Because we all are subject to the state mandates around transit fleet electrification that as Yuri mentioned extend To paratransit vehicles effective as soon as 2026 and I was going to mention That's one reason why I expect with a market the size of california and the thousands of paratransit vehicles operating in california You know, I think we're going to see we're seeing a market response to really want to provide those vehicles as an option Um to to meet that mandate But what we are certainly doing our part working through our statewide industry association, uh to promote Pushing the envelope and getting those vehicles available and we are seeing movement at the state For example, there is now the state contract. We're using to buy our 40 foot buses That's that was uh led a couple years ago now. We're that's a mechanism that's available on the fixed route side And uh, we know there's work underway to put together, uh, you know a statewide contract for uh Paratransit type vehicles as soon as as the market can provide the tested, you know federally approved Uh fleet so so I think you know, we're very active in that and um can continue to uh to work through Our connections at the state and with our industry association to promote Moving the needle on that. That's great to hear. Thank you to you both Any other questions from council council member mcdonald? Well, my question was around, um, you know the conversion of school buses right now as an initiative that's being proposed And so I wasn't sure if this is a same type of Vehicle or if it's it's completely different than a school bus or if there was grant funds that we could potentially apply for later on down the road um to actually convert Our uh gas to an electric vehicle or if it wouldn't even be appropriate. I'm not sure Yeah, it's um, I mean there there are just to be clear. There are Um vehicles of this size that are have aftermarket Electra electrification to them that the in this particular funding being better FTA funded there's There's this this altitude attesting is required and then to to to in order for us to purchase it has to be on a on a contract that is That meets federal procurement guidelines. So those those two pieces limit us We we could go out. Um, that's you know, it is feasible We haven't looked into it in terms of that five-year time frame and trying to get a vehicle You know You know converted to electric But it's it's partly because that useful life is so short For the vehicle that that uh, we we typically Would recommend that we just wait till that useful life's up and then see how see where the market is Because for like school buses, they have a much longer useful life Um, and and so do our 40 foot buses that like Rachel said they're you know We keep them at least 12 if not 15 to 18 years whereas these are five so I think those are some of the Factors that we're looking at but Yes, all right Let's go ahead go to public comment. This is a public hearing. So I'll go ahead and open the hearing If you have a comment on this item hit the raise hand feature on zoom I see no comments. Do we have any pre-recorded voicemails? We do not mayor. All right. I will close the public hearing bring it back for a motion from councilmember fleming Thank you. I'd like to move a resolution of the council of the city of santa rosa authorizing a grant application for federal funding under the federal transit administration section 5310 49 usc section 5310 program with the california department of Transportation and waive further reading of the text second So we have a motion from councilmember fleming and a second from councilmember rogers any additional discussion All right, let's call the vote councilmember schwedhelm. Hi councilmember soyer. Hi councilmember rogers. Hi councilmember mcdonald. Hi councilmember fleming Yes, vice mayor alvarez All right, mayor rogers. Hi that motion passes with seven eyes All right. Thank you so much yuri and rachel Let's go ahead and submit that grant and council. We will take a quick dinner break We'll come back at 7 30 with item 15.2 Welcome back. Madam city clerk. Can you please call the roll? Thank you councilmember schwedhelm here councilmember soyer here councilmember rogers councilmember mcdonnell here councilmember fleming Vice mayor alvarez Mayor rogers here let the record show that all council members are present. All right. Let's go to item 15.2. Please Item 15.2 is a public hearing on fiscal year 22 23 budget priorities My apologies Sorry, alan The presentation will be delivered by chief financial officer, uh, alan alton And and i'll cut him off really fast as well and say congratulations to alan And thank you for stepping up into the cfo position You're very welcome. Thank you for that. I appreciate it uh, mayor rogers and members of the council the item before you now is a budget priority public hearing for the fiscal year 2022 2023 budget Next slide please So to foster public engagement in the city's budget process And to be consistent with the city charter. We are requesting that the city council hold a public hearing seeking oral and written comment from the public on budget priorities for the upcoming year The charter states that this public hearing must occur Before council goal-setting process And no later than march 31st At any point the public can submit input written input on the budget online at usrcity.org Slash budget comments Next slide please So this hearing essentially kicked off our budget process We will do the goal setting next week on february 24th and 25th departments are currently developing and inputting their budgets and the The city manager and the cfo will review those in council will review the department budgets through our normal two-day budget workshop study session in may 10th and 11th and then We'll have the draft document of the fiscal year 22 23 budget available to the public june 6th with the adoption hearing held on june 21st Next slide please So with unless there are any questions of me or other staff, we would request the mayor open the public Thank you, alan. Let's see if there are any questions from council members before we open the public hearing and hear from the public Seeing none We'll open the public hearing if you're interested in providing comments on budget priorities leading into our Goal setting meeting next week. Go ahead and hit the raise hand feature on your zoom I see no hands. Do we have any voicemail public comments? We did not mayor Okay, we will go ahead and close the public hearing then We do have ample opportunity to continue to solicit input from folks I'd encourage council members to continue to talk with your districts as well And when we have our goal setting next week to bring those ideas and those priorities forward Are there any additional comments from the council? Okay, thank you alan that was quick If we appreciate the presentation Let's go back now to item 14.3 Report item 14.3 is appropriation of funds for one-time programs An approval of limited term media service services technician for three years The report will be given by chief financial officer alton All right, major or mayor rogers and members of the council This item we can go on to next page, please This item is the culmination of several city council study sessions and public outreach Where we have discussed the funding of programs with one-time money initially we Discuss programs of PG&E settlement funds Beginning back. I believe it was in the fall of 2020 And then beginning in july of 2021 we included American rescue plan or arpa funds Programs in those discussions So far the council has appropriated or committed 88 million dollars of PG&E settlement funds major initiatives in the city Including fire resiliency projects fire recovery projects Contribute Contributions to the renewal enterprise district or the red Contribute our contributions to the rose lawn library and and the commitment of fiscal recovery funds in the general fund to Secure the the general funds fiscal stability moving forward This left approximately or this left seven million dollars available for programs The projects in this item are those that receive consensus to move forward at the november 30th 2021 study session Admittedly this item does not go into detail of those programs as we did on november 30th or in previous study sessions the council provided us with What seemed like good direction to proceed with these programs in november and this item here basically Or formalizes the two spending plans With the council asking to appropriate the funds For the arpa programs. I did write out a more detailed spending plan which was Provides full of detail of the programs And that was attached to the staff report and will be included as Potentially included in our reporting going forward with us treasurer Next slide please so for the our public funds staff reviewed and presented council projects that would be eligible And would fit within the city's total funding allocation Which was about 34.6 million dollars We had a working group of eight city staff From different departments and different disciplines They reviewed the project with an eye toward diversity equity and inclusion As well as sustainability and impact on the economy Especially for those impacted businesses and individuals Based on discussions at the november 30th study session We added the construction of the rosalind community center at 10 million dollars to the list We made the funding fit by removing the fiber backbone project that was not yet project ready And removed the kovat 19 testing programming As we are currently being reimbursed under the fema program, which is providing 100 percent reimbursement And we also made some minor adjustments to the third year the homeless services Budget to bring us within the total allocation amount So of the amount allocated to the city of 34 million six hundred and thirty seven dollars four hundred and sixty five dollars six thirty seven four sixty five We are at 34 million six hundred and thirty seven dollars The program funding for the solid expenditures of ARPA funds must be spent by December 31st of 2026 Next slide please This is a visual representation of how the ARPA spending dollars are Allocated through the different types of of broad program definitions that ARPA gives So they're not necessarily the ones that that that we use as we were going forward But it does it's it's when we start tolling up and show it as In a pie chart And basically what you're seeing with this is that the majority of our funding is going toward Social programs out in the community Included within the services for Disproportionately impacted families is the construction of the rosalyn community Center Next slide please So in the the next few slides I list out the the programs that were included within the plan That you saw on November 30th So under that broad category of services for impacted families We have the after school programs at affordable housing housing site This is where we were We would Do programming within the the burbank housing Sites there Expand the recreation summer program. So this is going from four programs the six programs and I believe It would help serve an additional 250 youth There's the guaranteed basic income program which we will partner with snowman county and funds would go to Families within Santa Rosa and within the qualified census tract There's the children's savings account, which is a 529 plan run by First slide And in this program there there has been some Discussion about this one. We were able to confirm that it does work Uh, it is it is Eligible and in even better in that Because the families that would receive this funding Would be considered beneficiaries Once the sub recipient, which is first five distributes our funds To the community Then or to the eligible families within the community It would be off our books. So that would be one that we would That that we would be done with from our accounting And we were able to get this confirmed from treasury There was some question of whether If if the the family didn't use it for whatever reason Down the road or if the funding existed beyond 2026 with With this count under the ARPA rules and we were able to get the Clarification that it would so we're we're good to go with this Youth immigration attorney This is an attorney that would help Children move through the immigration process And basically support them specifically And then we talked about the rosalind community center. This would be $10 million construction of a facility at the At the hernan avenue side in in In rosalind and that would be combined with The library and And the fire station. So it's a grand project there. This is one one part of it Next slide, please So we also had a number of services allowed under our books for unhoused individuals There's the state parking with wraparound services And this uh, as I know with the astros, this is actually previously approved and appropriated by the council But i'm including it here. So it's officially part of our spending plan as as we go there and we have it in one long There is the The ability to fund our homeless services programs through arpa Through that so there's about nine point almost nine point five million dollars there that should do about Easily two years and into the third year of homeless services Uh Homeless services and then we have a samuel jones hall capital project. This is to install more permanent bathroom and shower facilities and other capital projects at samuel jones hall and mechanics And then I apologize. There's an error on this slide when we talk about behavioral health services That is really just a header That's it the 1.5 million was left over from another slide so you can disregard that Under behavioral health. This is it's kind of a Probably not the best Way to describe our n response unit, but it does it does Hit a lot of those characteristics. So that is the uh the funding for that which I believe is would bring that to a 24 seven operation and then uh next slide please Then we have Services for impacted businesses. So we have The small business tenant improvement program And the child care facility grant these are grant programs. So Once the money is granted away it does come back to the city which falls within arpa Guidelines and this allows for Us to be able to have businesses provide tenant improvements to help in Lighted area. Excuse me. Let me find my notes here Because staff did a wonderful job describing this it it's the The tenant improvement part is an investment for commercial retail buildings with storefront businesses uh encourages retenanting A vacant site to encourage economic development and avoid reduced blight By enhancing the physical appearance commercial viability And of course, we are targeting the qualified census tract areas for this to fall within arpa guidelines and then the child care support program this is and We're adding on to an existing program that we started under the Initial coded relief funds that came out And basically this will also be administered as a grant We'll include an emergency fund component to provide faster Easier access to funds and address cat catastrophic Events as a result of flooding or other unanticipated emergencies and again these would also be For use within the city limits Focused in the qualified census tract And finally we have the arpa program support Which We have been able to use To provide guidance and not only the eligibility of programs But now moving forward will be the reporting And uh and other works made sure that we are within guidance With my understanding of of some of the other federal programs that we've done these types of programs with Uh, there is a significant amount of reporting that that is required and to have somebody provide Subject matter expertise in Providing that type of reporting is invaluable to us next slide please So as with the arpa spending plan the council at the november 30th meeting provided consensus uh to move forward With certain programs and to add additional programs as a list So those two programs Where the down payment assistance program that we determined wouldn't be arpa eligible And then a local match for funds for vegetation management grants which promotes fire resiliency the council identified three programs the South santa rosa specific plan the uh rosalind creek park project and board and convention uh commission member siphon as programs that could be replaced To add in these other uh those other two programs The the down payment assistance program is about two million dollars With the vegetation management Local match at 1.225 million Unfortunately the addition of these two programs that the total spending plan Over the seven million dollars of available pgne funds However, unlike the arpa funds where there's a strict allocation cap in the case of pgne overage It means that you would just draw from your uncommitted general fund reserves to cover the difference And given the true one-time nature of these programs That would be a reasonable action to take Next slide please So this is a visual representation of how these programs since they A lot of them are focused within the city organization although some do go Out into the community but the management management of these programs is split within a number of different departments So even though I may mention that that that one may be part of community engagement or hr or Like that it's actually impacting a number of of uh departments within the city So in case like say the equity training or public records management or translation services Those are going to impact while they may be managed in one area. They're going to impact The uh the whole organization Through that Next slide please So these are also the Uh programs laid out. There's more of them with the pgne. There's a bit smaller dollar value To make up the seven or eight million dollars worth go through them Briefly so we do have the translation services. This is for oral and written translation and uh, this is meant to be a Um A starting point for this we know the translation services are needed not only uh at the for council meetings and for other meetings and for Notices throughout the city It's right now is so spread out that trying to come up with an actual cost of it was difficult We estimated this I I would imagine that this is probably going to last a couple of years that would allow us to Uh develop a better budget for this going forward um We have the youth council uh that will um Be uh Foster youth engagement within the city we have The enhanced infrastructure financing district. This will uh help us with Doing that within the downtown. This is for consultant services there There's an intern program That that will hopefully allow us to get uh more Foster More interest in working within the city utilizing Schools, I believe As I fumble my way through some of these here I'll let you know that we do have staff that it's ready to jump in and they're probably kicking me virtually under the table right now We have community equity uh capacity building That's through our community engagement Program, and then we have city staff equity capacity building that is more of an organizational City organizational program, which is led out of our dei office within hr the next slide please I'll lay it up. We have dei spaces, which is our community engagement program that would allow for uh spaces in the community uh for for people to uh Have safe spots to come together and Come together There are the equity plan Prioritized record our recommendations from the city Uh, so this Is three hundred thousand dollars. We're not sure exactly what those recommendations are because this is a placeholder for that There's budget for the community empowerment plan, which was Part of the community engagement budget that did not have a budget associated with it So this provides that We had the uh plan check and inspection contract services and planning and economic development Uh, this addresses Uh bottlenecks, uh in that side And then we also have the fire plan review contract services that's on the fire side Of planning and economic development at five hundred thousand dollars We'll have an equity data dashboard that for fifty thousand that would be run out of Uh, again out of the dei group there that will allow the public to see how we are doing Meeting our equity goals We have the public records management upgrade on the next slide And this will allow us to upgrade our ability to do public records Request and things like that. This is a huge draw on staff and the number of different departments Um, implementing trusted system is a security measure with it uh, we have The fire inspection database will allow us to Work more closely with the state We have a transit radio upgrade Uh, that I believe the um If the item for the for the contract or the procurement has been happened already This is the funding that goes with that Um, uh, so we'll go to council and this is to bring the transit radios up to the police Uh, um The same type of radio system that police have We have a three-year limited term media technician. Uh, this will allow for staff to better Broadcast through both the hybrid Meetings that we have now, but even when we become More live that will allow for broadcasting and work there. We currently have Staff at pre-covid levels and we are not able to meet the past for very long and finally the kind of climate Action plan update implementation And then quickly going through the last ones we have on the next page. We have evacuation equipment and public works This is to help us in the unfortunate Incident if you come up where we would need to provide emergency evacuation base provides the equipment that Proceeds to be able to allow that And then we have the two items that came in before which is the down Payment assistance program that we're added on in the vegetation management local match There were two programs that have been previously approved by the council and with signs appropriated And that was the our panels for the a shallow fountain and the two-year limited term planner uh for plan economic development And with that Hopefully I didn't go too fast for the translator. I apologize. I did we we have a recommendation Uh by the finance department that the council by resolution increase Appropriations to fund one time programs using PG and E settlement funds And american rescue plan act or ARPA fund That set forth and exhibit a and b of the resolution And amend the city classification and salary plan to add One fte limited term media services Technician for three years in the information technology department And with that I'm available for questions. I know staff is here available as well All right, thank you so much alan. We'll start with questions from council council member fleming Yeah, I have a good broad question. Which is why are some of these items? Funded in sort of really round numbers and then we get Um unusual like more specific ones like around the ped plan check at $298,000 Is it because we're unsure of about how much we're going to allocate things to and on some items and then on other items We're able to get really specific numbers. Can you let me understand that? Yes, I in general, uh, I I tend to like to use the more rounded numbers for this I think for for this particular item because they were looking at contract services I think they were able to actually get the number down there, but in hindsight, I probably would have rounded that to uh, to an even number Okay, we're gonna hold you to that style going forward we're gonna like on a style alan alton style manual um And then if you need to bring a colleague on I was wondering what dei spaces Means I think I get an idea of it, but it seems pretty unclear to me on its face Uh, yes So I think that that would be um, golly tell you that that should be able to assist with that Okay Hi, good evening again. Um, so great question. Um that uh portion came from the different community members different sort of uh cultural community groups that were really interested in looking for opportunities to have designated cultural spaces Either within spaces that are already built Or any potential new spaces. Um, so that's uh, essentially what that um item was about So functionally, what would that mean? Would it mean that we would be paying for the rental or Of space within the community? That's correct. So we've been asked by various community groups to see, you know, where there would be opportunities where the city would support being able to assist in either, you know, uh rental Some the financial rental fee or if there are opportunities that you know exist in our current Spaces or our current buildings Where we could charge, you know rental fee and then cover that rental fee with this portion of the budget Okay, and then um, are you prepared to answer a couple other things like what is it? What is an equity dashboard going to look like? If we haven't determined our equity goals yet, or have we already determined them and then We're going to have a dashboard to that effect Sure, and um, definitely that item, uh with Socorro Shields And which if she is available, I don't want to Still her thunder, but I do remember the the conversation Um, and I think she's coming on so okay, and none of these questions are are me Suggesting that we shouldn't do this stuff, but I definitely want to be able to tell people When they say what are we spending the money on? Be able to clearly articulate what it is So it's very helpful for me to have you guys Illustrate or walk through what it is that we're doing Hey, good evening. This is the this is Socorro The item on good more good afternoon. Good evening. Good lord The item on the equity dashboard You're correct that the equity goals have not been finalized and there'll be an update next month for the council From the seed collaborative. It is a set aside believing that Starting this summer. We will have an idea of what those Key strategies and priorities will be and we'll be able to determine metrics And help make that public and share with all employees and the community what those goals are and our advancement towards those Excellent. Thank you. You answered my next question. I don't have any more questions at this time Thank you council member any other questions council member mcdonald Thank you. I have a question on the de and I spaces if we are doing One-time money for maybe an ongoing cost. Is there any idea of how we would cover that? I'm I'm definitely for ensuring that we have opportunities, but if we are every remodeling an area within something that we already have and so it would be considered a one-time cost and then That's my first question. I'll let you answer that Sure. Thank you for the question. And so essentially given that, you know, if There's approval for this funding the second step would be to go back out into community because During our listening sessions, you know, the sort of preference was we'd rather be able to hold space for one year Then not to be able to do it at all and be able to organize and a lot of these conversations really came from You know working during the fires and not having sort of a designated space Like that's culturally focused for people to get information That's you know that that type of information From a sort of cultural perspective. So I think the sort of community Is asking, you know, we'd love to just get started on something like this But we really need this to be community led informed and inspired. So it'd be really important for us to make sure that we go out into community first So that they understand like here are the parameters And then how they would, you know, want to go about Using this potential funding Great. Thank you. Um, and as far as the equity dashboard That I would I would I'm asking if and so koto could probably answer this one for me Um, is it going to be similar to like the california dashboard where we have goals and then we have Objectives to meet and then we'll be able to show the community By similar to what they do in a school dashboard how we're doing in each of those areas That actually um, thank you for the question that actually yeah, it would be something visual like that Again, we will have an update next month. So those are great questions to ask. We are in process. So I Don't know exactly how the recommendations will come out. It is a very grassroots iterative process to get to those Outcomes that will and recommendations that'll come before the council for approval Believe that yes once we get there the goal is to make the thing that we can visualize and follow To share with again with the community and with our employees the progress we're making on achieving those goals Great. Thank you. May I ask a couple more? Okay for the child care facilities grants Is that just for commercial buildings or would that be for new buildings? For because we do have a lack of child care facilities and or is it to like retrofit and actually repair Buildings or is it extended to home child care facilities as well? I would leave that question for Iesa who I know is also in attendance I'm not sure if that is an allen question. I'm not sure who I would that would be more of a right to question if she's on and Hopping up. Yeah Yeah, here I am. Okay. Um, so yeah, that is um, it's going to be uh for any it's new facilities in new buildings ground up buildings, but it's only for this the portion of that building that is specific to child care, but it's also for rehabilitation of buildings That are in existence or new facilities in already existing buildings So it's to cover any type of facility related to Accessing new child care sites Great. Thank you. And I just have one more question on youth. Um, Or the youth council, can you tell me what that is and and how that's going to work and um, I think using Well, that sounds terrible using but I think Working with our youths to go out and work like in a peer type of situation is a great idea Just like to hear more about it or how we would meet these young folks that are out in our community serving us Sure. Um, thank you for that. That's that question. We're very excited. Um for this potential partnership So the youth promotores model has been used by many different nonprofits And so for us how we've been able to Partner with the youth promotores specifically latino service providers has been working with us on a couple of different Projects, but currently the the pro promotores, which is the name of the cohort that we're working with They're assisting us with um bringing out the youth citizens guidebook, which is essentially A youth led and youth Written in a form that would be appealing to youth so that you can understand like this is what council This is what council does. This is their job. This is what a policy. This is how you get involved In addition, they're working with us on a really incredible program Which they're still working on the name for but essentially they're going out into neighborhoods And speaking to community members and speaking to other youths and asking them what they love about their neighborhood Or what are some things that people should know about that specific neighborhood? So it is expanding the engagement and also an opportunity for the city To understand, you know What the community needs are via their project? So That's that's one of the items that we're working on but we do we are hoping to expand that given the opportunity And i'll give a quick shout out to our youth promotores We have Jocelyn via lobos who's joined us on the charter review committee and is helping to serve our community So it's a good partnership. Were you all done councilmember? Okay, I did have an additional question I just want to see if we could get all of our staff on the zoom apparently It is about the down payment assistance program, which I suspect is probably Megan Good evening. Mayor roger is members council How's it going? I have a quick question about the down payment assistance program If this is within your purview we set aside the two million dollars It was a little bit nebulous in terms of specifics and I know that staff has been working through it For the two million dollar investment and understanding that it's a revolving fund How many folks do we think we can help in the beginning? And what are the parameters that we're developing for the program? That's a great question. We are anticipating being able to initially assist about 25 households These would be households that are at or below 120 of median income The program parameters that we're currently working through Would be the maximum purchase price is based on the california association of relitters sonoma county A sales price for that month that the transaction or that the buyer was approved and currently that's $789,000. So it definitely allows a unit to be purchased. That's a round market rate We're anticipating a maximum Assistance amount of 10 of us the purchase price and it would be a 3% deferred loan So, uh, there will be no payments due but at the time of sale or if there is a refinancing for the borrower to Cash out of the home. They would need to repay it alone And as council had previously requested We are working on developing the requirements of the home buyer counseling that uh Approved borrowers would need to participate in incomplete prior to being approved for a loan Can I be happy to answer any other questions? Yeah, so it's uh, it sounds like we're anticipating $80,000 Per family that we're helping if it is intended as a first time home buyer program Are these folks that would qualify for the fha first first time home buyer program and only need 3% down instead of 10% down? It um, you know, I don't have that level of detail right now Depend on where they're able to obtain a first mortgage. So the amount of assistance Could vary um, but by providing up to 10 it does allow them the ability to have a lower first mortgage that they would have to service Okay, and have we been discussing or partnering with the realtors association or any other groups that Uh, specialize and focus on this We have not gotten to that level of outreach yet. We are still working on Establishing a relationship with a home buyer counseling organization and then working on our developing our loan documents With the city attorney's office. So outreach will be the next step in the program development Okay, great. I look forward to getting input from folks within the industry as well on how to make this This program stretch further to be able to help more more families Any other questions from council? Great. Thank you so much Megan. Let's go ahead and go to public comment on this item then if you're interested in providing comment Go ahead and hit the raise hand feature We'll start oh hand disappeared Let's go to Ann Good evening. Mayor Rogers vice mayor alvarez council members I'm Anne Hammond Sonoma county library director I wanted to take a moment to welcome city council member mcdonald and city manager smith I hope to meet you both very soon The countywide library system is grateful to have the city of santa rosa as a partner as we provide excellent library service to your city The new library that we're going to build Is going to be the newest and best public library in northern california We can't wait to see the delight in people's eyes when they walk through the doors and see the positive impacts we can make on their lives I'm here to take a moment to acknowledge the rate of what the council is doing today In roseland and southwest areas of the city have been underserved as you know And an investment at this scale with this commitment is truly visionary We wouldn't be here without an extraordinary confluence of events, but it also Took the extraordinary people and I want to publicly thank the city staff for working hand in hand With the library to move our vision forward to serve and support Everyone in santa rosa. So thank you Thank you, Anne The only hand that I see do we have any pre-recorded voicemails on the item? We do mayor Although two more hands just popped up via zoom Let's go to june followed by mani and then we'll come back for these Hi june Oh, hi. Hi. Um, this is june brochures and i'm a volunteer with the north bay organizing projects climate justice task force And i'm speaking in support of the 10 million dollars of arpa funds to go towards the community center recommended for the community center and For that to be a publicly owned and operated community cultural center in roseland Which would be co-located along with the library Which can serve as a center for multiple purposes including Being a resiliency hub and I think this is just so important for the youth in our community And I want to support the with the vision of the youth that have been calling for this and for their future It's would be a great to have such a center and to have it resilient be resilient and mindful of the climate situation we're in For it to be facilities that are powered by on-site solar photovoltaics for electric generation and have storage there To deal with the different situations that we may be encountering and to provide that resource for the community facilities like this It'd be very helpful for responding to the aspirations of the roseland community. So thank you Thank you june. We'll go to mani Good evening Center of the city council members. Thank you for your time. Um, my name is I'm an old moralist. I go by many and I'm here tonight speaking on behalf of the land next student congress um, the students who organize over Paul to advocate for the demands of roseland and getting the city of san rosa to Create a multicultural center a community center public library resiliency hub and other Other establishments that conserve the community of roseland here in san rosa Now our focus has shifted for the the new location that's being proposed as a result of the city of firing on the six plus acres in southwest san rosa um, we continue to to make the same demands and we hope that tonight you take initiative and um reserve the ten million dollars from the artful funds to go Into the creation of the center again that can serve multiple purposes including the public library A multicultural center and a resiliency hub that will support the the community with resources um with knowing and understanding that there's a high risk of environmental Emergencies that could potentially happen in the near future and how we need to respond and and continue to serve our community From what that being said, I want to work on my time and thank you for your time tonight Thank you so much, manny. We'll go to ricarda followed by gregory Um, good evening council members. My name is ricarda suarez. I'm a senior at rose university prep I'm former co-chair of mecha at rup um, and come back here to one of these meetings to again, uh, um advise y'all to approve of this uh, these 10 million to go to the Proposed location for multiple amenities um As mentioned by manny we the youth and the advisors from nbop and from the clubs um, work together towards, um The attempt of appealing the previous, uh Or the cannabis dispensary at the former rup as that wasn't approved by y'all We now have this location which we are fighting for and, um We hope to see Our efforts come to life and given the circumstances um, and the community outreach and Hope that you guys listen to the voice of rosen and what we've been desperately asking for and build that resiliency hub a Multicultural center and a rosen library which which we haven't had a permanent location for so Yes, I I hope you guys listen and approve of this um, thank you Thank you. We'll go to gregarie followed by the phone number andy in seven four six six Thank you, mayor. My name is gregarie farron. I'd like to just take a minute to congratulate both you The council and the staff for the wide variety of new implementational Uh projects this is a this is the largest Number of and depth of projects. I've seen the council embark on in a long time And I want to point out that there's some challenges with that and the cfo alluded to one of them which is Simply reporting on all of these projects as they are implemented in and either would add Evaluating them and but even before that we're going to have a large job just Talking about them getting it out to the community as to what all these projects are How to get access to them how to participate in them and how to help make them successful This is this is something that will take more than just Making decisions. It's going to be how does the community and the county and the city Work to implement them I I mentioned county accidentally, but I do want to point out that you know A few months there's going to be even more projects coming into the city and into the county From the county's Portion of ARPA So the real challenge is trying to figure out not only how to best publicize best Evaluate and best report on what the city is doing but to integrate as much as possible What the city is doing with what the county is doing because it can very easily overwhelm the community with The vast number of new ideas and new projects and new opportunities for them to take advantage of So I I urge you to work hard on trying to Build a system that is understandable to the community and that's Integratable into what the county is doing because then we'll really succeed. Thank you Thank you, Gregory. We'll go to the phone number ending in seven four six six And thank you all this is Yvette the minor base here in rosin I do a lot of boots on the ground programming here in rosin And I want to say thank you for all the hard work that you're doing currently In regards to rosin and the southwest of santa rosa. I just like to say even though we have all this great Infrastructure coming into rosin. We just recently received the Data from the portrait of sonoma which shows that rosin and southwest santa rosa is still at a huge disadvantage So i'm asking that you take the remainder of the money that is available to help support and continue to build up southwest santa rosa We need an emergency hub which would could possibly be the same thing with the cultural center slash Library we need that emergency hub so that we're in the van when we have future Emergency who will have a place where we can gather or have people come for support and resources And then if we have a community kitchen that will be even better because then it would be able to allow Feed-in for the homeless and in a large community space That is something that's missing right now We used to have the old dollar tree right here where we would have those community functions So we definitely need a large space to continue to have those community events that we so desire and would like to have in our community Rosin is a self-healing community We always find a way to bring things to our community and support our community And so we're grateful that the city of santa rosa is stepping up and bringing us into the fold ARPA funding is very clear is to support vulnerable populations and then the city of Southwest santa rosa is that and we have a lot of vulnerable populations in that community Capital investment to public facilities So we're trying to bring a public facility here in rosa. And so this is the perfect Way to use that ARPA funding and again have outreach and promote access to health and social services So with this particular building we'll be able to bring services back into the community You come to where the people are and that is something that many of us are saying in our community We need to be in our vicinity in a walkable space. We're talking about, you know being Good stewards of the environment and so when you put Services and buildings in the vicinity of this capacity where people can walk that was saved on time That will save our environment. It will help reduce our carbon footprint So going forward, please continue to provide the additional funding that is needed for the pool For the fire station for the public library for the cultural center for the community center all those Things that is needed so much in rosa and for the southwest area of santa rosa. Thank you Thank you Dwayne did you have comments? My name is dwayne de wid. I'm from roseland was encouraging to hear all those folks just now talking about their Interests in helping roseland The portrait of sonoma county update 2021 specifically points out that the roseland census district Is the most disadvantaged for the human development index in the entire county When you use the term roseland, it's very important to keep in mind That herne avenue and south is actually the belview district And that the county of sonoma delineated what roseland was 30 years ago And roseland is to the north I attended the meetings for the sabastopol road urban vision 15 years ago I actually served on a southwest santa rosary development project area committee 20 years ago And I attended the meetings for the roseland specific plan sabastopol road update Part of that committee also At no time did we ever speak about putting things further to the south We talked about having things in roseland where people right now are suffering and want to have better services As all those speakers before me just mentioned The dilemma we face is that often in an administrative situation People will begin to change the dynamic Mission creep They'll say oh, well, we want to build out the southwest We want to put 25 000 people to the south of roseland So we're going to call that area that we're just purchasing this land roseland And that's not helping the people up along sabastopol road a mile and a half away So keep these things in perspective It's really important especially when people have participated And tried to do everything the way they were given the information And they're hoping That folks will abide by what was talked about in the past If it comes down to Like was said earlier in another matter The future is what matters and not the past That really hurts those people in roseland who are still suffering right now So I hope you will Use these ARPA funds for a roseland library Up in the roseland census district or to the north where all the people are And not way far to the south if you build out this town And then last but not least use any extra money to fix the roads Specifically could be used at uh barham boyd corby south Let the record show that all those roads have been suffering for decades and have still not been fixed And we're in the city for four years now. Thank you I believe we had a voicemail public comment Hi, my name is woody Hastings speaking for myself not representing any organization I'm speaking today on item 14.3 appropriation of funds for longtime programs in support of the latinx student congress Calling for 10 million dollars of the ARPA money recommended for a community center to go specifically toward a publicly owned and operated Community cultural center in roseland that can also accommodate multiple purposes including a public library and a resiliency hub I think the resiliency hub part of this is particularly important Given the growing frequency of power grid and other disruptions caused by the climate crisis Facilities like this are especially needed in roseland Thank you for the opportunity to comment and thank you for your efforts on these allocations There that can close public comment on this item. All right. I'm going to bring it back Madam city manager. I actually missed what is perhaps the most obvious question from the beginning of the presentation The ARPA funds that are slated for approval Are four hundred and sixty five thousand dollars Under what we actually have in terms of ARPA So i'm going to throw you a curveball and one that you've been here Only a couple of months. Is there anything glaring that we're missing that you would recommend the council consider for those additional funds? So Yes So a couple of things that I have noticed that I think we need to do a better job or just have resources is tracking I'm big on data. I'm big on analytics. It's very difficult for us to measure where we're going if we don't measure it from the beginning We have a lot of projects ahead of us We have a lot of money in front of us And I think one of the comments that One of the public individuals made was how are you going to resource this? How are you going to get the message to the public? In addition, how are you going to capture what you're doing? I think it's important that we start to measure everything we're doing have data dashboards So we can see how we're performing It's important for us to have a well managed city We're talking about getting back to some physical stability And I think we're getting there So it is extremely important for me to have a process And have staff to be able to measure exactly where we're going to go in the future You're talking about nine million dollars. You're talking about eight million dollars here We talked about the the golf course earlier seven million dollars here We have to be able to show the the public how efficient we are with our dollars And a lot of that is just measuring having smart goals in front of us And just having the analytics to to to determine how we're going to move forward So if I had an option I'm not certain that I would hire a full-time staff person at this moment because it's important for me to show you Exactly what that looks like But I think if we could get some consultant on board or someone on staff to help us move forward with showing the public Exactly where we're being proficient in how their money is being spent I appreciate that and uh, sorry to throw you a curve ball like that We do have A proposal in front of us and we can put a motion on the table For discussion, but I don't want to lose sight of that part of the conversation as well Whether tonight or in a future Council agenda item as well So council member rogers if you want to put a motion on the table for us to start I'd like to make a motion to adopt the resolution titled resolution of the council of the city of san aroza approving spending plans for american rescue plan act a rpa Funds and p genie settlement funds appropriating funds and amending the city classification and salary plan to add 1.0 fte limited term media services technician for three years in the information technology department and wait for the Reading of the text Second We have a motion from council member rogers and a second from council member mcdonald. Do we have any discussion council? council member phleming Yeah, I'd like to add that this has been a long and iterative process and I think that While we don't have all the details Of every single project laid out that we have a really impressive and broad array of Of initiatives that have something in it for everybody in the city And a lot in it for the people who need and who we to whom we owe the most But we have something that every san aroza can be proud of and and really enjoy And I know it's been a challenging process for us because it's an unusual task for For the city council to have so much And for staff to have a surplus and to have different types of surpluses That can be used in different types of ways so What I wanted to do was just note that we are continuing to move along my gratitude toward allen alton who has You know been with us over and over and over again in this process And is much appreciated in all of the staff who were on tonight late night And this is not the first or a second or the third time that we've had this conversation So a sincere thank you to everybody From the legal team the city manager's office who's Bearing with us through this process that has not always been easy because of its complexity So we keep moving forward with appreciation Council member rogers um, I would like to thank all the staff for you know just Having the ability to hear all of our our wants after we Listen to the community um to hear what their wants are I feel For me that it was really captured um, and what was presented tonight and um, I'm very thankful Um to the staff for being able to do that and being able to to hear us Um, I also want to acknowledge the mayor throwing City manager smith a curve ball And I'm hoping that soon we'll be able to Look at what she said because I think it is very important With so many balls in the air a juggler can only do so much but for us to really come back to um our residents and say This is what we plan to do. This is what we did and we can show you this is how we did it Um to me that is ultimate success And that is what I want to show not just that we appropriated the money But that we actually did what we said we were going to do So thank you for throwing that curve ball tonight I just want to add that I agree with with that Council member mcdonald Yes, I want to say thank you so much for the presentation tonight from staff and um to alan for answering my questions ahead of time that I sent him So I didn't have to bother the rest of the council with some of the acronyms so I could get it What this meant, but um, I a couple of things I too would like to leave the money and then come back and revisit it after our city manager has an opportunity to look at What might be needed? I believe thoroughly in transparency and how we used Public dollars and then how we can go back to the Public and and tell them how we use that and so I think that's a really great idea To leave that space and and if we can bring that back, that's um, thank you for doing that Mayor um, and then in addition to that I just want to comment on How proud I am to join a team that was so visionary and appropriating 10 million dollars to an area in our city that has been neglected And I think it's a a real testament to vice mayor Alvarez for being the representative for that area for listening to the community and bringing that forward And so I want to say thank you for that libraries are critical for the development of young children It's where families have access to books that they may not be able to have at their homes It's where they can get access to bilingual books And I can tell you working on a state task force that was around literacy specifically early literacy It sets our children up for school And so it's so it's such a great thing that we're able to bring forward for so many things for the support of children and families But also to be a resource hub for families to be able to have access to computers And to have access to other things that they may not have in their homes So hats off to all of you for um being a visionary and i'm so lucky to get to join the team to see it go forward Mr. Vice mayor Thank you, mayor, and I appreciate that the compliment councilman, but It's definitely amongst ourselves that may that happen City staff that made it happen the community speaks up Speaks up loud and clear, you know a bit ago. We just heard about investing into a golf course to protect the gem that it is and investing into the gems That can be found in southwest san rosa our children our future leaders our kings and queens That I find no greater investment than that And when we're talking about the roi I mean the future leaders who are prepared to lead the city of san rosa and In the best way possible for us to prepare them, you know, we hear being called the resiliency hub What a great name What a great opportunity Thank you Thank you vice mayor, and I just want to extend a huge thank you to our team as well I know it's been a long process to get here I want to give a special shout out to raissa as well When this first started I had a nice long conversation with raissa where I said, you know What I wanted to do was invest in children and tackle poverty and I said, what what could you come up with? And she was so helpful to bounce ideas back and forth And to really have a big vision about what we could do with such a huge chunk of money and the entire team has embraced it and Megan with housing we heard Magali with community engagement. We heard sakura with dei Alan with the finances And then our new city manager. I fully support Giving you the tools that you need to show the impact of what we're trying to do And we as a council I understand that we could have easily just invested the these dollars into city services into city staff into city Priorities, but we took a step back and we looked at it and we said this is a once in a generational opportunity for us How can we impact our entire community and how can we change lives for folks? And that's what I see when I look at what we're approving today is We'll see some immediate impact, but really the focus on it is the next community The next the future that we have here in santa rosa and making sure that we're addressing inequities as we move forward And the folks who have been the most impacted by covet 19 And helping fire survivors rebuild and get their community Safe And I don't want to lose sight of that as well because we didn't talk about it tonight But we did invest in roads and sidewalks and infrastructure in fountain grove and coffee park We did invest in our fire service. We invested in vegetation management And I think that the council really was thoughtful about how we manage the the huge needs across our community that are very different From neighborhood to neighborhood. So I just want to thank everybody for for that Madam city manager, did you have something to add? I did I did want to clarify that it's $465 that's available But um, one of the things that I have talked to each of you about is how we're going to actually stat this process going forward So there may be savings So, you know, we're going to begin probably in another month with staff having conversations about where are we with the money? Where are we with the projects? What do we need in order to move forward? So we're going to start that process whether or not we have a someone on staff or a consultant So because again, it is important for the public to understand how we're spending their dollars But I'll take the $465 With that madam city clerk, could you please call the vote? Thank you, mayor Councilmember schwedhelm. Hi Councilmember Sawyer. Hi Councilmember rogers. Hi Councilmember mcdonald. Hi Councilmember Fleming. Hi vice mayor alvarez. Hi mayor rogers. Hi that motion passes with seven eyes Thank you all so much. I'm really excited to see that across the finish line Let's move on to item 14.4 Item 14.4 is a report for the physical year 21 22 budget amendment And this will be delivered by chief financial officer alton Mayor rogers and members of the council rounding out the evening This item is a mid-year budget review and it's also a budget amendment that we are proposing Next slide please So with this item we intend to Achieve a number of tasks. So first I'll provide a brief review of the fiscal year in 2020 results for the general fund Just to set context for how we're going further in the evening And then I'll review the budget performance in the general fund through december 31st 2021 Then we will present proposed amendments to the current year budget both in terms of additional revenue recognition and And and expenditures again also for the general fund but also in other funds And then we will present a proposed Change to the measure of implementation plan that's tied up with all of these other things that will And then finally we'll we'll highlight some organizational changes at the at the city So next slide please So again to set context And this is for the general fund only this is how we ended our Our adopted budget versus our actual results for the fiscal year ending June 30th 2021 Then as you can see What we're trying to show here are recurring Revenues and expenditures versus non-recurring Revenues expenditures. So what you're seeing here are the recurring revenues and expenditures And what that does is that strips away those those items that are our Grant or investment earnings or things like that that you would typically not build or want to build a budget on because they're not a They're they're not a noble number going forward. In other words, very hard to predict or they have a tied Revenue source that's coming in on a different ledger and it's an excuse that's right So what this is doing is showing you the revenues and expenditures That will that you can support a budget moving forward in the general fund What this also illustrates is how we how you'll hear me talk about a budgetary structural deficit And then you'll see the actual results that we had a an operational surplus So the reason why we We adopted a budget based off of one Revenue expenditures that we thought we were going to have during a pandemic And two while we kept our expenditures rather flat We also instituted a or or continued our hiring freeze into last year What ended up happening is that we had uh A revenue that bounced back way quicker than what we thought And we artificially held down Expenditures through that hiring freeze So the result of greater revenues and less expenditures Gave us our our operating deficit or surplus The problem with that is that we have expenditures based off of full Uh employment right we have positions that we Uh expect to be able to do the programs that we have in the uh in the community and to keep our operations going So the concern that I will always have is that once we get to the point where we have those positions Well Will we have the revenues to be able to support it and that's something that we looked at very closely Next slide, please So this shows the status of the general fund reserves At fiscal year end and then I I ticked off a couple of things that I that hadn't quite hit our Our books yet, but but we knew we could count on so one we we We had an audited reserves for contingency that 122 million Right off the bat. We need 30.4 million to Make our policy mandated reserve requirement is 17 percent Then we pull off money that we've committed Out of the pgne funds again those pgne funds were sitting in the general fund That that reserve number but being ready to use which is a Totally normal way to do this So you you check off those 47 million plus we uh, and I'm including the ones that were just appropriated And then we have Committed funds for fiscal stabilization And that's doing a couple of things one. It's going to help us with our fund Any funds that are as a result of of our fiscal policies that we're doing so if Let's say A pension pension stabilization fund we could use some of those 40 million to To help pre fund that trust account Or What it could also do and what I would imagine that it is going to need to do Is to allow us time to get our Get our budget balance to where our revenues Will match our expenditures at the full employment Anyway taking all of those things out we have about 5.4 million dollars over What our All of our commitments are So that is that is a good thing to be have more money than Than our our basic policies allow next slide So going into our mid-year Budget Or our budget at mid-year again for the general fund and this is just a visual representation Of our revenues and basically what it does is it points out That about 53 percent of our revenues is coming from sales tax and property tax In charges for services you have our recreation fees and you have a lot of our planning and economic Development fees and in the other taxes you're gonna you're gonna see things that i'll go over in another slide Have that detail so next slide please So looking at our our total revenues Based off of our major categories that we do Where we are at at mid-year is about what we would expect to be In fact in a couple of areas we're trending higher than that Even though it doesn't really show up on this chart and that's Due to a lag in either the the the dollars coming to us such as the sales tax or In other areas where we know we're going to get the revenue coming in in the spring or Or late spring early summer Next slide please So going into a little deeper about property tax and why we think that that we're doing well there Is that our initial payment that came in was Uh higher than what the typical amount of what we would get and what we budgeted for so right now We are looking to be trending about 1.5 million dollars ahead Of of what our budget estimates were and if you go back to prior years We we kind of see That that trend's going so when I look at at 1.5 over where we are I think that's probably Uh a realistic amount to be and And it's something that we need to be able to adjust to Uh through this item in order to have the more realistic base numbers and for our revenues Next slide please So this is a visual of where we are with sales tax performance through The second quarter through mid-year So the first two bars are visual representation showing the amount of sales tax collected This year today the first blue bar shows what we would typically expect to receive At uh at about 34 Uh Shows that we would typically expect to receive about 34 of the years total by the end of q2 and that's due to uh a two month lag intact Rather you're coming in but the second bar shows that we're actually uh at about 37 In a half percent so We are Trending higher And uh and as such we are looking to trend Well higher toward the end and if you go back and look at where we were ending last year We were about 11 million dollars off of our sales tax Estimate so at the very least What I would come to you is say we need to at least be where we were At at the end of last year So we would at least need to adjust our sales tax budget up that much But what i'm saying and what we're looking at and what actually is following along with our sales tax consultants most likely projection Is that uh, we can even go a little bit more to that to a six million dollar budget adjustment Which is What we're looking at here Next slide please and so I mentioned other taxes and uh, you know, we love this into one category But they're pretty important taxes within there. So and right now our vlf swap is is on trap We get a substantial amount of franchise fees from pg&e that comes in in april So we'll see that in our fourth quarter results Our cannabis tax historically trends higher in the spring So we don't consider this being behind and quite frankly I looked at it before coming on tonight through today in revenue and It's It's significantly higher in revenue. So already that trend is bearing out that we we expect to be able to at the very least hit our budget estimate with spring revenue coming in The majority of our business tax Is is actually we're in business tax fees them right now. So we'll see this in the in the following quarter So probably in the fourth quarter estimates will have a truer sense of where we are with business tax So we don't really see any issue there occupancy tracks We show that here is being on on track what what I would say is that I again looked at that before it came on here and our transient occupancy is Is uh doing really well right now. So we're at as of Uh as of today, we're around 80 percent of our of our tax estimate So I would expect that to easily meet expectations and probably go over Our real property transfer tax. We have virtually all of our revenue estimate now. So We're suggesting to bump that up to two million if follows the trend Or another two million that's the five and a half million um, it follows the trend that we saw last year and And even leading into last year It's real property transfer tax is the component of of property The value of property that that changes hand And the volume of it. So what you're seeing is high volume in in real estate transactions and a And a high value of that volume so Which is which is great and And so we're trying to recognize that Next slide So with our general fund expenditures while The council approved The labor contract In november ish We will start seeing that affect our budget Going forward from this one. It's just not quite picking that up yet We are right about where we would think that we would be There are some adjustments that we need to make and I'll get to that and feature slide But right now we're right around the 50% range is where we would want to Next slide please so Why are we doing a major budget adjustment? basically is I think that it's Important to increase the transparency of our budgeting especially in the general fund when we see things that are Are too low and again, some of that is the function of when We adopt our budget. We don't have our year-end results We need to be nimble enough to to adjust our our budget to reflect Where we can clearly see that we're going to be low in revenue One of the things that we you know, we still want to keep What one of the last things that I would ever do because I probably be fired right afterwards is come to you with uh with overly optimistic revenue numbers So what these changes do just brings us more into reality And I think that's important as we're talking to the community Of what we can really afford to do Having realistic revenue numbers is a good way to go about that So what we're looking at is the total of An increase of $1.5 million property tax $6 million in sales tax and real property transfer tax going up Adding an additional $2 million to that Which brings a total revenue adjustment to our general fund revenue of $9.5 million Next slide, please In just as we need to be Uh Transparing on the revenue side, we do need to show What's happening on the expenditure side As I mentioned before there were general fund labor agreement costs All of our MOUs are at least most of them that have been Approved They have a cost to them When you approved the The MOU There was not a corresponding Increase in budget This is that increase in budget for the cost Of the labor agreements for this year In addition As I've mentioned before Probably too much but I've mentioned before we have Vacancies in the in the city and typically we We put in a credit to help offset that in other words You don't want to overly inflate your expenditure budget when you know that you're going to have some sort of vacancy level That credit was taken out last year We're adding it back at mid-year because it's important to try to Hedge the the costs of the turn back that we know we're going to get We are asking for some staffing changes And there are partial annual appropriations to go along with that I'll get into what those positions are in the next slide. It's just on a summary level There three of them are within the Planning and economic development area there. They are specifically to address The plan review And and and that type of of work to help development and clear that backlog that that has been there And we also are are requesting a A human resources analyst Given the number of recruitments that we need to do the number of reclassifications that come through Human resources just simply Does not have the staff to meet up with that demand And we need to add to be able to bolster their ability to keep the recruitment and reclassification process moving forward there's also we there is a A facility need in the public safety building. There was a boiler line That broke it is leaking water And so replacing that is something that we would look at it's more of an urgent need to get To fix now rather than go through the normal Budget process and have those funds appropriated in july And finally As we're going through and looking at at budgets. We've been analyzed in the fire department over time and and it's just Given the amount of Well, it's simply it's too low So what we need to do is add to it and we anticipate this being an ongoing cost going forward to bring them more in line of A realistic Over time amount that they would need to manage to going forward right now. They just had a One that was too low and then we would Use salary savings or some means to that to balance it at the end of the year And what if and in doing that it doesn't really show the true cost Of a fire department budget within the city and what we're trying to do here Is to be as transparent as possible on the cost that it takes To to operate within the city the next slide So I mentioned that there were labor adjustments. We we are making those those Costs to the general fund. We're we're increasing expenditures there We've analyzed the other funds that have That we feel that the cost would be such that they wouldn't be able to absorb Within their current year budget. So we need to increase appropriations there And so that's the information technology fund the water enterprise fund and the water regional enterprise fund so those we are We're increasing by $300,000 $810,000 $560,000 respectively So with that next slide, please, you know, we're getting into the measure of special revenue funds. So measure these are special revenue Tax that comes into it. It's a A special tax that funds these these are programs that are absolutely separate from the general fund But because it is a sales tax A special sales tax that funds it they are also experiencing the same level of sales tax growth That we are in the general fund So what we are proposing to do with this is to increase the cost to the fund of the labor agreements that affect those three funds But also increase the sales tax that offsets those labor costs The fire department that has sufficient Fund balance to be able to buy specialized equipment as it as it may be Has a need to upgrade and and really Significantly upgrade their mobile radios And this is a very enhanced specialized equipment that falls within the purview of measure O that allows them to do that And they have the money there to be able to do this. So that's what they're doing We we took this to the Since oversight committee on january 19th and the Which approved The changes to the implementation plan by a six one vote Next slide, please So this basically lays out what I just mentioned What you see is we have increased Revenues to offset increased labor costs That just makes it for a clean in and out from a from an accounting standpoint And then we have the added expenditures of the Of the radios and Because they didn't mention it before there are apx 8500 radios and the associated vehicle repeater system It'll help bridge vital communication gaps Should radio repeater equipment ever failed during disasters? And next slide, please So as I mentioned before Also included in this are are some Organizational Changes that we're making to our structure. So with The city manager coming in and reviewing our core organizational structure And moving to a more efficient model This will occur over a multi-phase approach But what this item here will do is allow the very beginning parts of that so What we would do is is move back to a traditional Assistant city manager role and no longer with the dual role of the department had responsibilities And so in order to do that we needed to add that The department had positions for planning and economic development and transportation and public works Um Also, we needed to add staff that I mentioned earlier These are to address critical needs and it was felt that we needed to attack those now Rather than wait until uh july Going through the normal budget process And then we also have some reclassification That are in some of the other plans So next slide please What i'm showing here while we're only appropriating a Basically a quarter's worth of costs for the three The development review coordinator the civil engineering technician in the building plans examiner And the human resources analyst Their full cost with salaries and benefits Is is is shown here. This is what we can expect to be a recurring cost going forward And that cost to the general fund is about one point Close to 1.2 million dollars uh ongoing So again as I talk about how we need to Need critical needs but still have an eye on our budget This is one of those things where we're meeting a critical need, but it will impact The general fund going forward I should also add though that with the The planning and economic development position There is revenue tied for now planning and economic development is not an enterprise fund So this general fund revenue that comes in it goes to the whole general fund But you can tie these positions to Revenue generation coming out of that and I would argue that that by adding those positions We have a greater chance to be able to increase revenue coming in That will not directly pay for those from a one-on-one because again, it's not an enterprise fund It does help support those positions, which is important and as we add positions going forward In the areas where we can get a benefit from Revenue coming in as a result of adding those that college positive So in these cases what you're seeing here is the full value of the expenditure what you're not seeing is the increase Revenue that could come as a or that would come as a result of those folks and us able to move through that backlog of development activity With the director positions at this point we do not need to do A An appropriation Any changes there can be absorbed within the budget but going forward when those positions are filled And for a full year they will have a cost associated with them unfortunately, the human resources analyst is an administrative In an administrative department that doesn't have a revenue source tied to it Although I would argue that without the HR analysts helping to get all of the other Physicians going and getting us working it helps bog down the whole Organization so being able to have them at a point where they can keep the organization moving forward is a very important thing Next slide, please And we are just not at the end. Sorry about this. Um, so we do have a couple of of Small level non general fund reclassifications or ads that we need to do one is in in it that basically takes a upgrade a senior technician Into a network system analyst I believe there are it folks that are online that could speak to that but We are also adding a limited term technician that is 100 percent charged with the housing trust and funded by federal funds Looking to convert a a senior maintenance worker to a mechanical technologist within the water fund and Add a A wastewater operator One to position to the water fund as well These help I believe if I recall correctly These are will help with the maintenance of operations down at the treatment plant and We've reached the end here the next slide just tells the next steps that we're going through And I've already gone through that with our with our budget public hearing But we do have goal setting that's coming up next week We have the budget study sessions in may and then the adoption in june 2021 and I think I don't have a recommendation slide here. So before I get to the questions, I'll read it verbally In case it's not there It's recommended By the finance department that the city council by two resolutions The following tasks one amend the fiscal year 2021-22 adopted budget and the fiscal year 2021-22 salary plan and number of authorized positions that set forth an exhibit a of the resolution and two amend the transaction in use tax Uh measure of implementation plan for police fire and gang prevention intervention services And I might add that Because that's an implementation plan change that would take six affirmative votes from the council To to move forward with that And with that I'm available to answer any questions and I know there are staff here that can answer questions as well All right. Thank you so much. Alan really appreciate the presentation. Let's look to council to see if there are any questions council member mcdonald I just actually have a quick question on um The budget stabilization money of the 40 million dollars. Does that create any revenue or how is that money appropriated? And what what type of account? Right. So those were this was part of the of the 95 million PG&E funds and we've just Allocated that and had that held in the general fund So it will not Add to revenue coming in in the future What we're hoping to do with this is be able to use long term strategic Make long term strategic fiscal Uh strategies with the fed. Sorry that's a little bit weird there, but We are trying to look Instead of being more reactionary in how we address costs that we know that we're going to have Is to be more proactive And establish policies that council will adopt that helps us meet those goals of being Uh more proactive and we've talked about this in prior council Meetings I can briefly say that um That the things that we're looking closely at is the pension stabilization fund In using a section 115 trust for that We're looking at an ability to uh better Plan for and pay for long term or large capital replacement costs Uh, uh, the bulk of those being in in the fire department um And then we're also looking at infrastructure Uh deferred infrastructure maintenance Most likely with facilities, but that's just in general and and staff is currently working on putting the methodology around those We have uh committed to be back to the Long term financial planning and audit subcommittee to to uh To further develop those those methodologies with them beginning in in march Any other questions? Let's go to public comment on this item If you have a comment for item 14.4 go ahead hit the raise hand feature on zoom We'll start with mark Oh great. Hi, um Alan first. Thanks for the wonderful presentation. I appreciate it and uh And I I agree with a lot of it. I'm hoping that before we have the uh budget Priority discussion that we issue the audit of financial statements if they're available So members of the public can see the audit report june 30 2021. Thank you Thank you so much mark Do we have any pre-recorded voicemails? We do not mayor All right, I'll go ahead bring that back and Alan i'll throw that over to you as a question from the public Yeah, uh, we the the final piece of what we need to be able to issue those statements, uh Went over to the auditors today So we should be able to issue by the end of this week. So We uh, it's our hope to be able to have that on our website either before the goal setting Or immediately thereafter Excellent. Thank you Uh councilmember schwedhelm. Do you want to put a motion on the table? Sure, uh, the first of two resolutions I'd move a resolution of the council of the city of santa roza Amending the fiscal year 2021 2022 budget and amending the classification and salary plan and waive for the reading the text second We have a motion from councilmember schwedhelm and a second from councilmember rogers Any other discussion? Let's call the vote Oh, sorry go ahead councilmember. I just want to make a comment compliment the city manager I know during the um selection process that ultimately we made the right choice We talked about the structure and i'm just so impressed how quickly you've done the assessment of the organization And you're suggesting these changes, which i'm sure you'll gain you a lot of support from council But thank you for walking the talk Thank you councilmember. Let's vote Councilmember schwedhelm. Aye councilmember soyer. Aye councilmember rogers. Aye councilmember mcdonald. Aye councilmember fleming. Aye vice mayor alvarez. Aye Mayor rogers. Aye that motion passes with seven eyes All right, we have no more items. I've got one more resolution. Oh, sorry the second resolution Uh, I move a resolution of the council of the city of santa rosa Amending the transaction and use tax implementation plan for police Fire and gang prevention intervention services and way further even in the text Second So we've got a motion from councilmember schwedhelm and a second from councilmember soyer Let's go ahead and call the vote councilmember schwedhelm. Aye councilmember soyer. Aye councilmember rogers. Aye Councilmember mcdonald. Aye councilmember fleming. Aye vice mayor alvarez. Aye Mayor rogers. Aye that motion passes with seven eyes All right. Thank you council. Thank you alan. Thank you everybody We have no written communications. We'll go to item 17. It is our second public comment period for non-agenda items I see no hands Yes, we did And with that we are adjourned