 All right, it's 9 a.m. I'd like to call the meeting of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors January 30th 2024 meeting to order and with that After a little reshuffling lovely clerk call the roll And just so that everybody know supervisor friend is participating remotely from Sacramento today, but he is in attendance at this meeting Thank you chair supervisor Koenig here friend here Hernandez Here McPherson here and Cummings. Yeah, and I'd like to see if there's any member of the board who would like to dedicate the moment of silence supervisor Hernandez, yeah, we have a Veterans from One of our veterans from Watsonville in your Garcia We're selling past and he was very active in both, you know, the American region there and Just really involved in the community too. So I like to have a moment of silence room Any other supervisor want to dedicate a moment of silence? Seeing none, I'd like to invite us all to take a moment of silence for Henry Garcia All right, if you could all join me in the Pledge of Allegiance What do I need to the flag in the United States of America and to the Republic for which the sands One nation under God Indivisible with liberty and justice grow Hey next item on our agenda is consideration of late additions to the agenda additions and deletions to consent and regular agendas and so I'd like to ask the CAO Carlos Palacios if there have been any additions or deletions to the agenda. Yes, we have one item Chair Cummings and members of the board we have on the consent agenda on item number 24 There's additional materials. There's a revised attachment a and b Page 90 which is replaced to correct the threshold amounts listed That concludes the corrections to the agenda Hey, thank you very much The next item on our agenda is items to be removed from consent to the regular agenda Are there any board members who would like to remove any item from consent to the board to the regular agenda? Jared like to remove item 51 Item 51 and proving the agreement with integral consulting in the amount of 692 608 Any other board member that would like to remove an item from consent to the regular agenda? And so just for a point of order, where would that item then be heard on the regular agenda? In the one moment, I'm going to consult with the clerk at the same time and I believe it's going to end up being Item 11.1 is that right? Yes, council, I do believe it would become item 11.1 is the final item on the regular agenda Thank you very much. All right with that we will open up We open up to public comment, this is an opportunity for members of the public to Make comments on any item on our closed session agenda or a regular session agenda if you're not able to stay here and Also to comment on anything that's not currently on our agenda and you will have two minutes So I'd like to invite the first speaker to the podium Good morning, my name is David Schwartz. I'm a candidate for supervisor in district 2 I'd like to make a couple of comments and hopefully in the two minutes that I have Which is not very long. The first thing is a rant the second will be a suggestion The first rant is last time I was here. I got a parking ticket I think what we could do to get more people in here is do away with parking violations during board meetings That that would be a great thing to help people get in here I thought I was in the right spot, but apparently it wasn't so about on me. Okay now the important thing I'm sure you guys have been hearing this and I hope you've been listening to this There is a big problem coming to this County of Santa Cruz a huge problem There is an unfunded liability that we have for pensions that is somewhere in the neighborhood of $900 million over the next 10 years and if we don't do something about it now We're going to be buried in these costs that will literally take away all the money that we have for services in the county Now what I would suggest is number one right now you guys put it on your agenda as soon as you can to do away with defined Benefit plans in the county. Okay. No employees from one point on we'll have that now What that's doing to us is that's creating this unfunded liability because We're paying into the per system. We're paying 5 of those Costs into the per system that's going to go to 12 percent this year But that's going to go even higher every year thereafter If if we had something like social security and 401k that would also give people an opportunity to borrow against their 401k They can't borrow against the defined benefit plan Maybe they need an extra 50k to buy that first house something to think about very seriously But this needs to happen now. We cannot wait because 10 years from now 900 million dollars is that's going to wipe us out Okay, so think about this and do something about it. Please. Thank you very much. Thank you All right next speaker Good morning supervisors. My name is Damon brooder and I'm speaking on an item I don't know what number it is but it's on the consent agenda And it's concerning the sunsetting of the syringe services program advisory commission I am the duly elected chairperson of that commission and have been so for The better part of four years since the commission was incepted I very much appreciate the the opportunity to serve our community in this capacity and to help bring Change to the syringe services program. We've been able to accomplish a couple of really good things in the short time we've been here um I was a little blindsided that we were going to be sunsetted And I understand that we're not the most important thing on the books right now. There's a lot of other things going on But as a private citizen, I do have concerns about reverting to the problems we were having previously with excess litter syringe litter on the beaches on the creeks in the parks that kind of thing because of not having any oversight by the county or the public the syringe services program can You know, I would believe can can change the way they're doing things Um, uh, and it would revert back to having excess litter all over the place Which is why the syringe services program committee was incepted in the first place to try and bring better Um, uh harm reduction practices to the county Uh, again, I just want to thank you for the opportunity to serve our community Thank you. Okay, Mr. Chair. I just want um, that's item number 10 And I think we're going to have a report from the syringe services commission in march And I think we're going to be waiting for that we I just to let you know As far as I know, we will not be providing a report But I don't know for sure. Thank you. Thank you. Morning supervisors My name is Wayne Barnes. I have commercial property in the live oak area Which is before the board to change the assessment value on those properties By a report by bowman and williams and um I'm not here about the money. I understand the need for services However, I am opposed Venomally to the methodology that bowman and williams came up with to disperse And to use effective benefit units I think is a capricious and opinionated way to to decide who pays for The services in this area. I would suggest to the board that you take a more practical Look at Assessing these according to assess valuation. I think it's far more Um equitable I think it's fair to all the property owners I mean Just in my instance alone Based on the engineer's report My live oak improvement On this year's taxes Was 22 and 20 cents According to the engineer's report and All the effective benefit units they came up with My new assessment is five hundred and fifty six dollars I think it's outrageous to load commercial properties With the maintenance that benefits the entire cse nine district. Thank you. Thank you My next begin person and you can approach the podium Good morning. My name is tony levody. I'm the chairman and founder of the monorail baner national trade association leading global trade promotion and investment service organization in california for over 28 years headquartered here in santa cruz In recent years our organization has been focusing on the climate change and environmental degradation business solutions And to that effect we formed a strategic alliance with a bb1 ink bb1 Very successful realtor here in santa cruz for 40 years and with a global network She was one of the first she was the first century 21 china agent american agent selected Years ago. Anyway, we formed this coalition. We went to a conference Asian real estate association america conference in mexico city Last april we met all the leading real estate development people in mexico and We started a project called cal max 21st century villages that addresses both affordable housing and Climate change solutions and to that effect We formed a relationship with the consortium business consortium in mexico And now we're developing that in california to simultaneously develop two affordable housing zero emission infrastructure villages In california and in mexico simultaneously benefiting from the usmca free trade agreement and mcchile adora Border tariff benefits to collectively together build these two identical affordable housing zero emission infrastructure Villages and i just wanted to inform the The county and the area that we're looking As we build this consortium for the right place to do this in california and we're looking at baro valley as being a great solution because not only is it creating Villages that address affordable housing and climate change but also it is addressing Job creation because the nax is r&d centers for the new infrastructure technologies that are zero emission. Thank you. Thank you Hi, good morning Good morning chair and members of the board. I'm seara ryan. I'm the county's water resources program manager Since 2004 water resources management activities at the county have been consolidated under environmental health At the time the board took that action. They requested an annual report, which is item 44 on the agenda today This report, which we produce annually has input from 10 different Agency partner agencies throughout the county as well as four different departments within the county And it encompasses everything from fisheries resources management to large water supply projects that Produce the water that our community relies upon Some highlights this year include the Impacts of the weather whiplash we've been experiencing where we had three consecutive dry years followed by record rainfalls of 160 of normal We also talk about the fact that this year last year in 2003. We had the lowest municipal water use Since we began record taking in 1984. So even though our population has grown significantly We are using less water As a community than we were in 1984 We also talk about the activities undertaken by our water quality lab to Investigate the new emerging concerns associated with harmful algal blooms and how to detect them and message them throughout the county I brought printed copies for all of you, which I will leave with the clerk So that you can use them for as references throughout the year So thank you so much for your support for our program and for water resources management throughout the county Thank you and thank you for your office and all the good work that you do for our community. Thank you Good morning board of supervisors. My name is ronda rena And I have been coming to you with a severe problem for over a year I'm a woman who has experienced severe domestic violence and abuse And worse yet experience post separation abuse by government agents who are in place Who are supposed to be implementing the violence against women act that was started by president bill clinton in 1994 But instead those billions if not trillions of dollars have been weaponized against mothers and children like myself I'm at my wit's end. So I'm just going to go to my bible. I'm a woman of god I'm a child of god I feel like I'm up against the spirit of goliath the spirit of pharaoh the spirit of jezebel And the nephilim and all I can do is read a parable Now jesus and this is from luke 18 Now jesus was telling the disciples a parable to make the point that at all times They ought to pray and not give up and lose heart saying in a certain city There was a judge who did not fear god and had no respect for man There was a desperate widow in that city and she kept coming to him and saying give me justice and legal protection from my adversary For a time he would not but later he said to himself Even though I do not fear god nor respect man yet because this widow continues to bother me I will give her justice and legal protection. Otherwise by continually coming She will be an intolerable annoyance and she will wear me out. I'm not going away I want my daughter back. I want justice and I want all my abusers Prosecuted. It is your job To make that happen Thank you Before the next speaker goes I just like to see if there's any other Member of the public who's here who'd like to speak in person if you could please get in line Um, we'll that will and he will be the last member of the public here in person before we move to all my comments So please uh just really coming back and saying thank you for the hard work that you put into retaking a look at all of the commissions and the stipend I just want to say thank you for those of you. I've had conversations with Um, I have something unique. Hopefully at some time from vision it will become a reality And that is an economic game plan that your participatory and To create a business so big in our county That it makes money and returns 100 of its profit Back into the community Or what we're going to jump start with the new commission You're going to put in place thanks to carlis and others of youth empowerment with a revisit to the youth commission I know that I was looking for more information last week and staff here Couldn't find it on your county and so i'm just here to learn what I can As you get into that subject But if you know what paul newman did then certainly the county and city of sound crews could create that kind of a Collaboration for a company. I can't speak into it in the two minutes But I sure can't over a cup of coffee and I guarantee you if you come into my kitchen It'll be a starbucks So I just want to say thank you Let's make that county and city that I live in Let's make it what it could be to be an example For the whole state Thank you if you do check out student leadership bring your resource to cabrillo and its student government Thank you again. Thank you Next speaker Good morning. I'm miley earnest in the director of program operations for the Sorry for people's first formerly known as the free guide And I just wanted to say thank you on the behalf of people people's first for The funding for the severe weather shelter. Um, we ran it the first part of the year And served over 500 people that came through overnight And on the eve of gearing up to do that for the rain that's coming tomorrow We're going to be open for 24 hours a day through monday or sorry through friday afternoon. So I just wanted to say thank you Um, it's a huge thing to do for folks that are unsheltered and outside right now. So thanks Thank you Yeah, good morning. My name is james ewing wetman. Well 2024 is really opening out to be quite the interesting year And we have the new world. Excuse me the wf puppet Greg Abbott What's he actually up to in um Texas really kind of interesting what's going on You know, there's a gentleman named roan atchison that gave a speech about 10 years ago About free speech Saying that free speech was More important than a roof over your head You know, we should all talk to each other all these litigation and crap when stuff is going on So, you know, we're very fortunate. We have two elections one coming up pretty soon Another one that may or may not happen for all kinds of reasons But this is something I wrote and it affects all of you and ryan cunardy And uh john leopold What a sivanamicon There's two elections loom this year one being in less than 60 days Where are my observations about a man who I could now make Hundreds of observations the last four years my vote I absolutely support public debate and fully support life in prison For manu and the other seven or eight individuals that make up the santa cruz county board of supervisors I have better attendance than all of you men the past four years I would have had really good attendance In the city of santa cruz, but that was me those meetings were shut down for two years There's a lot of stuff going on that you guys are just glazing You know, I don't stand to the pledge of allegiance to the corporate us flag Corporate california flag or the corporate pedophile flag You go outside this building You have a us and a california flag that do not have their corporate pirate fringe You guys are operating on five or six legal jurisdictions that I could describe. Thank you. Thank you I Looks like we have one more member of the public. Is there any other member of the public who's in person who'd like to comment on the agenda? The last speaker here in person and then we'll move to online Thank you My name is becky steinbrunner I have a number of comments, but first and foremost off of the agenda. I want to implore that your board send a complaint To the california public utilities commission That will halt any ability for 18 t to act as a last resort Area in the state but in this county What many people do not understand This letter dated january 10th 2024 A message from the california public utilities commission means is that 18 t wants to stop providing Landline service to the rural people Hardwired landline service is the most dependable telephone service in the rural areas In emergencies when the power goes out my neighbors who are not to do not have a landline service Have no telephone service No telephone service so please write to the EUC and uh protest the two Requests that a t and t has before them And to stop landline service On the consent agenda today. I protest item 20 And moving ahead with the digital wallet This is not good for the people and I do not support it and I ask that you stop it immediately Even though it is a free thing that the county looks to be getting it is not in good service to the public Um number 30. I do not support the county voting affirmatively on measure n I think this is unfair because the county is a large land owner And will dissolve uh dilute the public's vote on this the county has an interest in Measure n financial interest and I think it's a conflict of resolution To support in such a big way a vote affirming it. Thank you. Thank you All right at this time we're going to move to the online Um public comments Yes, chair. We do have speakers online Tony your microphone is now available Uh, thank you so much. Can you hear me? Yes, we can Uh, okay. Thank you. Uh, my name is Tony Nunez. I live in district six. I'm a resident lifelong resident of watsonville And I'm a volunteer for the yes on measure n campaign I want to thank you all for your ongoing support of watsonville community hospital And for bringing the resolution to support for measure n to today's meeting Measure n would allow the watsonville community hospital, which is now under nonprofit community ownership to continue to improve its services And finally cut all ties without a state for profit companies and investment firms It would also allow us to nearly double the capacity of watsonville community hospital's emergency room To continue to meet the growing health care needs of our aging community in south county The county board of supervisors this year and years past has emphasized equity There is no greater investment in equity than ensuring everyone in your jurisdiction has access to quality health care within their own community Approving this resolution of support you would add your name to our growing list of supporters, which includes the central coast alliance for health county of monterey city of watsonville the pahoa valley unified school district the pahoronian salute by la gente the county uh, santa cruz county chamber of commerce santa cruz county farm bureau the santa cruz county office of education The central committee the central democratic committee the mid county democratic committee and the monterey county democratic central committee Thank you so much for your ongoing support of watsonville community hospital You can find more information about measure n on yes on measure n dot net I also want to invite all of you to our official Measure n kickoff on saturday at 9 30 a.m at community bridges headquarters in downtown watsonville. Thank you so much for your time today thank you Call and user ending in 9 9 0 2 your microphones now available Thank you. My name is nina beatty Uh at&t as bestine runder said wants to discontinue landline telephone service in california And has asked the cpc to allow it to do so if approved customers would have no telephone service and no 9 1 1 service In a power outage or disaster once the batteries die. I asked the board to oppose this measure to the cpc Copperline landline service is essential infrastructure, particularly for rural areas Much like water pipes or highways are for everyone It's built to withstand most disasters and provide uninterrupted service for days Weeks or even months without when the electricity goes out At&t's contract with the state also as carrier of last resort means everyone gets service without discrimination Without extra fees or credit checks and at&t wants to eliminate this contract if approved Customers particularly in rural areas would have few or no options for any type of dependable service Also in the event of a fire Landlines may be the only way customers can get evacuation alerts in the northern california fires customers repeatedly said if they didn't have Landlines they would have died in the fires Customers received a notice an important at&t notice recently about public comment hearings But with no explanation about with the proceeding The nearest in-person hearing is next week in clovis on february 6th And there's a virtual one in march 19 That where people can call in and oppose this Application by at&t So I urge people to retain those notices so they know when they can call in and to oppose this And I ask again the board to oppose this measure by this application by at&t It's application 23 0.03 0.003 At the the cpc those notices were very important and there was no explanation For why people would need to comment about these proceedings It's about the carrier of last resort and about copper land land lines, which are essential service. Thank you Celia your microphone is now available Good morning. I'm speaking to item 10 My name is Celia Berry and I am the district 2 appointee to the emergency medical care commission as well as the commission's co-chair I would like to respectfully request that the board postpone transitioning the commission's consolidation with another committee Until the commission can meet and thoughtfully review and respond to the proposed recommendations I share the board's goal of ensuring that county staff is used appropriately to support committees and commissions and look forward to Implementing strategies that are respectful of this goal. Thank you for your time Thank you Call in user one your microphone is now available I'm Garrett. I also urge you to Help save land lines and defend our copper Uh analog landline network, which we and the public We all paid for Analog copper landline Telephones provide the highest quality reliable Affordable and safe voice service available But now big telecom companies like AT&T and Verizon are trying to pull a plug on landlines by forcing people to use less regulated and unreliable but more profitable Cell phones or voice over internet technologies without any coherent plan to keep people safely and reliably connected A valuable source of information is save landlines dot or and also The protest of Nina beady before the public utilities commission On application 23 0 3 0 0 3 You can read the Entire protest I also received a notice of pending regulatory application from AT&T part of what it states Is that AT&T as the carrier of last resort resort and I quote this fard means that we AT&T must provide Traditional landline phone service to any potential customer in our service territory I would encourage people to calm to AT&T that they need to provide Traditional landline service Thank you. Ms. Garrett sir any other Yes, sure. We do have additional speakers online Caroline your micro microphone is now available Good morning. My name is Caroline. I live in district one Um, and I just wanted to continue to encourage the board to consider passing a ceasefire resolution um Let me see here. Yes or not yesterday on the 27th of January our Santa Cruz county democratic central committee approved a resolution Um, and I just want to quote the chair andrew goldencrowns. Um on about that process In case it's of inspiration This resolution balances the need for peaceful sustainable cessation of violence And follows the diplomatic efforts on the ground by our and other governments to get to a better place We had a respectful thorough discussion among people with different perspectives and got to an almost consensus resolution It ultimately passed 24 three. Um, so I I um Suggest maybe that you consider a resolution like that one Um, also since the last meeting, um, the icj ruled that israel is plausibly committing genocide and to date 66 members of congress have called for a ceasefire um Even after the icj ruling israeli settlers and government officials attended a conference to build illegal settlements in gaza Um, and in the last 24 hours 215 Palestinians were killed and 300 injured Um, and so yeah, I just wanted to encourage us to continue looking for a diplomatic way to promote peace And Also, someone who grew up in the Santa Cruz mountains I am an advocate for saving land lines because it is pretty scary. Um, not having access Uh, when your cell is not working Um, and that is it. Thank you so much for your time Thank you call in user ending in 1192 your microphones now available We're unmuted. Thank you. Um, I'm calling about a um big item 20 and the digital wallet and this is uh, something going on in europe as well and points to all the problems that Are in this system and a society a civil society group wrote a letter to The eu about privacy concerns And it will present they say an unprecedented Unprecedented risk for european Europeans and their online and offline life Unless privacy and anti discrimination safeguards are introduced So it in an open letter the group urged european Union officials to reconsider the current trajectory um The main concerns the group is that the Digital wallet may spell the death of an anonymity leading to over identification And a real name internet The regulations could also introduce a unique and persistent identifier For every citizen allowing big tech actors to track their behavior In its current form the european digital identity system would be a gift for google and facebook to undermine the privacy of the eu citizens The letter notes This will impact everyone in the eu and put them at a lower privacy level than people in other world regions Other issues include intrusive functions and Susceptibility to system failures and cyber attacks and lack of redress for those who are excluded from the system So in china they have a social credit score Where they are tracked for everything they do their opinions or political opinions And they can be excluded from this system instantly For something the government doesn't like and I think that is where this system is going and I am against item 20 And I urge you to vote against it. Thank you. Thank you very much Michelle your microphone is now available It's a reminder. It's star six to mute or unmute yourself Good morning I'm a resident of district two. I also have two items To share i'm also supporting keeping the landlines or the residents that need it The second item i'm asking you to work on a ceasefire resolution in gazel As of today the amount of death is equal to the population of santa cruz And the number of displaced population is equal to the population of san jose and san francisco combined i'm asking you to work on a ceasefire resolution in gazel to stop this killing The santa cruz county democrat committee under the leadership of andrew golden cramps That's a resolution I ask you to adopt that resolution. Thank you thank you Yellen family your microphone is now available As a reminder it's star six to mute or unmute yourself Good morning. Can you hear me? I hope you can My name is mark yellen for those who did not know me i dab and have been an emergency physician And one of the ems managers in our committee for the past three to seven years During this time. I work closely with our county's ems division as well as with our local 9.1 coordinator agencies and medical groups I have said on many of the related ems committees and chairs separately also have been honored Facing and sharing my thoughts but several supervisors over the past decades I have currently served in the emsc state as a commissioner representing the center's medical society I share these details not to boost my linkedin profile but rather hopefully authenticate my comments presented here The emsc state is a title of a critical commission that serves to advise the members of our court To scrutinize that is the mandate it brings together at the same table the required expertise of great specialists From local public and private agencies in the institutions that through collaboration And investigation to help to advise the board on critical issues specifically Relating to ems the emsc is in a unique position to take but be a greater elevation to observe monitor question Comment and advise the many infrequently changing aspects of our ems system While others may disagree ems management is a critical specialty Requiring critical specialists practical and focused experience and the deep community involved It is profoundly different than most other aspects of healthcare and requires a different approach As such I humbly destroy the advice members of this board to preserve the emsc Additionally, I would suggest that the emsc be charged with reviewing its charter and activities in order to streamline the process And bring these recommendations back to the board that they would date for the discussion Thank you for your time We have no further speakers chair All right. Thank you very much and thank you to everyone who was here to comment today I just wanted to see if there's any comments on anything that was mentioned from the ceo or any relevant staff Seeing none, I'll bring it back to the board For any comments questions on items that are on the consent agenda with the exception of item number 51 Which has been moved to the regularly scheduled agenda Yes, thank you, mr. Chair on a couple of items item number 16 the annual comprehensive financial report I want to thank edis driscoll who's here today our auditor controller treasurer tax collector for this report Yeah, she's all that in one um It speaks very highly of the high professionalism of our county and votes managing the public's money And provides a complete transparency of how that money is spent in its overall operations I want to thank your staff for this report and the report that Receiving the certificate of achievement for excellent in financial reporting, which is the highest recognition In government accounting and finance reporting Uh, so congratulations and in conjunction With the recent california state association of counties award for our online budget tool Overseeing by mark and matel I'm very proud that santa cruz is recognized for excellence in regarding our financial management system And letting the public know how we are spending our money. So thank you very much Um similar to our financial reporting over the past few years on item number 18 the strategic initiative update Um over the past few years the board has uh and the community have seen an evolution and improvement In the transparency in our overall, uh county operations And I encourage members of the public uh to read this report its item number 18 on today's agenda and see for themselves how comprehensive Uh giving a comprehensive strategic plan Uh can result in continuous improvement on how we serve the community And finally on item number 41. This is very very welcome to me state grant for the big base of water system I want to thank uh, Dave reed our director of the office of response recovery and resilience as well as sierra ryan who We heard from this morning Our uh water resources manager for their work and obtain this grant from the state um This we're seeing an unprecedented level of collaboration and support among the state resource agencies has taken a lot of time to get there Because this big base and water company is a private company It is overseen by the state and not county for its operations And the county and the court appointed receiver Is charting a brighter future for the customers of the big base and water company I wish it could have come earlier, but uh, this is the process that we had we did follow And uh, we're going to have we're having some great results. So without this funding of over $100,000 more than a 500 households Could have been without drinking water within a couple of months And uh, we are fortunate there is uh, and also a substantial carve out to the study for the private public Consolidation possibly with the san ranzo valley county water district, which is again a separate agency But we'll look forward to that uh in the future to hope that can become a reality But I want to thank everybody involved in this. This has been a long process And it comes just at the right time. So we don't have to cut off water systems Water system in the big basin area Thank you Thank you for rising the fears on it to revise the comic. Thank you chair Just one item I'd like to comment on which is item 55 approving plan specifications and engineers estimate for the children's crisis center This of course is a much needed facility on the public safety campus in live oak When uh, we'll just very recently this board discussed that we'd like to see some projects considered for project labor agreements This one actually came to mind as one that would be a good fit. I mean, it's over 12 million dollars It's a vertical project. We want it done on time And so I don't know if anyone here in on staff would like to comment But um, I'm inclined to suggest that we put this out to bid with with the project labor agreement in place Yeah Yes, uh, we did uh, this project has been Being worked on for over a year and there's a great deal of urgency to get it out uh, we are working on a comprehensive project labor agreement master agreement the county and we have been in contact With the trade unions about that However, with this project, we're worried that trying to do a one-off PLA agreement would slow it down And we're under a great deal of urgency to get this project bid and constructed because of the the great need there is for children's crisis Healthcare. So for that reason, we put it through without a PLA at this point But we are working very diligently to form a master agreement and bring to the board for consideration in the next few months Okay, I mean, I certainly agree. This is an urgent need and so, um, I'll Accept the recommendation that we proceed as is and look forward to seeing Your suggestions on a master PLA or other projects where we could utilize PLAs. Thank you Okay, supervisor friend evening elements on the concept Yes, chair. Thank you. Um, just briefly on the item 20 the digital wallet appreciation for the staff's work For providing another level of interaction and accessibility of the county for Those that are interested in using it appreciation for Uh, the caller on the hospital measure and this board's consideration after we receive the presentation our last board meeting To to formally come out now in support of the district's measure I think it would be Hard to find a greater investment that could be made in health equity and the preservation of the stability of our health system than this Without the passage of this measure There are some pretty significant and dire potential consequences But but on the positive side with the passage of the measure there would be investments in south county in particular um health care service delivery that would be pretty unprecedented and and could only benefit the community At large, I just want to also acknowledge an item 41 I just want to acknowledge our colleague supervisor McPherson who has been working so strongly on this big basin Water preservation project and the work of director reed and c. R. Ryan that was mentioned as well as our c. A. O But um, I know that it couldn't have happened without supervisor McPherson's work and out of his team And so just an acknowledgement to use for visor McPherson. I know you did a lot of work Both at the local and state level to make sure that this actually came about The last item item 56, which is the green valley multi-use trail In some respects, it's it's actually much broader than that It's it's just such a significant investment in in safety and transportation equity in south county in a in an area that I share with My esteemed colleague supervisor Hernandez in that area as supervisor Hernandez knows it's an area that has had But that receives a lot of both bike and pedestrian traffic It's also an area that a lot of kids walk to school and a lot of families used to get to pinto lake park So any sort of investment so we can make in safety in that area Will both increase access but also save lives and so appreciation to Steve we's during the public works who I know has been leading the effort on this It's been a very challenging project to get funded But we were able to find not just locally but through state funds to his diligent work And out of this board this funding so a great project once it gets built. Thank you, mr. Chair Thank you supervisor friends supervisor Hernandez Just a few brief comments on 29 30 and 56 um, you know, I'm glad that we're doing this sand cruise cleanup cleanup day The what it does is it establishes a dedicated day for community-wide environmental education cleanup efforts across the county to improve environmental health public well-being and beauty and jurisdictions jurisdictions throughout santa cruz county, so I'm really excited about that and 30, um, you know The hospital is really important to not just our community, but it benefits health care systems here in north county to make sure to Sure that we got health care in south county means that we don't impact hospitals over here In in north county, so it really is about health equity and you know, I fully support it And item 56. I'm happy that this this is going out to bid On green valley road. There is it's an area that has it's three parks The county one in my district one in Supervisor friends district and we have one city park there um, pit o lake and a neighborhood market store that a lot of youth young people and everyone uh, uses that road and if you ever drive by there, there's plenty of memorials for people to have been run over as pedestrians as bicyclists So it's a critical need in that area and I'm just happy that we got it going And that's it Thank you supervisor Hernandez I have some comments and some of the items have already been addressed and then some additional comments. I'll try to be brief Item number 18. I just want to thank staff again for all their ongoing work to help address equity and this update to our county strategic initiatives Really shows their commitment to this work. And so just want to thank you all for your ongoing support of that Item number 29. I want to thank supervisor Hernandez for reaching out To include me as someone who could bring forward the proposal for Santa Cruz County cleanup day I do want to recognize though that we We have a number of environmental organizations that we've partnered with for years And I hope that we can continue to support those organizations as well Some of them haven't seen increases in their contracts with the county and I think it's worth us taking a look at How we can better support some of the nonprofits that also do environmental cleanups and education in our community Um, I don't number 30 I just want to thank supervisor friend and supervisor Hernandez for Bringing forward this resolution to support measure N I'm in fully supportive of Watsonville hospital and the county has done a great job of helping to Save that hospital from bankruptcy. And so I hope that we can Share our full support Um for that effort and hopefully after march we will have a direct funding stream to keep that hospital open Um items numbers 36 through 38. I just want to thank our commissions For their hard work. These are three annual reports that Are coming in before the board and just demonstrate How important it is for us to continue to have a community engagement with our commissions and Acknowledge the work that they do to keep us informed about their work item number 41. I just want to share the What's been expressed by my colleagues around getting the funding to support big basin water Just hearing about how the potential loss of that Water company could have impacted residents was Really concerning and so I just want to thank everyone for their hard work to help secure those funds and Hopefully we can, you know, have a better water company and water services in that region Item number 45, this is Revenue agreement with california alliance for health And I just want to thank our staff again for all the work that they're doing on homelessness Sometimes we don't get the credit that we deserve for the ongoing work that we're doing at the county for homelessness But just want to acknowledge and thank the county staff for all their hard work to continue to Seek out funding so that we can continue to serve some of the most vulnerable people in our community And which is also related to item number 47. I really want to thank staff for working with our office This is an agreement between the city of santa cruz and the city of watsonville To provide winter shelter and also disaster shelter and I'll just say that back when I was mayor during the fires and we had to open the Civic downtown There's a lot of confusion over who was supposed to be running that facility And then during my time on the santa cruz city council There were years when the city didn't have a winter shelter and for many members of the community They were really concerned as to why we weren't offering winter shelter and why we weren't supporting some of the other services And so this has been a big priority of mine After joining the board and so I really want to thank Staff and the city of santa cruz for working collaboration to come to an agreement for how we're going to be able to provide winter And disaster shelter for people experiencing homelessness in our community And then lastly just want to Thanks staff for all their work on item number 55 to Get this you know children's crisis center moving forward. I share the sentiments brought by Supervisor conic around us trying to have PLA is and and moving forward with that So we'll that's another conversation to be had but I think that given the Need for the these kinds of services that we should probably get this project on as quickly as possible And so just want to thank everybody for their hard work on these items and all the other items on our consent agenda And with that I will bring it back to the board to see if there's a motion To move the consent item with the exception of item number 51, which is pulled by supervisor conic I'll move the consent agenda second to be motioned by a supervisor conic Second by supervisor hernandez and given that supervisor friend is remote. I'll ask the clerk to call roll call vote Certainly supervisor McPherson Yes Conic hi hernandez. Yes friend All right And comings. Hi That passes unanimously So with that we will move on to our regular agenda First item on our agenda There's a public hearing to consider proposed 2024 2025 benefit assessment rates for county service area number nine e streetscape maintenance Requests the submittal of ballots for the proposed fiscal year 2024 2025 Benefit assessments continue the public hearing to april 30 2024 And take related actions as outlined in the memorandum Of deputy ceo direction of community development and infrastructure and with that I'll turn it over to matt machado All right, thank you. Good morning chair and supervisors matt machado director of community development infrastructure Thank you for the introduction the item before you as a public hearing For the benefit assessment rate increase for csa 9e Today does conclude the the election to increase assessments for streetscape maintenance and county service area 9e Which encompasses live oak and soquel area Csa 9e provides streetscaping on roadways and the care and maintenance of over 1600 trees within the boundaries of the former redevelopment area of live oak and soquel So today it will be necessary for the board to hear objections or protests if any Close the public testimony portion of the public hearing and continue the public hearing to april 30 of 2024 To allow for the tabulation of the ballots And certification of the ballot proceedings Staff is here today both our consultant and our in our own staff to answer any questions you may have and I certainly can Attempt to answer any questions you may have but with that that concludes our Our staff presentation and turn it to you for any questions you may have Thank you. Are there any questions or comments supervisor conic? Thank you director machado Well, I will say that we know the public wants these services my office Here is extensively from the public particularly in the spring when the weeds tend to outpace our budget capacity for the current csa 9e fund which As was stated in the report. I think has something along the lines of about $38,000 a year thereabouts And hasn't been increased since 1998 Which means that inflation has effectively cut our budget capacity in half Since the last time this was increased one of the things I do appreciate about This proposal is that it would tie the fee to inflation so that we do not have to go back To the public and ask for this again because after all the elections themselves do cost money I would ask, you know, I think there's there's certainly some logic in asking Commercial properties to pay a little bit more given that they're actually doing business in the area If we have someone from Bowman Williams, I'd be interested to hear You know about exactly how that rate was set You know, and I think I mean we heard from the gentleman who mentioned that his his fee is would go up to $556 were thereabouts, but I think that On my math that mean would mean that that is over 12 parcels, right? I mean because the the Unless one parcel can get a commercial parcel can have more eb us Effective benefit units. You know, I think that that is is actually Represents a pretty significant amount of square footage in the first district Yeah, no, I think your math is correct and I'll comment on that and if need be we can bring our consultant to the to the dice as well So it is true that commercial properties do generate more traffic Both vehicle traffic the desertion traffic And so the theory is that that they receive more benefit from these amenities that we provide through 9e And so we've looked at industry standards to To make it fair and equitable And so the six to one ratio does appear to be the right Amount of assessment compared to a single family So a single family residence is a one ebu And commercial properties are a six and as based upon the increased traffic and both foot and vehicle traffic And the demand for additional services, which which they certainly generate. And so we think it is the correct amount We think it's equitable. We think it's uh, it's analyzed properly and certainly can answer any more questions you may have on that Sure. Well, um, our street trees have gotten bigger since the last time we increased this fee and our sidewalks have gotten older And need more maintenance and of course the weeds themselves have gotten more established So we could use some more resources to deal with the maintenance of this area Of course, people complain that we should take money from the general fund in order to do that But as you well know director machado, we have many csa's throughout the county that deal with fire protection stormwater management mosquito abatement and so You know, if we were to pull on this block and Try to take money from the general fund for streetscape maintenance and live oak. I think ultimately Every csa would ask for the same treatment and the whole jenga tower would would come crashing down So this is really the most straightforward way to Address the additional needs of this area um I guess we will hear back on april 30th as far as The results of the election. That's correct And of course one additional note. I understand correctly. Um, the vote is weighted by EBU's is that correct? That is correct. So commercial property owners who are concerned about the increased fees ultimately do get Greater say and how this election turns out. Yes. All right. Thank you Thank you. Um, are there any other supervisors who have comments on this item? Okay, seeing none. We'll open it up to the public For members of the public to comment on this item if you haven't done so already Good morning. Becky steinbruner. I do not live in the live oak or so cal area But as a one who Is concerned about proper and transparent government process I do not see an engineer's report associated with this what's being called an assess benefit assessment increase It is my understanding of the california constitution article 13 Section c and d That an engineer's report is required in a prop 218 vote And tax or assessment increase to show that there is Justifiable and transparent calculation Of the proportional benefit of the those who will be taxed I don't see that anywhere. So if you can help me find that I would appreciate it And that would help also support The question as to why there is such a disparity in The taxing Level Thank you for explaining what ebu is I couldn't find that acronym defined anywhere. So thank you And again, I did suggest That some monies be used from the general fund because there is general benefit And that's the other thing that the engineer's report Must clarify transparently the difference between the Benefit to the property owner Themselves and to the general public Passing by or coming to these commercial areas. That's general benefit which must be identified and separate from The benefit that is attached to the property parcel and for which those owners are being assessed Thank you Are there any other members of the Sir unfortunately since you spoke on this item already today, um, you can't come back up for a public comment on this I get to rebut his uh Subjections. I'm sorry not at this point in time Any other members of the public who are here present who would like to speak to us on this item? Seeing none, we'll go to the clerk to see if there's anyone online Who will like to speak on this item. We do have speakers online Call in user one your microphone is now available Benefit assessment means more taxes for people to Pay And I see this on many an agenda More and more taxes. Why are we being taxed more and more? Because over 50 percent of our taxes Go to the military budget That's taken out of this county For services That could be provided We need um We need to redo it. It's just siphoned out. It's like a theft from the public and then the public is to pay more real benefit would be Keeping that money in our county for what we need citizens of the county Just this weekend Uh bill boards put up by world beyond war Have this statement 3% of the u.s I need to ask how this relates to this item. I Excuse me Within starvation on earth. I would like this board to advocate for keeping Money in our county that we need And to quote martin luther king jr He said our government my own government He said is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world it is And I'd like you to revisit the Call for ceasefire Thank you miss garrett Any other members of the public online who'd like to speak on this item? No further speakers chair. Okay. I'll bring it back to The board and to staff to see if there's any follow-up comments Sure, I'll just uh share that the engineers report is attached and I checked those links this morning And they are working and so the report is there. Okay, and I would also Um Note that within that engineer report we do describe general benefit versus special benefit and there is a carve out for general benefit So that should cover the one comment we received Thank you I may have one other question. So I know if this We'll hear in april whether or not The affected parcel owners have approved the increased assessment When could we expect any changing level of service if it does pass? Sure, so uh If it does pass then uh, then we could go and secure a larger landscape contract I'm not exactly sure of the timing for that. It's certainly get back to you and provide a schedule But we would jump right on as quickly as possible Okay, great. Thanks All right, there's no further questions or comments I'd like to see if there's a member of the board who'd like to move the staff recommendations and I'll move the recommended actions second So motion by Supervisor Koenig second by Supervisor Hernandez. There's no further questions or comments. I'd like to ask the clerk to call roll call vote Supervisor Hernandez Yes, Koenig. Hi McPherson friend. All right and Cummings. Hi that pass that item passes unanimously That will move on to item number eight This is a public hearing to consider coastal commission modifications to sustainability policy and regulatory update of 2022 approved by resolutions 293-2022 and 294-2022 and ordinances 5 4 2 0 3 5 4 2 9 adopt a resolution accepting the commission's modifications adopt ordinance based on the modifications and take related actions as outlined in the memorandum Of the deputy CAO director of community development and infrastructure With that I'll pass this on to Stephanie Hansen assistant director of planning for a presentation on this item Good morning. Thank you chair. Good morning supervisors Today we're pleased to present to the board the proposed coastal commission modifications to sections of the sustainability policy and regulatory update Which the board adopted back in December 2022 As the board is aware portions of the county's general plan and county code Also function as the county's local coastal program or lcp Which requires consistency with the state's coastal act County staffed work closely with coastal staff to ensure that the proposed modifications meet the goals Of the sustainability update while meeting the intent of the coastal act On december 15 2023 the coastal commission considered portions of the sustainability update that are part of the lcp Coastal staff recommended 41 modifications to the general plan and county code To address consistency with the coastal act and the coastal commission certified the amendments with those modifications The board is requested to accept the modifications by approving the resolution and ordinance in your packet In order for the sustainability update to go into effect countywide The sustainability update project contained amendments to the general plan and various county code sections The general plan land use and zoning maps and adoption of new design guidelines The coastal commission certification does include the rezoning and redesignation of 10 parcels in the coastal zone As originally approved by the board of supervisors Today we're only going to focus on their proposed modifications, which are shown as attachment 8d in your packet The modifications are largely adjustments to existing language that strengthen the clarity An intent of meeting the provisions of the coastal act will begin with the general plan In chapter one introduction the modifications include language to strengthen the applicability and interpretation of lcp policies Particularly if there are conflicts which require interpretation The intent of meeting coastal act policies is clarified and a process for consultation with the coastal commission's executive director is provided In chapter two the built environment element policy be 2.1.9 is added to the lcp And the policy is modified so that the development may occur below the state of density range when there are conflicts with environmental protection Policy be 5.1.1 is reworded to require development in the coastal zone to be consistent with the lcp In policy be 5.1.3 The conversion to lower coastal priority uses must meet certain findings The findings for the conversion of lower cost overnight accommodations include replacement of units or a fee in lieu Replacement of moderate or high cost accommodation units may be replaced with affordable housing and a selection from a menu of visitor amenities policy be 5.1.7 rewords the policy to protect existing public access during the development of private parcels proposed amendments to the access and mobility element are centered around public coastal access Existing implementation strategies regarding the county's new active transportation plan and regarding parking and bike facilities are added to the lcp Policy am 4.1.4 Public coastal access points are protected But the modification acknowledges the need for further clarification with regard to historical access to twin lakes beach via jeffrey drive As a as may be settled in a future court decision jeffrey drive was included in the table of access points in the 1994 general plan In policy am 4.1.5 The post modifications require That encroachments in the public right of way that block public access need to be removed Or an application submitted for an encouragement authorization as part of the development process Modifications to policies am 6.3.5 and 6.3.6 Define conditions for parking restrictions And balance the charging of fees with continued public access and improvements A new implementation strategy is proposed which is a reworking of a formal policy addressing funding for maintenance and coastal access enhancement adding options for funding In the agriculture natural resources and conservation element An existing definition of agricultural land is added for vineyard lands And policy arc 1.1.14 This policy is slightly amended to include language from the coastal act Regarding the nature of unacceptable impacts to agricultural land due to water and sewer line expansion Modification of existing policy arc 1.4.6 clarifies the location of proposed residential uses on coastal agricultural lands One policy regarding leashing laws is removed from the lcp modifications to water quality monitoring around boine vista and watsonville landfills An implementation strategy arc 4.4 g are tied to existing board permit requirements Scenic protection is strengthened and then this swanton road special scenic area A policy is modified slightly to increase the scenic value To the greatest extent feasible Modifications to chapter 7 the parks and public facilities element also address coastal access and funding modifications to policy ppf 2.6.1 address continued provision of public access policy ppf 2.6 10 Which had been added to address maintenance in the face of climate change has been removed Such considerations will be made in the upcoming safety element amendments That consider coastal bluffs and beaches at a later date Implementation strategy ppf 2.6 addresses the need to generate funding for maintenance through a variety of sources While balancing continued fee free public access And two definitions were amended to reflect state law In the county code 5 chapters were proposed for modification in chapter 1310 the zoning regulations A reference to the applicable conversion policy in the general plan is added And findings to meet density bonus law while still meeting lcp requirements has been added In chapter 1320 which regulates development in the coastal zone Information regarding which uses are appealable to the coastal commission has been amended for clarity And principle permitted uses amended slightly for consistency with the coastal act In chapter 1650 which regulates agricultural protection references to conversion policies in the general plan have been added In title 18 which regulates land use procedures such as hearings and notices Changes include adding chapter 1505 on trails and coastal access to the lcp Amending noticing procedures that are for coastal development permits that are consistent with the coastal act clarifying procedures around discretionary approval extensions for coastal development permits clarifying procedures for minor and major amendments of existing coastal development permits confirming submittal needs for amending the lcp and confirming The changes to the general plan policies must be consistent with the environmental resource protections in the coastal act as well as agricultural conversion policies Finally a new section 1860 55 states that in the case of conflicts the requirements with the lcp and the coastal act will guide the resolution So with that staff is recommending that the board conduct the public hearing adopt a resolution accepting the modifications and amending the general plan Approving concept the ordinance amending the county code And direct the clerk or the board to publish the required notice And set second reading for february 13th 2024 Staff is happy to answer any questions that you may have. Thank you. Thank you for that presentation Are there any board members that have questions on this item? Supervisor Koenig? Thank you chair Well, this this has been a long time coming but of course in reviewing all of the changes there It's reminded just how extensive these updates were on our part and I suppose the coastal commission could be forgiven for for taking a year to review it and ultimately making these suggestions Um, just to clarify the process going forward I believe if we approve these changes or approve the suggestions without changes and it has to go back to the coastal commission for a final Stamp of approval before it can actually go into effect. Is that right? It's it's a long process, but yes, it goes back Um to the coastal commission one more time for it. It's a minor report to the Commission that the modifications were accepted and that would happen at their next meeting In mid-march And then at that point it would start the 30 day period before in 2002 implementation Oh, I'll rely on on council, but 30 day period would start after adoption And so they'll be pretty well aligned the whole thing would go into effect just after mid-march It'll go it'll go into effect either 30 days after second reading or upon approval by the coastal commission, whichever happens later Got it. Thank you. Any other questions from board members? I might uh, mr. Chairman just might uh, want to make a comment first of all, thank you, uh For our county staff, especially Stephanie Hansen who just made this presentation It's been a long haul as what's been said and I want to thank Supervisor Cummings for serving on the coastal commission. That's one of the most time consuming The mission appointments that we have in the county and I'm relieved. We're finally getting to this point and It's been done over a year that we've been after this And the the regulations the modifications to our general plan and the codes and procedures overall And although I'm grateful to the coastal commission for working diligently with the county and I have talked to him some directors Face-to-face to finalize these updates I can continue to be very concerned about the future of our transportation projects within The coastal zone of Santa Cruz county, especially the likely feasibility Of passenger rail within the coastal zone. I've expressed this on the regional transportation commission In meetings There were some real significant barriers to doing that and especially with the bridges and trestles that we have and I know that the coastal commission is Staff has made it clear they preferred what they call a managed retreat for all infrastructure affected by sea level rise But retreating a retreating these Current rail corridor line will be incredibly I think cost prohibitive and present environmental and engineering challenges that will be really difficult to overcome And I really thank you for getting this to us. I can't wait till we can find out the impact All of this is going to have on the proposed rail trail line Thank you Thank you Any other comments from supervisors or questions for staff? I'll just make one other comment which is you know in case anyone has forgotten I do Think that these this entire sustainability update will really have A beneficial and transformative effect for our county. I know a lot of folks who are excited about some of the provisions That enhance our agro agro tourism businesses throughout the community As well as the opportunities for infill development and more affordable housing So this is a really important package of changes and thank you to Ms. Hansen and all the staff that have worked on this. It has been a long haul and we are almost there All right Here you know what the comments or questions coming from the board. I'd like to Open the public hearing and invite members of the public come and speak on this item So if you were here in the audience Physically if you can step up and line up in front of the podium You'll be given two minutes and if you are online you will also be given two minutes once we close public comment here in person. So Please step to the podium Yes, good morning. David Schwartz candidate for district two supervisor um, I I noticed on the uh recommendations that the first line item was a public hearing And I'm not sure if that's happened or not. Uh, you wouldn't think it'd be in the recommendations if it had So if that is a recommendation Um, I'd make a recommendation that we not agree to this Because I think we should hear it from the public first and I know this has been going on for some time And I'm an advocate for getting things done sooner rather than later But I think the public needs to have that input and I believe that it is in our best interest To have that public hearing now. I noticed that you're scheduling though This is going back to the commission in february Like february 13th or something as I believe it said now that's less than two weeks away I don't know how you can have a public hearing in two weeks. I mean my schedule is pretty full I probably wouldn't be able to make it Uh, so it presents a challenge. That's why I would suggest that you not move ahead with this right now Let's move on to those recommendations Maybe accept some of them like having the public hearing and let's get that public hearing done first and listen to the What what the public says about these changes. Thank you very much And chair just to clarify blue, but this is the public hearing and that's why we're taking public comments. That is correct Good morning. My name is james shelling Whitman. It's my understanding if anybody is going to question anything going on here for a future litigation Now is the time or forever hold your peace. I suppose So I'm going to question everything in here. Just like I'd like to question probably the 150 000 pages That have been rubber stamped by you guys that are like helium balloons being controlled How have citizens become so meek and uneducated? Jeez, we can really thank ucsc This is a quote from scott stalling This really has to do with the agenda 2021 2030 that came in long before 1968 Came into this county through the seeds project in 1993 and was adopted adopted into protocol In 1997, I've never been in a city that has worse traffic than santa cruz And that's all by your guys's design so by stalling stalling once ripped the feathers Out of a live chicken as a lesson to his followers He then set the chicken on the floor short distance away The chicken was bloodied and suffering immensely Yet when stalling began to toss some bits of wheat towards the chicken, it followed him around He said to his followers, this is how easy it is to govern stupid people They will follow you no matter how much pain you cause them As long as you throw them a worthless little treat once in a while You guys This our country and the world was being run by phabian socialists And there's one teaching at uc santa cruz right now named Ryan Coonerty This is a quote from Brock Chisholm who was uh the first inspector general from 1948 to 1953 To achieve world government, it is necessary to remove from the minds of men their individuality Their loyalty to family traditions and their national identity So i'm questioning all the stuff that you guys are going to rubber steam Thank you, and I just want to remind members of the public the item that we're discussing is a coastal commission Modifications to the sustainability plan. I want to encourage members of the public To be respectful and keep the comments that you're going to make related to this item. Thank you Hi, my name is ronda manu. This question goes to you. I'm very confused. You look all starry-eyed about this affordable housing However, many of us who are looking at the alleged affordable housing do not consider it affordable at all When there are all these little sardine cans being put together that cost well over $3,000 a month So that's not affordable and it sounds very disingenuous and the cramming and cramming and cramming and going up to the sky and turning santa cruz into Is something that is the complete opposite of preserving our coastal nature doesn't make any sense to me So please explain what you call affordable housing because affordable bull would be like $900 a month Realistically when you look at the demographics of people who are living here and people who are being imported here And yet we've got wealthy people showing up and being able to pay for the higher expenses of $3,000, $4,000, $5,000 You look at some of these homes are going for $10,000 a month in rent. That's not affordable So can you please explain to me what you call affordable? Thank you Thank you Is there any other member of the public who would like to speak to us who's here in chambers? Okay, after the gentleman in the black shirt, we're going to close I'll be comment here in chambers. We're going to move to public comment that's online Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. My name is becky steinbrun. I have a question about the slide that referenced policy be built environment is what that stands for 2.1 0.9 That the densities would be allowed to be below the prescribed density within When there are conflicting issues with environmental protection So I have two questions about that. How is that defined in terms of environmental Conflict is it water? Is it Endangered species And is that determined by a developer who would pay to have an environmental analysis that suits their whim As often it goes. So I I would like to know what the clarification I would like clarification on what the definition of environmental harm Could be that would cause densities to be below and if any of that would apply in the pleasure point area As well as in the twin lakes beach and the sand crews harbor area the former redevelopment land I have a question about It requires encroachment of development At access points to be removed I was pretty shocked to read in the paper that the coastal commission set aside the judicial opinion of judge volkman of sand crews county superior court regarding the beach drive neighborhood issue And I also wonder if this means that the Private the gate that has for many years Restricted access to private's beach in capitolah. Will that all be taken down now? I hope so um I am happy to hear that there will be increased water monitoring around brain brain of vista dump Will that also happen at yimeo? And uh, it needs to consider egg runoff I I'm concerned about issues not being appealable. Thank you miss timer That thing any further questions if you can send You can Hello, my name is uh tim delaney. I've been here before Thank you very much for allowing me to speak. I really appreciate it So, um, yeah, this uh The general plan update and all that sort of stuff that you guys are talking about In the tahoe basin, uh It's an epic disaster You know, so they they want to update the general plan and they've been going through all that sort of stuff And they're all talking about affordable housing and access and all this sort of stuff Yeah, 72 miles a rim And those folks can't keep their hands off of a single inch of land around the entire lake So now bald eagles and golden eagles and sacred native american land is threatened And affordable housing That is an absolute joke. That's just a giveaway to developers. That's all that is and again Just like these other folks are pointing out to you. They're just cramming people in there Uh to the detriment of the environment and quality of life for everybody there You can't even get on the road to go skiing over at palisades The roads are all log jammed and and and annihilated. So life is just not very fun On the beach elbow to elbow You know, that's no good for locals or tourists. And so, you know I think you really need to think about all that in regards to this also for elderly people want to let you know That all this time spent here And no one cares about elderly people And these corporations these health care corporations and what they're going to be doing to them So it's a lot of time a lot of money wasted and elderly people being thrown on the bus and no one cares about US federal law and how these corporations are treating them And they think they're above the law just like donald trump So You know, it's a lot to think about I appreciate the style and comment. I wish I could say more here, but I think you folks should hold off Okay, thank you so much. Thank you very much All right, we'll close public comment here in person and we'll turn it over to the clerks for members of the public who are Wanting to comment online queue chair colon user one your microphones now available Well, and garen, uh, I appreciate the previous speaker Giving the definition of affordable housing Give a way to developers. It is not affordable to people I've lived in the county since 81 And over the years, I've seen The degradation Of the coastal area It's it's very very disturbing and And the coastal commission role As well as the county in in that degradation It seems to me the coastal commission Is protecting corporate interests And as some examples of this and when I'm done with my comments, I'd like supervisor Cummings to please Announce the details of the upcoming coastal commission meeting because she's sit on the coastal commission The The installation and approval by the corporate coastal commission Forge for rising antennas all up and down the coast This is definitely detrimental To the environment radiation emitting antennas Kill birds and bees and harm our health and you can look at cell phone task force dot org That is not sustainable. That is not protecting the environment And I have a question you referred to active transportation plant My understanding is these have to do with radar Detection that would like elaboration on that it is extremely hazardous So those are my comments. It should be delayed. I think and Until after the coastal commission meeting. Thank you. Thank you. Ms. Garrett We have no further speakers turn All right, with that being said, we'll close the public hearing and I'll bring it back to staff or any comments On questions that were raised during the public comment period Oh, certainly With regards to Public input, um, I I'd like to just remind everybody this is a A 10 year old process. It it's the culmination of several projects that had public input over time Once we were able to gather all the amendments together. We had 23 public meetings and concluding Meetings here at the board the planning commission the agricultural policy advisory commission And so there's been No, uh, no shortage of opportunities for public input on this process um I know there were questions about affordable housing the sustainability update We didn't talk much about all the great things it does for our urban standards to help increase opportunities for housing But that was the main point of these, um Of these amendments um with regard to A built environment policy 2.1 point nine What kind of environment? Um, that would be as defined by title 16 of the county code Staff is involved in that evaluation. It would not affect the gate on beach drive um, and appeals have a process for cdps And it does involve the coastal commission So we really um are not about to change or have the ability to change that That process And lastly with regard to the active transportation plan That's a bicycle and pedestrian plan that the board adopted last year has nothing to do with monitoring or radiation or anything like that Um, otherwise happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Thank you very much And i'll just just to comment on something that was raised One of the members of the public was interested in learning about the next coastal commission meeting I'll just say you can go to coastal.ca.gov to find our agendas if anybody's interested in that but I will say that We also had this on our agenda during our december coastal commission meeting Which was here locally in sanikers and provided members of the opportunity to comment on this. So Um, just want to highlight how much public input there was and opportunities for public input Which I think is really great to have during the planning process on some of these plans that have great significance to our community So i'll bring it back to the board to see if there's any other questions or comments Seeing none, I just had one question And it's more of a comment, but uh the under built environment There's one section which discusses how It requires any conversion of visitors serving overnight accommodations to a residential use to be 100 affordable and provide visitors serving benefits amenities or equivalent units, um, I just I'm just curious how that might intersect with our Short-term rental policies because you know, there's a number one of the things that's been a big issue Is the conversion of housing to short term rentals? Which can serve as low cost accommodations or just overnight accommodations in the coastal zone And if we want if there was an effort to try to you know Restrict those uses or kind of dial that back given the housing crisis would this then prevent us from converting some of those units back to Housing if it's not affordable or how would this intersect with that kind of policy? it's kind of um two sides of the coin if you will that The coastal act contains uh priorities and Honestly housing isn't really one of them. It's a it's a fairly low priority in the in the coastal Act, um, so When we're talking about existing Motels and hotels that have low rates um, the coastal act is very Strong in protecting those so that everybody can have access to our beautiful coast On the other hand, we have private property owners who are renting their properties and they're kind of two Uh issues of the same problem, but one is really about housing The other one is about low cost accommodation And and for visitors, you know visiting the the coast so there's a bit of overlap But they don't really affect each other if that makes sense Okay, thank you And and I will just note for the public that there there used to be a mandate of the coastal commission For affordable housing in the coastal zone and that was stripped by the state legislature back in the 80s And we're still trying to actually fight to get that provision put back into the coastal acts But just wanted to clarify that and and then and then I just want to thank staff for all their hard work on this It's been a a long time coming. We'll see how it all develops over time but i'm really Glad to see that we're making progress on this and i'm the coastal commission didn't have any Issues when it when it came to us in december And so i'm pretty confident when it goes back to the coastal commission that will be able to move through this Not pretty seamlessly. So thank you all for your work and with that i'll look to see if there's a motion on this item on the recommended actions A motion by supervisor konig second about supervisor mcpherson I'll turn it over to the clerk for a roll call vote supervisor. Hernandez. Hi konig. Hi mcpherson friend All right And comings That item passes unanimously So we have a time certain item at 1045 and since we've got about five minutes Let's just take a five minute break and we'll reconvene at 1045 for the next item on our agenda All right, everyone Welcome back the next item on our agenda is item number 11 Is a time certain item the board of supervisors shall recess In order to permit the board of directors of the santa Cruz county flood control And water conservation district zone five to convene and carry out a regularly scheduled meeting With that i'll turn it over to the chair of that board supervisor konig Thank you I will now officially call to order the regular meeting of the santa Cruz county board of directors flood control and water conservation district zone five Clerk could you please call the roll? Certainly. Thank you chair director mcpherson comings here Hernandez here friend here Alboni here Director brown is absent and chair konig here Great, we have a quorum. Are there any additions or deletions to the agenda none today? None today. Thank you. Are there any oral communications for the zone five flood control board? Okay, seeing none. I'll move on item four, which is achievable My apologies. Do you have a speaker online? Yes, great. Go ahead Call in user one your microphone is now available Maryland garrad again. I request that you call for a halt to geo engineering weather intervention operations Which are causing increase in severe floods and drought This is in your area of jurisdiction about the flood zone And I refer you to geo engineering watch dot org with dane wiggington We need to be looking at What are some of the causes? of this Disasters chaotic Weather conditions and it's more than just fossil fuels And you can hear dane wiggington on kfco 1080 Saturday, this is local morning at 8 a.m. And repeated at 6 a.m. And he says that the climate engineering is a planetary death sentence There's no limit to the deception and denial And he quotes patents For what they're doing. This is in the record. There's also a video they have called the dimming You can see on geo engineering watch dot org Drought day lose scenario is a hallmark of geo engineering We are in very deep trouble um, I urge you to Address this issue and call for a halt to these weather intervention operations Which harms santa cruz county and thank you miss garret Move is there anyone else online we have no further speakers chair Okay, I do see a member of the public here in chambers that wishes to address us Thank you very much. My name is back a steinbrunner um, I want to point you in the action summary minutes of your december 12 2023 Meeting there is no information provided at all regarding what members of the public Stated to you at that meeting this meeting. I believe is not available in recording on a website anywhere So how does the public learn what other members of the public have taken time to come and Testify before you about I'd like that corrected in some way for public transparency and for public information um I also want to again ask that your commission look into um Having dr. Helen dalky from uc davis come and uh have a a public Mount home meeting or webinar or something about the value of agricultural and storm water Percolation that's not they're virtually no product no projects like that happening In this area when there is opportunity for it to happen Especially in the land that so cal creek water district owns up on glenn wood 200 acres they own So um to that end please Explore that bring that to the public educate the public about dr. Dalky's work Educate yourselves and help it form policy that can benefit our area using storm water to help recharge The the aquifer it could be happening in the freeway interchanges that are under construction now small recharge projects funneling storm water from the freeway into those areas And finally I urge you to protest so cal creek water district rate changes. Thank you. Thank you miss stein burner Yes, sir. If you have a comment for the blood control district go ahead comment And i'll uh get out of here real quick I'm thinking about this all these things that's not taxed at a local state and federal level. I always hear affordable housing uh folks want to pay off everyone student loans and whatnot and uh Meanwhile, you know, I'm the guardian of my mother Marianne in nevada and what i'm finding here is that uh, there's not a lot of interest in uh holding up the pillars of our healthcare system as social security and medicare for elderly people So i'm looking at all this, you know, i'm in my late fifties here and A younger generation here in her thirties and forties wants a whole lot of stuff And they're bleeding our society. They're bleeding our healthcare You know system and are bleeding They're bleeding our military and they're sucking all this money and time out for affordable housing and student You know loan payoffs. So how does this connect to zone five? Well, it connects to all of you folks because I hear the group think lingo over and over again affordable housing Let's do loan payoffs everyone's complaining about money and meanwhile no one cares about my mother And everyone's perfectly happy with leveraging off of me in life and I hate it. I can't stand it anymore Okay, I don't want her civil rights violated by a corporation Or society it really stinks That when i'm a guardian and I go to a bank Or any institution in this country and they provide me resistance and it doesn't matter whether it's guardian poa or trust So all this time that you're you're spending here Is sucking the life out of us 50 60 and 70 year olds that have a lot of responsibility And I I would hope that everyone start thinking about that a little bit. Okay Thank you, sir. Thank you so much. You folks have a fine day All right So, you know what else who wishes to address the flood control district board? We'll move on to item four approval of meeting minutes And are there any comments or questions by members of the board? Will they be approved? second Okay, we have a motion by director McPherson a second by director Cummings to approve the december 12th minutes all those in favor say I Actually, we have to do a roll call vote since to provide the friend is online right? Sorry about that Uh clerk if you could please call the roll. No problem Uh director Hernandez Yes, albony. Yes McPherson. Hi conic. Hi Cummings and friend all right All right, that motion passes unanimously. We'll proceed with the regular agenda Item five to approve and accept the draft zone five a drainage master plan which updates and expands upon previous master plans for the Zone the director staff to work with county public works the city of capitol Shaff and wheeler consulting engineers and their sub consultants to complete stormwater fee study Including completing an election following the proposition to 18 proceedings to support and finalize the draft zone five drainage master plan It's outlined in the memorandum of the district engineer And for on the side we have our district engineer Thank you chairman director machot. Thank you chairman and directors matt machot of your district engineer The item before you is our draft zone five drainage master plan update and with me today Is dan shaff? He is our consultant on this effort. I do want to give a little history on this uh effort This contract was actually approved in june of 2020 And uh, it's been a long time coming to get here. Uh, we had covet We were in the heat of covet in june of 2020 So it slowed us quite a bit and then we had a massive fire that fall which slowed us even more But here we are uh with a master plan for your consideration Dan will be giving a power point presentation Summarizing this report This contract was to provide the the district in the city of capitol. Uh, Not just a master plan, but a cip You know so that we could understand the operations and management and capital needs of Of our zone five area and so we're excited to bring it to you today This will also lead to a prop 218 ballot proceedings Which we plan to undertake this spring into summer And uh trying to conclude uh this calendar year To see the the will of the people So with that I will turn the microphone over to dan and uh, he'll give you a presentation on the on the report All right. Good morning, uh, dan schoff with schoff and wheeler A little bit about what we'll talk about today. Uh, Who did the work? What our goals were for with this project how we got the project done What we found out What we recommend and where do we go from here? So the team, uh, really starts with the county and city staff so both the county Uh, work staff and the city of capitol, uh, public work staff Um, as my firm schoff and wheeler, we handled the project management of this the hydrology and hydrogs, which is My forte and we also developed any, uh, improvements that needed to be done So we figure out the cost and the priority of those, uh, we also had the firm of nce Which really specializes in operations plans, so they were very closely with the city and county staff operation staff to, uh Figure out ways to optimize the systems and also a funding strategy Is one of their other tasks on this and with them is nbs Who are what I like to call financial engineers They really get into the nuts and bolts of finance and lastly presidio systems They, uh, specializing in condition assessment So they actually have cctv robots that look through the pipes and figure out how things are operating Uh, so what was our goal? Our goal was really to create a holistic study of the zone five system including the city of capitol A schoff and wheeler studied zone five and zone six back in 2013, but uh, the city of capitol didn't participate in that We want to make recommendations for improving the system to increase capacity so that People don't see as much damage or life safety issues from large storm events both in pipes and in the streams and culverts that supply flood protection to the zone five And we also want to look at the system itself. What condition it is What condition it's in and what can be improved On the operations this happens every year no matter what the storm conditions are Is is there a better way to maintain these systems a more efficient way? A better way of reporting and figuring out really what's being done Because there's a lot being done And then can we optimize that and get the most out of the current equipment and labor? And then that all leads into a funding strategy. How do we pay for all this? So on the engineering the hydraulics side of things is what really, uh, my firm focused on We started out with the data we used in 2013 There's been a lot of great data collection by both the county and the city and we updated all our hydraulic models to really look at What what really are the current conditions? We also looked at Storm patterns and what's changed in the last 10 years and there's some great stream gauges that we use I like I'll put the one on so cal creek We looked at both the 25 and 100 year storms and what their impacts are on those systems We spent a lot of time in the field and unfortunately some of it during the height of covid which didn't make things too easy um And we also so we spend a lot of time just documenting things figuring things out Then uh, procedure systems spend a lot of time Underground really looking at what condition our pipes in are they falling apart or a full of sediment garbage those type of things And provided rankings for all those so that we can really look at what needs to be repaired NC spent numerous days hours time with the operation staff of both Capitola and the county to figure out how do they operate? What do they spend money on and is there what how can that be improved? So that was a lot of time Um, and then on the funding uh, both nvs and nc really looked at how are things funded right now? How do things? How does the money flow through the system? And um, it also started some initial pulling of people to see what you know, what the level of interest is in Funding stormwater and flood control improvements So my results of what I would do so the hydroc model really focused on what we call the main pipes the um Regional system so in our 2013 study we looked at all the smaller pipe system and our new study works really in concert So the two work together But we looked at 25 year in all the pipes To see where there was capacity restrictions and how bad those Restrictions were and then in the channels and the bridges in the culverts. We looked at a hundred year So similar to what a FEMA study would be um We looked at the cost of improving those to bring everything up to those two levels of service Um, we prioritized those based on known issues public concern life safety concerns property damage concerns so that A lot of that went into that and then cost We also did look at climate adaptation So, uh, we looked at both sea level rise in the lower areas that are subject to title Impacts and then we also look at precipitation changes because we've noted that there's changes in Precipitation patterns and amounts As we move forward and so we've used the best available science to make sure that these improvements work with those predictions Uh, so within the system, we notice noted about 19 million dollars in total county Uh improvements needed and the system in about 13 called 14 in the city of capitolah And we've prioritized those based on high moderate and low Um priorities based on what I talked about earlier And then again, we looked at those along with climate changes On the condition side, uh We looked at we walked a lot of the creeks bridges culverts and then like I mentioned nbs Presidio systems spent a lot of time With their robotic cctv cameras looking through pipes you can see here Some are very clean and well maintained and some places, uh, and this is very typical of almost every community We do this is a corrugated metal pipe starts to deteriorate over time And you know that potentially needs to be repaired. You can be either replaced or repaired in on site with uh cured in place or spiral wind Wound pipe other repair options. So we looked it's about four and a half million dollars in noted condition On the operation side, this is what uh nce really focused on And this is a big component of the system is keeping what there is now maintained and operating correctly Uh They noted about two million dollars two point one million dollars annually needed to operate the system and another million dollars in mps mpds Which is the clean water program to keep the storm drain functioning And to make sure that the water that's discharged meets the standard Uh and really some four really important points of their approach and I really like these is that, uh the focus is on, uh proactive Data driven on them. So really looking at being proactive not just responding to emergencies And looking at the data. What is that telling us? Um, it's uh focusing resources on areas and assets with the greatest needs or return on investment So, you know, most bang for the buck because you know, not everything can always be funded This does require more resources from what's being spent currently Um, but we want the new is a system program to be efficient repeatable and predictive so that again, it's proactive is the main So when we look at the financial analysis that was done by nce and uh mbs It's that right now about a million dollars is being spent on o and m in zone five About 10 million 100 million hundred thousand Come in from development impacts and we know that noted that uh roads do fund some of the maintenance of uh the system There's numerous ways to fund stormwater systems And here's a list of potentials, uh, you know from impact fees general fund taxes Parcel related fees special assessments Um, and then also it just comes up quite a bit is you know We want to make projects that are appealing to grants to get others outside to help are their partnerships potentially with Agencies like caltrans, you know within their right-of-way or there's Projects that could benefit be a dual benefit. So things like that On the capacity recommendations, we identify the projects again to bring everything up to that level of service And these are phased based on their priority um, we From here, we would study alternatives. Are there better ways to do this? Could they potentially Work with another maybe a sewer project you're tearing up the road. It's a good time to Maybe add new stormwater piping. So there's lots of alternatives. We want to tend to Kind of tighten up the numbers on all these and look at opportunities to work with others on the condition side the Need to address immediate like if we notice blockage in a pipe You know, the onm staff would know about that and these need to be acted on quickly and top priority But there are alternatives if if a particular pipe is continually Being blocked with sediment or the corgi meta pipe is fine part. Are there alternatives? A new route a better way to improve that system On the operation side This this is probably where the largest change will be And so we definitely need to take a phased approach not going to change the system overnight It has to work with the current staff. They need to be trained on the new system And you know, a lot of this is procedural. So it's going to take time and it's going to it's a feedback loop You know, they may have better ideas how to make it better. So it's one of those systems that's As money and time allow it's just going to get better and better The one recommendation was to purchase a program called lucidity. It's a reporting and documenting program. I think a lot of public works Operations groups use that Again, the reporting is going to be really beneficial with a program like that So we can see where the money is being spent How much and how to make it better on the funding The funding really starts here with the county and city staff To figure out what are the best mechanisms to fund what we're talking about today Um, the public needs to be involved. There needs to be outreach They need to understand what these projects are what they're costing and why they're being done Um, typically it's nice to identify the key stakeholders the people who are going to benefit the most Maybe pay the most or have the most interest in these projects Because a lot of times they can become champions of these things, uh, you know, and it's a lot of times It's the messenger. So, um, if civic groups tell you about a program, sometimes it's better than the government itself but again more polling figuring out what works best and like matt mentioned that There is a 218 process if it goes towards that type of funding and That needs to start sooner than later So real quickly I wrap this up next steps is on the engineering side We look at alternatives ways to save money ways to make things multi beneficial Um to monitor the system every winter collect data see how the system is performing Uh make the easy changes to the O&M program things that don't cost money that can actually benefit on the current spending Develop a funding strategy how will all these things be paid for or what portions will be paid for And on my side, we like when it gets to when it gets funded when it gets into engineering design And everybody likes when it gets constructed And that is what I have Thank you. Thank you dan. I just want to add the uh recommended actions today are approved and accept the draft zone five drainage master plan Which updates and expand expands upon previous master plans for the zone and direct district staff to work with county public works city capitol uh Consulting engineers and their sub consultants to complete the storm water fee study including completing an election following the prop 218 proceedings To support and finalize the draft zone five drainage master plan and lastly To let the board know that we are planning to give a similar presentation to the city capitol on february 22nd And with that we can answer any questions you may have Thank you district engineer machado. Thank you. Mr. Schaaf. Are there questions from board members? All right. Well, uh, I've got a couple given that this is actually pretty much the entire urban area of the first district that we're talking about here um, the first is You know, there was sort of a lot of interest in the fact that this Master planning process was happening after the 2023 floods and we saw particularly the impact in soquel village and capitol village I was just but I didn't really see too much discussion of those flooding issues within this report um, I give them the I understand that there's quite a bit of infrastructure to look at but um, I'm just curious why That wasn't addressed at all I'll take that on so uh, soquel village is addressed in our draft report. Um, it is probably the one Sort of achilles heel. It's a known issue. It happens often Uh, we looked at various alternatives there. Um, they are very costly and it's a big chunk of that overall expense that's in that 19 million dollars Um, and it does need to be studied and that is one that absolutely could be attractive to grant funding Because you potentially could need some outside sources to to make that happen So that that is a known and then on the coastal side at capitol as well Um, you know, the known problems were addressed in the master plan. We did not need to correct We did not address or study Coastal flooding so wave action Damages we're really focused on the riverine system But they do interact and we take those into consideration when we're looking at the channels and the pipes If I could add a little bit to that We were also really focused on the infrastructure that the community builds And so, you know, whether that was the pipe systems or open channels that were developed over many many decades And so our our focus was there not not just the creeks and rivers Trying to maintain what we've built many many decades ago I understand that there's a extensive network out there as the maps demonstrate Um, so just to follow up uh on what you're saying, mr. chef Sorry shaff 37 to 63 million was the estimated cost. Uh, I think in the report That's a pretty big range. Is that upper end of that considering some of the soquel Greek projects or is that you know kind of over and above and can you just give a little bit more description of what projects you You did look at that were uh, so costly um, so the the range is due to alternatives, uh, mostly in on the kind of between 34th and 38th avenue There's a lot of uh, existing systems through a mobile home parks and Alternatives there were to look at bypassing those So that that provides a range some are more expensive More analysis needs to be done on the soquel village um I if potentially if justin who worked with me is on the line He could probably answer exactly where the funding and the difference in cost to those individual projects are but um, we did look at an estimate for improvements there and alternatives to That improvement and basically it comes to almost like a flood wall levy type scenario But then you also have to protect the areas behind those walls. So there those costs add up very quickly Got it. And so well the next phase, uh, where you should start conducting some public outreach Get a sense of public's appetite for kind of this range of projects Yeah, oh, absolutely. And so we'll be crafting that next and and reporting back to the to the board And uh, yes get the the pulse of the people and see what what it has the most traction. Absolutely And so you anticipate doing that in the coming months and then I mean it sounds like ultimately holding a prop 218 election this year That is correct. We hope to bring an item back to this board Uh, this spring summer for uh, for a fall consideration, uh prop 218 balance And then uh, the conclusion of that would affect the following year, uh assessments Okay, uh any general sense of what kind of an assessment we're talking about. I mean, how many parcels are in the area and what it would take to finance 37 to 63 million I don't have those numbers off top of my head Nor do I but that's exactly what the MBS is doing and they do know those numbers and I don't know if Sarah is on the line I know she was traveling today But she could tell you exactly the number of parcels and and it's a range it and again I think it's these things become iterative the more I understand about them is It's what is it cost versus what are people willing to spend? What can you do with you know, it kind of it's a feedback loop and there's some sweet spot there Right, and that's a good finding that sweet spot is I think the name name of the game I would add that And this is an important piece. So today we call it a draft master plan And we really need to understand the finance Abilities and the community support and with the knowledge of that We will put that into the report and then call it a final It doesn't make sense to have a final that's unfunded. We only want a final That's fundable based upon community support. So so the word draft will stay here until we get input from the And we have a fundable program and we'll adjust as needed And then finalize it as a funded program not just a program that will never be funded right We'll look forward to the next phase of the public outreach phase of this and hearing more about the details Behind finances and would be happy to attend Some of those meetings, you know Fortunately, I think out of sight out of mind this infrastructure is incredibly important But I think a lot of members of the public probably weren't planning on Investing in their stormwater systems this year. So it should be some interesting conversations I thank you for the draft report Okay Can I have questions? I'm advisor McPherson. We we're looking at another atmospheric river coming here and I don't know how many inches but Um in your most vulnerable places Uh at what point is it two inches of rain that it's really creates a huge problem today? Or is it four or do you have any kind of a Criteria to see I'm just trying to think of how serious the storm has to be before we're flooding crisis That's a good question Dan. Do you have a sense of that? Yeah, so a little kind of peek behind the curtain, but um If you've noticed that sometimes it doesn't rain a lot and we get a lot of runoff Right, if the ground is saturated if it's been raining days prior It doesn't take a lot of rain to create issues And vice versa if it's been dry for weeks or months and you get a large storm sometimes The creeks don't fill up and so It we so we really focus on what creates Uh the event in the pipe in the creek And that can be from a wide range of different rainfalls But typically the size of the watershed or the basin Dictates the amount or the duration of the storm. So if you have a You know the Sacramento river takes days for that to get to the The bay, you're interested in larger storms longer storms But here in an urbanized area A quick one hour storm with a large burst of rainfall in five to 15 minutes can really Caused some issues because the pipes the inlets aren't designed for that. So it's really hard to answer that but uh with the change with us now being Far more aware of atmospheric rivers and what they do and how they come in that they do create Much different storm patterns and that's what the climate change adaptation That we looked at is doing is you know, it no two storms are the same. So we need to be ready for that Thank you. Dr. McPherson Dr. Friend, did you have a question? It was less of a question more of a comment and just the fact that I appreciate that because this is pretty long overdue The investments in the system. We've had historic Challenges within the system within the zone. It's not the only zone that we've had these challenges I mean, I think that all of us have Inadequate infrastructure and drainage systems throughout our districts, but I just appreciate that the master plan is leading toward I think a more Informed future for this area moving forward. So thank you. It was just appreciation for the staff's work on this Thank you for your comments. I'll open it for a public comment. Anyone here in chambers wish to address us on the draft zone five drainage master plan Yes, I have questions dan you said, you know, you were interested in the will of the people And I'm really glad you said such a thing because as I've witnessed in this room over a year The will of the people is constantly being ignored And I have a lot of questions about election integrity when I was a child The election was one day with the results being released that night in our last election It lasted a month and the results weren't provided for three weeks. So I call BS. I'm really concerned about our election integrity. I don't feel like they're secure. So I do hear what Marilyn Garrick is saying. I've looked into harp weather weapons. Those actually do exist I've looked at dane wiggington's website. I can go outside. I can see when the chem trailing Is happening and how it affects our weather and no one up here is addressing weather weapon technology I've been really interested in these sudden atmospheric river storms. I've lived here my entire life I've never seen anything like this. I did go through the storm of 82 And um, what's happening now seems to be unprecedented and I am convinced that it's by intention What I want to know is who's making the money off of these projects? Where are these millions of dollars Numbers coming from I would like to see that who are the companies and are there any inappropriate relationships with any members of the board um, I would be really interested to see how that money is is coming about and um, Be specific on that and if there's any relationships with any board members. Thank you Thank you Well, I'll speak one more time before I run off. I couldn't help myself Um, I like this sort of stuff I see this as being more of a need than a while like my concerns with regards to affordable housing and so on And I always like the contrast things with up and toho They were all wrapped around the affordable housing bandwagon and whatnot and meanwhile they leave a lead cable in the lake What's up with that? It's their environment and it's their business model And you leave that huge AT&T cable in there leech and lead in their water supply How does that help the people of toho? So same thing down here, you know, I look at these type of infrastructure source of things with water systems and drainage and everything And protecting your water quality and whatnot. That's a need Just like my home I had to replace all kinds of huge drain pipes You know to move water away from my home and appropriately move it into the into the culvert I had the county replace this bitty little pipe and put in a big old pipe underneath the rose So water moves properly there So it doesn't destroy my land And doesn't you know create a situation where there would be a landslide that would impact the community And make it hard for the school bus to go by so You know When you're dealing with all these sorts of things, you know, I I hope you all look at or sort of partition things between needs and wants and uh I guess politics wise you can kind of see my politics. I'm kind of like a moderate here election integrity You know our elections have never been more secure Don't mean to bust the republicans bubbles on that one, but You know, they're pretty darn good much better than other countries and uh In terms of immunity No one's immune from president Down to dishwasher. We are all under the u.s federal constitution period Okay So anyways, thank you so much for hearing me. I think this is good stuff And I hope you folks continue to work with these gentlemen and think about all this You have a fine day. Thank you. Thank you. Becky Steinburner um First of all, I want to ask where is the public's copy of this master Uh master plan. It's not in This little notebook And it's not out there So, um, it's not open to it's not available to the public here today um So that needs to be remedy I want to say that, um The there are alternatives always to repairs of things and um living in the rural area I'm on our road repair committee and I know how important those culverts are And the metal ones do rust out But what we have done at a cost savings to our community is put in plastic sleeves That extend the life of the culverts And are much cheaper than a complete dig up and culvert replacement I hope that is considered I also want to emphasize that the storm water Conditions are greatly affected by the tidal conditions as we saw last winter And um that does need to be taken into account Also informationally the mid county ground water agency has installed a number of stream gauges For their work and evaluation for the areas basin mod base and sustainability plan So I would hope that the county would intertie with those informational sources to monitor stream levels um I want to ask that storm water be saved and pumped into recharge areas There are a number of areas in the county that this could be done Rather than just letting it flow all flow out to the sea I want to ask why the uh areas that are made priority were made by made priority And I suppose that's in the master plan, but I didn't find it out here today I want to see that Thank you See no one else here in chambers. Is there anyone on zoom? We have no speakers. Sure. Great. I'll return it to the board for action I'll move the recommended actions I can All right, we have a motion by director friend a second by director Hernandez to approve the recommended actions any further discussion I think none clerk. We roll call vote, please certainly director friend All right Cummings hi Nanda's yes, McPherson Alboni I and conan hi Motion passes unanimously with that. I will adjourn The senator's kind of board directors flood control and water conservation district zone five and return it to Chair Cummings Well at the board of supervisors Thank you supervisor friend or sorry conan um, okay So the next item on our agenda on our regularly scheduled agenda is item number nine consider adoption of resolution pursuant to government code section 7522.56 and 21224 Exempting the hire of an extra help retired a new attend From the 180 day waiting period as critical staffing support for the personnel department as outline in the memorandum of the director of personnel And with that, I will turn it over to staff a jita person a jita patelle Personnel director for a presentation on this item Good morning chair Cummings and members of the board in this item My office is requesting your approval to exempt the recently retired risk manager from the 180 day wait period prior to returning to the county As a retired annuitant the waiver is permissible under calpers regulations If the retired annuitant provides critically needed services and your board concurs The county's risk manager recently retired from the county after 10 years As a risk manager a recruitment was launched in anticipation of the vacancy. Unfortunately, we were not able to successfully fill that vacancy right now We are planning for a recruitment in the upcoming weeks Meanwhile, it is necessary to maintain the ability to have somebody who has risk management expertise and technical historical knowledge When we're dealing with natural disaster storms and be able to have someone who can help us with decisions on insurances and etc So with your approval, we'd like to submit the resolution to calpers To waive the 180 day period for mr. Sagoon if calpers approves that we'd like to bring him back in a limited capacity to assist us on Specific critical taps so with that i'll conclude my comments and i'm happy to answer any questions you may have Thank you I'll open up to the board members to see if there's any questions or comments from board members on this item You know the amount of time you you're gonna rehire Is it the six months kind of period that they would get rehired for? so Retired annuitants are permitted to work for 960 hours in a fiscal year Our hope is that we wouldn't need him for that long because we'll launch the recruitment and hopefully we're successful this time but I do think it's important to Have him on the books even if we're not using him In the chance that we ever need his historical knowledge. So we wouldn't be working him 40 hours a week It's really limited for things that we think his expertise is needed Supervisor friend. Do you have any questions on this item? Okay, I just had one question. I'm just curious what Why did we not see you know Many applicants for this position during the time when it was open or was it that we had? You know applicants that weren't qualified for the position. I'm just trying to better understand I know we've had recruitment issues at the county and a variety of different departments and for a variety of different reasons So in this instance, I'm just wondering kind of what um why we Why we weren't able to find somebody So the risk manager position has historically been difficult to recruit the last time it opened up 10 years ago We launched three Recruitments and mr. Sogun actually was an analyst in the CAO's office and after the third recruitment There was a battle for his expertise because he understood The funding around risk management funds and then had also served in the personnel department in the risk division So he had education experience that qualified what we see in this position It is a position that requires knowledge of Insurances how to mitigate loss Dealing with funding also. So we're looking for candidates who have experience in risk management But have also an understanding of fiscal needs, right? They're managing high level funds For example, our tort liability fund has about 28 million dollars in it our workers compensation fund has About 20 million dollars in it So we need somebody who has both areas of expertise and the applications we received We had candidates who were qualified But maybe didn't have everything however, we had one candidate who had The level of experience we needed in risk mitigation and the fiscal area and he also received a job offer From his hometown where he chose to return. So we were number two And he had other offers. So Got it Was just really helpful for us to understand kind of, you know, when it comes to hiring and recruitment What are some of the barriers and challenges we're facing? All right If there's no other questions or comments from board members, I'll open up to members of the public Who would like to speak on this item? Again, this is item number nine on a regular scheduled agenda and you can please approach the podium Hi there. Yes, I have questions having worked in government I've seen a lot of former government employees double dip by retiring out and receiving their huge pensions And then coming back under contract work or what this is suggesting is that this person wants to come back Will he be halting his government pension rather than double dipping? To bleed taxpayers out of money I've listened to your comment about not being able to find someone and it didn't really sound true I'm even more confused by what you said because people will learn their positions. They will learn their jobs It sounds like you had a candidate who could have stepped into the position and grown with it Um, why did this man? Um retire if he wants to come back and work some more So my concern is the double dipping and the misuse of Retirement funds that impacts people like me who actually pay the bill for that. So I'm not in favor of it I don't want to see people coming back and and getting double salaries and stuff I would like to see someone new step in and have the opportunity to grow in the position and learn the position That would be fair Thank you. I support what the former speaker from the public said and this is a problem statewide I'm familiar with this having done some research about it in the 14th district agricultural association It is common Very common that um people will retire Elect their cow purse benefits and then double dip and get a contract work So cow purse does not look favorably on this either They feel that uh granting jobs to retired annuitants Takes away job opportunities from those who may have less experience But as the former speaker said can learn and grow into the job So I think that looking for the perfect person with everything is not a good attitude And I think we should be looking at people perhaps from within the county employees and train them for whatever level more they need They have some of that Knowledge that would be valuable So I'm not I'm not in favor of this either and I don't think helpers would be either. Thank you Thank you Any other members of the public here in person who'd like to speak to us on this item? Are you saying none of the any members of the public online would like to speak to us on this item? Yes, sir Call an user one your microphone is now available. I'm gary The comments of the two previous speakers. I think calls for um more examination of this issue I'm I hear a double dipping uh, they did that to teachers who had a different work Assignment prior to coming to teaching and said, oh, you're double dipping if you're collecting from both systems I am excessively worried About the double dipping of you could call it the military budget and the wealthy taking gargantuan amount of funds That are just flabbergasting from from our community and from things we need Um, I have a question What does this person do risk management? mitigation does that have to do with workers compensation cases or Could you elaborate of some of the responsibilities of this? Person Thank you We have no further speakers chair Okay, thank you with that. I'll bring it back to The board and flows public comment period. I'm wondering if staff has any responses on the questions that were raised Sure. So one of the things I can share is that the risk management division has workers compensation programs underneath them a county insurance uh unemployment um claims and We have the Budget funding for all our various funds benefits safety um, so I think that what I would say to your board is that There we're not looking to have mr. Sugun perform the regular duties as I put in the letter The foot things that we are going to have him working on part time as needed is critical expertise items Staff mentoring which I think some of the comments We're leaning towards that and I think we see that and then really just historical knowledge I think my concern is the director is that we have storms We have Covid which we learned created a pandemic and we had many safety issues We often are putting up. I'll use an example of shelters. We're putting up shelters when we're anticipating storms And a risk manager is responsible for ensuring that we our insurances cover some of the things that we are facing and I believe his expertise is needed to ensure that we are protecting ourselves as a county Limiting our exposure and liability when we have these events And it would be of great assistance to my department in ensuring that we're managing things properly Thank you very much. Are there any other comments or questions from board members on this item? I'll move the recommended actions second He's got a motion by Supervisor Koenig second by Supervisor Hernandez. I guess I'll just say that, you know As we continue to make progress on, you know, really Addressing some of the issues around recruitment and retention and hiring I mean, this is a great example where we need to bring back people who have the expertise so they can Keep the county whole as we continue to move through these processes and you know, it just also Highlights the need for us to, you know Continue identifying what are the barriers to recruitment and retention and how we can work with Folks in the community who do workforce development So that we can ensure that there are pathways for people to get in these positions And that's externally and internally, but I want to thank Director Patel for bringing this forward so that we can make sure that we're protecting the county As it relates to risk management So with that I'll hand it over to the clerk and We'll have a roll call vote on this item Supervisor Koenig Hi Friend Hi Hernandez Hi McPherson And Koenig coming Hi That passes unanimously All right next item on our agenda item number 10 This is The board will consider a report with the initial recommendations on county commission restructuring Approving concept ordinance repealing chapters 2.5 2 2.56 2.60 2.84 2.92 and 2.125 of the santa cruz county code to sunset various advisory commissions And ordinance amending chapter 2.106 of the santa cruz county code santa cruz county emergency management council Scheduled ordinances for second reading and final adoption on february 13 2024 And direct the county administrative officer to return On number 4 august 27 2024 with further updates and recommendations as outlined in the memorandum of the county administrative officer With that I will turn it over to nicole coburn assistant ceo for a presentation on this item. Thank you Thank you. Good morning chaircomings and members of the board. I'm nicole coburn assistant ceo I'll be presenting this item I do want to note that this work was done in coordination with department staff And we have representatives here today from the health services agency and the human services department To answer questions on the commissions. They support that are the subject of today's recommendations So I wish to start out by just providing a little bit of background In 2023 as part of the santa cruz county like me effort to increase representation in local government The board asked staff to review the county commission structure This included staff and fiscal resources dedicated to supporting commissions With this request we went about the work of collecting information on county boards and commissions To create an inventory of their authority membership meeting frequency and departmental support The county has over 40 boards commissions or other advisory bodies About 29 of these have been established by the county Mostly, um, these are discretionary commissions that the county chose to stand up Most of these advisory bodies are made up of county residents and advise the board on a large number of issues relating to housing land use gender race environmental issues and health and human services among others Through our research, uh, we found that about 240 non-employee county residents serve on our commissions County staff provide an average of 13 hours of support as liaisons to these commissions And the annual fiscal impact of staff resources allocated to maintaining commissions is close to $200,000 We also met with department heads and staff liaisons to discuss the county boards and commissions they support And ideas for potential restructuring This is the first comprehensive review of our county's advisory bodies Many of these bodies were established more than 45 years ago. We have commissions dating back to the 1950s This review has provided an opportunity to consider how best to conduct the work of county commissions more efficiently to preserve and use human and financial resources more productively And to achieve greater public participation in commission and other work of the county Through this review, we had some major findings One that commissions there are some commissions that do not meet due to lack of participation This may be because we're either unable to fill vacancies. There might be a lack of interest or we're unable to meet quorum We also have commission work that overlaps with other groups including other advisory bodies And we have commissions that no longer appear to be needed or effective Through this work, we also identified opportunities for improving the purpose membership and responsibilities of some of our commissions Based on everything we found out through this process We are recommending that the board consider sunsetting the commission shown here Some of these commissions are going to be transitioning to other methods of public engagement and input We do want to thank all current and former members of these commissions for their dedicated service to the residents of the county So i'm going to walk through each of these just briefly The first is the emergency medical care commission. This has a number of responsibilities related to the county's emergency medical services system The commission has been used to advise on pre-hospital medical care But it's duplicative of other groups and has experienced challenges maintaining membership and quorum Due to a lack of participation, there's a need to develop or leverage more Accessible options for community engagement The health services agency has multiple existing venues for this multidisciplinary stakeholder work Including the pre-hospital advisory committee and the health care coalition The commission is not currently required and advisory functions would transition to the existing pre-hospital advisory committee The second one on the list is the environmental health appeals commission This commission was established to handle written appeals from denial suspension or revocation of permits Permits issued under the authority of the county health officer There are rarely or any appeals the commission has not been meeting frequently at all and this work can be handled through The administrative hearing process numerous departments use this process already including environmental health planning the animal shelter and others We also have the hazardous materials advisory commission Which was established to advise the board on the implementation of the county's hazardous materials hazardous waste and underground storage ordinance This discretionary commission has not met for more than two years and is not required And we are recommending that the board consider sunsetting it The fourth commission on the list is the human services commission, which was established more than 30 years ago The commission advises the board on policies priorities and legislative matters It also provides advice and counsel to the human services department on best practices and the operation of department programs and services And lastly, it provides a forum for citizens affected by county human services programs and policies Because nearly all services under the purview of hsd are mandated or regulated by the state and federal government The authority of county government and an associated commission to influence these mandates And related budgets is very limited Staff see no advantage to maintaining a commission structure as a forum For discussions with community members on these issues and they see an advantage With creating a departmental advisory group structure, which provides more flexibility to the department Hsd and existing commission members have created an ad hoc subcommittee to help with the transition In creation of new advisory group bylaws The fifth commission is a substance use disorder commission, which has a broad range of powers and duties related to county substance use disorder services Many of these responsibilities now overlap with the mental health advisory board Due to the continuum of services under behavioral health So this is another commission that we're recommending sunset The last one on the list is the syringe services program advisory commission This is one of our newest commissions. It was established in 2019 and has a variety of powers and duties staff report that The commission's duties have been accomplished in frameworks for continued coordination Policy review and federal and state legislative review have been established The health services agency would like to shift to more broad community community involvement by leveraging coalitions led by non-profits and other grassroots organizations in lieu of keeping the commission So they attached ordinance with this board item. Um, if the board were to approve the ordinance in concept Would allow for all commissions listed here to sunset on march 31st of 2024 This would give departments time to complete in existing work and provide for the transitions that were mentioned Um, I do want to mention that we also identified various commissions needing some changes to composition purpose or meeting frequency Um, they are listed here. Um First the commission on the environment There's an interest in clarifying the responsibilities of this commission There's currently some overlap with the water advisory commission and the fish and wildlife advisory commission So staff are going to be working on better clarifying and defining These three commissions responsibilities and also Connecting the commission on the environment potentially more strongly to our climate action and adaptation plan The emergency management council, um, is also listed here OR 3 our office of response recovering resilience Is proposing changes to their membership to reduce the county staff membership and to remove the hospitals They're hoping that the commission would focus more on preparedness and then the county staff Who are on the county emergency management team would be more focused through those efforts of emergency management and response There is another ordinance attached to this item that would make these membership changes Um third on the list fire department advisory commission Um was found to be underutilized and in effective based on the recent findings of a 2023 report, um on master planning It is widely recognized that the commission needs to change and staff are going to be working on what that looks like in return with a recommendation historic resources commission also has faced some challenges with quorum and engagement but provides some critical, um services in terms of Providing access to more streamlined CEQA processes and historic preservation grant funding They are looking at changing the meeting frequency of that commission Which would help with um engagement and our office supports that Housing advisory commission um is also being looked at in terms of the The composition of members on that commission There's historically been a disproportionate number of people in the real estate industry on that commission And staff are going to be working on changes that would help engage a broader cross-section of stakeholders Particularly those that are listed in county code Such as senior citizens students farm workers low-income families Ethnic minorities educators and other groups that might represent their interests or needs And then lastly I want to point out that um staff are working with the circle on anti racism economic and social justice Discuss to discuss the next phase of their work Um originally when this cares j came to the board There was direction to create a formal commission related to the work that this group has been engaged with We've been talking with cares j about what that might that group might evolve into an alignment with the santa cruz county like me effort How their work contributes to the broader equity work of the county And how um we're going to be holding the county accountable to the equity statement that was adopted by the board So we'll we'll be continuing those conversations and we'll plan to come back to the board with further updates and recommendations in our honor before august 27 So our recommendations this morning um are to accept in the file the report that's before you we also have The ordinance repealing the six commissions that I mentioned Your board would be approving those in concept today And then we have a second ordinance amending Chapter 2.106 of the county code related to those emergency management council membership changes The ordinances would come back for a second reading and final adoption in february And then we would return in august with additional updates And with that we're happy to answer any questions and department and I staff and I um are here to answer those Thank you very much I'll bring it to the board to see if there's any questions on this item Um, yes, mr. Chair Your honor This is another opportunity for all of us to really appreciate everybody who serves on these commissions and committees Put a lot of time and effort into it and it It does take a lot of our Our staff time, uh, and I think it's a good move for consolidation and efficiency and governing Excuse me, and I appreciate the work. Uh, appreciate the work of the county staff And the commissioners on the Santa Cruz like me That the project which is meant to ensure the county's advisory committees and commissions are more representative of our community Um, I can support the recommended actions regarding the sunsetting of the commissions that are identified here Because the process really is divide designed for more efficiency and I think Reality of who is attending and what the needs are for our county But I do think it's important that we note that our syringe services program Is so very much a work in progress And may soon require Some additional direction and resources to this board And as I mentioned earlier in the day, um, our next report from them is in March and I'd like to see that And and really have a better sense of what what is happening there The ssp advisory commission, uh, provided some valuable insight Uh, and recommendations to the board and in their absence, I expect our staff Will come to the board more regularly To discuss those policies, but I look forward to our next report Um, coming about that commission in March. Uh, so appreciate that So rather coming Thank you chair, um, I have had a chance to check in with the members of a number of these commissions and um on the whole of folks were in agreement with The disbandment of them with one exception and we heard today from two members of the uh emergency management, um Sorry emergency medical care commission who called in Celia berry and uh, dr. Mark Yellen Celia, of course is the former county emergency medical services administrator and dr. Yellen as He was trying to say it was a bit of a choppy connection, but has worked in our Dominican's er for the last 37 years um, and They both have noted how useful this commission is for sharing information um At least within their community And making operational improvements. So, uh, you know, I Agree that there could certainly be improvements to the commission, but I'm not ready to disband it today I'm also want to bring up something that they mentioned which was, um, you know challenges maintaining membership and quorum were cited as one reason for doing away with the commission um And what I heard back from the members is that they were be reminded of the meetings a couple days before and then If they didn't pretty much immediately respond, they'd be sent a second noticing Uh, the meeting was canceled for lack of a quorum. I think that can be particularly challenging When you're a doctor dealing with a lot of demands, uh, maybe to Be sure to respond to a communication on on that quick timeline. So it's possible that um, you know, we just need to notify Folks consistently for all these commissions Uh, at least a week ahead of time and provide, you know, at least a few days for people to reply before actually canceling a meeting um, so I would recommend that We hear any suggestions Uh, or how to improve the emergency medical services Uh, I'm sorry emergency medical care commission. Uh, when we get a report back on the other commissions, uh in august Thank you supervisor conig, um supervisor friend. Do you have any comments on this item? Uh, yes, thank you chair. I'm in agreement with supervisor conig's Points, which is to say that I think that there it's clear that there's reforms needed across the board, which is why We brought this up a few years ago is something that the board should consider a more macro consideration I mean, when you don't look at things for 40 years, obviously, uh There is a need for change generally speaking on some but not all on the mcc I think that uh, there's understanding and agreement within The members that there needs to be some modifications. I think the question is whether or not Uh, I mean the presentation stated that the the functions would be transferred over to functionally to other Uh, standing committees. Um, they didn't seem as though there was uh agreement from emcc members that those functions really did translate that way And so I thought it just made sense If we're going to make that kind of statement that uh, we can actually back that information up It seems to make sense to to give some additional time to have additional input from them Especially considering they're willing it seems that there's clear that there's an understanding that that it may be reformed Whether it remains as a commission Transcendent departmental advisory group, etc. I think a little bit of additional time will have it I did also speak to my other commissioners on some of these other commissions that are proposed for uh, major consolidation or sunset And uh, there seemed to be um, a real understanding of why it was moving that way and In appreciation for the fact that There would still be key elements of it and including key members still having a voice of directly advising Uh, county staff and certain concepts. So I appreciate the fact that those commissions felt engaged. Thank you, mr. Chair Thank you supervisor friend supervisor Hernandez So I have um two questions a general question and the question I had the opportunity to ask you already as well But would the appointed commissioners be asked if they would like to participate on the newly formed committees or existing committees that are going to open up and the The question I asked was if the human services commission would also maintain the appointed members Uh into the advisory committee Yeah, I might have um randy morris director of human services come up But I I do believe there's an interest in in Having those who currently serve on a commission Transition into the advisory group or whatever the other form of engagement that takes place But I'll let randy speak to that. Um, that's correct. Uh, we had a mission meeting where this was discussed Um, and if we switched to a departmental advisory group should your board approve this Or create an ad cop committee to work together on those bylaws Um, there was some concern about what what would happen with a successor board or a successor director Because right now the board and the director are really interested in being engaged with a new group So we actually proposed building into the bylaws of the advisory group that board members still get to have a role In sort of recommending who participates So the default is every current commissioner who would like to maintain Involvement would be the beginning departmental advisory group And we would hope we would just transition seamlessly and just remove some things like We haven't met quorum because some people couldn't make it in person and under brown act you can't have A quorum for people participating virtually. We could have hybrid meetings. We'd have some capacity But the default would be to have the exact same group And then we could allow it to grow from there as um as we work through The the transition if approved Does that answer your question? Yes Would we continue to appoint them afterwards or would we a one time deal? I believe if I've read the departmental advisory group Structure here in the county is the technical issue is the department director actually doesn't appoint through a formal process For you but I had recommended the commission and it would be up to your board because we have to bring The bylaws back to you is that each board district still maintains a role in recommending Two or whatever we want it we can work it through together and then that live in the bylaws So I think technically it's not an appointment But I think it's a recommendation and then we kind of Set up the new advisory group through that agreement. So it's a little less formal, but it would be in the bylaws No further questions Okay, um, I have some I have a few questions and comments and I think I share some Concerns that were brought up by some of the other board members. Um The first question I have is I'm just Curious it was mentioned that there's coordination with commission staff But I'm wondering what level of outreach there was with commissioners because it sounded like there were some commissioners Who even came and spoke today who felt kind of blindsided by this item coming forward right now? And so I'm just wondering Was this brought to commissions for conversations kind of prior to these recommendations? Yeah, we started I mean we started in the fall talking with the departments about this and our intention was for them to take this discussion to the commissions and I believe The commissions were um, this was placed on an agenda and there were conversations that were held With these commissions that relate to the health and human services departments Okay, um In the emergency medical care commission item you mentioned that some of these um Some of their role Is duplicative in other groups and was wondering what other groups those are For which commissions for the emergency medical care commission It didn't it didn't actually have the other groups in the agenda item. It just said that Um, some of their work is duplicative other groups I believe there are two that have been identified for certain and um, you know The director of health services if there are others that i'm missing. Um, she might be able to speak to those But the pre-hospital advisory committee was one and then the health care coalition Was a second one where similar issues were being discussed. We also have um our emergency management where The emergency services administrator it sits on both and so there's a connection there as well Yeah, thank you board for the record Monica Morales health services agency director Um, hello, Jen Herrera assistant director for HSA Um, we actually have been looking at this very critically to ensure that we can actually have Functional active with community participation in our committees And so the recommendations that you see in front of you will not taken lightly Um, we took different approaches. We did one on ones with some other members We also um, we're trying to address them in our actual commission meetings Because some of them also didn't have quorum again the issue that we're experiencing Um, we did a lot of trying to do a lot of one-on-ones with them I would highlight that specifically for the emcc There is duplication in terms of the work that we're trying to do As nick will mention we have existing committees where some of these topics are Included or discussed and i'll let Jen now talk a little bit more about some of those details and opportunities that we're seeing Our intent is not to Silent individuals or look just for efficiencies our intent is to make sure That these commissions for example ssp would always have been working to try to include Those that were represented in the meetings But the brown eye makes it very difficult You can't just get up and talk right and as a member of a community experiencing ssp needs It the flexibility that the brown act the lack of flexibility that the brown act offers It has really been an issue for the commission members and Um for our community members, but jen maybe you can give a little more detail Yes, so the pre hospital advisory committee, which is uh ran by our emergency medical Um services program ems, uh, which is the program that runs emcc currently There that is where we see the most overlap We also see some overlap participants in the goal of the pre hospital advisory committee is to look at That pre hospital also known as our emergency services System before people get into the hospital emergency room system So a lot of we do believe that there are a lot of the activities kind of lying there In addition to that we also have our healthcare coalition that has a wide variety of partners Um Apart from just emergency services so we can look at that entire system of care from Pre hospital to hospital admission to discharge Um, and we do emergency planning with that group as well Thank you Um moving on with the environmental health appeals commission. I'm just wondering If you can explain a little bit more about the administrative Caring process that could be used in lieu of the commission itself Yeah, this is a process that's set up in county code. Um, we have hearing officers that are on contract through our office that hears appeals based on different things different lines of business in our county the hearing officer will will have a hearing where it's hearing from both sides related to a particular issue and then reaches the decision and then Based on that decision The person who has appealed has a right to either accept that or if they disagree they can Appeal further to the superior court So there there's a number of um departments like I mentioned that already use the administrative hearing process It's been around for for a while now and planning animal shelter Environmental health and I believe some others are actively using it Thanks for that clarification. Um, with the hazardous materials advisor commission I'm just wondering if any of those roles and responsibilities can be transferred to the integrated waste management uh task force because we already talk about waste and You know our ability to either process waste here in the county But this does sound like a commission where that information or that those conversations can move to the integrated waste management task force And so I think that could be a one way of consolidating um What's discussed in that commission with what we discussed at the integrated waste management task force? I could definitely take that suggestion to that other task force Um as it relates to the human services commission, this is probably the one that I'm the most um concerned with I mean When looking at the staff report, you know the um the commission, you know was really established to Discuss and provide recommendations on policies that affect socioeconomic needs of low-income disabled Disadvantage and at-risk people and I given the amount of work that we're trying to do around equity these days It seems like That's a commission that we would want to kind of see how it's Been less effective currently and how can we make it more effective because one concern I have is that If we could have an advisory body model You know do we have public meetings are there minutes being taken? You know, those are the some of the concerns I have currently so I think that my comfort would be if that cannot if if the Substitute for what this commission would be can be outlined and explained before we take action to eliminate it I'd be more comfortable with moving forward with that But given that we don't know what this next model is going to be the notion that it's going to be dissolved At the end of march has me concerned since we don't know You know what the alternative will be. Yeah, it's my understanding a departmental advisory group can still follow similar Practices as a commission in terms of having a meeting open to the public Keeping agendas and minutes All of that. I think one of the advantages is that if should they not have all the members show up They can still hold the meeting they can also meet in different venues in different ways than You know a commission might have to adhere to so it provides a little bit more flexibility But but they can they can adhere and provide the same level of public transparency as a commission I think would be good for us to consider then having that Be outlined for us and and you know make a decision on what that next group would be rather than saying that we're gonna dissolve the group today Personally that's just those are just my feelings about that commission in particular um As it relates to substance use disorder I think it'd be great to just have some you know something come back that talks about how this is Getting folded under the mental health advisory board. So we know where those responsibilities are going And then with the serene services program, I mean that's that's one if we if we were to keep The human services commission That's something that I could see get transferred there since it deals with How how no one can people and people who are Experiencing substance abuse potentially, you know, how they're getting access to some engines So that's another thing that you know, maybe could be taken into consideration in terms of how it's consolidated um I think the commission on the environment the staff recommendation sound finding me on that um And There's also the fire department advisory commission. I think it's a pretty sensitive topic We met with like beaten from general services and he's he and the fire chief are willing to come up to bondy doing to discuss the disillusion of that But I think you know just given the impacts of fires in our community trying to figure out how we can have something that's effective for making recommendations to us I think is the really important thing as we're moving into seeing You know more intense fires in our community Um with the historic resources commission I'm just wondering if there's indigenous representation because it might be As we're thinking about how to restructure that Commission having a seat for someone who's from a local tribe Could be a good way of increasing representation on that commission And then lastly with the housing advisory commission, I think it might be worth us exploring Having it be an affordable housing commission. I mean we Building market rate housing here is not a problem. I mean, we're the most expensive county in the nation when it comes to rental prices and we have some of the most expensive Um real estate markets in the entire country if not the entire world And you know really having a commission to the point that was brought up, you know in terms of increasing representation It would make sense for us to have a commission that's not just focused on all housing But really is focusing on the housing that we need for our workers for low-income people Keeping people from you know, ending up losing their homes Um versus just housing in general, which then what we found is that we have a board that's overwhelmingly represented by Um kind of like real estate interest So those are just my suggestions and recommendations And um if there's no other questions I can open up for public comment But I want to look to see if there's any Further comments or questions from board members Just to make brief Mr. Sheriff, that's okay I think that one of the reasons we were looking into this was also because it's it can be difficult to maintain membership. I mean we Uh, if I'm correct on this, I think I make 62 appointments to boards and commissions not just with the county But some of the other Ancillary boards and commissions we serve on that have their own advisory and it's it's a challenge to maintain And if we sometimes become too prescriptive on trying to ensure that every interest is represented we will Be unsuccessful so I think that we need to find a balance between representation and also the practicality of of these appointments and and so, uh, I just wanted to flag that as we move forward to Look at the continued As we continue to look at some of these commissions and some of the recommendations you had made. I was just thinking about how Fielding a board Would work from a practicality standpoint and that is another element that I think we need to to keep in mind Thank you. Appreciate those comments supervisor friend supervisor. Hernandez Yeah, I just kind of want to Explain why my two questions about keeping the appointed commissions, you know, because I've heard of advisory committees that have little or one person from south county And you know, I had a google who that person was So my concern is equity That, you know, Justin stated and there's little assurance that south county will be represented in advisory committees So I just want to make sure that there is The level of equity and that south county is represented or an assurance, right because that's what concerns me I think the um, you know, the Santa Cruz like me project was really a good Uh avenue for us to make sure of that wherever it may be in the county, uh, which whichever district and I I think we're accomplishing some of that with what we have in order is how is that working with The system we have right now Yeah, and to answer supervisor hand and as this question, you know, I think we share your interest in maintaining Meeting our equity goals and maintaining an increasing representation From those groups that are currently underrepresented. That's what a Santa Cruz county like me has been all about was to diversify our groups and to bring more voices to um county commissions and and local government to be able to Provide your board with advice on these critical issues. So um, I think, you know, we share that and that would be a goal of ours For those advisory groups I mean that'd be an overall policy sort of speak of our target that we want to meet and so I think Uh, what we have done in that regard. I think it's the best way to address it It applies to every commission every committee, whatever, you know Santa Cruz like me Supervisor Kodak, uh, thank you chariotis uh In defense of the housing advisory commission, uh, just wanted to point out They certainly do address affordable housing issues. In fact, the sustainability update that we approved earlier today was in many ways spurred on by the housing advisory commission and they were instrumental in The initiation of our county, uh, for wall housing density bonus So I mean, they absolutely have this interest in mind. And of course, uh, You're welcome to point over you like to the housing advisory commission If you feel that uh current folks are are not pro affordable housing enough For example, one of my appointees is simply simon who manages new way homes With you know, they put us a goal of building affordable housing. So um, I just Really value everything that the the housing advisory commission has done for us Again, I know way no way want to speak ill of the work that has been done I think what I'm trying to highlight is that, you know, the biggest crisis that we're facing in this community is affordable housing And having a commission that could be Very much focused on affordable housing and as was raised in the staff report, you know, having a variety of representation that would help make it a more actual commission would be a benefit and so Uh, that was the the main reason why I was suggesting that You know, rather than just being a broad housing advisory commission having something that's really targeting affordable housing and those kinds of Policies would be a great benefit to the community just given how expensive it is here so, um With that though, I think I um If there's no other comments at this time, I'm going to open it up for public comment Um, I know we have a couple other items on the agenda. So I'm going to open up to the public to um, I have to make comments on um Item number 10 on our agenda And you'll be given two minutes and we'll start with people members of the public who are here present At the meeting and then we'll move on to those who are joining us online. So you can speak Please step forward Good afternoon. David Schwartz candidate district two supervisor um without Saying whether I'm for against this I would like to recommend a few little things All these commissions should have A public mandate basically I think the public needs to say whether they want these commissions or not number one number two We should have clear Measurable objective criteria for each one of these commissions so that we have a way to grade them, you know, whether we're where we can make these decisions more often um But this is a great thing because We need to carry this a little farther down the line Everything that the county does every department every service that we provide should have these clear Measurable objectives and we should be reviewing them on a periodic basis and maybe we are doing that but um You know, if the public's not happy about something that's going on That should make us want to look at these things a little more clearly and see if there's something that we need to do um These periodic reviews are very very helpful at this issue about whether we should have more More people making the decisions or not is clear. I mean we we do want more people involved If you have a problem getting enough people to have a quorum, maybe you should consider reducing the size of those boards I don't know what the board size is right now, but uh in in my work with nonprofits We find a lot of times that we have the same problem and by reducing the board number to say 11 Where you only need five people show up six people show up that's going to be better than a board of 15 So there's there's a number of things that we can do to get people to help out But definitely we need their help and we need to appreciate them for that And so my my big thank you to the whole community that helps with this and to you folks as well. Thank you very much Thank you Thank you. Welcome back. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Um I'm concerned about the use of corporate terms such as stakeholder to holders and administration I'm ronda. I'm one of the people of california I took the opportunity to look at these gold fringe flags and go outside and look at the non gold fringe flag And I feel like a frog being boiled in water And watching my country and my county and my state be destroyed Zach you said um a republic requires representation and then you made it sound like it was a hassle And there is a difference between democracy And a republic and in a democracy two wolves and a sheep decide what's for dinner And the two wolves vote to eat the sheep and the sheep is the dinner in a republic Two wolves have one vote one sheep has one vote. So there's a stalemate and the sheep doesn't get eaten for dinner Um, I'm happy to sit on these commissions I spent a lot of year coming to these meetings going to the city council educating myself I'm retired somewhat and I have time to do it I'm looking at the time that these commission meetings are being held Which people who work and have two or three jobs to pay the rent here can't attend So that's probably one of the pressures and the problems I'm very concerned about things being routed to this cares j group because i'm very concerned about what their Real goals are and so i'm not in favor of that And um madame you keep referring to some people and some you know Means to bring complaints to you, but you're not giving me names I want specific names and those of us who are negatively impacted in the family court system Know that the appeals process is fraud There's a lot of crime that's happening at all levels and these fake agencies that are there to hear appeals are really just bearing a lot of fraud So a lot of these issues are concerning me I do believe we need to educate the public to be able to participate more in our republic Thank you for your comments Thank you. Becky steinbrunner I attend many of these commissions that are being discussed here today And I want to first of all point out that their composition are large is largely Directed by you the supervisors you decide who you appoint to these commissions You have the opportunity to change the composition of them So I encourage you to do that and many people would probably like to do that If you would bring that up regularly in your town hall meetings But many of you don't have those anymore So please start having town hall meetings and talk about these commissions The purpose of them is to be a liaison Between you and the public and to bring information and make Mekromendations to you based on what they're hearing out there that you may not be having access to The public needs to have this access because we don't have it By coming here things are a done deal by the time they get here But when we go to the commissions, we have the opportunity to make a real change on things that we care about I think a good example of that is the hazardous materials count commission That was the only way I was able to get the county's ear that eventually went to the district attorney's office when Swenson pulled out An underground storage tank full of toxic material and hauled it out in the night Nobody was going to do anything, but I went to that commission and the da stepped in So we need those sorts of things as we need the environmental appeals Board that is directed at septic Problems and I think that it should be enforced. It looks like it has professionals on there And is um should would save money instead of the county hiring a contractor to to handle these administrative appeals I really miss dean lundholm with affordable thank you miss timeburner We are actually behind schedule right now and And I really appreciate it and really appreciate i'm Thank you. We really appreciate your engagement And if you thank you appreciate that are there any members of the public online? We'd like to comment on this item. We have one more in person who'd like to comment on this item. Please step forward I just happened to stumble into this meeting right now. I just um, I came down here to Find out what was going on in department 10 and um, you know from what I've um been looking at it It looks like a bunch of fictitious lawsuits that are happening and litigations that don't even That that are being done on in behalf of people that don't exist And i'm curious to know what's going on in department 10 um Because I find that they're suing they're suing people that don't exist that are either incarcerated or You know Or deceased mixing their names around and having litigations that People that don't even exist And that's kind of a problem i've been having and then also with this syrup I hate to interrupt you but we're the item that we're talking about right now is um An item that is uh on county commissions and committees and Yeah, I'm sure that is you know I just I happened to come in here and I wanted to bring that to somebody's attention in case anybody You know cares to look into it. Okay. No, thank you. Thank you Are there any members of the public online who would like to address us on this item? Yes, sure Yellen family your microphone is available. However, I do believe the speaker may have already spoken Yellen family is your microphone available. Please use star 6 to mute. Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now? Okay, sorry. I'll make this very quick. Thank you for your time and consideration a couple of comments Firstly the the consideration of ruling the emcc into the pre-hospital pac Committee In my opinion, I've served on the pac for for many many years It is a committee that number one reports to the ems medical director Not to the board of supervisors the emcc reports to the board of supervisors The pac pre-hospital advisory committee deals with nuts and bolts and details How much of one drug to use which drugs to use which equipment to use who goes first? Our meetings are full with dealing with policies and procedures the emcc takes a much bigger broader view of the bigger picture and It is not really substituted by any other committee That we currently have ems management as I said earlier Is an amalgamation collaboration of highly technical highly specialized detail oriented groups specialties with high consequence of their activities fire law ambulance, etc The intertwining of that to make the system work and work well Is not replicated in you know our public health department It is not part of human health and services all those great committees do other work But this really is a standalone item and the emcc has functioned very well Over the past many years the issue of quorum I would suggest has to do more of the after effects of co vid And how that change our meeting profile as well as there are administrative aspects as the um Supervisory conic recommended that could better make the response Work and there's also the opportunity for hybrid meetings So I just wanted to put that on the table for you folks and thank you for your time and consideration Thank you Michael your microphone is now available Thank you. Um, this is Michael Lewis gene brockelbank is with me here as well on this computer And she will have her two minutes to Present after mine. So please keep us connected at the end of my remarks Um, I support the changes that the county commission is proposing With the exception of the hazardous material advisory commission Um, I publish Santa Cruz online and I spend a lot of my time every week dealing with the uh commission staff or county staff That support these commissions from august of 2022 My efforts to publish information about the hazardous advisory hazardous materials advisory commission Has been stymied by this commission's lack of online notice of meetings And ongoing status due to numerous changes in the environmental health department staff support for this commission Over the past three years. I've corresponded and spoken with 11 different county staff members about this ongoing problem To date nothing has changed in my experience the hazardous materials advisory commission is a vital and potentially effective advisory body That has languished due to lack of county interest and support Not for any problems with the commission's organization and purpose nor any Problems having a quorum or public participation. I ask you to please keep the hazardous materials advisory commission intact And instead arrange for effective county staff support for this very important advisory body Thank you very much. Please reset our time for gene brockelbank's presentation Thank you Thank you. Your time has been reset to two minutes. You can begin when you're ready Hi, I am a member of a county commission that is not on your list today Uh and have been for years So I am aware of how commissions can or cannot provide a service to your board and the public Um, our commission was also formed like the hazardous materials commission Many years ago due to a specific ordinance ours was 1982 Initially, I wrote to all of you supervisors individually supporting the elimination of five of the six on today's list However, after hearing comments both from supervisor konig and from Some members of that commission I'm going to include the medical Uh emergency medical care commission on my request with regard to the hazardous materials commission. I read their biennial report from 2022 2023 And you can tell by that report that this commission remains ready to do its job It just needed the staff support to do that So i'm asking you to either please amend this motion today to eliminate EMC and the hazardous materials commission From the list or continue this item until Next month or another month. I think there's too much controversy And I think that your board has had a chance to listen to commissioners who are engaged in this not Even though I appreciate everything that nicole and her staff has done we are commissioners and We didn't have a chance to talk with you. So thank you for considering my request Thank you Call in user one your microphone is now available Carolyn Garrett I want to eliminate corporations That continue to pollute the environment and create all these hazardous materials Corporations privatize the profit and they socialize the cost all of these practically these commissions that you've listed for sunsetting have to do with Pollution and pharmaceutical pollution And let's see all of them practically um environmental health And something ironic a friend of mine was on the environmental health commission that met in your county building and the radiation from the wi-fi and um all those cell things on the roof and the cell tower Made her feel quite ill and she had to Quit how strange environmental health It seems to me like eliminating these commissions Excludes or further limits public participation and public comment. It seems very abrupt and sudden Why? I wonder if some commissions had the exposés of county policies That they were trying to censor I don't know. Um, I think this also points out how we need single payer health care or Medicare for all And in terms of the mental health advisory commission, I went to some of their meetings about Friend of mine who's a senior and the abuse she suffered by this county would force injections and Being hauled off to the hospital and they did nothing Thank you for your comments. We have no further speakers chair. Okay. I'll bring it back to the board for um Further discussion and action and I just wanted to see if um, if staff had any responses on some of the questions that were raised Um, I do know uh, mr. Morris had some additional information related to the human services commission. So Yeah, I just was tracking some of the public comments and board comments So I just wanted to if this helps you deliberate wanted to respond to some of those Um, so first the departmental advisory group does require their minutes taken So I just want to make sure that would be exchanged. So minutes would still be taken Um For your board's full awareness if you didn't know this was an exercise I didn't quite know the scope So we already have three existing commissions that are federally state mandated that will continue that will be brannock governed That's the federal governance mandate for the homeless Committee that supervisor konegan Cummings are on and that's the housing front of partnership the continuum care We have a state mandate for the in-home supportive services to have a public Commission is called the public authority advisory commission And we have a federal mandate to have the workforce Investment the workforce development board have a commission. So those three commissions will still exist um, we also have Approximately 30 forums that are recurring or division directors and program managers and analysts are meeting regularly with the community predominantly community-based organizations Um, but also with community where there's a lot of dialogue Um, I did want to say just as a staff centric I admit perspective as somebody who's been facilitating the human services commission for my god here It is correct that this has clearly been in the covet context It's been a sort of hard to compare what will life be like after covet But what I do find is the many many meetings I'm in with the community the brown act and the commission really precludes Conversation with the public Because there's a public comment period where the public can show up. They rarely do but when they do I can't comment on it and engage in a dialogue if it's not an agendized issue One of the reasons I saw benefit making this switch is then we could have more of an open conversation with who comes up We don't have to if we have something just happened the day before we can as a kind of advisory group Kind of sit and discuss and make a change and should the public be engaged We can have conversation and not be hip prohibited under the brown act Um, I also wanted to respond to supervisor Hernandez's comment. Um, I've come here and I've learned really quickly and I got here There's inequity with south county and north county. The commission has each board member appoint a commissioner I want to repeat my comments that I recommended that the bylaws that get replace them would have each board member to make Sure of equitable distribution of the participants in that new structure. So I don't see that as a change We could build that in um to the by wise and then Finally, um, I have found that so many people have adapted To the post-covid world of meetings being hybrid and virtual and having smart boards We have just had too many, um meetings canceled due to quorum where if we were able to display people on the smart board We actually could have had the meeting So I think there's some flexibility in the shift if your board Supports us. I just wanted to share that information in response to some of the um when she brought up And chair, I just I just uh, want to add that this need to to speak with director morris a little bit more about About that one comment about the board members Appointing or advising on members of the advisory commission because really the advisory commissions are department oriented commissions. They're they they are advisory to the department head They're not Responsible in advisory to the board members and there are some brown act implications that would be involved If the board were to be involved in um in appointing so I'll I'll check in and we'll talk more about those issues Thank you. Appreciate that. Um I guess I'll just say based on that I I think that's What the recommendations were given from supervisor konig um keeping the medical emergency medical care commission and The human services commission to me seems like something that will be beneficial at this point until we can Hear more about how we can address some of these issues related to Um board members being able to appoint I also have to some concern too because you know, we just went through a long exercise of trying to um get commissioners Um stipends so they can participate on these commissions and if we start moving Commissions to these departmental advisory bodies. Does that mean we're now going to have to go back and shift those policies as well? because You know, that's something that we were trying to implement to increase equity on our boards and And I get that some of these boards it makes sense to eliminate but these two in particular seem like boards that People really want to be engaged on I heard from my commissioner that the human services board is they have well attended meetings And you know, I think that we need to give it a chance for us to see how our new policies on providing Financial support for commissioners how well that's effective at getting more participation on our boards But I do see the merits of some of these other Um commissions the environmental health appeals commission substance use disorder commission Has materials advisory commission certain services. I can see the merit and benefit of having those Um duties and responsibilities transferred to other commissions Um, but I I'd see the value in saving um the emergency medical care commission and human services commission. So Those are my I guess my final comments on this. Um But then I'll leave it to the board for for the action the deliberation on this Sure Oh, I'll move the recommended actions with the modification that 2.52 be removed from the second recommended action And that other options for improving the emergency medical care commission be considered as part of the ceo's updates on commission restructuring on or before august 27th So supervisor given the um the complications around us presenting two ordinances in one item If I could provide a little bit of guidance around a motion That that might help us get further along if if I didn't hear there being any comments on the emergency management council ordinance If there are if that's 2.52 no, that's that's uh, Sorry, oh, you're all right Right. So so the ordinance that that that you're if if your board is in agreement on that second ordinance I would recommend that you take a quick roll call vote With a motion to adopt that ordinance Bring it back for a second read on february at the board's next meeting And order that summary of that ordinance to be published and do that First and then take a motion on the second issue, which I'll get to after that roll call vote if your board agrees All right, then I will move recommended action three to approve and concept Ordinance amending chapter 2.106 of the santa cruse county code santa cruse county emergency management council second okay Any other further discussion? None. We'll do a roll call vote on that first recommended action Supervisor conic. Hi friend. All right, Hernandez Big person and Cummings Set first action passes unanimously. We'll move on to the other action items On on the on the other ordinance what we what we typically do if it's not an urgent item is we would get a motion on on To come back for a first read on the ordinance that you want to see because If we can't adopt a portion of an ordinance in this meeting An alternative to that is is we could go away for 10 minutes and I could write up replacement pages and bring you back a different ordinance to look at on first read based on your comments here today, but I think an appropriate motion may be to Tell us which commissions you would Agree to have sunsetted As of the end of march And we will bring back an ordinance on first read at the next meeting to address those specific commissions Thank you for that advice I think in the interest of time it would make sense for because we do have A closed session item and then we have an item that's pulled from the regular agenda And I know some individuals from that group are here with us today. So in the interest of time I think it might make sense for us to make a motion on the Item of the commissions that we will want to remove And call those out and have those come back for a first read Okay, I will move that we drive county council to return with an ordinance that sunsets Be Want me to explicitly name them the environmental health appeals commission hazardous materials advisory commission human services commission substance use disorder commission Answering services program advisory commission And that other options for improving the emergency medical care commission be considered as part of the CAO's updates on commission restructuring honor before august 27th First how we are we going to Thank you for the response also from the terms of commission Uh, there's a point to uh That's the name I'll hear my son Are we going to wait for a response on some of the comments that that county council said in some of the some of the things that uh chair Supervisor chair, um Cummings asked about On the human services commission um, I Don't I I guess I don't share the concerns. I do believe that given um, you know, as was stated in the The staff memo that because these a lot of the services that are In theory the commission speaks on are actually programs through the state that um, there might be other more effective avenues for Public engagement on this topic I'll second the motion yeah, the um Well, as I as I mentioned earlier the Um, string services program they're in very much completing their work in progress and it might um Requires additional direction. Um, and they're going to come back in March I guess we could re-establish that if we Had to Or not had to if we wanted to um I'll go ahead with the the motion is presented, but I think that it's a work in progress that Additional material might be uh good for us to consider before we eliminate them Uh, but I'll I'll go along with the motion with the idea that we could re-establish that commission um If need Yes, you could you could re-establish it if needed. It's your board's discretion and as I'm understanding the motion I'm going to bring back an ordinance that's going to address all of the commissions on the list other than the emergency medical care commission correct Correct, right and I think um, also it's the first read of that new ordinance Would be another opportunity to make sure that we are expected to receive a report around uh, syringe services in marches um, you anticipate supervisor McPherson I'll just make a brief comment real quick. Um, well, I'm not going to support the motion I would say that one of the things that could be considered is you know those conversations around syringe services If there's another commission that's having similar conversations Maybe those conversations around syringe services could be moved to another commission that way We don't have to re-establish a commission, but we can have those conversations to ongoing. So All right, so we have a motion by supervisor conic second by supervisor friend. Is there any further questions or comments on this item? The clerk does just request slight clarification. Um There are additional recommendations on the original item, and I just want to make sure that we Get a resolution on what's happening with those But I want to make sure that I'm also understanding this motion correctly um, does this motion include direction to publish the summary and to schedule the initial um The ordinance related to the emergency management council Does that include the directive to publish the summary and to bring it back on the 13th for a second read? I understood that as part of the original, uh, the first motion I understood that to be the case that the that the board was adopting those two recommended actions. Okay. Thank you Right, and then um, and I don't know if the If we need to come back to accept the report, but that was one of the items too was on here I deferred a council. Yeah, you could or you don't have to one of one way or another the recommended actions. Um Um, if if if they are not adopted, then they just die on their own Okay All right, there's no further questions or comments. Uh, call for a roll call vote inside them Supervisor conic. Hi friend all right Hernandez hi McPherson hi and Cummings no That motion passes with Hernandez conic friend and McPherson voting in favor and Cummings voting it. Um No With that there is there any other business to be had on this item Nope Seeing none, we will move on to our next item and I believe this is item number 11.1. Um, This was originally item number 55 On our agenda item 51. Oh, I'm 51. My apologies. Um, the approved agreement with integral consulting in the amount of $608 to repair a sea level rise vulnerability assessment and local coastal plan amendment and take related actions As recommended by the deputy ceo director of community development and infrastructure and I'll turn this back to Supervisor conic who pulled this item. Thank you chair. I'll be brief. Um, I'm just going to recommend that we put this Study back out to bid. We only received one bid And I am somewhat suspicious of that bid given that it is Within $8,000 of our total budget. It seems to be based more on our budget and less on the actual cost of the consultant to provide the work Um, I think there's a lot of reputable firms out there rink in ascent dudek And wood that just need a little bit more outreach to in order to get them to bid on this and Ultimately, this is a very important study. I think it's important that we proceed in a way that that All members of the public can support the process. Um, and I I do think a little bit more competition on on this bid as part of that All right, um That being said, is there any other questions or comments or questions on this item? Um, so seeing none, uh, we'll send this One if there's anybody from staff as well who might be able to Um speak to this item, but I'll bring it out to public comment First and we'll bring it back to see if staff can help clarify the process that was used on this project So, um, if there's anybody who would like to speak on this item, you can Step up to the podium and you'll have two minutes to speak We have no speakers online chair. Okay uh, David Carlson from the planning department. Um, I was involved in developing the Grant application for this project, which was approved by the coast of commission and also preparing the rfp that we did send out to eight different consulting firms um and Although I'm not certain Of all the reasons why we only got one bid I am aware that there is quite a bit of this work out there right now that different consultants are bidding on The county has had the cdi has had an issue recently with getting responses to rfps For various projects because of just the the amount of work that's out there um I'm also aware that some of the consultants did inquire about bidding on this with the integral consulting that ultimately we chose to award the contract to Um, and found out that they were going to be submitting a bid and had already formed a team And it was those outreach was for the purpose of trying to form a team to to submit a bid so, um You know those those contacts resulted in I think probably all the other consultants realizing that one consultant Who was highly qualified was going to submit a bid and they decided not to um, that's all I can say about um the process outside the county um But we followed followed all the procedures in the purchasing manual to prepare the rfp and advertise it and um And I think we got a very highly qualified bidder um that Is highly experienced in this area in in certain aspects of this rfp in particular Is the most qualified we're very confident in that and particularly the economic analysis that's that's uh in the rfp I think I think the burn we chose integral consulting has the The best expertise to do that part of the project um And we're recommending that the board approve the contract. Thank you appreciate that um seeing no other comments from members of the public um We'll go ahead and bring it back to the board for any comments or questions Uh, I'll move that we Put the study back out For a rebid. Um, I appreciate the comments by staff. Um, I just feel like this is a an item that it's important that We get right as More so than it's urgent Um, if on a second bidding, we still only have one applicant so be it but I do think that it is possible to improve outreach a little bit to see if we can get more competitive bids Okay, so we have motion by supervisor conic. Do we have a second? Okay, my motion by supervisor conic second by Supervisor McPherson. Um, I'll just say that I want to thank staff Um, first of all for their hard work to apply for these funds through the california coastal commission and secure these funds through the coastal commission and for following the policies and procedures that we normally use to look for Qualified bidders on these types of projects Um, sea level rise, especially with all the impacts we're facing right now is really Um critical in terms of our understanding how we're going to prepare ourselves and I just don't see I mean, I think the staff had Really Highlighted how they reached out to all the other consultants to see if there's other people who were interested Um, even the consultants were able to speak with themselves and that integral consulting ultimately Was selected as the most qualified consultant I think that, you know, it's important that we show especially to the other agencies that we're working with that When the county is receiving funds that we're doing our due diligence to make sure that we get these products moving so that we can utilize the funds Prior to costs of every of labor and all the other things going up And I know that integral consulting has done some really great work in our community And I'm seeing any reason today for us to delay I was trying to move forward with the study that is critically important for our community So I can't support the motion that's on the floor And I'd be willing to entertain the substitute motion if If there's any interest in moving this item I'll do I'll do a substitute motion to accept staff recommendation I'll second That motion is to no was that there's some comments I wanted to also thank staff for their due diligence Um, and I agree with you know staff's comments and praise and and the recommendation of this item That motion once everyone is done being heard is a substitute motion that would be heard first Correct. So are there any further comments by board members? Hearing none, I'll turn to the clerk for roll call vote on that item Supervisor Koenig. No Hernandez. Yes McPherson Incomings. Hi Is friend still Supervisor friend is not on the call Got it. So that motion fails due to a tie Right, and so we'll bring it back to the main motion So the original motion was to send this back out to bid Um, and that motion was made by supervisor Koenig seconded by supervisor McPherson Um, I'll again state before the vote that I'm not going to support that motion But we can go ahead with the roll call vote supervisor Koenig. Hi Hernandez. No McPherson Incomings. No So I like to look to county council because it seems like you know that motion also fails So at this point somebody could do an alternative motion or if there are no more motions then just the item, um Perhaps we'll come back on your next agenda. Um as is to see whether or not you can get um a vote So there's another motion on this item that anyone would like to entertain making at this time Alternative motion to what was already the two that were already proposed Or it could be the same one You know if it could be it could be the same one from a different person If you if you believe that you have ability to move forward with the item If not, if you believe you you've reached consensus for today, then you should probably just move on And let's bring it back to another agenda. Yeah, yeah Okay Well, I'm sorry to you know integral consulting that we're not able to approve this contract today But uh, I hope that when this comes to our next meeting that um, there's an opportunity for us to reconsider this item If the clerk may to ensure that the minutes accurately reflect where this has been left Will this be considered it did not improve or should this be considered a no action taken? No action taken, okay, thank you With the recordation of the motions that that were made and failed Okay, okay with that. I believe that ends that concludes the regular session for today We do have a number of items that are on our closed session. I'd like to ask county council if there's any reporting out On those items to Today, okay. Thank you. All right that that concludes our regular meeting and we will move into closed session