 I'd like to remind council members that we are live to the public now. Thank you Good afternoon. Welcome to today's city council meeting madam city clerk. Can you please call the roll? Thank you mayor Councilmember Schwedhelm here councilmember Sawyer and councilmember Sawyer will be absent from the meeting today Councilmember Rogers as a councilmember McDonald here councilmember Fleming here Vice mayor Alvarez Mayor Rogers here that the record show that all councilmembers are present with the exception of councilmember Sawyer All right, we don't have a closed session today. So mr. Assistant city manager. Do you want to jump in on the study session? Yes, thank you very much mayor and councilmembers Our first item tonight is a study session item 3.1, which is an update on PG knees Potter Valley project And Jennifer Burke director of Santa Rosa water and Peter Martin deputy director of water resources will be presenting Thank you assistant city manager net and good afternoon mayor Rogers and members of council We are pleased to be here before you this afternoon to provide a study session to provide an update on The Pacific gas and electric or PG knees Potter Valley project As was mentioned by assistant city manager net with me here today is Peter Martin our deputy director of water resources And also Morgan bigger stuff our assistant city attorney assigned to the water department To help with the presentation We will give you some background information on the Potter Valley project and the history of the federal energy regulatory commission or FERC license For the project as well as let you know where we stand today With the licensed surrender process Then we'll have Morgan give an update or assistant city attorney bigger staff give an update on some of the challenges that may affect the license surrender and decommissioning for the project And then last I will discuss impacts to the Sonoma water system and provide some information on some new grant studies that Sonoma water has engaged in And in particular provide some detail on one study where we are looking for some direction from the council To to ensure that we are providing the right information from the city of Santa Rosa For our water advisory committee or WAC member, which is council member Rogers and our technical advisory committee or tech member, which is myself On our participation Representing the city on the Russian River water form, which is one of the grant studies that we'll be talking about So with that introduction, I'm going to turn it over to deputy director Martin and he's going to give some of the history and background And if we could go to the next slide, please And deputy director Martin, please Great. Thanks for that introduction, director Burke Yeah, as director Burke mentioned, I'll just provide a quick overview of the project and its operations And then a little bit about PG&E's efforts to relicense the project with the federal energy regulatory commission or FERC As this graphic shows the Potter Valley hydroelectric project is a 9.4 megawatt hydropower project that is operated by PG&E It was constructed and has been in operation for more than 100 years Water from the project is stored in Lake Pillsbury on the Eel River, which is a 76,000 acre foot storage reservoir Which is impounded by Scott Dam Where it is then released and diverted by the Cape Horn Diversion Dam On Van Arsdale Reservoir Which is then is sent into a tunnel in Pennstocks to the project's powerhouses That are located in Potter Valley Where it's then released in the east fork of the Russian River and eventually conveyed to Lake Mendocino Over its lengthy operation The diversions through the project have dropped significantly Prior to the year 2000 The averages of transferred water from the Eel River into the Russian River Were about 160,000 acre feet each year subsequently there was a new interpretation of PG&E's FERC license requirements and there was consultation with fishery agencies Those versions were significantly reduced And as of today those transfers are averaging about 60,000 acre feet per year In drought years as you can imagine those numbers can be even less than that as we saw in 2021 While these transfers have reduced from the project's operations over time There's no denying that they still remain very critical to the vitality The economies of the upper Russian River In both Mendocino and Sonoma counties Next slide So just a little bit of history here on the Potter Valley project's FERC license efforts and PG&E's efforts on that The most recent FERC license that PG&E had expired in April of this year 2022 This was a 40-year operating license that was issued in 1982 As of today PG&E is operating under annual renewal licenses that are in our extension of that license and its terms PG&E had filed a notice of intent to re-license the project in 2017 It was well expected that they would proceed on a timeline To complete the lengthy process That can take many years and a substantial amount of studies and capital funding To ultimately obtain a new license from FERC and continue operating the project Uh unexpectedly In the backdrop of PG&E's bankruptcy efforts, they notified FERC that they intended to withdraw from that process in 2019 As you can imagine this caught the region off guard And was fully anticipated Sonoma water and several other interested agencies in the region Then entered the picture and did attempt to form something called the two basin solution partnership With an interest in finding a pathway to re-license the project And develop a proposal that would be mutually beneficial to the two watershed's needs The partnership did submit to FERC a notice of intent that they intended to pursue a new project alternative And a new license for that future project Really, the hope was that they would be able to pursue a project license on a now Very aggressive schedule before the April 2022 expiration date of PG&E's license Next slide So the following here is a list of the membership of the two basin partnership The partnership did create a formal agreement in order for them to be able to work together in unison To explore the terms of a new license And a project that would materially support both of the basin's needs And meet their regional needs as well This included the development of several working groups And a sort of a coalition to proceed With the necessary technical assessments and feasibility studies to ultimately pursue a license Next slide So this two basin partnership did ultimately complete a feasibility study In 2020 which really looked at a preferred project proposal That would include the removal of scott dam which creates lake pillsbury And what they're called deemed a run of the river project that would not rely as heavily on the existing Van Arsdale storage And diversion facilities on the eel river This preferred project did, uh, you know, ultimately come out of the feasibility study With some rough rough costs for that project alternative this, uh project Was ultimately identified to be cost in the range of 100 million to 400 million This is a high level estimate, of course For this preferred project to be completed Um, also the estimated costs to complete all the necessary technical studies And pursue a project license Was deemed to be about 20 million to 30 million dollars So the partnership ultimately sought funding for the completion of the relicensing and study efforts Uh in 2021 They did determine that they were not going to be able to secure the funding necessary to meet the headlines Uh, they did request an extension from FERC Uh in 2021, uh Anticipating that they would not meet secure the funding and complete those studies by April 2022 Uh in September 2021 FERC ultimately formally decided denied that request Uh for an extension of time to submit the license application to FERC And the efforts, uh, ultimately sort of went into their conclusion Next slide So that sort of as you can imagine again left the void with nobody, uh, planning to pursue a license to operate the project PG&E did ultimately decide that they would rather pursue a different pathway And notified FERC of their intent to surrender license and decommission the project As you can imagine, this is likely going to take the course of several years Um in May of 2022 FERC requested PG&E's submit a plan and schedule for application of a license surrender and a decommissioning of the project PG&E submitted a 30 month plan to prepare the application Uh, which was formally accepted by FERC in July of 2022 Um, this means that PG&E is on the clock to pursue this license to surrender application by January of 2025 In the meantime, uh, they will be utilizing annual One-year licenses, uh, that will just be an extension of the existing license For them to continue to operate the project Until this plan can ultimately come out Uh with that that concludes my portion of the presentation I'll hand it over to assistant city, uh, attorney, uh, bigger staff Thank you, peter. Can everyone hear me all right? Great next slide, please Oh, there we go So Here is a list of initial factors. Um, it is not an exhaustive list But staffing council felt like we ought to get down on paper Uh, some things to consider as we move along what will be a fairly lengthy process And an indeterminate outcome So these factors, uh, could affect both the near-term operations of the project And also potentially influence ultimate disposition, including how much water may be diverted in the long run Now following PG&E's notification in February of this year of its intention to file a surrender application And decommission the project National Marine Fisheries Service sent a letter to FERC Which stated the biological opinion for the project would expire After april 14th when the FERC license would expire This biological opinion contains terms and conditions that govern project operations And also contains an incidental take statement Which provides coverage under the federal endangered species act This letter requested that FERC impose several interim measures to protect salmonage species And to re-initiate consultation on the continued operation of the project Some of these interim measures, uh, include potentially changing timing and amount of releases of water And also changing the thresholds for normal dry year and critically dry year classifications This March letter ultimately opened up a few different pathways, uh, under which interest of parties might challenge the ongoing operations Uh, number one on april 15th the day after the, uh, license expired Fisheries groups since a 60 day notice of intent to sue for violations of the endangered species act for ongoing operations of the project To FERC and to PG&E, basically putting them on notice that after 60 days they might file a suit However, to date they have not done so Another pathway that may alter operations is the potential for FERC to open on its own motion a license amendment proceeding Which would potentially, uh, change the terms and conditions under which the the operations, uh, uh, continue And lastly, there is a challenge, uh, asserted through the appeals process to FERC orders Uh, that started this summer following, uh, FERC's issuance of an annual, uh, life, an annual interim license Just to be clear, these annual licenses maintain the status quo They do not typically make changes and they're typically not making any changes And they're typically regarded as, uh, ministerial and not discretionary But putting aside the potential merits of the arguments, there has been a challenge, uh, petition for review filed with the ninth circuit That is seeking to, uh Look at the decision to issue the annual annual license yet again another pathway to try to, um, Inform and change current operations, which would ultimately be placed on the court Inform and change current operations, which would ultimately play out and affect future operations under any sort of, uh, Minimized, uh, project depending on how things play out Now moving on, uh, in july of this year following, uh, FERC's acceptance of PG knees proposed 30 month schedule to file a surrender application and a decommissioning plan Fisheries groups, uh, sent a letter Basically saying that the Operation ongoing operations are still in violation of the ESA And they also proposed setting interim deadlines and saying that draft final date for surrender Basically just trying to squeeze down the process as much as possible Another factor to consider is, uh The tribal interests In september of this year The round valley indian tribes and the weot tribe jointly sent a letter to FERC seeking a private consultation to protect tribal interests in the ill river water And uh, we don't have a view into that but we just know that the letter was sent So we don't know if anything's occurred as of yet Another potential factor to consider are other interested parties Um, such as lake county as alluded to by staff in the first part of the presentation Uh, one potential consequence of decommissioning might be the elimination of lake pillsbury, which would obviously affect lake county Uh, one more factor to consider would be A transformer failure that occurred in december of last year at the at the project facilities This prevents power generation And ultimately results in lower flows available. Um, just by function of how the project operates My understanding is that um, this will take several years to repair and up to five years to pay for But that um, all signs indicate that pgne fully intends to repair that transformer and get it back online at some point And last but not least uh, and most pertinent to The rest of the presentation is a potential timely formation Of a regional entity to negotiate and possibly acquire necessary elements of the project So that some form uh, diversions into the upper russian river may continue And with that i'm going to go ahead and turn it over to director berg Thank you. Mr. Baker staff if we could have the next slide, please So as was mentioned earlier, um On average the amount of water that flows through the potter valley project into lake mendicino is Approximately 60 000 acre feet per year Although this has reduced greatly since many years ago This is still a significant source of supply to lake mendicino Which serves the upper russian river communities in mendicino and sonoma counties Without that diversion Uh sonoma water has done a number of different modeling efforts and determined that in eight out of 10 years There will be not there will not be enough water supply To meet the needs of the upper russian river communities And in two of those eight years In essence lake mendicino is predicted to go dry So it is incredibly important that this diversion continue in order to meet the needs of upper russian upper russian river communities As well as uh the supply in lake mendicino Next slide, please So in order to Determine the interests in continuing some type of diversion from the eel river watershed to the russian river sonoma water applied for and was Provided three Grants from the department of water resources to conduct a number of studies related to the potter valley project and the russian river The first study is to look at the current conditions of the potter valley project components And determine the condition it is in As well as any modifications that would be needed And what parts of the project are needed to remain in order to continue Some type of diversion occurring from the eel river watershed to the russian river The second study that has been funded is to really look at the water supply resiliency for potter valley And in particular the potter valley irrigation district The potter valley irrigation district takes their water supply from the east fork of the russian river Prior to the water getting to lake mendicino And so this uh diversion is key for their water supply And then the last study and why we're here in front of the council today Is to establish what sonoma water is calling a russian river water forum That is looking to Interview and get input from all of those that have some type of stake in the russian river In particular folks focusing on users of the russian river, but not limited to just users To see what the interest is in preserving that flow of water from the eel river to the russian river And look to develop some type of entity to keep that flow going as well as looking at other water supply resiliency options and opportunities in the russian river watershed Next slide please So what are the goals of the russian river water forum? It's really to find an understanding of What the interests are for those that rely on the russian river So making sure that information is developed and there's a great understanding by those that rely on this water supply On what the impacts would be if the diversion did not continue to understand interests from folks on Keeping that flow continuing and if there's interest To look to create a leader strip structure That could eventually engage in potential solutions for keeping that flow Continuing as well as looking at resiliency options for the russian river This russian river water forum is Looking to do this work on a relatively quick timeline as the hope is that what is Learned and developed through this forum could potentially impact The decommissioning plan of PG&E Next slide please So in order to move this effort forward Sonoma water has developed an advisory team Consisting of a number of different stakeholders The city of santa rosa water department is a member of that advisory team And working through that process the advisory team identified up to 45 stakeholders throughout Mendocino and Sonoma counties primarily but also interests in Lake county and humboldt county To invite to uh interview and get an understanding of their interest in this process Uh these interviews also include all of the contractors to Sonoma water So the eight prime contractors as well as marine municipal water district And for each of those members The water advisory committee member or the whack member and the technical advisory committee member or tech member has been invited to participate in interviews These interviews are being conducted by the consultant that Sonoma water has Hired to facilitate this process and that is currents and west Next slide please So as a technical staff we have been Working closely with the board of public utilities to bring some recommendations forward both from technical staff as well as the bpu To the council to provide guidance for our whack and tech member for our interview for santa rosa And so looking at that guidance what we have before you today are the following recommendations One because of the need for the diversion to continue for upper russian river communities as well as the health of lake mendocino But also for the Investment that we have all made as a community in the russian river system to continue Flows to provide for the endangered fish species that live in the russian river We do think it is important to continue to support Some type of diversion from The eel river watershed into the russian river watershed This is going to be incredibly important for water supply reliability and also again for the endangered fish species that live in the russian river We are also supportive of establishing a new entity to take over whatever would be recommended For parts of the project to continue this diversion To make sure that this diversion continues into the future Our initial recommendation is that that would be some type of new regional entity We know from discussions with sonoma water that we think this is the best Option for the region to have multiple stakeholders represented and participating In making sure this project continues We also think that it's important for any funding that's needed for this project That it be proportional to the benefit received As was mentioned earlier for for the contractors We really rely on lake sonoma. That is our water supply But there is benefit to the investments we've made in the fisheries Uh to make sure that that water continues to be available from lake mendocino So we do think that there is a funding that should come from the contractors in some amount What that is we won't know until further studies are conducted and we understand what it's going to take to continue this project But we do recommend that any type of funding be proportional to the benefit received We also think it's very important that We have an agreement with sonoma water. That's our wholesale retail water agreement Which is known as the restructured agreement for water supply And that any decisions regarding this project that are made by sonoma water are consistent with the obligations in our agreement for water supply And then last we're recommending as we've been able to do so far that we continue to have Meaningful input and be able to participate on any decisions that are being made related to this project As well as related to water supply resiliency projects for the russian river That is what is recommended like I said by the board as well as staff For providing direction to our water advisory committee member council member rogers And our technical advisory committee member, which again is myself For the interview that we'll be having to provide sienna rosa's input For the russian river water forum And if we go to the next slide, please This is our recommendation that you hold a study session which you are doing so today to receive this information Ask us any questions and provide direction regarding our participation in the russian river water forum And next slide, please with that. We're happy to take any questions You might have as well as receive direction from the council For our interview, which is scheduled to take place tomorrow Thank you very much and happy to take any questions that you may have All right. Thank you so much director. I'm going to look to my colleagues and see if there's any questions Okay, I have a couple of questions for you if you don't mind And one you may not be able to answer in public But kind of the perception that's left from the discussion and hearing about what's happened with Putter valley over the last decade or so This appears like it might be heading towards Uh potentially some form of public ownership even if just for the diversion of the water even without the Energy creation is that A goal that we should be supportive of is that sort of the direction that you think that We might be prepared for this working group to come out of with Uh mayor rogers that that is an interesting question and it is a little difficult To answer but i'll do my best. So I think Based on the interests and the stakeholders in the russian river There is a strong interest in keeping the diversion Making sure the diversion continues Now whether that's in the form of looking at some type of energy project and hydroelectric project continuing Or whether that's just a diversion simply for water supply needs That hasn't been fully determined So there's an interest in seeing what the opportunities would be To ensure that this diversion continues Who is interested in making sure and participating in solutions to figure out how that could occur And what contribution folks would be willing to make whether that's through funding or other resources To really determine could this be feasible? Is this a viable project and could it continue? In terms of your question about public ownership, I think Right now the thought and recommendation is that the creation of a new regional entity And what that would be And what that jurisdiction would be is still a lot of discussions to come But a regional entity that would have broad powers To be able to continue that diversion and have some type of financial stability and security to Maintain operations over whatever that diversion looks like So i'm not sure if that totally answered your question, but that is about the information that we know at this time Yeah, I know it's probably a little bit too early On in the process to have any type of clear direction. So I appreciate you trying to navigate that Thus far though, has there been any Vocal opponents to the idea of keeping even just the water diversion And what's the rational basis behind that? Because I read in the staff report that you had that we're talking about About 40 million dollars of economic activity per year for the impacted communities So I think also that's a great question and I'll also Please feel free w director and assistant See attorney chairman as well, but what we know at this time is that There's a lot of differing interests What we've heard is that lake county and those that live in lake county are very concerned about the decommissioning and would like to see warm Sorry scott sam Continue to be in place and like pills very continue We know and have heard concerns from county of humble as well as cal trout As well as a number of different fishery advocates In the eel river watershed They're very interested in Seeing scott's dam be removed to allow fish passage to continue Up back to the headwaters basically of the eel river watershed because right now that dam is an impediment for fish passage But there's also we've heard some interest in looking to see if Van arsdale dam could also be removed whether or not that's an option But if there's an opportunity to find a way to operate the system Where flows can be diverted from the eel river to the russian river without having impacts to the eel river fisheries That was the initial goal of the two basin solution And I think there are opportunities there, but that's what we need to continue to study and work with But if there's going to continue to be impacts to the fisheries, then I think you'll see those that are Especially county of humble and cal trout having concerns and not be supportive of continued diversions if there's impacts to the eel river fisheries okay, and you mentioned that the two basin solution sort of fell apart because of the timelines For the for the reauthorization If the legislature were to get involved could they extend those timelines if there appeared to be a viable option Moving forward with that type of a solution So that's a great question I might have to see if our assistant city attorney can also chime in but my understanding is no At this point, uh, they had the process. They had the fir firk relicensing Um deadline Uh, firk was willing to look at a creative solution in and of itself with a proposal from the two basin solution looking to Do a feasibility study? Uh, potentially to re-license the project without having a formal actual independent entity that was taking over the license So they were willing to think outside of the box and look at a solution But my understanding now and this you know, we're very limited on On our full understandings of these firk processes because we've not been involved in them before But my understanding is now we are in a licensed surrender process And and that's what's governing But but it's a good question that we could maybe look to get some additional information on if there's any legislative Fix that could change it and I don't know Um Assistant city attorney if you want to chime in and help here that would be great Thanks, director burke. Yeah, I would only add that not being a A firk expert council that my understanding is is in line with your understanding director burk, which is that the um These deadlines are are set by firk, which has full authority under the federal power act to um And minister and govern all the license and all the related proceedings. So I believe this is a firk uh set schedule um That said, I'm not sure if there's potential for a creative legislative solution at the federal level possibly Um, I I can say that Sonoma water has their own outside council specializing in uh In firk related matters. And so if you wanted a more in-depth answer, we'll probably have to revisit that at a later date No, I appreciate that And do I know that congressman huffman has been particularly involved in this issue? That was a strong supporter pretty early on of the two basin approach Do we have any sense of sort of where our congressional And state delegations are headed on this and is there any type of Not just direction to give you for the working group, but also to our own lobby team on Being supported one direction or the other of of our legislative efforts Sure, great question. Mayor rogers. Um, yes, congressman huffman Had created at the start of the relicensing process back a number of years ago what he called his um ad hoc potter valley ad hoc and it had uh representatives from various interests throughout uh, sonoma mendicino and humble counties Later added some representatives from lake county So he has been very involved in the process and was very involved in trying to uh, develop solutions in particular the two basin solution and the recommendation that came Fourth that everyone agreed to to form the partnership was uh, really came out of that ad hoc that was formed by congressman huffman um, that ad hoc was meeting somewhat routinely Last met in february of this year and we have not heard any updates on if or when they will be meeting again um, and to your question related to how we're keeping our lobbyists informed and looking for advocacy We have met with and continue to provide updates to our lobbyists to let them know of our interests and what's going on with the potter valley project and that we're um Continuing to look for solutions. Um, I think the I think everyone's aware and recognizes that this process is happening I think it's really been A struggle and where the difficulty has has been is trying to really find the funding To move these things forward. So there was a strong effort to see about state and federal funding and unfortunately that just materialized and so the Feasibility study and the studies that were needed for the license renewal were unable to be completed Um, and so now it's really looking at what are the next steps and how can we influence? The the potential surrender and decommissioning process and to that end we are definitely keeping All of our lobbyists informed Of these interests in any direction we get from the council today We'll use that for the interviews but also to update our lobbyists About the importance and interest in this project Perfect Any other questions council All right, let's go to public comment then if you have a comment on today's study session Go ahead and hit the raise hand feature on your zoom Okay seeing no hands. Did we have any pre-recorded voice mails? No, we do not mayor. All right. I'll go ahead and bring it back then Can you please director reiterate what direction you'd like from council today? And then we'll go down the count go down the line Yes, um, and if um city clerk if we could bring black up slide, I believe it's 12 where it says policy direction discussion So what we're looking for today is uh direction from council that the following um, um Points are points that we should use as guidelines For the interview to provide input on city of santa rosa's interests in the russian river water forum And on slide 12 Um, I'll just kind of summarize big picture, but we're looking at uh, we think we should provide our interest in supporting the continued diversion of this water from the eel river to the russian for water supply reliability and Fisheries especially the investments we've made in fisheries through our water rates um to support uh Establishment of a regional entity to take over the elements of the project that are needed to continue this water flow That any type of funding commitments should be proportional to the benefit received That decisions are consistent with our wholesale agreement for water supply And that we continue to have the opportunity to provide meaningful input on any decisions that are made Not only to sonoma water, but to uh, where we can as an individual entity and also to have meaningful input on any consideration of water supply resiliency projects And that's the recommendation before you And that will help myself and council member rogers when we respond to the The sort of interview process that's taking place tomorrow So we're looking to see if the council supports this direction or if there's any additional Input you would like to give us in terms of how we participate in tomorrow's interview Right, okay, but i'll go start over here to my left with councilmember schwedl Thank you. Thank you director berk for that presentation. Um, we we had our meeting yesterday our expanded water supply Meeting that gave you the feedback that i'm very supportive of this specifically, um, some areas of concern that i have Although it's probably a necessity as a regional entity and having been part of forming some jpa's I know how challenging that can be i'm sure the city attorney is just Waiting for that opportunity to get another jpa But it is going to be a necessity so that the interests of the city of sanarosa are represented on this Same thing. I really like the fact that the funding is proportional to the benefit received That will be an interesting discussion because sanarosa. This is in our main source But we are uh, some of the big players in this so how we define that i think is going to be crucial um, and the last bullet point there too is the uh seek opportunities for meaningful input Man if we could get a definition a definition of meaningful input Because haven't been part of this with the whack and the gsa and these regional entities When I first heard let's just take, um, lake pilsbury where that's in lake county and lake county wasn't even at the table So it's going to be a challenging discussion And I would just really encourage the seven members of the sanarosa city council support our staff Because we have an incredible staff, you know the morgan jennifer and peter here and the other folks that are behind the scenes Do whatever we can do to support them because this is going to be challenging. It's going to be yours Ahead of us, but we just need to be supportive being on the same team But i'm definitely supportive of the direction that has been proposed by director berk today Council member fleming Yeah, I agree with all the comments made by council member schwedhelm and would put an exclamation on the The piece around making sure that there's proportional benefit And making sure that we don't narrowly define that as just benefit In what it is because because this is not our primary and only water source making sure that It is in line with our council goal. So specifically Climate resiliency economic resiliency long term planning And making sure that that it meets our goals in that way to me would be a proportional benefit as well as just the financial benefits council member rogers I am in support of the recommendation and I also would like to thank our staff for the hard work in dedication that they have this has been going on for a little while now and You guys have stuck in there. So thank you Council member mcdonald Thank you. Yes. I agree with everything that's been said today And I appreciate all your recommendations. I feel like when we have these presentations They're they're way over my head like what are we going to do? So I totally am looking for staff direction on this and totally Believe that you'll be able to represent as well But you really had me at funding proportional to the benefit So I appreciate that you're keeping a close eye on what we're putting in Financially, but want to be part of the conversation and be at the table And just thank you in advance for the work that's going to need to be done on this And thank you to council member rogers for her representation on this committee as well Mr. Vice mayor Thank you, mayor for myself. I think it's all been said um Water water's life and we understand how vital it is especially as we see the city of san rosa grow And considering our regional partners We definitely do need to come to the table for their benefit as well Especially the the northern part of our our county and beyond especially menacino and even lake. Thank you And i'm supportive as well. I did want to punctuate the point that Perhaps if there is a solution that meets the needs of addressing the endangered species act while also still having the diversion of water that seems The most prudent especially in terms of litigation when we talk about Potentially losing a source of clean energy production It might be worth having Sonoma clean power at the table as well who is investing in projects to Essentially make up for that loss already If there's a way to get them to invest and get a benefit for the broader community and Sonoma clean power is now Sonoma and mendicino so that might be Of interest to them that might be a funding source as well to try to create a solution But i am supportive of staff's efforts. Just keep us in the loop on what you need from us Thank you very much All right council. We're going to take a 15 minute break and we'll come back for our regularly scheduled four o'clock city council meeting Welcome back. Madam city clerk. Please call the roll Thank you, mayor councilmember schwetham here Councilmember Sawyer will be absent for the meeting today Councilmember rogers president councilmember mcdonald here councilmember fleming here vice mayor alvarez President mayor rogers here let the record show that all council members are present with the exception of councilmember Sawyer all right We have No proclamations today Madam city manager. Would you like to jump in on our staff briefings? I would thank you mayor. Good afternoon So item 7.2 is our community empowerment plan update. Can you please promote deputy director? Thank you Good afternoon mayor rogers vice mayor alvarez. My name is here with the community empowerment plan update Really quick want to recap our gun buyback program, which was held on october 22nd It was a huge success. Uh, this was a collaboration between the office of community engagement and santa rosa police department We'd like to thank the santa rosa police foundation for all of their efforts as the events uh fiscal sponsor As well as for all of their time pre and post event We'd also like to thank congressman mike thompson senator mike maguire our partners from providence health as well as all of our generous community Donors and a very special. Thank you to community member ken cooker who was a champion volunteer partner donor and a main driver for this event And last but not least we'd also like to thank Chief cregan and lieutenant tommy isakson Who were great partners and made sure that we had the staff needed to carry out the essential components of the day The day up we were able to raise 76 thousand dollars all private donated funds and collect Somewhere for 409 handguns shotguns and rifles eight ghost guns six assault rifles And the city accepted an additional 47 guns after the funds had run out With the mary lou the mary lou was present at the last two city sponsored trunk retreat events One was at the venerance hall on october 26th And the other was at finley community center on october 9th where our staff went out and Talked to a lot of wonderful families Lastly i want to update folks about the harn community hub We'd like to invite the community to come out on november 16th from 6 p.m. To 7 p.m. So the utility field office on 35 stony point road and participate in a summary presentation Provided by our consultant group rdc on what the community led and prioritized themes ideas and programs That have been put forward as a result of our community input sessions This will be a compilation of in-person as well as online feedback from the community The whole family is invited. There is still an opportunity to also submit ideas for the hub's official name So we want to encourage folks to do that For more information, please visit let'sconnectsr.com or slash her and help project And we'd also like to continue thinking those that have submitted questions thoughts and ideas via this online platform And which is also all of the information is available in spanish as well And very very last update. We do have a new staff member on our team as of last week We now have a community engagement coordinator Danny Chaparro who will be working with us to support our citywide programs The boards that our team supports as well as assisting in Further furthering our reach with getting youth participation and engagement And that is the end of our report. Thank you Thank you so much deputy director and congratulations Danny. I was in the office a little bit earlier and saw him in his new digs Council do we have any questions council member mcdonald? Thank you for your presentation. I just had a quick questions around our internships Can you tell me what age we start doing outreach for internships for the city of santa rosa? Because i've been at a lot of events lately and i'm encouraging our youth to apply for them But i'm not sure what age those typically start Thank you for the question. I believe the official policy is to have Sorry college interns who will be majoring in the departments that they're applying to Um, however, I do want to note that there is a lot of strong interest From our high school population To also be involved in our paid internship opportunities that are going to be coming out fairly soon From our pgne funded Internship program Great because I really do want us to look at encouraging high school students to be able to apply for internships Because I think that's our group of workforce development So i'm not sure if that needs to be brought back to council for reconsideration Or if that's just something that we can provide some direction on I just I feel like we're not capturing that group That actually is ready to come to work for the city of santa rosa and we may be losing out on some great applicants because of our own policy Thank you though any other questions from council Okay, let's go to public comment and see if we have any members of the public who'd like to weigh in No, mayor. We do not perfect All right, we'll keep moving then. Thank you so much director Let's go on to our city manager and city attorney reports. Madam city attorney. Do you want to start today? I'm happy to mr. Mayor. Um, I have no report this afternoon. So I will hand it over to the city manager. Thank you Mayor have nothing to report today. Thank you All right, let's keep moving through our agenda then Council members we have any statements of abstentia on items on today's agenda All right seeing none. We'll go to mayors and council member reports Who wants to begin? Council member mcdonald Since the screams seems to be stuck on just me. I'll just go ahead and start so hopefully it'll pan to somebody else throughout this meeting But um, I did attend the NAACP youth meetup and greet at the santa rosa fire department So I just want to say thank you to the fire department for letting them host that event there and it was great to take a tour and To be there with those kids at night and celebrating I also attended the groundbreaking ceremony at the water treatment plant. So that was very very exciting because it's the biggest project I understand since we've done the geysers. So congratulations to the full water department in the city of santa rosa and starting that huge project I know it's something that we've needed for some time Congratulations to the northwest part of santa rosa on the newly renovated brendon park It made me happy to see that posted online so that our parks are getting up to date for our communities to be able To enjoy so a shout out to all of those who participated in that and then to remind folks that we still Are doing the park a month events and you can find out about that at srcity.org Backslash park a month and they're fun to go and see all the kids and people in the community that are willing to come out And beautify our parks with us on the weekend. So I just want to encourage those to do that and then Last but not least There was a huge event in howarth park this weekend And I just want to say thanks to all the city staff that was there And parks for putting that event on It was hugely successful. There were hundreds of people at howarth park Enjoying the booths that were set up from our businesses in the community And in particular there was a group called the school of rock and those kids just totally blew me away with their entertainment I could have watched them for quite some time but I was called out by a raya that I didn't have on a costume and so I will assure you that next year She told me I could be a minion a pumpkin a dragon or a witch and when I clarified She said I'd be a good witch So I just want the rest of you to know that but thank you so much to everyone who put on that event It was great to go out there and see our families enjoying our parks. So thanks Any other reports from council members council members, but um, thank you, mr. Mayor Yes, I just want to report out on our continuing of care board meeting that we had on october 26 A lot of things are going on with that, uh, which actually Coordinated very well with what the city santa rosa is doing with our strat plan First of all, um, we started our discussion about having memorandum of understanding between the continuum of care in the lead agency There has not been one In place and right now we're discussing potentially having four separate mo use one for the homeless management information system One with the lead agency and what their roles and responsibilities would be and then one as the collaborative applicant Which is the title for that agency that obtains the HUD funding for us and then a fourth one is a coordinated entry lead Again, these are things that have not been in place. So we're kind of going in a new direction but it's very promising and then There's a very important day on july 15th We're going to have the continuum care board elections And so if any members of the community are interested in becoming a voting member of the continuum of care That recruitment opened today and it's open through november 22nd And then board nominations are opening november 17th, which will close december 7th And then the nominees for those three open seats, which is an at-large seat a homeless service provider And a transitional age youth those nominees names will be published on december 12th And then the election will be on the 15th That's very important because a lot of you know currently out of our 17 members on that body Some of them are representatives of city in some faster than another as we all know november 8th There's going to be an election. There'll be new mayors new appointments. So there's a lot is going on and there's potentially Some new board members that will also be coming on board We also received a continuum care strap plan update And i'm trying to do my darnedest to coordinate ours along with the city of santa rosa's strap plan There's a lot of information. It's all online and on november 18th We're having at least a three hour meeting to try to sort of or Confirm in one oh down what we want to see on the continuum care strap plan And lastly, I just want to share some good news about all the different Capital projects that were have been invested in our region specifically in sinoma county just to show that for me There is hope moving forward So some of the projects you may know of but what was shared with the board We have labath landing in runner park, which is interim housing. There's folks actually there now LM village up in heelsburg again another interim housing facility And then we have the studios at montero place in petaluma, which is permanent supportive housing Which for me is a key strategy to ending our homeless challenge in this region Then we have george's hideaway in montereo, which again will be permanent supportive housing We have the commons here in santa rosa, which eventually will be permanent supportive housing Then we have mickey zane place, which was used to formerly known as hotel azura county is currently in the process of transitioning that to permanent supportive housing with 44 units And then the county also purchased elderberry commons Which formerly known as spasible in and that will add once they finish that transition 42 units of permanent supportive housing and then lastly Catholic charities partnered with the city of santa rosa with keratos center and that's multiple sources going for this population drop-in center respite Beds and the family center. So again a lot of positive things are happening. It's not quick enough for any of us But we are moving in the right direction. Thanks Thank you so much councilmember and thank you for your work on that councilmember rogers Thank you mayor. So last week I forfeited my time to say my Because it was so late, but so i'm going to go back a little bit. Sorry about that, but i'll go quickly We do have some new hires with srpd. So I would like to welcome them to our department and I was able to attend their promotion ceremony Also on october 13th I was able to visit the redwood empire distribution at the veteran's center So if anyone has any free time and they would like to participate in one of the distributions That would be awesome. Our community is in need of Food all the time not just during the holidays. And so I just wanted to stress that Point I know we come together a lot during the holidays, but if we can Do that year-round that would be awesome On october 15th, I participated in a meeting entitled empowering neighborhoods that was made possible by santa rosa together And hosted by bayside church and attendance was our own santa rosa fire department And our santa rosa police department their continued engagement with the community is a beautiful site to see I would like to thank both departments for their time That they took and acknowledge That they did attend the meeting and answered plenty of questions that our community members had so Thank you for that and also thank santa rosa together for putting the meeting together in bayside church For being such a great host On october 18th. I was able to meet many of the former mayors Of santa rosa, which was actually kind of awesome. It's a lot of history in one room and so that was nice and I was also able to attend the why I run Which is a fun run walk To bring awareness to domestic violence and raise money for the ywca, which is our soul domestic violence service provider so In the county so that was great The gun buyback program was a Also great. I was able to stop by and see all of the guns that were being collected in person and wow For a gun enthusiast that would have been like Such a great moment, but for me It made a big difference because I knew that the guns were Getting off of our streets. So I would like to thank the community our community engagement And also our srpd For really getting out there and doing something that has been tried Before but ours was so very successful. So I know a lot of hard work had gone into that and october 23rd with the help of community members The parks department and All of my not all of them most of my beautiful children and some of their friends We had a successful park cleanup at a place to play So I too echo that we need to continue to get out there both organized and non organized to give back to our community in ways As far as just picking up trash if we see it Or doing something that can make an impact in our community if we're all doing it then it will make definitely a large impact In this past wednesday I was able to attend the uv disinfection project groundbreaking which is located at the laguna treatment plant Which is in district seven proud to say that The uv disinfection is a very last step in water recycling before it can be reused for irrigation and renewable energy production And this project will not only ensure that we are able to clean and recycle water from the surrounding communities for decades to come But it will also increase our energy efficiency by requiring only half of the energy of the current system Improved system redundancy and resiliency and it will be easier for staff to repair and maintain This project will allow santa rosa to leave the industry with one of the largest uv disinfection installations in the us I would like to thank the santa rosa water department for their innovation and leadership in the water industry And I would also like to thank our regional partners engineers and construction team For the work that they have put into this and working together for this critical essential project There will be a veterans day event at city hall on november 11th It will start at 10 30. So I welcome all that would like to come attend Um In on the next day, which will be November 12th, there will be a food a food drive In partnership with the redwood empire food bank And that will be at the bridge church, which is at 301 fullton road, uh, santa rosa And lastly, I just wanted to Congratulate the new city manager of ronald park But with that being said, I i'm also requesting that this council begin to look at how we are going to retain our own city manager If a city manager of a smaller nearby city has a total compensation package That is less than our own So um at some point in time preferably soon. Um, I would like to see us look at that Thank you Thank you council member So just a couple of quick things we had a long-term finance meeting last week And we received an update on the city's finances Uh with some of the tweaking that we did in this year's budget our assumptions are tracking much closer to What we were expected all of our revenue sources are up by a little bit Tracking a little bit better than we had expected or anticipated and then adding to that that you have a Not every position filled Which is a problem we're working on and the city manager can talk a little bit more about that We do see that right now we're about 700 000 ahead of where we expected to be in terms of Money that's still in the budget So we'll make some course corrections We'll be able to bring a couple of additional items forward as a result of that and council should see that here In the next couple of months Also wanted to throw it over to the city manager. Madam city manager. There's uh fences going up on courthouse square What is that? It is let me get that information for you. He caught me off guard there one second It is that do you have the information in front of me I didn't need to pull up a bunch of information I thought you were just going to announce and celebrate and Let the public know what they should be seeing there soon. It is it's the unum sculpture But I want to speak correctly to it. I just don't want to throw anything out so Give me one someone else wants to report out. I can find it for you That's good staff work right there. Thank you. Yeah, all right So the city of santa rosa's public art program is pleased to announce the long anticipated upcoming installation of our unum By blessings handcock in the courthouse square the project breaks ground October the 31st and is scheduled to be completed in early december And I know when I first came to the city There was a lot of chatter about this so I know the community is really excited to get this sculpture up and going I appreciate that madam city manager. So right now on courthouse square if you walk by You'll notice two things one is we kicked off earlier today our two-day dia de los muertos event And there are some really really stunning tributes that are on the square I know Stephanie and others were down there earlier today looking at them with me and then You also can watch the statue come up for for you for unum. So looking forward to it Thank you, madam city manager for indulging me there. Didn't mean to put you on the spot We'll go to public comment for councilmember comments If you're interested hit the raise hand feature Okay, sing none We have no minutes tonight. Let's go to our consent calendar Thank you, mayor item 12.1 is a resolution It's the fourth amendment to agreement number 0 8 dash 8 9 0 1 with central square technologies LLC as successor and interest to superior on LLC item 12.2 resolution Approval of the use of california department of general services contract an issuance of purchase order for six 2023 Toyota sienna hybrid mini vans to freeway Toyota hand for california Item 12.3 is a resolution acceptance and appropriation Of five million dollars from the state of california housing and community development for keratals For keratals center item 12.4 is a resolution waiver of competitive bid and approval of purchase order to illinois tool works ink for an Instron dx 300 compressor machine Item 12.5 is a resolution Make a required monthly findings and authorizing the continued use of teleconferencing for public meetings of the city council and all city boards commissions and committees pursuant to assembly bill 361 item 12.6 ordinance adoption Second reading ordinance of the the council of the city of santa rosa amending santa rosa city code title 7 animals chapter 7 dash 0 4 to give city attorney discretion to seek a vicious designation On an animal that when unprovoked kills another domestic item animal. Thank you. That's the end of our consent agenda Council member fleming yet We had amended to be kills or maims Can that be reflected in the record please Yes, thank you. I was going to also clarify that that the although the agenda only references kill we did change it to Any animal when unprovoked the kills or severely injures Another domestic animal Thank you city attorney We have any other questions on the consent calendar Let's go to public comment. If you have a comment on today's consent calendar Go ahead and either approach the podium or hit the raise hand feature Do we have any pre-recorded voicemails? Okay, I'll bring it back. Mr. Vice mayor if you'd like to make a motion Thank you, mayor. I move items 12.1 through 12.6 with the correction stated by council member fleming And wait for the reading of the text second We have a motion and a second. Let's go ahead and call the vote Council member schwedhelm. Hi Council member rogers. Hi council member mcdonald. Hi council member fleming. Hi Vice mayor alvarez. Hi Mayor rogers. Hi that motion passes with six eyes and council member Sawyer being absent All right, madame city manager. Let's move on to item 14.1 Item 14.1 is a report introduction of an ordinance to the santa rosa city code adding chapter 10-22 lost property I would like to introduce technical services division manager jena. Geo me Hi council. Thank you for hearing us today. Um, So i'm here to present on a lost property ordinance if we could go to the second slide So currently our city code 11-42 the city ordinance that allows us to dispose of toys sporting equipment and bikes However, we have found through some of our processes that there is not a straightforward legal process for us to dispose of any items over $250 We currently use the police department currently use utilizes a third party auction site to sell items that are abandoned that are in recently good shapes Abandoned by the owner. Um, or that was that was found by officers so I'm sorry next slide slide, please We are proposing that we use civil code 2080.4 to create a city ordinance outlining the process to dispose of high value items We would then continue to facilitate the sale of those items through auction Or disposal of high value items by using the new city code 10-22 Next slide, please So the benefit for us would be that we um would retain greater proceeds from high value items Which puts the city process which puts city process in compliance with the civil code of 2080.4 And the final slide So it is recommended by the police department that the council introduce an ordinance to amend title 10 of this Santa Rosa city code by adding chapter 10 point 10-22 for lost property All right council. Are there any questions? do we have any type of a Estimate or guess or historic figure on how much money we're actually talking about per year? Um, I don't have a total dollar amount. So currently when we do have items that Go over that dollar amount. Um, we actually turn or we turn them over Through a county agency since we don't have this ordinance in place So we give us the ability to go through our process here in house and for us for the city to retain funds Okay Have we had any discuss it sounds like the funds would just go into the general fund or is there a specific pot of money? I think it would go back into general fund Okay, I uh, i'm always cognizant of the perception that the city Is doing things like this in order to raise revenue As little as it might be so i might offer and we can hear public comment and see what my colleagues think That we specify that any funds raised from this go back into the community Whether it's through event programming or nonprofit support or some other Well-intended, uh, I think item So that way it's very clear to the public that we're not just Selling off their items to make our budget work As ridiculous as I know most of us feel on that But let's go ahead and go to public comment And see if anybody has any input on the proposed changes Dwayne are you here for this? Yes, sir. All right. My name is Dwayne DeWitt. I'm from roseland I'm hoping that you folks will err on the positive side and Informing people in the community about lost property that might be them One of the things that many other municipalities do Is before they have an auction of properties that they now consider abandoned or lost They put out a notice in newspapers Sometimes even on radio things of that nature And they let it be known That materials are held by the city police department things of that nature and that folks can put in Uh an information To see if something they've lost is actually something being held by the city A lot of times that gets lost in the shuffle The city's outlook is like it's been here. We didn't hear anything from anybody Now it's up for auction and away it goes There's a lot of folks who don't understand the process of how to recover Materials that they may have lost It turns out if your bike gets stolen They don't even do a report now down at the police station unless the bike is worth over a thousand dollars I was told I had to go through this in the past I'm a bike rider and to me a bike is very valuable even if it's only 100 200 dollars worth of value It's something that's usable and important to people but Things get valued differently these days and the way the operation is for city departments is like well We've got to get rid of this material. It's taking up space here So based on what you just said mr. Mayor Here's an opportunity in which you could just put an announcement out on the newspaper That lost materials held by the city of santa rosa can be viewed By the public at such and such time and place They can see if their stuff's there and then if not and things aren't Asked to be held or picked up and then go to auction There are cities in other countries that actually Make a booming business off of keeping bicycles in use Because they make sure that all the bicycles that they hold in their lost and found Get turned back into usable bicycles by putting these notices in the newspapers ahead of time And then people can come and then those that the city has They are able to donate out or auction and get back into use as You see fit. I don't think you're trying to make a lot of money But I do believe it's an opportunity in which you can show the goodwill of the city towards the residents And any belongings that might have been lost. Thank you for your time Thank you dwayne Do we have any pre-recorded voicemails? No, we do not mayor. Okay, I'll bring it back any additional questions from council members council member mcdonald Thank you for the presentation one. I'm glad that we have a process in place now to actually not You know keep all these articles in the city, but um, I think use of social media might be a better way To go as far as letting people know what could be up for auction Mostly because I know putting information In newspapers is really expensive. I don't know if that is going to be sufficient for this type of thing But I'd I'd prefer for us to start being able to use social media as a way to Inform the public about what we might have as far as being able to auction these off For whatever the purpose is I'm also in support of being able to put it back into the community some way even if it's A form of um community engagement or community engagement office There's a way that perhaps we can put the money into that office and then they can use it However, they see fit any other questions Council member swedhelm, this is your motion Yes, thank you. I'd move in ordinance of the council of the city santa rosa Amending title 10 and adding chapter 10 dash 22 to the santa rosa city code regarding the disposition of unclaimed lost property And way further reading of the text And I would offer a friendly amendment To allow the the staff to cover administrative costs for the sale of the items But then additional funds that are raised would go back into community programming or Yeah, madam city manager Yeah, thank you, mayor I would like to look at that recommendation a little more We don't want to we do want to continue to uplift our community engagement process And we want to make certain that we're in the community But I would like an opportunity to look at this on a case by case basis Because we do have particular training needs that we do have inner department So what I do want to do is have the opportunity to look at these funds on a case by case basis And not just do a blanket You know all call to say all funds need to go to the community But I do I do agree with you there We do need to continue to Uplift the community get into the community improve our community engagement But I would just like an opportunity to be able to look these and look at these funds on a case by case basis Okay, I'll withdraw my motion There's a motion from councilmember sweat helm. Is there a second? Second All right, so we got four seconds here We'll give it to councilmember Fleming any additional comments or questions The councilmember rogers. Um, I just wanted to say I do think it's important that we find a more streamlined way of Allowing people to know what the property is that we have And how they can claim their property If if we do come upon it And also one thing that occurred to me is like what if someone I mean 90 days I know that is a long time to store property But what if someone is like being hospitalized or they're in custody or something like that can someone else Contact us to let us know That and what happens after The 90 days because just because they're hospitalized or in custody or that doesn't mean that they don't need the property that we actually have So I would like For us to have the opportunity to look at things case by case Bases because everything does not fit in the same In the same box. Thank you So I can answer a handful of the questions if you guys don't mind Is it okay to jump back in? Please do Okay, so um to answer us to the public comment as well We do post our notifications in the newspaper. Um, it does one record when we are going to proceed with the option items Some of those we all we do follow up with social meat on our social media page that we have these items and that they are going up for auction We do attempt to try and get a hold of the owners. Um, if we you know, our property and evidence team does watch other You know sell items and people who are looking for their property and we have you know, reunited people with their property in the past um, we also After we decide to go to auction Especially in specific to the bikes um in that concern We tend to donate them under the chapter ordinance 11-42 and we have a couple of non-profit Um agencies out there that we work closely with and so they re-insert these bikes back into the community and um If owners do contact us because they do know that we have one of their items And they have extenuating circumstances that they can't collect their items. We do hold them for them until they're able to come in Thank you for the answers to all those questions All right, if I missed any just let me know and I'll try and backtrack Okay, council member Fleming Thank you so much. Ms. Jomi. I think you did a pretty comprehensive job of dealing with a fairly complicated issue In a streamlined way. My question is for the city manager I'm struggling to find an example of where the mayor's friendly amendment would cause problems Could you help me understand why we should not divert those funds back into community benefits? I'm not saying we don't want to divert the funds Back into the community benefits, but I would like just an opportunity to analyze the The amount of funds that we have In the account not only that as we see Um, the needs that we have for our own city staff. I do want to make certain that we're covering all areas Okay, so is this something that perhaps you could bring back to us at a future time an informational item Yeah, I think this is something I could bring back. I'll work with the chief to bring something back to the full council Okay, thank you very much House member mcdonald Would it be appropriate to say that at budget time we would have a better idea of how much money would be brought in And then at that time we could maybe give some direction during budget development Because we don't know if we're talking about a thousand bucks or Or what it even could potentially be so i'm just curious if that would make it easier for the appropriation As far as that goes for you. I can work. Thank you, uh councilmember mcdonald I can work with the chief and the cfo and we can bring something back to you House member rogers Um, I just wanted to make a clarification to say And it was in my report There are certain things that we do as far as community engagement is concerned that would be like a salary or something else I was asked if we could have a The fire department come to a community event And I called and without hesitation. They were able to go to that community event to engage with the children over this past weekend so to I just think that That If if we have that stipulation for me that it's kind of Narrow, but there are a lot of ways in which we are ready and we can expand upon continuing to engage With the community. So i'm confused about specifically what we want that money for Sorry, I think we're already doing What you're saying it just makes it a little bit more difficult with that one line item So I'm I'm perfectly happy to follow the city manager's request at the moment and have a conversation if it becomes an issue That's why I withdrew my My amendment my amendment to the motion Any additional comments? Madam city clerk, please call the vote Councilmember schwedhelm. Hi councilmember rogers. Hi councilmember mcdonald. Hi councilmember fleming. Hi Vice mayor alvarez Mayor rogers. Hi that motion passes with six eyes and councilmember so you're being absent. All right Council I believe we're going to have to take another break. We have our public hearing and we have our Comments for non-agenda items. We'll do our public comments for non-agenda items first at five o'clock But given our open government ordinance, we have to wait until five o'clock So we'll take a quick break come back at five with public comment for non-agenda items Y'all set Yeah, you're good All right, we'll gavel back in madam city clerk. Can you please call the roll? Thank you, mayor Councilmember schwedhelm here Councilmember rogers present councilmember mcdonald here Councilmember fleming here vice mayor alvarez Mayor rogers here let the record show that all council members are present with the exception of councilmember soyer All right, let's go ahead go to public comment for non-agenda items If you have a comment that is within our jurisdiction, but is not on tonight's agenda Go ahead and approach the podium or hit the raise hand feature on zoom. Of course. Go ahead dwayne Now using the overhead Go ahead wait for that to kick on But might be a bit too close Hello, my name is dwayne d. Witt. I'm from roseland at the turn of the century Then sitting santa rosa city councilmember marshal vas to pray Helped for roseland to obtain its first scenic road This is a big deal Because scenic roads are something that the community can enjoy Something that helps with the environment and the scenic road was the first one in roseland because it's just always been looked at by folks on the Good side of the railroad tracks in santa rosa has the other side of the tracks All the scenic roads in santa rosa are on the east side over and the northeast area over benton valley so community members worked with marshal vas to pray And a good solid effort was put forward to have burbank avenue declared a scenic road And it was put into city documents that that was a scenic road And one of the reasons why was because it had this wonderful tree canopy Almost like humbled street where you can go down that entire street under the canopy of the trees That's how burbank avenue a mile long was like that Well, unfortunately since then What's been happening Is various employees of various governmental agencies have been neglecting That designation And letting trees be cut down And we're losing our nature over in roseland This book here that I have up on the screen for you the nature principle is over 12 years old And the man who wrote it pointed out that nature is an important part For all members of the community, especially the youth so they can see some things and enjoy it So we have these beautiful trees Along that burbank avenue and that really nice tree canopy This is what we got now on burbank avenue just the other day Chopped down some big redwood trees at 1400 burbank avenue with a project that went forward Over the protestations of roseland residents That group was calling itself residents first roseland They came before you and they said they didn't want to see this project come forward at 1400 burbank avenue and the reason why was because they didn't want to see Trees be getting chopped down and torn up like this and lo and behold No one seems to care from the local governmental agency These trees weren't supposed to be chopped down They were cut down Big blank space along burbank avenue that scenic road that just looks like another city thoroughfare Thank you dwayne. Thank you, sir Do we have any pre-recorded voicemails? No, we do not mayor Okay, anyone else to speak All right, let's move on to item 15.1 then Item 15.1 Is public hearing code adoption and amendments to the california building and fire codes Title 18 of the santa rosa city code Chief building official jesse oswald will present. Thank you Good evening, mayor rogers Vice mayor alvarez and council members Jesse Oswald chief building official And with me tonight waiting in the wings. We have assistant fire marshal mike johnson Fire marshal paul loanthal and assistant chief building official luke kirk To to work through any of the technical questions on certain uh code items So before us tonight, we have the introduction of the ordinances for the california building and fire codes So we can adopt and implement the 2022 california building and california fire codes next slide, please So a little bit of background California's building standards are published in their entirety every three years So we have what we call a code cycle Building and fire codes are included in this series of standards. So we have a bank of books And there's uh 12 total volumes next slide, please So the 22 2022 california building standards were Published in july uh 2022 And effective date of the code will be january 1st 2023 upon successful completion of this hearing and the next hearing Next slide, please So california building standards are the statewide standards for all public and private Building construction in california it includes this long list of Codes fire fire code plumbing mechanical and so on next slide, please So updated and adopted every three years For statewide application by california building standards commission With mandatory enforcement by all jurisdictions throughout the state. So the base code is mandatory for every entity in the in the state of california local jurisdictions Can and many do like the city santa rosa adopt additional amendments based on local or regional topographical climatic geographic conditions germane to each local entity next slide, please So the 2022 edition was adopted by the state on january 20 on january 1st of this year Meaning they accepted the versions Published july 1st And then we as local jurisdictions Basically get our hands on these things in july and start the the work to get the adoption done Honor before january 1st 2023 next slide, please So again, we discussed uh that a local jurisdiction can adopt amendments based on local conditions And we do have to clearly state those conditions in our adopted ordinance for the building standards commission to to confirm Uh, so our city staff fire and building divisions plus other other elements of the city Have been collaborating internally and externally with other jurisdictions organizations air groups and with the proper local amendments Conforming as much as possible to to regional Adoptions as well to maintain as much consistency as possible Next slide, please Planning and economic development provided an update to the climate action committee on october 12 For the all-electric only re-adoption, which we we were leading the way back in 2019 To to do that adoption Next slide, please So updates for the 2022 california building standards were developed at monthly redwood empire association of code officials in sonoma county fire prevention officer meetings Next slide, please uh building officials from the jurisdictions noted below Have been collaborated with us as well as other fire authorities sonoma county fire authorities fire prevention officers Also participated in the collaboration with the document that will be Uh, presenting tonight next slide, please So work groups focused on, uh, consistency as I mentioned throughout the region Although jurisdictions can mean precise Uh, uh consistency we do work together to try and not Very, uh, too much so that uh, as we know many operators work within the entire region So going from jurisdiction to jurisdiction They don't have significant changes to deal with from each city or county Next slide, please Here is a list of, uh The participants that we've engaged with over the last five or six months Working on our code adoptions With a collaborative collaborative effort Next slide, please So some examples of changes that we've amended to include into our our ordinances locally due to local conditions They are designed the changes are targeted and designed to Protect not just our newly newly built communities but existing built communities as well From wild find it fire danger Through construction standards and to provide the ability for maintenance and reduction of hazardous vegetation In new and existing communities next slide, please So the ordinance, uh, addressed known hazards through our experience Not only local and regional the Also to continually evolve, uh, the cannabis industry which does continue to grow in Our our jurisdiction in the city and the county New technologies continue to emerge So we've adjusted our local amendments to allow for these new technologies To assist with standardized fire alarm maintenance Requirements water supply Elements of these natures again for increased Assistance and and safety measures for our fire response and fire fire prevention Next slide, please So a little bit of background on the all-electric only requirement We we went on quite a mission back in 2019 to adopt the all-electric only Ordinance here in Santa Rosa leading the way with the north bay Um in effective January 1st 2020 The all-electric only for low rise residential meaning new residential construction three stores or less Was enacted And I put in here and council chose to adopt the standalone ordinance for that effort so we could be sure to clearly Execute the public outreach and research necessary to focus to really finally focus on that The all-electric only requirement Next slide, please A little bit more background Execution of a cost effectiveness study was required Due to the california energy commission's requirements for that cost-effectiveness Effectiveness finding The california energy commission since then has deemed that All-electric only or reach codes For the purpose of decarbonization do not require a cost-effectiveness study So this time we did not engage in one To it actually streamlined the process significantly the codes now live The all-electric only requirement now lives in the california green building standards code It lived in the california energy code Previously next slide, please So for 2023 As I mentioned the proposal is to adopt all-electric only Or residential low-rise new construction and it will live in that california green building standards code Next slide, please So some lessons learned moving forward with the all-electric only It proved to be effective with new housing starts without fuel gas connections Of approximately 1,000 units over the last three years And that that starts means from applications to construction and completion So we can we can Easily say a thousand new units are online or will be online with this new requirement in place with no No fuel gas connection next slide, please So some data That the mayor threw me a softball it sounded like a softball in the climate action subcommittee, but it ended up being a curved ball He said so what did this ordinance actually buy us? And the question directly was how much did we save on on carbon emissions? so me being Uh, stew figured I could google it and find an easy answer. Well, it wasn't that easy I reached out to several of our partner organizations such as bay ran Sonoma clean power The the decarbonization is decarbonization coalition So there wasn't actually a straight answer, but we do have an answer to an effect on on estimates on what we save so to speak on on carbon emissions so According to mit which this was of course country-wide study the average Home in the united states Contributes about 7.5 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually co2 Information provided by bay ran indicates that homes built to the 2016 minimum california energy code Which was two code cycles ago? Those homes built to that standard Now in california contribute about 3.6 metric tons of co2 equivalent annually Had we built all homes to the 2019 code requirements instead of the all-electric only those homes would have Contributed approximately three three metric tons of co2 annually but Homes built to the 2019 all-electric only code Contribute 0.6 metric tons of co2 annually So the difference that we essentially saved in emissions Is 2,400 metric tons of co2 distributed or emitted or contributed? By adopting this ordinance For most proposed amendments maintain an exemption in the all-electric only Code that we did have before for certain types of accessory dwelling units And that that aligns with the state laws that that Foster this creation of ad use accessory dwelling units One being that if you're going to create an accessory dwelling unit by altering existing legal space In dwellings garages and accessory structures that we maintain this exemption because the idea behind the state laws Is to generate ad use on existing lots with existing homes Meaning these these parcels already are served by natural gas or or fuel gas next slide please Couple of an additional examples of exemptions One being a carry forward Of what was established by The signing of ab 178 or 179 back in 2019 by the governor Which exempted all rebuilds in certain categories of disaster recoveries to be exempted from photovoltaic installation So to carry forward a similar type of exemption That we we're proposing this Essentially as buildings lost in a disaster calamity to catch to cover not only those in designated specific disasters But calamities meaning picture a home right in the middle of santa rosa that was destroyed That home in that parcel is already served by infrastructure Meaning gas and electric infrastructure Which brings us to the next Requested exemption being new construction where existing utility infrastructure would have to be removed at the owner's expanse on the Bay area Reach code Consortium that i've been meeting with pg&e was represented there and pg&e is Starting to charge customers for the removal Gas laterals meeting the gas Service that extends on to the property and they are exploring options to Encumber or it experience even more cost recovery right now. They have a base charge And depending on the length of the lateral there are anticipating charging even even more for the removal of that gas lateral There's another element to this that also exists Even though a home is all electric only home is much more efficient The potential for the need at times for additional electricity from The service lateral can be increased Which increases the size of the electrical panel requirement therefore many times increases the required Size of the infrastructure for electrical onto the onto the parcel as well So this is targeted to try and alleviate some of that cost savings even though we don't have to Site cost savings anymore to help alleviate some of that Significant extra expense from potentially tens of thousands of dollars if we have these really long Large lots where infrastructure may have to be removed Next slide please Some of the requirements that were Increased and improved with local amendments were some of the home hardening elements that we did adopt in the previous code adoption and we continue to Uh Find tune those to help our built environment Uh alterations to buildings in the wooies Any alterations now have to meet the wooey requirement where base code would not require them to meet the Pardon me the wildland urban interface requirement Non-combustible type exterior coverings things like that specific treatments to decks porches and things and construction of that nature Have to meet the the requirements for flame spread and flame promulgation Fences attached to buildings That first five feet of fences We're going to require that they be non-combustible or fire-resistant to help with the wicking effect of fences Literally starting homes on fire Next slide please New roofing. This is a carry forward new roofing throughout the entirety of santa rosa is required to be class a Which class a is the fire the highest fire resistivity of of Roofing type so we did find that cast off from our disasters created fires well outside the fire Footprints and this is an effort to continue to increase our our home hardening throughout the city of santa rosa And within the wildland urban interface, of course, they do have to be that higher class a rating And no more allowance of wood shingles or shakes in the wildland urban interface So anytime somebody comes in we're not retroacting this We're not going to make them remove them, but they cannot install new roofing and have it be wood shingles or shakes Next slide please carrying forward again Big benefit in our housing crisis Early in 2017 Department of housing and community development provided these emergency measures that were embedded in the codes But we did need to adopt them locally and we did before and we're proposing them to carry them forward that gives much wider range of ability for us as a jurisdiction to utilize The codes to give us options for emergency housing and we have utilized them over the past three years or more actually Prior to the the previous code adoption in in the in the wake of the 2017 tubs fire We implemented some some emergency measures of our own locally So we do adopt these locally and propose that again next slide please Again, the code adoption gives us minimum requirements. The minimum requirements are are truly supportive of temporary and emergency type housing But it gives us a more of a recipe to to follow and we will be proposing to re-adopt them next slide, please So next steps final documentation was peer reviewed by these agencies that we've listed throughout the presentation And all the all of our partner agencies and neighboring agencies are accepting of of what we're proposing here for the city of santa rosa And I do feel that city of santa rosa sets an example for the entire north bay with our code adoptions and our thoughtful amendments in what they do and in and helping other jurisdictions justify Things that may or that may otherwise be more difficult for them to to adopt next slide please So much of the final language has been incorporated into other code adoption packages of building and fire agencies throughout the area And including not just the north bay, but the greater barrier bay area and other jurisdictions as far south as the Los angeles basin So I found this error late. So as of today november 1st We propose the introduction of the california building and fire coded options next slide please Next steps again, uh, we are proposing a public hearing for november 15th Or council to actually adopt these ordinances to be effective no later than january 1st 2023 next slide please so our recommendation is Recommended the fire department in the planning and economic development department that the council makes like please Introduce an ordinance adopting by reference the 2022 addition But the california fire code as adopted and amended by the state of california and repeal and replace Chapter 18-44 of the santa rosa city code Modified to meet local requirements and reflect the new model code next slide please And to introduce an ordinance adopting by reference with local amendments The 2022 california administrative code the 2022 california building code 2022 california Residential code next slide please The 2022 california green building standards code The 2022 california energy code the 2022 california electrical code next slide please The 2022 california mechanical code 2022 california plumbing code 2022 california historical building code And the list goes on the 2022 california existing building code cal 2022 california reference standards code 2021 international maintenance code and the national pollutant discharge elimination permit and waste discharge requirements and Adopt a resolution setting a public hearing on november 15th 2022 for the adoption of the ordinances And with that i'm happy to answer any questions and as i indicated earlier we have a Uh Fired up team ready to address any questions or comments Counselor public may have All right. Thank you so much jesse. I really appreciate you running down an answer for me on that one For folks keeping score at home That means that homes built under the all-electric reach ordinance are 80 percent Lower in their carbon impact every single year. So I appreciate You you find in those answers for us I'm going to look to my colleagues and see do we have any questions Before we go to the public hearing Yes, mary. I have a question I appreciate the information around fire specific and in the wooey. Could you tell me where one would find out if they were Building or rebuilding in a wooey? Where's that information at? I can start We always work with every applicant in our our luckily our um our free public-facing GIS maps Do provide the information? As to whether or not they are in the wildland urban interface So and I would be happy and our staff would be happy to To help guide some folks that may have challenges finding that on our website Great. Thank you so much All right, this is a public hearing. So I'll go ahead and open the hearing anybody is welcome to speak on this item I'm going to look over to our assistant city clerk to see do we have any Hands or pre-recorded voicemails. Oh, we have no hands raised mayor nor do we have any pre-recorded voicemails All right, I'll close the public hearing I'll bring it back to the council. So we do have a resolution and two ordinances in our staff documents I'm going to go to councilmember rogers for a motion Um, I would like to make a motion to adopt the resolution Titled resolution of the council of the city of santa rosa setting a time and place for a public hearing for the proposed adoption by reference a portion of the 2022 california fire code 2022 california building standards code california code of regulations titled 24 And the 2021 international property maintenance code each with local amendments The proposed adoption of the national pollutant discharge elimination mpds Permit and waste discharge requirements and the related repeal of selected Sections of the santa rosa city code that are obsolete or no longer relevant and wait for the reading of the text Second We have a motion from councilmember rogers and a second from councilmember mcdonald Any additional comments or discussion? I just want to say thank you jesse and for everybody. Mike who've been involved It's certainly a big process every three years to update it But we really appreciate the effort, especially blending in what we've learned since 2017 With that let's go ahead call the vote councilmember schwedhelm. Hi councilmember rogers. Hi councilmember mcdonald Hi councilmember fleming. Hi vice mayor alvarez. Hi Mayor rogers. Hi that motion passes with six eyes and councilmember soyer absent Councilmember. Do you want to do the first ordinance? All right, um, I would like to make a motion to introduce an ordinance entitled Ordinance of the council of the city of santa rosa repealing chapter 18 Dash 44 of the existing santa rosa city code and adding a new chapter 18 dash 44 Adopting by reference with local amendments the 2022 addition of the california fire code And way further reading of the text So that was a motion from councilmember rogers and a second from councilmember mcdonald Let's call the vote councilmember schwedhelm. Hi Councilmember rogers. Hi councilmember mcdonald. Hi councilmember fleming. Hi vice mayor alvarez Mayor rogers. Hi that motion passes with six eyes and councilmember soyer being absent All right councilmember and the second ordinance, please Thank you. Um, I would like to introduce an ordinance Of the council of the city of santa rosa adopting by reference with local amendments the 2022 california Administrative code 2022 california building code 2022 california residential code 2022 california electrical code 2022 california mechanical code 2022 california plumbing code 2022 california energy code 2022 california Historical building code 2022 california existing building code 2022 california green building standards code 2022 california energy code 2022 california reference standards code 2021 international property maintenance code and the national pollutant discharge elimination permit and waste discharge requirements and way further reading of the text second motion from council member Rogers second from council member McDonald let's call the vote council member Schwedhelm aye council member Rogers aye council member McDonald aye council member Fleming aye vice mayor Alvarez aye mayor Rogers aye that motion passes with six eyes and council member Sawyer being absent I'm gonna look over to the city attorney make sure we got everything you got it mr. Mayor thank you all right thank you again Jesse and team really appreciate it and we'll see that item again I believe in two weeks for the final adoption on November 15th that council we have no written communications let's go to our last public comment for non-agenda items period do we have any hands no we do not bear all right council we are adjourned