 Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to our special meeting of November 30th, 2017. As noted, tonight is a special meeting. We began this afternoon with a closed session. And Ms. Gallagher, do you have a report on the closed session? Yes, the council gave direction to staff on both items. Thank you. I'm sorry, Ms. Williams, do you want to announce the role, please? Let the record state that all council members are present with the exception of council member Schwedhelm. And again, because tonight's a special meeting, the public comment will be limited to the items that are listed on the agenda. We have two items and we'll start with the consent calendar. Mr. Tatto. Consent item 6.1 resolution extension of proclamation of existence of local emergency due to fires. And are there any questions on this council? I do have one card. Peter Trineff, yes. I put forth the response to the two items and so extinguishing controls by outside forces. Sonoma County contractors and labor be what's needed, desired and appropriate and would fit with the concept of Sonoma strong. Out of state workers, I find unacceptable. I even think that the word treason comes to mind. And to all listening, remember it's been given that by the prophetic 40-day strike, the Santa Rosa Council, the supervisors will then be unshackled themselves and free to serve community first and foremost. So too very true of law enforcement. So sweet, beautiful and dutiful. For power never steps back except in the face of greater power. And I am Peter, I am keeper of the keys that brings all this corruption to its knees. California now shows America how to lead. After the 40-day strike, City, County and state workers go to a 20-hour work week, as we have now all agreed between ourselves that all rents and mortgages will be 25% of what they were before the strike. More time for family, friends, gardens and music and thousands of new jobs. For extraordinary times require extraordinary measures, as we intend for our children to enjoy the promised land's treasures. An extraordinary action by Almighty Faction. We've been caught in a trap of the 240-year userous banker's plan. And knowing no angel born in hell could break the Satan's spell, so therefore you will abide this almighty command. All union workers, truckers, workers in general will now unite embracing the 40-day prophetic freedom strike to finish this fight. All who hear this missive, this moment, be off the fence, pay no more utilities, no mortgages, no rents. For push has come to shove and who could counter this action based on Almighty's love. Forever this world has sought to heist that which shines in our heart that shines as the sun with all shadows to run comes now the power of Christ. I say it, you hear it, so be it. This action has begun. As I've said it, it is now done. That's the only card I have on the consent calendar, Mr. Tibbetts. I move item 6.1 of the consent calendar and I'll now proceed this way for further reading of the text. Second? Ms. Williams, are you taking a rolle call about Council Member Rogers? Aye. Council Member Olveras? Aye. Council Member Combs? Aye. Council Member Sawyer? Aye. Vice Mayor Tibbetts? Aye. And Mayor's Corsi? Aye. Thank you. Moving on to 7.1, Mr. Todd. 7.1 report urgency ordinance to provide for cleanup of parcels that contain fire debris and destroyed structures that are not to That are not committed to the consolidated debris removal program or to a private Santa Rosa fire cleanup application City Attorney Sue Gallagher will be reporting clarify what is Sue Gallagher city attorney Clarify what is being handed out and what is there is a stack back at the back table as well. There was one minor change to the second ordinance in your packet with respect to inspection and abatement warrants and When we get to that point, I'll explain what that change is have to wait for the clerk And so I know it's a bit of a stretch but try and speak close to that microphone. Oh It doesn't come over. Okay. I will try can folks hear me As you all know In early September we suffered from devastating wildfires almost 3,000 residential units within Santa Rosa were destroyed The soon thereafter the Sonoma County Health Officer and this also combined with the Sonoma County Environmental Health Officer Issued an emergency order or order as well as an emergency proclamation The emergency order Stated that the fire debris declared the fire debris to be a quote substantial present or potential hazard to human health and in the environment The order required that debris be removed The fire debris contains very hazardous materials toxic materials left from burn building materials vehicles electronics Paints cleaning solvents other household products and the order required that they be cleared transported and Disposed of in a manner that would protect the public health and that would be in compliance with all laws Both local state and federal Time is critical because of risks of cross-contamination from one property to another and To threats to the general public in the environment and those threats include Transmission of toxic materials into waterways into Public infrastructure including our water system or I'm sorry our wastewater system sewer system and storm water systems As well as airborne toxins So property owners were given two different avenues for cleanup The first is a government-sponsored program, which is known as the consolidated debris removal program It is coordinated through both the California Office of Emergency Services and FEMA The work itself is being performed by the US Army Corps of Engineers It is at no cost to the property owner FEMA will cover the costs But we'll Take If there is any insurance the property owner has any insurance that provides for debris cleanup That portion of the insurance must be Reimbursed to FEMA to cover some of their costs The the cleanups are done with the agreement of the property owner the property owner Submits Executes and submits a right of entry that allows the Army Corps to come onto the property and clear the debris the Army Corps practice is to clear the properties to bear soil so the Foundation all the ash and debris including the home foundation are removed Several inches often several inches below the the foundation is also taken out The soil is tested to ensure that it is Clean and meets all environmental standards if property owners do not wish to go into the government sponsored program they may pursue a Cleanup through a private action and in order to do that if you're in the city you have to file an application for a permit from the city's Planning and Economic Development Department It is entitled a San Rosa fire cleanup application and work plan and the work plan has to lay out all the steps that you'll take to clear your property to So that it meets the essential standards that are met in the government sponsored consolidated Debris removal program the one exception is that under within the city limits The private avenue does not require removal of foundations at the cleanup stage folks should be aware That before any building permits will be issued the foundation needs to be tested for a security as I understand it most due to the intensity of this fire most foundations will be damaged to an extent that they cannot be Reused but there may be instances where they could so a property owner before issuing up getting a building permit If you want to use any portion of your foundation, you'll have to come in with a certification from an engineer So the private program does have city approval requirement and city oversight The city will be monitoring To make sure that the work is done in accordance with the work plan Unfortunately, there are some property owners that have not yet committed to clearing either through the federal pro or the government program Or through a private cleanup action We as of earlier this week there were about 280 properties I should say before Thanksgiving there were about 280 properties that fell into this category that had not yet selected an avenue for cleanup As of yesterday, we're down to about 28 properties that fall into this universe So the the the question then for us is how do we address those? Parcels that are not yet into a cleanup program I'll also say that that reduction in number of Properties that are in the undecided category that reduction was really due to the great efforts of city workers and Several of our council members who did the research and made phone calls to reach reach those undecided folks So we've offered to the council three different options To address those properties that are still in the undecided category the ordinance option number one is a summary abatement process The council would declare by ordinance that the ash and fire debris is a public nuisance And that will be mirrored that is that would mirror the the language from the public health officer's order and the public health officer and public Environmental health officer as proclamation Once that declaration is made the chief building official would be delegated the authority to identify the parcels that contain fire debris But that do not have a cleanup plan The city would use all reasonable means to give two weeks notice to those properties Again, we're down to about 28 properties at this point. We would be giving written notice by mail We would be posting the property. We would be making phone calls trying to reach those property owners we would be publishing that in the newspaper and Any other means that we can think of to try to get the word out After that two week notice period if the city receives no objection The city would authorize the Army Corps of Engineers to enter and clear the property and the Army Corps would Use the same standard that they've been using under the roes, which is that the property would be cleared entirely down to Clean soil the second option Is involves going to court before taking any abatement action Again, the council would declare the ash and fire debris to be a public nuisance The chief building official would identify the parcels that contain fire debris, but that do not yet have a cleanup plan The city would then submit an application to the Superior Court for an inspection and abatement warrant to allow us to enter and clear the private properties Upon issuance of that warrant. We would inspect the properties We would give again attempt to give notice to the property owner that we were about to go into the property and We would either utilize the services of the Army Corps or private contractors To do the work to clear the property of ash and fire debris If the work is done by the private contractors the city will bear the initial cost of the cleanup and will then Lean the property to recover those costs It may be possible that some of those costs would be reimbursable under FEMA and we would of course Pursue that that avenue as well If under this second option if the work is done by Army Corps We anticipate that that would Again mean that the property is cleared entirely including foundations If it is done by a private contractor We would have more control over what the scope of that cleanup is and we might determine to Have that cleanup be only the ash and surface debris and any Unstable structural elements obviously, I'm sorry the the Superior Court may Make that choice for us as to what the scope of the work should be The third option also involves going to court, but is a little bit different Again, the council would declare the ash and fire debris a public nuisance and again the chief building official would identify the parcels That contain fire debris but have no cleanup plan Rather than seeking Inspection and abatement warrant we would be applying to Superior Court For a court order to compel the private property owner the owner of the property to undertake the cleanup within a time certain If the property owner does not clear the property Submit an application and clear the property within that time period. We would then Ask the court to Allow the city itself to go in and undertake the the cleanup So those are our three options that we are offering to you They can also be combined to some extent and we we look forward to your decision and input and Happy to answer any questions Thank You, Ms. Gallagher Just for the benefit of the public Because all of this involves abatement proceedings and In courtroom proceedings the council has discussed this in closed session To get a briefing and have a discussion about the legal strategies related to potential litigation around this So you may not hear a lot of questions from the council about this in open session But we have discussed it in closed session with that I'll open it up for questions from the council Seeing that I do have some cards John Allen He'll be followed by Chris Gravel Good evening, and thank you all for your continuous efforts in trying to get our community put back together One of the concerns that I see in regards to these cleanup procedures is safety and consistency You know consistency Throughout the program whether folks opt in opt out or the You guys have to go in under an abatement program. We would like to see some consistency out there in the field currently In parts of Fountain Grove, there are footings and retaining walls being removed Where they should not be That's posing a threat to our stormwater and Our soil stabilization The other concerns in regards to safety that I've seen is there is a lack of Traffic control a lack of PPE personal protective equipment Some contractors are adhering to the policies that were set forth in the Army Corps of engineers some contractors are not So that is a concern for those individual workers out there You know, there's some loopholes that folks may be using but the at the end of the day Those workers have the right to return home in the same shape that they came to work in So that is a legitimate concern for the folks out there actually doing the work The The option one that you guys have presented it appears to be the best option to have the Army Corps come in However, there is some inconsistency with the Army Corps procedures that I've seen versus what I'm looking at in Coffee Park They're doing a nice clean job They're adhering to safety protocols They're respecting people's property in speaking with the workers the actual folks on the excavators and bobcats First thing out of their mouths where why don't we just put this all into a pile and get rid of it That's the most efficient way Well, they realize that these these are people's individual lots And they also realize that this is personal property, you know when the walls collapsed they lifted up They find a wooden jewelry box filled with the people's jewelry if they done it the you know efficiency way that could have been wiped out So I am seeing some inconsistencies out there with the current cleanup, and I would hope that that could be addressed Further thank you Thank You mr. Allen Chris Grable He'll be followed by Bob Hansen Good evening Yeah, I'm gonna echo pretty much everything that mr. Allen said I Have checked every single for instance ash Britt site in Fountain Grove if we're talking about consistency And they're all out of compliance in some form or another and in and some of those sites are out of compliance in every category Of the performance work statement which is the is the standard which all the contractors are supposed to be following now The majority of the work that's been done in Coffee Park and in Larkfield the majority of the sites Hands down have been done well, and they've been done by a lot of local contractors That have been following all those protocols Using PPEs personal protective equipment Tyvek suits masks They've been lining the trucks in in plastic and then wrapping them up for transport So you're not you know exposing us to air quality hazards There's a long list of things I can send you the performance work statement if you'd like My main issue as well is as we go forward whatever you decide I mean option what does seem to be the best and the quickest is really pushing the enforcement of these standards It's one thing to say. Oh, everybody's supposed to be complying. Well, we all know that but We really need to focus on resources for enforcement And and the enforcement needs to be adequate to be a deterrent, right? Because a lot of big companies will write this into their bottom line finds Whatever it is that they become part of their operating costs And we have to make sure that there is an adequate deterrent to really bring people into compliance and give The property owners what was promised After we spent so much time getting them to opt-in and really they've put their trust in And in public officials people in public office in the Army Corps We really have to deliver and honor our promise And I think Enforcement is going to be a big component of that. Thank you Bob Hansen Be followed by Brittany Perkins evening everybody This is nice Started the fire first two days of public who's being addressed by our mayor mr. Corsi By the fifth day he was in the fifth row with a look on his face like who are all these people around me? This this out out of state out of country crew you bring it in America Veritas I Was still working residential in Petaluma when they started their construction boom brought all these crews in from out of state New Mexico, Texas Crews not qualified to do the work. They were doing I Hope our city residents our families who are facing rebuilding Trust in themselves in Their insurance agents Hopefully they have a good one and then our local construction our local Contractors our local construction crews We've gone through disasters before Fires of 64 the o6 quake and fires and we got through it without bringing in outside construction crews You approve contractors to bring them in and house them on site. We're not even doing that for our homeless community Yet we're doing it for outside construction crews This is a chance for our city to solve two problems at once The disaster of the fire disasters and helping our homeless community. We just signed it a million and a half dollar contract with Nelson Let's put the word out to anybody in our community who wants to go to work The jobs are there available. Let's solve this locally This is a local problem It's not a problem. It's a disaster but trusting in outside Construction crews which are not construction crews Petaluma ten years ago Contractor bought a bunch of guys off the street set of now bags and then called them and build them as carpenters plumbers Electricians tapers and they weren't it took a couple years for them to get the experience and now this Latino construction crew Has control of our Commercial building in our county. That's fine welcome But you've opened the door for another Wave of outside construction. It's not qualified to build in our in our county. Let's take care of this Locally and let's put the people in our city Who need to go to work? Give me the opportunity Thank you, Brittany Perkins. Oh mayor vice mayor city council city staff Public Brittany Perkins. I'm the chief executive officer of Ashford environmental one of the contracts Contactors the United States Army Corps of Engineers has working in Sonoma County So I wanted to first say this is my first time meeting any elected officials in the city in the county So it's an honor to be here serving you during this difficult time. We take that with the utmost seriousness and and respect to the community which we're working and Myself and the company believes local economic recovery and part being part of the recovery process through contracting is key To economic success. It's also key to morale and mental recovery for your community So I wanted to address I Guess first two points that I think is critical For the city council to be aware of Ashford and the other contractor are working under two slightly different scopes of work So I think it's important and it's very confusing. I am certain for the public when when they're saying scope of works are different It's critical. I have not seen a copy of the contract But I've been made aware from the core that there's variances between the two contractors So just to key to note There's there's hundreds of people working on the storm. That's that's a critical first piece I also want to address safety safety is the key component of any of Ashford's operations and just today Mr. I wrote down the name Mr. Lee who is a senior safety engineer for Cal OSHA called our senior safety officer and said Ashford is in full compliance with California laws the Army Corps of Engineers key safety Members and leadership have also echoed that our safety program is is on spot and on par with all state federal city and local laws Ashford environmental have Celebrated our 25-year anniversary just two and a half weeks ago. We're very proud Our first contract was as a subcontractor on an Army Corps job 25 years later to be a prime contractor serving your community as a true honor Ashford environmental is after The Army Corps of Engineer contracting process is arguably the gold standard of contracting It's an incredibly competitive procurement process with Small privately held companies through billion dollar international companies and your time and again Ashford has been selected as the prime contractor for two of the United States Most populous regions and regions most prone to disasters That's the South Pacific Division which encompasses California and the South Atlantic Division Which is Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama So I want to reiterate the gold standard of procurement has time and again selected Ashford as the prime number one Contractor for these critical regions prone to disasters So again, I wanted to reiterate we're here serving your community We're doing it in the most safe efficient manner and I wanted to take this opportunity tonight to introduce myself Two more quick comments. This is the first time myself or any of my team members on the ground Have had interface with local or county elected officials out of respect to direction from the core So we are not working any politics, although I'm happy to be in a resource availability of team The second item to add is we have 91 percent state of California hiring in our crews only two debris crews I'll say three March here are outside of California Thank you. Thank you for coming in. Thank you very much. Mr. Mayor if I could Well, Miss Perkins is here if I could get some clarity on a couple of questions I don't think you can do that at this point We we this isn't a back-and-forth and I tell that to the public all the time mr. Rogers So I'm going to tell it to you as well, okay? Well after public comment if I could if you'd stick around I have a couple of questions Related to this that you may be able to answer for us. I'm happy to be a resource for the community. Thank you Mr. DeWitt. Oh, my name is Dwayne DeWitt. I'm from Santa Rosa As a member of the community, I would like to see that this fine firm that's just been hired Do as much subcontracting with local Santa Rosa people as possible There is an opportunity through federal funding that you could actually even be doing some training during this time Environmental Protection Agency has Resources to train people in different types of activities. This happens with brownfields cleanups We used to have a project here in Santa Rosa called the youth build while mayor I Think at the time Well, we won't go there. It's a mayor long in the past 20 years ago But the idea still lives and the idea that we could have Some of this work done by our local people could be more helpful than these folks may know There's a lot of able-bodied young people who are members of our homeless right now I see them frequently and I think to myself how about we get them involved in this We should thank mr. Grable and the others that have been doing the volunteering to help on the environmental protection of our waterways We're in a county that has billionaires We got lots of money here You think those folks would be covering some of this instead of volunteers having to go out and get things in order So there needs to be a bit more of a That word they use is comprehensive and cohesive Approach to getting not just our cleanup done But the soul of our community back in the thrive mode that yes We're working together to deal with this and that these young people who could be helped will get this opportunity Right here right now One of the things I was most struck by when I read the news stories After the fire is that everybody was so concerned that we make sure and take care of undocumented That those workers were going to be so needed and I thought yeah, well, how about our teenagers do? How about those people that are out there right now? Just struggling to get by many of them are now living in my neighborhood right over there Rosalind village There's you know a lot of folks that could put Their basic able-bodied to use for us to make our community even better So I asked you to look outside of the box to do new approaches. I've heard a lot of people say that's going to happen Well proof is in the pudding now is the time that lady said her firm got started by doing subcontracting So there you go They should be looking for Santa Rosa based people to do Santa Rosa cleanup to make it a better spot And if you get some extras send them over to Rosalind because we need them there too. Thank you so much for your time That's all the cards I have Mr. Rogers if you have some questions that are related to this item Yes, they are absolutely related to this item, mr. Mayor Go ahead. All right, miss Perkins if you would Thank you so much for being here and being willing to shed some clarity for me one of the things that i'm Struggling with in choosing which direction to go is obviously whether or not the work will be done Through the army core of engineers or by a private contractor And for me one of the really important issues is around the worker safety. So I was out today And did see most of the workers did not have PPEs personal protective equipment on them Can you clarify for us whether or not your workers are required to wear PPEs and follow the same? Cal recycle environmental cleanup standards including using waddles and using burrito wraps That the ecc was prior of using in these areas as well absolutely My company is following all requisite state federal. I'm going to get more detailed But I will say we are following all laws per our contract unequivocally following all laws as per my contract with the army core of engineers The army core of engineers Echoed today by cal osha is that the level 4 PPE is which is level d I believe is what is required on the job until environmental conditions dictate level c PPE We have companies most of our companies are Ready to go for level c PPE. So to your point and reiterate if I missed it ashford is following all state And federal environmental regulations that are that are required. We're having waddles. We're burrito wrapping all ash and soil Recycled concrete does not have to be burrito back But all materials that are required to be burrito wrapped are being burrito wrapped all public safety Items are being worn and to the point made earlier We are happy to work with any local Organizations that are doing safety training or hazardous material training if there's ways we can partner with that to bring Folks on we've been doing that with the union halls bringing their their their team members on if there's other organizations I'm happy to be the direct contact for the city And work with those Safety programs and employment programs. I will quickly add and then I'll miss Perkins. I'd like you to please Answers to to the question that's being asked. I was an attorney. I can do the yes knows so If we go the route where we are using the army core of engineers and it's being done through your organization The workers will be required to wear The PPEs. That's what I heard. Yes And they'll be required to be has whopper certified as required by my contract So to the extent my contract requires me to have certified Workers at any level. I will follow my contract to a T Okay, so your contract because you did mention you have a different scope of work My understanding is the scopes or work are different Which is arguably causing confusion among the public and and so I get that you're an attorney Uh, not acting as one right now where you're throwing in at the end as per my contract What I'd like to know is does your contract require the wearing of PPEs? Yes, and has whopper training It requires the wearing of PPE and has whopper training is on a determinative basis for the Environmental conditions that exist at the time Okay, I'm not trying to legal answer and I'm my role here as a contractor is to follow the contract. I'm operating under right To help me understand a little bit better At what point do you envision that the environmental standards will drop to the point where your workers will not be required to have those And I ask because as we're shifting over on this contract Today that could be the requirement tomorrow as soon as you start off The environmental conditions could change and my crews will be immediately in the level Of PPE required by the conditions. I would say and I'm not trying to be difficult I am not our senior safety officer nor the cores. My understanding is there's meetings tomorrow We have daily and weekly safety meetings as a company and with the core of engineers I believe tomorrow there's even state potentially local officials I would direct concerns about what the contract should or should not require To the contracting bodies because I'm telling you I will follow what my contract says. Okay. I think that that's fair Yes, that that meeting we have heard about that You did mention that you were looking to hire local individuals That were previously as I understand it employed by ECC under their previous contract And you're absorbing the work Those same local workers and by local. I don't mean california. I mean northern california in our region Your commitment is that you will be looking to bring those individuals on as well So my yes my commitment just I think the numbers speak for themselves we have Out of our 143 california contractors 104 from the declared impacted counties So and I think that's a very strong number and we've only been here three weeks So we're really ramping up. We were asked to double our operations on sunday So those are great numbers for the first three weeks and my commitment to you is they're going to grow stronger If that's the baseline So my and I would like to add we have a partnership already with santa rosa junior college Some of the concerns from the audience were young workers if there's a youth build Or another employment opportunities through the youth through the schools through the adult communities homeless communities Please pass them our way. We have an intern already with the junior college starting tomorrow I think another one starting next week So we hit the ground running to be a good corporate local partner in the community All right, and I really appreciate that and I do know uh today There were 90 qualified workers through the operating engineers who did not have a place to go as Work was ramped down and I understand it'll ramp back up I would encourage you to be talking with them as they have calls me every day and we talk Excellent I'll be really excited to get your card so that I can do the same To make sure that we're on the same page in that the union was the first personal meeting I took in sonoma county. I had a meeting yesterday with them I have a phone call next week with my national equipment dealer because operators Operators are one part. We have to have equipment for them to operate on half of my crews right now our union crews And I have no requirement to hire a certain percentage. Let me be clear And I met with them yesterday I have a call with an equipment dealer next week to see how we can try to make the partnership work To serve the employment sector in the county. I appreciate that. Thank you so much Councilor are there further questions? And if I may before we move on to other questions, I don't have any more I don't have any questions for you, but um, thank you my I just want to kind of clarify that exchange that To the extent that that was information to help you decide Which option and how to shape that option that's the that's what that conversation was and so I just want to make it clear That was not an opportunity. You know that was Not intended as a general discussion of your current Practices except as to they may inform your decision. Absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you Mr. Are there questions from the council? Mr. Rogers, you have this item and and before we start I also I mean before we start into the next phase I just want to clarify. I have handed out um a revised Ordinance for option two and the revision is on page seven of eight Um, it is simply the addition of one phrase to clarify That under this particular ordinance the city Would not go into a property to um abate The fire debris except in compliance with the inspection and abatement warrant issued a pursuant to the ordinance So that's what that clarification is is in red line. There are copies at the back table and again. It's on page seven of eight Simply a clarification. Thank you Mr. Rogers All right, so I'm looking at the red line version of option two I will move the ordinance of the council the urgency ordinance of the city council of santa rosa declaring fire debris and destroyed Structures on parcels in the city that are not subject to the consolidated debris removal program Or to a santa rosa fire cleanup application and work plan to be a public nuisance Delegating to the chief building official the authority to identify such parcels in the city And delegate authority to the chief building official to apply to uh to the superior court for an inspection and abatement warrant And upon issuance to inspect and abate the public nuisance on those parcels and waive further reading of the text second Before we vote. I just want to note that um has miss gallagher noted earlier uh city staff has gone out of their way to Contact people who weren't signed up for one or the other debris removal programs We have a little more than two dozen people left We could go with option number one which basically Sins out of notice to people we haven't been able to contact yet for the most part And go in and clean up their properties out of I think a an abundance of caution and a care for members of our community who have been displaced We're going to take that a step further And and go to court with this And that's that's the intent here. We want to get uh our community cleaned up as as quickly as we can But also with Some care and compassion for the folks who who've lost their homes Uh and with that I invite in any comments for other other council members before we vote miss Williams Okay, council member rogers. Hi council member oliveras council member combs Yes council member soyer. Hi vice mayor tibets Mayor corsie. Hi That passes with success With that, uh, we will adjourn. Thank you everyone