[4:22] Recording in progress.

[4:28] Thank

[4:32] you, Madam Clerk, would you take roll call, please?

[4:35] Good evening, Council Member Janda.

[4:38] Present.

[4:39] Council Member Broadway.

[4:40] Here.

[4:41] Vice Mayor Bass.

[4:42] Here.

[4:42] Council Member Holden.

[4:44] Mayor Geldo.

[4:45] Here.

[4:46] Thank you.

[4:47] First item is our agenda review, any adjustments, changes, all right, seeing them and we will move

[4:55] move on to the first open portion of the meeting is for citizens of

[5:00] I see in the city council, it's an opportunity for any citizen to address the council on any item that isn't listed on the agenda. And we'd like to offer you three minutes to come and speak. If I have any cards, I have not received any comment cards. All right, no comment cards, but I'll give you that opportunity just in case you are dying to get up here. And I see none. We will move on and close that and move on to reports from city council and the city assistant city manager today. And I'll start with council member Holden.

[5:29] Thank

[5:33] you, Madam Mayor.

[5:34] Just wanted to report on a few things.

[5:37] The Western Plaster Waste Management Authority met earlier this month.

[5:43] We are fully installed with all of our new equipment to help us achieve higher trash diversion rates than we've had to deal with before coming from the state.

[5:57] I think things are headed in the right direction, at this point we're a little short, so we've had some tough conversations with the operator to see if we can start hitting those goals by the end of October.

[6:11] So, looking forward to that, I did ask the staff is anybody hitting the goals and then I was told no.

[6:21] So, you know, I think we're way ahead of the game, Cal Recycle continues to showcase our

[6:27] facility as kind of a model out there right now, so that's pretty exciting.

[6:33] A little bit down the road, we're going to have a big kind of celebration of all the stuff

[6:38] and everything come and check out all the new equipment and how it's working.

[6:42] So just a few events I want to mention, you know,

[6:46] attended Patriot Day and Mayor did a great job with remarks

[6:52] that day and a nice turnout from the community.

[6:57] The hot chili cool cars parade through town was fun.

[7:02] You know, it's the accidental tradition that got created

[7:05] by COVID and now we can't shake it.

[7:09] And then also attended the secret garden groundbreaking by the library in honor of the first Rockland librarian.

[7:19] I heard some good stories about her so that was interesting, it's going to be a nice little garden behind City Hall, so that's my report.

[7:31] Thank you, Vice Mayor Bass.

[7:34] Thank you.

[7:35] So I was, so I'm the alternate for pioneer energy and I got to sit in on the last meeting.

[7:43] Talked about two somewhat important issues.

[7:47] The first being what's called PCIA, which is the power charge in difference adjustment,

[7:53] which is a word salad that I didn't understand originally.

[7:57] but basically, it's an exit fee that we pay to leave PG&E and the interesting thing is in

[8:07] the next coming years PG&E is going to try and kind of work kind of backdoor it to increase

[8:15] that fee so that they make more money and they make people who leave PG&E pay more.

[8:22] An interesting piece of it is right now the fight is over battery capacity, essentially,

[8:30] the PCIA increases because you're paying for infrastructure and as it was explained

[8:36] to us, the PCIA is calculated because they're going to say PG&E is going to say that the

[8:43] market value of capacity is down to increase the indifference charge but then at the same

[8:48] time get credit from the CPUC because they're increasing grid capacity.

[8:54] So they're basically speaking out of both sides of their mouth.

[8:58] It's worthless when they're calculating our charges and it's priceless when it comes to a capacity.

[9:03] So the end result is that in the background right now there's a lot of wrangling going on for PG&E to kind of win the day with CPUC and increase charges for everyone else.

[9:17] that's part of these community choice aggregators, which is what pioneer is basically.

[9:24] The second thing that we talked about was expansion.

[9:27] It continues to be a subject.

[9:31] Interestingly, the last time I was the alternate, I was there for this conversation and so here

[9:37] I am delivering this kind of the same message, which is accidentally I was were aligned Greg

[9:44] and I, Councillor Agenda, which is that, you know, Rocklin was there at the very beginning.

[9:51] We're one of the largest jurisdictions, if not the largest.

[9:54] And we've paid in quite a bit.

[9:57] And so, when we're expanding pioneer.

[10:00] The new members were deluding the vote essentially. And we're going to be at 22 members, I think that's the right number. And then now we just discussed adding four more. And so I was the sole no vote. I want to take full accountability for that. I don't think that it's right. And I think that the fiduciary responsibility that I have to the city is that we need to maintain the strength of our vote. And we're not going to get it.

[10:29] Not only to mention that, once you get to about 30 members, I don't see how you can even run a meeting

[10:37] when you're talking about things like the PCIA, which is already difficult enough.

[10:41] So I think that we need to start looking at weighted voting or districts,

[10:47] something to that effect because it's going to be unimaginable.

[10:50] How we're going to run pioneered energy efficiently, and especially for

[10:55] Rockland, which is just too big of a member, so that's Pioneer Energy, the two other things are much more pleasant.

[11:03] Mr. Riceman, can I just mention, when we joined Pioneer, we asked for weighted voting, they gave us weighted voting, and then they took it away.

[11:12] So it's really annoying that they took it away and those little conspiracy that did that.

[11:21] And, you know, I think we need to push that again because as you note, you know, I mean,

[11:27] when we started Pioneer, we were the biggest, and I guess alongside the Academy, we were

[11:32] about the same as the Academy, so I didn't.

[11:34] Yeah, and I will say this, I don't want to begrudge the smaller players that are a part

[11:41] of Pioneer.

[11:42] I mean, you know, Colfax and our neighbors that were there first, I kind of give them a

[11:46] little bit of credence, but we have groups that are coming in.

[11:49] And I don't even know if the next four that are coming in equate to our population.

[11:54] And four times don't make a dollar.

[11:56] So I just don't see why I would vote yes.

[12:02] And so I just wanted to explain my vote.

[12:04] Even to those communities, if God knows they're listening, but I voted no when I was the sole no vote.

[12:11] And the second thing is we had a parks and rec meeting to talk about the new parks plan

[12:18] that we're starting to bring into focus and just great job by parks.

[12:25] Had a great turnout to discuss the Western area of three parks,

[12:31] Kathy Lund, as Vito and the new Whitney park.

[12:34] So just great turnout and thanks for everyone within the city that was part of that.

[12:41] Finally, just a shout out to the Rockman Community Theatre next two weeks.

[12:45] They're going to be doing Beetlejuice, I believe, so I won't say three times.

[12:51] And so get your tickets.

[12:54] Thanks.

[12:55] Thank you.

[12:56] Council Member Browdway.

[12:59] Thank you, Madam Mayor.

[13:00] Just a couple of quick items.

[13:02] On Wednesday, August 10th, I had the opportunity to attend a ribbon cutting in the Commons

[13:07] and Crossing Shopping Center, and we welcomed Mancini's sleep world.

[13:11] It's a new business there, it's located next door to a Trader's Joe's and as the Mancini team said then they said you can now rest easy in Rockland so if you're looking for a mattress, it's a great option and we're happy to have them as a new business here in Rockland on Wednesday, August 17th, I attended the Capital Corridor Joint Powers Authority Board meeting in Susan City, we reviewed nine of the major projects that were focusing on for passenger rail

[13:40] The current CCJPA funding is $391,699,000.

[13:50] And that may sound like a lot until you find out that our nine projects equate to $1,285,000,000.

[14:00] In so the two primary projects were focused on is one, the third track, which is third track phase one, from Roseville to Sacramento, which would increase significantly the number of passenger rail segments that we have available to our residents who are working in the Sacramento area, and also just going into Sacramento for baseball gauges and different activities and then traveling back to our community, keeping them off of interstate 80.

[14:29] And that is a cost of $438 million.

[14:34] We currently have set aside about $152 million of that.

[14:40] And then the second piece of it is the South Bay Connect, which is Oakland, San Jose, and these all connect together.

[14:48] So the more segments we have available for residents who are living and working in our area and then working in the Bay Area or working in Sacramento.

[14:57] the more options they have.

[15:00] The more they will utilize it, and we saw a lot of that pre-COVID, but a number of segments went away post-COVID where we're working to get those back. That cost is about 640 million, and we have almost just almost 300 million of that. We're currently monitoring the availability and pursuing when available both state and federal grants, so we'll continue to monitor that. We know that the TNI, everyone's hearing about what's happening in Washington right now,

[15:29] with budgets and extensions and different things, but we'll be working to ensure that when

[15:34] the budgets are in place and financing is available, we're seeking financing.

[15:39] And then, and I know Jill with our say cog focus on some of the solutions we're also setting

[15:46] aside 10 million to assist with moving the vehicle mile traveled counts down and utilizing

[15:55] some of the solutions that Saikog is proposing, so I also attended the Rock on Unified School District Board meeting that night.

[16:04] Chief Banks gave a fantastic presentation highlighting some of the challenges we're experiencing with e-bikes in our community.

[16:12] I really want to give kudos to the chief for a fantastic presentation and for his willingness to collaborate with the school district to see what we can do to help address

[16:24] Last number of these challenges is to ensure that everyone, whether you're a pedestrian who's walking on the sidewalks,

[16:32] you're one of these youths that's on a bike or you're an individual driving your car, that everyone is safe in our community.

[16:36] And I look forward to further discussions with the school district on potential solutions.

[16:41] And then Friday, Council Member Holden mentioned, Friday and Saturday we had the opportunity to participate in hot chili co-cars.

[16:50] We had 100 cars and a cruise through our community Friday night and then 200 of those beautiful

[16:56] classic cars parked just right outside the window here for people to view and enjoy

[17:02] on Saturday and they also included some wonderful chili with that.

[17:07] So you had a lot of opportunity to just come out and enjoy the day and I want to thank our

[17:11] Chamber of Commerce as well as our staff for all the hard work that went into putting on

[17:16] that event and ensuring that it was well coordinated.

[17:18] And then finally, I just want to share one of our nonprofits, the Rockland Educational Excellence Foundation which helps support our schools with both teacher grants and scholarships.

[17:30] We'll be hosting their annual Starlight Swari right here outside at Quarry Park and that will be on Thursday, October 9th from 6 to 9 p.m.

[17:41] So if you want to enjoy some wonderful food from Chef Eric at the chef's table, and you want to just come together to help support education in Rockland, it's a great opportunity to do so for transparency.

[17:53] I do want to share that I am the secretary on the reef board, but I do want to promote just as we talked about our theater group.

[18:00] I want to talk about our other groups that are doing great things for our community, and that's all I have met a mayor.

[18:06] Thank you. Councilmember Janna.

[18:08] Yeah, I just want to thank Vice Mayor Bass for filling in for me last week a pioneer

[18:13] and start a couple additional comments so one potential member coming in is in Tulare

[18:22] which is even South of Fresno and Paradise which is outside of Chico so it was about 300 miles

[18:29] between and communities everywhere in between along this side of the Sierra's and our current

[18:37] start meetings with 11 members goes two hours plus to try to get close to 30 members spread

[18:44] out over 300 floccals. It's going to be very difficult. I mention that as I'm also on

[18:51] the governance committee of Pioneer. We've got a few different committees. In our regular

[18:57] meeting I've voiced similar concerns. I appreciate Vice Mayor Bass speaking up. It's not always

[19:04] It's easy for an alternate that doesn't, isn't there all the time to kind of jump in and challenge, but so I really appreciate them doing that.

[19:11] And it's the same, same thing I've been saying all along every time expansion comes.

[19:16] I brought up the way to voting, there's virtually no appetite to bring back way to voting.

[19:21] Unfortunately, I'd mentioned districts, there's possibly some traction.

[19:25] I'm going to continue to push that to have some way of bouncing out and

[19:29] And also reducing the overall size of the board to make it palatable and governable.

[19:37] And essentially, I think what happens is if you have so many spread out folks not coming

[19:44] in person, not really engaging staff tends to sort of just run things, you know, which we

[19:51] really need the oversight, especially on that type of organization.

[19:56] So, again, appreciate you filling in and speaking up.

[20:01] I know recently in the news that Governor signed some legislation that supposedly was going to impact or reduce our energy costs. Is there been any conversation or any information that Pioneer maybe has that we don't have? No. As of right now, there hasn't been anything that's measurable. A big part of the spike in energy costs, not even talking about the PCIA, is this resource adequacy.

[20:31] which is sort of above and beyond your minimum amount to serve your customers.

[20:37] Every agency has to have an additional percentage of electricity in case they're spikes.

[20:43] And that by legislative action has to be batteries, has to be small hydro, there's certain elements.

[20:54] And that type of energy, there's all these agencies, CCAs,

[21:01] I know there's 20 or 30 of them, and the investor on Utilities,

[21:05] PG&E, college, and all trying to buy this resource that doesn't exist.

[21:12] So they're competing for contracts, for companies that are trying to build

[21:19] these battery plants and then you throw in with the federal government on Chinese products

[21:27] which pretty much everything comes from China. So that's really pushing up the cost.

[21:32] And it's easy to fix, but the green energy goals of the state right now are counterintuitive

[21:42] to bring in that cost down.

[21:46] So until that happens, which hasn't happened yet,

[21:51] at least from that side, it's not going to come down at all.

[21:54] And I would just say that, you know, it's phenomenal.

[21:58] Placer County did something really amazing 50 plus years ago

[22:03] when we got into a deal with PG&E to build an energy system

[22:07] essentially by creating pen stocks, which are basically energy

[22:11] transfer systems down the searas.

[22:16] We create a ton of energy from doing that, and over time, they basically said, well,

[22:22] that's not green energy.

[22:24] So you're not even getting credit for using natural gravity that comes from the skies,

[22:30] and then generates snow, which then everyone gets it.

[22:35] And through all of this, we still don't get the credit for creating that energy in peace

[22:40] PCWA is now generating energy and what happened is 50 years passes.

[22:45] They get into that contract and during, when I actually worked at PCWA, we were going

[22:50] through the FERC process, which allowed us PCWA to transfer itself to being the one sole

[22:56] generator of that.

[22:57] Now they sell it on the open market.

[22:59] Of course, that has been, in my opinion, devalued to basically just enough to cover pensions

[23:07] and their overall costs, we don't see any decrease in our water bill, we don't see a decrease in our energy bill.

[23:16] Despite the fact that quite frankly our forefathers, so to speak, are the people that came before us 50 plus years ago,

[23:24] had this brilliant idea to get into this deal and take advantage of gravity and water.

[23:30] And here we are today, and PG&E basically, you know, used that up 50 years later, we're not really getting too much of the benefits.

[23:39] There's just so much that goes on into this energy market that's been manipulated over and over and over again.

[23:46] And we're always just playing catch up to basically a billion dollar, a bunch of billion dollar corporations that can afford the most expensive accountants and lawyers to outsmart us.

[23:57] Yeah, exactly. Pioneer is a member of Cal CCAs, which is sort of like CalCities. And they've

[24:04] made a lot of progress legislatively over the last few years, but it's, you know, you're

[24:09] going against the 1,000 pound gorillas with PG&E and Southern California Edison, who seem

[24:16] to, you know, everything the investor on utilities do is done behind closed doors. Everything

[24:22] finding and CCAs do is in a format like this.

[24:25] So our customers can come to us and talk about, you know, we have right hearings in public

[24:30] everything is transparent, but nothing is that way when it comes to PG&E.

[24:36] It's interesting that you touched on capacity too.

[24:39] One of the things with GSEC, the Greater Sacramento Economic Council, as they're working in particular

[24:44] to bring businesses from Germany, South Korea, or the two kind of places that are hitting

[24:49] hard capacity. They need a great deal of power, a great deal of power, and that is one

[24:57] of the hang-ups that we're having as we're...

[25:00] I'm negotiating with some of them to invest in our community as we're beginning. I think, and this is just kind of my opinion. With what's going on with data centers all around the country and around the world even, there's not enough power in the grid to power these facilities. So what's happening is they're all generating local power on site, you know, through various means, whether it's micro nuclear or steam.

[25:29] or whatever, but I think those technologies will eventually serve communities could be many years down the road, but where potentially we can sort of do the same thing here and not rely on on outside sources, but you know, we'll see with the next five or 10 years look like from that standpoint.

[25:50] I think I'll get here, but it might be a little bit.

[25:52] Well, thank you for seeing that update.

[25:56] Yeah, for me, I also had a great time with Mancini's, our new art, and I made a commitment

[26:02] on Wednesdays that my newest baby granddaughter is mine on Wednesday, so when we have Ruben

[26:09] Cutting, it was Sloan's first Ruben Cutting, first of many, I'm sure, but what a great group

[26:14] they were, just really nice, positive people, and they're very excited about where they're

[26:19] and what the potential for sales are.

[26:22] On the 11th was the GSEC board meeting.

[26:26] They're obviously very excited and spreading the word

[26:29] that they have been named the number one

[26:31] economic development company in the world, I guess.

[26:36] So they're pretty darn excited about that.

[26:40] I was, they should be.

[26:41] They, we really went over, it's our quarterly meeting

[26:44] and we really went over what the leads they have

[26:46] for businesses, what they've got.

[26:48] In particular, I say the focus is, these international companies, because they are, it's so

[26:57] interesting as in the two that really stuck out as Germany and South Korea, and they've

[27:02] traveled recently to South Korea, we have a follow up in Germany, Bosch is such a leader

[27:09] in Germany.

[27:10] It's just that there's a lot of interest from other suppliers that are coming with them.

[27:14] Obviously, we have SMA, our solar inverter, and like you said, you either get a Chinese

[27:19] inverter or a German inverter.

[27:21] And if it's a German inverter, it may be coming from our company here in Rockland, which

[27:26] is pretty darn exciting.

[27:28] So working on everything we can do to support them and keep them invested in our communities,

[27:33] I think they've been here three years and they were immediately in our top 25 producers.

[27:39] So I'm really really excited for potential there the and thank you to vice mayor bass the on the twelfth was the fall ball

[27:51] opening for tricity little league and they graciously asked me to throw out the first pitch and I graciously told them that there are a lot of things

[27:58] I do well and that is not one of them and my son will attest to that as I had to play catch them way too many times so I said I'll bring my beast the beast my dog and

[28:08] And Vice Mayor Bass was the pro at this with the daughters that are pictures in softball.

[28:14] He had, other than he said, it's a very small ball, he had to make that adjustment.

[28:18] But it's a very small ball, yes.

[28:20] But they definitely have put out the welcome mat if anybody's been interested.

[28:24] They have a theme each Friday, I guess, for their games, so they'd love to see anybody.

[28:29] It was really fun.

[28:30] It's just sick of fun to be out there and see those guys, that's for sure.

[28:37] I'm getting him an official Sandlot t-shirt now, so he's quite entertaining.

[28:44] Patri day, I just, such good credit to everybody.

[28:49] I didn't even get to get up to see the extrication you guys were doing for fire, but I heard

[28:54] so many great things, but it was so busy and just really positive, and I think I just personally

[29:00] appreciate it so much but I'm just really impressed with the work that everybody are police and

[29:05] fire have done and Wendy for coordinating just really well done so thank you to everyone they

[29:10] help make that happen the kids were so impressed with and and and in kudos to our police chief when

[29:18] we were watching the sheriff lower the person down to show how they they rescue somebody from the

[29:23] helicopter and they go down and put them in that the gurney and bring them up and I said gosh you're

[29:27] going to have to work with the sheriff and see if they can't lower you down in one of

[29:31] those helicopters and he reminded me about his service in Iraq and he probably didn't need

[29:36] to do that.

[29:36] So I was sufficiently embarrassed to go, yeah, I guess you've done that, but it was great.

[29:43] On the 15th and 16th, really fun opportunity, I got to go speak to the third graders Manlobe

[29:49] Creek Elementary and I brought my husband along so that they were studying government

[29:53] and the next day they were going to do their tour of the, you know, how they, the third graders of the ones that helped fend-

[30:00] Some of the things on front street. And so I got to do the government orchard, I'm sure it was riveting for these third graders. And then Dan got to talk a little bit about growing up in Rockland and some of the history. And then the next day, while they were on their tour, I met them here. And I will tell you, I can tell you the little gal that's going to be the future mayor. And they were up here so excited to sit in our seats and had great questions. And I know our future is in great shape. So they were wonderful. Also that night was,

[30:29] the master planning meeting for parks. I hope we can get more people involved. I think that was

[30:35] the only thing that concerned me is there were a couple groups that have some interest but not

[30:39] as broad as I, hopefully we can, you know, I know we always invite but we got to keep pushing to get

[30:44] them to get there to be involved but I'm excited to see what comes out of there. Also got to attend

[30:51] along with Councilmember Broadway, the school board meeting, really trying to push the message of

[30:58] we're here to partner with you to help a not.

[31:00] E-bikes are great, the ones that are legal for kids.

[31:04] Let's work on the ones that are not and keep educating parents.

[31:07] And they really did a great job going over.

[31:10] All the things our police department has done.

[31:13] I think it was eight assemblies at the schools.

[31:16] Donuts for kids caught doing things right.

[31:18] Tickets for kids not doing things right.

[31:20] Some bikes impounded, email messaging to every parent

[31:24] in that district and not seeing a difference

[31:27] in any of those actions, so we've got to do something better, so I thought he did a great job and we'll go back for the next meeting and hopefully see if there's a way that we can again partner and we know we've had some accidents, we have got to protect the kids and do something better here today, so I think that went really well and it's our first effort, we'll get there.

[31:50] On the 18th, SACOG meeting was one of our tours, so we went out and toured Veal Air Force

[31:58] space, which fortunately, I've been able to do that recently, probably the most interestingly

[32:02] thing that comes out of that is the number of employees at Veal Air Force space that live

[32:07] in our community, and I think they said about 3,500 in Placer County, so in particular

[32:13] Roseville, Rockland, and Lincoln, and so I think it was a great, we had actually did

[32:21] at Bishop's pumpkin pass.

[32:22] I don't know if you guys have been at Bishop's for a while, but wow, when did that turn

[32:25] into Disneyland, it's massive, but that is such an economic driver for Wheatland.

[32:36] I think their general fund budget was like $3 million, and they're paying for police and

[32:40] fire out of that and that really comes from what is generated from their business.

[32:45] It was really good and probably the most interesting, I sat a little taller in the bus

[32:50] seat, talking to some of the other communities in the area that are facing some serious financial

[32:58] challenges, talking about even if they had to close fire stations and some of those kind

[33:05] of things. I'm just really proud of that we're doing team quite, I'll be honest with you

[33:11] with our folks out here that that is not something that we're challenged with and we've

[33:16] been done such a strong position. So I'm really, really happy to see that and

[33:22] hopeful that some of our other communities are able to get through some of these.

[33:27] I think I saw today to the Asparto because of that fire that now they're several million

[33:32] dollars in the whole too with that cost and that's just another community that is having

[33:37] some challenges.

[33:38] So I'm happy to say that's not us.

[33:42] I did the PCOE meeting, the Professor County Office of Education, they had their annual

[33:50] meeting to talk about where our schools are and they're excellent, they're in just excellent

[33:55] shape.

[33:56] I think they really focused on reading, which was great timing after we did the ribbon

[34:01] getting for our new secret garden behind the library.

[34:07] Again, much to be proud of with

[34:08] what's happening in our school system, which is why people move here. That same night,

[34:12] then, we had the car parade, which I think, as you mentioned, I think it's the best thing that

[34:17] came out of COVID, is that we get a car parade, and that is so fun cruising through the neighborhood,

[34:22] and then hot chili the next day was fantastic. I think it was probably one of the best I've seen,

[34:26] and I know they've said between 10 to 15,000.

[34:29] I don't know how they calculate how many came,

[34:32] but holy moly, it was so well attended, great weather,

[34:36] really well done, well organized,

[34:38] so kudos to all that crew.

[34:41] And then last is on the 22nd Springfield,

[34:44] our neighborhood in Whitney Ranch, the 55,

[34:47] or Whitney Oaks, 59 plus.

[34:49] They have a speaker series,

[34:51] and I attended, I only got to be there for the second half,

[34:54] But they had the plasterland dress folks there to do an update on Clover Valley, and as you can see...

[35:00] There are a lot of questions about what's happening with construction up there in particular when they can have access to Clover Valley. They're ready and work quite not as the message. And then also questions about the potential for some other property that's up there. And so I think that we're able to tone down the expectations for everybody for a little bit. But they're definitely interested in trying to help out, I guess.

[35:28] And then the only last thing I just, oh, and I apologize if you will sent for the

[35:32] reef meeting or dinner is the same night as the law enforcement chaplaincy barbecue.

[35:37] So I'll be doing that one.

[35:39] So cover for me.

[35:40] Thank you and tell them I've been there in spirit, but they forgot to send me an invite

[35:43] and time.

[35:44] So these things happen.

[35:46] And then also on the 11th of October, our own Rockland police activities league, Rockpal is

[35:52] holding their annual fundraiser with a cornhole tournament.

[35:56] and we're in pretty dire need of some sponsor.

[35:59] So if anybody knows anyone that can help,

[36:01] that's what funds our junior police academy and also that

[36:07] they work out for the kids, the CrossFit that they're doing

[36:10] after school and the activities are trying to do to keep our kids

[36:13] involved after school that aren't in an organized sport

[36:16] or other program.

[36:18] So really hopefully we can get some help with that.

[36:21] I apologize for the long list.

[36:23] There's been a busy couple weeks these days.

[36:26] I think that's it.

[36:27] Oh, pass it off to our assistant city manager.

[36:32] Good evening, Mayor, members of the council.

[36:35] A couple of updates here.

[36:37] I can get this to pull up.

[36:40] A few events that are coming up in the next few weeks.

[36:44] Our concert series continues on.

[36:46] We have concert this Thursday with Robin Schauer

[36:49] over here at Corey Park.

[36:51] We have a coffee with a cop at the Dutch Brothers

[36:55] is on Sierra College Boulevard on October 1st.

[36:59] So if you're interested in having a conversation,

[37:01] there'll be some officers out there.

[37:03] There is an additional concert next Friday

[37:06] with Fortune at Youth and Bump and Ugly's here

[37:09] at the Court Park as well.

[37:12] And then our Maker Ferris coming up on Saturday

[37:14] following that at Sierra College.

[37:17] So that'll be an exciting event for everybody to attend.

[37:20] And then on October 11th is the wagon walk event

[37:24] at Johnson Springview Park with the Placer SPCA.

[37:30] So, come on out, there'll be food trucks, vendors,

[37:33] and dog-focused activities,

[37:36] and it'll be a two and a half and a 5K walking

[37:39] of it can bring your dogs to that.

[37:41] So, that's it.

[37:44] Thank you.

[37:46] All right, next up is our consent calendar.

[37:49] There's items that you can list it as one motion,

[37:52] or we can request for an item to be pulled.

[37:54] Do they have any one thing to pull from the consent calendar?

[37:58] All right, see none.

[37:59] Anyone from the public have a questioner and item they've wanted more information?

[38:05] All right, see none.

[38:06] I'll look for a motion.

[38:08] Madam Mayor, I'll move approval of consent calendar items C1 through C9.

[38:12] Second.

[38:13] Thank you.

[38:14] Motion in second.

[38:15] All those in favor?

[38:16] Excuse me, Madam Mayor.

[38:17] I'd like to register a no vote on C4.

[38:20] C4, thank you.

[38:21] All right.

[38:22] All those in favor?

[38:24] Aye.

[38:25] Opposed with one no vote on C4?

[38:28] Could you cut that?

[38:30] All right, thank you.

[38:32] All right, moving on our next item is our presentations.

[38:35] And our first item for our presentation is Fire Prevention Week and our own Ryan Brayton,

[38:42] our Deputy Fire Chief.

[38:43] Would you would join us?

[39:23] I know.

[39:24] You brought the team, I love it, I love it.

[39:31] Thank you.

[39:32] Well, thank you.

[39:32] Do you finally see if I am here too?

[39:35] Well, thank you.

[39:38] Obviously, what you guys do is crucial to everything about.

[39:42] The number of people who move here for our schools

[39:44] and they live here because they love the safety of what we do

[39:47] and you guys are such the face of what you do

[39:49] and we're so proud, always ridiculously proud of how you service.

[39:54] So we just wanted to recognize Fire Prevention Week

[39:56] with this proclamation where the City of Rockland is committed

[39:59] We're doing...

[40:00] During the safety and security of all those living in and visiting our community, and whereas the city of Rockland first responders are dedicated to reducing the occurrence of fires through prevention, safety education, and community outreach, and whereas fire remains a serious public safety concern both locally and nationally, and the presence of lithium ion batteries in many household devices introduces unique fire risk, something new you never faced years back,

[40:28] Whereas the 2005 Fire Prevention Week theme, charge into fire safety, lithium ion batteries

[40:35] in your home, serves to remind us of the importance of using charging and recycling lithium ion

[40:41] batteries safely to reduce the risk of fires in homes and communities.

[40:45] Whereas mostly electronics used in home daily including smartphones, tablets, laptops, power

[40:51] Our tools, e-bikes, e-scooters, and toys are powered by lithium ion batteries, which, if misused, damaged or improperly charged, can overheat, start a fire, and explode.

[41:03] And whereas residents should follow three key calls to action, by only listed products, charge batteries safely, and recycle them responsibly to prevent battery-related fires.

[41:15] And now, therefore, be it resolved, the mayor and members of the City Council of the City of Rockland do hereby proclaim and call upon the citizens of Rockland to observe the week of October 5th through 11th, 2025 as Fire Prevention Week.

[41:29] I have to tell you, as a avid e-bike riders, you guys have seen me nerding around.

[41:35] It took me a while to realize how hot that battery gets.

[41:37] I have it sitting on the seat to plug in and I realize that I'm not going to have it sitting on the seat and I've learned from

[41:43] Just what you've done is that I also put the timer on and turn it off

[41:48] Don't leave it on all night long because it does happen and and we see it and so it just

[41:53] Hopefully you would know that what you do we're here and it we're paying attention and it helps a ton

[41:58] So thank you so much for everything you do at you know I'm ridiculously proud of it

[42:08] I'm looking at my watch. It's been

[42:10] And then six hours and 30 minutes since Rockland had our last lithium battery fire.

[42:17] So it doesn't happen a lot, but it definitely does happen.

[42:21] And luckily, somebody was home in an apartment complex inside the room that happened.

[42:27] And so they were able to call 911 right away, but had they not been home.

[42:31] We would have lost possibly an unsprinkled part of a apartment complex.

[42:36] So it does happen quite frequently, e-bikes, a perfect example of, you know, just trying to make sure that we're being responsible with them, not putting them, you know, inside our homes or blocking pass of the egress.

[42:47] And my last little bit, October 4th, we're going to have a open house at Fire Station 23, right across the park.

[42:56] And that's going to be the theme this year is responsibly charging the lithium ion batteries.

[43:01] So thank you Madam Mary House members.

[43:03] Thank you.

[43:04] Thank you.

[43:04] I have a

[43:07] little bit of a question.

[43:13] I have a little bit of a question.

[43:14] I have a little bit of a question.

[43:16] I basically can't see you.

[43:18] That's why you want to come over to this side.

[43:22] OK.

[43:22] The balance things up.

[43:25] OK.

[43:28] Thank you

[43:35] guys.

[43:35] All right.

[43:36] Thanks.

[43:39] Thanks.

[43:46] Thanks.

[44:20] Next up on our agenda is our first discussion item, item D1, our community facilities district

[44:27] number 10, Whitney Ranch, refunding series 2015 and 2019 special tax bonds, and our own

[44:34] and Megan Brissom is going to be our presenter.

[44:36] Thank you.

[44:37] Thank you.

[44:38] Good evening Honourable Mayor and Council Members.

[44:40] Megan Brissom, Manage May Analyst

[44:42] and the Administrative Services Department.

[44:44] This evening's item is for the Special Tax Refunding Bonds

[44:48] Series 2025 for Community Facilities District number 10,

[44:52] Whitney Ranch.

[44:57] Established in 2005, the Special-

[45:00] A special district known as Whitney Ranch is located east of Highway 65 in the northwest portion of the city.

[45:06] Whitney Ranch is a large master plan community and includes 134 unit senior living facility and more than 3,000 single family homes.

[45:15] There are three schools and five parks within the district and includes amenities such as the Ranch House Community Recreation Center and the newly constructed Whitney Park Bike Pump Track.

[45:25] The aerial view of the map of the district shows that development is nearly complete.

[45:33] The district was established pursuant to Melaroo's Community Facilities Act of 1982 for

[45:39] the purposes of financing public improvements necessary to meet the needs of the development

[45:43] of Whitney Ridge.

[45:45] At time of district establishment, $60 million in bonds were authorized and structured to

[45:52] be issued in series as development progressed.

[45:55] Issued bonds are paid from special tax revenues levied on developed property within the district.

[46:02] There are currently three bond issuances for the district.

[46:06] Series 2015, that is a refunding of bonds issued in 2005, a series 2019 issuance, and

[46:13] most recently a series 2022 issuance.

[46:17] Approximately $2 million remaining is remaining unissued with no plans at this time to utilize the remaining authorization.

[46:27] Staff has been working with the city's financing team to assess the feasibility of the 2025 bonds.

[46:33] After contemplation, we believe it's beneficial to the taxpayers to refund the 2015 and 2019 bond

[46:40] issuances. This is an opportunity to obtain a lower interest rate, realizing savings to homeowners

[46:45] within the district. Along with the refunding in full, the 2015 and 2019 issuances, this financing

[46:53] Using seeks to reimburse the master developer $375,000 in outstanding improvement costs,

[47:00] release the cash reserve of approximately $3.5 million.

[47:04] Replace the cash reserve fund with a reserve insurance policy, and shorten the debt service by one year.

[47:12] Savings to homeowners is anticipated at approximately $88 per year on average.

[47:18] The city anticipates no more than 70% of the maximum tax will be levied to pay the debt service on the bonds.

[47:27] Issuing costs related to the bonds will be covered by bond proceeds.

[47:31] Due to the district's strong economic fundamentals, supported by the majority of homes now conveyed to homeowners,

[47:38] S&P has assigned an A rating for the proposed 2025 refunding special tax bonds.

[47:44] This strong rating will make the 2025 bonds more appealing to investors.

[47:51] For the next steps in the financing, if approved, the preliminary official statement will be posted September 25th.

[47:58] The bonds will be priced on September 29th with closing on October 16th.

[48:04] District homeowners will see the updated special tax levies reflected on their property tax bills in fiscal year 2026-27.

[48:12] In closing, staff recommends approval of the resolution to authorize the issuance of the series 2025 bonds in an amount not to exceed $35 million to refund the 2015 and 2019 issuances, resulting in savings for homeowners within the district.

[48:30] At this time, city staff and members from the financing team for this proposed issuance are available to answer any questions you may have.

[48:39] Thank you. Questions from Megan?

[48:41] All

[48:45] right.

[48:46] Cool.

[48:47] Please go ahead.

[48:47] Yeah.

[48:49] Megan, I don't know if you have the answer or someone else.

[48:53] What's the current rate on the 2015 and 2019 bonds?

[48:56] Do you have that?

[48:57] So I know the 2019 bonds is at 5% and the 2015 someone may correct me, but I think it's variable

[49:04] and it's a little above 4%.

[49:07] And then we're projecting what type of rate, especially with the new rating?

[49:11] We're hoping 4%.

[49:12] for.

[49:16] So with the Fed sort of signaling some change in direction and rates coming down

[49:24] over the next, who knows, you know, a few months, over 12 months, is there, what's the

[49:32] philosophy to do it now versus waiting for the market to change?

[49:40] That's a great question. I'll try my best to answer it and I may refer to someone else.

[49:43] But allow me to take that question.

[49:46] So this is the new tool, the pre-director-minor services.

[49:50] So we have a goal as when we're looking at certain criteria.

[49:53] So one of the criteria that I want to look at is the time value of money.

[49:58] So it also...

[50:00] We want to make sure that we want to take advantage of a lower rate so that as time goes by, we do lose that opportunity. And then also by restructuring it, we do want to lower the overall debt service cost so that it will provide a savings for the taxpayers. And then another thing we also get is a net present value saving. So anywhere between 3 to 5% around there,

[50:28] Then we believe it is a worthwhile to do that and because it will definitely bring savings to it

[50:34] we're looking at approximately 4.8% I believe for the cost savings that we are looking at

[50:41] and additionally it's the optional thing but we are contemplating in this issuance which is

[50:47] the shortening the test service schedule so that it will more turn a little quicker which will also

[50:52] will provide savings to taxpayers.

[50:56] So what would be the term for the new bonds?

[50:59] So the new term is we have, I think, 13, 14 years left

[51:05] by through the refunding.

[51:10] So even refinancing at this time, there'd be 13 to 14 years before everything's paid off.

[51:16] Correct.

[51:17] And if we didn't refinance it, I think in the report said maybe one year, so

[51:21] So maybe 14 to 15 years or something like that.

[51:29] Yeah, I would just hate if rates went down another half percent over the next six months,

[51:35] and then you'd go through this all over again, I know there's some expense in refining.

[51:42] I get the time value of money and the preservation and all that, but you know, six months or a year

[51:46] over a 13 or 14 year period.

[51:48] I don't know, I understand this process is probably put in place quite some time ago, how long did it take us to get to this point?

[52:00] We started working, I believe early in this year, spring of this year, because we anticipated that the bonds are

[52:12] callable by September, so we are working towards and stand just to see, you know, is this

[52:18] the appropriate time to refinancing, looking at that and so forth.

[52:23] And I'm going to look at my team to, you know, provide any additional context around

[52:28] that.

[52:29] Appreciate it.

[52:29] Thanks.

[52:30] Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[52:31] Good evening, Madam Mayor.

[52:33] Members of the City Council.

[52:34] My name is Wing C. Fox with Urban Futures, serving as the city's municipal advisor.

[52:40] So, it is a really, really great question.

[52:43] Fed funds rate could go down, that is true.

[52:46] One of the points that Mr. Tory brought up was,

[52:50] if the longer you wait, let's say you wait a year,

[52:53] even if interest rates went down,

[52:55] you would have to make up for that year of savings.

[52:59] So, if we achieve the savings, we close the refunding now,

[53:03] where we've got savings starting from this year to next year,

[53:05] that you would lose if you were to refinance next year.

[53:09] Also, right now, the fundamentals for municipal bonds is very, very strong in the last month or so.

[53:16] We see 40 basis points drop in rates, and there's a lot of different factors that go into municipal bonds.

[53:22] Fed funds rate is one of them, but supply and demand is another.

[53:26] So even if Fed funds rate went down, there could be supply and demand issues that would cause interest rates to go up.

[53:33] Or other world economic news that could impact the bond market.

[53:37] So in general, we don't advise our clients to try and play the market or time the market if the savings meet the city's goals.

[53:46] We recommend moving forward and even with the numbers from the good faith estimates, we're seeing rates of we ran numbers today closer to 9% and PV savings.

[53:56] So that's closer to $121 of average for property tax owner savings per year.

[54:03] So, you know, currently in the city's goals we do recommend moving forward because it could

[54:08] move for you, but it could also move against you.

[54:11] Are these tax-free bonds?

[54:14] Tax-exempt, yes.

[54:16] Is it Fed and State or just Federal, Federal and State, okay, so 4% is good.

[54:21] His basic US Treasury, you know, is around that 4% is it tend to be tied to a 10-year Treasury?

[54:31] What sort of drives these, I know there's lots of other market conditions, like you mentioned, but fundamentally, what's the base rate that it follows?

[54:38] Yes, so the taxable market does use the treasuries as the benchmark and the tax exempt of benchmark is the municipal market data, which is essentially AAA Geobons average of those rates.

[54:50] And as of today, the 4% was a little conservative, we're looking at closer to 3.5%.

[54:55] So fingers crossed, nobody knows what's going to even happen next week, but we're hoping there's a

[55:00] We'll live very even stronger than what's being shown right now. Okay. Great. Thank you. Thank you, everyone, for that extra information. Appreciate it. Thank you. Great questions. I appreciate that. Yes. I aspire. And I actually had a question just about that. We had mentioned a rating. So where do we come from to get to a rating and why why is that? Thank you. Great question. So our latest issuance of 2022 bonds was rated at an a minus. And that was also upgraded to a during this

[55:29] the latest credit presentation and rating.

[55:33] And so the reasons why our rating increased is due to the level of development in the district.

[55:39] So over the time we've developed, we have more homeowners in their homes.

[55:44] And so that tax space is very, very strong.

[55:47] Additionally, we just have, it's an affluent community, and we have great amenities and all of that.

[55:54] Thank you.

[55:56] Just to follow up on that, and obviously I'm thrilled that we have an A rating.

[56:01] We had previously we had an A minus, is there a dollar that you associate with that, is it just make it more attractive?

[56:07] It's just attract more competition, I guess.

[56:11] I know it makes it more attractive, but maybe someone else can speak to, to what that gets us.

[56:21] Good evening, Dennis and the wire from Piper Sandler, we're the bond underwriter on the transaction.

[56:25] It's a great question.

[56:26] And so, each time you get an improvement in the underlying credit rating, you do tend

[56:32] to see more investors and a better interest rate.

[56:35] So moving from an A- to an A that's still within the A category, so it's still a strong rating,

[56:42] but we would expect a slightly lower interest rate because of the upgrade in the credit rating.

[56:48] So competition, hopefully, then we'll give us a little bit of a lower rate and more people

[56:53] interested in purchasing the bond.

[56:55] Correct. Correct. And when you become an investment-graded credit rating, you attract a different, a larger pool of potential investors than when CFDs are typically issued in the early stages of development when they're issued on a non-rated basis.

[57:08] Thank you very much.

[57:11] Any other questions?

[57:13] All right. I'll open up for the public. Do we have any public comment on this item?

[57:28] I don't like that, something you might not know about me, I don't like that, I don't like being in debt.

[57:33] And so I think at any earliest opportunity we can get rid of it, I think we should take that.

[57:38] Thank you.

[57:39] Thank you.

[57:41] Any other public comment on this item?

[57:44] All right, seeing that, I'll close public comment, bring it back for any comments from Council.

[57:49] As I think the only person up here who pays all of this, not on one, but two properties.

[57:58] Just looking forward to being over.

[58:00] Peter Bridges, the former developer, asked him when it would be over and he said never, Bill, I'm glad to see a light at the end of the tunnel and hope to live to see it.

[58:14] It could be like $242. I think it's about for you so that's pretty good.

[58:20] Any other comments?

[58:24] I'm always a critic whenever I get too much polyannish news.

[58:31] I dove into it a little bit before getting here.

[58:34] I'm just really proud of the community that were at a point like this

[58:39] where I can't actually be to down on this type of news.

[58:44] So, great job to Rockland for getting to this point.

[58:49] Yeah, thank you.

[58:50] You had a comment, it's funny.

[58:52] Yeah, the same, you know, this is probably not the exciting thing that makes headlines out

[58:57] there in the world, but as Benjamin said, I think I'm the same way we hate debt, and to

[59:03] pay it off early, and it'll reduce rate, makes me very happy to hear.

[59:07] And so thank you for all the folks that worked on this and I say these are the things that should be the headlines to say hey

[59:13] We're in a great place. So thank you so much to staff and with that, I will bring it back and see if there is a motion

[59:25] Thank you moved in second all those in favor. I opposed

[59:31] Motion carries. Thank you

[59:34] Next is future agenda items anyone have anything additional to add

[59:38] All right, hey, we could be a close to a record center, but thank you very much.

[59:44] Thank you very much for being here and we are adjourned.

City Council

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