[0:03] Good evening everyone. The Hillsboro

[0:04] City Council meeting is now called to

[0:06] order. City clerk, may we please have

[0:08] the roll call?

[0:10] >> Thank you. Mayor Cole Adams,

[0:12] >> present.

[0:13] >> Schwang,

[0:13] >> present. Krillic,

[0:14] >> present. Braxdale,

[0:16] >> present. Cole,

[0:18] >> present.

[0:18] >> Thank you.

[0:19] >> Um, announcement of conflicts of

[0:21] interest on closed session items. Do any

[0:24] of the council members have a conflict

[0:25] of interest on any of the closed uh

[0:28] session items?

[0:30] Seeing none

[0:32] and um

[0:35] let me announce the public uh let me do

[0:37] a public announcement of the close

[0:38] session items. Um item A, conference

[0:41] with legal council existing litigation

[0:44] town of Hillsboro versus all persons

[0:46] interested in matters of proceedings for

[0:48] resolution number 22-83 adopting maximum

[0:52] rates for water service charges San

[0:54] Mateo Superior Court case number 23 CIV

[1:00] 01028.

[1:02] Item B, conference with legal council,

[1:05] initiation of litigation pursuant to

[1:07] government code section 54956.9,

[1:10] print D, P print 4, one, potential case,

[1:14] consideration of appeal in existing

[1:16] litigation noted above.

[1:19] Item C, conference with labor

[1:21] negotiators

[1:22] pursuant to government code section

[1:24] 54957.6,

[1:26] Six, unrepresented employee, city

[1:29] manager, agency designated negotiator,

[1:31] Mayor Sophie Cole. Any public comment on

[1:35] close session items?

[1:36] >> No, Mayor Cole. Thank you.

[1:38] >> Okay, we're now adjourned um to close

[1:40] session items and um we'll start the

[1:43] regular city council meeting at 6 p.m.

[1:45] Thank you.

[1:50] Meeting is now called to order.

[1:54] The regular city council meeting is now

[1:56] called to order. Um the time the date is

[1:59] um January 12th and the time is 606.

[2:03] Thank you. Um

[2:06] city clerk, may we please have the roll

[2:08] call.

[2:09] >> Thank you. Mayor Cole Adams present.

[2:11] Schwang

[2:12] >> present.

[2:13] >> Crowig present.

[2:14] >> Braxdale present. Cole

[2:17] >> present.

[2:17] >> Thank you. And

[2:19] >> please join me in pledge of allegiance.

[2:41] Um, before we get started this evening,

[2:43] I want to announce for the public that

[2:44] the public hearing item for 1200

[2:47] Jacqueline, which was noticed for this

[2:49] meeting, is no longer on the on this

[2:51] agenda. It will be rescheduled for a

[2:53] future meeting and notices will be

[2:55] recent.

[2:57] Um, do we have any report from close

[2:59] session? City attorney Diaz.

[3:01] >> Thank you, Mayor Cole. I just wanted to

[3:03] announce for the council of the public.

[3:04] The council did convene in close session

[3:06] and consider three items. Um, at the

[3:08] conclusion of the close session, uh,

[3:10] there was no reportable action, but

[3:11] direction was given to staff. I do want

[3:13] to note that the council will reconvene

[3:15] in close session at the conclusion of

[3:17] this council meeting. Um, regarding item

[3:19] C. Thank you.

[3:22] Um, thank you. I think we have um a very

[3:26] distinguished guest with us this

[3:28] evening.

[3:30] Um, we will be presenting the 2026 HIP

[3:34] housing calendar in recognition of

[3:36] Hillsboro Student Calendar contest

[3:38] winner. And I would like to invite Laura

[3:40] Fenucci, director of programs of HIPPA

[3:42] to present the 2026 Hip Housing

[3:45] calendar.

[3:46] >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, good evening. My

[3:49] name is Laura Fenui. welcome. And I am

[3:52] pleased tonight to not only provide you

[3:55] with Hip Housing's 2026 calendar, but to

[3:58] also give you a little bit of update on

[4:00] the activities that we've been doing

[4:02] here in the town of Hillsboro. But

[4:04] first, we have an distinguished guest

[4:06] here this evening who I think I

[4:08] understand you already know because

[4:10] she's quite a talented artist and did a

[4:12] drawing for Recology. So, Miss Maline

[4:15] Woo, would you please come up here with

[4:17] me?

[4:18] >> Good evening, Natalie. Welcome.

[4:20] [laughter]

[4:21] >> So, um we have our calendar contest

[4:24] every year. We received about 120

[4:26] entries this year. We picked 14 winners.

[4:30] Um one for the 12 months, one our cover

[4:33] winner, and we also picked a winner to

[4:36] use in our annual appeal um

[4:39] correspondence to our donors. And I'm

[4:43] pleased to announce that Meline is our

[4:45] cover winner and she we honored her at

[4:49] our calendar contest party in December

[4:52] and she is going to read her quote.

[4:54] She's on the cover and her picture's up

[4:56] there. Okay. So, I'm going to have you

[4:57] read.

[5:01] » What my home means is being loved and

[5:04] cared for. My home is a safe place.

[5:11] Thank you.

[5:13] Um, thank you, Meline. I hope you

[5:16] register again for next year. [laughter]

[5:18] >> Yeah,

[5:18] >> we'll have you back. Um, so I don't know

[5:23] if you wanted to take a picture with

[5:24] Maline or can do that a little after I

[5:27] give my my spiel.

[5:29] >> Yeah, maybe I'll see your presentation.

[5:31] But okay,

[5:32] >> congratulations. This picture is

[5:33] beautiful. This cover is just lovely. I

[5:35] especially like the heart at the door.

[5:38] That's really sweet. very detailed work

[5:41] >> and we'll take a photo we'll take photos

[5:42] after you finish.

[5:43] >> Okay, great. Thank you so much.

[5:46] >> Okay. Um so I wanted to give just a

[5:49] brief update on activities uh for our

[5:52] ADU match collaboration.

[5:55] Um you know we meet monthly with Liz and

[5:58] Nicole to talk about outreach activities

[6:01] here in Hillsboro and then also in the

[6:04] surrounding communities in Sanonteo in

[6:06] Berlingame. Um, last fiscal year we had

[6:09] six members from Hillsboro contact our

[6:12] organization for information about our

[6:15] programs. So far this fiscal year we've

[6:18] already had three. So we're on kind of

[6:20] on track for that. Hopefully we'll

[6:22] exceed that. Um, three other individuals

[6:25] learned about HIP housing from our

[6:27] outreach activities and uh, two

[6:30] individuals in Hillsboro applied to the

[6:32] home sharing program. and we have one

[6:35] match here in our home sharing program

[6:38] that has been going on now for 5 years.

[6:40] So really proud about that match and

[6:43] they were so gracious to come and speak

[6:46] at an event that we had in the town of

[6:48] Athetherton. We have a similar

[6:49] collaboration. So they came and they

[6:52] talked about their home sharing match

[6:54] and it was really just very lovely for

[6:56] them to share their experience um with

[6:58] their with their match. Um, so a lot of

[7:01] the outreach that we've com uh that

[7:02] we've accomplished last year and we

[7:05] continue to do this year is we meet

[7:07] monthly with town staff. Um, we met with

[7:09] the CCAC committee to discuss outreach

[7:12] opportunities. Um, we also um met with

[7:15] the town's ADU specialists to share

[7:17] information about hip housing. Um, we

[7:19] attended the Memorial Day event, the

[7:21] neighborhood fest event. Um, we attended

[7:23] the Berling game Hillsboro Chamber Mixer

[7:26] and um, we held a joint presentation

[7:29] with the ADU resource center and we

[7:31] invited homeowners that have ADUs to

[7:33] learn a little bit more about hip

[7:35] housing and also the ADU resource

[7:37] center. Um, we have advertising here in

[7:40] the town of Hillsboro. So, we thank you

[7:41] very much for that on the billboard ads.

[7:44] Um, I also produce a monthly flyer that,

[7:48] um, kind of details some of the seekers

[7:50] who are looking for housing and that

[7:52] gets posted on your e newswsletter.

[7:54] Um, we're also included in your town's

[7:56] eblast. We post flyers here at town

[7:59] hall. We have the ADU flyer in the

[8:01] permit packets. And um Hip Housing also

[8:05] did a a mailing to all of our donors in

[8:08] Hillsboro and all of our former um home

[8:11] providers that participated in the home

[8:13] sharing program. Um we also sent

[8:15] information to all the realators who

[8:17] work here in the town of Hillsboro and

[8:19] we found out that information from

[8:20] Samar. Um we've outreached with the

[8:23] schools here in Hillsboro. Um we've had

[8:26] correspondence they include information

[8:28] about our match program in their

[8:31] correspondence with faculty and with

[8:33] also families and um we're in the

[8:36] process of contacting some other schools

[8:38] some private schools that are in and

[8:40] around Hillsboro area. Um we also do you

[8:44] know branch out and we do outreach in

[8:46] Berlingame and in Hill and in uh Berling

[8:48] game so at Berlingame and St. Mateo. So,

[8:51] we do a lot of flying to like local

[8:53] businesses, to the libraries, to the

[8:56] faith communities, service

[8:58] organizations, and nonprofit

[8:59] organizations.

[9:01] And two, um, upcoming activities that

[9:03] we're going to be hosting here hopefully

[9:05] in the spring is kind of an ADU match

[9:08] event where we invite homeowners here in

[9:11] Hillsboro to come learn about hip

[9:12] housing um, and then members of the

[9:14] community who might be looking for

[9:16] housing. We've done this event twice in

[9:18] the town of Athetherton and we've had

[9:21] really good turnout and it's really been

[9:23] a a very successful event. Um we also

[9:27] recently entered into similar

[9:28] collaboration with the town of Porola

[9:30] Valley and they're thinking that it

[9:33] might be beneficial if a quarterly

[9:35] meeting could be scheduled with the

[9:37] towns of Athetherton um Hillsboro,

[9:39] Portulla Valley and Woodside just so

[9:42] that we can brainstorm on collect you

[9:44] know collaborative outreach activities.

[9:46] So hopefully that um will be in the

[9:48] works. And how we could use your help is

[9:51] if you have any contacts at service

[9:53] clubs that we could contact to do

[9:55] presentations at or even at the faith

[9:58] community that would be very helpful as

[10:00] well. Or if you're seeing any place

[10:02] around town or in Berling game or hill

[10:04] in Sano where we might post information

[10:07] that we might have missed. Um if you

[10:09] could just let us know that would be

[10:10] great. So, we're very appreciative for

[10:13] your support of of this project and we

[10:16] really look forward uh we really, you

[10:18] know, appreciate the efforts that Liz

[10:20] and Nicole um are doing to help make

[10:23] this possible and we really appreciate

[10:25] your support and I'm happy to answer any

[10:27] questions that you might have.

[10:28] >> Uh thank you, Miss Penucci. Um any uh

[10:31] comments or questions for my colleagues

[10:32] from the council? Um Vice Mayor Ragdale,

[10:37] >> thank you so much. Um, I was so happy to

[10:40] be at the calendar presentation. Um, and

[10:43] so proud of Meline and and her family. I

[10:47] think uh grandma and grandpa are online

[10:49] here to watch. Um, and uh anyway, um, so

[10:55] happy with all of your outreach. I know

[10:57] it's it's challenging and uh the idea of

[11:01] the quarterly meeting with the four

[11:03] towns sounds like a fantastic idea and

[11:06] maybe even the the match event we could

[11:09] all combine for that maybe for more

[11:12] people.

[11:12] >> Yes.

[11:13] >> Um uh I think that's fabulous. And in

[11:16] terms of clubs, um I presume you're in

[11:19] contact with Peninsula Family Service.

[11:21] Um but the Berling game Women's Club,

[11:23] several of us are members. If you're not

[11:25] in contact with them, we could connect

[11:27] you. Great. Yeah, we we've tried. So,

[11:29] we'd love to have a personal end. So,

[11:31] that would be great. I'll do that. Thank

[11:33] you.

[11:33] >> Great.

[11:36] >> Um,

[11:37] thank you. And also, um, regarding just

[11:41] for residents in terms of information,

[11:43] first of all, I think the outreach you

[11:45] have going is quite impressive and it's

[11:48] fantastic. I know it's gotten

[11:49] significantly

[11:51] more expansive over the past four to

[11:53] five years. Um, regarding the screening

[11:56] that you do for potential um, renters to

[11:58] do the match, could you just give us one

[12:01] or two key screening things that you do

[12:03] for potential renters? What do you do?

[12:05] >> Sure. So, our screening process is

[12:07] really the same for both home providers

[12:09] and home seekers. We require the client

[12:11] to meet personally with one of our home

[12:13] sharing uh, team. And for home for home

[12:16] providers, we can do a home visit. So,

[12:18] we'd like to see the environment that

[12:20] they're offering. So, we will come to

[12:21] the home to do the home visit. Um, the

[12:23] clients complete an application and then

[12:26] they complete a questionnaire in their

[12:28] own words like what are what kind of

[12:29] housemate they're looking for, a little

[12:31] bit about their lifestyle, um, about the

[12:34] space that they're offering. And then,

[12:36] um, we require our home seekers to

[12:38] provide us with proof of income. We

[12:40] don't require that of our home

[12:42] providers, but we do of our home

[12:44] seekers. Um, we also require um we do a

[12:47] criminal background check. So, we do a

[12:49] local county background search and a

[12:52] national sex offender database check.

[12:54] Um, and so we also ask clients to sign a

[12:57] program agreement and waiver. So, the

[12:59] screening is very similar for both

[13:01] clients except the only difference is

[13:03] that we don't ask home providers for

[13:05] their income information.

[13:07] >> That's that's really helpful to know.

[13:09] Any additional questions for my

[13:10] colleagues?

[13:12] >> Just to say thank you and

[13:13] congratulations

[13:14] >> and congratulations Madlin. Um

[13:15] >> I'm so impressed with the detail.

[13:19] >> Um I think we should take a photo with

[13:21] Meline. She would love to post that in

[13:23] her room, I'm sure.

[13:24] >> Great. Thank you.

[13:26] >> Yes. And

[13:27] >> yes. Yes.

[14:29] Thank you,

[14:30] >> Laura. Thank you so much. Thank you for

[14:33] your work.

[14:53] Byebye.

[14:56] Okay. The next item on our agenda will

[14:58] be presented by city manager Doug Davis,

[15:00] which is town update.

[15:02] >> Thank you, Madam Mayor. Uh, this will be

[15:04] a familiar slide from a while ago, but

[15:06] this is our ADU slide, and this is just

[15:08] a culmination of the three years. And in

[15:10] April when we'll do a report out on

[15:12] ADUs, uh you'll see this again and also

[15:16] the uh the HCD website will be updated

[15:19] with our numbers for 2025. If you

[15:21] remember early on, our goal was to hit

[15:23] 50 a year and uh we are exactly at at 50

[15:27] a year if you average that out. So well

[15:29] done Tim and Liz for streamlining the

[15:32] process and getting that done. So we'll

[15:34] keep updating you that as the April

[15:36] meeting approaches. Also on January

[15:38] 14th, uh Senator Becker is having a uh

[15:42] it's it's called the senior scam stopper

[15:44] seminar, but I recently was in a

[15:45] conversation with a senator and a couple

[15:47] other people. And actually, a lot of

[15:48] these things are maybe things we could

[15:50] all benefit from uh that uh for stopping

[15:53] these type of online scams as well as

[15:55] phone calls. Uh and that'll be held on

[15:58] Janu or Thursday, January 15th from 9:00

[16:00] a.m. to 11:00. And that's over at the

[16:02] Redwood City Public Library. And there's

[16:05] some additional information on uh

[16:07] Senator Becker's website if you'd like

[16:08] to go check that. Also, through the end

[16:11] of the month, uh we'll be having tree

[16:13] pickup. Just a reminder that you need to

[16:16] take all the decorations off the tree uh

[16:18] before you put it out in in front of

[16:20] there. I did get a question about uh I

[16:23] believe it's called flocking on trees

[16:26] and whether they could be put out or

[16:27] not. I didn't have an answer, so I put

[16:29] in a phone call and I will figure out

[16:31] what that is and and give them a call

[16:33] back. Uh, and Meline, although she's

[16:36] left here, I think she's getting used to

[16:37] photo shoots now because she was also

[16:40] our annual contest winner uh for uh

[16:43] Rethink Waste. And uh and that is her uh

[16:47] picture that's prominently displayed on

[16:48] one of the pickup trucks there.

[16:50] >> And uh that'll be moving through our

[16:52] town. Are they still here?

[16:56] >> Right there. Look up.

[16:58] >> There's your truck.

[17:00] >> Alan's like, "That's old hat." you know,

[17:03] she goes to restaurants now. People are

[17:05] asking her for autographs.

[17:07] >> Our artist laurate. Yes.

[17:11] >> And we're having the uh C basic class

[17:13] February 3rd through the 28th uh uh this

[17:16] year. And and that's for Berlingame,

[17:18] Milbury, and Hillsboro residents

[17:20] together. If you want more information,

[17:22] you can go on the CCFD website or ask

[17:24] anybody in H&N about it as well. Uh this

[17:28] is sort of the entry into the first

[17:30] being a community emergency response

[17:32] team member. Um and uh it's a good entry

[17:35] point for just starting out. Uh and the

[17:38] more cert members we have, as we always

[17:40] say, they're our biggest help as a force

[17:42] multiplier should we ever have an

[17:43] emergency here in town.

[17:47] We're going to have the H&N first

[17:49] quarter information session coming up.

[17:51] That'll be on February 11th from 6:30 to

[17:53] 8:00 p.m. That's right here in the

[17:55] council chambers. And one of the guest

[17:56] speakers will be Heather Vandenberg.

[17:58] She's going to talk about her

[17:59] experiences

[18:01] uh down with the Palisades fire and it's

[18:03] a pretty harrowing story of her sort of

[18:05] evacuation and all the things that went

[18:07] on uh during that time as well as her

[18:09] relocation and sort of lessons learned.

[18:11] So it's a a one year later look back at

[18:13] that process and if you've never heard

[18:14] her story, it's it's pretty impressive.

[18:17] Uh again, that's February 11th here at

[18:19] the council chambers on the El Camino

[18:22] reality. You're going to notice a lot of

[18:23] uh work going on uh particularly uh

[18:25] right here in the Hillsboro Sanonteo

[18:27] Milbury area as they're doing their uh

[18:30] renewal project. Uh the work is going to

[18:33] be going on during the weekdays and uh

[18:35] during the daytime at this time right

[18:37] now that you know we may see some

[18:39] changes on that depending on what work

[18:40] needs to be done. Uh traffic is being

[18:43] relocated uh through Berlingame and

[18:46] Sanonteo. Uh we are trying to keep the

[18:49] re the redirection of traffic through

[18:51] Hillsboro as as low as possible. And I

[18:53] appreciate Paul Willis over there at

[18:55] public works who's been working pretty

[18:57] closely with uh CALR on making sure that

[18:59] we don't get our roadways flooded with

[19:01] motorists uh coming down to El Camino.

[19:05] Also on the tartan trail thing, this has

[19:07] been a topic a few times at past council

[19:09] meetings, but on November 10th, we

[19:11] awarded a design build contract to Power

[19:13] Engineering Construction Company. They

[19:15] are going to start work immediately on

[19:18] uh repairing this portion of the roadway

[19:20] uh down at Tartan Trail and Crystal

[19:22] Springs Road. This was a a decision made

[19:25] by the city council that uh the public

[19:27] safety is at the paramount here. So,

[19:29] we're going to start roadway work on it

[19:31] uh as soon as we can. There may be some

[19:34] funds that are recovered as a result of

[19:36] uh later on looking at all the

[19:38] responsible parties being involved and

[19:40] who should pay what their share of that

[19:42] is. But I think in the meantime, public

[19:44] safety wins out over everything else and

[19:46] we're going to be repairing it as soon

[19:47] as possible.

[19:49] On the website, if you go to current

[19:51] town projects, uh that's been on there

[19:54] for a while, but if you've never taken a

[19:55] look at it, this is a great place. And

[19:57] as you can see, the Tartan Trail

[19:58] emergency road repair is put on there.

[20:00] uh or as well as any other projects that

[20:02] we have going on in town. So, if you

[20:03] ever see something and you're kind of

[20:05] interested in in knowing what's going on

[20:08] there or what type of city project that

[20:09] is, this is a great place to go and kind

[20:11] of get that information off of our

[20:13] website.

[20:14] These are some upcoming

[20:17] meetings that are coming and these are

[20:18] always tentative and we post them, but

[20:19] these are our plans coming in the next

[20:21] few months as far as things we're going

[20:22] to bring back to the city council. Uh

[20:24] particular interest will be our water

[20:26] rates coming up in February and March.

[20:28] Um, and any questions from that, you can

[20:30] direct them to the to my office at the

[20:32] city manager. And then finally, our

[20:35] slide that we always end on is all the

[20:36] notification processes that we have. As

[20:38] we always say, uh, SMC alert is your

[20:41] lowest entry point. Everybody should

[20:43] have that on their phone. And then from

[20:44] there, it's a matter of just picking

[20:45] what works best for you. Uh, and as I

[20:48] always say, Nixel is probably one of the

[20:50] easiest uh, ones to use and allows you

[20:53] to get uh, sort of the baseline

[20:55] information. And then of course if you

[20:57] have any other uh interest in in my

[21:00] shake watch duty and also uh Genesis as

[21:03] far as evacuation zones those are good

[21:05] to have. But again if you just were

[21:07] going to pick one of these I would say

[21:08] SMC alert is the one to have and uh for

[21:11] a low entry point of just wanting basic

[21:13] information is a very userfriendly

[21:16] platform. Thank you ma'am.

[21:19] >> Thank you city manager Davis.

[21:22] The next item on

[21:24] >> May I make a comment? Yeah, sure.

[21:25] >> Uh I I just want to highlight that the

[21:28] uh Hillsboro CA mobile app is really

[21:31] user friendly and it's visually

[21:34] attractive. So I do encourage everyone

[21:36] to use it and get your information,

[21:40] phone numbers, emails, and all the most

[21:43] current update. And I just, you know,

[21:45] did the flash news and it does reflect

[21:48] it right away on the Tardan trails

[21:50] project. So fantastic.

[21:53] I'm sorry. What is that app again?

[21:55] >> Hillsboro

[21:57] CA mobile app.

[22:01] >> Okay. So, will that be added to our uh

[22:04] list of apps? Is it going to be on the

[22:07] Nixel or is it a separate app?

[22:10] >> It's a it's an app that you have to

[22:11] download

[22:12] >> separate from Nixel. Okay.

[22:13] >> Can we also go back two slides just to

[22:16] the goal setting day? Mhm.

[22:21] » Um, go back two slides.

[22:31] » Um, the one right before this. Oh, no.

[22:34] This one. Uh, annual. No, I'm sorry. It

[22:37] was It says annual goal setting. I want

[22:39] to make sure everybody knows that

[22:40] January 23rd is a Friday.

[22:47] Oh, it's not a Monday.

[22:49] It's February. It's supposed to be

[22:51] February 23rd.

[22:51] >> February 23rd. Okay. I was having a

[22:54] slight heart palpitation there when I

[22:56] thought, is it January or February?

[22:58] >> I I was too. I went to my Okay, so

[23:00] >> that was my fault.

[23:01] >> My correct.

[23:03] >> It's February.

[23:05] >> February.

[23:06] >> What? Great pickup.

[23:08] >> Yes. Great pick up, Council Member

[23:10] Adams. Thank you.

[23:10] >> Thank you.

[23:21] I ma'am, I'm so sorry. We're going to

[23:24] have in just a moment the mayor here is

[23:26] going to call for public comment and

[23:28] that would be the perfect time. Just

[23:30] give it just a moment.

[23:31] >> Yes. And she you could just stay there

[23:33] because um she could go next because I

[23:36] will be focusing on items that are not

[23:37] on the agenda. So go ahead and ask your

[23:40] question. Yes. My question is on Tatum

[23:42] Trail at the bottom of the road. That's

[23:45] always been construction for the past

[23:47] few years. No, I mean no construction.

[23:49] It's just coned off. What's going on

[23:52] there?

[23:54] And now there are some stop signs, but

[23:57] still nobody's working on that area, but

[24:00] it has been coned off for at least three

[24:02] years.

[24:04] >> Yeah. at that bottom area there. There's

[24:06] always been stop signs there, but you

[24:08] may have noticed they're moved due to

[24:09] some of the road codes that are there in

[24:11] there as well. That's what I was just

[24:13] talking about on that previous slide

[24:14] where we've just awarded a contract, so

[24:16] work should be starting there.

[24:18] >> What's wrong with that part of the road?

[24:20] >> The there's some uh I don't know all the

[24:22] details about what's wrong with it. I

[24:24] know there's some structural problems

[24:26] underneath the roadway right at that

[24:28] area. There's a creek that runs under

[24:29] there, right? And that's uh been a

[24:31] concern. The area that's coned off so

[24:33] that cars can't go over it is the area

[24:35] of concern. The rest of the roadway is

[24:37] safe, but it sort of narrows the roadway

[24:39] and our roads are already narrow, so

[24:41] that's why we're going to get it fixed.

[24:42] >> All right. Thank you.

[24:43] >> You're welcome.

[24:44] >> Yeah.

[24:45] >> Thank you. Thanks for that

[24:46] clarification. Okay. So, the next uh

[24:49] public comment um is items that are not

[24:52] on the agenda. Do we have any um anyone

[24:54] in the public who wishes to make a

[24:57] comment on items not on the agenda?

[24:59] >> Thank you, Mayor Cole. I don't have any

[25:01] speaker cards in chambers, but I'll give

[25:03] it a moment on Zoom if anyone would like

[25:06] to make a comment on an item that's not

[25:08] on the agenda.

[25:11] » We'll give it a minute.

[25:16] » Thank you. I'm I'm not seeing see.

[25:20] >> Okay.

[25:21] Seeing none,

[25:23] >> um we will now um close public comment

[25:27] on items not on the agenda and we will

[25:29] move on to um announcements of conflict

[25:31] of interest from the council from the

[25:33] chambers. Any um conflict of interest

[25:35] from any of the council members on items

[25:39] um on the on the consent calendar

[25:43] or on the agenda?

[25:47] » None. See not. Okay. Um,

[25:52] for item four, resolution authorizing

[25:54] compensation and benefits adjustments

[25:56] for unrepresented employees. The Brown

[25:58] Act requires a verbal report of the

[26:00] recommendations for final action on the

[26:02] salary or compensation paid in the form

[26:05] of fringe benefits of a local agency

[26:07] executive during the open meeting in

[26:10] which the final action is to take place

[26:11] which includes the department head

[26:13] positions and in the unrepresented

[26:15] group. The salary adjustments included

[26:18] 4% cost of living increase for the

[26:20] assistant city manager, chief of police,

[26:22] director of finance, director of

[26:23] building and planning, and director of

[26:26] public works. And I will

[26:29] now discuss the um new annual salaries.

[26:33] Assistant city manager $242,247.80.

[26:39] Chief of Police 273,292

[26:43] um uh dollars47

[26:46] Director of Building and Planning

[26:48] 266,4287

[26:53] Director of Finance 266,4287

[27:00] and director of public works 284,3134.

[27:05] The city manager salary will be

[27:06] evaluated in the upcoming months in

[27:08] conjunction with this performance

[27:10] appraisal.

[27:11] Would any of my colleagues like to

[27:13] remove any um items from the consent

[27:16] calendar?

[27:17] >> I just have a comment on item seven.

[27:21] >> I would like to remove item six and I

[27:25] have a question on item eight.

[27:30] » Any other items to be removed or noted?

[27:36] Okay. Um, so let's move forward and vote

[27:41] on the items that are not removed. Uh,

[27:45] any other items to be removed?

[27:46] >> I I don't need to remove seven. I just

[27:48] have a comment on it.

[27:49] >> Okay, go ahead.

[27:50] >> I just wanted to um introduce Matt Ken

[27:53] is in the um audience here. He is the

[27:56] member who has been our current um

[27:59] alternate on the ADRB and um is proposed

[28:02] tonight to step up to the uh seat that's

[28:05] been ve vacated by long-erving well

[28:08] esteemed member Kathleen Egan. So I want

[28:10] to welcome Matt.

[28:12] >> Welcome Matt and thank you.

[28:21] Okay, we will then um before we comment,

[28:25] we have two other items, six and eight,

[28:27] that have been removed for further

[28:28] discussion, but can we move forward and

[28:30] vote on the

[28:34] >> um

[28:35] >> Oh, oh, I'm sorry. Eight is a question.

[28:37] Um you can go ahead and

[28:39] >> Thank you, Madam Mayor. Uh on eight in

[28:42] the project schedule and timeline in

[28:45] phase one uh it mentions that town staff

[28:50] provides feedback on the poll draft and

[28:55] then it says the poll is finalized and

[28:58] approved by town staff and city

[29:02] attorney. So my question is, is there a

[29:06] role for the council in looking at those

[29:10] drafts as you envision it?

[29:16] » Thank you. Um

[29:18] that's how it was written in terms of

[29:21] involving council. Uh we would staff

[29:24] would be working with either a subset of

[29:27] council just to make sure that we're

[29:28] getting input. And I do have uh Brian

[29:31] Godby who's one of the consultants that

[29:33] has worked with many other jurisdictions

[29:35] and and uh he was able to provide some

[29:37] examples on how they've done it in other

[29:39] jurisdictions. If if you would like

[29:41] Brian to speak to this question.

[29:46] » No, I I think that's that's helpful that

[29:48] you had that concept. So Okay. Thank

[29:50] you.

[29:50] >> Okay. All right. Thanks, Brian.

[29:52] >> Um um I have a follow-up clarification

[29:54] on item eight. This is specifically for

[29:58] um the research that will relate to

[30:02] finance. Correct. So so will they be

[30:05] meeting with the finance advisory

[30:07] committee?

[30:08] >> Yes, I would imagine they'd be working

[30:10] with various bodies of council and uh

[30:13] FAC uh to get input. But this is for the

[30:16] potential revenue measure um that was

[30:19] discussed during the long-term financial

[30:21] uh funding strategy. Um, and so we have

[30:23] it's a joint proposal with team civics

[30:26] and Godby research to do the both the

[30:28] survey work and the communications to

[30:30] support any outreach related to a

[30:32] potential revenue measure.

[30:34] >> Council, I'm sorry, let let me just

[30:36] finish my follow-up question. Um,

[30:38] Council Member Krik is the um,

[30:41] commissioner on the finance advisory

[30:43] committee and I have been sitting in on

[30:45] some of those meetings. But just for

[30:48] clarification from council member Adams,

[30:50] are you asking for the entire council to

[30:53] review the specifics in terms of the

[30:56] polling before they move forward? Is

[30:58] that what you would like to see?

[30:59] >> Well, my question is based in two

[31:01] things. one, I think we will receive a

[31:04] lot of questions about this and we

[31:07] should know about it before it goes out,

[31:10] but in thinking about it, if we're all

[31:13] involved, it will be a public document

[31:16] and that could in fact influence how the

[31:20] results come in. So I think it's a

[31:22] tricky balance but my question was

[31:25] answered I think adequately that there

[31:26] will be either a subcommittee or a way

[31:29] of dealing with input from the council

[31:32] and input from the facus. So that's fine with me

[31:36] >> and the may regardless of whether or not

[31:39] the council members are in that giving

[31:41] that direct input council members all

[31:43] council members will be briefed um

[31:44] throughout the project so given regular

[31:46] project updates

[31:49] >> um through the mayor. Yes, council

[31:52] member strong.

[31:53] >> I I'll say this. Uh polling is a a

[31:57] specific science and usually there are

[31:59] language that when they pull there are

[32:01] specific language that is going to go to

[32:03] the measure ballot ballot measures that

[32:06] is going to be reflecting that is the same language that will be going

[32:10] out. Since Brian is on the on the Zoom

[32:13] already, how about if we just have him

[32:15] walk us through briefly as to what are

[32:19] the process so that it gives us some

[32:22] clarity?

[32:24] >> Well, I think um that's a very good

[32:25] point. I think what would be helpful

[32:27] from Mr. from Mr. Godby would be um

[32:31] would do you think it would be

[32:32] appropriate or necessary or useful for

[32:35] the entire council to see

[32:38] I mean we clearly cannot discuss what

[32:39] you're going to pull because that would

[32:41] affect your outcome in terms of

[32:43] >> the scientific basis of your conclusion.

[32:46] So is there specific um information you

[32:48] would like from the council before you

[32:51] exercise the questioning for your

[32:52] polling? What if you could comment on

[32:54] that?

[32:55] >> Uh yeah certainly. Uh thank you, Madame

[32:57] Mayor, members of the council. Uh I'm

[32:59] Brian Godby from Godby Research. Uh our

[33:02] best practice is is to uh solicit and

[33:05] welcome in input on the front end of

[33:09] drafting the questionnaire. And so

[33:10] whether that is an ad hoc uh committee

[33:13] of the council or your finance

[33:15] committee, obviously staff plays a huge

[33:17] role in that. Um but also sometimes we

[33:20] do uh interview individual staff members

[33:23] if they're not on one of those

[33:25] committees. Um but the [clears throat]

[33:27] idea is to get information in that helps

[33:30] in the drafting. But we don't want to

[33:32] take a doc a final document or a close

[33:35] to final document to a public meeting

[33:37] because as you've all kind of alluded to

[33:39] that biases the survey. [clears throat]

[33:41] You have a whole bunch of people who

[33:43] wind up being uh prompted by what's in

[33:47] the survey. they prompt their friends

[33:48] for answers and it and we can't track

[33:51] that. So, we want to try to avoid that

[33:53] because we don't know what that bias

[33:55] might introduce. Uh but we certainly

[33:58] welcome input from uh the council

[34:01] members on the front end in whatever

[34:02] fashion uh is customary.

[34:05] >> Okay. All right. That's helpful. Is that

[34:08] sufficient council member Adams? Okay.

[34:09] Great. So, items seven and eight were

[34:12] questions clarified. Um so, we can

[34:15] proceed. Item six is being pulled for

[34:17] further discussion. Is that correct? And

[34:19] I'm sorry, who pulled that again?

[34:22] >> Okay, items. So, could we move forward

[34:24] and approve everything except item six?

[34:27] So, um for items 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 10. So

[34:34] moved.

[34:35] >> Second.

[34:37] >> May we have the roll call, please?

[34:39] >> Adams. Yes. Trunk.

[34:42] >> I kic.

[34:43] >> Bragg. I call

[34:46] >> I

[34:47] >> Okay, we'll move forward to discuss item

[34:49] six, resolution adopting the town of

[34:51] Hillsboro legislative platform

[34:57] » and council member Adams, you may start

[34:59] the conversation.

[35:02] Thank you, Madame Mayor. Uh, I pulled

[35:04] this just to uh actually expand one of

[35:09] the additions and uh this is for the

[35:14] environment item number uh E, the new E

[35:19] in the environment. It's on page 52 in

[35:22] our documents and it's on page three of

[35:25] this uh document. And what it does is it

[35:30] takes exactly what was written and it

[35:32] expands it slightly so that we're also

[35:35] looking for not just uh as it is

[35:40] currently written is uh facilitates uh

[35:43] polluters pay for consequences. It

[35:46] actually talks about the possibility

[35:48] that there could be legislation or

[35:50] policies that provide incentives

[35:54] as well as disincentives. And I think

[35:57] that's a a broader way of looking at

[35:59] this issue particularly in the

[36:00] environment. And I think all it does is

[36:03] expand the possibilities of things that

[36:05] we could that could be brought to our

[36:07] attention.

[36:09] Um uh were you um recommending

[36:15] um a an amendment to the letter that

[36:20] I'm not sure exactly will you sub

[36:22] submitting this as an amendment? It's

[36:23] not clear to me. So there is a

[36:26] redlinined version of this and it adds

[36:30] the words support legislation that

[36:32] requires or facilitates polluters to pay

[36:35] for the consequences of environmental

[36:38] damage. And I am suggesting we change

[36:40] that to support legislation and policies

[36:43] that provide incentives to and

[36:46] disincentives against protecting the

[36:49] environment from pollution, including

[36:51] holding polluters accountable for

[36:53] environmental damage they may cause.

[36:57] >> Yeah, sure. That sounds great. Um, any

[37:00] other comments along those lines? Uh,

[37:02] >> I'm I'm in strong support of that and appreciate the the thoughts there.

[37:07] Thank you.

[37:08] If that's a motion, I would second that

[37:10] motion.

[37:11] >> Okay. All in favor of that.

[37:14] >> Mayor Co.

[37:15] >> And one Wait, I'm sorry.

[37:16] >> Before you take the vote, I just want to

[37:17] make sure since you've discussed this

[37:18] item that we don't have any public

[37:19] comment related to it.

[37:21] >> Oh, yes. Any public comments on this

[37:24] specific um on page 52 under environment

[37:28] item E. Anything from the public?

[37:33] >> Thank you, Mayor Cole.

[37:35] I'll just wait for a moment to see if

[37:36] there's anyone who has any comments on

[37:38] Zoom. I don't see any raised hands.

[37:42] Thank you.

[37:43] >> Okay. Any further comments from the

[37:45] council?

[37:46] >> While we're at it, we should probably

[37:47] fix the typo under C policies.

[37:56] » Oh, thank you.

[37:58] >> Policies, not policies. Okay. Amendos.

[38:02] Got it. Okay. Um any further comments

[38:05] from the council? Seeing none, we will

[38:07] do we have a motion for um to approve

[38:09] item six on the consent calendar.

[38:13] >> So move.

[38:15] >> Do we have a second?

[38:17] >> Second.

[38:19] >> All those in favor say I.

[38:20] >> I.

[38:21] I.

[38:22] >> I. Okay.

[38:24] Carry. Five to zero. Thank you.

[38:26] >> Thank you.

[38:32] The next item on our agenda is

[38:34] considered old business

[38:35] telecommunications updates to discuss

[38:37] and provide direction on the scope of

[38:39] projects based on community feedback which will

[38:42] be presented by assistant city manager

[38:45] Mandy Brown.

[38:48] » Thank you, Mayor Cole. Um, so I will

[38:51] just be providing a brief overview of

[38:54] really a lot of information that we've

[38:56] received from residents via community

[38:59] meetings, email, um, and our goal

[39:02] tonight is to really get consensus

[39:05] around are these the correct needs? um

[39:08] getting direction from the council,

[39:10] making sure that we're on the right

[39:11] track with the goal of using this to

[39:14] create a RFP to get subject matter

[39:18] experts, one or multiple, to create a

[39:21] path forward and solutions. So, making

[39:24] sure that we have the right buckets for

[39:26] discussion and that we're not missing

[39:28] anything or we don't want anything

[39:30] reframed. Are we off the mark? um so

[39:33] that we can create a very clear uh list

[39:36] of needs for a subject matter expert to

[39:38] develop solutions for the town

[39:40] customized for Hillsboro. Um so I'll

[39:43] just go through a brief

[39:48] very brief background um about the sort

[39:51] of wireless goal. it has been um on our

[39:54] goal setting uh sessions uh for several

[39:58] years. Um and so really looking to

[40:00] define that goal statement. What are we

[40:03] trying to achieve? Um we can will

[40:05] continue to discuss this topic at goal

[40:07] setting as it relates to the budget. um

[40:10] as we get a sense of what is the project

[40:12] that we're undertaking, what sort of

[40:14] resources do we need to allocate and a

[40:16] timeline so that the council and uh the

[40:19] public know uh what to be able to expect

[40:23] in terms of work product output. Uh when

[40:26] is something going to going to happen um

[40:28] that's tangible.

[40:31] Uh we did have a community meeting in

[40:33] October to really restart this

[40:35] conversation, start fresh and talk about

[40:38] goals for telecommunications in Hillsbor

[40:40] really in a broad level and hear about

[40:42] residents experiences.

[40:45] Uh there is in a summary of that meeting

[40:48] uh prepared by Peninsula Conflict

[40:50] Resource Center which uh provided

[40:52] facilitators for the meeting to make

[40:54] sure that we captured all of the small

[40:56] group discussions um and comments made.

[41:00] This is a very high level. There's a lot

[41:02] more detail in the report in attachment

[41:03] one, but I just wanted to make sure we

[41:05] captured some of the biggest buckets

[41:07] related to undergrounding wires, um,

[41:10] locating towers away from homes, making

[41:13] sure that everyone everyone has reliable

[41:15] connectivity. Uh, making sure there's

[41:18] emergency power, eliminating macro

[41:21] towers, and exploring cost-effective

[41:23] solutions for carriers, as well as

[41:26] maintaining a consistent strong signal

[41:28] uh, even during power outages.

[41:33] So the meeting objective um I said at

[41:36] the beginning of the meeting is really

[41:37] to re review these draft needs. So I'll

[41:40] just go through them briefly um and

[41:42] offer some additional uh color and the

[41:45] PowerPoint was an attachment in the in

[41:47] the uh staff report just so everybody

[41:49] got a chance to see it beforehand and

[41:51] really just looking to see to affirm the

[41:53] scope and discuss any prioritization um

[41:56] if if there are uh comments about that.

[42:01] So these [clears throat] are the six

[42:03] buckets that are listed in the staff

[42:04] report drawing from that community

[42:07] meeting as well as other feedback

[42:09] received. And I'll just go through them

[42:10] one at a time with the first one being

[42:12] uh utilities undergrounding. Um,

[42:15] currently this was identified as a goal

[42:17] during last year's goal setting session

[42:20] and so staff has been working with an

[42:22] engineering consultant to really

[42:24] understand what amount of utilities

[42:27] remain needed to be undergrounded in

[42:29] town and what would the total cost be to

[42:31] underground the remaining utilities in

[42:34] town. Um, the project is ongoing so I

[42:37] don't have a final report right now.

[42:38] They're still collecting data. Um, we're

[42:40] actually waiting for some PG& data. Um,

[42:43] but once we have all of that data, we'll

[42:45] be able to present that back. But

[42:46] currently, it's looking like the

[42:48] percentage of homes with underground

[42:50] utilities is around 70%. And I do have a draft map. Um, so we will be refining

[42:56] this with the green um showing the areas

[42:59] in town that are that are underground

[43:01] for homes. Um, like I said, it's still

[43:03] in progress. So, we will have a final

[43:05] report to deliver, but this is just a

[43:07] progress update of where we are um on

[43:09] this topic currently.

[43:13] fiber connectivity was another area of

[43:15] need that we heard at the community

[43:17] meeting. Um and so really to identify

[43:20] and affirm that need. Um there are maps

[43:23] available uh through uh the FCC. Um and

[43:26] at the third bullet point that

[43:28] broadbandmap.fcc.govhome

[43:31] you can plug in the town of Hillsboro

[43:33] and you can plug in your specific

[43:35] address um to see if you're covered by

[43:38] fiber. Um there's different speeds and

[43:41] so we used the state standard. Um and as

[43:44] of right now the latest FCC map shows

[43:46] that there are approximately 1,600 units

[43:49] covered or about 41%. Um and if you feel

[43:52] like there's an error like it says that

[43:55] you're covered by fiber but you're not

[43:56] actually, you can report that um on that

[43:59] same map. Um so just affirming that

[44:01] there are areas um areas that have

[44:05] access to fiber and then there are

[44:06] geographic areas that have that don't

[44:09] have access to fiber. So one of the

[44:11] goals being equity and access um that

[44:14] that's not that is not achieved as it

[44:17] relates to fiber currently. So it is a

[44:20] possible area of need to include in that

[44:22] study. And on the map you can zoom in a

[44:25] lot more. I just took a highle

[44:26] screenshot um for you to be able to see.

[44:31] The next area of needs is cellular

[44:33] service. So recognizing the deficiencies

[44:35] in cellular service within throughout

[44:38] town. There is also a cellular service

[44:40] coverage map through that FCC database.

[44:43] Um and they are required to report the

[44:45] data twice a year. Um and the map shows

[44:49] 83.45%

[44:50] of town covered for 5G service. um where

[44:54] there are but you'll also see there are

[44:55] areas that have very poor service. Uh

[44:58] however, there is a a disclaimer saying

[45:01] that it is based on the propagation

[45:03] modeling and a user's actual experience

[45:06] may be different. So I would say it's

[45:09] likely that that's very generous um in

[45:11] terms of your real access to cell

[45:13] service. Um but it's a starting point.

[45:15] Um and I think we heard strongly from

[45:17] the community anecdotally that u this is

[45:20] a strong area of need uh in the town

[45:23] making sure that there are we fix the

[45:25] deficiencies in cell service.

[45:28] Again here's that uh screenshot showing

[45:30] sort of dead spots in town and it really

[45:33] is just sort of a percentage within

[45:35] those um hexagons. And then you can

[45:38] again zoom in closer um plug in your

[45:40] address, plug in your school and see the

[45:42] access um as it relates to 5G wireless

[45:45] service.

[45:49] Uh next one is power backup solutions um

[45:52] and make so in addition to the actual

[45:55] fiber or wireless service making sure

[45:57] that there's a reliable power supply. Uh

[46:00] while the town is not responsible for

[46:02] providing the actual we don't have our

[46:04] electric utility um there are solutions

[46:07] that the town could explore um as this

[46:09] is identified as a need to help support

[46:11] residents to obtain the battery backup

[46:13] solutions looking at grant funded

[46:15] programs public education ways to

[46:18] connect residents to ensure that they

[46:19] have access to backup solutions.

[46:25] And then this is about balancing town

[46:27] aesthetics with any wireless

[46:29] communication facility installations. We

[46:31] do have existing policies and

[46:33] regulations related that kind of govern

[46:35] the installation of wireless

[46:37] telecommunications. Um we could explore

[46:39] modifications to these documents. Um

[46:42] modifications may result in reduced

[46:45] control. Um and on that sort of same

[46:47] notion, um currently the town's part of

[46:50] a national coalition opposing FCC

[46:53] proceedings that are seeking to reduce

[46:55] that local authority as it relates to

[46:57] wireless um and wired uh installation

[47:00] facilities installation. Uh we've joined

[47:03] those coalitions through um our city

[47:05] attorney BBNK uh to demonstrate our

[47:08] opposition to those efforts and we're

[47:10] joined with many other jurisdictions um

[47:13] that have had similar experiences to

[47:15] ours. we've been able to share our

[47:16] experiences

[47:18] um and sort of fight some of these

[47:20] claims um that are we feel exaggerated.

[47:23] And I do have we do have Gail Carish um

[47:26] partner with BBK who has helped lead

[47:28] some of these efforts and can speak to

[47:30] um to this topic a lot better than I can

[47:33] um if there are follow-up questions.

[47:37] And the last one we heard is we heard um

[47:39] some explore alternative technologies to

[47:41] improve connectivity. Um this is

[47:44] anything from new wireless providers to

[47:47] satellite. Um and we did we have heard

[47:51] um that sort of the main providers of

[47:53] Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile have been

[47:56] deploying satellite. Um it's in a growth

[47:59] stage. Um from what we've heard it

[48:01] requires a large number of satellites to

[48:03] be in orbit orbit and uh latency is

[48:06] another issue but it is something that

[48:08] uh we could include in the needs

[48:09] assessment. Again, looking at these

[48:11] buckets, affirming these are all areas

[48:13] of needs um and asking a subject matter

[48:15] expert to to develop those solutions.

[48:18] And so, keeping this uh as a as a

[48:20] possible option um to come back with

[48:23] some ideas.

[48:26] So, those are the six buckets that are

[48:27] listed um in the the uh staff report.

[48:32] And so, what we would be looking for

[48:34] council direction is are these the right

[48:37] areas of need? Are there specific are

[48:39] there follow-up information that you

[48:41] need before being able to um identify

[48:44] them as an area I need? We can modify

[48:46] them. Um and what we'd like to do is is

[48:49] get that nailed down so that we can

[48:50] issue the RFP to get to um begin that

[48:53] work and that sort of master plan for

[48:55] the town moving forward. Um so that we

[48:58] can understand the time frame cost and

[49:01] the compatibility with the town's

[49:02] existing infrastructure and landscape.

[49:05] Um, and in the background of all that,

[49:06] we'll continue to have legal and

[49:08] regulatory issues monitored, um, and

[49:11] update the council and the community

[49:12] with any, uh, new information as it

[49:15] arises.

[49:18] » Um, thank you, um, Mandy Brown. Um, that

[49:22] was, uh, this is a very, um, not only

[49:25] urgent but needed conversation. we

[49:28] continue to discuss this but um I will

[49:30] start by asking my um council members if

[49:34] they have my colleagues if they have any

[49:36] additional questions for clarifications

[49:38] and then we'll get into a discussion. So

[49:40] we'll just start with some clarifying

[49:41] questions.

[49:44] Okay, Vice Mayor Rexdale,

[49:47] >> thank you. Thank you for the uh summary

[49:50] and the and the detailed staff report.

[49:52] Mandy. Um I had my questions are very

[49:56] basic and they will show my ignorance on

[49:58] and age on this topic. Um the first is

[50:02] um fiber. Uh okay, two questions about

[50:07] fiber. One, I presume there's some I

[50:10] know it's not in our control, but

[50:11] there's some areas that will probably

[50:14] never get fiber because

[50:17] of the topography.

[50:20] Is that

[50:22] not necessarily the case? Okay. Okay. So

[50:25] that so that's a question that I would

[50:27] have I guess for um going forward uh the

[50:32] possibilities for fiber and then what

[50:34] can fiber do? Can you get cell service

[50:38] through you if you're getting your

[50:41] internet can you get cell service

[50:43] through through the fiber or can you

[50:46] only do that through towers?

[50:49] Um

[50:50] then um I wanted to clarify just based

[50:54] on a public comment that we received

[50:57] that there are not any applications

[51:00] right now for cell towers. Is that

[51:04] correct to come into Hillsboro

[51:08] >> currently? No, we do not have

[51:10] applications. I I we got a detailed

[51:12] public comment that talked about a tower

[51:15] near a school and they were probably

[51:17] talking about past applications. Um so I

[51:20] just wanted to clarify that. Um another

[51:23] thing I'd like to see

[51:26] um well I guess that's a comment so I

[51:29] won't won't ask that. Um oh

[51:33] uh latency for satellite does that mean

[51:36] delay? Okay. Um, those are my questions

[51:40] at the time. Thank you.

[51:41] >> Any additional question?

[51:42] >> All showing ignorance.

[51:44] >> Um, no additional questions. We we'll

[51:47] move to the

[51:47] >> I'm sorry. Um, council member Bwang

[51:50] additional questions.

[51:51] >> Uh, just for clarifications. Um on the

[51:54] fibers map, the the large one, there's

[51:58] um there are the the the large white uh

[52:03] oxyagon that really basically saying

[52:07] that it's a 0 to 20%

[52:11] um of coverage, I'm assuming. And then

[52:14] right next to it is 40 to 60 to 80% of

[52:17] coverage. Uh is are there uh information

[52:23] on why that was the case?

[52:29] » There there's not really information on

[52:32] why but it's a dynamic map. So when you

[52:35] zoom in you get to see a little bit

[52:36] more. So I didn't want to zoom in I

[52:40] don't want to have specific households

[52:41] uh on that level of zoom but I did

[52:43] provide the the URL so you can drill

[52:45] down and you can see it at a a smaller

[52:47] scale. Um but yeah there was no

[52:51] explanation provided for why there are

[52:53] the gaps in coverage just shows them.

[52:55] >> So to help me understand this on the

[52:58] first glance there's the whiteness which

[53:00] means it's zero fiber activities

[53:03] whatsoever

[53:04] >> and as you zoom zoom in closer you will

[53:08] be able to see more details and there

[53:10] are households that probably have better

[53:15] uh positions or fibers. Is that correct?

[53:19] >> Yeah. Yeah. It's a fascinating map. You

[53:22] can actually drill down to specific

[53:23] culde-sacs where some houses have it,

[53:25] some don't. And then there's big swats

[53:27] of areas that are just completely they

[53:29] have red dots and and green dots.

[53:31] There's bunch of red dots that don't

[53:33] have access to fiber. And then right on

[53:35] the other side of the street, there's a

[53:36] bunch of green dots. So based on their

[53:38] records,

[53:40] it's it's a very interesting map. I I

[53:42] don't know that can't speak to the rhyme

[53:43] or reason as to why some have it and

[53:45] some don't. and and it's not the

[53:47] wireless activities, it's the fiber

[53:50] activities.

[53:51] >> They have multiple on here. So this um

[53:55] this is the map for fiber. Um and then

[53:58] this is what they have on wireless 5G

[54:02] service. But as I said, they have that

[54:05] strong disclaimer saying that it's based

[54:07] on the propagation modeling. Your actual

[54:10] service may vary due to terrain, for

[54:13] example. So I put this up there, but I

[54:15] don't want it to to be um saying that

[54:18] the in better wireless service is not a

[54:21] need. It's just this is what the FCC

[54:23] data has and even at that sort of higher

[54:26] level it's still showing gaps in

[54:27] coverage.

[54:28] >> So the map is basically a reference but

[54:32] it doesn't indicate um specific

[54:35] residents as to whether they have good

[54:39] services or not.

[54:40] >> Right? And again it's just affirming

[54:42] that need. We did hear anecdotally at

[54:44] the meetings and obviously through

[54:46] public comment over years that wireless

[54:49] service is a challenge in Hillsboro.

[54:51] >> Thank you. Um just to follow up on that

[54:53] in terms of my questions specifically

[54:56] you would like us to focus our

[54:58] conversation around what information

[55:01] would we want from a consultant that

[55:04] would address improved connectivity for

[55:08] both wireless

[55:10] um and of course broadband internet fast

[55:13] internet etc. So, we're going to discuss

[55:16] this and the qu and you you're asking us

[55:19] to say what are the questions you would

[55:21] like the consultant to answer?

[55:23] >> Yes, those those sort of six buckets,

[55:26] right? Um are those the right buckets?

[55:27] Is there anything specific under there

[55:29] that you want to make sure that that

[55:32] staff mentions in the RFP that we get an

[55:34] answer to?

[55:35] >> Got you. Um we're going to go to the

[55:36] public for public comments and we'll

[55:38] come back and discuss this further. Any

[55:40] um public comments?

[55:44] Thank you, Mayor Cole. Patrick Shannon.

[55:46] >> Hello, Patrick. Welcome.

[55:52] » How are you?

[55:52] >> I'm fine, thanks. Good to see you.

[55:55] >> Nice to see you, council members. Happy

[55:57] New Year to you all.

[55:58] >> Yeah, same to you.

[55:59] >> So, I just wanted to comment on the

[56:02] subject at hand here. And to mix a

[56:04] metaphor, I want to put a plug in for

[56:06] satellite.

[56:08] Now satellite as you mentioned is a fast

[56:11] growing but nent technology but I think

[56:14] it stands to afford a lot of benefits to

[56:17] the town because it's a relatively

[56:19] lowcost option and it will uh provide

[56:23] reliability and more safety and it will

[56:26] only expand over time. So I think what you already produced was that the

[56:33] ma major carriers all already have

[56:36] satellite that goes to your phone. AT&T,

[56:39] T-Mobile, and Verizon. And that

[56:42] technology is

[56:45] improving significantly and somewhat at

[56:48] a fast pace because satellite technology

[56:51] is proliferating in the atmosphere. So

[56:56] over time I think it's only going to

[56:58] improve.

[57:01] Uh experts are counting on this for the

[57:04] future as well. It's very popular in

[57:08] Europe and now it's been very popular

[57:10] now across the United States mostly at

[57:14] this point as a point of resilience and

[57:16] reliability in case the cell towers or

[57:19] other uh modes of communication go down.

[57:23] But as that's proving itself out over

[57:25] time, it's getting more robust. So for

[57:28] example, the major carriers right now

[57:30] not only have the phone technology, but

[57:33] they have connectivity to apps like

[57:36] WhatsApp or Google apps. So you could

[57:38] use that in town uh to navigate or in

[57:43] the case of an emergency. So I think we

[57:45] should focus on that because that

[57:47] technology is futureproof and it will

[57:51] only get better with time. And it's low

[57:53] cost,

[57:55] works with your existing phone and um it

[57:59] also uh is really no infrastructure. No

[58:03] additional infrastructure is needed and

[58:05] it would avoid the cost of

[58:07] infrastructure as well as the visual

[58:09] blight of heavy infrastructure in town.

[58:13] So this won't be the only solution, but

[58:15] I'm encouraging you to definitely put it

[58:17] on your list because this is something

[58:20] that can certainly complement and in the

[58:22] future and overtake all other

[58:24] technologies.

[58:26] Other people will comment on other

[58:28] areas, but that's my piece today.

[58:30] >> Thank you. That's very informative.

[58:31] Appreciate that. Um any additional

[58:34] comments? So um

[58:36] >> yes, thank you Paul on Zoom public.

[58:44] Yes. Hello. Thank you. Um, this is a

[58:48] timely, well, I would say timely topic,

[58:51] but it's been a problem vexing the town

[58:53] for 15 to 20 years. The problem is

[58:56] really, really simple. We have lots of

[58:59] trees, we have lots of hills, and we

[59:02] have no cell towers.

[59:05] That's the reason that there's basically

[59:07] no way to make a phone call anywhere

[59:10] outside of your house on Wi-Fi. And

[59:13] that's only if you're lucky if Comcast

[59:15] happens to be working. Myself, I've

[59:17] spent several thousands of dollars at my

[59:19] house, supplementing Comcast with

[59:22] Starlink satellite technology and

[59:24] others, connecting them so I can have 7

[59:27] by 24 reception. So now the satellite

[59:30] technology its major flaw is you have to

[59:32] be able to see the sky. Hills being a

[59:35] town again filled with trees and filled

[59:38] with hills. In my house there's only a

[59:41] very narrow window that actually has

[59:43] visibility to the Starlink satellites,

[59:46] but I take advantage of it. Um if you're

[59:49] walking around or in use, it's it's

[59:51] going to be a challenge. The

[59:54] straightforward, simple, lowcost,

[59:58] globally standardized solution for this

[1:00:00] is please can we put up about a dozen

[1:00:03] cell towers which will cover the

[1:00:06] majority of the town, provide really

[1:00:09] good phone coverage, really good

[1:00:12] services for our first responders,

[1:00:17] really good access for safety at our

[1:00:19] schools, and can be done in fairly

[1:00:22] unobtrusive of ways that will minimize

[1:00:26] the effects on the nimi property owners

[1:00:29] who are so vehemently against it. Again,

[1:00:32] I implore you all, it's been decades

[1:00:35] that we've had this problem. We study

[1:00:37] it, we look at it, it gets blocked every

[1:00:41] time by the the, you know, the vocal

[1:00:43] opponents, but it's really so

[1:00:46] straightforward and self-funding. you

[1:00:48] know, the carriers will pay to put it in

[1:00:52] if we hadn't been blocking and suing

[1:00:54] them, you know, to prevent them. But if

[1:00:57] we change our, you know, our methods, if

[1:01:00] we if we have the will, we can provide

[1:01:04] really good Silicon Valley level

[1:01:07] connectivity and way of life for all of

[1:01:09] our residents. Let's just put in a dozen

[1:01:11] cell towers, please. Thank you very

[1:01:14] much.

[1:01:15] >> Thank you, Mr. Freriedman.

[1:01:18] Um, additional comments. I see we have

[1:01:20] John on.

[1:01:23] >> Yes. Thank you,

[1:01:26] » John, if you're able to unmute. There

[1:01:29] you go.

[1:01:29] >> All right. Uh, can you hear me?

[1:01:31] >> Yes.

[1:01:32] >> Hello. This is John Lavich. Um, and I I

[1:01:35] appreciate this uh topic being on the

[1:01:37] agenda tonight. Um, I want to focus in

[1:01:41] on I want to say it's the letter F. I I

[1:01:44] can't remember from the slide, but it's

[1:01:46] the aesthetics. uh the the balance

[1:01:48] between the town's needs for cell towers

[1:01:51] and the aesthetics of it. Um I too

[1:01:54] believe that the answer is going to be

[1:01:56] an all of the above. Uh in a complicated

[1:01:59] town like we have um a mix of satellite,

[1:02:02] a mix of fiber, uh a mix of of some some

[1:02:07] uh wireless infrastructure. Um and

[1:02:09] there's some really good ways to do it.

[1:02:11] Um, I'd like the town to consider

[1:02:14] exploring um partnering with the SFPU

[1:02:17] and PG& about um what it would take and

[1:02:21] what it would look like to help

[1:02:22] fasttrack um cellular infrastructure

[1:02:25] along that corridor of towers between

[1:02:27] 280 and Black Mountain. I feel like

[1:02:30] that's a great opportunity and an

[1:02:31] arsenal of uh of positions that would

[1:02:35] certainly improve a good portion of

[1:02:37] Hillsboro's access to wireless and be

[1:02:40] least intrusive um to the community.

[1:02:44] Second of all, I I think uh in that

[1:02:48] balance between our aesthetics and our our wireless needs, I believe we're

[1:02:53] in a window, a unique window of time,

[1:02:54] and I'd like to see a result of this

[1:02:56] project to be um making updates to our

[1:02:59] wireless ordinance. Um what we've put

[1:03:02] together as a community, uh your and

[1:03:04] your predecessors, um has some good

[1:03:07] pieces in it and it has some bad pieces

[1:03:09] in it. Um, and I think we should I

[1:03:12] really encourage you if you've not to

[1:03:14] take a look at the Los Altos Hills

[1:03:16] wireless ordinance. I think it's a 587.

[1:03:19] And they're able to um put together a

[1:03:21] really good balance. Um they have some

[1:03:23] very pragmatic rules um primarily is

[1:03:25] distance from homes. Um they went with

[1:03:28] 200 feet from homes um which which mere

[1:03:31] our town. There is no commercial um uh

[1:03:34] corridor in Los Altos Hills. Um and I

[1:03:37] think also looking at the distance we do

[1:03:39] put these towers from schools and

[1:03:41] communities. Um so there's a lot of

[1:03:43] people that have already solved this

[1:03:45] balance between cellular infrastructure

[1:03:48] and the need for um their residents to

[1:03:51] feel safe and to have uh the access

[1:03:54] technology but also to have the a

[1:03:55] certain distance from homes. um have it

[1:03:58] not intrude on uh on the community's uh bucolic charm and to uh ensure that

[1:04:06] the community is well served for years

[1:04:08] to come. Um so by partnering with our

[1:04:10] neighboring uh you know corridor like a

[1:04:13] or PG updating our ordinance I think

[1:04:15] these should be key elements of this

[1:04:19] consultants review um and I think the

[1:04:22] town can benefit from both of those.

[1:04:26] Um, thank you John.

[1:04:29] >> Any additional comment?

[1:04:33] >> Uh, yes. Josh Burns.

[1:04:35] >> Hello Josh.

[1:04:38] >> Hi Josh from Marorrow Road. So just want

[1:04:41] to touch on a couple things. Uh, one is

[1:04:44] um, as you look at the scope of work, I

[1:04:46] mentioned this before, but hopefully

[1:04:47] some more focus on like providing

[1:04:49] resources information for homeowners.

[1:04:51] So, uh, if we look at a site for

[1:04:54] emergency preparedness, we have

[1:04:55] committees, we have, uh, events, we have

[1:04:58] tons of resources for that. Same with

[1:05:00] home security. I can call the police and

[1:05:02] have somebody come and look at my house,

[1:05:04] provide me feedback. You guys had an

[1:05:06] event for providers to come and talk to

[1:05:09] citizens. Um, and uh, also, you know,

[1:05:12] for fire safety, we have a ton of

[1:05:14] resources. We have a program. We have

[1:05:16] requirements that we have to maintain.

[1:05:18] It's all these things are very robust.

[1:05:19] But if you think of like

[1:05:20] telecommunications, we actually have

[1:05:22] nothing essentially on the website. So I

[1:05:25] think just thinking about ways that are

[1:05:27] accessible to help people solve

[1:05:30] problems, provide them information

[1:05:31] that's clear and very specific to where

[1:05:33] we live. Thinking about like what

[1:05:35] internet providers are available or

[1:05:37] fiber uh for wireless map of where the

[1:05:40] wireless facilities that we have in town

[1:05:42] for which provider. Maybe I might think

[1:05:43] of switching to one that is located by

[1:05:46] uh where I live. Uh I think you know

[1:05:49] information on best practices for

[1:05:51] improving internet coverage in the home

[1:05:54] uh whether it's hardware whether it's

[1:05:55] battery backup um uh you know having

[1:05:59] listened to hours of and read hours of

[1:06:02] feedback from citizens I would have the

[1:06:04] point of view that like I think like 30

[1:06:06] 40% of a lot of these problems that

[1:06:08] people have could actually be solved

[1:06:09] with with information and resources. Uh,

[1:06:12] and even going further, having a list of

[1:06:14] providers that can come to your home and

[1:06:17] help you with these problems for those

[1:06:18] who are not techsavvy. And I think you

[1:06:21] touched on a little bit with some of the

[1:06:23] battery backup stuff, but uh, if there's

[1:06:25] a way to offer discounts for specific

[1:06:27] hardware that would be valuable for

[1:06:29] people to address if it's battery backup

[1:06:30] infrastructure, um, this kind of stuff.

[1:06:33] So, I'd love to see more focus on

[1:06:36] information resources that are

[1:06:37] accessible and immediate. I think that

[1:06:39] could solve a substantial amount of

[1:06:41] problems that people are having. Um if

[1:06:44] one minute. So the other thing would be

[1:06:47] uh you know just touched on in the in

[1:06:49] the agenda item information talk about

[1:06:52] locating towers away from homes as a

[1:06:54] main priority but uh as someone

[1:06:56] mentioned previously there's not much

[1:06:58] specific scope of work around like

[1:07:00] updating ordinances. How do we actually

[1:07:02] implement something like that um and

[1:07:04] make changes around it? Um it's a little

[1:07:06] bit disappointing to see more, you know,

[1:07:08] language calling out potentially

[1:07:10] weakening policies to encourage more

[1:07:12] deployments. Uh so it's kind of

[1:07:14] contradictory there. So uh John

[1:07:16] mentioned the Los Altos Hills. We

[1:07:18] there's other cities that has invested a

[1:07:20] lot of resources in this that we could

[1:07:21] kind of draft off of uh efficiently to

[1:07:24] look at protecting uh you know the the

[1:07:28] town character. Thank you.

[1:07:30] >> Thank you, Josh. Any additional um

[1:07:33] questions from the public? Thank you,

[1:07:35] Maricole. I don't have any additional

[1:07:37] speaker cards and I don't have any

[1:07:39] additional raised hands on Zoom at this

[1:07:41] time.

[1:07:42] >> Thank you. So, we'll bring it back to

[1:07:44] the um council and we'll discuss it and

[1:07:47] try to give specific directives to um

[1:07:50] the staff based on what we just heard.

[1:07:53] Um

[1:07:54] let me have my colleagues start and I

[1:07:58] will follow through. Any comments from

[1:08:01] anyone to lead in terms of opinions?

[1:08:04] We'll start with Council Member Adams.

[1:08:07] >> Thank you, Mayor Cole. Um, as most of

[1:08:10] you know, this is something I've spent a

[1:08:11] lot of time on and I'm really pleased to

[1:08:15] see uh the progress that we've made. We did have this on the back burner for

[1:08:21] a long time and it's clear we've made a

[1:08:24] priority to pull it forward but we've

[1:08:27] also been clear that this is a very

[1:08:30] complicated issue and there are many

[1:08:33] issues and there are many objectives and

[1:08:37] I think u I I want to mention that we

[1:08:41] really did talk at least in our first uh

[1:08:45] meeting about how there are many things

[1:08:48] that individuals can do on their own

[1:08:51] without waiting for the town. There are

[1:08:54] many things that the town can explore.

[1:08:57] We have to do that in the context of

[1:08:59] other priorities and also cost. But a

[1:09:02] third element is

[1:09:04] pressures that are brought to bear

[1:09:08] against some of the things that we may

[1:09:11] want to do particularly from the federal

[1:09:13] government. So because this is complex,

[1:09:18] I think it is a disservice to that

[1:09:21] complexity and also to the interlocking

[1:09:24] nature of those buckets that were

[1:09:26] presented to us for us to opine about

[1:09:30] the priorities at this point. I think

[1:09:32] those are the appropriate buckets and I

[1:09:36] think many of them are interconnected.

[1:09:39] some of which are lowhanging fruit, but

[1:09:41] some of which are outside of our hands.

[1:09:45] I do like the idea of our being in

[1:09:47] charge of giving more information so

[1:09:49] people can have agency on their own. So

[1:09:53] bottom line for me is

[1:09:56] first of all definitely go to the FCC

[1:10:00] website. It is phenomenal. It is not

[1:10:04] accurate, but it is amazing the

[1:10:06] information the FCC has about your home,

[1:10:10] about your carrier, about your

[1:10:13] situation.

[1:10:15] Second, we did have uh a professional

[1:10:18] assessment that said we would need 200

[1:10:21] cell towers in order to get perfection

[1:10:25] in coverage on Wi-Fi in our town because

[1:10:29] of the hills, the valleys, the character

[1:10:31] of the town and uh the trees. So

[1:10:35] perfection is not what we're aiming for.

[1:10:38] is progress in

[1:10:41] each of these areas. So my

[1:10:44] recommendation is that we talk about

[1:10:46] what kinds of things we'd like to see

[1:10:48] happen, but that we not dictate

[1:10:51] solutions by making it a priority to

[1:10:55] have X or Y at this point. That we have

[1:10:59] this RFP go out

[1:11:02] and that we are very clear. We want

[1:11:05] these six things to be looked at and we

[1:11:08] want to see how we can have improvement

[1:11:11] in the most logical and uh really

[1:11:16] costdriven

[1:11:18] uh procedures that someone looking

[1:11:22] objectively

[1:11:24] outside of our experience really looking

[1:11:28] at this and evaluating it I think it's

[1:11:30] going to be invaluable. So, I encourage

[1:11:33] us to make sure that we allow the data

[1:11:38] to drive the priority because that may

[1:11:42] really be surprising to us. I think most

[1:11:45] of us were surprised by the idea that

[1:11:47] there were potentially 70% of our town

[1:11:52] has underground. At this point, when I

[1:11:55] drive around town, I see a lot of

[1:11:58] overhead lines. So that would not have

[1:12:01] been my assessment.

[1:12:03] I trust this process and I also would

[1:12:07] like to at some point hear from Gail uh

[1:12:11] about the coalition that we have joined

[1:12:13] and uh how that is proceeding.

[1:12:17] >> Thank you, Council Member Adams. Um

[1:12:19] Council Member Trong, any specific

[1:12:21] comments?

[1:12:23] Um I I applaud that um this council and

[1:12:27] the staffs are taking the actions of uh

[1:12:30] moving forward on the cell services. I

[1:12:33] think that it is now uh more in the

[1:12:37] public's view that this is a public

[1:12:39] safety issue that we need to have

[1:12:41] consistent and stabilized um Wi-Fi

[1:12:45] connections so that we can be able to

[1:12:48] make the calls or do the texting from

[1:12:51] our homes or from any location in

[1:12:53] Hillsboro. Um I do support the idea of

[1:12:57] um finding best practices. We're in the

[1:12:59] Silicon Valley. there are different

[1:13:02] cities trying different things. So um in

[1:13:06] light of the state mandate and in the um

[1:13:10] the uh serving our cities, I think that

[1:13:14] the six buckets are

[1:13:17] important to identify and I do think

[1:13:21] that there are best practices that we

[1:13:23] can look at in other cities, other

[1:13:26] counties to see how we can bring them in

[1:13:32] that it would apply to us um because the

[1:13:35] topography, the location, we do have

[1:13:38] challenges and so I I would presume that

[1:13:43] [clears throat] different kinds of um

[1:13:45] internet services will be advantageous

[1:13:48] to certain location and not the others.

[1:13:51] So to figure out what are the challenges

[1:13:55] um it is worth a while to evaluate what

[1:13:59] the best practice is out there.

[1:14:01] Thank you, Council Member Chong and

[1:14:03] Council Member Crowley.

[1:14:05] >> Thank you. Uh, so thank you for this

[1:14:07] preliminary leg work. I mean, it's not

[1:14:09] preliminary because we've been working

[1:14:10] on it for years, but um, it's long that

[1:14:12] we all know this has long been a

[1:14:14] priority of the council and the

[1:14:15] residents and it's an issue, as has been

[1:14:18] said, not only of um, convenience, but

[1:14:21] of public safety. So, um, I agree with

[1:14:24] one of the speakers that said it's time

[1:14:26] to stop studying and start solving. So,

[1:14:29] this is a great first step. I just have

[1:14:32] a a couple of things um are admirable

[1:14:36] but may be roadblocks. I do agree that

[1:14:39] undergrounding these wires would improve

[1:14:41] aesthetically the town and may also

[1:14:44] improve our reliability. But I would

[1:14:47] hope that we would separate that from

[1:14:49] communication solutions because it may

[1:14:52] be very expensive and very slow and if

[1:14:54] we waited to do that. And I was

[1:14:57] pleasantly surprised like you said Lori,

[1:14:59] Council Member Adams, that um that such

[1:15:02] a large percentage of town is already

[1:15:04] underground. That's very um that's very

[1:15:06] heartening. Um and then the other thing

[1:15:09] is the 150 ft um or even 200 feet as

[1:15:13] they said Los South. I remember when we

[1:15:15] studied this before it it just it was

[1:15:17] that was very challenging and we ended

[1:15:19] up with I think 50 or 60 feet but of the

[1:15:22] 13 towers that we approved only two I

[1:15:25] think remained controversial after we

[1:15:27] approved them. So there was some um but

[1:15:31] so but I am definitely in favor of the

[1:15:33] RFP to move forward with a

[1:15:36] telecommunications

[1:15:37] expert consultant to evaluate the

[1:15:40] possibilities and the challenges in

[1:15:42] Hillsboro just like we did the bike and pedestrian master plan. I think this

[1:15:47] is very positive and I be very

[1:15:49] interested to see what solutions they

[1:15:51] would would would come up with. Thank

[1:15:53] you.

[1:15:53] >> Thank you Council Member Krillic. Um,

[1:15:55] Vice Mayor Ragdale.

[1:15:59] >> Yes, thank you. Um, I'm not sure how

[1:16:02] helpful my thoughts will be because I

[1:16:05] liked everything that I heard from the

[1:16:08] public and all of all of those

[1:16:10] suggestions were just uh super helpful.

[1:16:13] Um, in particular, I'd love to learn

[1:16:16] more from the consultant about satellite

[1:16:19] and um complications with satellite in

[1:16:22] terms of latency. I know that now. Um,

[1:16:26] in terms of if you can see the sky in

[1:16:28] terms of are there is there more than

[1:16:30] one company? Um, we don't want to

[1:16:33] necessarily be at the whims of one

[1:16:36] particular company. Um, so I'd like more

[1:16:40] information on satellite like more

[1:16:42] information on an education on fiber.

[1:16:44] Um, and I love that idea of um, just

[1:16:49] like we had for the alarm companies, if

[1:16:51] we had a presentation where we just

[1:16:54] invited

[1:16:55] different people to come, the different

[1:16:57] cell providers, um, backup battery uh,

[1:17:02] companies, um, people who have

[1:17:04] generators, hopefully maybe quieter

[1:17:07] generators than I've heard. Um uh and

[1:17:10] then the people who can come and um put

[1:17:13] repeaters around your home to uh expand

[1:17:16] your internet. If we could have some

[1:17:17] kind of um forum like that, that would

[1:17:20] be super helpful. And then have it on

[1:17:22] our website, um as was suggested. And

[1:17:25] then um I liked the idea of talking to

[1:17:28] other towns. I know it's something you

[1:17:30] guys do on a regular basis anyway. Um

[1:17:32] but um that would be helpful. you know,

[1:17:35] think about um parts of LA, think about

[1:17:38] Marin. We're definitely not the only

[1:17:40] community with um with the topography

[1:17:43] and um trees. So, um that would be

[1:17:47] helpful, too.

[1:17:48] >> Thank you, Vice Mayor Ragsdale. um um

[1:17:51] with some of the comments that's been

[1:17:53] made by my colleagues. Um let me just um

[1:17:56] start by asking um our consultant who is

[1:17:59] um on Zoom with us for some

[1:18:00] clarifications regarding current FCC um

[1:18:06] either mandates or restrictions or rules

[1:18:08] surrounding

[1:18:10] um wireless

[1:18:12] uh deployment. Um Gail, you're with us.

[1:18:15] Gail Carish from BBK, thanks for being

[1:18:17] here. are you able to help us with some

[1:18:20] of that conversation?

[1:18:22] >> Uh yes, thank you and and happy new year

[1:18:25] everyone. Glad to glad to see you. Glad

[1:18:27] to uh be here. Uh yeah. [clears throat]

[1:18:31] So there are if um um the FCC so to to

[1:18:37] keep it brief uh because I think

[1:18:39] everyone is generally aware um

[1:18:42] communications is a complicated subject

[1:18:45] for local governments because there are

[1:18:47] levels both federal and state regulation

[1:18:50] that that can uh put some limits on on

[1:18:53] your authority. specifically on

[1:18:56] wireless. The FC, the Federal

[1:18:58] Communications Commission has uh over

[1:19:01] the past uh 15 or 20 years um taken

[1:19:07] various steps to uh limit local

[1:19:12] authority or put put some um

[1:19:15] restrictions on the speed of reviewing

[1:19:18] applications, on not being able to

[1:19:20] simply have a moratorum, those sorts of

[1:19:22] things. And so periodically the FCC um

[1:19:27] starts new rulemakings or inquiries and

[1:19:30] they've got one um currently on wireless

[1:19:33] where they're looking at doing some

[1:19:35] additional rule changes

[1:19:38] u mostly related to macro uh towers and

[1:19:43] also um uh what they call eligible

[1:19:47] facilities requests which are changes uh

[1:19:50] to existing wireless facilities you add

[1:19:53] or expand them. Um there is also a wire

[1:19:58] line proceeding which is looking at what

[1:20:01] kind of rules the FCC might impose on

[1:20:03] local governments such as shot clocks,

[1:20:05] timelines for action, things like that

[1:20:08] related to the deployment of uh fiber uh

[1:20:12] for broadband services. So u that's a

[1:20:16] very short overview. If you want more

[1:20:18] details, I'm happy to answer anything.

[1:20:21] >> Yeah. and and I'm happy you're here with

[1:20:23] us because you were with us I think four

[1:20:25] or five years ago when we were

[1:20:26] discussing this. So you know the history

[1:20:28] in terms of the conversations we've had

[1:20:30] in the past. Um specifically

[1:20:33] has the FCC imposed more restrictions

[1:20:37] with regards to dis you know deployment

[1:20:40] of wireless towers

[1:20:43] um on the micro towers which is what we

[1:20:46] considered we I don't believe we were

[1:20:48] discussing micro towers at that time um

[1:20:50] from a home for example has that

[1:20:53] restriction changed has it gotten more

[1:20:55] strict what what is the latest from the

[1:20:57] FCC?

[1:20:59] Yeah. So the the the FCC has not issued

[1:21:02] any new uh rules uh specifically on

[1:21:08] wireless deployments um since it's

[1:21:12] probably about 5 years. Um there was uh

[1:21:16] there were some rule changes. Uh the big

[1:21:19] one that we uh the the town did an

[1:21:22] update after was in 2018 for the small

[1:21:26] wireless uh facilities order. Um and uh

[1:21:31] they had a couple other orders. At that

[1:21:33] time they had u some clarifications they

[1:21:35] were doing to eligible facilities

[1:21:37] requests in 2020. That was we were part

[1:21:41] of a challenge in court that uh part of

[1:21:44] that order got reversed. And so the FCC,

[1:21:47] that's one of the things they're doing

[1:21:48] now in this new proceeding is to bring

[1:21:52] updates to the eligible facilities

[1:21:54] request rules which are for

[1:21:55] modifications to existing towers. Uh but

[1:21:58] they've uh uh launched a broader

[1:22:02] proceeding than that where they are

[1:22:03] looking at doing some other updates. So

[1:22:06] we do expect uh that the FCC will um uh

[1:22:12] implement some new rules. the the status

[1:22:14] of that proceeding is we filed and and

[1:22:17] we thank you again for your support for

[1:22:18] that coalition. We filed comments in the

[1:22:21] wireless uh proceeding on uh uh December

[1:22:27] 31st and are working on our reply uh

[1:22:31] comments. U but the we had asked the FCC

[1:22:35] for an extension of time for filing on

[1:22:39] the reply round uh which was very short.

[1:22:42] Normally it's 30 days, they had 15 days

[1:22:45] and they declined that request. So that

[1:22:47] gives us an indication they are very

[1:22:49] interested in moving very quickly in

[1:22:51] that proceeding. So we anticipate that

[1:22:55] within uh the next couple of months or

[1:22:58] so we will have a new FCC order with

[1:23:00] further restrictions on wireless.

[1:23:03] >> Okay. So so not much has changed since

[1:23:05] we last discussed this. At least it

[1:23:06] looks like there's change on the horizon

[1:23:08] but it hasn't happened yet. Okay. So,

[1:23:10] for the purpose of moving forward with

[1:23:11] this current conversation, um I have a

[1:23:14] few comments. I I was actually quite

[1:23:16] surprised by the maps that we're looking

[1:23:17] at. We the map that looks at um 70%

[1:23:22] undergrounded um util uh utilities.

[1:23:26] That's undergrounded. 70% of the town

[1:23:28] has undergrounded utilities. And I

[1:23:31] always thought if I mean maybe these are

[1:23:34] just uh legacy utilities and they were

[1:23:37] not undergrounded with um with fiber at

[1:23:41] the time perhaps. I was quite surprised

[1:23:43] to see that the cellular connectivity

[1:23:46] did not correlate with a higher

[1:23:49] reception and and I was just wondering

[1:23:51] if we have any information on why that's

[1:23:53] the case. Are these just older fibers

[1:23:55] and they're just not

[1:23:57] more updated fibers and we therefore

[1:23:59] don't have much data traveling with it.

[1:24:05] » I have some thoughts on that. I don't

[1:24:07] know if you were directing that to me or

[1:24:08] not.

[1:24:09] >> I would like your thoughts as well.

[1:24:10] Yeah, maybe we can start with you Gail.

[1:24:11] Go ahead. So, um, one of the things I I

[1:24:16] think with that broadband map maybe that

[1:24:18] it's not always show it's not always

[1:24:20] showing where there is fiber

[1:24:22] necessarily, but where there's a level

[1:24:24] of service. And so um

[1:24:29] uh a Comcast has uh has uh you know

[1:24:35] traditionally Comcast built a coaxial

[1:24:38] cable system but then uh all of the

[1:24:41] cable operators have been putting more

[1:24:44] fiber into their networks. They still

[1:24:47] have a so they're called hybrid coaxial

[1:24:50] f coaxial cable and fiber networks. Um,

[1:24:55] so when it shows a level of of speed for

[1:24:59] broadband service or for internet access

[1:25:02] service, that doesn't necessarily mean

[1:25:04] there's fiber to that to provide that

[1:25:07] service. It could be a combination. And

[1:25:09] so that may be what you're you're uh

[1:25:12] seeing uh in terms of the level of

[1:25:15] broadband available does not necessarily

[1:25:17] co correlate to fiber being in in the

[1:25:21] ground or on poles in that area.

[1:25:25] Okay. So the importance of that is that

[1:25:28] just because we talk about

[1:25:30] undergrounding, we have to be very

[1:25:32] specific to address the communications

[1:25:35] component of that. The broadband

[1:25:38] um connectivity is what we're interested

[1:25:40] in. In other words, I mean that I'm just

[1:25:43] learning that information right now as

[1:25:44] you speak. Is that is that correct?

[1:25:47] >> Well, yeah. What I would say is usually

[1:25:49] when you're looking at utilities

[1:25:50] undergrounding, you're looking at

[1:25:52] undergrounding all the utilities. So it

[1:25:55] would be the uh you know the electric

[1:25:58] utilities and anything else that is on

[1:26:00] the poles which may be you know it could

[1:26:04] be coaxial cable um it could be fiber it

[1:26:08] could be uh you may have some copper

[1:26:10] lines still uh copper facilities in in

[1:26:13] your town. So it would be whatever is on

[1:26:15] the poles, you would be looking at

[1:26:17] undergrounding all of it u together.

[1:26:20] Otherwise I mean that is the point if

[1:26:23] you want to actually remove the utility

[1:26:25] poles is you have to underground all of

[1:26:27] the utilities that are on the pole.

[1:26:29] >> Gotcha. So um thanks for that. And I

[1:26:33] think my opinion in terms of what we've

[1:26:35] discussed on the day today is I agree

[1:26:37] with my colleagues. Um I I agree with uh

[1:26:41] council member Krik. I think we really

[1:26:43] need to focus on solving coming forward

[1:26:45] with solutions. It does not mean the

[1:26:47] town has the solutions but my question

[1:26:51] would be to this consultant as part of

[1:26:54] your research um and feedback to us

[1:26:57] bring us information as well that the

[1:27:00] town could perhaps what can the town do

[1:27:03] to enhance services whether it's

[1:27:06] connectivity to residents. Um maybe we

[1:27:09] do nothing, maybe we don't have the the

[1:27:10] capacity financially and otherwise to do

[1:27:13] anything, but at least what are the

[1:27:16] specific things the town can do um with

[1:27:20] regards to fiber that would address um

[1:27:22] broadband internet service and it's

[1:27:25] going to be multiaceted. I mean what I'm

[1:27:27] hearing is that we may

[1:27:30] need to find a way to enhance all three

[1:27:33] components satellite fiber and cell

[1:27:36] towers. we may need that degree of

[1:27:39] redundancy and um I'm I'll be interested

[1:27:42] to know what my um colleagues think

[1:27:44] about that because I think at the end of

[1:27:46] the day what we're going to be able to

[1:27:48] do is to bring solutions to the town and

[1:27:49] to the residents and say well maybe we

[1:27:52] can use some town owned sites for to

[1:27:55] deploy some cell towers. Maybe we can

[1:27:58] run a little bit of fiber somewhere that

[1:28:00] would help residents get fiber with

[1:28:02] better broadband. Um, and then maybe

[1:28:05] certain areas can only use or can

[1:28:07] benefit more from satellite. My question

[1:28:09] would be from this consultant, what can

[1:28:12] the town do to enhance this

[1:28:14] communication issue across the board?

[1:28:16] And I would be interested to hear your

[1:28:18] feedback on that. But I do feel strongly

[1:28:20] that moving forward with specific

[1:28:22] questions and coming back with specific

[1:28:24] answers. And as council member Adams uh

[1:28:26] noted, we we need the answers and we are

[1:28:30] going to be talking about um strategic

[1:28:32] planning. So this conversation may come

[1:28:34] back, but we do need specific answers to

[1:28:37] help residents solve this problem and we

[1:28:40] need to do so in short order. I don't

[1:28:42] think I think the undergrounding issue

[1:28:45] in in the 30% that's not undergrounded

[1:28:47] may take a very long time. I I don't

[1:28:50] know, but that also needs to be

[1:28:51] explored. But we certainly need to

[1:28:53] address the communication issue more

[1:28:55] urgently. And I think that needs to be

[1:28:56] addressed like soon. We can't put put

[1:28:59] this off any longer. we're all fully aware of um natural disasters and

[1:29:05] emergencies and the importance of public

[1:29:07] safety along those lines. So if any of

[1:29:09] my colleagues want to comment what I

[1:29:11] just said, I'm happy to continue the

[1:29:13] conversation.

[1:29:15] >> Thank you. I I I think I agree with um

[1:29:18] everyone on the dis um that we really

[1:29:21] are looking for solutions and it is

[1:29:24] better that we have solutions while

[1:29:27] there's no applications. you know when

[1:29:29] we have applications then we cater to

[1:29:32] their selections and that makes it a

[1:29:34] very difficult conversation. I think

[1:29:36] that we're

[1:29:39] seriously looking at the three options

[1:29:42] that has the pro and cons and maybe also

[1:29:46] depends on where the homes located. Um

[1:29:50] at the end of the day it is public

[1:29:52] safety. It is consistent delivery of the

[1:29:56] wireless service. And so um it would be

[1:30:00] really great to get the consultant to

[1:30:03] find out best practices out there, what

[1:30:06] is applicable for our town and to the

[1:30:09] extent to the mayor's comments on you

[1:30:12] know so perhaps the city then we'll be

[1:30:14] able to utilize our resources to help

[1:30:18] support those uh improvements going

[1:30:20] forward.

[1:30:23] >> Um Council Member Crowley. Yeah, I just

[1:30:26] want to say thanks to the members of the

[1:30:27] public who are here and on Zoom, Josh

[1:30:29] Burns and Patrick Shannon and Paul

[1:30:31] Freriedman. You've all been part of the

[1:30:33] conversation that came to a head a few

[1:30:35] years ago and I think we're looking

[1:30:36] forward to moving forward and and it's

[1:30:39] good to have the input because hopefully

[1:30:40] we can all work together to come up with

[1:30:42] something that works for everybody.

[1:30:45] >> Um, Council Member Adams, you have

[1:30:47] additional comments.

[1:30:48] >> Uh, I I agree with everything we've

[1:30:51] said. We're solutionoriented

[1:30:53] and we're ready, but we're also ready to

[1:30:56] help our citizens do the solutions that

[1:30:59] they can do in the interim. So, it's

[1:31:02] complicated, but that's why we're going

[1:31:04] to get somebody involved in this who

[1:31:07] knows how the pieces of this puzzle fit

[1:31:09] together. Um, with regard to

[1:31:11] undergrounding,

[1:31:13] it has a a tie to in some ways uh making

[1:31:18] sure that we have consistent electrical

[1:31:20] delivery of our utilities. In some ways

[1:31:24] that affects all of this, but in some

[1:31:27] ways it is a separate issue. But I think

[1:31:29] it's really good to put it together with

[1:31:31] this at this time because that will give

[1:31:34] us we actually have as uh our assistant

[1:31:37] city manager said we already have uh an

[1:31:41] engineering firm working on how we would

[1:31:44] structure in in including more uh

[1:31:48] districts

[1:31:50] as undergrounded. It may not be

[1:31:53] something we want to eventually do, but

[1:31:55] as it might relate to this, it's really

[1:31:57] good to have this consultant kind of

[1:31:58] have that in the back of the mind as

[1:32:00] well. And I really think we just ought

[1:32:03] to go for this right away and still have

[1:32:06] our citizens who are very much engaged

[1:32:10] continue to be engaged in the

[1:32:11] conversation.

[1:32:15] » Um any um additional comments? Um so I

[1:32:18] think Mandy uh Brown the general

[1:32:21] directives is move forward with the RFP.

[1:32:24] Um if you could go to the last slide

[1:32:26] when you outlined timeline cost

[1:32:31] um and just resources that would need to

[1:32:33] be deployed.

[1:32:34] >> Yes.

[1:32:35] >> And if I could could I just summarize

[1:32:38] the direction that I heard to make sure

[1:32:39] that I'm on the right track. So the

[1:32:41] undergrounding utilities since that

[1:32:43] analysis is underway, we're sort of

[1:32:45] carving that out, but it will inform the

[1:32:48] study um rather than be part of this

[1:32:51] study. It would just tie in. Um and then

[1:32:54] the buckets are correct, the remaining

[1:32:56] buckets. But what I heard from the

[1:32:57] public and from the council is making

[1:33:00] sure that we're including best

[1:33:01] practices, uh looking at other

[1:33:03] jurisdictions and their regulations and

[1:33:05] using that to help inform. um as well as

[1:33:09] a resource library, public information,

[1:33:11] how the town can connect residents with

[1:33:13] solutions and a specific action plan for

[1:33:16] what the town can do as part of that

[1:33:18] deliverable. Um

[1:33:20] >> and and I think there was also one other

[1:33:22] point you discussed that we have not

[1:33:24] delved into but I think we would like to

[1:33:26] hear more on that which is really backup

[1:33:29] support in the event of um tow town

[1:33:31] townwide um uh power outages um

[1:33:35] providing resources with regards to

[1:33:38] generators, batteries and even the issue

[1:33:41] of micro grid is taking off. There's uh

[1:33:44] there are lots of entities exploring

[1:33:46] that and to perhaps look to see um how

[1:33:49] we can utilize town owned sites to

[1:33:53] create a micro grid in certain areas

[1:33:54] that are very prone to power outages. Um

[1:33:58] those are all things we would like them

[1:33:59] to explore. Yeah. Go ahead, Vice Mayor

[1:34:01] Rexdale.

[1:34:02] >> Um as far as what I heard, I thought

[1:34:04] that was a great summary. The only thing

[1:34:05] I'd add is in talking with other towns,

[1:34:08] not just on their ordinances, but also

[1:34:10] solutions that they've come up with.

[1:34:13] >> Got it. Thank you.

[1:34:15] >> Um any additional Yeah, we have someone

[1:34:17] in the public who would like to make a

[1:34:19] comment and I'll definitely um make an

[1:34:21] exception. Probably comment is closed,

[1:34:23] but definitely. Yeah. Yes, please do

[1:34:30] » for our source of interconnectivity.

[1:34:35] I want I wanted to say I cover the news

[1:34:38] and I was in Aldina. I was in Paradise

[1:34:42] and I was in Napa. The first thing to go

[1:34:46] are the cell towers because they get

[1:34:48] burned and it was useless and we

[1:34:52] couldn't get out. we couldn't get a call

[1:34:53] in or get a call out. So if we are

[1:34:56] thinking about emergency services or

[1:34:59] safety issues and if we are only relying

[1:35:02] on cell towers and forget it

[1:35:05] because when there's a fire and

[1:35:07] earthquake it they don't work right. I

[1:35:10] think the directive is to explore

[1:35:13] uh all of the above um with regard to

[1:35:16] redund redundancy to explore satellite

[1:35:19] maybe not for the whole town but in

[1:35:21] specific areas maybe for the whole town

[1:35:23] that may be perfect we don't know yet we

[1:35:24] need to see what resources will be

[1:35:27] required explore fiber and explore cell

[1:35:31] towers everything we're hearing so far

[1:35:34] um even in satellite I actually wanted

[1:35:36] to ask one of the speakers Um,

[1:35:40] when you have townwide or regionwide

[1:35:43] fires,

[1:35:45] does satellite still is it is it good?

[1:35:49] Does it still work?

[1:35:50] >> Yes, we use satellite phones.

[1:35:52] >> Okay.

[1:35:53] >> Yeah.

[1:35:53] So, I think the the recommendation

[1:35:56] is to have a consultant come back to us

[1:35:58] with all of the above and then we can

[1:36:02] depending on what resources are

[1:36:04] required, we can certainly prioritize. I

[1:36:06] totally agree with you. You want to have

[1:36:09] regular communication when everything is

[1:36:12] perfect, but in the event of an

[1:36:13] emergency, you do want redundancy. You

[1:36:16] want other options so people can

[1:36:18] >> I think during the last meeting, we also

[1:36:20] talked about um

[1:36:24] levying a fee to under to help under the

[1:36:28] expense of undergrounding all the

[1:36:30] cables.

[1:36:31] >> Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's also being discussed as well.

[1:36:36] Okay. Thanks for your comments. I

[1:36:37] appreciate it. Um, any additional

[1:36:39] comments from anyone in the public or

[1:36:41] from the DEAS?

[1:36:44] All right.

[1:36:46] >> Do we need a motion? Uh,

[1:36:48] >> we've given directives. Um, is this uh

[1:36:51] my understanding is this is mostly a

[1:36:54] discussion.

[1:36:55] >> Just Mayor Cole and council. Uh, no need

[1:36:56] for a motion unless the direction is

[1:36:58] unclear to any of you, but I think if

[1:37:00] Mandy Brown has that direction, then I

[1:37:01] think you're fine to proceed.

[1:37:03] >> Yeah. Correct. Is that is that okay with

[1:37:06] everyone? Good. We will close both both

[1:37:10] public comments and move on to the next

[1:37:12] agenda item which is city council items.

[1:37:15] Um we'll start with uh council member

[1:37:17] Adams.

[1:37:23] » Thank you Mayor Cole. Uh December was an

[1:37:27] interesting month in terms of my council

[1:37:31] activities. Next slide. Uh the Rethink

[1:37:34] Waste Board did not meet in December.

[1:37:36] The Hillsboro Beautification Foundation,

[1:37:39] the board did not meet, but light up the

[1:37:41] town was a huge success. I'll talk about

[1:37:44] that in a minute. Uh the subcommittee

[1:37:46] for Tobin Clark simply updated the land

[1:37:49] assessment tools and the survey so that

[1:37:52] we can get started. The subcommittee on

[1:37:54] ordinances did not meet in December

[1:37:58] and I did meet with public works uh as

[1:38:02] we normally do. Next slide.

[1:38:06] Um I just wanted to mention uh light up

[1:38:08] the town. I had a conflict but I

[1:38:11] understand it was extremely extremely

[1:38:14] well attended and wellreceived swing

[1:38:17] set. We certainly love having uh the

[1:38:21] musical uh entertainment but also just

[1:38:24] the camaraderie of the town. So I wanted

[1:38:27] to compliment uh the Hillsboro

[1:38:29] Beautification Foundation which takes

[1:38:30] that very seriously and runs it for us.

[1:38:34] Next

[1:38:36] slide. Uh I'm have an action photo.

[1:38:41] Actually, there's two action photos of

[1:38:44] our vice mayor at the council of cities

[1:38:47] uh which took place in in December in

[1:38:50] Kulma. That event was attended uh by uh

[1:38:54] council member Schwang, myself and our

[1:38:57] vice mayor uh who aly represented us. It

[1:39:02] does it may look like the person in the

[1:39:04] front of the right photograph is

[1:39:06] praying, but he's not. He's actually

[1:39:09] listening intently as our vice mayor

[1:39:11] talks. Next slide.

[1:39:15] Uh again, it was uh really Meline was

[1:39:21] the shining star for us. uh uh Vice

[1:39:26] Mayor Ragsdale and myself were there

[1:39:29] when the truck arrived with her artwork

[1:39:33] and her entire class and her family uh

[1:39:36] were able to see her truck uh which was

[1:39:40] pretty impressive and I want to

[1:39:43] compliment Rethink Waste. They actually

[1:39:46] gave her this uh little remembrance of

[1:39:50] this event. But it was quite nice for

[1:39:53] the whole school to see this. Next

[1:39:58] uh leadership council San Monteo all day

[1:40:01] intense

[1:40:03] simulation. You probably anyone who

[1:40:06] experienced that can't forget it. I

[1:40:09] won't go any deeper than that. But you

[1:40:10] learn a lot in this simulation. That was

[1:40:13] an all day event. Next slide.

[1:40:17] Uh, I really truly enjoyed uh being

[1:40:22] there for our police department badge

[1:40:25] pinning and swearing in. And I just

[1:40:28] wanted to emphasize how important it is

[1:40:32] uh not just for the town and for our

[1:40:34] employees but also for their families

[1:40:38] and how proud they are of participating

[1:40:41] in such a very positive event.

[1:40:45] Congratulations to everyone there

[1:40:48] uh and all of us were there. Everyone

[1:40:51] from uh the council. Next slide.

[1:40:57] And I want to compliment and underscore

[1:41:00] the great work done by the town of

[1:41:02] Hillsboro's public works. Uh it's their

[1:41:05] regular maintenance. It's their

[1:41:07] preparation for weather. It's their

[1:41:09] responsiveness that keeps us safe when

[1:41:12] atmospheric rivers decide to come and uh

[1:41:16] pay a visit. And I really want us to

[1:41:19] appreciate that hard work in planning

[1:41:22] and execution. I also want to express

[1:41:26] gratitude for citizen reports. It's

[1:41:29] really important. Uh this is how we find

[1:41:34] out what's happening. If someone's

[1:41:37] walking their dog and they see a hole in

[1:41:40] the asphalt and they contact public

[1:41:44] works,

[1:41:46] we find the the sinkhole and we fix it,

[1:41:49] which is what we did. So, I just want to

[1:41:52] encourage people to recognize you are

[1:41:55] the eyes and ears of our town, not just

[1:41:58] for public works, for building and

[1:42:00] planning, for permitting. This is an

[1:42:04] important component of being a good

[1:42:06] citizen and we actually appreciate it.

[1:42:08] It's what keeps us safe. I think that's

[1:42:11] the end. Next, thanks.

[1:42:14] >> Thank you, Council Member Adams. I'm

[1:42:15] Council Member Trong.

[1:42:21] I don't have the show and tell

[1:42:23] [clears throat] and I think that council

[1:42:24] member Adams has covered most of the

[1:42:26] events uh for December. Um I do want to

[1:42:30] say 2026 there will be Super Bowl

[1:42:34] FIFA. Um there's going to be a lot of uh

[1:42:38] activities that's happening in our area

[1:42:41] and I highly encourage that people look

[1:42:43] into the public transit. Um it is now

[1:42:46] contactless which means that you can use

[1:42:49] your credit card to purchase your

[1:42:51] tickets to be able to take board train

[1:42:54] or buses and I think that in any kind of

[1:42:58] gathering uh it will be advantageous for

[1:43:00] you to be able to uh find the schedule

[1:43:03] and be able to take advantage of that.

[1:43:06] Um and uh Sam turns by the way will be

[1:43:10] uh celebrating its uh 50th anniversary

[1:43:13] this year. So, it's a big deal. Thank

[1:43:16] you.

[1:43:18] >> Um, thank you, Council Member um, Trong,

[1:43:20] Council Member Crowic.

[1:43:21] >> Thank you, Madame Mayor. Again,

[1:43:22] congratulations to Chief Colola and to

[1:43:25] all the members of the HPD who got swung

[1:43:27] in. Was a great event as council member

[1:43:29] Adams um, talked about. Um, alarm

[1:43:32] monitoring ended on December 31st. I

[1:43:34] haven't gotten any complaints from

[1:43:36] residents. The alarm company that we

[1:43:38] used to turn over said they were very, busy. So, I think that um HPD and

[1:43:42] the town did a great job getting the

[1:43:44] word out on that. We hope CCFD's toy

[1:43:46] drive was very, very successful. Thanks

[1:43:49] to them. Um ADRB met on December 17th,

[1:43:53] and we did say goodbye to Kathleen Egan,

[1:43:55] who's served for quite a long time, and

[1:43:58] she will be recognized at our volunteer

[1:43:59] thank you event. The date is still to be

[1:44:01] determined, but we should be able to

[1:44:03] announce that by tomorrow. I just have

[1:44:05] to do a final huddle with our city clerk

[1:44:07] and our mayor. Thank you.

[1:44:09] Council Member Krillic. Um,

[1:44:12] Vice Mayor Rexdale,

[1:44:14] >> thank you. Um, I I'll try to be brief

[1:44:17] because I think most are repeats. Uh,

[1:44:18] next slide.

[1:44:21] >> Um, oh, ebikes. You may have gotten an

[1:44:24] invitation. Um if not um uh it can it

[1:44:29] can go out on the e-news but um Diane

[1:44:31] Papin is putting together a forum on

[1:44:34] ebikes uh later this month and Ana Dal

[1:44:38] the chair of our youth commission will

[1:44:39] be part of that. um I plan on attending.

[1:44:43] Um but anyway, she wrote a fantastic

[1:44:45] editorial which was in the Daily Journal

[1:44:47] and um is really working on this issue

[1:44:50] and adding in the teen perspective which

[1:44:53] is so crucial and u very much

[1:44:56] appreciated. Um badge pinning the

[1:44:59] calendar. Um,

[1:45:02] uh, oh, Smearan House. Um, Council

[1:45:05] Member Schwang and her husband Mike and

[1:45:07] I were there to to help with their, um,

[1:45:09] gift distribution event, which is always

[1:45:12] a joy. Uh, next slide.

[1:45:16] And next slide. Love the truck.

[1:45:20] And

[1:45:22] next slide. I swear I wasn't even

[1:45:24] drinking. And that's what

[1:45:28] um this is I'm sure you all know Ariel.

[1:45:32] Uh I like to say he was in charge at

[1:45:35] South School. Um but he worked at South

[1:45:38] School and facilities for 27 years. It

[1:45:42] was four or five principles I think that

[1:45:44] he went through. He knew uh every kid.

[1:45:48] Um he helped them all learn to tie their

[1:45:52] shoes and did the the not fun work of

[1:45:55] cleaning up things and um was just a

[1:45:58] strong strong presence for all of the

[1:46:00] families and there was a beautiful

[1:46:02] celebration that alumni were invited to.

[1:46:05] We made a big um goodbye tunnel u with

[1:46:09] music and it was spectacular. Um and if

[1:46:12] you still want to see Ariel, he still

[1:46:15] works at the Costco. Um, so you can go

[1:46:18] by and see him there. Um, but it was

[1:46:20] just a great uh I was at South School

[1:46:24] twice and like in a week. Um, and it's

[1:46:26] just great that most of us move here for

[1:46:29] the schools and it was um really

[1:46:32] fantastic to see the that connection

[1:46:34] there and I think Oh, is it North ran

[1:46:38] that place too

[1:46:40] and I think that was my last slide. Yes.

[1:46:42] Thank you.

[1:46:43] >> Thank you, Vice Mayor Rexdale. One more

[1:46:45] thing, Council Member Schwang, also

[1:46:47] known as chair of SAMR,

[1:46:51] she didn't mention that. So,

[1:46:57] » thank you. Um, yes, my colleagues have

[1:47:00] already mentioned a lot of what the past

[1:47:02] couple of months have looked like. Um,

[1:47:05] and I thank them for their

[1:47:06] participation. I did participate in some

[1:47:08] of these events, so I will not repeat

[1:47:09] it. However, um I would like to do a

[1:47:11] quick update on CACAG meeting which is

[1:47:14] the um cities of um the basically the 21

[1:47:20] uh cities in the San Monteo County that

[1:47:22] are represented by this government

[1:47:24] agency meets monthly and often deal with

[1:47:29] um legislative agendas or bills that are

[1:47:33] moving through the state legislature. Um

[1:47:35] in this case in this last meeting in

[1:47:37] December 11th we

[1:47:40] specifically of note that I would like

[1:47:42] to bring back is we had a presentation

[1:47:43] from 21 elements of the San Monteo

[1:47:46] County which is a clearing house of um

[1:47:49] just housing information and assistance

[1:47:51] with our reena numbers and making sure

[1:47:54] we're staying on schedule. And the most

[1:47:57] significant information that was given

[1:47:59] to us was that Reena 7 will start 2028

[1:48:03] through 2029. That information will be

[1:48:06] forthcoming. Um Abag, which is the

[1:48:09] entity that calculates what every

[1:48:12] municipality's reena seven allocations

[1:48:15] would look like, we'll be starting

[1:48:17] working on that um within the next six

[1:48:20] months to 12 months. Um, so just to sort

[1:48:23] of keep it in our blinders and they

[1:48:25] really are recommending that every

[1:48:27] municipality start work early on meeting

[1:48:31] their resoning targets. So I just want

[1:48:33] to pass that along to my colleagues. Not

[1:48:36] as much fun news as the stuff you were

[1:48:38] talking about, but unfortunately that's what they're

[1:48:42] talking about. [snorts] Um, otherwise um

[1:48:45] I had a wonderful holiday with my

[1:48:47] family. Yeah. And um also one more

[1:48:50] important thing that also happened at

[1:48:51] CCAG, our council member Chuang was

[1:48:56] reappointed to one shoreline uh board of

[1:48:59] directors. Congratulations.

[1:49:07] With that said, oh yeah, go ahead,

[1:49:09] Council Member Trunk.

[1:49:11] >> Uh

[1:49:11] >> she's busy.

[1:49:12] >> Uh well, thank you very much for your um

[1:49:15] kind acknowledgement. Um I I do want to

[1:49:18] u remind the staff that because the uh

[1:49:22] El Camino Real's improvement project is

[1:49:26] taking place and it will be happening

[1:49:28] for the next three years and most likely

[1:49:31] four. Um the traffic is going to be

[1:49:34] horrendous and so to the extent that the

[1:49:36] PD the public work I think is all hands

[1:49:40] on deck. Even though the communication

[1:49:42] most likely come from Berling game, I

[1:49:45] would you know implore that we pay

[1:49:47] attention to it and remind our residents

[1:49:50] to um avoid those area if they're in a

[1:49:53] hurry. Um so and then be mindful of the

[1:49:57] SMC alert. I think that that would be

[1:49:59] very helpful.

[1:50:00] >> Um before I adjourn, I would like to ask

[1:50:02] our city attorney. We had we didn't

[1:50:05] finish our close session meeting and we

[1:50:07] talked about resuming it after the city

[1:50:09] council meeting. Is that still

[1:50:10] appropriate to do so?

[1:50:12] >> It is, mayor. Um, we would just want to

[1:50:13] note for the public that you're going to

[1:50:14] convene in close session and consider

[1:50:16] item C at the conclusion of this public

[1:50:18] meeting.

[1:50:19] >> Thank you. And with that said, this

[1:50:21] meeting is now adjourned.

[1:50:31] » Um, the city council is um now reporting

[1:50:34] from close session and we need to take

[1:50:37] um a roll call. Correct.

[1:50:39] >> I'll just go ahead and announce for the

[1:50:41] record that all council members are

[1:50:42] present.

[1:50:43] >> We all here and I'll turn it over to our

[1:50:45] city attorney.

[1:50:46] >> No, thank you uh Mayor Cole. I just

[1:50:48] wanted to note that council did

[1:50:49] reconvene in close session to consider

[1:50:51] item C on the close session agenda. At

[1:50:53] the conclusion of that direction was

[1:50:55] given to staff, but otherwise there was

[1:50:56] no reportable action under the Brown

[1:50:57] Act. Thank you. Okay.

[1:50:59] >> Thank you.

[1:51:01] This session this meeting is now closed.

[1:51:04] Thanks.

City Council Meeting - January 12, 2026

Transcript