Good evening everyone. The Hillsboro
City Council meeting is now called to
order. City clerk, may we please have
the roll call?
>> Thank you. Mayor Cole Adams,
>> present.
>> Schwang,
>> present. Krillic,
>> present. Braxdale,
>> present. Cole,
>> present.
>> Thank you.
>> Um, announcement of conflicts of
interest on closed session items. Do any
of the council members have a conflict
of interest on any of the closed uh
session items?
Seeing none
and um
let me announce the public uh let me do
a public announcement of the close
session items. Um item A, conference
with legal council existing litigation
town of Hillsboro versus all persons
interested in matters of proceedings for
resolution number 22-83 adopting maximum
rates for water service charges San
Mateo Superior Court case number 23 CIV
01028.
Item B, conference with legal council,
initiation of litigation pursuant to
government code section 54956.9,
print D, P print 4, one, potential case,
consideration of appeal in existing
litigation noted above.
Item C, conference with labor
negotiators
pursuant to government code section
54957.6,
Six, unrepresented employee, city
manager, agency designated negotiator,
Mayor Sophie Cole. Any public comment on
close session items?
>> No, Mayor Cole. Thank you.
>> Okay, we're now adjourned um to close
session items and um we'll start the
regular city council meeting at 6 p.m.
Thank you.
Meeting is now called to order.
The regular city council meeting is now
called to order. Um the time the date is
um January 12th and the time is 606.
Thank you. Um
city clerk, may we please have the roll
call.
>> Thank you. Mayor Cole Adams present.
Schwang
>> present.
>> Crowig present.
>> Braxdale present. Cole
>> present.
>> Thank you. And
>> please join me in pledge of allegiance.
Um, before we get started this evening,
I want to announce for the public that
the public hearing item for 1200
Jacqueline, which was noticed for this
meeting, is no longer on the on this
agenda. It will be rescheduled for a
future meeting and notices will be
recent.
Um, do we have any report from close
session? City attorney Diaz.
>> Thank you, Mayor Cole. I just wanted to
announce for the council of the public.
The council did convene in close session
and consider three items. Um, at the
conclusion of the close session, uh,
there was no reportable action, but
direction was given to staff. I do want
to note that the council will reconvene
in close session at the conclusion of
this council meeting. Um, regarding item
C. Thank you.
Um, thank you. I think we have um a very
distinguished guest with us this
evening.
Um, we will be presenting the 2026 HIP
housing calendar in recognition of
Hillsboro Student Calendar contest
winner. And I would like to invite Laura
Fenucci, director of programs of HIPPA
to present the 2026 Hip Housing
calendar.
>> Thank you, Mayor. Um, good evening. My
name is Laura Fenui. welcome. And I am
pleased tonight to not only provide you
with Hip Housing's 2026 calendar, but to
also give you a little bit of update on
the activities that we've been doing
here in the town of Hillsboro. But
first, we have an distinguished guest
here this evening who I think I
understand you already know because
she's quite a talented artist and did a
drawing for Recology. So, Miss Maline
Woo, would you please come up here with
me?
>> Good evening, Natalie. Welcome.
[laughter]
>> So, um we have our calendar contest
every year. We received about 120
entries this year. We picked 14 winners.
Um one for the 12 months, one our cover
winner, and we also picked a winner to
use in our annual appeal um
correspondence to our donors. And I'm
pleased to announce that Meline is our
cover winner and she we honored her at
our calendar contest party in December
and she is going to read her quote.
She's on the cover and her picture's up
there. Okay. So, I'm going to have you
read.
» What my home means is being loved and
cared for. My home is a safe place.
Thank you.
Um, thank you, Meline. I hope you
register again for next year. [laughter]
>> Yeah,
>> we'll have you back. Um, so I don't know
if you wanted to take a picture with
Maline or can do that a little after I
give my my spiel.
>> Yeah, maybe I'll see your presentation.
But okay,
>> congratulations. This picture is
beautiful. This cover is just lovely. I
especially like the heart at the door.
That's really sweet. very detailed work
>> and we'll take a photo we'll take photos
after you finish.
>> Okay, great. Thank you so much.
>> Okay. Um so I wanted to give just a
brief update on activities uh for our
ADU match collaboration.
Um you know we meet monthly with Liz and
Nicole to talk about outreach activities
here in Hillsboro and then also in the
surrounding communities in Sanonteo in
Berlingame. Um, last fiscal year we had
six members from Hillsboro contact our
organization for information about our
programs. So far this fiscal year we've
already had three. So we're on kind of
on track for that. Hopefully we'll
exceed that. Um, three other individuals
learned about HIP housing from our
outreach activities and uh, two
individuals in Hillsboro applied to the
home sharing program. and we have one
match here in our home sharing program
that has been going on now for 5 years.
So really proud about that match and
they were so gracious to come and speak
at an event that we had in the town of
Athetherton. We have a similar
collaboration. So they came and they
talked about their home sharing match
and it was really just very lovely for
them to share their experience um with
their with their match. Um, so a lot of
the outreach that we've com uh that
we've accomplished last year and we
continue to do this year is we meet
monthly with town staff. Um, we met with
the CCAC committee to discuss outreach
opportunities. Um, we also um met with
the town's ADU specialists to share
information about hip housing. Um, we
attended the Memorial Day event, the
neighborhood fest event. Um, we attended
the Berling game Hillsboro Chamber Mixer
and um, we held a joint presentation
with the ADU resource center and we
invited homeowners that have ADUs to
learn a little bit more about hip
housing and also the ADU resource
center. Um, we have advertising here in
the town of Hillsboro. So, we thank you
very much for that on the billboard ads.
Um, I also produce a monthly flyer that,
um, kind of details some of the seekers
who are looking for housing and that
gets posted on your e newswsletter.
Um, we're also included in your town's
eblast. We post flyers here at town
hall. We have the ADU flyer in the
permit packets. And um Hip Housing also
did a a mailing to all of our donors in
Hillsboro and all of our former um home
providers that participated in the home
sharing program. Um we also sent
information to all the realators who
work here in the town of Hillsboro and
we found out that information from
Samar. Um we've outreached with the
schools here in Hillsboro. Um we've had
correspondence they include information
about our match program in their
correspondence with faculty and with
also families and um we're in the
process of contacting some other schools
some private schools that are in and
around Hillsboro area. Um we also do you
know branch out and we do outreach in
Berlingame and in Hill and in uh Berling
game so at Berlingame and St. Mateo. So,
we do a lot of flying to like local
businesses, to the libraries, to the
faith communities, service
organizations, and nonprofit
organizations.
And two, um, upcoming activities that
we're going to be hosting here hopefully
in the spring is kind of an ADU match
event where we invite homeowners here in
Hillsboro to come learn about hip
housing um, and then members of the
community who might be looking for
housing. We've done this event twice in
the town of Athetherton and we've had
really good turnout and it's really been
a a very successful event. Um we also
recently entered into similar
collaboration with the town of Porola
Valley and they're thinking that it
might be beneficial if a quarterly
meeting could be scheduled with the
towns of Athetherton um Hillsboro,
Portulla Valley and Woodside just so
that we can brainstorm on collect you
know collaborative outreach activities.
So hopefully that um will be in the
works. And how we could use your help is
if you have any contacts at service
clubs that we could contact to do
presentations at or even at the faith
community that would be very helpful as
well. Or if you're seeing any place
around town or in Berling game or hill
in Sano where we might post information
that we might have missed. Um if you
could just let us know that would be
great. So, we're very appreciative for
your support of of this project and we
really look forward uh we really, you
know, appreciate the efforts that Liz
and Nicole um are doing to help make
this possible and we really appreciate
your support and I'm happy to answer any
questions that you might have.
>> Uh thank you, Miss Penucci. Um any uh
comments or questions for my colleagues
from the council? Um Vice Mayor Ragdale,
>> thank you so much. Um, I was so happy to
be at the calendar presentation. Um, and
so proud of Meline and and her family. I
think uh grandma and grandpa are online
here to watch. Um, and uh anyway, um, so
happy with all of your outreach. I know
it's it's challenging and uh the idea of
the quarterly meeting with the four
towns sounds like a fantastic idea and
maybe even the the match event we could
all combine for that maybe for more
people.
>> Yes.
>> Um uh I think that's fabulous. And in
terms of clubs, um I presume you're in
contact with Peninsula Family Service.
Um but the Berling game Women's Club,
several of us are members. If you're not
in contact with them, we could connect
you. Great. Yeah, we we've tried. So,
we'd love to have a personal end. So,
that would be great. I'll do that. Thank
you.
>> Great.
>> Um,
thank you. And also, um, regarding just
for residents in terms of information,
first of all, I think the outreach you
have going is quite impressive and it's
fantastic. I know it's gotten
significantly
more expansive over the past four to
five years. Um, regarding the screening
that you do for potential um, renters to
do the match, could you just give us one
or two key screening things that you do
for potential renters? What do you do?
>> Sure. So, our screening process is
really the same for both home providers
and home seekers. We require the client
to meet personally with one of our home
sharing uh, team. And for home for home
providers, we can do a home visit. So,
we'd like to see the environment that
they're offering. So, we will come to
the home to do the home visit. Um, the
clients complete an application and then
they complete a questionnaire in their
own words like what are what kind of
housemate they're looking for, a little
bit about their lifestyle, um, about the
space that they're offering. And then,
um, we require our home seekers to
provide us with proof of income. We
don't require that of our home
providers, but we do of our home
seekers. Um, we also require um we do a
criminal background check. So, we do a
local county background search and a
national sex offender database check.
Um, and so we also ask clients to sign a
program agreement and waiver. So, the
screening is very similar for both
clients except the only difference is
that we don't ask home providers for
their income information.
>> That's that's really helpful to know.
Any additional questions for my
colleagues?
>> Just to say thank you and
congratulations
>> and congratulations Madlin. Um
>> I'm so impressed with the detail.
>> Um I think we should take a photo with
Meline. She would love to post that in
her room, I'm sure.
>> Great. Thank you.
>> Yes. And
>> yes. Yes.
Thank you,
>> Laura. Thank you so much. Thank you for
your work.
Byebye.
Okay. The next item on our agenda will
be presented by city manager Doug Davis,
which is town update.
>> Thank you, Madam Mayor. Uh, this will be
a familiar slide from a while ago, but
this is our ADU slide, and this is just
a culmination of the three years. And in
April when we'll do a report out on
ADUs, uh you'll see this again and also
the uh the HCD website will be updated
with our numbers for 2025. If you
remember early on, our goal was to hit
50 a year and uh we are exactly at at 50
a year if you average that out. So well
done Tim and Liz for streamlining the
process and getting that done. So we'll
keep updating you that as the April
meeting approaches. Also on January
14th, uh Senator Becker is having a uh
it's it's called the senior scam stopper
seminar, but I recently was in a
conversation with a senator and a couple
other people. And actually, a lot of
these things are maybe things we could
all benefit from uh that uh for stopping
these type of online scams as well as
phone calls. Uh and that'll be held on
Janu or Thursday, January 15th from 9:00
a.m. to 11:00. And that's over at the
Redwood City Public Library. And there's
some additional information on uh
Senator Becker's website if you'd like
to go check that. Also, through the end
of the month, uh we'll be having tree
pickup. Just a reminder that you need to
take all the decorations off the tree uh
before you put it out in in front of
there. I did get a question about uh I
believe it's called flocking on trees
and whether they could be put out or
not. I didn't have an answer, so I put
in a phone call and I will figure out
what that is and and give them a call
back. Uh, and Meline, although she's
left here, I think she's getting used to
photo shoots now because she was also
our annual contest winner uh for uh
Rethink Waste. And uh and that is her uh
picture that's prominently displayed on
one of the pickup trucks there.
>> And uh that'll be moving through our
town. Are they still here?
>> Right there. Look up.
>> There's your truck.
>> Alan's like, "That's old hat." you know,
she goes to restaurants now. People are
asking her for autographs.
>> Our artist laurate. Yes.
>> And we're having the uh C basic class
February 3rd through the 28th uh uh this
year. And and that's for Berlingame,
Milbury, and Hillsboro residents
together. If you want more information,
you can go on the CCFD website or ask
anybody in H&N about it as well. Uh this
is sort of the entry into the first
being a community emergency response
team member. Um and uh it's a good entry
point for just starting out. Uh and the
more cert members we have, as we always
say, they're our biggest help as a force
multiplier should we ever have an
emergency here in town.
We're going to have the H&N first
quarter information session coming up.
That'll be on February 11th from 6:30 to
8:00 p.m. That's right here in the
council chambers. And one of the guest
speakers will be Heather Vandenberg.
She's going to talk about her
experiences
uh down with the Palisades fire and it's
a pretty harrowing story of her sort of
evacuation and all the things that went
on uh during that time as well as her
relocation and sort of lessons learned.
So it's a a one year later look back at
that process and if you've never heard
her story, it's it's pretty impressive.
Uh again, that's February 11th here at
the council chambers on the El Camino
reality. You're going to notice a lot of
uh work going on uh particularly uh
right here in the Hillsboro Sanonteo
Milbury area as they're doing their uh
renewal project. Uh the work is going to
be going on during the weekdays and uh
during the daytime at this time right
now that you know we may see some
changes on that depending on what work
needs to be done. Uh traffic is being
relocated uh through Berlingame and
Sanonteo. Uh we are trying to keep the
re the redirection of traffic through
Hillsboro as as low as possible. And I
appreciate Paul Willis over there at
public works who's been working pretty
closely with uh CALR on making sure that
we don't get our roadways flooded with
motorists uh coming down to El Camino.
Also on the tartan trail thing, this has
been a topic a few times at past council
meetings, but on November 10th, we
awarded a design build contract to Power
Engineering Construction Company. They
are going to start work immediately on
uh repairing this portion of the roadway
uh down at Tartan Trail and Crystal
Springs Road. This was a a decision made
by the city council that uh the public
safety is at the paramount here. So,
we're going to start roadway work on it
uh as soon as we can. There may be some
funds that are recovered as a result of
uh later on looking at all the
responsible parties being involved and
who should pay what their share of that
is. But I think in the meantime, public
safety wins out over everything else and
we're going to be repairing it as soon
as possible.
On the website, if you go to current
town projects, uh that's been on there
for a while, but if you've never taken a
look at it, this is a great place. And
as you can see, the Tartan Trail
emergency road repair is put on there.
uh or as well as any other projects that
we have going on in town. So, if you
ever see something and you're kind of
interested in in knowing what's going on
there or what type of city project that
is, this is a great place to go and kind
of get that information off of our
website.
These are some upcoming
meetings that are coming and these are
always tentative and we post them, but
these are our plans coming in the next
few months as far as things we're going
to bring back to the city council. Uh
particular interest will be our water
rates coming up in February and March.
Um, and any questions from that, you can
direct them to the to my office at the
city manager. And then finally, our
slide that we always end on is all the
notification processes that we have. As
we always say, uh, SMC alert is your
lowest entry point. Everybody should
have that on their phone. And then from
there, it's a matter of just picking
what works best for you. Uh, and as I
always say, Nixel is probably one of the
easiest uh, ones to use and allows you
to get uh, sort of the baseline
information. And then of course if you
have any other uh interest in in my
shake watch duty and also uh Genesis as
far as evacuation zones those are good
to have. But again if you just were
going to pick one of these I would say
SMC alert is the one to have and uh for
a low entry point of just wanting basic
information is a very userfriendly
platform. Thank you ma'am.
>> Thank you city manager Davis.
The next item on
>> May I make a comment? Yeah, sure.
>> Uh I I just want to highlight that the
uh Hillsboro CA mobile app is really
user friendly and it's visually
attractive. So I do encourage everyone
to use it and get your information,
phone numbers, emails, and all the most
current update. And I just, you know,
did the flash news and it does reflect
it right away on the Tardan trails
project. So fantastic.
I'm sorry. What is that app again?
>> Hillsboro
CA mobile app.
>> Okay. So, will that be added to our uh
list of apps? Is it going to be on the
Nixel or is it a separate app?
>> It's a it's an app that you have to
download
>> separate from Nixel. Okay.
>> Can we also go back two slides just to
the goal setting day? Mhm.
» Um, go back two slides.
» Um, the one right before this. Oh, no.
This one. Uh, annual. No, I'm sorry. It
was It says annual goal setting. I want
to make sure everybody knows that
January 23rd is a Friday.
Oh, it's not a Monday.
It's February. It's supposed to be
February 23rd.
>> February 23rd. Okay. I was having a
slight heart palpitation there when I
thought, is it January or February?
>> I I was too. I went to my Okay, so
>> that was my fault.
>> My correct.
>> It's February.
>> February.
>> What? Great pickup.
>> Yes. Great pick up, Council Member
Adams. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
I ma'am, I'm so sorry. We're going to
have in just a moment the mayor here is
going to call for public comment and
that would be the perfect time. Just
give it just a moment.
>> Yes. And she you could just stay there
because um she could go next because I
will be focusing on items that are not
on the agenda. So go ahead and ask your
question. Yes. My question is on Tatum
Trail at the bottom of the road. That's
always been construction for the past
few years. No, I mean no construction.
It's just coned off. What's going on
there?
And now there are some stop signs, but
still nobody's working on that area, but
it has been coned off for at least three
years.
>> Yeah. at that bottom area there. There's
always been stop signs there, but you
may have noticed they're moved due to
some of the road codes that are there in
there as well. That's what I was just
talking about on that previous slide
where we've just awarded a contract, so
work should be starting there.
>> What's wrong with that part of the road?
>> The there's some uh I don't know all the
details about what's wrong with it. I
know there's some structural problems
underneath the roadway right at that
area. There's a creek that runs under
there, right? And that's uh been a
concern. The area that's coned off so
that cars can't go over it is the area
of concern. The rest of the roadway is
safe, but it sort of narrows the roadway
and our roads are already narrow, so
that's why we're going to get it fixed.
>> All right. Thank you.
>> You're welcome.
>> Yeah.
>> Thank you. Thanks for that
clarification. Okay. So, the next uh
public comment um is items that are not
on the agenda. Do we have any um anyone
in the public who wishes to make a
comment on items not on the agenda?
>> Thank you, Mayor Cole. I don't have any
speaker cards in chambers, but I'll give
it a moment on Zoom if anyone would like
to make a comment on an item that's not
on the agenda.
» We'll give it a minute.
» Thank you. I'm I'm not seeing see.
>> Okay.
Seeing none,
>> um we will now um close public comment
on items not on the agenda and we will
move on to um announcements of conflict
of interest from the council from the
chambers. Any um conflict of interest
from any of the council members on items
um on the on the consent calendar
or on the agenda?
» None. See not. Okay. Um,
for item four, resolution authorizing
compensation and benefits adjustments
for unrepresented employees. The Brown
Act requires a verbal report of the
recommendations for final action on the
salary or compensation paid in the form
of fringe benefits of a local agency
executive during the open meeting in
which the final action is to take place
which includes the department head
positions and in the unrepresented
group. The salary adjustments included
4% cost of living increase for the
assistant city manager, chief of police,
director of finance, director of
building and planning, and director of
public works. And I will
now discuss the um new annual salaries.
Assistant city manager $242,247.80.
Chief of Police 273,292
um uh dollars47
Director of Building and Planning
266,4287
Director of Finance 266,4287
and director of public works 284,3134.
The city manager salary will be
evaluated in the upcoming months in
conjunction with this performance
appraisal.
Would any of my colleagues like to
remove any um items from the consent
calendar?
>> I just have a comment on item seven.
>> I would like to remove item six and I
have a question on item eight.
» Any other items to be removed or noted?
Okay. Um, so let's move forward and vote
on the items that are not removed. Uh,
any other items to be removed?
>> I I don't need to remove seven. I just
have a comment on it.
>> Okay, go ahead.
>> I just wanted to um introduce Matt Ken
is in the um audience here. He is the
member who has been our current um
alternate on the ADRB and um is proposed
tonight to step up to the uh seat that's
been ve vacated by long-erving well
esteemed member Kathleen Egan. So I want
to welcome Matt.
>> Welcome Matt and thank you.
Okay, we will then um before we comment,
we have two other items, six and eight,
that have been removed for further
discussion, but can we move forward and
vote on the
>> um
>> Oh, oh, I'm sorry. Eight is a question.
Um you can go ahead and
>> Thank you, Madam Mayor. Uh on eight in
the project schedule and timeline in
phase one uh it mentions that town staff
provides feedback on the poll draft and
then it says the poll is finalized and
approved by town staff and city
attorney. So my question is, is there a
role for the council in looking at those
drafts as you envision it?
» Thank you. Um
that's how it was written in terms of
involving council. Uh we would staff
would be working with either a subset of
council just to make sure that we're
getting input. And I do have uh Brian
Godby who's one of the consultants that
has worked with many other jurisdictions
and and uh he was able to provide some
examples on how they've done it in other
jurisdictions. If if you would like
Brian to speak to this question.
» No, I I think that's that's helpful that
you had that concept. So Okay. Thank
you.
>> Okay. All right. Thanks, Brian.
>> Um um I have a follow-up clarification
on item eight. This is specifically for
um the research that will relate to
finance. Correct. So so will they be
meeting with the finance advisory
committee?
>> Yes, I would imagine they'd be working
with various bodies of council and uh
FAC uh to get input. But this is for the
potential revenue measure um that was
discussed during the long-term financial
uh funding strategy. Um, and so we have
it's a joint proposal with team civics
and Godby research to do the both the
survey work and the communications to
support any outreach related to a
potential revenue measure.
>> Council, I'm sorry, let let me just
finish my follow-up question. Um,
Council Member Krik is the um,
commissioner on the finance advisory
committee and I have been sitting in on
some of those meetings. But just for
clarification from council member Adams,
are you asking for the entire council to
review the specifics in terms of the
polling before they move forward? Is
that what you would like to see?
>> Well, my question is based in two
things. one, I think we will receive a
lot of questions about this and we
should know about it before it goes out,
but in thinking about it, if we're all
involved, it will be a public document
and that could in fact influence how the
results come in. So I think it's a
tricky balance but my question was
answered I think adequately that there
will be either a subcommittee or a way
of dealing with input from the council
and input from the facus. So that's fine with me
>> and the may regardless of whether or not
the council members are in that giving
that direct input council members all
council members will be briefed um
throughout the project so given regular
project updates
>> um through the mayor. Yes, council
member strong.
>> I I'll say this. Uh polling is a a
specific science and usually there are
language that when they pull there are
specific language that is going to go to
the measure ballot ballot measures that
is going to be reflecting that is the same language that will be going
out. Since Brian is on the on the Zoom
already, how about if we just have him
walk us through briefly as to what are
the process so that it gives us some
clarity?
>> Well, I think um that's a very good
point. I think what would be helpful
from Mr. from Mr. Godby would be um
would do you think it would be
appropriate or necessary or useful for
the entire council to see
I mean we clearly cannot discuss what
you're going to pull because that would
affect your outcome in terms of
>> the scientific basis of your conclusion.
So is there specific um information you
would like from the council before you
exercise the questioning for your
polling? What if you could comment on
that?
>> Uh yeah certainly. Uh thank you, Madame
Mayor, members of the council. Uh I'm
Brian Godby from Godby Research. Uh our
best practice is is to uh solicit and
welcome in input on the front end of
drafting the questionnaire. And so
whether that is an ad hoc uh committee
of the council or your finance
committee, obviously staff plays a huge
role in that. Um but also sometimes we
do uh interview individual staff members
if they're not on one of those
committees. Um but the [clears throat]
idea is to get information in that helps
in the drafting. But we don't want to
take a doc a final document or a close
to final document to a public meeting
because as you've all kind of alluded to
that biases the survey. [clears throat]
You have a whole bunch of people who
wind up being uh prompted by what's in
the survey. they prompt their friends
for answers and it and we can't track
that. So, we want to try to avoid that
because we don't know what that bias
might introduce. Uh but we certainly
welcome input from uh the council
members on the front end in whatever
fashion uh is customary.
>> Okay. All right. That's helpful. Is that
sufficient council member Adams? Okay.
Great. So, items seven and eight were
questions clarified. Um so, we can
proceed. Item six is being pulled for
further discussion. Is that correct? And
I'm sorry, who pulled that again?
>> Okay, items. So, could we move forward
and approve everything except item six?
So, um for items 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 10. So
moved.
>> Second.
>> May we have the roll call, please?
>> Adams. Yes. Trunk.
>> I kic.
>> Bragg. I call
>> I
>> Okay, we'll move forward to discuss item
six, resolution adopting the town of
Hillsboro legislative platform
» and council member Adams, you may start
the conversation.
Thank you, Madame Mayor. Uh, I pulled
this just to uh actually expand one of
the additions and uh this is for the
environment item number uh E, the new E
in the environment. It's on page 52 in
our documents and it's on page three of
this uh document. And what it does is it
takes exactly what was written and it
expands it slightly so that we're also
looking for not just uh as it is
currently written is uh facilitates uh
polluters pay for consequences. It
actually talks about the possibility
that there could be legislation or
policies that provide incentives
as well as disincentives. And I think
that's a a broader way of looking at
this issue particularly in the
environment. And I think all it does is
expand the possibilities of things that
we could that could be brought to our
attention.
Um uh were you um recommending
um a an amendment to the letter that
I'm not sure exactly will you sub
submitting this as an amendment? It's
not clear to me. So there is a
redlinined version of this and it adds
the words support legislation that
requires or facilitates polluters to pay
for the consequences of environmental
damage. And I am suggesting we change
that to support legislation and policies
that provide incentives to and
disincentives against protecting the
environment from pollution, including
holding polluters accountable for
environmental damage they may cause.
>> Yeah, sure. That sounds great. Um, any
other comments along those lines? Uh,
>> I'm I'm in strong support of that and appreciate the the thoughts there.
Thank you.
If that's a motion, I would second that
motion.
>> Okay. All in favor of that.
>> Mayor Co.
>> And one Wait, I'm sorry.
>> Before you take the vote, I just want to
make sure since you've discussed this
item that we don't have any public
comment related to it.
>> Oh, yes. Any public comments on this
specific um on page 52 under environment
item E. Anything from the public?
>> Thank you, Mayor Cole.
I'll just wait for a moment to see if
there's anyone who has any comments on
Zoom. I don't see any raised hands.
Thank you.
>> Okay. Any further comments from the
council?
>> While we're at it, we should probably
fix the typo under C policies.
» Oh, thank you.
>> Policies, not policies. Okay. Amendos.
Got it. Okay. Um any further comments
from the council? Seeing none, we will
do we have a motion for um to approve
item six on the consent calendar.
>> So move.
>> Do we have a second?
>> Second.
>> All those in favor say I.
>> I.
I.
>> I. Okay.
Carry. Five to zero. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
The next item on our agenda is
considered old business
telecommunications updates to discuss
and provide direction on the scope of
projects based on community feedback which will
be presented by assistant city manager
Mandy Brown.
» Thank you, Mayor Cole. Um, so I will
just be providing a brief overview of
really a lot of information that we've
received from residents via community
meetings, email, um, and our goal
tonight is to really get consensus
around are these the correct needs? um
getting direction from the council,
making sure that we're on the right
track with the goal of using this to
create a RFP to get subject matter
experts, one or multiple, to create a
path forward and solutions. So, making
sure that we have the right buckets for
discussion and that we're not missing
anything or we don't want anything
reframed. Are we off the mark? um so
that we can create a very clear uh list
of needs for a subject matter expert to
develop solutions for the town
customized for Hillsboro. Um so I'll
just go through a brief
very brief background um about the sort
of wireless goal. it has been um on our
goal setting uh sessions uh for several
years. Um and so really looking to
define that goal statement. What are we
trying to achieve? Um we can will
continue to discuss this topic at goal
setting as it relates to the budget. um
as we get a sense of what is the project
that we're undertaking, what sort of
resources do we need to allocate and a
timeline so that the council and uh the
public know uh what to be able to expect
in terms of work product output. Uh when
is something going to going to happen um
that's tangible.
Uh we did have a community meeting in
October to really restart this
conversation, start fresh and talk about
goals for telecommunications in Hillsbor
really in a broad level and hear about
residents experiences.
Uh there is in a summary of that meeting
uh prepared by Peninsula Conflict
Resource Center which uh provided
facilitators for the meeting to make
sure that we captured all of the small
group discussions um and comments made.
This is a very high level. There's a lot
more detail in the report in attachment
one, but I just wanted to make sure we
captured some of the biggest buckets
related to undergrounding wires, um,
locating towers away from homes, making
sure that everyone everyone has reliable
connectivity. Uh, making sure there's
emergency power, eliminating macro
towers, and exploring cost-effective
solutions for carriers, as well as
maintaining a consistent strong signal
uh, even during power outages.
So the meeting objective um I said at
the beginning of the meeting is really
to re review these draft needs. So I'll
just go through them briefly um and
offer some additional uh color and the
PowerPoint was an attachment in the in
the uh staff report just so everybody
got a chance to see it beforehand and
really just looking to see to affirm the
scope and discuss any prioritization um
if if there are uh comments about that.
So these [clears throat] are the six
buckets that are listed in the staff
report drawing from that community
meeting as well as other feedback
received. And I'll just go through them
one at a time with the first one being
uh utilities undergrounding. Um,
currently this was identified as a goal
during last year's goal setting session
and so staff has been working with an
engineering consultant to really
understand what amount of utilities
remain needed to be undergrounded in
town and what would the total cost be to
underground the remaining utilities in
town. Um, the project is ongoing so I
don't have a final report right now.
They're still collecting data. Um, we're
actually waiting for some PG& data. Um,
but once we have all of that data, we'll
be able to present that back. But
currently, it's looking like the
percentage of homes with underground
utilities is around 70%. And I do have a draft map. Um, so we will be refining
this with the green um showing the areas
in town that are that are underground
for homes. Um, like I said, it's still
in progress. So, we will have a final
report to deliver, but this is just a
progress update of where we are um on
this topic currently.
fiber connectivity was another area of
need that we heard at the community
meeting. Um and so really to identify
and affirm that need. Um there are maps
available uh through uh the FCC. Um and
at the third bullet point that
broadbandmap.fcc.govhome
you can plug in the town of Hillsboro
and you can plug in your specific
address um to see if you're covered by
fiber. Um there's different speeds and
so we used the state standard. Um and as
of right now the latest FCC map shows
that there are approximately 1,600 units
covered or about 41%. Um and if you feel
like there's an error like it says that
you're covered by fiber but you're not
actually, you can report that um on that
same map. Um so just affirming that
there are areas um areas that have
access to fiber and then there are
geographic areas that have that don't
have access to fiber. So one of the
goals being equity and access um that
that's not that is not achieved as it
relates to fiber currently. So it is a
possible area of need to include in that
study. And on the map you can zoom in a
lot more. I just took a highle
screenshot um for you to be able to see.
The next area of needs is cellular
service. So recognizing the deficiencies
in cellular service within throughout
town. There is also a cellular service
coverage map through that FCC database.
Um and they are required to report the
data twice a year. Um and the map shows
83.45%
of town covered for 5G service. um where
there are but you'll also see there are
areas that have very poor service. Uh
however, there is a a disclaimer saying
that it is based on the propagation
modeling and a user's actual experience
may be different. So I would say it's
likely that that's very generous um in
terms of your real access to cell
service. Um but it's a starting point.
Um and I think we heard strongly from
the community anecdotally that u this is
a strong area of need uh in the town
making sure that there are we fix the
deficiencies in cell service.
Again here's that uh screenshot showing
sort of dead spots in town and it really
is just sort of a percentage within
those um hexagons. And then you can
again zoom in closer um plug in your
address, plug in your school and see the
access um as it relates to 5G wireless
service.
Uh next one is power backup solutions um
and make so in addition to the actual
fiber or wireless service making sure
that there's a reliable power supply. Uh
while the town is not responsible for
providing the actual we don't have our
electric utility um there are solutions
that the town could explore um as this
is identified as a need to help support
residents to obtain the battery backup
solutions looking at grant funded
programs public education ways to
connect residents to ensure that they
have access to backup solutions.
And then this is about balancing town
aesthetics with any wireless
communication facility installations. We
do have existing policies and
regulations related that kind of govern
the installation of wireless
telecommunications. Um we could explore
modifications to these documents. Um
modifications may result in reduced
control. Um and on that sort of same
notion, um currently the town's part of
a national coalition opposing FCC
proceedings that are seeking to reduce
that local authority as it relates to
wireless um and wired uh installation
facilities installation. Uh we've joined
those coalitions through um our city
attorney BBNK uh to demonstrate our
opposition to those efforts and we're
joined with many other jurisdictions um
that have had similar experiences to
ours. we've been able to share our
experiences
um and sort of fight some of these
claims um that are we feel exaggerated.
And I do have we do have Gail Carish um
partner with BBK who has helped lead
some of these efforts and can speak to
um to this topic a lot better than I can
um if there are follow-up questions.
And the last one we heard is we heard um
some explore alternative technologies to
improve connectivity. Um this is
anything from new wireless providers to
satellite. Um and we did we have heard
um that sort of the main providers of
Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile have been
deploying satellite. Um it's in a growth
stage. Um from what we've heard it
requires a large number of satellites to
be in orbit orbit and uh latency is
another issue but it is something that
uh we could include in the needs
assessment. Again, looking at these
buckets, affirming these are all areas
of needs um and asking a subject matter
expert to to develop those solutions.
And so, keeping this uh as a as a
possible option um to come back with
some ideas.
So, those are the six buckets that are
listed um in the the uh staff report.
And so, what we would be looking for
council direction is are these the right
areas of need? Are there specific are
there follow-up information that you
need before being able to um identify
them as an area I need? We can modify
them. Um and what we'd like to do is is
get that nailed down so that we can
issue the RFP to get to um begin that
work and that sort of master plan for
the town moving forward. Um so that we
can understand the time frame cost and
the compatibility with the town's
existing infrastructure and landscape.
Um, and in the background of all that,
we'll continue to have legal and
regulatory issues monitored, um, and
update the council and the community
with any, uh, new information as it
arises.
» Um, thank you, um, Mandy Brown. Um, that
was, uh, this is a very, um, not only
urgent but needed conversation. we
continue to discuss this but um I will
start by asking my um council members if
they have my colleagues if they have any
additional questions for clarifications
and then we'll get into a discussion. So
we'll just start with some clarifying
questions.
Okay, Vice Mayor Rexdale,
>> thank you. Thank you for the uh summary
and the and the detailed staff report.
Mandy. Um I had my questions are very
basic and they will show my ignorance on
and age on this topic. Um the first is
um fiber. Uh okay, two questions about
fiber. One, I presume there's some I
know it's not in our control, but
there's some areas that will probably
never get fiber because
of the topography.
Is that
not necessarily the case? Okay. Okay. So
that so that's a question that I would
have I guess for um going forward uh the
possibilities for fiber and then what
can fiber do? Can you get cell service
through you if you're getting your
internet can you get cell service
through through the fiber or can you
only do that through towers?
Um
then um I wanted to clarify just based
on a public comment that we received
that there are not any applications
right now for cell towers. Is that
correct to come into Hillsboro
>> currently? No, we do not have
applications. I I we got a detailed
public comment that talked about a tower
near a school and they were probably
talking about past applications. Um so I
just wanted to clarify that. Um another
thing I'd like to see
um well I guess that's a comment so I
won't won't ask that. Um oh
uh latency for satellite does that mean
delay? Okay. Um, those are my questions
at the time. Thank you.
>> Any additional question?
>> All showing ignorance.
>> Um, no additional questions. We we'll
move to the
>> I'm sorry. Um, council member Bwang
additional questions.
>> Uh, just for clarifications. Um on the
fibers map, the the large one, there's
um there are the the the large white uh
oxyagon that really basically saying
that it's a 0 to 20%
um of coverage, I'm assuming. And then
right next to it is 40 to 60 to 80% of
coverage. Uh is are there uh information
on why that was the case?
» There there's not really information on
why but it's a dynamic map. So when you
zoom in you get to see a little bit
more. So I didn't want to zoom in I
don't want to have specific households
uh on that level of zoom but I did
provide the the URL so you can drill
down and you can see it at a a smaller
scale. Um but yeah there was no
explanation provided for why there are
the gaps in coverage just shows them.
>> So to help me understand this on the
first glance there's the whiteness which
means it's zero fiber activities
whatsoever
>> and as you zoom zoom in closer you will
be able to see more details and there
are households that probably have better
uh positions or fibers. Is that correct?
>> Yeah. Yeah. It's a fascinating map. You
can actually drill down to specific
culde-sacs where some houses have it,
some don't. And then there's big swats
of areas that are just completely they
have red dots and and green dots.
There's bunch of red dots that don't
have access to fiber. And then right on
the other side of the street, there's a
bunch of green dots. So based on their
records,
it's it's a very interesting map. I I
don't know that can't speak to the rhyme
or reason as to why some have it and
some don't. and and it's not the
wireless activities, it's the fiber
activities.
>> They have multiple on here. So this um
this is the map for fiber. Um and then
this is what they have on wireless 5G
service. But as I said, they have that
strong disclaimer saying that it's based
on the propagation modeling. Your actual
service may vary due to terrain, for
example. So I put this up there, but I
don't want it to to be um saying that
the in better wireless service is not a
need. It's just this is what the FCC
data has and even at that sort of higher
level it's still showing gaps in
coverage.
>> So the map is basically a reference but
it doesn't indicate um specific
residents as to whether they have good
services or not.
>> Right? And again it's just affirming
that need. We did hear anecdotally at
the meetings and obviously through
public comment over years that wireless
service is a challenge in Hillsboro.
>> Thank you. Um just to follow up on that
in terms of my questions specifically
you would like us to focus our
conversation around what information
would we want from a consultant that
would address improved connectivity for
both wireless
um and of course broadband internet fast
internet etc. So, we're going to discuss
this and the qu and you you're asking us
to say what are the questions you would
like the consultant to answer?
>> Yes, those those sort of six buckets,
right? Um are those the right buckets?
Is there anything specific under there
that you want to make sure that that
staff mentions in the RFP that we get an
answer to?
>> Got you. Um we're going to go to the
public for public comments and we'll
come back and discuss this further. Any
um public comments?
Thank you, Mayor Cole. Patrick Shannon.
>> Hello, Patrick. Welcome.
» How are you?
>> I'm fine, thanks. Good to see you.
>> Nice to see you, council members. Happy
New Year to you all.
>> Yeah, same to you.
>> So, I just wanted to comment on the
subject at hand here. And to mix a
metaphor, I want to put a plug in for
satellite.
Now satellite as you mentioned is a fast
growing but nent technology but I think
it stands to afford a lot of benefits to
the town because it's a relatively
lowcost option and it will uh provide
reliability and more safety and it will
only expand over time. So I think what you already produced was that the
ma major carriers all already have
satellite that goes to your phone. AT&T,
T-Mobile, and Verizon. And that
technology is
improving significantly and somewhat at
a fast pace because satellite technology
is proliferating in the atmosphere. So
over time I think it's only going to
improve.
Uh experts are counting on this for the
future as well. It's very popular in
Europe and now it's been very popular
now across the United States mostly at
this point as a point of resilience and
reliability in case the cell towers or
other uh modes of communication go down.
But as that's proving itself out over
time, it's getting more robust. So for
example, the major carriers right now
not only have the phone technology, but
they have connectivity to apps like
WhatsApp or Google apps. So you could
use that in town uh to navigate or in
the case of an emergency. So I think we
should focus on that because that
technology is futureproof and it will
only get better with time. And it's low
cost,
works with your existing phone and um it
also uh is really no infrastructure. No
additional infrastructure is needed and
it would avoid the cost of
infrastructure as well as the visual
blight of heavy infrastructure in town.
So this won't be the only solution, but
I'm encouraging you to definitely put it
on your list because this is something
that can certainly complement and in the
future and overtake all other
technologies.
Other people will comment on other
areas, but that's my piece today.
>> Thank you. That's very informative.
Appreciate that. Um any additional
comments? So um
>> yes, thank you Paul on Zoom public.
Yes. Hello. Thank you. Um, this is a
timely, well, I would say timely topic,
but it's been a problem vexing the town
for 15 to 20 years. The problem is
really, really simple. We have lots of
trees, we have lots of hills, and we
have no cell towers.
That's the reason that there's basically
no way to make a phone call anywhere
outside of your house on Wi-Fi. And
that's only if you're lucky if Comcast
happens to be working. Myself, I've
spent several thousands of dollars at my
house, supplementing Comcast with
Starlink satellite technology and
others, connecting them so I can have 7
by 24 reception. So now the satellite
technology its major flaw is you have to
be able to see the sky. Hills being a
town again filled with trees and filled
with hills. In my house there's only a
very narrow window that actually has
visibility to the Starlink satellites,
but I take advantage of it. Um if you're
walking around or in use, it's it's
going to be a challenge. The
straightforward, simple, lowcost,
globally standardized solution for this
is please can we put up about a dozen
cell towers which will cover the
majority of the town, provide really
good phone coverage, really good
services for our first responders,
really good access for safety at our
schools, and can be done in fairly
unobtrusive of ways that will minimize
the effects on the nimi property owners
who are so vehemently against it. Again,
I implore you all, it's been decades
that we've had this problem. We study
it, we look at it, it gets blocked every
time by the the, you know, the vocal
opponents, but it's really so
straightforward and self-funding. you
know, the carriers will pay to put it in
if we hadn't been blocking and suing
them, you know, to prevent them. But if
we change our, you know, our methods, if
we if we have the will, we can provide
really good Silicon Valley level
connectivity and way of life for all of
our residents. Let's just put in a dozen
cell towers, please. Thank you very
much.
>> Thank you, Mr. Freriedman.
Um, additional comments. I see we have
John on.
>> Yes. Thank you,
» John, if you're able to unmute. There
you go.
>> All right. Uh, can you hear me?
>> Yes.
>> Hello. This is John Lavich. Um, and I I
appreciate this uh topic being on the
agenda tonight. Um, I want to focus in
on I want to say it's the letter F. I I
can't remember from the slide, but it's
the aesthetics. uh the the balance
between the town's needs for cell towers
and the aesthetics of it. Um I too
believe that the answer is going to be
an all of the above. Uh in a complicated
town like we have um a mix of satellite,
a mix of fiber, uh a mix of of some some
uh wireless infrastructure. Um and
there's some really good ways to do it.
Um, I'd like the town to consider
exploring um partnering with the SFPU
and PG& about um what it would take and
what it would look like to help
fasttrack um cellular infrastructure
along that corridor of towers between
280 and Black Mountain. I feel like
that's a great opportunity and an
arsenal of uh of positions that would
certainly improve a good portion of
Hillsboro's access to wireless and be
least intrusive um to the community.
Second of all, I I think uh in that
balance between our aesthetics and our our wireless needs, I believe we're
in a window, a unique window of time,
and I'd like to see a result of this
project to be um making updates to our
wireless ordinance. Um what we've put
together as a community, uh your and
your predecessors, um has some good
pieces in it and it has some bad pieces
in it. Um, and I think we should I
really encourage you if you've not to
take a look at the Los Altos Hills
wireless ordinance. I think it's a 587.
And they're able to um put together a
really good balance. Um they have some
very pragmatic rules um primarily is
distance from homes. Um they went with
200 feet from homes um which which mere
our town. There is no commercial um uh
corridor in Los Altos Hills. Um and I
think also looking at the distance we do
put these towers from schools and
communities. Um so there's a lot of
people that have already solved this
balance between cellular infrastructure
and the need for um their residents to
feel safe and to have uh the access
technology but also to have the a
certain distance from homes. um have it
not intrude on uh on the community's uh bucolic charm and to uh ensure that
the community is well served for years
to come. Um so by partnering with our
neighboring uh you know corridor like a
or PG updating our ordinance I think
these should be key elements of this
consultants review um and I think the
town can benefit from both of those.
Um, thank you John.
>> Any additional comment?
>> Uh, yes. Josh Burns.
>> Hello Josh.
>> Hi Josh from Marorrow Road. So just want
to touch on a couple things. Uh, one is
um, as you look at the scope of work, I
mentioned this before, but hopefully
some more focus on like providing
resources information for homeowners.
So, uh, if we look at a site for
emergency preparedness, we have
committees, we have, uh, events, we have
tons of resources for that. Same with
home security. I can call the police and
have somebody come and look at my house,
provide me feedback. You guys had an
event for providers to come and talk to
citizens. Um, and uh, also, you know,
for fire safety, we have a ton of
resources. We have a program. We have
requirements that we have to maintain.
It's all these things are very robust.
But if you think of like
telecommunications, we actually have
nothing essentially on the website. So I
think just thinking about ways that are
accessible to help people solve
problems, provide them information
that's clear and very specific to where
we live. Thinking about like what
internet providers are available or
fiber uh for wireless map of where the
wireless facilities that we have in town
for which provider. Maybe I might think
of switching to one that is located by
uh where I live. Uh I think you know
information on best practices for
improving internet coverage in the home
uh whether it's hardware whether it's
battery backup um uh you know having
listened to hours of and read hours of
feedback from citizens I would have the
point of view that like I think like 30
40% of a lot of these problems that
people have could actually be solved
with with information and resources. Uh,
and even going further, having a list of
providers that can come to your home and
help you with these problems for those
who are not techsavvy. And I think you
touched on a little bit with some of the
battery backup stuff, but uh, if there's
a way to offer discounts for specific
hardware that would be valuable for
people to address if it's battery backup
infrastructure, um, this kind of stuff.
So, I'd love to see more focus on
information resources that are
accessible and immediate. I think that
could solve a substantial amount of
problems that people are having. Um if
one minute. So the other thing would be
uh you know just touched on in the in
the agenda item information talk about
locating towers away from homes as a
main priority but uh as someone
mentioned previously there's not much
specific scope of work around like
updating ordinances. How do we actually
implement something like that um and
make changes around it? Um it's a little
bit disappointing to see more, you know,
language calling out potentially
weakening policies to encourage more
deployments. Uh so it's kind of
contradictory there. So uh John
mentioned the Los Altos Hills. We
there's other cities that has invested a
lot of resources in this that we could
kind of draft off of uh efficiently to
look at protecting uh you know the the
town character. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Josh. Any additional um
questions from the public? Thank you,
Maricole. I don't have any additional
speaker cards and I don't have any
additional raised hands on Zoom at this
time.
>> Thank you. So, we'll bring it back to
the um council and we'll discuss it and
try to give specific directives to um
the staff based on what we just heard.
Um
let me have my colleagues start and I
will follow through. Any comments from
anyone to lead in terms of opinions?
We'll start with Council Member Adams.
>> Thank you, Mayor Cole. Um, as most of
you know, this is something I've spent a
lot of time on and I'm really pleased to
see uh the progress that we've made. We did have this on the back burner for
a long time and it's clear we've made a
priority to pull it forward but we've
also been clear that this is a very
complicated issue and there are many
issues and there are many objectives and
I think u I I want to mention that we
really did talk at least in our first uh
meeting about how there are many things
that individuals can do on their own
without waiting for the town. There are
many things that the town can explore.
We have to do that in the context of
other priorities and also cost. But a
third element is
pressures that are brought to bear
against some of the things that we may
want to do particularly from the federal
government. So because this is complex,
I think it is a disservice to that
complexity and also to the interlocking
nature of those buckets that were
presented to us for us to opine about
the priorities at this point. I think
those are the appropriate buckets and I
think many of them are interconnected.
some of which are lowhanging fruit, but
some of which are outside of our hands.
I do like the idea of our being in
charge of giving more information so
people can have agency on their own. So
bottom line for me is
first of all definitely go to the FCC
website. It is phenomenal. It is not
accurate, but it is amazing the
information the FCC has about your home,
about your carrier, about your
situation.
Second, we did have uh a professional
assessment that said we would need 200
cell towers in order to get perfection
in coverage on Wi-Fi in our town because
of the hills, the valleys, the character
of the town and uh the trees. So
perfection is not what we're aiming for.
is progress in
each of these areas. So my
recommendation is that we talk about
what kinds of things we'd like to see
happen, but that we not dictate
solutions by making it a priority to
have X or Y at this point. That we have
this RFP go out
and that we are very clear. We want
these six things to be looked at and we
want to see how we can have improvement
in the most logical and uh really
costdriven
uh procedures that someone looking
objectively
outside of our experience really looking
at this and evaluating it I think it's
going to be invaluable. So, I encourage
us to make sure that we allow the data
to drive the priority because that may
really be surprising to us. I think most
of us were surprised by the idea that
there were potentially 70% of our town
has underground. At this point, when I
drive around town, I see a lot of
overhead lines. So that would not have
been my assessment.
I trust this process and I also would
like to at some point hear from Gail uh
about the coalition that we have joined
and uh how that is proceeding.
>> Thank you, Council Member Adams. Um
Council Member Trong, any specific
comments?
Um I I applaud that um this council and
the staffs are taking the actions of uh
moving forward on the cell services. I
think that it is now uh more in the
public's view that this is a public
safety issue that we need to have
consistent and stabilized um Wi-Fi
connections so that we can be able to
make the calls or do the texting from
our homes or from any location in
Hillsboro. Um I do support the idea of
um finding best practices. We're in the
Silicon Valley. there are different
cities trying different things. So um in
light of the state mandate and in the um
the uh serving our cities, I think that
the six buckets are
important to identify and I do think
that there are best practices that we
can look at in other cities, other
counties to see how we can bring them in
that it would apply to us um because the
topography, the location, we do have
challenges and so I I would presume that
[clears throat] different kinds of um
internet services will be advantageous
to certain location and not the others.
So to figure out what are the challenges
um it is worth a while to evaluate what
the best practice is out there.
Thank you, Council Member Chong and
Council Member Crowley.
>> Thank you. Uh, so thank you for this
preliminary leg work. I mean, it's not
preliminary because we've been working
on it for years, but um, it's long that
we all know this has long been a
priority of the council and the
residents and it's an issue, as has been
said, not only of um, convenience, but
of public safety. So, um, I agree with
one of the speakers that said it's time
to stop studying and start solving. So,
this is a great first step. I just have
a a couple of things um are admirable
but may be roadblocks. I do agree that
undergrounding these wires would improve
aesthetically the town and may also
improve our reliability. But I would
hope that we would separate that from
communication solutions because it may
be very expensive and very slow and if
we waited to do that. And I was
pleasantly surprised like you said Lori,
Council Member Adams, that um that such
a large percentage of town is already
underground. That's very um that's very
heartening. Um and then the other thing
is the 150 ft um or even 200 feet as
they said Los South. I remember when we
studied this before it it just it was
that was very challenging and we ended
up with I think 50 or 60 feet but of the
13 towers that we approved only two I
think remained controversial after we
approved them. So there was some um but
so but I am definitely in favor of the
RFP to move forward with a
telecommunications
expert consultant to evaluate the
possibilities and the challenges in
Hillsboro just like we did the bike and pedestrian master plan. I think this
is very positive and I be very
interested to see what solutions they
would would would come up with. Thank
you.
>> Thank you Council Member Krillic. Um,
Vice Mayor Ragdale.
>> Yes, thank you. Um, I'm not sure how
helpful my thoughts will be because I
liked everything that I heard from the
public and all of all of those
suggestions were just uh super helpful.
Um, in particular, I'd love to learn
more from the consultant about satellite
and um complications with satellite in
terms of latency. I know that now. Um,
in terms of if you can see the sky in
terms of are there is there more than
one company? Um, we don't want to
necessarily be at the whims of one
particular company. Um, so I'd like more
information on satellite like more
information on an education on fiber.
Um, and I love that idea of um, just
like we had for the alarm companies, if
we had a presentation where we just
invited
different people to come, the different
cell providers, um, backup battery uh,
companies, um, people who have
generators, hopefully maybe quieter
generators than I've heard. Um uh and
then the people who can come and um put
repeaters around your home to uh expand
your internet. If we could have some
kind of um forum like that, that would
be super helpful. And then have it on
our website, um as was suggested. And
then um I liked the idea of talking to
other towns. I know it's something you
guys do on a regular basis anyway. Um
but um that would be helpful. you know,
think about um parts of LA, think about
Marin. We're definitely not the only
community with um with the topography
and um trees. So, um that would be
helpful, too.
>> Thank you, Vice Mayor Ragsdale. um um
with some of the comments that's been
made by my colleagues. Um let me just um
start by asking um our consultant who is
um on Zoom with us for some
clarifications regarding current FCC um
either mandates or restrictions or rules
surrounding
um wireless
uh deployment. Um Gail, you're with us.
Gail Carish from BBK, thanks for being
here. are you able to help us with some
of that conversation?
>> Uh yes, thank you and and happy new year
everyone. Glad to glad to see you. Glad
to uh be here. Uh yeah. [clears throat]
So there are if um um the FCC so to to
keep it brief uh because I think
everyone is generally aware um
communications is a complicated subject
for local governments because there are
levels both federal and state regulation
that that can uh put some limits on on
your authority. specifically on
wireless. The FC, the Federal
Communications Commission has uh over
the past uh 15 or 20 years um taken
various steps to uh limit local
authority or put put some um
restrictions on the speed of reviewing
applications, on not being able to
simply have a moratorum, those sorts of
things. And so periodically the FCC um
starts new rulemakings or inquiries and
they've got one um currently on wireless
where they're looking at doing some
additional rule changes
u mostly related to macro uh towers and
also um uh what they call eligible
facilities requests which are changes uh
to existing wireless facilities you add
or expand them. Um there is also a wire
line proceeding which is looking at what
kind of rules the FCC might impose on
local governments such as shot clocks,
timelines for action, things like that
related to the deployment of uh fiber uh
for broadband services. So u that's a
very short overview. If you want more
details, I'm happy to answer anything.
>> Yeah. and and I'm happy you're here with
us because you were with us I think four
or five years ago when we were
discussing this. So you know the history
in terms of the conversations we've had
in the past. Um specifically
has the FCC imposed more restrictions
with regards to dis you know deployment
of wireless towers
um on the micro towers which is what we
considered we I don't believe we were
discussing micro towers at that time um
from a home for example has that
restriction changed has it gotten more
strict what what is the latest from the
FCC?
Yeah. So the the the FCC has not issued
any new uh rules uh specifically on
wireless deployments um since it's
probably about 5 years. Um there was uh
there were some rule changes. Uh the big
one that we uh the the town did an
update after was in 2018 for the small
wireless uh facilities order. Um and uh
they had a couple other orders. At that
time they had u some clarifications they
were doing to eligible facilities
requests in 2020. That was we were part
of a challenge in court that uh part of
that order got reversed. And so the FCC,
that's one of the things they're doing
now in this new proceeding is to bring
updates to the eligible facilities
request rules which are for
modifications to existing towers. Uh but
they've uh uh launched a broader
proceeding than that where they are
looking at doing some other updates. So
we do expect uh that the FCC will um uh
implement some new rules. the the status
of that proceeding is we filed and and
we thank you again for your support for
that coalition. We filed comments in the
wireless uh proceeding on uh uh December
31st and are working on our reply uh
comments. U but the we had asked the FCC
for an extension of time for filing on
the reply round uh which was very short.
Normally it's 30 days, they had 15 days
and they declined that request. So that
gives us an indication they are very
interested in moving very quickly in
that proceeding. So we anticipate that
within uh the next couple of months or
so we will have a new FCC order with
further restrictions on wireless.
>> Okay. So so not much has changed since
we last discussed this. At least it
looks like there's change on the horizon
but it hasn't happened yet. Okay. So,
for the purpose of moving forward with
this current conversation, um I have a
few comments. I I was actually quite
surprised by the maps that we're looking
at. We the map that looks at um 70%
undergrounded um util uh utilities.
That's undergrounded. 70% of the town
has undergrounded utilities. And I
always thought if I mean maybe these are
just uh legacy utilities and they were
not undergrounded with um with fiber at
the time perhaps. I was quite surprised
to see that the cellular connectivity
did not correlate with a higher
reception and and I was just wondering
if we have any information on why that's
the case. Are these just older fibers
and they're just not
more updated fibers and we therefore
don't have much data traveling with it.
» I have some thoughts on that. I don't
know if you were directing that to me or
not.
>> I would like your thoughts as well.
Yeah, maybe we can start with you Gail.
Go ahead. So, um, one of the things I I
think with that broadband map maybe that
it's not always show it's not always
showing where there is fiber
necessarily, but where there's a level
of service. And so um
uh a Comcast has uh has uh you know
traditionally Comcast built a coaxial
cable system but then uh all of the
cable operators have been putting more
fiber into their networks. They still
have a so they're called hybrid coaxial
f coaxial cable and fiber networks. Um,
so when it shows a level of of speed for
broadband service or for internet access
service, that doesn't necessarily mean
there's fiber to that to provide that
service. It could be a combination. And
so that may be what you're you're uh
seeing uh in terms of the level of
broadband available does not necessarily
co correlate to fiber being in in the
ground or on poles in that area.
Okay. So the importance of that is that
just because we talk about
undergrounding, we have to be very
specific to address the communications
component of that. The broadband
um connectivity is what we're interested
in. In other words, I mean that I'm just
learning that information right now as
you speak. Is that is that correct?
>> Well, yeah. What I would say is usually
when you're looking at utilities
undergrounding, you're looking at
undergrounding all the utilities. So it
would be the uh you know the electric
utilities and anything else that is on
the poles which may be you know it could
be coaxial cable um it could be fiber it
could be uh you may have some copper
lines still uh copper facilities in in
your town. So it would be whatever is on
the poles, you would be looking at
undergrounding all of it u together.
Otherwise I mean that is the point if
you want to actually remove the utility
poles is you have to underground all of
the utilities that are on the pole.
>> Gotcha. So um thanks for that. And I
think my opinion in terms of what we've
discussed on the day today is I agree
with my colleagues. Um I I agree with uh
council member Krik. I think we really
need to focus on solving coming forward
with solutions. It does not mean the
town has the solutions but my question
would be to this consultant as part of
your research um and feedback to us
bring us information as well that the
town could perhaps what can the town do
to enhance services whether it's
connectivity to residents. Um maybe we
do nothing, maybe we don't have the the
capacity financially and otherwise to do
anything, but at least what are the
specific things the town can do um with
regards to fiber that would address um
broadband internet service and it's
going to be multiaceted. I mean what I'm
hearing is that we may
need to find a way to enhance all three
components satellite fiber and cell
towers. we may need that degree of
redundancy and um I'm I'll be interested
to know what my um colleagues think
about that because I think at the end of
the day what we're going to be able to
do is to bring solutions to the town and
to the residents and say well maybe we
can use some town owned sites for to
deploy some cell towers. Maybe we can
run a little bit of fiber somewhere that
would help residents get fiber with
better broadband. Um, and then maybe
certain areas can only use or can
benefit more from satellite. My question
would be from this consultant, what can
the town do to enhance this
communication issue across the board?
And I would be interested to hear your
feedback on that. But I do feel strongly
that moving forward with specific
questions and coming back with specific
answers. And as council member Adams uh
noted, we we need the answers and we are
going to be talking about um strategic
planning. So this conversation may come
back, but we do need specific answers to
help residents solve this problem and we
need to do so in short order. I don't
think I think the undergrounding issue
in in the 30% that's not undergrounded
may take a very long time. I I don't
know, but that also needs to be
explored. But we certainly need to
address the communication issue more
urgently. And I think that needs to be
addressed like soon. We can't put put
this off any longer. we're all fully aware of um natural disasters and
emergencies and the importance of public
safety along those lines. So if any of
my colleagues want to comment what I
just said, I'm happy to continue the
conversation.
>> Thank you. I I I think I agree with um
everyone on the dis um that we really
are looking for solutions and it is
better that we have solutions while
there's no applications. you know when
we have applications then we cater to
their selections and that makes it a
very difficult conversation. I think
that we're
seriously looking at the three options
that has the pro and cons and maybe also
depends on where the homes located. Um
at the end of the day it is public
safety. It is consistent delivery of the
wireless service. And so um it would be
really great to get the consultant to
find out best practices out there, what
is applicable for our town and to the
extent to the mayor's comments on you
know so perhaps the city then we'll be
able to utilize our resources to help
support those uh improvements going
forward.
>> Um Council Member Crowley. Yeah, I just
want to say thanks to the members of the
public who are here and on Zoom, Josh
Burns and Patrick Shannon and Paul
Freriedman. You've all been part of the
conversation that came to a head a few
years ago and I think we're looking
forward to moving forward and and it's
good to have the input because hopefully
we can all work together to come up with
something that works for everybody.
>> Um, Council Member Adams, you have
additional comments.
>> Uh, I I agree with everything we've
said. We're solutionoriented
and we're ready, but we're also ready to
help our citizens do the solutions that
they can do in the interim. So, it's
complicated, but that's why we're going
to get somebody involved in this who
knows how the pieces of this puzzle fit
together. Um, with regard to
undergrounding,
it has a a tie to in some ways uh making
sure that we have consistent electrical
delivery of our utilities. In some ways
that affects all of this, but in some
ways it is a separate issue. But I think
it's really good to put it together with
this at this time because that will give
us we actually have as uh our assistant
city manager said we already have uh an
engineering firm working on how we would
structure in in including more uh
districts
as undergrounded. It may not be
something we want to eventually do, but
as it might relate to this, it's really
good to have this consultant kind of
have that in the back of the mind as
well. And I really think we just ought
to go for this right away and still have
our citizens who are very much engaged
continue to be engaged in the
conversation.
» Um any um additional comments? Um so I
think Mandy uh Brown the general
directives is move forward with the RFP.
Um if you could go to the last slide
when you outlined timeline cost
um and just resources that would need to
be deployed.
>> Yes.
>> And if I could could I just summarize
the direction that I heard to make sure
that I'm on the right track. So the
undergrounding utilities since that
analysis is underway, we're sort of
carving that out, but it will inform the
study um rather than be part of this
study. It would just tie in. Um and then
the buckets are correct, the remaining
buckets. But what I heard from the
public and from the council is making
sure that we're including best
practices, uh looking at other
jurisdictions and their regulations and
using that to help inform. um as well as
a resource library, public information,
how the town can connect residents with
solutions and a specific action plan for
what the town can do as part of that
deliverable. Um
>> and and I think there was also one other
point you discussed that we have not
delved into but I think we would like to
hear more on that which is really backup
support in the event of um tow town
townwide um uh power outages um
providing resources with regards to
generators, batteries and even the issue
of micro grid is taking off. There's uh
there are lots of entities exploring
that and to perhaps look to see um how
we can utilize town owned sites to
create a micro grid in certain areas
that are very prone to power outages. Um
those are all things we would like them
to explore. Yeah. Go ahead, Vice Mayor
Rexdale.
>> Um as far as what I heard, I thought
that was a great summary. The only thing
I'd add is in talking with other towns,
not just on their ordinances, but also
solutions that they've come up with.
>> Got it. Thank you.
>> Um any additional Yeah, we have someone
in the public who would like to make a
comment and I'll definitely um make an
exception. Probably comment is closed,
but definitely. Yeah. Yes, please do
» for our source of interconnectivity.
I want I wanted to say I cover the news
and I was in Aldina. I was in Paradise
and I was in Napa. The first thing to go
are the cell towers because they get
burned and it was useless and we
couldn't get out. we couldn't get a call
in or get a call out. So if we are
thinking about emergency services or
safety issues and if we are only relying
on cell towers and forget it
because when there's a fire and
earthquake it they don't work right. I
think the directive is to explore
uh all of the above um with regard to
redund redundancy to explore satellite
maybe not for the whole town but in
specific areas maybe for the whole town
that may be perfect we don't know yet we
need to see what resources will be
required explore fiber and explore cell
towers everything we're hearing so far
um even in satellite I actually wanted
to ask one of the speakers Um,
when you have townwide or regionwide
fires,
does satellite still is it is it good?
Does it still work?
>> Yes, we use satellite phones.
>> Okay.
>> Yeah.
So, I think the the recommendation
is to have a consultant come back to us
with all of the above and then we can
depending on what resources are
required, we can certainly prioritize. I
totally agree with you. You want to have
regular communication when everything is
perfect, but in the event of an
emergency, you do want redundancy. You
want other options so people can
>> I think during the last meeting, we also
talked about um
levying a fee to under to help under the
expense of undergrounding all the
cables.
>> Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's also being discussed as well.
Okay. Thanks for your comments. I
appreciate it. Um, any additional
comments from anyone in the public or
from the DEAS?
All right.
>> Do we need a motion? Uh,
>> we've given directives. Um, is this uh
my understanding is this is mostly a
discussion.
>> Just Mayor Cole and council. Uh, no need
for a motion unless the direction is
unclear to any of you, but I think if
Mandy Brown has that direction, then I
think you're fine to proceed.
>> Yeah. Correct. Is that is that okay with
everyone? Good. We will close both both
public comments and move on to the next
agenda item which is city council items.
Um we'll start with uh council member
Adams.
» Thank you Mayor Cole. Uh December was an
interesting month in terms of my council
activities. Next slide. Uh the Rethink
Waste Board did not meet in December.
The Hillsboro Beautification Foundation,
the board did not meet, but light up the
town was a huge success. I'll talk about
that in a minute. Uh the subcommittee
for Tobin Clark simply updated the land
assessment tools and the survey so that
we can get started. The subcommittee on
ordinances did not meet in December
and I did meet with public works uh as
we normally do. Next slide.
Um I just wanted to mention uh light up
the town. I had a conflict but I
understand it was extremely extremely
well attended and wellreceived swing
set. We certainly love having uh the
musical uh entertainment but also just
the camaraderie of the town. So I wanted
to compliment uh the Hillsboro
Beautification Foundation which takes
that very seriously and runs it for us.
Next
slide. Uh I'm have an action photo.
Actually, there's two action photos of
our vice mayor at the council of cities
uh which took place in in December in
Kulma. That event was attended uh by uh
council member Schwang, myself and our
vice mayor uh who aly represented us. It
does it may look like the person in the
front of the right photograph is
praying, but he's not. He's actually
listening intently as our vice mayor
talks. Next slide.
Uh again, it was uh really Meline was
the shining star for us. uh uh Vice
Mayor Ragsdale and myself were there
when the truck arrived with her artwork
and her entire class and her family uh
were able to see her truck uh which was
pretty impressive and I want to
compliment Rethink Waste. They actually
gave her this uh little remembrance of
this event. But it was quite nice for
the whole school to see this. Next
uh leadership council San Monteo all day
intense
simulation. You probably anyone who
experienced that can't forget it. I
won't go any deeper than that. But you
learn a lot in this simulation. That was
an all day event. Next slide.
Uh, I really truly enjoyed uh being
there for our police department badge
pinning and swearing in. And I just
wanted to emphasize how important it is
uh not just for the town and for our
employees but also for their families
and how proud they are of participating
in such a very positive event.
Congratulations to everyone there
uh and all of us were there. Everyone
from uh the council. Next slide.
And I want to compliment and underscore
the great work done by the town of
Hillsboro's public works. Uh it's their
regular maintenance. It's their
preparation for weather. It's their
responsiveness that keeps us safe when
atmospheric rivers decide to come and uh
pay a visit. And I really want us to
appreciate that hard work in planning
and execution. I also want to express
gratitude for citizen reports. It's
really important. Uh this is how we find
out what's happening. If someone's
walking their dog and they see a hole in
the asphalt and they contact public
works,
we find the the sinkhole and we fix it,
which is what we did. So, I just want to
encourage people to recognize you are
the eyes and ears of our town, not just
for public works, for building and
planning, for permitting. This is an
important component of being a good
citizen and we actually appreciate it.
It's what keeps us safe. I think that's
the end. Next, thanks.
>> Thank you, Council Member Adams. I'm
Council Member Trong.
I don't have the show and tell
[clears throat] and I think that council
member Adams has covered most of the
events uh for December. Um I do want to
say 2026 there will be Super Bowl
FIFA. Um there's going to be a lot of uh
activities that's happening in our area
and I highly encourage that people look
into the public transit. Um it is now
contactless which means that you can use
your credit card to purchase your
tickets to be able to take board train
or buses and I think that in any kind of
gathering uh it will be advantageous for
you to be able to uh find the schedule
and be able to take advantage of that.
Um and uh Sam turns by the way will be
uh celebrating its uh 50th anniversary
this year. So, it's a big deal. Thank
you.
>> Um, thank you, Council Member um, Trong,
Council Member Crowic.
>> Thank you, Madame Mayor. Again,
congratulations to Chief Colola and to
all the members of the HPD who got swung
in. Was a great event as council member
Adams um, talked about. Um, alarm
monitoring ended on December 31st. I
haven't gotten any complaints from
residents. The alarm company that we
used to turn over said they were very, busy. So, I think that um HPD and
the town did a great job getting the
word out on that. We hope CCFD's toy
drive was very, very successful. Thanks
to them. Um ADRB met on December 17th,
and we did say goodbye to Kathleen Egan,
who's served for quite a long time, and
she will be recognized at our volunteer
thank you event. The date is still to be
determined, but we should be able to
announce that by tomorrow. I just have
to do a final huddle with our city clerk
and our mayor. Thank you.
Council Member Krillic. Um,
Vice Mayor Rexdale,
>> thank you. Um, I I'll try to be brief
because I think most are repeats. Uh,
next slide.
>> Um, oh, ebikes. You may have gotten an
invitation. Um if not um uh it can it
can go out on the e-news but um Diane
Papin is putting together a forum on
ebikes uh later this month and Ana Dal
the chair of our youth commission will
be part of that. um I plan on attending.
Um but anyway, she wrote a fantastic
editorial which was in the Daily Journal
and um is really working on this issue
and adding in the teen perspective which
is so crucial and u very much
appreciated. Um badge pinning the
calendar. Um,
uh, oh, Smearan House. Um, Council
Member Schwang and her husband Mike and
I were there to to help with their, um,
gift distribution event, which is always
a joy. Uh, next slide.
And next slide. Love the truck.
And
next slide. I swear I wasn't even
drinking. And that's what
um this is I'm sure you all know Ariel.
Uh I like to say he was in charge at
South School. Um but he worked at South
School and facilities for 27 years. It
was four or five principles I think that
he went through. He knew uh every kid.
Um he helped them all learn to tie their
shoes and did the the not fun work of
cleaning up things and um was just a
strong strong presence for all of the
families and there was a beautiful
celebration that alumni were invited to.
We made a big um goodbye tunnel u with
music and it was spectacular. Um and if
you still want to see Ariel, he still
works at the Costco. Um, so you can go
by and see him there. Um, but it was
just a great uh I was at South School
twice and like in a week. Um, and it's
just great that most of us move here for
the schools and it was um really
fantastic to see the that connection
there and I think Oh, is it North ran
that place too
and I think that was my last slide. Yes.
Thank you.
>> Thank you, Vice Mayor Rexdale. One more
thing, Council Member Schwang, also
known as chair of SAMR,
she didn't mention that. So,
» thank you. Um, yes, my colleagues have
already mentioned a lot of what the past
couple of months have looked like. Um,
and I thank them for their
participation. I did participate in some
of these events, so I will not repeat
it. However, um I would like to do a
quick update on CACAG meeting which is
the um cities of um the basically the 21
uh cities in the San Monteo County that
are represented by this government
agency meets monthly and often deal with
um legislative agendas or bills that are
moving through the state legislature. Um
in this case in this last meeting in
December 11th we
specifically of note that I would like
to bring back is we had a presentation
from 21 elements of the San Monteo
County which is a clearing house of um
just housing information and assistance
with our reena numbers and making sure
we're staying on schedule. And the most
significant information that was given
to us was that Reena 7 will start 2028
through 2029. That information will be
forthcoming. Um Abag, which is the
entity that calculates what every
municipality's reena seven allocations
would look like, we'll be starting
working on that um within the next six
months to 12 months. Um, so just to sort
of keep it in our blinders and they
really are recommending that every
municipality start work early on meeting
their resoning targets. So I just want
to pass that along to my colleagues. Not
as much fun news as the stuff you were
talking about, but unfortunately that's what they're
talking about. [snorts] Um, otherwise um
I had a wonderful holiday with my
family. Yeah. And um also one more
important thing that also happened at
CCAG, our council member Chuang was
reappointed to one shoreline uh board of
directors. Congratulations.
With that said, oh yeah, go ahead,
Council Member Trunk.
>> Uh
>> she's busy.
>> Uh well, thank you very much for your um
kind acknowledgement. Um I I do want to
u remind the staff that because the uh
El Camino Real's improvement project is
taking place and it will be happening
for the next three years and most likely
four. Um the traffic is going to be
horrendous and so to the extent that the
PD the public work I think is all hands
on deck. Even though the communication
most likely come from Berling game, I
would you know implore that we pay
attention to it and remind our residents
to um avoid those area if they're in a
hurry. Um so and then be mindful of the
SMC alert. I think that that would be
very helpful.
>> Um before I adjourn, I would like to ask
our city attorney. We had we didn't
finish our close session meeting and we
talked about resuming it after the city
council meeting. Is that still
appropriate to do so?
>> It is, mayor. Um, we would just want to
note for the public that you're going to
convene in close session and consider
item C at the conclusion of this public
meeting.
>> Thank you. And with that said, this
meeting is now adjourned.
» Um, the city council is um now reporting
from close session and we need to take
um a roll call. Correct.
>> I'll just go ahead and announce for the
record that all council members are
present.
>> We all here and I'll turn it over to our
city attorney.
>> No, thank you uh Mayor Cole. I just
wanted to note that council did
reconvene in close session to consider
item C on the close session agenda. At
the conclusion of that direction was
given to staff, but otherwise there was
no reportable action under the Brown
Act. Thank you. Okay.
>> Thank you.
This session this meeting is now closed.
Thanks.