[0:06] Good afternoon everyone. Um, the

[0:08] Hillsboro City Council meeting is called

[0:09] to order. Um, city clerk, may we please

[0:12] have the roll roll call.

[0:14] >> Thank you. Mayor Cole Adams present.

[0:16] Chang

[0:19] >> present.

[0:19] >> Braxdale present.

[0:21] >> Cole

[0:22] >> present. Um, I will ask the council to

[0:25] announce conflict of interest on the

[0:27] close session items. Let me first

[0:28] outline the close session items which is

[0:31] conference with legal counsel for

[0:32] existing litigation.

[0:34] Town of Hillsboro v persons interested

[0:37] in the matter of the proceedings for

[0:38] resolution number 22-83 adopting maximum

[0:42] rates for water service charges Samonteo

[0:45] Superior Court case number 23 CIV

[0:50] 01028.

[0:52] Do we have any conflicts of interest on

[0:55] this closed session item

[0:57] from the council?

[0:59] Seeing none,

[1:02] um

[1:04] is there any public comment on the close

[1:07] session items? Anything on Zoom or in

[1:09] the chambers?

[1:10] >> No, Mayor Cole. Thank you.

[1:13] >> Okay, with that said, we'll now adjourn

[1:15] to close session.

[1:22] Good evening everyone. Um it's March

[1:25] 9th, 2026. The time is uh 6:04.

[1:29] The Hillsboro City Council meeting is

[1:31] now called to order. Um city clerk, may

[1:33] we please have the roll call.

[1:34] >> Thank you, Mayor Cole. Adams

[1:36] >> present.

[1:38] >> Kle

[1:39] >> present.

[1:39] >> Ragdale

[1:40] >> present.

[1:40] >> Cole

[1:41] >> present.

[1:42] >> Thank you.

[1:43] >> Um please join me in pledging um

[1:45] allegiance to our flag.

[1:51] To the flag, United States of America to

[1:54] the republic stands one nation under God

[1:59] indivisible, liberty, justice for all.

[2:06] Welcome. I'm so pleased to see everyone

[2:08] here in the chambers today. We do have

[2:10] guests from um Japan. Welcome to join

[2:13] us. Uh exchange students and of course

[2:16] our Hillsboro Youth Commission. um also

[2:19] here. Thank you for joining us today.

[2:22] Um

[2:24] we have um do we have any report from

[2:28] close session? City attorney Dez. Thank

[2:30] you, Mayor Cole. Just wanted to announce

[2:31] for the public that the council did

[2:33] convene in close session prior to this

[2:34] meeting uh to discuss one matter

[2:36] conference with legal council existing

[2:38] litigation. Uh direction was given to

[2:40] staff and I also wanted to note the

[2:41] council decided not to appeal this

[2:43] matter uh but otherwise there was no

[2:44] reportable action. Thank you.

[2:47] city attorney. And uh next

[2:50] item is a presentation from our

[2:53] Hillsboro Youth Commission.

[2:55] Welcome.

[2:58] And when you get up to the podium, if

[3:00] you could just introduce your name. I we

[3:01] don't I don't have it in front of me,

[3:03] but I'm super honored to uh have you

[3:06] join us today.

[3:13] » Hi, I'm Anya. I'm the chair of the HYC.

[3:19] » Um, you can open up the presentation and

[3:22] as each of your colleagues move up, they

[3:24] can introduce themselves. Yeah.

[3:27] >> Okay. Thank you everyone for being here

[3:29] today and thank you to the city council

[3:30] for inviting us to speak. Um, yeah,

[3:33] we're just here to share a little bit

[3:35] about what we've done over the past few

[3:37] months and what we're planning on doing

[3:39] um in the coming uh spring. So, um,

[3:45] yeah, this is the list of the Hillsburg

[3:47] Youth Commission, and we're really happy

[3:49] that, um, all eight people, uh, are

[3:52] joining us today to present, and they

[3:54] will also introduce themselves as they

[3:56] present. So, I'll start off with, um,

[3:59] Ava and Tanish with the age friendly

[4:02] city subcommittee.

[4:08] Hi everyone, my name is Snishk and I'm a

[4:11] member of the age friendly city

[4:13] subcommittee and I'll just be going over

[4:15] some past events we've had held in this

[4:17] past year. So one of the biggest events

[4:19] we had was the elderly tech day where on

[4:22] November 9th we taught elderly people

[4:24] and fellow seniors about new and

[4:27] upcoming apps. We went over useful tips

[4:29] and tricks regarding cyber security. Uh

[4:32] we answered any questions they had and

[4:34] we had snacks for everyone to enjoy and

[4:36] up in the upper right of the slide you

[4:39] can see us at giving the tech day

[4:42] presentation. Uh, another event we ran,

[4:45] we recently just finished was a

[4:47] Samaritan House coat drive where we

[4:49] collected winter coats for kids and we

[4:51] had over or around 17 coats donated

[4:54] which is really nice and uh you can see

[4:57] in some of the bins we put out u right

[5:00] in front of the town hall. Yeah.

[5:05] Hi, I'm Ava and I'm also part of the

[5:08] subcommittee.

[5:10] Um, for the our future initiatives

[5:13] include an elderly game night and we've

[5:15] done similar events in the past where we

[5:18] bring games and snacks to play with the

[5:20] seniors at Pacifica Senior Living and

[5:23] we're hoping for this event to happen in

[5:26] mid to late April. We're also planning

[5:30] on doing a chess tournament at Crocker

[5:32] Middle School in the NPR in late March.

[5:34] Although it's not confirmed yet, uh

[5:37] it'll be a great way to connect people

[5:38] of all age groups and we'll have members

[5:40] of the community come together to play chess of all ages and enjoy

[5:48] snacks and the weekend together. You can

[5:52] see the flyer is for the upcoming chess

[5:56] tournament and the picture at the top is

[5:59] from the past um elderly game night.

[6:04] Thank you.

[6:06] >> Thank you.

[6:10] » Hi everyone. My name is Alexa. I'm one

[6:12] of the vice chairs of the Hillsbor Youth

[6:13] Commission and I'm also on the

[6:14] communication subcommittee. Um I wanted

[6:17] to talk about one of our projects called

[6:18] Hillsbor Highlights. Um this initiative

[6:20] was actually suggested by Mayor Cole um

[6:23] in an effort to make a digital archive

[6:25] to preserve Hillsborough's history. So

[6:29] um so far we've done I believe seven or

[6:31] eight former mayors. We've done Mr. Al

[6:33] Royce, Mr. Chick Adams, Mr. Thomas

[6:36] Casten, and yes, we plan to release an

[6:40] episode once every one or two weeks. And

[6:43] if we could just play the introduction

[6:44] and then a clip um from one of the

[6:47] previous interviews.

[6:49] >> Welcome to Hillsboro Highlights. I'm

[6:50] Alexa

[6:51] >> and I'm Kyle

[6:52] >> and we both serve on the communication

[6:54] subcommittee of the Hillsbor Youth

[6:55] Commission.

[6:56] >> Hillsboro has a lot of history, yet most

[6:59] of it is going unrecorded and getting

[7:01] lost forever.

[7:02] To preserve our history, we are

[7:04] interviewing and celebrating the people

[7:06] who have made the biggest difference in

[7:07] Hillsbor, ranging from mayors to

[7:10] longtime residents.

[7:11] >> Our interviews or episodes of Hillsboro

[7:12] Highlights will be published both on our

[7:14] YouTube and on our website.

[7:16] >> In season 1 of Hillsboro Highlights, we

[7:18] interview former mayors such as Thomas

[7:20] Casten, Lawrence May, and Chick Adams.

[7:23] >> Through these interviews, we've learned

[7:24] a lot from how Mr. Adams prioritized

[7:26] safety by clearing street signs to how

[7:28] Mr. Roy supported the creation of our

[7:30] own youth commission. We also learned

[7:32] what the most knowledgeable Hillsborough

[7:33] veterans think is important for our

[7:35] town, ranging from community to housing.

[7:37] >> We hope you enjoyed this season of

[7:39] Hillsboro Highlights as much as we've

[7:40] enjoyed creating it.

[7:42] >> Um, and then if we could just play um, a

[7:45] moment from the interview with Mr. Shik

[7:47] Adams.

[7:47] >> Okay. Thank you so much for your time,

[7:48] Mr. Adams. Is there anything else you'd

[7:50] like to add?

[7:51] >> Well, I did want to tell a story. Um,

[7:53] one of the things I I did when I was on

[7:55] the council was uh mediate a dispute

[7:58] between the Kingdom of Tonga and the

[8:02] neighbors because, and this is something

[8:04] people probably don't know, the Kingdom

[8:06] of Tonga used to have a consulate office

[8:09] in Hillsboro. It was a mansion and when

[8:13] the king of Tonga was in town, uh, all

[8:16] the Tonga

[8:17] residents in the county, and there are a

[8:19] lot of them, would kind of assemble at

[8:21] the mansion and they'd have feasts in

[8:24] the backyard. They'd roast pigs and

[8:27] they'd just party. And the neighbors

[8:29] kind of came unglued at one point and

[8:31] came to the council complaining about

[8:33] this. So, we convened a meeting of the

[8:36] uh uh the representatives of the Kingdom

[8:38] of Tonga, a neighborhood group, and the

[8:41] Secret Service because it's a foreign

[8:43] government, so they're entitled to

[8:44] Secret Service protection. What we

[8:47] discovered, very interesting, is that

[8:48] all the trash that was in the street,

[8:50] which was the neighbor's big complaint,

[8:52] came from the Secret Service agents.

[8:54] >> Wow.

[8:55] >> They were parking their cars on the

[8:57] street while the party was going on, and

[9:00] they were throwing all their trash out

[9:01] the window.

[9:03] So that's how we resolved that.

[9:05] >> It's quite a story. Thank you so much.

[9:07] >> It was fun. It was fun.

[9:09] >> Wow. Thank you so much, Mr. Adams, for

[9:11] your advice and your time and stories.

[9:13] >> Well, thank you guys for preserving our

[9:15] history. It's It's great that you're

[9:16] doing that.

[9:18] >> Yeah. So, we're just really excited

[9:19] about this. Um there's a lot of really

[9:22] interesting things we learned and we're

[9:24] excited to like experiment with the

[9:25] different editing. Um you guys might

[9:27] have noticed there were a few angle

[9:28] changes.

[9:31] >> Yes. Yes, we we'll work to three, but

[9:33] for now it's two.

[9:35] >> Thank you.

[9:37] >> I'm Brody Friedberg. I'm one of the

[9:38] other vice chairs. I'm also on the

[9:40] communication subcommittee um and I

[9:43] worked on the interview with Miss Mali

[9:45] uh last year actually. And so

[9:47] fortunately this year we were able to

[9:48] publish that actually as an article uh

[9:51] due to a lack of video footage. Um but

[9:54] we have had noticeable traction on the

[9:56] article um and we've heard positive

[9:59] feedback already. Moving

[10:03] forward, the communication subcommittee

[10:05] has also hosted several events this

[10:07] year. Uh you can see light up the town

[10:10] on the upper left. Uh I was in the Olaf

[10:12] costume actually. Um so that was a fan

[10:16] favorite. Um and then underneath that uh

[10:19] we were also uh a part of the team that

[10:22] drafted the ebike article on the cover

[10:24] of the quarterly newsletter. Um and so

[10:27] we did an interview with Dr. Blake

[10:29] Taylor, a neurosurgeon who grew up in

[10:31] Hillsboro and uh drafted this article

[10:34] and then it was uh later edited and

[10:36] published.

[10:41] » Another one of our events was um a final

[10:45] study event um in December of last year

[10:48] and that was prior to um high school

[10:51] winter finals. So students were able to

[10:54] come to the town hall and share food um

[10:57] study space and a golden retriever

[11:00] therapy dog which was super fun. And we

[11:01] had over 35 students from Crocker and

[11:04] other local high schools. Um also in

[11:07] November of last year we um in honor of

[11:10] Veterans Day we held uh treats for

[11:12] troops with the town. So, we um had a

[11:17] donation drive uh at Crocker and at the

[11:20] town hall to um send care packages to

[11:24] soldiers in Eastern Europe. And along

[11:27] with that, we had a letter writing drive

[11:29] at Crocker and many adults also wrote

[11:31] letters during the Veterans Day

[11:33] ceremony.

[11:38] Hi, my name is Jesse and I'm a member of

[11:40] the environmental awareness

[11:41] subcommittee. So, first of all, monthly

[11:43] our team publishes Instagram posts to

[11:46] the HYC Instagram. And as of recently,

[11:48] we've been trying to promote the Little

[11:50] Public Library. That's actually just

[11:51] outside of town hall here. And also, um,

[11:54] end of October last year, we began

[11:56] revising the town's climate action plan,

[11:58] which hasn't been updated in over a

[12:00] decade. So, we actually met with Vice

[12:02] Mayor Ragdale to discuss, um, possible

[12:05] future updates and edits that we will

[12:08] continue to work on throughout the rest

[12:09] of the year.

[12:11] Um, we are also currently planning an

[12:13] environmental awareness week at Crocker

[12:15] Middle School where we're collaborating

[12:16] with Rethink Waste to put on a

[12:18] schoolwide presentation and also our

[12:21] subcommittee partnering with the Crocker

[12:23] green team is going to be putting on a

[12:25] variety of activities throughout the

[12:27] week such as we're going to have a bike

[12:29] powered smoothie exhibit. We're going to

[12:30] have way sorting games and educational

[12:33] tableling going on on the blacktop and

[12:35] we're also going to be putting on a

[12:36] thrift shop on their blacktop. We're

[12:38] going to be collecting clothing

[12:39] donations from the students um the weeks

[12:42] prior and then redistribute them on the

[12:44] blacktop to kind of promote sustainable

[12:47] shopping practices. And also this last

[12:49] month we compiled an environmental

[12:51] opportunities resource doc with intern

[12:54] volunteer and work opportunities um in

[12:58] environmental organizations throughout

[12:59] the Bay Area.

[13:05] Hi, I'm Lauraai Johnson and I'm a part

[13:07] of the health and wellness subcommittee.

[13:10] Um, along with what Jesse said,

[13:13] something we do is post Instagram posts

[13:16] every month and we like to specialize

[13:19] ours based on certain national

[13:22] awarenesses based on that month

[13:24] surrounding health and mental health.

[13:26] Um, at the bottom you can see some of

[13:29] the awareness posts that we've done so

[13:32] far. We talked about teen violence

[13:35] awareness month which is very important

[13:37] and we always include certain data and

[13:40] research that we've done on the topics

[13:43] um within the post and in our bios.

[13:46] We've talked about cancers um donation

[13:51] for blood and also just promoting

[13:55] different

[13:57] events that our subcommittee will

[13:59] specialize in and want people to go

[14:03] which will talk more about.

[14:08] » Hi, I'm Ella. Um this past fall we took

[14:12] all the information that we learned last

[14:13] year from our mental health survey. We

[14:15] partnered with Crocker students to

[14:17] create the Crocker health wall, which is

[14:19] like a bunch of posters that we

[14:21] partnered with on various health topics.

[14:23] And then this Friday, we're going to

[14:24] Crocker and we're doing the tableabling

[14:26] event that we did last year, which is

[14:28] really successful. We're giving out the

[14:30] mental health resource cards pictured

[14:32] above. And then we're doing health

[14:33] trivia and they can get like fidget toys

[14:35] and stress toys. And there's a picture

[14:36] below of the event last year.

[14:45] So, in addition to our four main

[14:48] subcommittees, we have um two sort of ad

[14:50] hoc subcommittees. And the first one

[14:52] focuses on ebike safety. So, as everyone

[14:55] knows, ebike has been a pretty big

[14:57] priority for the town. And we've been

[14:58] trying to contribute to this effort um

[15:01] with assistant city manager Brown, Mayor

[15:03] Cole, Police Chief Colola, um

[15:05] Superintendent D Archie, Vice Mayor

[15:08] Ragdale, and Cocker student Nathan Kim.

[15:10] and we um have been collecting survey

[15:13] responses for the teen ebike safety

[15:15] survey. We have about 41 responses right

[15:17] now from fifth through 12th graders

[15:19] living in Hillsbor. Um and we are just

[15:22] really um trying to represent the youth

[15:25] voice and that is also being heard by

[15:27] local assembly members like Diane Papin

[15:30] as well as Samonteo County Supervisor

[15:33] Jackie Spear. And then we are

[15:35] collaborating with other youth

[15:36] commissions in California to distribute

[15:38] similar copies of this survey so they

[15:40] can send it out to their own towns and

[15:42] we can gather even more data on um ebike

[15:45] use in California.

[15:50] And finally, we have another ad hoc uh

[15:53] subcommittee sort of focused on youth

[15:55] injury prevention. A really big issue

[15:57] recently has been um injuries for teens,

[16:01] especially female athletes. Um, for

[16:04] example, female athletes are two to

[16:06] eight times more likely to tear their

[16:08] ACL compared to their me male

[16:10] counterpart. And a lot of this is due to

[16:12] factors like overuse, injuries, uh, not enough emphasis on nutrition in

[16:18] recovery and uh, specializing in a

[16:21] specific sport too early on. So, we're

[16:24] working with um Erica, Lauraai, Kiara,

[16:27] Ella, Trisha, Jesse, Ava, Kyle, Brody,

[16:29] Alex, Nia, Raj, Antich to um distribute

[16:34] educational resources to coaches,

[16:37] athletes, and parents to um spread

[16:40] awareness about the risks and what

[16:42] athletes can do. Um, so we're doing this

[16:45] through the Hillsboro recreation

[16:47] brochure, uh, distributing pamphlets

[16:50] during the sports information night and,

[16:52] um, working with the AYSO to, um, give

[16:57] advice, uh, for the coaches training.

[17:00] And we are also supported by Vice Mayor

[17:02] Ragdale and Hillsboro recreation

[17:04] director, uh, Mr. Tony Jakamazi.

[17:09] And that's all for today. Um, we wanted

[17:11] to thank you all for being here and

[17:13] listening to what uh what our updates

[17:16] are and we are also open to answering

[17:18] any questions.

[17:20] >> Well, thank you. Thank you so much. I

[17:22] have to say I'm a bit jealous just

[17:24] listening to all the things you guys are

[17:26] doing. You certainly are your your

[17:29] success rate is quite impressive. you've

[17:32] only um been doing this for a few years

[17:35] and you've accomplishing so much.

[17:37] Preserving the history of the town,

[17:39] promoting wellness, um taking care of

[17:42] our seniors and communicating with them

[17:44] and connecting with them, addressing

[17:46] issues of public safety, injury

[17:48] prevention, the list goes on and on. I

[17:51] am just so proud of you all. And before

[17:54] I do a special mayor's applause, I would

[17:56] like my colleagues to comment on

[17:58] anything they've heard. I'm just totally

[17:59] overwhelmed. Let me let me take this

[18:01] opportunity to also recognize my

[18:03] colleague, Vice Mayor Ragdale, who has

[18:05] been mentoring the Hillsboro Youth

[18:07] Council and I'm I am super happy she's

[18:11] in charge of this job and I I think it's

[18:13] just wonderful. Thanks to all of you.

[18:16] I'm so proud of you all. Yes. Any of my

[18:18] colleagues would like to add to that?

[18:21] I I it's I'm so impressed always with

[18:24] what you're doing and the uh PowerPoint

[18:26] was very professional and your

[18:28] presentations were so self- assured.

[18:31] Well done. Um I do have a question and

[18:33] I'm I'm I hesitate to ask because you

[18:36] have so many things on your plate, but

[18:38] last year you helped with the Pride

[18:39] recognition event and helped turn it

[18:41] into really a talent showcase which was

[18:44] so effective. Is that something that's

[18:47] on your schedule uh to work on again

[18:49] this year?

[18:52] Yeah, a lot of us are really passionate

[18:54] about um helping with this Pride event.

[18:56] We actually did want to meet with you to

[18:58] talk a little bit more about the

[19:00] details, but yeah, that is something

[19:01] we're definitely interested in helping

[19:03] with.

[19:03] >> Great. Wonderful.

[19:06] >> Um yes, Vice Mayor Rexdale.

[19:10] >> Okay, you guys know I can go on and on,

[19:12] so I'm really going to try not to. Um,

[19:14] but first, because you guys are a um

[19:17] committee of the city manager's office,

[19:19] um, I don't want to really take cra I

[19:22] mean, I mentor you guys because I love

[19:24] you, but I I don't really put in the

[19:25] hours. I'm I'm always here if you need

[19:27] anything, but I want to especially thank

[19:30] um, assistant city manager Mandy Brown

[19:33] and um, I always forget his title

[19:35] because he does everything. Uh, William

[19:37] Lee, as you guys call him, Mr. Lee. Um

[19:40] but they have done so much work with you

[19:42] guys and um uh just I'm so grateful. Uh

[19:48] you guys take an idea and just take it

[19:52] from here to here.

[19:54] You know the the idea behind uh

[19:56] collecting which was uh our mayor's idea

[20:00] collecting um we've got these great

[20:02] former mayors. They're around. They're

[20:04] still in town. They love our town. They

[20:06] want to talk to you. and you recorded

[20:08] them. That's fantastic. And uh former

[20:11] mayor Maluli is still around and she's

[20:13] on the line, so I bet you could still uh

[20:15] record her. Um she has so many great

[20:18] stories to tell. But you know, you you

[20:19] took an idea. I'm thinking I'll just

[20:21] take some notes and and here you've got

[20:23] a YouTube channel.

[20:26] It's so incredibly um impressive.

[20:29] Everything that you've done um is just

[20:32] so impressive. the um teen violence

[20:35] awareness that comes from you guys,

[20:37] right? You know, as I've said before,

[20:40] when you talk about the mental health,

[20:41] the parents, the teachers, you know,

[20:45] we're we'll be listened to a little bit,

[20:46] but it's not the same as coming from you

[20:49] guys. And that is so meaningful. And I'm

[20:50] so happy you're going to Crocker this

[20:52] coming week. And uh that is just

[20:54] fantastic. The the ebike article came

[20:57] out, should be in your mailboxes today.

[21:00] um so impressive and you guys were

[21:04] edited by professionals and also edited

[21:06] by a committee. Two things that are very

[21:09] hard and you um did so well with that

[21:12] and I love the article. I love the way

[21:13] that it came out but also the process.

[21:16] Um you know it's not easy to deal with a

[21:19] bunch of adults who who have an opinion

[21:21] and you guys handle that with such grace

[21:22] and um I really appreciate it. Um and uh

[21:26] one last thing, ebikes, the uh draft

[21:28] model ordinance is being heard tomorrow

[21:30] morning. Uh at the board of supervisors

[21:33] meeting, uh if you can, you know, log on

[21:37] in between classes. The meeting starts

[21:38] at 9 and it's the fifth item on the

[21:40] agenda, so it'll probably come on pretty

[21:43] early, but your voices are so important

[21:46] and thank you so much.

[21:48] >> Thank you. Um yeah. Yes. Um Council

[21:51] Member Schwang. Um again I want to join

[21:54] my colleague to com commend you for your

[21:57] determination and your hard work but

[22:00] most importantly it's the heart. I think

[22:03] that your heart shows in all these

[22:06] projects and then you make the

[22:08] connections with the teens at Crockers

[22:11] uh with the seniors. um you think from

[22:15] the perspectives and making that

[22:17] connections and I think in these days

[22:19] that is the most precious things that we

[22:22] need to have human connections and

[22:24] through that you learn from each other

[22:26] and then you're able to make changes

[22:28] that is impacted our town and it's it's

[22:32] um quite remarkable so I I want to thank

[22:35] you all for your creativities and your

[22:38] heart and you know just onward thank

[22:42] you.

[22:43] >> Thank you so much. We're very proud of

[22:45] your work and keep it on, keep it going.

[22:47] >> Yes. Oh, I'm sorry. Uh, but yes, go

[22:50] ahead.

[22:51] >> I also want to echo what my colleagues

[22:54] have said, but I want to emphasize the

[22:56] fact that really successful programs,

[22:59] uh, the message has to be delivered by a

[23:02] trusted source. And there's no more

[23:05] trusted source than you to other peers.

[23:09] So, the fact that you're saying things

[23:11] really matters to people much more than

[23:15] uh let's say the elderly talking to you.

[23:18] But I do want to commend you as well for

[23:20] reaching out to other age groups to make

[23:23] that community connection and it

[23:25] requires patience and planning and we're

[23:28] very grateful. So, thank you.

[23:30] >> Thank you. So, a special mayor's

[23:33] applause for this amazing team,

[23:35] Hillsboro Youth Council.

[23:43] Thank you all for your kind comments and

[23:45] for all your support and especially to

[23:47] Mr. Lee and Assistant City Manager

[23:50] Brown. We really appreciate all you guys

[23:51] do for us. Thank you.

[23:52] >> Thanks again.

[23:58] If I may, Madame Mayor, um the youth

[24:01] commission, we have a few um Berlingame

[24:03] High School school students who aren't

[24:05] necessarily with the youth commission,

[24:07] but they are hosting these five exchange

[24:10] students from um Edgawa, Japan through

[24:13] the Berling game club of uh through the

[24:15] Rotary Club of Berlingame and Hillsboro.

[24:17] So um and Lauraai who is on the youth

[24:20] commission is one of the hosts and also

[24:22] Abby and also Brendan. And um we just

[24:25] want to welcome because I think after

[24:26] the the city manager's update they will

[24:28] leave. But we do want to welcome our

[24:30] friends from Japan.

[24:32] >> Yes. And thank their hosts.

[24:36] » And thank the hosts.

[24:38] >> Sure. Of course. Okay. So the next item

[24:42] on our agenda is um the town updates and

[24:46] that will be presented by city manager

[24:48] Doug Davis.

[24:50] >> Thank you, Madam Mayor.

[24:55] Thank you, Mr. Lee.

[25:01] Okay, first up on our town update, I

[25:03] want to talk a little bit about the

[25:09] there we go about the project at 101

[25:12] North El Camino Rail in Sonteo. Uh

[25:15] Horizon Treatment Services has a plan to

[25:17] open a new sobering station in Sonteo.

[25:19] This is uh after the behavioral health

[25:22] provider Star Vista in Berling game

[25:24] closed. Uh as an alternate to jail, a

[25:27] sobering stations are where police bring

[25:29] individuals who are under the influence

[25:30] of alcohol or drugs for detox and

[25:32] potential potential connection to

[25:34] community services that can assist them

[25:36] in moving forward with their lives.

[25:39] The town has been monitoring during this

[25:41] idea for a while along with our our

[25:43] residents uh the city of San Mato and of

[25:45] course our Roseboro school district to

[25:47] stay informed with everything we can.

[25:48] There have been some concerns expressed

[25:51] uh and we have received several emails

[25:53] about this as well. While state law may

[25:55] restrict the authority that the city of

[25:57] San Monteo has in regulating this

[25:59] project, everybody should know that we

[26:00] are taking in as much information as we

[26:02] can on the topic, listening to the

[26:04] concerns of our constituents. And I

[26:06] wanted to add just here are some of the

[26:08] sponsors uh for this project and this

[26:10] would be a direct way if you wanted to

[26:12] communicate with some of the individuals

[26:13] who are directly involved with this

[26:15] project. But of course, we're also

[26:17] welcome your comments here uh at the

[26:19] city manager's office and to our city

[26:20] council as well.

[26:24] I would go on and talk about the team

[26:25] ebike sura is a much better spokesperson

[26:28] than I am. So I think you've heard about

[26:30] this, but they have received a lot of

[26:31] information uh for them and I do know

[26:34] they are giving out some type of uh gift

[26:35] card. I'm not sure if that's going to be

[26:37] a random selection or for who has some

[26:39] of the best ideas in the survey. Also,

[26:42] we have an ebike contest uh that's

[26:44] coming up. This is for a video contest

[26:46] in association with the California of

[26:48] Youth Commissions and this will be the

[26:50] most impactful safety message that can

[26:52] be delivered in a 30-se secondond video.

[26:54] Deadlines for those are March 10th and

[26:56] there is additional uh $500 prize for

[26:59] whichever one is selected as the winner.

[27:04] The Hillsboro Police Department along

[27:05] with AMR uh American Medical Response

[27:09] and the Sanonteo County Health

[27:10] Foundation are sponsoring a diaper

[27:12] drive. This will be going on through

[27:14] March 15th. Anytime between 8:30 and

[27:17] 5:00 PM, you can come to the Hillsboro

[27:19] Police Department to make a donation

[27:22] uh there at the facility in the lobby at

[27:25] the police department. And again, that's

[27:27] 8:30 to 5:00. And that's going on up

[27:29] until March 15th.

[27:32] Rethink Waste Trash to Art Contest,

[27:35] which we've had some winners in here

[27:36] before, uh is hosting another uh

[27:39] contest. The deadline for entry is March

[27:41] 30th. Um, and this is open to third

[27:44] through fifth grade students and again

[27:46] put on by Rethink Waste. And I believe

[27:48] one of those is actually one of the

[27:50] projects that we saw here in in council.

[27:53] Yeah, the center one, the train there.

[27:57] We have a save the date coming out for

[27:59] April 26th uh for our townwide drill. Uh

[28:03] there'll be more information coming out

[28:04] about this through our CIRC group and

[28:06] also through the online eblast and on

[28:08] our town website as well where we'll

[28:09] have more specifics about what the drill

[28:11] will be about this year and also about

[28:14] uh the exact times generally in the

[28:16] morning a and ending sometime in the

[28:18] early afternoon. But it's a great event

[28:20] out there. If it's your first time

[28:21] coming out to one of these, you'll

[28:22] you're in for quite an experience as far

[28:24] as learning and meeting some of the

[28:26] other people uh that are more heavily

[28:28] involved in our SER program as well as a

[28:30] lot of our first responders. Another

[28:34] save the date for Hillsboro

[28:36] Beautification Foundation. This is the

[28:38] Celebrate May event which is being held

[28:40] May 7th. And if you're interested in

[28:42] learning more and applying for it, you

[28:43] can do so at the hillsboro

[28:45] Beautifification Foundation.org

[28:47] where you can then get specific

[28:48] information about the event, but it will

[28:50] be uh Thursday, May 7th this year.

[28:54] Also, the Sanonteo County Leadership

[28:56] Corps application is now open. This is

[28:58] for both other programs, both the

[29:01] leadership corpse and the emerging

[29:02] leaders program. Uh application for the

[29:05] classes uh for the upcoming 2027 session

[29:09] are due by May 1st, 2026.

[29:12] So if you're interested in that, I'd

[29:14] highly recommend it. Most of our town

[29:16] staff have been through this and we try

[29:18] to send town staff through each one of

[29:20] these as they present themselves. But if

[29:21] you're a member of the community and

[29:23] you're interested in this, it is a very

[29:24] worthwhile program. I've been through

[29:26] and I believe all of our council members

[29:28] have have been through this as well.

[29:32] And just a reminder, short-term rentals

[29:36] uh and our ordinance related to that,

[29:37] they are not permitted. And a short-term

[29:39] rental is classified as anything for

[29:41] under a 30-day period of time. And I'd

[29:44] remind people that if they do see

[29:45] short-term rentals that are listed,

[29:47] oftentimes they'll use the word

[29:48] Hillsboro within the rental description.

[29:51] And a lot of times these are uh in our

[29:53] adjacent neighboring communities.

[29:55] They're not actually within the town of

[29:56] Hillsboro, but our code enforcement uh

[29:59] is is taking a look at these and and

[30:01] addressing the ones that may be

[30:03] inappropriately listed for Hillsboro for

[30:05] under that 30-day time period. But just

[30:07] a reminder to our residents, there is a

[30:09] short-term rental ordinance and it's

[30:11] anything under 30 days within the town.

[30:16] The voting contest for the stickers is

[30:18] out, and if you've ever gone to the

[30:19] voting day, you'll see everybody walks

[30:21] out with a sticker on that says, "I

[30:23] voted." Uh there's two types of

[30:24] stickers. There's one uh that'll be a

[30:27] submission for students ages 18 uh and

[30:31] under and this will be for the I voted

[30:32] contest and this is to actually make the pattern that will be on the stickers

[30:36] that are given out at the voting booths.

[30:38] And then for future voter contest,

[30:40] another sticker that those who are under

[30:42] 18 and not able to vote that is open to

[30:44] our residents age 19 and older. The

[30:47] deadline to submit your design for these

[30:49] stickers will be April 6th, and you can

[30:51] do so at the at the Berling game uh code

[30:55] down there at the bottom. I would read

[30:57] that, but I would mess that up for sure.

[31:01] Uh and we have the El Camino project,

[31:03] which we've talked about several times

[31:04] in here. I'm hesitant to give out any

[31:07] specific dates on exactly when this has

[31:09] happened. We've gone through a couple of

[31:11] iterations with it with CALR and also

[31:14] whether permitting can cause some

[31:15] changes and when this will happen. But

[31:16] the second that we get a firm date on

[31:19] exactly when these projects will start,

[31:21] we'll be putting out as much public

[31:22] information as we can. I want to thank

[31:24] our public's works uh crew um over here

[31:28] for uh working so closely with Calrans

[31:31] and making sure that we have the least

[31:32] effect uh as possible within our

[31:34] community. It's something that needs to

[31:35] be done. It's certainly going to be a

[31:37] great improvement of the El Camino. uh

[31:39] we may have to just put up with a little

[31:40] bit of disruption here for about a week

[31:43] or so as that project moves through the

[31:44] town of Hillsboro.

[31:47] And then here's some tentative uh things

[31:50] for upcoming agenda items. Again, these

[31:52] are tentative, but we're scheduled to be

[31:54] talking about these items. So, if you

[31:55] have an interest in this, keep an eye

[31:57] out on our website to see exactly when

[31:59] they're agendaized. But this is our

[32:01] future April and May meetings. Then our

[32:04] final page that we always come to here

[32:06] in the end is our our ways of getting

[32:08] information from the city. Again, I'll

[32:10] always say that SMC alert. If you're

[32:12] going to pick one, that's probably the

[32:13] one you want to have. Uh all of them are

[32:15] great. I have them all on my phone. Just

[32:17] you can put in for whatever amount of

[32:19] detail information you want on them. And

[32:21] I again, the lowest point of entry is

[32:22] probably NIXL, which is very, very easy

[32:24] to use. If you can text, you can use

[32:26] NIXL. Um and that's all I have, Madame.

[32:29] Thank you.

[32:30] >> Um thank you, City Manager Davis. Um so

[32:33] we will now um open for um public

[32:36] comments. Um do we have any public

[32:38] comments in the chambers that on items

[32:40] that are not on the agenda?

[32:43] >> Thank you, Mayor Cole. I'll just ask if

[32:45] there's anyone in the room who would

[32:46] like to provide a comment that on an

[32:48] item not on the agenda to submit a

[32:50] speaker card. Uh the speaker cards are

[32:52] available at the back of the room um by

[32:54] the door. Um but I do have some raised

[32:56] hands on Zoom that I can proceed with.

[32:59] Uh the first is George Lance.

[33:02] >> Hello, George.

[33:06] » Hello. Thank you for the opportunity to

[33:09] speak. Um and I would like to ask the

[33:12] city council to consider a resolution

[33:16] uh to state that they will never do an

[33:19] anti-semitism resolution restricting

[33:22] virtual public comments to silence

[33:24] unpopular speeches. Viewpoint

[33:26] discrimination.

[33:27] This meeting's public comment period is

[33:29] a limited public forum. In the forum

[33:31] like this, you can talk about the time

[33:33] and manners, but you cannot uh engage in

[33:36] viewpoint discrimination. That's settled

[33:39] constitutional law. So, please um you

[33:42] know, understand there's people with

[33:44] varying points of view, but Supreme

[33:47] Court held in Rosenberg versus

[33:49] University of Virginia that viewpoint

[33:50] discrimination is unconstitutional.

[33:52] Mattal versus Tam said that plainly that

[33:56] speech that offends is protected. Um, a

[33:59] problem we have is in 2023

[34:02] when the Jews started their genocide in

[34:06] Palestine, they compelled boards like

[34:09] yours through the Anti-Defamation League

[34:12] to put through anti-semitism resolutions

[34:15] that conflate Zionism and Judaism and

[34:19] uh, Israel and genocide with

[34:22] anti-semitism, which in today's age is

[34:25] the worst possible thing you can do. But

[34:28] um we as citizens for over two years

[34:31] worth of genocide have lost our right to

[34:34] speak at these meetings because of how

[34:36] trigger-happy uh the mute button was.

[34:39] And I think there's some time for

[34:41] reflection now. And I think the public

[34:43] should look back at uh how city councils

[34:47] across the country were influenced by

[34:49] the ADL in anti-semitism resolution and

[34:53] um and zoombombing toolkits which have

[34:55] been uh publicly disclosed in

[34:58] jurisdictions throughout California

[35:00] especially. Um the Anti-Defamation

[35:02] League is a very polarizing group and to

[35:05] see that they have this influence over

[35:07] boards and bodies to silence the

[35:09] bloodned uh right and you know un

[35:12] inalienable right you know nature-given

[35:15] right you know to speak um and I just

[35:19] want to think that it's time to look

[35:20] back at this and how that time was

[35:23] needed for free speech and that time was

[35:25] used for grand sta grandstanding of

[35:28] politicians uh defending the poor victim

[35:31] Jews from their criticism that everyone

[35:34] else is allowed to get except for them.

[35:37] Every single time anyone criticizes Jews

[35:40] for anything, you hear this Saabb story

[35:42] and your board shut down free speech.

[35:45] The public does not want anti-semitism

[35:47] resolutions. First of all, that's a bad

[35:49] term if you look into the enmology.

[35:52] Second, the public knows who the problem

[35:55] in the world is and they're very much

[35:57] united against a common enemy. We do not

[36:00] want to go to war for Israel and most of

[36:02] the public is really questioning Jewish

[36:04] supremacy and they have this supremacy

[36:07] on silencing free speech at boards like

[36:09] yours. Thank you.

[36:10] >> Um thank you George Lance. Um next um

[36:14] speaker in chambers or by Zoom.

[36:19] >> Yes. Thank you Kathy Milligan.

[36:23] >> Hello Kathy Milligan.

[36:24] >> Hi. I'd like to address the um 69 bed

[36:29] residential drug rehab program. I'd like

[36:31] to hear when the Hills when Hillsboro

[36:33] was first made aware of the proposed

[36:35] program um and are they concerned about

[36:39] the close proximity to South School and

[36:41] the inevitable stress that this project

[36:43] will put on our Hillsboro police. I know

[36:46] that the county, our representative was

[36:49] aware since at least October of 2025.

[36:52] And I do not understand why

[36:55] our city council didn't feel that we

[36:58] should that you should notify the

[37:00] residents that it will affect. It seems

[37:03] unfathomable

[37:05] to me that you don't think we should

[37:07] have had the time to consider the what

[37:09] impact this might have on our town

[37:12] and on the safety of of students right

[37:14] down at South School.

[37:17] Also wondering if you have any

[37:18] confidence that Horizon can handle a

[37:20] project this large given that it's much

[37:23] larger than any project previously

[37:25] undertaken in Berlingame or San Monteo

[37:27] or actually even Northern California at

[37:30] 69 residential beds. This is a behemoth

[37:33] and I would appreciate some I would like

[37:35] to hear from the town on why they chose

[37:37] this path. Thank you.

[37:40] >> Thank you Miss Milligan.

[37:43] Um, next speaker.

[37:46] Yes, Joshua.

[37:51] » Uh, yeah. Hi, this is Josh Coopermanman.

[37:53] Um, hi to the town council. Um, my

[37:57] original reason for coming at to the

[38:00] public session was to alert you to an

[38:03] article which was in the Daily Post, the

[38:05] PaloAlto Daily Post on Friday, which

[38:08] indicated that there have been problems

[38:10] with the flock

[38:12] uh, cameras that other jurisdictions

[38:16] around the country, partly for

[38:17] immigration purposes, have been logging

[38:20] in to the U city's network in Los Altos

[38:25] and um worried Los Altos a lot. Uh two

[38:30] other cities have terminated their flock

[38:33] program. I don't know what vendor you

[38:35] use. Um all I'm trying to do is to alert

[38:39] you to the fact that um the data that we

[38:43] collect um in any license plate uh

[38:46] surveillance

[38:48] um can be used for purposes that we did

[38:52] not intend. And I hope this town um if

[38:57] it hasn't already to this point will uh

[39:01] consider through its town council um any

[39:06] requirements to restrict use of this

[39:09] data um to purposes that the town uh is

[39:14] accepts. Um any event that uh also to

[39:19] alert you to the fact that uh Crystal

[39:21] Springs Upland School I I'm a four doors

[39:24] from it has asked the neighbors for a

[39:28] Zoom call on Wednesday I guess to go

[39:31] over the fact that they're asking for an

[39:33] increase in stu in enrollment. Uh, I can

[39:37] only tell you I have called Crystal

[39:40] Springs numerous times, particularly at

[39:42] 3:00 and 4 in the afternoon when the

[39:44] cars are sitting um and and held up at

[39:48] the entrance to Crystal because they are

[39:51] waiting for their pickups of their kids.

[39:54] Um, it's really annoying to look to the

[39:57] neighbors, adjacent neighbors, including

[39:59] myself. And I hope that the town in in

[40:03] the in looking through this process, the

[40:05] EIR process, will put sufficient

[40:09] restrictions

[40:10] on Crystal. So if we're going to have

[40:13] another 50, 100 students with another 50

[40:16] or 100 cars, we don't make the town does

[40:19] not allow Crystal to make the problems

[40:21] worse. And finally, in my last 33

[40:24] seconds, and I'll do it very quickly, I

[40:26] hope the town of this um George Lance's

[40:30] comment, I hope the town council does

[40:32] not go down this rabbit hole. Um there

[40:35] are a lot of people in this town who

[40:37] don't agree with him and his views, and

[40:40] I hope the town council understands

[40:42] that. Thank you very much.

[40:44] >> Thank you, Mr. Cooper. Um any additional

[40:48] um public comments? Thank you, Miracle.

[40:52] I don't have any speaker cards and no

[40:54] additional raised hands.

[40:57] >> Okay. Um,

[41:00] we will now close public comments. And

[41:02] the next item on the agenda is

[41:04] announcement of a of conflicts of

[41:06] interest um from the council that needs

[41:09] to be disclosed on items that that are

[41:12] on the agenda. Any announcement of

[41:14] conflicts of interest from any of my

[41:17] colleagues?

[41:19] Seeing none. And with regards to the

[41:22] consent calendar, do we um are there any items

[41:28] um that we need to remove? We'll start

[41:30] with the public first. Does the public

[41:32] wish to remove any items from the

[41:34] consent calendar?

[41:37] Seeing none, we will then proceed with

[41:38] the council. Any council member wish to

[41:41] remove any items from the consent

[41:43] calendar? Through

[41:44] >> the mayor, I' I'd like to pull um item

[41:47] four. Um, I don't need the I don't have

[41:51] questions for the consultants or

[41:53] anything. Um, but I wanted to pull

[41:54] forward, please.

[41:56] >> Thank you. Any other items to be removed

[41:58] from the council by council members?

[42:02] Okay, just item four. Um, so we we will

[42:06] move with items. We'll move for approval

[42:08] on items one, two, three, four, five,

[42:10] six. I'm sorry. One, two, three, five,

[42:13] six, seven, eight, nine,

[42:16] and 10. Do we have a motion?

[42:18] >> So move.

[42:19] >> Second.

[42:21] >> Okay. May we have the roll call?

[42:24] >> Adams.

[42:26] >> Yes. Schwang

[42:28] >> I.

[42:28] >> Crawlic.

[42:29] >> I.

[42:29] >> Ragdale.

[42:30] >> I.

[42:31] >> Cole.

[42:32] >> I.

[42:33] >> Thank you.

[42:34] >> Okay. We'll get back to item four and I

[42:36] will ask my colleague um Vice Mayor

[42:38] Ragdale,

[42:39] >> please proceed.

[42:41] >> You'll be shocked to know that I had

[42:43] comments on ebikes.

[42:45] Um so one comment and one request. Um

[42:49] the comment is on the letter that uh the

[42:52] mayor signed on behalf of the town. I

[42:55] just want to say I love the letter. Um I

[42:58] love the language in the letter

[43:00] especially the um asking for we are in

[43:05] support of your bill but also there's a

[43:07] few other things we would we would like.

[43:09] Uh there are a lot of bills. last count

[43:12] I think they were nine but there may be

[43:14] even more by today. Um they're beyond

[43:18] the um county model ordinance which

[43:20] they're talking about tomorrow. Um so

[43:23] with regard to um uh Assembly Member

[43:27] Papins bill

[43:29] um AB

[43:33] 2595

[43:34] um to have a

[43:38] uh pilot project for Sanonteo County. Uh

[43:42] I know they tried this for the whole

[43:43] state. It ended up regarding restricting

[43:46] the age for the different classes of

[43:48] ebikes. They tried to get this for the

[43:50] whole state. they compromised and Marin

[43:53] County had one, San Diego County had one

[43:55] and uh assembly member Papen heard her

[43:58] constituents at the town hall that she

[44:01] had that you know most of us don't want

[44:03] to wait until those pilot projects are

[44:05] done and so she's put forth this bill

[44:08] for um Sanonteo County. My understanding

[44:11] from talking to advocates is that it's

[44:14] still going to be a hard one to pass,

[44:17] but um I would um I would propose that

[44:22] we add to our letter um for so she says

[44:26] for class one, it's age 12 and up. I

[44:30] would propose that we add propose to the

[44:32] council that we add to the I know we

[44:34] haven't done the letter yet. when we do

[44:36] a letter um for class two that it's a

[44:39] higher age 15 or 16 just uh right now um

[44:44] the way her bill is uh 12 year olds

[44:47] could ride the class 2 with the throttle

[44:50] um so I would propose that we take the

[44:54] class one um restrictions that San Diego

[44:58] has which is 12 and the class two

[45:00] restrictions which is 16 15 is fine um

[45:03] that Marin has and combine them in a San

[45:06] Monteo County bill.

[45:08] >> Okay. So, that is a suggestion for an

[45:11] amendment to that letter. Um I believe

[45:13] that's Assembly Bill is that

[45:16] >> 2595 and I think it's new. I don't think

[45:18] we've done that. We haven't done that

[45:20] letter yet. So, I I love the letter that

[45:22] we that we have and I would just add um

[45:26] we're in full support of class one age

[45:28] restriction, but we would also like a

[45:29] class two age restriction.

[45:31] >> Okay. So that's a feedback to the staff

[45:34] to modify that letter that hasn't been

[45:37] signed yet. Any additional comments or

[45:39] suggestions along those lines from

[45:41] council?

[45:41] >> Council member Rex.

[45:44] >> Yes, I agree with that recommendation.

[45:47] Okay. So with regards to item four, any

[45:50] additional comments? Um Vice Mayor

[45:52] Rexdale?

[45:52] >> Not from me. If there are no others,

[45:54] then I would move um for approval on

[45:56] consent item number four.

[45:58] >> Do we have a second?

[45:59] >> Second.

[46:00] >> Okay. Um, all those in favor of item

[46:03] >> I

[46:05] >> Thank you.

[46:08] All right. Um,

[46:12] moving on to the next item on the

[46:13] agenda, which is um an old business

[46:16] accepting item 11. Accept sewer rate

[46:19] study and authorize implementation of

[46:21] the recommend recommendation and that

[46:23] will be presented by assistant finance

[46:25] director Rich Santiago and Gabe Sasser,

[46:28] our project manager. Hello, Ra.

[46:31] >> Good evening, council. Uh, yes, tonight

[46:33] we bring forward the sewer rate study

[46:35] report. Um, and if accepted, direct

[46:37] staff to uh mail the notice of public

[46:39] hearing uh on the proposed rates. Uh,

[46:43] the last sewer rate service charges, uh,

[46:45] they were adopted during the last 218

[46:47] process in June of 2021. And this past

[46:51] July in 25, we adopted the fifth and

[46:54] final year of that rate series, which is

[46:56] why we did a new report and study. Uh

[46:59] last month, February 9th, we had a city

[47:02] council study session where the uh rate

[47:04] study was introduced with the rates by

[47:07] our consultants, HF&H as uh Mayor Cole

[47:10] um mentioned. And so tonight, they are

[47:12] going to present the report. Online we

[47:15] have uh Gabe Sasser, project manager. uh

[47:18] Rick Simson, senior vice president and

[47:21] also uh Ludy Karu uh from Best Bessing

[47:23] Creger and I think Gabe will share his

[47:26] screen.

[47:28] If not, we have the the PowerPoint.

[47:33] » Hello, Gabe. Welcome.

[47:36] >> Oh, yes. Thank you. Sorry, just getting

[47:38] this online.

[47:39] >> Sure.

[47:41] >> All right. Can you see my screen?

[47:43] >> Yes. Yes.

[47:44] >> Wonderful. Well, good evening, Mayor

[47:47] Cole and council members. As Rich

[47:50] stated, tonight we're here to present

[47:52] the final sewer rate study. The sewer

[47:55] rate study covers annual costs over the

[47:58] next five years.

[48:00] It includes a five-year schedule of rate

[48:03] increases, including a cost service

[48:05] alignment, which would require 3% annual

[48:09] revenue increases.

[48:12] Residential indoor water use was

[48:14] analyzed as part of this study as this

[48:17] input determines the equivalent dwelling

[48:21] unit charge for sewer rate customers

[48:25] because average annual water use indoor

[48:29] water use declined

[48:31] uh in conducting the cost of service.

[48:33] This means that costs are shifting from

[48:35] the residential customers to the

[48:37] commercial customers who discharge more

[48:40] flow than a typical residential

[48:43] household.

[48:45] As Rich stated, tonight's goals are to

[48:48] present the rate recommendations based

[48:50] on feedback received from February 9th

[48:54] and in and to accept the final report of

[48:58] the sewer rate study to establish the

[49:00] public hearing for May 11th, 2026 and to

[49:04] authorize staff to mail a proposition

[49:06] 218 notice

[49:08] at least 45 days in advance of the

[49:10] public hearing.

[49:13] Sewer rates were last studied in 2021

[49:16] and established rates through fiscal

[49:19] year 2526. The current sewer rate study

[49:22] covers the next five years with rates

[49:26] going into effect July 1, 2026 of this

[49:29] year.

[49:30] And the sewer rate study considers

[49:32] capital improvements as well as the

[49:35] public works department's uh intention

[49:38] to continue to address inflow and

[49:40] infiltration through pipe replacement as

[49:42] well as addressing homeowners deficient

[49:45] sewer laterals.

[49:48] The revenue requirement consists of

[49:51] annual operating costs which are

[49:53] increasing by 3% and as part of that

[49:56] projection no additional headcount is

[49:59] anticipated.

[50:00] San Mato and Berlin gain treatment costs

[50:03] however are projected to increase by 5%

[50:05] annually. Capital expenditures averaging

[50:09] $5.1 million per year are planned as the

[50:13] town continues to address its collection

[50:15] system.

[50:17] And debt service is also a component of

[50:20] the expense projections. $3.8 8 million

[50:24] annually for the first four years of the

[50:26] study, followed by a small half million

[50:30] reduction in the final year based on the

[50:32] 2023 refunding bond schedule of

[50:36] payments.

[50:38] This is just a display of the revenue

[50:40] requirement projections or the cost

[50:42] projections as you may know them shown

[50:45] by the stack bar chart and those can be

[50:48] compared to the revenue at current rates

[50:50] the horizontal black line.

[50:53] revenue requirement projections are

[50:55] exceeding the revenue at current rates

[50:58] and in each year this occurs there's an

[51:00] operating shortfall that must be

[51:03] addressed by an increase in revenues or

[51:05] a combination of the use of reserves.

[51:09] The final sewer rate study that we're

[51:11] presenting tonight recommends five

[51:13] consecutive 3% revenue increases.

[51:17] And in turn, this results in the reserve

[51:20] fund balance graph that you see by the

[51:24] dark green line on this slide. So this

[51:27] shows the town's sewer enterprise fund

[51:30] balance at the end of each fiscal year.

[51:34] With 3% increases in the first two

[51:37] years, the town is increasing revenues

[51:40] while also making use of existing

[51:42] reserves. Thus, the small drop in the

[51:46] reserve fund balance. But beginning in

[51:49] fiscal year 28-29, the reserve fund

[51:52] balance remains steady such that the

[51:54] reserve fund balance is sufficient to

[51:57] meet the target reserve. And that means

[51:59] that the town can not only fund its uh

[52:02] daily operating cash flow needs but also

[52:05] its cash funded capital infrastructure

[52:09] planned

[52:10] as part of this period

[52:14] with the 3% revenue increase in 2627.

[52:19] We conduct the cost of service and in

[52:24] conducting the cost of service and

[52:25] accounting for the change in the indoor

[52:27] water use assumptions which inform the

[52:31] sewer charge per equivalent dwelling

[52:33] unit or edu. This means that one edu

[52:36] would be charged $4,386.89

[52:41] or an increase of 1.8% 8% in the first

[52:44] year

[52:46] and as I touched upon and so you can see

[52:48] that in the second table where we've

[52:50] rounded to 2%. So residential revenues

[52:54] would increase by 2% and commercial

[52:56] customers would increase by more based

[52:59] on this commercial customers who

[53:01] discharge more than the average single

[53:04] family household.

[53:06] After July 1, 2026,

[53:09] all rates would increase by 3%

[53:11] thereafter with the intention of

[53:13] providing 3% annual revenue increases as

[53:16] shown on the previous slide.

[53:22] With the recommended rates, we're

[53:24] requesting the following actions of city

[53:26] council to accept the final report to at

[53:30] the public hearing for May 11th, 2026

[53:33] and to authorize staff to mail the

[53:35] proposition notice of any rate changes

[53:38] at least 45 days prior to the May 11th,

[53:42] 2026 public hearing.

[53:46] And with that, I'll return it to Mayor

[53:48] Cole.

[53:49] >> Um, thank you, Mr. Sasser. Um I will

[53:52] bring the um discussion to the council

[53:55] for first clarifying questions and um we

[54:00] will then proceed with the public

[54:02] comment and then come back for

[54:03] discussion.

[54:05] Um any questions? Any clarifying

[54:08] questions from the council?

[54:10] Yes, council member Schwam.

[54:14] >> No, did you say no? I'm sorry.

[54:16] >> No, because we have already done the uh

[54:18] study sessions.

[54:19] >> Yeah. Okay. Council member Adams, you

[54:21] may proceed.

[54:22] >> Thank you very much, Rich. And uh Gabe,

[54:26] I have a clarifying question on slide

[54:30] number five,

[54:33] uh you have talked about our debt

[54:35] coverage is 3.8 million annual debt. And

[54:40] then on page nine of the document from

[54:43] the actual sewer rate study existing

[54:46] debt service is a little hard to figure

[54:51] how how it gets to 3.8 million. So if

[54:54] you could just show me this is the top

[54:57] paragraph under existing debt service.

[55:00] The town has an outstanding bond

[55:02] obligation totaling 17.1 million as of

[55:07] June 30th, 2025, of which a portion was

[55:10] used uh for sewer improvements of the

[55:13] annual debt service of approximately 2.6

[55:16] million during the planning period. The

[55:18] sewer fund's share is approximately 1.4

[55:22] million 55%.

[55:25] The town also has a state revolving fund

[55:27] loan for previous sewer improvements

[55:29] with a principal outstanding of 7.9

[55:32] million. Annual debt service is

[55:37] 4 million. So if what I'm are we to add

[55:42] 2.6 million 1.4 million and 4 million to

[55:46] get to 3.8 million which is on the slide

[55:50] it's the slide before this one.

[55:52] >> Mhm.

[55:55] And before this one, slide five. There

[55:59] you go.

[56:02] The last bullet.

[56:04] >> Understood. Uh, excuse me. I'm just

[56:06] bringing up my notes area to be able to

[56:07] speak to that.

[56:12] » I have a second question, too. So,

[56:14] >> yes, that's fine.

[56:15] >> If you'd like to ask that one, I can

[56:18] maybe I can address that one right away.

[56:20] >> Okay. the one that when we last had this

[56:24] presentation which I I brought with me

[56:27] uh the recommendation was 3% 3% 2% 2%. So something happened. If you could

[56:34] give me a narrative of how how we bumped

[56:37] it up and also can you clarify that this

[56:40] is actually the maximum that we would

[56:43] charge and that we actually do have the

[56:45] opportunity

[56:47] to uh revisit this annually.

[56:52] >> Yes. I'll start off with the latter half

[56:54] of that question. Yes. The rates shown

[56:56] on slide eight would be the ones

[56:59] included in the notice and they

[57:01] represent the maximum annual charges and

[57:05] that of course city council could

[57:06] revisit those charges annually if

[57:09] desired to implement something lower. If

[57:13] you wanted to course correct and

[57:16] increase the rates beyond what was

[57:18] previously noticed, you would need to

[57:20] follow a new Proposition 218 procedure.

[57:26] Um,

[57:28] and the sorry could you remind me of the

[57:31] first half of your question?

[57:32] >> The first half of the question was when

[57:34] we last visited this it was 3% 3% 2% 2%. And now it's 3% for the next five

[57:42] years. So something must have happened.

[57:44] if you could just I don't want every

[57:47] detail but oh we looked at this and

[57:50] therefore we increased the maximum.

[57:55] >> Yes, we revisited the reserve totals

[57:59] that were modeled and made adjustments

[58:01] to those. Uh so it's really a a

[58:05] calculation

[58:06] adjustment on our part. uh we were not

[58:10] reflecting the proper minimum reserve

[58:13] total. And so because that pushed up the

[58:16] red line as you see on slide seven that

[58:18] adjusted the target reserve higher and

[58:21] so that meant that at the present rates

[58:25] the

[58:27] uh reserve fund balance would fall below

[58:29] the target reserve. So we increase those

[58:33] amounts so that uh the reserve fund

[58:36] balance would continue to meet the

[58:38] target reserve by the end of the fifth

[58:41] year or come as close to it as you see

[58:44] there pictured.

[58:47] » And we would potentially be able to get

[58:50] this information about the size of the

[58:51] reserve so that we could make a

[58:53] determination about whether we wanted to

[58:55] use the maximum

[58:58] in future years.

[59:00] >> That's right. Yes.

[59:01] >> Yeah. Okay. Thank you.

[59:03] >> As for your other question,

[59:06] um I'd like to say that in

[59:11] fiscal year 2627,

[59:14] there's a $1.4 million

[59:18] portion of the 2023 refunding bond

[59:21] attributable to the sewer enterprise. So

[59:23] that is a bond that's shared between the

[59:25] water enterprise and the sewer

[59:27] enterprise. 55% of that obligation

[59:31] the sewer enterprise is responsible for.

[59:33] So that's 1.43

[59:35] million. The state revolving fund loan

[59:38] is $431,000

[59:42] in fiscal year 2627 and the San Mateo

[59:45] clean water debt is $1.93

[59:49] million. All told, that's $3,88,268

[59:56] for debt service.

[59:58] Thus the 3.8 million.

[1:00:01] >> Okay. So, it's slightly different than

[1:00:03] what we got in our material, but you've

[1:00:05] just justified exactly what you would

[1:00:09] want from the slide rather than from

[1:00:13] page nine. I can certainly uh revisit

[1:00:16] that in the report to make sure that

[1:00:18] that's accurately depicted.

[1:00:22] >> 1.4,431,

[1:00:25] 1.98938

[1:00:28] million.

[1:00:30] >> Yes, I'll just correct you there. That's

[1:00:32] 1,437,700

[1:00:38] for the 2023 bond.

[1:00:42] 431,8001

[1:00:44] for the state revolving fund, 1,938,767

[1:00:51] for Sanonteo Clean Water.

[1:00:56] » Thank you.

[1:00:57] >> Um, thank you, um, Council Member Adams.

[1:01:00] With no additional questions, I do have

[1:01:02] one clarifying question. Um

[1:01:06] on page 92 um I just wanted and and I

[1:01:12] you may not have the exact details in

[1:01:15] front of you on this question regarding

[1:01:18] um replacement of aging infrastruct

[1:01:21] infrastructure and building weather

[1:01:23] sewer system capacity assurance. Um are

[1:01:27] we seeing a rise in the need to build um

[1:01:32] in terms of our contribution to with the

[1:01:35] San Monteo uh county regarding uh a

[1:01:38] sewer system? Are we seeing a rise in

[1:01:41] the cost over the past let's say five

[1:01:43] years in terms of that cost having gone

[1:01:46] up over the past five years

[1:01:47] >> in in construction or

[1:01:49] >> Yes. Um yeah, I mean it it is and uh we

[1:01:54] put that as part of our budget too in

[1:01:56] our five-year capital. There's also an

[1:01:58] inflator for um any type of um CPI index

[1:02:01] or anything with rising costs as well.

[1:02:03] So that is part of the factor when we

[1:02:05] did this rate series as well.

[1:02:08] >> So in in reality over the past five

[1:02:10] years we've actually seen the cost of

[1:02:13] building that infrastructure gone up.

[1:02:16] Yes. Okay. That's what I thought. Just

[1:02:19] wanted some clarification on that. Thank

[1:02:22] you. Um, any additional questions before

[1:02:24] we take it to public comments.

[1:02:28] Okay. Um, any public comments on this

[1:02:30] issue?

[1:02:32] >> Thank you, Mayor Cole. I don't have any

[1:02:34] speaker cards in the room for this item.

[1:02:36] Um, but we do have a raised hand on

[1:02:38] Zoom. Joshua.

[1:02:40] >> Hello, Joshua.

[1:02:44] I'm sorry you're on mute. We can't hear

[1:02:46] you.

[1:02:51] Uh I just wanted to ask whether there's

[1:02:53] a sufficient uh safeguards for inflation

[1:02:56] built into the cost of of replacement uh

[1:03:00] cap the capital funds as well as the

[1:03:03] cost of replacement of other items that

[1:03:05] are not within the uh multi-year capital

[1:03:08] budget.

[1:03:12] » Do we have um any comments on that or

[1:03:15] response? Yes, there is um

[1:03:18] getting acknowledgement from our public

[1:03:20] works director as well.

[1:03:22] >> Okay.

[1:03:25] >> The the answer Josh, did you hear that

[1:03:27] response?

[1:03:28] >> Uh I didn't hear that. I I just heard

[1:03:31] that the public uh works director was

[1:03:34] going to comment on it.

[1:03:37] >> No, I was just saying yes, Josh, there

[1:03:39] is in place.

[1:03:41] >> Uh and what kind of percentage are you

[1:03:43] looking at? My my concern of course is

[1:03:45] you still have the debt service for

[1:03:47] those bond issues that the town did many

[1:03:50] years ago. They're going to run off I

[1:03:53] believe not in this 5year cycle but

[1:03:55] further on but until then you have a

[1:03:59] fair a fair good amount of debt service

[1:04:02] you have to advertise annually.

[1:04:05] >> Um the question also would be Mr. SASA

[1:04:08] does that 3% include that buffer with

[1:04:10] regards to what Josh is asking or is

[1:04:13] that a different question?

[1:04:14] >> Yes, I can speak to this. Yes, there's a

[1:04:17] 3.3% annual capital construction cost

[1:04:21] index

[1:04:23] uh annually assumed. So yes, we are

[1:04:26] accounting for projected cost increases

[1:04:30] for labor and uh capital materials.

[1:04:34] I is that adequate given what you know

[1:04:38] what infla you know what we're currently

[1:04:40] going through with inflationary

[1:04:43] um aspects

[1:04:45] you're talking about a five-year I mean

[1:04:47] you're it's kind of a look see on a

[1:04:49] five-year basis and you once you do your

[1:04:51] rate study you can't go above the

[1:04:54] maximum

[1:04:55] >> authorized

[1:04:57] >> understood yes so uh within the last

[1:05:01] five years there have certainly been

[1:05:03] higher inflationary ary periods that

[1:05:07] represent really an outlier. We used a

[1:05:10] 10-year compounded annual growth rate

[1:05:13] which results in a 3.3% increase really

[1:05:16] to smooth out some of those uh

[1:05:18] inconsistencies

[1:05:20] over the last five years that we've

[1:05:22] seen.

[1:05:24] >> Well, but to a certain degree you're actually admitting that perhaps

[1:05:29] inflation could be higher than the 3%

[1:05:31] that you budgeted. My my concern is that

[1:05:34] and I sat on the FAC for many years and

[1:05:36] I've helped the town on these bond

[1:05:39] issues. My concern is you don't you know

[1:05:42] once you put this in place you're you're

[1:05:45] it's going to be there for five years.

[1:05:46] Your your top level of uh rates cannot

[1:05:50] exceed that top level. even if your

[1:05:53] inflation ba basically it'll mean you

[1:05:56] won't be putting as much money into your

[1:05:58] enterprise because you'll uh you'll have

[1:06:00] fewer dollars to for improvements.

[1:06:05] >> This is true and that's why the town

[1:06:08] also has reserves and can make use of

[1:06:10] those reserves.

[1:06:12] >> Well, the town being the town itself or

[1:06:16] the water and sewer the enterprise fund.

[1:06:18] >> The sewer enterprise fund. Yes. Thank

[1:06:20] you.

[1:06:22] Okay.

[1:06:24] I'm sorry. Did you

[1:06:26] >> I I'm just I just want to make sure that

[1:06:28] the town council's, you know, has has

[1:06:31] weighed in on that on the percentages

[1:06:35] that the assumptions here and and and it

[1:06:39] looks like according to Gabe uh past

[1:06:42] history which showed it was actually a

[1:06:44] little bit higher. Um, I just hope that,

[1:06:48] you know, having worked with the town

[1:06:51] for many years, you know, the part of

[1:06:54] the reason this debt's out there still

[1:06:56] is because the town didn't put money

[1:06:58] into the enterprise for many years and

[1:07:00] got behind the eightball, so to speak.

[1:07:03] And it be a shame if we made the mistake

[1:07:07] again, same mistake again.

[1:07:08] >> Yeah. Yeah. Um, those points are well

[1:07:12] noted. Um I think the understanding is

[1:07:14] that it's factored into this current uh

[1:07:17] study.

[1:07:18] >> Yeah.

[1:07:20] >> And if anything changes with rising

[1:07:21] costs or anything within the five years,

[1:07:24] I mean we wouldn't want to do a new

[1:07:25] series uh rate study but we would

[1:07:27] obviously conduct one if we had to. Um

[1:07:30] the last one we did get all five years

[1:07:31] but obviously we would have to revisit

[1:07:33] that if

[1:07:34] >> okay

[1:07:34] >> uh the revenue requirement changed.

[1:07:37] >> Thank you. Any additional public comment

[1:07:39] on this issue?

[1:07:41] No additional raised hands, Mayor Cole.

[1:07:43] Thank you.

[1:07:43] >> Okay, seeing none, I'll bring it back to

[1:07:45] the council. Um, any further discussion

[1:07:48] or do we have a motion to um could you

[1:07:51] please go to the slide that presents the

[1:07:55] um issue in front of the council at this

[1:07:58] time, please?

[1:07:59] >> Yes. Go ahead.

[1:08:01] >> One comment through the mayor. Um, you

[1:08:03] know, this item has been before us and

[1:08:06] uh I just really wanted to appreciate uh

[1:08:09] Council Member Adams for noticing

[1:08:12] differences from the past presentation

[1:08:14] and uh Mr. Coopermanman for um bringing

[1:08:17] up these issues. I just greatly

[1:08:20] appreciate it. Thank you.

[1:08:22] >> Thank you. I agree. All right. Could you

[1:08:25] just go to that last slide so we can be

[1:08:27] clear again? I know we've gone on on

[1:08:29] this discussion so we can um know what's

[1:08:32] >> Sorry about that.

[1:08:33] >> Yeah,

[1:08:41] » sorry about this. Well, while he's

[1:08:42] pulling up, it's just yeah, accept the

[1:08:44] recommendations for the sewer increase

[1:08:46] and changes uh from the HFNH report and

[1:08:49] then approve staff to mail the notice of

[1:08:52] public hearing uh for the town of

[1:08:54] Hillsboro sewer rates and set the public

[1:08:56] hearing uh no less than 45 days uh after

[1:09:00] the notice has been mailed. The next

[1:09:02] time we would do this would be the

[1:09:03] public hearing in May, May 11th.

[1:09:05] >> Do we have a motion to accept the

[1:09:07] recommendations?

[1:09:09] >> Second.

[1:09:11] >> Okay. Could you please um take the roll

[1:09:13] call?

[1:09:15] >> Thank you. Mayor Cole Adams,

[1:09:16] >> yes.

[1:09:17] >> Schwang,

[1:09:18] >> yes.

[1:09:18] >> Kwick,

[1:09:19] >> yes.

[1:09:19] >> Ragsdale,

[1:09:20] >> yes.

[1:09:20] >> Cole,

[1:09:22] >> yes.

[1:09:22] >> Thank you.

[1:09:23] Thank you, Mr. Sasser. And

[1:09:25] thank you, Rich Santiago, for the

[1:09:27] presentation.

[1:09:30] >> Thank you.

[1:09:34] The next item on our agenda is item 12,

[1:09:38] which is um an introduction of an

[1:09:40] ordinance amending chapter 17.52 of the

[1:09:43] Hillsboro Municipal Code relating to

[1:09:46] accessory dwelling units and junior

[1:09:49] accessory dwelling units and finding the

[1:09:50] action to be statutoily exempt from SQA.

[1:09:53] And that will be presented by our

[1:09:55] assistant director of building and

[1:09:57] planning, Liz Ruis. And I believe we

[1:09:59] also have um city attorney Todd Lashman

[1:10:04] um partner of BBK. He will be available

[1:10:07] for questions

[1:10:09] online by Zoom.

[1:10:11] >> Hello Liz. Thank you.

[1:10:13] >> Good evening

[1:10:15] >> and thank you for the introduction. Um,

[1:10:17] we've been talking about some of these

[1:10:19] changes over the past couple months. And

[1:10:22] on September 8th, I presented to the

[1:10:25] council a discussion item that previewed

[1:10:28] some of the discretionary amendments

[1:10:31] that are included in this revised

[1:10:33] ordinance. Um during that discussion we

[1:10:37] talked about some of the options and

[1:10:39] made staff recommendations, received

[1:10:42] direction from council and based on that

[1:10:44] direction from council. Um during that

[1:10:47] discussion, uh staff incorporated that

[1:10:50] council feedback into the proposed

[1:10:52] amendments and we're now presenting that

[1:10:55] ordinance for introduction to amend

[1:10:57] chapter 1752. Those proposed amendments

[1:11:01] include the required amendments to bring

[1:11:03] the town's ADU regulations into

[1:11:05] compliance with state law. It also

[1:11:08] reorganizes the chapter to more closely

[1:11:10] track the template provided by our city

[1:11:13] attorney's office and to also more

[1:11:15] closely track the exact structure and

[1:11:18] terminology that the statutes use. And

[1:11:21] then it also incorporates those

[1:11:22] discretionary amendments that we um that

[1:11:25] are informed by the discussion that we

[1:11:27] had on September 8th. So the majority of

[1:11:30] the town's underlying development

[1:11:32] standards remain largely intact. Um but

[1:11:36] the updated format includes the clarity

[1:11:38] uh improves the clarity rather and

[1:11:40] reduces um some ambiguity in terms of

[1:11:44] some of the discretionary processes we

[1:11:46] had included and also strengthens the

[1:11:49] legal defensibility of our ADU

[1:11:51] ordinance.

[1:11:54] First, I'll review some of the updates

[1:11:58] that are included in the revised

[1:12:00] ordinance to align with state law. I

[1:12:02] won't go over all of them. They're included in detail in the staff

[1:12:06] report and also outlined in the red line

[1:12:08] and clean um copy of the ordinance

[1:12:11] language attached to the staff report.

[1:12:14] Um but the first one is uh the the

[1:12:16] revised ordinance just clarifies that

[1:12:19] the allowable square footage referenced

[1:12:21] in the state law refers specifically to

[1:12:24] interior livable space. Previous

[1:12:27] versions just refi referred to square

[1:12:29] footage and jurisdictions were implying

[1:12:31] that as they saw fit. So this um updates

[1:12:34] that language to clarify that it's

[1:12:36] interior livable space. The um updates

[1:12:41] in compliance with SB543

[1:12:44] clarifies what impact fees and school

[1:12:48] fees can be assessed to ADUs and JADUS

[1:12:51] and those thresholds are related to the

[1:12:54] applicable square footage.

[1:12:57] SB 543 also codifies HCD's

[1:13:02] interpretation about the number of ADUs

[1:13:06] and JADUs that are allowed on a site. So

[1:13:10] HCD's interpretation has been this for a

[1:13:12] while, but this update under SB543

[1:13:16] actually brings it into the statute,

[1:13:18] which clarifies that on a single family

[1:13:22] residential parcel. Um, an individual

[1:13:24] could create an ADU through the

[1:13:26] conversion of existing space. They can

[1:13:29] also have a junior accessory dwelling

[1:13:31] unit and they can also have a detached

[1:13:34] ADU. All three of those types would be

[1:13:37] allowed on a single family property.

[1:13:42] The update also includes new statutory

[1:13:45] requirements clarifying application

[1:13:47] completeness and very specific

[1:13:50] procedures and timelines associated with

[1:13:52] our review. It allows us a 15-day

[1:13:55] completeness determination. There are

[1:13:57] very clear deficiency and noticing

[1:14:00] require I'm sorry, deficiency notice

[1:14:02] requirements associated with those

[1:14:03] reviews. it aligns with the process that

[1:14:06] we already have in place thanks to our

[1:14:08] ADU specialist. So that won't be um a

[1:14:12] change in the way we do things, but it

[1:14:14] is something that's now in in the state

[1:14:16] law.

[1:14:18] New uh to us and new to everybody is a

[1:14:21] ministerial appeal procedure. So this

[1:14:24] now establishes a state required appeal

[1:14:27] process for ADU application completeness

[1:14:30] determinations and for permit denials.

[1:14:33] Fortunately, we've never um had somebody

[1:14:36] interested in appealing um a

[1:14:38] completeness determination or a denial.

[1:14:40] We've I don't believe we've ever denied

[1:14:42] an ADU. We've always been able to get to

[1:14:44] a place where they're in compliance and

[1:14:46] approvable. Um but this is a new process

[1:14:49] that all jurisdictions are required to

[1:14:51] implement. Because the town does not

[1:14:53] have a planning commission, these

[1:14:55] appeals would be heard by the city

[1:14:57] council. Um and the state law is very

[1:15:01] clear about what the city council would

[1:15:04] be reviewing these because this is a

[1:15:06] ministerial project. The appeal would be

[1:15:10] limited to reviewing the objective

[1:15:12] compliance and those applicable

[1:15:14] standards. So it would be a very

[1:15:15] specific scope that the council would be

[1:15:17] reviewing those appeals under. But

[1:15:19] that's a new possibility that wasn't um

[1:15:22] didn't exist before.

[1:15:26] um ADUs and JADUs are now um defined by

[1:15:30] classes. So this is um these are the

[1:15:34] state defined classes. It really doesn't

[1:15:36] change anything other than what we've

[1:15:38] been calling them. So now they have a

[1:15:41] term class one and this applies to

[1:15:43] conversions

[1:15:45] um and limited detached units. We were

[1:15:47] formerly calling these building permit

[1:15:49] only ADUs and JADUs. So now they'll be

[1:15:52] referred to as class one. And then there

[1:15:54] are class two which are ADUs that meet

[1:15:58] all of the objective standards. We

[1:16:00] formerly called these ADU planning

[1:16:02] permits. So nothing about the process

[1:16:05] really changes other than just how

[1:16:07] they're classified as either class one

[1:16:08] or class two. Um, something that's not

[1:16:11] in the presentation, but is in the state

[1:16:13] law and is in our revised ordinance is

[1:16:16] that the new language clarifies that we

[1:16:19] are allowed to charge for planning

[1:16:22] review for both class one and class 2

[1:16:26] ADU reviews, which is great. It allows

[1:16:29] us to have some mechanism for cost

[1:16:30] recovery for those reviews. And both

[1:16:33] classes also receive an ADU um permit

[1:16:37] approval letter before they move on to

[1:16:40] building permit. So that will be nice.

[1:16:42] That's the way we were doing things

[1:16:44] previously. And so it's nice that the state law update uh reinforced our

[1:16:49] process.

[1:16:51] And as we discussed on September 8th,

[1:16:53] our recommendation was to remove the ADU

[1:16:56] deed restriction um prior to the

[1:16:58] certificate of occupancy. This is

[1:17:00] reinforced by the state law requirement,

[1:17:02] but it does maintain the requirement for

[1:17:06] a deed restriction for JADUS. So that

[1:17:09] remains in um in our revised ordinance

[1:17:12] consistent with state law.

[1:17:15] Moving on to some of the discretionary

[1:17:17] revisions. Um one item that we discussed

[1:17:20] in September were the notice of

[1:17:23] application requirements and the

[1:17:25] preconstruction notice requirements. and

[1:17:27] we discussed some of the complications

[1:17:29] that come with that. In our prior

[1:17:32] ordinance, homeowners were required to

[1:17:35] notify adjacent neighbors within three

[1:17:37] I'm sorry, the town was required to um

[1:17:40] notify adjacent neighbors within three

[1:17:42] business days of submitting an

[1:17:43] application. Um and then the applicant

[1:17:49] was also required to notify adjacent

[1:17:52] neighbors at least 30 days prior to

[1:17:54] commencing construction. We discussed

[1:17:56] many of the um complications with these

[1:17:59] requirements. Also, the noticing is not

[1:18:01] required by state law. So, we were

[1:18:03] worried about some of the legal

[1:18:04] implications of having those processes

[1:18:06] required by code. Um uh our discussion

[1:18:09] in September, we talked about revising

[1:18:11] the noticing to have a new notice at the

[1:18:15] time of permit issuance. And in

[1:18:18] discussing this revised process with

[1:18:21] Todd Lysman with BBNK, he suggested that

[1:18:23] we entirely eliminate the noticing

[1:18:25] requirement from our code and have it be

[1:18:28] a a town policy that staff um does this

[1:18:32] noticing requirement. The noticing would

[1:18:34] be issued by the town rather than the

[1:18:35] applicant. It would occur at permit

[1:18:37] issuance and the notice would clearly

[1:18:39] state that the ADU approval is

[1:18:42] ministerial. It would include contact

[1:18:44] information for any construction related

[1:18:46] concerns. And as we discussed um in

[1:18:49] September, staff would coordinate with

[1:18:51] the CCAC and the city attorney's office

[1:18:53] to ensure that the language is um

[1:18:56] informative and clear. The extra benefit

[1:18:59] of pulling it out of our code is then it

[1:19:02] allows us to amend this process as we

[1:19:05] see fit without having to come before

[1:19:07] the council and and amend the ordinance

[1:19:10] in any way. It allows us to update that

[1:19:11] noticing policy as appropriate in a more

[1:19:14] flexible um format.

[1:19:20] The notice of limited remaining

[1:19:22] development capacity requirement was

[1:19:24] that notice that um required a deed

[1:19:27] restriction um when 500 square f feet of

[1:19:31] remaining um square footage was

[1:19:34] remaining on the property. And because

[1:19:36] of all of the ADUs and JADUs and

[1:19:39] conversions, that deed restriction was very complicated. and we discussed

[1:19:44] in September that um the recommendation

[1:19:47] from the city attorney's office was to

[1:19:48] eliminate that from our ADU ordinance.

[1:19:50] So, this revised ordinance um eliminates

[1:19:54] that requirement, which would be more

[1:19:56] consistent with state law and will be

[1:19:57] clearer for applicants as well. And a

[1:20:01] property owner understanding what

[1:20:02] development capacity is remaining on

[1:20:05] their parcel, it it can be determined

[1:20:08] through other venues. This was not the

[1:20:10] most appropriate way to do that. So

[1:20:12] staff is available to assist property

[1:20:14] owners or realtors with that

[1:20:16] determination outside of the AD

[1:20:18] ordinance.

[1:20:20] Um for the landscape requirement, we

[1:20:23] worked with CCFD to review um the

[1:20:27] language. We ran into a bit of a

[1:20:30] conflict between the code and practice

[1:20:32] because some ADUs are allowed to be four

[1:20:35] feet from the property line, but in wooi

[1:20:37] and highf fire areas, landscaping has to

[1:20:40] be 5 feet from habitable space. And so

[1:20:43] we ran into an issue where there were

[1:20:45] landscaping requirements in places that

[1:20:47] we couldn't require landscaping. And so

[1:20:50] we the revised ordinance includes

[1:20:52] language that when it's not possible to

[1:20:55] install fires safe landscaping between

[1:20:58] the ADU and adjacent parcel, a solid

[1:21:01] fence that's made with non-combustible

[1:21:03] material would be an appropriate

[1:21:04] alternative. The amended language also

[1:21:08] clarifies

[1:21:09] um that landscape screening must not

[1:21:13] only be installed between the ADU and

[1:21:14] adjacent parcels, but also between an

[1:21:17] ADU wall that faces a public right ofway

[1:21:19] and that right ofway. So, it adds

[1:21:21] screening um as visible from the public

[1:21:24] right of way as well, which I think is

[1:21:25] really responsive to some of the

[1:21:27] feedback the council has heard from the

[1:21:29] community and certainly that staff has

[1:21:30] heard from the community. Um but we're

[1:21:32] doing it in a way that ensures public

[1:21:34] safety and is um consistent with

[1:21:37] regulations.

[1:21:40] So um our recommendation tonight is to

[1:21:42] introduce and wave further reading of

[1:21:43] the ordinance, but of course I'm happy

[1:21:45] to answer any questions or provide

[1:21:47] clarification.

[1:21:48] >> Thank you, Miss Ruiz. Um I will bring it

[1:21:50] to the council to ask for clarifying

[1:21:52] questions if you have any.

[1:21:57] Vice Mayor Ragdale.

[1:22:00] » Thank you, Liz. Um, and once again,

[1:22:03] thank you for reminding us of what we've

[1:22:05] heard before because that's it's

[1:22:07] helpful. Um, I had just a a couple of

[1:22:12] questions. Um,

[1:22:15] com comments, but not not opinions. Um,

[1:22:19] with regard to converted, um, I don't

[1:22:22] see a definition for converted under the

[1:22:25] list of definitions, and I thought it

[1:22:26] might be helpful because when I first

[1:22:28] read converted, I was thinking

[1:22:30] legalizing uh, you know, prior ADU that

[1:22:33] you didn't get a permit for, which I

[1:22:34] know we have a process for that, too.

[1:22:38] So, um, I just thought it might be handy

[1:22:40] to have, um, a definition of converted

[1:22:43] under uh, 17.52.01.

[1:22:48] definitions.

[1:22:50] Um, and then I was wondering, this may

[1:22:53] never come up, um, but if there are

[1:22:57] appeals to council for a denial, um, if

[1:23:01] we wanted to add in noticing provisions

[1:23:03] or just state that the town will take

[1:23:06] care of the noticing

[1:23:08] since it probably won't come up, but

[1:23:11] >> sure. I hope it won't come up, but in

[1:23:13] the case that it does, I would assume we

[1:23:15] would follow the noticing requirements

[1:23:16] that are consistent with any item that

[1:23:19] would be coming before the city council.

[1:23:20] We can certainly talk with the city

[1:23:22] attorney's office about what those notic

[1:23:24] >> Yeah, the 500 bead and all that. Okay.

[1:23:26] >> Yep. Um,

[1:23:31] oh, on uh page 159 of the packet, there

[1:23:35] were a couple of um

[1:23:38] couple of places in the red line where

[1:23:39] it said error reference source not

[1:23:41] found. Um, which I I understand that

[1:23:45] probably happened with the red line and

[1:23:47] the edit. I just wanted to I just wanted

[1:23:49] to point those out for the for the

[1:23:51] final. Um,

[1:23:53] and then a question with regard to um

[1:23:59] the rent reporting. If they're not

[1:24:02] planning on renting it out, you know,

[1:24:05] for the next couple years or whatever,

[1:24:07] do they still is there still paperwork?

[1:24:10] >> So, we've incorporated the rent

[1:24:12] reporting into the building permit

[1:24:13] application, which I'm really excited

[1:24:15] about because it's less paperwork that

[1:24:16] we have to mail to people. So, it's uh

[1:24:19] if they're not intending to rent it,

[1:24:20] they just click the box saying, "I'm not

[1:24:22] intending to rent this at this time."

[1:24:24] Okay.

[1:24:24] >> Um and then if they do, then there's a

[1:24:26] series of other questions that they

[1:24:27] answer.

[1:24:28] >> Okay? So, if they're not intending to

[1:24:30] rent it, they don't they're not going to

[1:24:31] get an annual ask until such time. And

[1:24:35] then if they do decide to start renting

[1:24:36] it out, they could just let the town

[1:24:38] know or

[1:24:40] >> Yeah, that's a good question. Um, yeah,

[1:24:42] we can figure out certainly how to allow

[1:24:45] um how to inform residents if they

[1:24:48] change their mind about rentals. We

[1:24:50] would certainly want to know that.

[1:24:51] >> Yeah, yeah, maybe just sending a letter,

[1:24:54] putting something in the e-news. If

[1:24:55] you're renting it out, let us know. It's

[1:24:57] good for our numbers. Um, and then the

[1:25:00] last thing is um we have the FAQs on the

[1:25:04] I don't know if it's FAQs exactly, but

[1:25:05] we've got the ADU resources on the

[1:25:07] website which are fantastic. Um, and

[1:25:09] just reminding that they would need to

[1:25:12] be updated with these new requirements,

[1:25:14] which you of course already knew, but

[1:25:16] just uh pointing that out.

[1:25:17] >> Thank you.

[1:25:18] >> And, uh, thank you very much.

[1:25:20] >> Thank you. Um, Vice Mayor Rexdale. Um, I

[1:25:23] also have a few followup on something

[1:25:25] you brought up regarding the appeals

[1:25:27] process. You said it will probably

[1:25:29] follow what we already have for appeals

[1:25:32] for city council and that can be

[1:25:34] protracted. It can take a month or two

[1:25:35] or three.

[1:25:37] Do we uh is there a state law that says

[1:25:39] we must complete an appeal process by a

[1:25:42] specific time period?

[1:25:45] >> That's a great question. Do you know

[1:25:48] >> actually don't know the answer, but Todd

[1:25:49] Lman's on. So Todd, do you know the

[1:25:51] answer to that question in terms of the

[1:25:52] appeals? Is there a mandated uh timeline

[1:25:55] in which the appeal needs to be

[1:25:56] completed and heard?

[1:25:59] >> Hello, mayor and council. Um it's a

[1:26:01] pleasure to be with you. The law itself,

[1:26:04] the state law on ADUs does not set forth

[1:26:07] a timeline specific to the appeal. It

[1:26:10] does say, however, that from the date

[1:26:12] that the city receives a complete

[1:26:14] application, the city must approve or

[1:26:16] deny within 60 days. I assume that the

[1:26:21] appeal is taken from a decision to

[1:26:23] approve or deny. So, I would we can sort

[1:26:28] out how that would work in practice. I

[1:26:30] would argue that the the city's

[1:26:32] obligation in terms of the 60-day

[1:26:34] deadline is satisfied when it approves

[1:26:37] or denies.

[1:26:39] >> Um yeah, as you know, the council meets

[1:26:41] once a month. So I think just having

[1:26:43] some clarity on that so that we can have

[1:26:45] consistent information to the residents

[1:26:48] um in terms of expectation and also with

[1:26:51] regards to um

[1:26:54] cost recovery which is now included in

[1:26:58] the state law. We did not have any

[1:27:00] impact fees before for any of our ADUs

[1:27:04] over 800 over 750 square ft. Is that is

[1:27:08] this new to us as well as a town? It is

[1:27:11] not new to us in terms of the impact

[1:27:14] fees. Um I think it's the school fees

[1:27:17] that was new. Oops, I can't reverse the

[1:27:19] slide. Sorry. There we go. Um

[1:27:25] >> that's correct. Mayor and council

[1:27:29] is the school fees that's new to us.

[1:27:31] >> Yes.

[1:27:32] >> Correct.

[1:27:32] >> Oh, so over 7 larger than 750 square

[1:27:35] feet. We can we currently do not.

[1:27:38] Correct. But we there's now state law

[1:27:41] that says you can impose impact fees for

[1:27:45] school fees or

[1:27:46] >> so impact fees are separated from school

[1:27:49] fees in this. So impact fees can be

[1:27:51] imposed on an ADU that's 700 can sorry

[1:27:55] cannot be imposed on an ADU that's 750

[1:27:59] square feet or less or a JADU that's 500

[1:28:02] square feet or less. And then um ADUs or

[1:28:06] JADUs that are 500 square f feet or less

[1:28:09] are exempt from school impact fees. So

[1:28:12] now anything more than 500 can have

[1:28:15] school fees assessed and then ADUs over

[1:28:18] 750 and JADUs over 500 can have impact

[1:28:21] fees assessed.

[1:28:22] >> Okay. So in other words, we do not have

[1:28:23] impact fees currently but we can

[1:28:26] according to the state law. Is that

[1:28:28] okay? And and another question I have is

[1:28:30] the deed restriction. Um is this new law

[1:28:34] stating that we cannot have deed

[1:28:36] restrictions on um ADUs? It exempts um

[1:28:42] JADUs. That's understood. Just

[1:28:44] specifically on ADUs. Is it is the law

[1:28:48] stating that we cannot have a deed

[1:28:51] restriction on an ADU?

[1:28:54] >> It's the reverse. So the state law

[1:28:56] requires a deed restriction for a JADU.

[1:28:59] It's silent on deed restrictions for

[1:29:01] ADUs. We previously had deed

[1:29:03] restrictions for both. Um and and Todd,

[1:29:06] correct me if I'm wrong, but the advice

[1:29:08] from BBK was follow state law. It

[1:29:10] requires deed restrictions for JADUs. It

[1:29:13] does not say anything about deed

[1:29:15] restrictions for ADUs. However, in

[1:29:17] conversations with HCD, they see deed

[1:29:20] restrictions on ADUs as a barrier to

[1:29:23] development. And so it was um advised

[1:29:26] that we eliminate the deed restriction

[1:29:28] for the ADUs.

[1:29:29] >> Okay. Um Mr. Lashman, are we allowed to

[1:29:32] have deed restrictions on ADUs according

[1:29:35] to state laws?

[1:29:36] >> No.

[1:29:38] >> Thank you. Um let's see. Okay, I have

[1:29:42] one other question on page 137 regarding

[1:29:47] um minimum this is just the objective

[1:29:49] standards

[1:29:52] story limitations under this is on page

[1:29:56] 137

[1:29:58] and

[1:30:00] it states that clarifying that detached

[1:30:02] ADUs are limited to single story while

[1:30:05] allowing attached ADUs to match the form

[1:30:08] of the primary dwelling subject to the

[1:30:11] 25 ft height cap. That's taken into

[1:30:14] account if an ADU is built on a hill

[1:30:16] since a significant number of our homes

[1:30:19] are on hilly topography. Is that does

[1:30:23] that take into account the hilly

[1:30:24] topography where you got you have all

[1:30:26] these uh rules that you

[1:30:27] >> It does because the height would be

[1:30:29] measured from existing grade. So as the

[1:30:30] topography slopes down the height

[1:30:32] limitation would follow that topography.

[1:30:34] >> Okay, that that's what I thought. Just

[1:30:37] wanted clarification on that. Um,

[1:30:41] and I think um I think Vice Mayor Rags

[1:30:44] still asked this question about renting.

[1:30:45] It would be important for us to keep

[1:30:47] track of residents who decide to rent

[1:30:50] the ADUs because those numbers will be

[1:30:52] important for our arena numbers going

[1:30:54] forward. So, absolutely. Yeah. Thank

[1:30:56] you. Um, yeah, Council Member Crowley

[1:30:58] has additional questions.

[1:31:00] >> Thank you. Thank you, Liz. Um it is

[1:31:03] unfortunate that we can't require

[1:31:05] screening um in the 4-foot setback

[1:31:08] because that is an impact on the

[1:31:10] neighbors. So my question is are we able

[1:31:13] to and do we encourage applicants to be

[1:31:15] considerate of neighbors when planning

[1:31:17] their ADUs or are we not allowed to use

[1:31:20] that language?

[1:31:21] >> Um so when they're working on a class 2

[1:31:25] ADU where it's an ADU planning permit,

[1:31:27] there's certainly more conversation with

[1:31:29] the applicant. We can't legally require

[1:31:32] it or suggest suggest it. Um, but in our

[1:31:35] experience, for the most part,

[1:31:36] applicants want to be good neighbors.

[1:31:38] Typically, it's somebody who who lives

[1:31:40] there and they're familiar with their

[1:31:42] neighbor and they're building this. Um,

[1:31:44] so they don't want to create conflict.

[1:31:46] So, it certainly comes up in

[1:31:47] conversations. Um, and the exemption for

[1:31:52] the screening is is intended to be when

[1:31:55] they cannot do the screening for fire

[1:31:57] purposes. Um but the goal is that they

[1:31:59] would have screening um when possible.

[1:32:02] And then an additional um objective

[1:32:05] standard that was added um to follow the

[1:32:08] template that BBNK provided uh also adds

[1:32:13] um preventing sight lines from ADUs into

[1:32:16] adjacent parcels. So having more

[1:32:17] consideration about where window and

[1:32:20] door placement is related to neighboring

[1:32:22] windows and doors. So I think that that

[1:32:24] will um enhance that consideration of of

[1:32:27] the neighbor and placement.

[1:32:28] >> Yeah. And I do think the wall is a good,

[1:32:31] you know, substitute. Um and then um

[1:32:33] just building on what the the mayor said

[1:32:35] too, um will we as part of our kind of

[1:32:39] uh housing element cycle start to um

[1:32:44] start to communicate? Or are we already

[1:32:46] with our ADU owners like on a regular

[1:32:48] basis? even if they check, they're not

[1:32:50] going to rent it. Do we stay in touch

[1:32:52] with them, encourage them, and and is

[1:32:55] there a method of collecting data that

[1:32:57] we'll need to use for H?

[1:33:00] >> So, we do have the method of collection

[1:33:02] that I mentioned that's that's tied to

[1:33:04] the building permit. So, as those new

[1:33:06] building permit applications come in,

[1:33:07] we're able to collect that rent

[1:33:09] reporting information and then now that

[1:33:10] it's digitized, it allows us to put them

[1:33:13] in an annual update cycle. So, I think

[1:33:15] that that addresses, you know, a certain

[1:33:18] um portion. I welcome feedback on how to

[1:33:22] capture people who have ADUs that maybe

[1:33:24] didn't plan on renting but are shifting

[1:33:26] gears and may want to rent. Um, and I

[1:33:28] think certainly through um an upcoming

[1:33:32] ADU mixer that we're planning. We hope

[1:33:34] to get the word out and to engage people

[1:33:37] who have an ADU and either may or may

[1:33:40] not be considering to rent it, but that

[1:33:41] may sway them. Um, so certainly

[1:33:43] communication is a huge part of that.

[1:33:44] we try not to do too much

[1:33:46] unsolicited communication, but I think

[1:33:48] using our newsletter and um hopefully we

[1:33:52] can get involved with um the youth

[1:33:54] commission. I think there are other ways

[1:33:56] to get uh that information out so that

[1:33:59] interested parties can come to the town

[1:34:00] and learn more rather than the town

[1:34:02] pushing um forcing it on applications.

[1:34:05] >> So I I don't but at this point we don't

[1:34:08] have any kind of targeted communications

[1:34:10] with people who have built ADUs.

[1:34:12] >> No, not specifically. I just wonder

[1:34:14] maybe that's something we could consider

[1:34:16] if it's just once a year. Hey. Yeah.

[1:34:18] >> Thank you, Liz. Appreciate it.

[1:34:20] >> Yeah. Um um thank you. One last question

[1:34:22] I forgot to ask. Um

[1:34:25] regarding the restrictions, the state

[1:34:27] restrictions or or guidelines, the 2025

[1:34:30] state guidelines, it states for interior

[1:34:33] foot uh dimensions, decks and garages

[1:34:37] and not well, it did not state that. It

[1:34:39] just basically said livable space. So

[1:34:42] that would exclude decks and garages. Is

[1:34:45] that correct? Is that Mr. Lashman? Would

[1:34:48] that be correct as well in terms of what

[1:34:50] the state is stating?

[1:34:53] >> Livable space does not include garages

[1:34:56] >> or decks for that matter

[1:34:58] >> or decks.

[1:34:59] >> So you could build an ADU and at a deck

[1:35:03] and a garage. I'm just, you know, these

[1:35:05] are the questions we get from residents.

[1:35:08] you know, you're walking on a trail,

[1:35:09] they want to talk to you about an ADU,

[1:35:10] and these are the kinds of questions we

[1:35:12] get. I've just wanted some clarity on

[1:35:14] >> sure

[1:35:14] >> what the law states.

[1:35:15] >> Certainly, an ADU could have those

[1:35:17] items. Um, but because the state law

[1:35:20] specifically refers to interior livable

[1:35:23] space, it allows us to apply

[1:35:25] discretionary review to any of those

[1:35:27] items that are outside of the ADU's

[1:35:30] interior livable space. So, if somebody

[1:35:32] is doing a deck or they want to do um a

[1:35:35] garage or even if they have, you know,

[1:35:37] some type of storage, we've seen people

[1:35:39] get pretty creative with what they're

[1:35:41] calling their ADUs. And so, I think this

[1:35:43] really clarifies that it's intended to

[1:35:46] be for livable space. We want to

[1:35:47] encourage people to have ADUs and to

[1:35:50] have the livable space to allow that

[1:35:52] flexibility, but it allows us more teeth

[1:35:55] in terms of the extra amenities

[1:35:58] um and applying a discretionary review

[1:35:59] to those items. Yeah. Well, my question

[1:36:03] is not meant to intend that I object. I

[1:36:05] just wanted to understand what the rules

[1:36:06] are. Okay. Thank you. Um any additional

[1:36:10] uh questions from the council? Thanks,

[1:36:12] Liz. This is such a complicated issue.

[1:36:14] So, let's move forward and and see if we

[1:36:16] have a um we need to now have a motion.

[1:36:23] » Mayor, would you like to open public

[1:36:24] comment?

[1:36:25] >> Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, I'm sorry. Thanks

[1:36:26] for reminding me. We were carried away

[1:36:28] with our own conversation, right? No

[1:36:30] problem.

[1:36:30] >> Um, do we have any public comments on

[1:36:32] this?

[1:36:33] >> Thank you. I'll just give it a moment to

[1:36:35] see if there's anyone on Zoom who would

[1:36:36] like to provide comments or there's

[1:36:38] anyone in the room who would like to

[1:36:41] um not seeing any raised hands on Zoom.

[1:36:44] So, thank you.

[1:36:46] Okay, seeing no public comments, we'll

[1:36:48] bring it back to the council for um a

[1:36:51] vote on this recommendation to introduce

[1:36:54] and wave further reading which is

[1:36:56] important here because we are changing

[1:36:58] the ordinance and this will we're waving

[1:37:01] future readings um of the ordinance

[1:37:04] entitled ordinance of the city council

[1:37:06] of the town of Hillsboro amending

[1:37:08] chapter 17.52

[1:37:10] of the Hillsboro municipal code relating

[1:37:13] to accessory dwelling units and junior

[1:37:15] your accessory dwelling units and

[1:37:17] finding the action to be statutoily

[1:37:20] exempt from SQA under public um

[1:37:23] resources code 211080.17.

[1:37:26] >> So moved.

[1:37:28] >> Do we have a second?

[1:37:29] >> Second.

[1:37:31] >> Okay. Um motion by Kwick, seconded by

[1:37:35] Chwang. Do we have Could we take the

[1:37:37] vote, please?

[1:37:39] >> Thank you, Mayor Cole Adams. Yes. Hi.

[1:37:43] >> Cru I. Ragdale. Yes. Cole.

[1:37:46] >> Yes.

[1:37:47] >> Thank you.

[1:37:49] >> Thanks, Liz.

[1:37:50] >> Thanks for walking us through this very

[1:37:53] >> this very complex issue. Oh, you're

[1:37:55] still with us. That's right. You are

[1:37:56] moving on to another complex issue.

[1:37:59] >> Okay. Well, we appreciate

[1:38:00] >> trifecta.

[1:38:02] >> Yes. Thank you. Um so item

[1:38:06] 13, acceptance of the 2025 general

[1:38:10] planning annual progress report which

[1:38:12] will be presented by these Ruis our

[1:38:15] superstar for the evening.

[1:38:17] >> Thank you again. Feels like it always

[1:38:18] happens this way. I have multiple

[1:38:20] presentations in a night. Um you've

[1:38:23] heard about this from me every year for

[1:38:25] the last several years, but tonight

[1:38:27] we're talking about the 2025

[1:38:29] um annual progress report. Uh as you

[1:38:32] recall, uh California state law requires

[1:38:35] that all local jurisdictions prepare and

[1:38:37] submit an annual progress report on the

[1:38:39] status of their general plan

[1:38:41] implementation and also the housing

[1:38:44] element. We must provide this to the

[1:38:47] city council for acceptance prior to

[1:38:49] submitting to HCD and LCI, which is the

[1:38:53] land use uh office of land use and

[1:38:56] climate innovation. That's due on April

[1:38:59] 1st to them. The period covered in this

[1:39:02] report is the calendar year of 2025. So

[1:39:05] that's January 1st to December 31st of

[1:39:07] 2025.

[1:39:09] And these accomplishments reflect the

[1:39:12] third year of the current reporting

[1:39:14] cycle. We're in cycle 6, which runs 2023

[1:39:17] to 2031.

[1:39:21] So the annual progress report is

[1:39:23] intended to demonstrate um that a

[1:39:25] jurisdiction is actively implementing

[1:39:27] the goals, policies, and action items

[1:39:29] outlined in its general plan and making

[1:39:32] progress towards hitting the targets

[1:39:34] identified in our housing element. Our

[1:39:37] general plan APR identifies just as a

[1:39:41] reminder of our allocation for arena 6.

[1:39:45] Our total allocation is 554

[1:39:48] and that breakdown is divided up into

[1:39:50] very low, low, moderate, and above

[1:39:52] moderate. And then um the the bottom

[1:39:55] chart shows the town of Hillsboro's

[1:39:57] approaches. is there's five approaches

[1:40:00] with ADUs, pipeline projects, vacant

[1:40:02] parcel opportunity sites, subdivision

[1:40:06] and lot split opportunities and

[1:40:08] multifamily opportunity sites. So our

[1:40:11] total strategy includes a 51 unit

[1:40:14] surplus for a total of 605. That surplus

[1:40:18] is something that's required by HCD. Um

[1:40:23] and that's just a reminder as I'm

[1:40:24] talking about these numbers. So for our

[1:40:26] 2025 APR in the upper right hand corner

[1:40:30] you can see the housing applications

[1:40:33] summary. So these are applications that

[1:40:35] were submitted uh and approved within

[1:40:38] the 2025 calendar year. We had uh 56

[1:40:42] applications submitted each with one

[1:40:44] unit. A total of 55 were approved. That

[1:40:48] 56th one just hasn't been approved yet.

[1:40:50] It's not that it was not approved. Um

[1:40:53] and then the upper right chart shows the

[1:40:55] units um by structure type. So you see

[1:40:58] that we had 53 that were entitled. The

[1:41:02] reason it's different than the number of

[1:41:05] applications approved is because those

[1:41:07] are applications that were applied for

[1:41:08] and approved in 2025. The other one is

[1:41:11] entitled. Um we had 58 permitted. So

[1:41:15] that means that we had 58 units. You can

[1:41:17] see 56 were ADUs. Two were single family

[1:41:21] detached and those are net new

[1:41:22] construction. So we don't get credit if

[1:41:24] somebody demolishes a house and rebuilds

[1:41:27] that has to be a new house on a vacant

[1:41:29] lot. And then 41 certificates of

[1:41:32] occupancy were issued which is the 41

[1:41:36] completed units. So if you look at the

[1:41:38] chart on the bottom that shows our total

[1:41:42] arena allocation on the far right hand

[1:41:44] I'm sorry on the far left hand side and

[1:41:46] then each year of the cycle so far we're

[1:41:50] in we just finished the third year. So,

[1:41:53] we have our totals for 23, 24, and 25.

[1:41:56] And I made the number for 2024 in red

[1:42:00] because in the attachment included with

[1:42:03] the staff report, it said 43, and that

[1:42:05] was an error. I just wanted to point out

[1:42:07] that it's 44. It doesn't matter for

[1:42:09] purposes of accepting this because this

[1:42:10] is for 25, not 24. And the um 2024

[1:42:15] that was submitted to the state and

[1:42:17] accepted by the council reflected the

[1:42:19] correct number. It was just that my

[1:42:20] chart included in the attachment was

[1:42:22] incorrect. So you can see that for 2025

[1:42:26] um our total number of units permitted

[1:42:29] by income level is 55 total with 18

[1:42:33] applied to very low, 11 to low, 12 to

[1:42:37] moderate and 17 to above moderate.

[1:42:41] And the methodology that was accepted by

[1:42:44] our housing element allows us to project

[1:42:47] assumed affordability levels for any of

[1:42:50] the units that we don't have rental data

[1:42:53] for. Um, and that methodology was

[1:42:56] included in our housing element and

[1:42:57] certified by HCD. And so we do use the

[1:43:00] income rent reporting that we have uh

[1:43:03] for anybody who completes it. But then

[1:43:05] for those units that we don't have that

[1:43:07] data, we do apply that methodology and

[1:43:10] project out our assumed affordability

[1:43:12] levels.

[1:43:16] Um, one of the requirements of the

[1:43:18] annual progress report is the surplus

[1:43:20] land inventory. And uh this chart um

[1:43:23] this inventory has not changed since the

[1:43:26] city council resolution of in 2020

[1:43:29] adopting um these four remainder parcels

[1:43:34] as surplus land. Um so nothing has been

[1:43:36] added since then and this is what's

[1:43:38] included in our 2025 APR as well

[1:43:43] and I'm happy to answer questions.

[1:43:45] >> Uh thank you Mr. Ruiz. Um any questions

[1:43:48] from the council?

[1:43:51] Um I I just I'm sorry. Go ahead, Vice

[1:43:54] Mayor. Um Rexton.

[1:43:55] >> Uh not a question. Just um Thank you.

[1:43:59] Thank you. Um and looking

[1:44:01] through the general plan, the general

[1:44:04] plan was uh very informative and uh I

[1:44:07] loved it. Um on page 177 just um action

[1:44:13] PS3.2 two um we referred to zone haven

[1:44:18] and and now it's Genesis protect which I

[1:44:22] saw we had made that change um uh on the

[1:44:25] next page. So

[1:44:27] >> thank you. I'll make sure to update that

[1:44:28] before we submit.

[1:44:30] >> But um I was I was so happy to see it

[1:44:32] and um great job with the numbers. I

[1:44:34] know it's it's a challenge with the Rena

[1:44:37] numbers and we're doing what we can.

[1:44:39] Thank you.

[1:44:39] >> Thank you.

[1:44:40] >> Um thank you. I I just have one um Go

[1:44:43] ahead. Um Council Member Adams,

[1:44:45] >> you have a question.

[1:44:46] >> Thank you, Madame Mayor. Uh on page 175,

[1:44:50] uh item

[1:44:54] uh OSC 4.1, town will adopt a and

[1:44:59] implement a creek protection ordinance.

[1:45:03] And uh then in the final column it

[1:45:07] simply says town complies with SQA

[1:45:10] requirements. So have we a creek

[1:45:14] protection ordinance? We do not have a

[1:45:17] specific creek protection ordinance. Um

[1:45:20] what we do is anytime construction is

[1:45:23] proposed within a 20 foot buffer of a

[1:45:25] top of bank, we have a biological

[1:45:27] assessment done in compliance with SQA.

[1:45:30] Um, so that's that's our way of

[1:45:34] addressing that, but

[1:45:36] we certainly um

[1:45:39] can and should adopt a specific creek

[1:45:42] protection ordinance. So that's

[1:45:43] something we can bring back to council

[1:45:44] for a later date.

[1:45:45] >> I would agree. I think that would be

[1:45:46] really a good idea. Thank you.

[1:45:48] >> We'll do.

[1:45:50] And my followup clarify clarifying

[1:45:53] question on page 172 um

[1:45:58] under the jurisdiction reporting year

[1:46:00] for 2025

[1:46:03] is the above mod rate of 17 is that um

[1:46:06] single family residents for the year

[1:46:09] >> um

[1:46:10] >> or does that include ADUs as well?

[1:46:13] >> It includes ADUs as well. So two of the

[1:46:15] 17 are are single family dwellings. Um

[1:46:19] and then 15 are using the methodology to

[1:46:23] apply the um allowed assumed

[1:46:26] affordability.

[1:46:30] » So two for 2025 single family residents.

[1:46:34] >> Correct.

[1:46:34] >> Is that about right?

[1:46:35] >> Yes.

[1:46:36] >> Is that new or remodeled or what we

[1:46:38] consider a new?

[1:46:39] >> Those would be net new. So

[1:46:40] >> net new.

[1:46:41] >> Yes. So it has to be a new single family

[1:46:43] dwelling on a vacant lot

[1:46:46] >> and the rest is all ADUs. Correct.

[1:46:50] >> That's informative. That's interesting

[1:46:51] to know just to get a sense of the

[1:46:54] productivity. Um so in terms of um total

[1:46:59] production we're approximately 24%

[1:47:03] of our target um let me just clarify

[1:47:06] 2031

[1:47:07] that's January of 2031. Is that correct?

[1:47:10] >> Correct.

[1:47:11] >> Okay. So effectively 2030 will be

[1:47:14] December in terms of of deadline is

[1:47:19] December of 2030.

[1:47:22] >> So the so yes so it's by calendar year

[1:47:26] the then a portion of 2031 is used as

[1:47:30] the projection year. Um I I don't claim

[1:47:34] to be able to explain HCD's methodology.

[1:47:37] Um, but yes, it is an 8-year cycle and

[1:47:40] their chart shows 9 years. So,

[1:47:43] technically the end of 2031 would be the

[1:47:46] end of our data. Um,

[1:47:48] >> but it does not include 2031. It ends in

[1:47:50] 2030.

[1:47:52] >> Correct. At the end of 2030. Yes,

[1:47:54] >> it ends in 2030. December of 2030.

[1:47:56] >> Oh, we have till 2032, right? So, we

[1:47:58] count 2031.

[1:47:59] >> No, we do not have till 2032. Or do we?

[1:48:02] Could we get a clarification on that?

[1:48:10] Yes, I can get you the exact date when

[1:48:12] it cuts off because I know that there's

[1:48:14] a portion of 2031 that is a a buffer.

[1:48:20] » Okay. I just bring that up because when

[1:48:22] I look at HCD sites, it it specifically

[1:48:26] says December of 2030 would be the final

[1:48:29] reporting date for Reena um six, I guess

[1:48:34] is where we are for Arena 6. If if

[1:48:37] that's it would be good for us to

[1:48:38] >> sure

[1:48:39] >> to know that.

[1:48:40] >> Yes. What happens is because the

[1:48:43] calendar year ends at the end of

[1:48:45] December, but then the APR reporting

[1:48:47] doesn't happen until April 1st,

[1:48:49] >> right? The APR reporting doesn't happen

[1:48:50] till April of 2031.

[1:48:52] >> Correct.

[1:48:53] >> But the actual calendar year for

[1:48:56] reporting in terms of the year they will

[1:48:57] be taking into consideration is December

[1:48:59] of 2030. Yes. Is that

[1:49:01] >> December? Yeah.

[1:49:02] >> Okay.

[1:49:04] I just need to clarify that. Um Okay.

[1:49:07] Sure. Um

[1:49:09] so that's um we're 37% there in terms of

[1:49:15] time.

[1:49:17] 37 and a half% doesn't matter. It's just

[1:49:19] I just needed to know what the actual

[1:49:21] drop dead dates are. Sure. Yeah. Thank

[1:49:24] you.

[1:49:25] >> All right. Well, thanks for all the work

[1:49:26] you're doing. I know this is a very

[1:49:27] tough um corner to be dealing with. Um

[1:49:30] especially people in Sacramento. Um

[1:49:32] don't want to badmouth them or anything.

[1:49:34] I don't want to but I just know it's

[1:49:37] really really hard work keeping up with

[1:49:38] all the changes regarding what HCD is

[1:49:41] doing. So I really appreciate your

[1:49:43] excellence and your hard work. really

[1:49:46] appreciate. Well, unfortunately, our

[1:49:47] community is following through with

[1:49:49] their commitment to

[1:49:51] >> meet the ADU production goals. And so, I

[1:49:54] think, you know, you can see in the the

[1:49:55] first three years, we exceeded what HCD

[1:49:59] initially thought we would be able to um

[1:50:02] to hit. So, I think that that's positive

[1:50:03] and we're just continuing to do

[1:50:05] additional outreach and streamlining the

[1:50:07] ADU process. So, I think um that we're

[1:50:10] pretty confident in building and

[1:50:11] planning that we can continue to hit

[1:50:12] those numbers and hopefully continue to

[1:50:15] exceed them.

[1:50:16] >> Okay, great. And um do we need to do

[1:50:20] anything um here? Are you making a

[1:50:22] specific recommendation just to adopt

[1:50:25] >> or just to accept this? But let me see,

[1:50:26] is there any public um we just asked

[1:50:29] some questions? Are there any public uh

[1:50:31] questions or comments on this?

[1:50:33] >> Thank you, Mayor Cole. I'll just see if

[1:50:35] there are any uh public comments on this

[1:50:38] on Zoom. If there are any raised hands

[1:50:42] and I'm not seeing any. Thank you.

[1:50:45] >> Um okay. So just the recommendation to

[1:50:47] accept the 2025 um general plan annual

[1:50:50] progress report. Do we have a motion?

[1:50:52] >> So move.

[1:50:53] >> Second.

[1:50:54] >> Okay. All those in favor say I.

[1:50:57] >> I.

[1:50:59] >> Thank you so much, Liz.

[1:51:00] >> Thank you. And one more by me and then

[1:51:03] >> Yes.

[1:51:05] And that's it.

[1:51:06] >> Triple crown.

[1:51:08] >> Okay. Next item. Item 14

[1:51:13] is the preliminary discussion regarding

[1:51:15] Crystal Springs Upland School proposed

[1:51:17] enrollment increase.

[1:51:22] » And

[1:51:22] >> thank you. Um, so I'm just going to do a

[1:51:25] brief introduction and then I'm going to

[1:51:27] hand it over to uh Kelly Sertino, head

[1:51:29] of school at Crystal Springs Uplands. um

[1:51:32] and she'll discuss uh the potential

[1:51:34] project a bit and then I'll explain more

[1:51:36] about the process. So, just to sort of

[1:51:39] outline the framework, uh the purpose of

[1:51:42] the discussion tonight is to inform the

[1:51:44] city council and the community that

[1:51:46] Crystal Springs Upland School has

[1:51:48] initiated a request for a general plan

[1:51:50] amendment to allow for an increase in

[1:51:53] approved student enrollment. um

[1:51:56] enrollment levels are set by our general

[1:51:58] plan which are also reflected in our

[1:52:00] zoning code but then further confirmed

[1:52:03] and set by their permit to operate. Um

[1:52:06] so tonight I will provide a brief

[1:52:09] overview of the required SQA process and

[1:52:13] process um associated with an enrollment

[1:52:16] increase. But primarily we want to

[1:52:18] receive council feedback input regarding

[1:52:22] any issues or areas of concerns that

[1:52:25] should be considered in defining the

[1:52:27] scope of the environmental review. So no

[1:52:30] action is requested tonight. This is a

[1:52:32] preliminary conceptual discussion just

[1:52:35] intended to inform the forthcoming

[1:52:37] environmental analysis. Um, and uh,

[1:52:40] Crystal has initiated their own neighbor

[1:52:43] engagement process. They've mailed

[1:52:45] postcards to neighboring properties and

[1:52:47] they're hosting a Q&A on Wednesday,

[1:52:49] March 11th. Um, so they took the

[1:52:52] initiative to to reach out to their

[1:52:54] neighbors and they're handling the the

[1:52:55] neighbor outreach at this point. Um, and

[1:52:59] I will hand it over to Kelly Sertino and

[1:53:01] then I'll walk through um a bit more of

[1:53:03] the the specifics.

[1:53:06] >> Welcome.

[1:53:16] » All right. Good evening, members of

[1:53:18] Hillsboro City Council. As Liz said, my

[1:53:20] name is Kelly Sortino and I'm the head

[1:53:22] of school at Crystal Springs Upland

[1:53:24] School. I'm grateful for the opportunity

[1:53:26] during this study session to provide a

[1:53:28] highlevel overview of why Crystal is

[1:53:30] seeking an increase in student

[1:53:32] enrollment at our upper school campus in

[1:53:34] Hillsboro. As Liz mentioned, our

[1:53:37] presentation is purelyformational. We

[1:53:39] are not seeking approval for anything

[1:53:40] right now. Instead, we are deeply

[1:53:42] interested in your thoughts about

[1:53:43] additional areas of study as we embark

[1:53:46] on our SQA review. But before I go into

[1:53:49] the rationale for our request, I want to

[1:53:51] start with the punchline.

[1:53:54] Plain and simple, Crystal is Hillsboro's

[1:53:56] only high school. We are a world-class

[1:53:59] school located within a world-class

[1:54:01] town. We know families choose Hillsboro

[1:54:05] for its top-notch K PK through 8 public

[1:54:08] schools and we provide a top-notch

[1:54:10] options for families who would like to

[1:54:12] continue their high school education in

[1:54:14] their hometown. As such, I would argue

[1:54:17] that our relationship is deeply

[1:54:19] interconnected and symbiotic. What's

[1:54:22] good for Crystal is good for Hillsboro.

[1:54:25] And likewise, what is good for Hillsboro

[1:54:27] is good for Crystal.

[1:54:29] Unfortunately, many Hillsboro families

[1:54:31] who would like to stay in the town of

[1:54:33] Hillsboro for the entire entirety of

[1:54:36] their prek through 12 education face a

[1:54:39] difficult choice when their child is in

[1:54:40] fifth grade. You see, Crystal has 72

[1:54:43] spots open for sixth grade on our middle

[1:54:46] school campus in Belmont. But due to an

[1:54:48] enrollment cap cap of 350 students in

[1:54:52] our high school, we only have 14 to 25

[1:54:56] spots available for our high school in

[1:54:58] any given year. Hillsboro families often

[1:55:02] play a numbers game. Do they stay in the

[1:55:05] great public school system for middle

[1:55:07] school by attending Crocker and then

[1:55:09] cross their fingers and hope to get one

[1:55:11] of the few spots available in 9th grade?

[1:55:14] or do they take advantage of the many

[1:55:16] spots available at Crystal in their

[1:55:18] middle school to guarantee enrollment at

[1:55:20] Crystal's high school later? Many

[1:55:23] Hillsboro families choose this latter

[1:55:25] option. However, if we were able to

[1:55:28] increase the number of students who

[1:55:29] could we could take in our high school,

[1:55:32] more Hillsboro families could

[1:55:33] proactively stay at Crocker to finish

[1:55:35] their middle school experience while

[1:55:37] also gaining admittance to Crystal for

[1:55:39] high school.

[1:55:42] So, why is increased enrollment good for

[1:55:45] Crystal? As one of the smallest high

[1:55:47] schools in the Bay Area, Crystal size

[1:55:50] has long been one of our defining

[1:55:51] strengths. At the same time, the

[1:55:53] Hillsboro campus's enrollment cap

[1:55:56] significantly limits our ability to

[1:55:58] bring talented new students into our

[1:56:00] high school. We believe that a gradual

[1:56:03] measured increase in our upper school

[1:56:05] enrollment will not only allow us to

[1:56:07] expand the number of students who can

[1:56:09] take advantage of our distinct program

[1:56:11] but also broaden opportunities for all

[1:56:14] students in meaningful ways.

[1:56:16] First, we could offer greater depth and

[1:56:19] flexibility in our academic course

[1:56:20] offerings. The increase will enable

[1:56:22] Crystal to optimize class sizes for

[1:56:25] specialized subjects and expand course

[1:56:27] offerings such as advanced STEM courses,

[1:56:30] fine arts, world languages, and other

[1:56:32] electives that require a higher minimum

[1:56:34] enrollment base to be financially and

[1:56:36] pedagogically viable.

[1:56:39] Next, we could offer expanded arts,

[1:56:41] athletics, and co-curricular

[1:56:43] programming. As you might have heard,

[1:56:45] Crystal was named the division 5 sports

[1:56:47] school of the year in the entire state

[1:56:49] of California in 2023 2024. This year

[1:56:53] alone, our girls cross country team won

[1:56:55] their third state championship in four

[1:56:56] years. We had the individual state

[1:56:58] champion in girls golf. Our squash team

[1:57:01] won the division 4 national

[1:57:03] championship. And just this weekend, our

[1:57:05] boys soccer team were the runners up in

[1:57:07] the Division 5 Noral State Championship.

[1:57:10] However, alongside this incredible

[1:57:12] success, we have had to cut sports teams

[1:57:15] like boys lacrosse, girls softball, and

[1:57:18] co-ed badmitten because we do not have

[1:57:20] enough students to fill a competitive

[1:57:22] team. Some of our teams like girls

[1:57:24] basketball only have one varsity team

[1:57:26] versus a freshman JV and varsity team to

[1:57:29] help differentiate skills and

[1:57:30] experience. and we are often faced with

[1:57:32] tough decisions such as do we add a

[1:57:35] girls varsity flag football team or will

[1:57:37] it cannibalize our other sports in that

[1:57:39] same season. Having a few more students

[1:57:42] would help address all of these issues

[1:57:44] and enable Crystal to continue to excel

[1:57:46] in our co-curricular programming.

[1:57:49] Next, expanded enrollment would allow

[1:57:51] for more social connections,

[1:57:52] friendships, and experiences across

[1:57:54] grades and interests. Adding additional

[1:57:57] new 9th graders to our high school will

[1:57:58] ease the transition for this group and

[1:58:00] provide more social opportunities for

[1:58:02] all students.

[1:58:04] Finally, the proposed expansion creates

[1:58:06] financial flexibility and feasibility

[1:58:09] that ensures the continued long-term

[1:58:11] viability and stability of Crystal as a

[1:58:13] local asset to Hillsboro. Furthermore,

[1:58:16] our analysis shows that the existing

[1:58:18] campus infrastructures, classrooms,

[1:58:20] utility, and the like can comfortably

[1:58:23] support more students.

[1:58:25] In short, this is not an initiative

[1:58:28] about growth for growth's sake. Instead,

[1:58:30] we are interested in determining the

[1:58:32] appropriate number of students beyond

[1:58:34] our current limit of 350 based on the

[1:58:36] findings of an independent SQL review in

[1:58:39] order to help us more fully realize our

[1:58:41] potential as a school.

[1:58:44] So, why are we asking for expanded

[1:58:46] enrollment? Now,

[1:58:49] by August of 2026, we will have

[1:58:51] completed our mansion renovation

[1:58:53] project, which is a full basement to

[1:58:55] attic seismic retrofit of the historic

[1:58:58] 110-year-old building. At the end of

[1:59:01] this project, we will have added six

[1:59:02] classrooms to our CA campus, helping us

[1:59:05] feel more confident we will have ample

[1:59:06] space for an expanded number of

[1:59:08] students.

[1:59:10] Also, in recent years, several of our

[1:59:12] peer high schools have expanded

[1:59:13] enrollment, making Crystal one of the

[1:59:16] smallest high schools in the Bay Area,

[1:59:17] as you can see on the chart on the

[1:59:19] right. Expanded enrollment will put us

[1:59:21] more in line with our peer schools and

[1:59:23] level the playing field across all

[1:59:25] metrics.

[1:59:27] And finally, last year, due to only two

[1:59:30] students leaving in the eighth grade and

[1:59:32] our graduating a smaller senior class,

[1:59:34] we admitted the smallest number of new

[1:59:36] 9th graders in over a decade. Our demand

[1:59:39] continues to be high and it is

[1:59:41] heartbreaking that we must turn away

[1:59:43] many qualified mission appropriate

[1:59:45] students, many of whom are from

[1:59:47] Hillsboro every year due to our

[1:59:49] enrollment cap.

[1:59:52] We know that the the biggest concerns

[1:59:54] when it comes to expanded enrollment are

[1:59:56] the potential perceived and real impacts

[1:59:58] on our neighbors and on the town. As you

[2:00:01] know, we are engaging in a SQA study

[2:00:03] which will identify any potential

[2:00:05] impacts and create recommendations on

[2:00:07] how to mitigate them. Additionally, we

[2:00:09] are already thinking about ways to

[2:00:10] potentially mitigate the biggest impacts

[2:00:12] through a proactive impact management

[2:00:15] framework. First, regarding traffic, we

[2:00:18] are committed to a transit first

[2:00:20] strategy. Rather than just monitoring

[2:00:22] traffic, we are open to implementing a

[2:00:24] comprehensive transportation demand

[2:00:26] management plan. This could include

[2:00:29] expanding our internal shuttle services

[2:00:31] and implementing staggered arrival times

[2:00:33] to significantly reduce peak hour

[2:00:35] congestion.

[2:00:36] Regarding parking, we are starting to

[2:00:38] address neighborhood parking by moving

[2:00:40] from passive monitoring to active

[2:00:42] enforcement. We've already incorporated

[2:00:44] neighborhood parking violations into our

[2:00:46] student code of conduct, ensuring that

[2:00:48] our students respect the residential

[2:00:50] character of the surrounding streets. On

[2:00:52] noise and environment, we understand the

[2:00:55] importance of quiet enjoyment and are

[2:00:57] grateful that our neighbors often

[2:00:59] positively comment about the joyful

[2:01:00] noise that they hear emanating from our

[2:01:02] campus. We intend to continue our

[2:01:05] commitment to weekly quiet Sundays,

[2:01:08] ensuring a closed campus with no major

[2:01:10] campus events. We believe in managing

[2:01:12] the impact of our activities through

[2:01:14] scheduling and clear communication. We

[2:01:17] have also established a dedicated

[2:01:18] community liaison on our staff to

[2:01:21] provide a direct line of accountability

[2:01:22] for our neighbors. And finally, on

[2:01:25] public resources, we recognize that our

[2:01:28] growth must be sustainable for the

[2:01:29] city's infrastructure. We are prepared

[2:01:32] to discuss proportional impact

[2:01:33] contributions to ensure our local fire,

[2:01:36] police, and emergency services have the

[2:01:38] resources they need to keep both our

[2:01:40] students and our neighbors safe. We want

[2:01:42] to be a contributor to the city safety

[2:01:44] net, not a strain on it. We believe

[2:01:47] these measures show we are serious about

[2:01:49] being a good neighbor. Ultimately, we

[2:01:51] are open to further conversations about

[2:01:53] additional mitigation measures with both

[2:01:55] city council and our neighbors to ensure

[2:01:57] the least amount of impact for everyone

[2:01:59] involved.

[2:02:02] Finally, I want to highlight that when I

[2:02:03] say we truly want to partner with city

[2:02:05] council and our neighbors, this isn't an

[2:02:08] empty promise or aspirational dream.

[2:02:10] Instead, we have a proven record of

[2:02:12] partnership with Hillsboro over the

[2:02:14] years. Unlike some of our peer schools,

[2:02:17] Crystal has been at or under an

[2:02:19] enrollment cap of 350 students since

[2:02:22] 2017 when our Hillsboro campus began

[2:02:25] serving only grades 9 through 12. The

[2:02:27] only exception was 2021 when we were at

[2:02:30] 353 students, three students over and

[2:02:34] that was when admission yield was

[2:02:35] unpredictable due to the pandemic. But

[2:02:37] in proactive and transparent

[2:02:39] conversations with city staff, we

[2:02:41] quickly got back into compliance the

[2:02:42] final the following year. We really take

[2:02:44] our enrollment cap seriously.

[2:02:48] When we built and opened our middle

[2:02:49] school campus in Belmont in 2017, we

[2:02:52] were required to have a traffic demand

[2:02:54] management plan that limits and tracks

[2:02:56] the number of single occupancy vehicles

[2:02:58] going to and leaving our campus. By

[2:03:01] implementing a robust bus and shuttle

[2:03:03] program, which is included in the cost

[2:03:05] of our tuition, we are consistently

[2:03:07] significantly below these limits since

[2:03:10] the opening of that campus. For example,

[2:03:12] for the last three years, we have been

[2:03:14] between 50% and 70% of the limits for

[2:03:17] each measurement period.

[2:03:20] We are proud to be a good community

[2:03:22] partner with the town of Hillsboro,

[2:03:24] offering upper athletic facilities like

[2:03:25] our soccer fields to Hillsboro's AYSO

[2:03:28] program, as well as our meeting and

[2:03:30] gathering spaces for a variety of

[2:03:31] Hillsboro events.

[2:03:33] And finally, we have a proven track

[2:03:35] record of proactive communication and

[2:03:37] relationship building with our closest

[2:03:39] and most impacted neighbors. We offered

[2:03:41] one-on-one meetings and town halls

[2:03:43] during our back turf field project and

[2:03:45] mansion projects. We also proactively

[2:03:47] sent or send quarterly written

[2:03:50] communications to our neighbors, letting

[2:03:51] them know of the impacts from events on

[2:03:53] campus like homecoming and graduation,

[2:03:56] inviting them to take part in community

[2:03:57] events like free flu shots. Each year on

[2:04:00] Valentine's Day, we hand deliver cookies

[2:04:02] to our neighbors to let them know how

[2:04:04] much we appreciate their collaboration

[2:04:06] with us. As you can see, we care deeply

[2:04:08] about being good partners, neighbors,

[2:04:10] and stewards in the broader Hillsboro

[2:04:12] community.

[2:04:14] So, just to outline our next steps, uh

[2:04:17] we have already completed a traffic

[2:04:18] study in April of 2025 prior to the

[2:04:21] start of our mansion construction

[2:04:22] project, which can provide a baseline of

[2:04:24] our current traffic impact at our

[2:04:26] current student enrollment of 350

[2:04:28] students.

[2:04:30] As Liz noted in her section, we are in

[2:04:32] the RFP process for SQA consultants to

[2:04:35] complete the environmental impact study.

[2:04:37] In two days, we are holding a proactive

[2:04:39] neighbor town hall to share a similar

[2:04:41] presentation as we've just shared with

[2:04:43] you in order to get their thoughts and

[2:04:45] concerns.

[2:04:46] And finally, we look forward to seeing

[2:04:48] you in a more official capacity at a

[2:04:50] future city council meeting when we

[2:04:52] bring forth a more formal proposal.

[2:04:55] As I hope you can see, we are proud to

[2:04:58] be Hillsboro's only high school. By

[2:05:00] optimizing our student enrollment to be

[2:05:02] more in line with our peers, we ensure

[2:05:04] that Hillsboro, a town defined by

[2:05:07] excellence, continues to host one of the

[2:05:09] premier educational assets, not only in

[2:05:12] the Bay Area, but in the country.

[2:05:14] Expanded student enrollment will not

[2:05:16] only allow us to remain worldclass, but

[2:05:18] also reinforce our status as a source of

[2:05:20] pride for current residents and a draw

[2:05:23] for future residents. We aren't just

[2:05:26] asking for more students. We are asking

[2:05:28] for the opportunity to more fully serve

[2:05:31] our Hillsboro community. So, thank you

[2:05:33] so much for your time, consideration,

[2:05:35] and partnership.

[2:05:36] >> Thank you so much. Appreciate that, Miss

[2:05:38] Terry. Um I will um Liz, do you I have

[2:05:44] just a just I think two more slides just

[2:05:46] to provide an overview of the squa.

[2:05:48] >> Sure.

[2:06:00] » Thank you. Oops. Um so just to outline

[2:06:03] the process, we started with the general

[2:06:06] plan amendment request that was

[2:06:07] submitted um and completed. We've

[2:06:10] initiated the SQA review RFP

[2:06:14] um for a consultant. We have proposals

[2:06:16] that we're we're reviewing. So that's in

[2:06:18] process. The current step is just the conceptual review um discussion

[2:06:23] item. We really want to identify any

[2:06:27] areas of concern for inclusion in the

[2:06:29] sequest scope. Um and then the next step

[2:06:32] would be at a future publicly noticed

[2:06:34] public hearing. Um, city council would

[2:06:37] potentially consider certification or

[2:06:39] adoption of a SQA document and a pl

[2:06:42] general plan amendment as well as a

[2:06:44] zoning code amendment. And then finally,

[2:06:46] the permit to operate would need to be

[2:06:48] amended to reflect any increase in

[2:06:51] enrollment.

[2:06:52] And the the precise sequencing and

[2:06:55] timeline will be better defined once we

[2:06:57] have a SQA um consultant on board and we

[2:06:59] better understand the full scope of the

[2:07:01] environmental review. Um, I already

[2:07:04] talked about that. So, just for your

[2:07:08] consideration as you're thinking about

[2:07:10] any items that you want to ensure we

[2:07:12] include in this environmental review,

[2:07:15] um, even though the increased

[2:07:16] enrollment, as Kelly mentioned, um,

[2:07:20] wouldn't include any construction, the

[2:07:23] increased enrollment is considered an

[2:07:26] increase or an intensification of the

[2:07:28] land use and therefore requires the SQUA

[2:07:30] review. And so, um, the SQA

[2:07:35] review would consider potential

[2:07:36] environmental impacts related to these

[2:07:38] items. And it would be traffic

[2:07:40] circulation and parking. As Kelly

[2:07:42] already mentioned, several of these

[2:07:44] items, queuing and pickup and drop off

[2:07:46] operations, pedestrian and bicycle

[2:07:49] safety, school related transportation,

[2:07:52] uh, demand management, noise, utilities

[2:07:56] and infrastructure capacity, emergency

[2:07:58] access and evacuation, cumulative

[2:08:01] greenhouse gas and air quality impacts,

[2:08:04] as well as impacts to public services,

[2:08:06] including fire and emergency response

[2:08:08] and police services. These are just an overview um highle view of some items

[2:08:15] to consider. Um but at this point

[2:08:18] uh Kelly or I can answer questions or if

[2:08:21] there are any uh elements of the environ

[2:08:25] environmental review that you want to

[2:08:27] specifically call out that are not

[2:08:28] addressed here. Um that is what we're

[2:08:30] asking of you tonight.

[2:08:32] >> Thank you and thanks for outlining those

[2:08:35] um comments. Could you go back to that

[2:08:36] previous slides? That that's helpful as

[2:08:38] we discuss it. Any um questions from the

[2:08:41] council? Yes. Um Council Member Adams.

[2:08:45] >> Uh thank you very much, Liz and Kelly.

[2:08:48] Uh couple of questions about the SQU. Uh

[2:08:52] and a and a question about uh this this

[2:08:55] notion of being able to add new students

[2:08:58] and families. What is the number that

[2:09:02] your enrollment is confined to in

[2:09:05] Belmont?

[2:09:07] and how can you protect against

[2:09:10] a creeping enlargement of that

[2:09:12] enrollment that would not actually allow

[2:09:16] more spaces to be available?

[2:09:20] That's a great question. Um, so

[2:09:21] currently in Belmont, we are capped at

[2:09:23] 240 students in our middle school.

[2:09:26] However, uh, we are currently at 220 and

[2:09:29] to my knowledge, we've never been over

[2:09:32] 220. I'm looking at my, um, staff. So,

[2:09:34] we've never been over 220. So even

[2:09:35] though we have an enrollment of 240, we

[2:09:38] actually prefer to be under that. And

[2:09:40] the reason um is actually in relation to

[2:09:43] the optimal size of each grade and each

[2:09:46] uh section of classes within that grade.

[2:09:48] So we have about 72 students per grade

[2:09:51] um which allows us to have four sections

[2:09:53] of 18, which is just perfect uh for a

[2:09:56] middle school. And so even though we are

[2:09:59] allowed to go over to 240, um it just

[2:10:02] wouldn't really make sense um for us to

[2:10:05] try to cram more students in. Um I think

[2:10:07] I' or my faculty would revolt and other

[2:10:10] things. So um but the maximum we we ever

[2:10:12] could get would be an additional 20

[2:10:14] students there. Um which would but again

[2:10:17] I we we we have no intention of doing

[2:10:19] that but in full transparency we are

[2:10:21] limited to 240.

[2:10:24] >> That's great. And then in the squa does

[2:10:26] is does it the squa drive the numbers

[2:10:29] that you consider or do you have numbers

[2:10:32] that you're considering and then look at

[2:10:35] the squa impact of each? Um we are not

[2:10:38] coming here with a particular number in

[2:10:39] mind. We have done some analysis just

[2:10:42] above the 350 number for our own sake to

[2:10:46] feel confident um again with the

[2:10:48] infrastructure we currently have on

[2:10:50] campus. Uh but our hope is that truly

[2:10:52] through the independent SQUA review they

[2:10:55] would come back to us to say here's the

[2:10:58] number um that we feel like your campus

[2:11:00] could um reasonably accommodate without

[2:11:03] having a significant impact. Um and then

[2:11:06] that would be what we we bring to you

[2:11:08] all. Um there is a limit um in my

[2:11:11] understanding in the current general

[2:11:13] plan for all independent schools uh in

[2:11:15] Hillsboro which I believe the limit is

[2:11:17] 517 students and that is what our only

[2:11:21] other independent school um in Hillsboro

[2:11:23] NEOA school is currently at.

[2:11:26] >> Thank you Kelly.

[2:11:28] >> Thank you. Any additional questions from

[2:11:30] the council?

[2:11:32] member Chuang.

[2:11:34] >> Thank you. Uh I really appreciate uh

[2:11:37] your presentation. Um and really the as

[2:11:42] far as the squa addressing the the

[2:11:43] traffic uh you heard our public comments

[2:11:46] uh regarding the concerns about the

[2:11:48] traffic and um and you mentioned in your

[2:11:50] presentation that with uh your middle

[2:11:52] school there is a traffic demand

[2:11:56] >> management plan EDM, right? And so um

[2:12:01] because for high schoolers they probably

[2:12:03] have more freedoms in terms of uh the

[2:12:06] vehicles that they will be able to

[2:12:07] utilize uh to come to campus and you

[2:12:11] mentioned something about you know

[2:12:12] shuffling the arrival times and things

[2:12:14] like that. But more importantly what is the TDM that you spoke of and

[2:12:21] how is it um addressing the traffic

[2:12:25] alleviation of the congestions or the

[2:12:27] timing? Yeah. So, in um for for Belmont

[2:12:32] um we have uh requirements in terms of

[2:12:35] our start and end times. Um for those

[2:12:37] that don't know, we share a property

[2:12:39] line with Rston Middle School. And so,

[2:12:41] um and the Rston corridor is um a

[2:12:44] well-used corridor between the 101 and

[2:12:47] 92. Um and so one of the restrictions

[2:12:50] not through traffic demand but rather on

[2:12:52] our school is when our start and end

[2:12:54] times can be uh to make sure that we are

[2:12:57] offset from rston. Um the second is a

[2:13:00] requirement of um how many uh single

[2:13:04] occupancy cars we can have coming on and

[2:13:06] off our campus during those peak times,

[2:13:08] the arrival times and the dismissal

[2:13:10] times. Uh my understanding and again I'm

[2:13:13] looking here is twice a year. Is that

[2:13:15] correct? that we twice a year we're

[2:13:17] required to um do traffic counts um and

[2:13:20] submit those to Belmont uh to ensure

[2:13:23] that we are below uh below those um

[2:13:27] below those single occupancy vehicle

[2:13:29] counts and again have it somewhere here

[2:13:31] but um but right now we we have been

[2:13:35] within 50 to 70% of those limits and

[2:13:38] part of that is um when we when Belmont

[2:13:41] required the traffic demand management

[2:13:43] plan when we went forth to um get

[2:13:46] approval for our middle school. Um we

[2:13:48] knew in order to meet those single

[2:13:50] occupancy vehicles, we were going to

[2:13:52] have to expand our our uh transportation

[2:13:54] program. So we currently have a very

[2:13:57] robust bus program that goes up and down

[2:14:00] uh the 280 across um that we also have

[2:14:04] shuttles that pick up from Cal Train um

[2:14:06] in our Belmont at the Bilman station um

[2:14:09] here in Hillsboro at our Sanonteo

[2:14:11] station that's only a mile away from our

[2:14:12] campus. Um and we current and so all all

[2:14:15] that was something that we automatically

[2:14:17] had to put into place to ensure that

[2:14:19] compliance in Belmont because many of

[2:14:21] our students uh do attend our school six

[2:14:24] sixth grade through 12th grade they get

[2:14:26] very used to taking that public

[2:14:27] transport or the transportation that we

[2:14:29] offer um it's sort of fun to be on a bus

[2:14:32] with your friends. Um and so we actually

[2:14:34] see that to the question about cars um

[2:14:36] coming on campus in terms of older

[2:14:38] students. We actually do restrict

[2:14:40] parking on campus only to seniors and

[2:14:42] because of the number of parking spots

[2:14:44] we have, we actually cannot um guarantee

[2:14:48] that every senior gets a spot. So, we

[2:14:50] also have an arrangement with St. Bart's

[2:14:52] uh co church which is right off of Alama

[2:14:56] um and Upland's where we have off-campus

[2:14:58] parking for sophomores, juniors, and

[2:15:00] some seniors uh who who don't have

[2:15:03] access to um our campus for parking. And

[2:15:06] again, they take shuttles and buses to

[2:15:08] get on on campus. Um, so this year we've

[2:15:11] actually because of our mansion project,

[2:15:14] um, we've had to reduce the number of

[2:15:15] parking spots on campus. So I've

[2:15:17] actually put more um, on St. Barts.

[2:15:20] >> Thank you.

[2:15:22] Um, yes, Council Member

[2:15:24] Crowley.

[2:15:25] >> Thank you, Kelly, for this um,

[2:15:27] presentation. and uh we do appreciate

[2:15:29] the partnership and also that um that

[2:15:31] Crystal Springs Upland School is a great

[2:15:33] caretaker of that community resource

[2:15:35] which is the Upland's mansion. Um so I

[2:15:38] have a a couple of questions. Um so at

[2:15:43] one point your campus was 6 to 12 on

[2:15:46] that same campus. Did you ever go above

[2:15:48] 350 then were there more students?

[2:15:51] >> Yeah, good question. So, yes, I my

[2:15:53] understanding is since our our founding

[2:15:55] and since we moved on to the Hillsboro

[2:15:57] campus in 1956, we have been a grades 6

[2:16:00] through 12 campus until 2017. Um, I do

[2:16:03] believe that um again, I don't have the

[2:16:05] full data. Um, if that's something that

[2:16:07] the the city council would like in the

[2:16:09] future, I'm sure we can grab that. Um,

[2:16:11] but uh yeah, in the 2010s to 2017, uh we

[2:16:16] were not always below the 350. We were

[2:16:18] sometimes cresting above. And my

[2:16:20] understanding is that the head of school

[2:16:21] at the time um did talk to Hillsboro and fines were assessed um for that

[2:16:26] overage. Um and part of that was again

[2:16:29] it it was hard for us to get um grades 6

[2:16:31] through 12 at a total cap of 350

[2:16:34] students

[2:16:34] >> but but it was a minimal overage at that

[2:16:36] time. It wasn't like 400 or something.

[2:16:38] >> No, just a couple.

[2:16:40] >> Not to my understanding. Um and again

[2:16:42] part of that has to do just with the um

[2:16:45] >> the trickiness the art and science of

[2:16:46] the admission process, right? We admit a

[2:16:48] certain number of students every year,

[2:16:49] but we don't know who's going to say yes

[2:16:51] and who's going to say no. It was never

[2:16:53] um an intention on the part of the

[2:16:55] school to go over the 350. But also once

[2:16:58] >> it's always been 350 basically what

[2:17:01] >> to my knowledge. I don't know about uh

[2:17:03] the general plan if there was a general

[2:17:05] plan before that had some number lower

[2:17:08] than 350 but for the last

[2:17:10] >> No, I just wondered when you were 6 to

[2:17:12] 12 if it was significantly higher.

[2:17:15] >> No, no, no, no, no. And that was

[2:17:16] actually the impetus honestly for us to

[2:17:18] have to find another campus uh another

[2:17:21] because we knew we wanted to be able to

[2:17:22] admit more students. At that point our

[2:17:24] sixth grade class was only 36 students

[2:17:27] and our high school class was about 60

[2:17:28] to 65 students. And we knew through the

[2:17:31] demand that people really wanted to go

[2:17:33] to Crystals. So um our board of trustees

[2:17:36] um decided because we knew we were

[2:17:38] limited to 350 the only option was to

[2:17:40] seek a campus outside.

[2:17:41] >> Yeah. I remember when all that

[2:17:43] >> Yeah. that went on. Actually, I think

[2:17:45] our council um testified to Belmont that

[2:17:49] you were good community partners.

[2:17:50] >> Thank you. Thank you so much for doing

[2:17:51] that.

[2:17:52] >> But it's it's true. And then when you

[2:17:54] showed the slide with the uh comparable

[2:17:57] numbers with Sacred Heart Menllo, were

[2:17:59] those high school to high school?

[2:18:00] >> Yes, that's high school to high school.

[2:18:02] >> High school to high school. Okay, great.

[2:18:04] And did you say Noeva has 570? They're K

[2:18:07] through 12.

[2:18:08] >> I'm sorry. No. So, um so they're a K12.

[2:18:11] their total number. I don't have the um

[2:18:14] what I put up there was just their high

[2:18:16] school campus in San Monteo. Uh for

[2:18:18] their K8 campus here in Hillsboro, they

[2:18:21] are at 517 students which is the total

[2:18:24] cap um through the

[2:18:26] >> So they're at 517

[2:18:27] >> 517 just K8 and then they have

[2:18:31] >> another I don't have the slide in front

[2:18:33] of me but it's 400 to 500 students at

[2:18:36] their um high school campus.

[2:18:38] >> Thank you. Those are all my questions. I

[2:18:40] mean, I I will say I think um you're you

[2:18:44] you're at the heart of it looking at the

[2:18:46] transportation plan. The only complaints

[2:18:48] I've ever heard is traffic and then

[2:18:52] speeding on uplands. Yes. So, thank you.

[2:18:56] >> Thank you, Council Member Crow. Any

[2:18:58] additional questions? Yes, Vice Mayor

[2:19:00] Ragdale.

[2:19:01] >> No questions, just a few comments after

[2:19:03] public comment. Thank you.

[2:19:05] >> Um I don't have any further clarifying

[2:19:08] questions. Any public comments on this

[2:19:09] issue?

[2:19:11] >> Thank you, Mayor Cole. Is there anyone

[2:19:13] in the room who would like to provide

[2:19:15] public comments?

[2:19:18] >> Oh, actually, if you'd like to provide

[2:19:21] comment, you could go to the podium.

[2:19:28] » I went to Crocker Middle School. if you

[2:19:30] could go to the podium so they can hear

[2:19:32] you.

[2:19:32] >> Sorry. Just just go ahead and address

[2:19:34] the council and then they'll

[2:19:36] >> My name's Grant Baker. I grew up in

[2:19:38] Hillsboro, went to South, went to

[2:19:40] Crocker. Uh I'm a local practicing

[2:19:43] attorney. I actually some of the people

[2:19:44] in this room. Um I had a question. What

[2:19:47] is the present enrollment of Hillsbor uh

[2:19:51] res uh you know, students that grew up

[2:19:53] here versus non

[2:19:56] Yeah. that go to the Uplands campus.

[2:20:02] I actually pulled some slides in our

[2:20:04] appendix that I think that um

[2:20:10] let's see

[2:20:15] 17.

[2:20:16] This is just classroom. There we go.

[2:20:19] Hillsboro families go. Um,

[2:20:23] no. I think a little bit back

[2:20:29] I think further 17.

[2:20:35] » This is our upper school enrollment of

[2:20:36] Hills families.

[2:20:41] » Thank you.

[2:20:43] >> Okay. Is that's your 10% approximately?

[2:20:46] Okay. Thank you. Yeah. Any additional

[2:20:49] questions from the public? Any other

[2:20:52] public comment?

[2:20:53] >> Oh, thank you. Um, and then let me just

[2:20:57] there's anyone on Zoom who would like to

[2:20:58] provide comments to raise your hand.

[2:21:02] And I'm not seeing any raised hands.

[2:21:04] Thank you. Just just for clarification,

[2:21:06] that was actually the wrong slide. Slide

[2:21:08] 14 has that was just the applicants that

[2:21:10] we get every year. Um, slide 14 has the

[2:21:13] actual num percentage of students, which

[2:21:15] I think is closer to 20%.

[2:21:18] There we go.

[2:21:21] >> Gotcha. Right. Um,

[2:21:23] >> this would be between both of our

[2:21:24] campuses. Um, we didn't disagregate it

[2:21:26] for middle school and upper school

[2:21:28] because that's challenging to do because

[2:21:31] um, some families have kids at both

[2:21:32] campuses. So, not to double count, but

[2:21:37] I would argue um I would guess it's

[2:21:39] relatively uniformly distributed between

[2:21:41] middle school and upper school.

[2:21:43] >> Yeah. Um, Kelly, before you leave, I

[2:21:45] have one follow-up question before we

[2:21:47] bring it back to the council. Um, your

[2:21:49] comments on greenhouse um, gas emission,

[2:21:52] you you noted in terms of parking,

[2:21:54] restricting on campus parking, etc. Um,

[2:21:57] with regards to just maintenance in

[2:21:59] general of camp of the campus, um,

[2:22:03] maintaining of your sports spaces,

[2:22:07] fields, etc. Um, have you have your

[2:22:10] campus converted to electric as much as

[2:22:13] possible?

[2:22:14] >> Yes, our our mansion project is moving

[2:22:17] us entirely to electric in that

[2:22:19] building. Uh, we are currently looking

[2:22:20] into solar um to become netneutral on

[2:22:23] our campus and our two biggest fields um

[2:22:26] have been converted to turf fields. So,

[2:22:29] use of water, all of that has gone down

[2:22:31] dramatically.

[2:22:32] >> Okay, great. Thank you. Um, seeing no

[2:22:35] additional questions from the public or

[2:22:37] is there additional question from the

[2:22:38] public? None. Okay. Thank you. And

[2:22:41] additional question from the council

[2:22:42] before we move forward.

[2:22:44] >> Yeah, just uh one question. Are there

[2:22:46] electric charger electric car chargers

[2:22:49] on campus?

[2:22:49] >> Our Belmont campus has four. Uh,

[2:22:51] currently our um Hillsboro campus does

[2:22:54] not, but after the mansion project,

[2:22:56] we're hoping to add four onto our campus

[2:22:59] as well.

[2:23:00] >> Thank you.

[2:23:01] and we do make that free to use for our

[2:23:03] faculty.

[2:23:05] >> Okay, thank you. Thank you for the

[2:23:07] presentation, Kelly. That was very

[2:23:09] helpful. Um

[2:23:12] seeing no additional questions, um

[2:23:14] comments, finalizing feedback is

[2:23:17] basically the issue of traffic and which

[2:23:20] Kelly has addressed appropriately and um

[2:23:24] internal shuttle shuttle services which

[2:23:28] will probably be expanded as you noted

[2:23:31] and um circulation, parking, noise. Um,

[2:23:36] basically the town will move forward

[2:23:40] with the staff in Crystal Springs to

[2:23:43] pursue the SQUR analysis. Is that my

[2:23:46] understanding?

[2:23:47] >> Correct. Um, we will select one of the

[2:23:50] proposals for the environmental

[2:23:52] consultant. Um, and then they'll do an

[2:23:55] initial study to determine what level of

[2:23:57] environmental document is appropriate.

[2:23:59] Um, then move forward with that which

[2:24:01] will inform

[2:24:02] um what Crystal is asking for in terms

[2:24:06] of enrollment based on the findings of

[2:24:09] the environmental review.

[2:24:10] >> And and how long do does the SQA

[2:24:13] analysis normally take? Um, it depends

[2:24:15] on which consultant we select, but

[2:24:17] several months.

[2:24:18] >> Several months. Okay. Um, any I'm I'm

[2:24:23] sorry. You have a question.

[2:24:25] >> Oh, good. Go ahead. Yeah.

[2:24:28] >> Um, so starting with I did check with

[2:24:31] our council since I do not have a

[2:24:33] financial interest in Crystal. Um, and I

[2:24:36] don't have any current students at

[2:24:38] Crystal, but we were a Crystal family

[2:24:40] for 11 years. So, um, the money only

[2:24:43] flowed one way.

[2:24:46] So, in terms of conflict of interest, I think I'm good, but just wanted to,

[2:24:51] um, be, uh, you know, upfront about

[2:24:54] that. Um, I wanted to thank you for

[2:24:57] always being such a good neighbor. Um, I

[2:25:00] have handed out those Valentine's

[2:25:01] cookies. Um and uh the with the

[2:25:05] newsletter and the flu shots and having

[2:25:08] the uh the meeting with the neighbors

[2:25:10] and um there have been other schools not

[2:25:15] in our town that have decided to

[2:25:17] increase their enrollment and then ask

[2:25:20] permission after it was found out and

[2:25:21] that's just not how Crystal operates.

[2:25:23] And so um I just really appreciate this

[2:25:27] process and your cooperation with the

[2:25:29] town. Um I think the the SQA issues I

[2:25:33] think you have them. Um uh down there

[2:25:37] the the only thing that that I would add

[2:25:40] is um the issue of new drivers

[2:25:44] uh with I think a lot of times the new

[2:25:46] drivers are better than the parents. Um

[2:25:50] but just the issue of you know new

[2:25:52] drivers um in the neighborhood um

[2:25:56] something that you know should be looked

[2:25:57] at and um

[2:26:00] also with re and I don't know how you

[2:26:02] can control parents but I know it is

[2:26:05] part of the code of conduct not to park

[2:26:08] within the neighborhood and um and

[2:26:12] you've got the St. art option with the

[2:26:14] shuttle, but um you know controlling

[2:26:18] parents if there's there's any way to um

[2:26:22] think about ways to encourage the

[2:26:24] parents to also not park where they're

[2:26:27] not supposed to park. And um other than

[2:26:29] that, I I think you've you've got the

[2:26:32] issues up there. Thank you.

[2:26:34] >> Okay. So,

[2:26:35] >> yes, Council Member Adams.

[2:26:37] >> Uh I also did not check with our lawyer.

[2:26:41] However, here goes. Uh I was uh on the

[2:26:44] board of uh Crystal, the board of

[2:26:47] directors when uh we proposed uh

[2:26:50] building a gymnasium.

[2:26:52] And I can attest to how well the board

[2:26:57] does respond to neighbor criticism if

[2:27:02] you in fact visit our underground gym,

[2:27:05] which did not start as an underground

[2:27:08] gym. and uh that's just an endorsement

[2:27:12] of process and I think you have handled

[2:27:15] this process really well. So thank you.

[2:27:19] >> Okay. Thank you. Um do you feel like

[2:27:21] we've given enough directives? Um we do

[2:27:24] not need to officially vote on anything

[2:27:25] just basically to give directives to the

[2:27:27] staff regarding the secure. Is that

[2:27:28] correct?

[2:27:29] >> Feedback.

[2:27:30] >> Yes. And again I echo the comments from

[2:27:32] my colleagues. Yes. Good luck with all

[2:27:35] the planning. Thank you so much.

[2:27:37] >> Thank you.

[2:27:39] Okay,

[2:27:42] next item, 15,

[2:27:47] discussion of proposed changes to

[2:27:48] homebased business regulations.

[2:27:52] And that will be presented by our city

[2:27:56] attorney, Marodak.

[2:28:06] » Good evening, Mayor Matt. Madame Mayor,

[2:28:08] members of the council,

[2:28:11] back one more time for a reality check

[2:28:15] and further input on our efforts to

[2:28:18] update the business regulations and

[2:28:22] eventually the special events

[2:28:25] regulations

[2:28:26] so that they are in alignment with

[2:28:29] current thinking about town values and

[2:28:32] town practices.

[2:28:36] So just a brief history, the current

[2:28:40] regulations regarding home businesses

[2:28:43] were adopted in 1999 and have not been

[2:28:46] changed in any significant manner since

[2:28:49] then. So time for review

[2:28:52] in a slightly different context. Uh the

[2:28:55] council had considered amendments to

[2:28:59] commercial uses and special events back

[2:29:02] in 2024. We had an extended study

[2:29:05] session at that time, considered

[2:29:08] amending the ordinances, but didn't

[2:29:11] really get to the heart of the issues

[2:29:13] that we were trying to address. Council

[2:29:16] appointed a subcommittee uh and we have

[2:29:19] then worked diligently since that time

[2:29:22] to better define the issues and come up

[2:29:25] with a sensible approach.

[2:29:28] In November of 2025, we daylighted our

[2:29:31] initial thinking on some of these

[2:29:34] issues, got feedback from the council

[2:29:38] and also from members of the community

[2:29:41] uh regarding both the updating of the

[2:29:44] home business uh regulatory scheme and

[2:29:48] quite separately uh regulation of

[2:29:50] special events. And for our purposes

[2:29:53] tonight, we'll be focused solely on the

[2:29:55] homebased business regulations. Special

[2:29:59] events will be brought forward at a

[2:30:02] subsequent meeting.

[2:30:04] So just as background uh as we looked at

[2:30:07] the situation uh as it has evolved now

[2:30:11] uh in our community, we find that some

[2:30:14] of the

[2:30:16] things that were present in 1999 are no

[2:30:19] longer present. And many things that

[2:30:22] weren't present in 1999

[2:30:25] have been invented and become part of

[2:30:27] our lives. cell phones, the internet,

[2:30:30] uh, and in particular, uh, over the

[2:30:33] course of the pandemic, an increasing

[2:30:36] appreciation that much of the work that

[2:30:38] we thought had to be done in offices or

[2:30:42] other commercial settings could be

[2:30:46] profitably

[2:30:48] and carefully carried on in residences,

[2:30:52] which then encouraged many people, we

[2:30:54] think, in town to do just that. but

[2:30:57] without registering their homebased

[2:31:00] businesses and without really careful

[2:31:02] consideration of whether the changed

[2:31:05] environment needed a changed regulatory

[2:31:08] scheme. Uh it is important to note that

[2:31:12] uh the town does provide services that

[2:31:16] result in a safe secure environment for

[2:31:20] conducting a business. And it's

[2:31:22] appropriate that those businesses

[2:31:24] register so that we can keep track of

[2:31:27] them, so that we can better serve them,

[2:31:29] and that they pay when appropriate their

[2:31:32] gross receipts tax to help pay for the

[2:31:35] services that they enjoy over and above

[2:31:38] the services they get on a residential

[2:31:41] basis.

[2:31:44] So based on the feedback that we got and

[2:31:48] the research and discussions had by the

[2:31:50] committee the first thing that uh we

[2:31:53] noted was that we have more than,00

[2:31:57] businesses registered with the secretary

[2:32:01] of state that show their principal place

[2:32:03] of business being in the town of

[2:32:05] Hillsboro. Somewhat surprising. Uh and

[2:32:09] yet when we looked a little further, I

[2:32:12] think we found that the majority,

[2:32:13] perhaps the vast majority of those were

[2:32:16] entities that had been formed primarily

[2:32:20] to hold title to the residential

[2:32:23] property, either to limit liability or

[2:32:26] for privacy purposes or both. And that

[2:32:30] they weren't really conducting any

[2:32:32] further businesses. So, it wouldn't

[2:32:35] really be fair to them or meaningful to

[2:32:38] designate those kind of businesses as

[2:32:41] homebased businesses that need to be

[2:32:44] further registered with the town or to

[2:32:47] be subject to a gross receipts tax.

[2:32:50] Once we daylighted the staff report uh

[2:32:54] for our presentation tonight, we

[2:32:57] received two pieces of public comment

[2:33:00] regarding the exemptions that I would

[2:33:02] share with you now. even though they're

[2:33:04] not up on the screen. Uh the first was a question from a resident who wanted to

[2:33:10] know whether remote work

[2:33:14] would be classified as a homebased

[2:33:17] business. And I think with proper

[2:33:19] definition, the answer to that would be

[2:33:22] no. Uh, for example, uh, if I've got my

[2:33:26] office in San Mateo, but I lived in

[2:33:28] Hillsboro and I wanted to

[2:33:32] contact some clients or the like from my

[2:33:34] home, that wouldn't really be conducting

[2:33:38] the business from Hillsboro because I'd

[2:33:40] have a principal place of business

[2:33:42] elsewhere. And we think that the

[2:33:44] regulations we propose would follow

[2:33:47] through in that regard. So again, if

[2:33:49] you're just home doing remote work, if

[2:33:51] you've got an EMP, you're an employee

[2:33:53] and you're doing remote work, that's not

[2:33:55] going to be a homebased business, at

[2:33:57] least as far as we've thought about it

[2:34:00] in committee. Uh and then today, uh we

[2:34:03] received an inquiry from a resident who

[2:34:08] has companies that license intellectual

[2:34:12] property. They receive passive incomes

[2:34:16] at uh their residence. They've had to

[2:34:18] register those LLC's with the Secretary

[2:34:21] of State, but they're not carrying on

[2:34:24] any active business from that location.

[2:34:27] They're basically where the checks get

[2:34:29] sent. Uh so I think we can also figure a

[2:34:33] way to exempt those kind of passive

[2:34:37] investment management

[2:34:40] uh uh entities that aren't really

[2:34:43] conducting business in the town. But we

[2:34:46] want don't want to go too far and start

[2:34:48] exempting people who really are carrying

[2:34:50] on the business and just want to

[2:34:53] characterize it as passive. So, um,

[2:34:57] that's our starting point for the

[2:34:59] exemptions. And an entity that's located

[2:35:02] outside of the city and it's has its

[2:35:05] principal place of business, let's say

[2:35:07] in a Berling game office building across

[2:35:10] the freeway, but an owner of that or an

[2:35:13] employee of that business is doing some

[2:35:15] work from home, that's not going to be a

[2:35:18] homebased business either. Um, but

[2:35:21] somebody who's got a nominal office

[2:35:23] outside of Hillsboro, but is conducting

[2:35:27] substantial business activity from the

[2:35:30] home really ought to have a home

[2:35:32] business license and pay the gross

[2:35:34] receipts tax. How we get that

[2:35:38] carefully defined in the regulation is

[2:35:41] the next step to come.

[2:35:44] There's always a concern when somebody

[2:35:46] is conducting a business from their

[2:35:47] residence. Well, what about the big

[2:35:50] business events that they might want to

[2:35:52] carry on whether it's a party, a

[2:35:55] conference, business meetings, etc. And

[2:35:58] I would say that that our conclusion is

[2:36:01] that those kinds of events should be

[2:36:05] regulated under the rubric of special

[2:36:07] events. So that whether your event is

[2:36:10] personal, social, business, nonprofit,

[2:36:15] political fundraising, regardless,

[2:36:19] you'll be subject to special events

[2:36:21] regulation. And it really shouldn't be

[2:36:23] part of our homebased business

[2:36:25] regulation analysis.

[2:36:31] In order to make the homebased

[2:36:34] businesses more effective, more

[2:36:37] attractive, perhaps more economical,

[2:36:41] the committee is recommending that we

[2:36:43] actually allow employees

[2:36:46] uh to come to the site with the proviso

[2:36:49] that they park on site. And these

[2:36:52] employees would not be the same as

[2:36:55] gardeners, nannies, or other

[2:36:59] personal employees or residential

[2:37:02] employees. These would be secretaries,

[2:37:05] assistants, co-workers, whatever. So,

[2:37:08] we're recommending that there be a

[2:37:10] maximum of two. Uh, so that might make

[2:37:14] running your business from Hillsboro a

[2:37:16] little bit more attractive. We also know

[2:37:19] that many businesses need to receive

[2:37:23] deliveries, but as we found out during

[2:37:25] the pandemic and subsequently, so do a

[2:37:28] lot of residences more and more as time

[2:37:31] goes on. So, we'd like to factor in that

[2:37:34] a homebased business can receive

[2:37:36] deliveries, but they ought not to be in

[2:37:39] excess of what normal residential

[2:37:43] deliveries are. and how we define that

[2:37:46] will be artful.

[2:37:48] I also want to emphasize that the

[2:37:52] regulations will apply

[2:37:54] throughout the residential property so

[2:37:57] that if you are devoting your ADU to a

[2:38:01] homebased business, if you set up some

[2:38:03] cubicles in a garage, if you're renting

[2:38:06] out rooms for people to conduct their

[2:38:09] business, all of those would have to be

[2:38:12] subject to homebased business. Licensing

[2:38:19] enforcement always a key. Uh the first

[2:38:22] thing that we've we've found in

[2:38:25] committee is that the current business

[2:38:29] application

[2:38:30] is cumbersome. So, we hope to work with

[2:38:34] staff to

[2:38:37] make that application simpler and to

[2:38:40] focus in on

[2:38:43] the factors that could affect whether

[2:38:46] the homebased business is going to have

[2:38:49] an impact on neighboring properties. So,

[2:38:52] that's the first step. And then the

[2:38:55] second is how will we know if somebody

[2:38:58] is conducting a homebased business? It's

[2:39:00] mostly through observation.

[2:39:03] Sometimes a neighbor will report unusual

[2:39:06] activity. Sometimes a code enforcement

[2:39:09] officer will be go driving by and notice

[2:39:13] something. Sometimes people come in for

[2:39:15] a building permit. And you ask, why are

[2:39:17] you doing this? Well, I'm opening an

[2:39:19] office with a a separate area for an

[2:39:23] employee. And then we'll know. We'll

[2:39:26] also continue to monitor the filings

[2:39:28] with the Secretary of State. And then if

[2:39:31] we see a a new uh filing, then we'll

[2:39:34] make an inquiry. Is this simply to hold

[2:39:36] title or what kind of business are you

[2:39:40] conducting?

[2:39:42] If we find an instance where somebody is

[2:39:45] conducting a homebased business, but

[2:39:47] they just don't want to get that

[2:39:49] license, then what do we do? Well, it's

[2:39:52] an infraction under the code under

[2:39:56] section 5.06,

[2:39:58] chapter 5.06,

[2:40:00] but we often times try to handle these

[2:40:02] things in

[2:40:04] uh a friendlier and more proactive way.

[2:40:07] So, we would do it with the code

[2:40:08] enforcement process and that typically

[2:40:11] involves the code enforcement officer

[2:40:14] delivers a warning letter and tries to

[2:40:18] get voluntary compliance. If that

[2:40:21] voluntary compliance isn't achieved,

[2:40:24] then we schedule a hearing with the code

[2:40:27] enforcement or the administrative

[2:40:29] hearing panel. There's a citation that's

[2:40:32] issued and a decision and order is

[2:40:35] issued by the hearing panel. If the

[2:40:39] resident still doesn't comply, then the

[2:40:42] last step is to take that decision and

[2:40:44] order down to court, file uh for

[2:40:47] injunctive relief and ask the court to

[2:40:50] enforce it. And then if the resident

[2:40:52] does not comply, he or she is violating

[2:40:56] the court's order. And the courts take

[2:40:59] that very seriously and they enforce

[2:41:01] their orders with fines, imprisonment,

[2:41:05] or both. Hopefully, we wouldn't get to

[2:41:08] that matter. we very rarely do.

[2:41:12] Um so uh those were the conclusions that

[2:41:16] we had uh for the permitting.

[2:41:20] Once a business is permitted,

[2:41:24] uh they should be expected to pay the

[2:41:27] gross receipts tax. There is no

[2:41:29] exemption in the code for homebased

[2:41:32] businesses. I understand we may not

[2:41:35] always be collecting the gross receipts

[2:41:37] tax from homebased businesses. Uh but if

[2:41:42] we have additional

[2:41:44] enforcement

[2:41:45] resources at hand through an outside

[2:41:48] service, then that's something that we

[2:41:52] can include in our recommendations and

[2:41:54] in our ordinance changes. So I believe

[2:41:58] that is the presentation. and I'm here

[2:42:01] to answer questions. And after we get

[2:42:04] the last round of input from the council

[2:42:06] and from any members of the community,

[2:42:09] our next step would be to bring you back

[2:42:12] a draft ordinance for first reading and

[2:42:14] uh consideration while moving in

[2:42:17] parallel step with the special events

[2:42:20] regulation on its own track.

[2:42:23] >> Questions? Yes. Thank you. Um Mr. Hudac.

[2:42:26] Um, I will open up to the council for

[2:42:28] questions, clarifying questions.

[2:42:31] >> Yes, council member Troy through the

[2:42:34] mayor. Uh, thank you, Mark. Uh, and

[2:42:37] thanks the ad hoc committee uh for

[2:42:40] working hard on this. Um, I think the

[2:42:42] separation of the special events versus

[2:42:44] the home uh grown business um it's a

[2:42:48] very smart way to make that distinctions

[2:42:52] and I truly appreciate your

[2:42:53] presentation. uh it lends some clarity

[2:42:56] to that. One of the questions that I

[2:42:59] have is that you know we do have

[2:43:01] property owners who rent their homes to

[2:43:05] tenants and the tenants may desire to

[2:43:08] your points you know um Hillsboro as a

[2:43:11] address for their their business. Um

[2:43:15] but in general tenants tend not to be so

[2:43:19] invested in in our community. So to what

[2:43:22] extent would we be able to get that

[2:43:25] message across that if there are tenants

[2:43:28] who live in town who wish to have

[2:43:31] business or are trying to understand the

[2:43:34] distinction between remote working from

[2:43:37] um home business how where how would we

[2:43:40] suggest that we we uh provide those

[2:43:43] information to them?

[2:43:44] >> Yeah that's an excellent point. Uh so

[2:43:47] first public education

[2:43:50] um and whatever we do it'll go into the

[2:43:52] newsletter and we hope uh to educate

[2:43:55] people that way.

[2:43:57] People who intend to rent out their

[2:43:59] homes or their ADU might want to

[2:44:02] consider whether in their lease

[2:44:05] agreements they will or will not allow

[2:44:07] tenants to conduct a homebased business.

[2:44:11] Uh and then we would encourage landlords

[2:44:15] who are going to allow homebased

[2:44:18] businesses to let us know so that we can

[2:44:21] follow up and be sure that the tenants

[2:44:23] when the if and when they do start their

[2:44:25] business have come down and registered

[2:44:28] with us, you know. But if we don't get

[2:44:31] that notice from the landlords, then

[2:44:33] it'll be just as if they were any other

[2:44:36] owner and we'll use the same enforcement

[2:44:40] tools, observation filings with the

[2:44:43] secretary of state, etc. But having the

[2:44:46] landlords involved and I think sometimes

[2:44:48] landlords are surprised what their

[2:44:49] tenants do. Um, and so with some

[2:44:52] education to them, perhaps we can make

[2:44:55] them part of the process as well.

[2:44:57] >> Thank you.

[2:44:59] Um, additional questions. Additional

[2:45:01] questions from um, Council Member

[2:45:03] Crowley.

[2:45:03] >> Yes. Thank you. First of all, I also

[2:45:05] thank you Mark and thanks to the

[2:45:06] subcommittee. Uh, great work. It's very

[2:45:09] reasonable and that's a lot of work to

[2:45:11] get there. How does I just have two

[2:45:13] questions. How does the gross receipts

[2:45:15] tax work?

[2:45:19] Uh well, you're supposed to report how

[2:45:21] much you got

[2:45:25] and it's

[2:45:27] 75 of 1%

[2:45:30] although we have a chart which allows

[2:45:32] you to sort of estimate and pay the

[2:45:35] midpoint.

[2:45:37] If you are doing business in Hillsboro,

[2:45:41] but you also have an office in Berling

[2:45:43] game and you have one in Southern

[2:45:44] California, then you have to engage in

[2:45:48] the aortionment process and I do that

[2:45:52] with clients sometimes. It's really

[2:45:55] complicated.

[2:45:56] Um, and so when we would have a situ

[2:46:00] situation like that, we would be

[2:46:04] in conversation

[2:46:06] with the business owner to be sure that

[2:46:08] we understand how they're making that

[2:46:11] allocation and whether it's fair and and

[2:46:15] you know they if they're making that

[2:46:17] allocation to Berling game, you know,

[2:46:19] they should be paying the gross receipts

[2:46:21] tax in that location. They have it in

[2:46:24] Foster City. They should be paying

[2:46:26] there, but they don't pay twice on the

[2:46:28] same gross receipts.

[2:46:30] >> I remember when I helped my gardener get

[2:46:32] his business license couple number of

[2:46:35] years ago. It seemed like he had a

[2:46:37] choice between a percentage of what he

[2:46:40] was making in Hillsboro or and and you

[2:46:43] could pick what was less or like a $100

[2:46:46] or $125 or something like that. Is that

[2:46:50] not

[2:46:52] >> Yeah, there's a certain dimminimous

[2:46:55] um

[2:46:56] amount. I don't remember off the top of

[2:46:58] my head what it is. Um

[2:47:03] but he should be paying on whatever he's

[2:47:06] making so long as it gets above the

[2:47:08] threshold.

[2:47:10] >> Okay. Yeah. I can't remember how. And

[2:47:13] then my second question is it sounds

[2:47:15] like for people who are renting who are

[2:47:18] running consulting businesses out of

[2:47:20] their homes. So they're really just on

[2:47:23] the phone or on Zoom. They're not no

[2:47:25] clients. But these are the kinds of

[2:47:26] businesses we would like to get a a

[2:47:28] business license. Is that right?

[2:47:30] >> That that's right. You know, the same as

[2:47:33] if they had were doing that from their

[2:47:34] office in Berling,

[2:47:36] >> right?

[2:47:36] >> They don't want to pay the rent there

[2:47:37] any longer. They want to do it from

[2:47:39] their home. Fine. and we can support

[2:47:41] that along with employee support, but

[2:47:46] they have to come down, sign up, and pay

[2:47:49] the gross receipts tax just like they

[2:47:51] would if they were in Foster City.

[2:47:54] >> Thank you. I appreciate it.

[2:47:56] >> Okay. I um I have um the the the

[2:47:59] subcommittee is Council Member Adams and

[2:48:02] Vice Mayor Ragdale. Is it okay if I um

[2:48:05] ask my questions before we get back to

[2:48:07] you? Um yeah, I I have a followup to

[2:48:12] what um council member Krich just asked,

[2:48:16] which is the tax receipts.

[2:48:19] So,

[2:48:21] how do we verify how much revenues or

[2:48:26] income a business owner in town makes?

[2:48:31] Are you ask are you suggesting they will

[2:48:33] have to disclose their prop their tax

[2:48:36] returns to the town to verify how much

[2:48:39] they owe for the tax receipts?

[2:48:42] >> Not the tax return itself, but they're

[2:48:45] supposed to tell us in good faith how

[2:48:48] much gross receipts they're making. And

[2:48:52] we have an audit right

[2:48:54] >> and and we have a what?

[2:48:56] >> An audit.

[2:48:57] >> So they can be audited.

[2:48:58] >> Yeah. theoretically when they get this

[2:49:01] business license.

[2:49:04] >> Yeah. When they submit their gross

[2:49:05] receipts tax calculation, if we have

[2:49:10] reason to believe that that's not uh

[2:49:14] accurate, then we would follow a process

[2:49:17] and ultimately would have

[2:49:19] make them show books and records.

[2:49:23] >> Okay. Um I'm still stuck as to how we're

[2:49:26] going to enforce this. Basically, the

[2:49:29] tenant of this proposal is that we allow

[2:49:33] businesses to operate within the town of

[2:49:36] Hillsboro. Is is that understood?

[2:49:39] >> That's right.

[2:49:39] >> Okay. And then with regards to for

[2:49:43] example, I mean when I've thought of

[2:49:45] this,

[2:49:46] if an individual wants to run a very

[2:49:49] boutique chic restaurant out of their

[2:49:52] home, let's say they have four guests

[2:49:55] twice a week. Um, that may not pose much

[2:50:00] of a traffic impact in the community.

[2:50:04] Um, but they're now running a restaurant

[2:50:08] out of their home. Is there any way we

[2:50:12] can monitor that with regards to fire

[2:50:15] risk or emission risk with regards to

[2:50:18] what's happening at that site? So, if

[2:50:21] they're running a restaurant,

[2:50:24] in your example, they're going to have

[2:50:27] to comply with all the county's

[2:50:30] regulations that come along with a food

[2:50:34] service business, including health

[2:50:37] regulations and safety regulations. So,

[2:50:40] that wouldn't necessarily be something

[2:50:42] that the town would undertake. It would

[2:50:45] be something that the county undertakes

[2:50:48] in that particular example.

[2:50:52] >> Okay. So, if they declare that they

[2:50:54] running a restaurant, they will then

[2:50:56] need to go to the county and get those

[2:50:58] certifications.

[2:50:59] >> That's right.

[2:51:01] >> If for example, I'm running a medical

[2:51:04] consulting business out of my house and

[2:51:07] I average about three to four patients.

[2:51:10] I'm not doing any surgeries. I'm

[2:51:12] basically talking to them. Maybe I check

[2:51:15] their blood pressure. I write notes. I

[2:51:18] put together a report. Some of my

[2:51:20] patients may be elderly and have many

[2:51:23] medical problems. And occasionally

[2:51:27] they have complications while I'm

[2:51:28] evaluating them. I call the ambulance.

[2:51:31] The fire truck gets there. The ambulance

[2:51:33] gets there. What requirements will be

[2:51:36] required for me to run such a business

[2:51:39] out of my house or is would that be

[2:51:42] precluded from happening? So I don't

[2:51:45] think you're procluded.

[2:51:47] Whether you have any medicalbased

[2:51:49] restrictions I think is between you and

[2:51:52] the medical board.

[2:51:55] But if you were required to call in

[2:51:59] our emergency services because one of

[2:52:02] your patients is having an episode while

[2:52:06] in your consulting room. That's kind of

[2:52:09] gets at the reason why number one, you

[2:52:12] ought to have a license because we know

[2:52:14] that you're there and that's what's

[2:52:15] going on. And two, that's why you pay

[2:52:19] the gross receipts tax because we have

[2:52:22] those services available to support you

[2:52:25] in an emergency. Now, whether you have

[2:52:28] to have sterilization equipment, whether

[2:52:32] you have to have a special kind of

[2:52:34] security for your medical records files,

[2:52:37] I don't think that's the town's concern.

[2:52:39] I think that's the medical licensing

[2:52:42] board's concerns.

[2:52:44] >> Um, precisely. I I um I I I I've not

[2:52:49] been able to square this thought in my

[2:52:52] head in terms of having certain

[2:52:55] businesses in town that could impact not

[2:52:58] only traffic but also

[2:53:03] excuse me but also emergency services

[2:53:06] depending on the service. Even if it's a

[2:53:09] psychological

[2:53:11] or therapy therapist evaluation, some of

[2:53:14] those patients may have an episode and

[2:53:16] you need to call an ambulance.

[2:53:18] >> Yeah.

[2:53:18] >> But you know, for that matter, you could

[2:53:21] be carrying on an investment advisory

[2:53:24] service

[2:53:26] and you're there meeting with a client

[2:53:29] and she has a heart attack and you call

[2:53:31] up. Well, you know, it's the same kind

[2:53:34] of thing. That's part of why we want you

[2:53:36] to be licensed and it's part of why you

[2:53:39] should be paying the gross receipts tax.

[2:53:41] But you're giving investment advice. The

[2:53:44] town isn't going to be involved in

[2:53:46] regulating you to that extent. That

[2:53:49] would be between you and the financial

[2:53:53] regulatory bodies, FINRA and whatever.

[2:53:56] >> Yeah. the the risk of that happening as

[2:53:59] a financial advisor is significantly

[2:54:01] less than the risk of that happening in

[2:54:03] front of a physician because almost all

[2:54:06] my customers

[2:54:08] have a slightly higher risk of that

[2:54:11] complication compared to the general

[2:54:13] public. So um that that comment is well

[2:54:16] noted and also with regards to um the

[2:54:21] impact of traffic

[2:54:23] I don't fully understand how that's

[2:54:27] addressed in this because the words

[2:54:31] occasionally

[2:54:33] that's again vague and ambiguous. What

[2:54:35] is occasional? How many times a week is

[2:54:37] occasional or how many times a month for

[2:54:39] that matter? Um, and and what I what I'm

[2:54:43] struggling with, I I'm still trying to

[2:54:46] how

[2:54:48] what is the benefit to the town to have

[2:54:51] homebased business that you pay a

[2:54:53] license for,

[2:54:55] but the town has not established the

[2:54:59] infrastructure to service. We just

[2:55:00] talked about emergency vehicles. We just

[2:55:03] talked about the impact on traffic

[2:55:05] parking.

[2:55:07] What if your home does not cannot

[2:55:09] accommodate two or three parking and

[2:55:11] you're on a parking strip and that is

[2:55:13] happening every day and you're on a very

[2:55:15] tight corner and there's not enough

[2:55:17] parking strip and your street doesn't

[2:55:19] have sidewalks, let's say, which a lot

[2:55:21] of streets in Hillsboro do not have.

[2:55:23] >> No, if if you can't provide parking for

[2:55:26] your employees on site, then you can't

[2:55:28] have employees.

[2:55:30] Um

[2:55:33] I I think the proper way to think about

[2:55:35] >> I mean customers who will come for your

[2:55:37] business.

[2:55:38] >> Yeah.

[2:55:39] >> You can't have customers if they can't

[2:55:40] park either. So, um, the the the purpose

[2:55:44] of having the homebased business

[2:55:49] expanded is to allow our residents to

[2:55:52] make better, broader use of their homes

[2:55:57] in conformance with the thinking, at

[2:55:59] least we believe, that many residents

[2:56:02] have that it's proper to live and work

[2:56:07] within Hillsboro.

[2:56:09] But we don't have to provide them with additional infrastructure,

[2:56:13] at least not very much. What we need to

[2:56:16] do is get them to pay a fair share for

[2:56:18] the infrastructure that we already

[2:56:21] provide.

[2:56:23] That's consistent with the additional

[2:56:26] burden they're putting on by having

[2:56:28] employees and customers come to their

[2:56:31] home. But we don't have to provide them

[2:56:31] home.

[2:56:33] So, my understanding about the business

[2:56:34] license, the last time I asked about

[2:56:36] this, it was I think it was $50 or $49,

[2:56:40] something to that effect. I don't

[2:56:41] somebody someone quoted it the last time

[2:56:43] it came came up again. I think I am

[2:56:46] still stuck on what is the benefit to

[2:56:50] the town if the town is not designed for

[2:56:53] business. I am concerned about the

[2:56:56] negative impact in terms of I mean just

[2:57:00] full transparency I pay four different

[2:57:03] medical centers to do my consulting if

[2:57:05] you're telling me I could pay $49 and

[2:57:08] bring all my patients to my home. Well,

[2:57:10] not just me but a lot of people who

[2:57:12] would take that option. So, I'm just I I

[2:57:15] just want us to think this through in

[2:57:18] terms of the impact to the town and the

[2:57:21] potential impact on traffic and other

[2:57:24] issues. I brought up the issue of the

[2:57:25] restaurants, potential increasing fire

[2:57:28] risk and emissions. And we need we will

[2:57:32] need to have the staff to not only

[2:57:35] regulate it, but also enforce it. And do

[2:57:39] we really have the staff to do that?

[2:57:42] >> Sure. If 20% of our residents take you

[2:57:45] up on this offer, do we really have the

[2:57:47] staff to enforce this?

[2:57:48] >> So,

[2:57:50] other committee members can weigh in,

[2:57:52] but from my perspective,

[2:57:56] it's not so much what's the benefit to

[2:57:59] the town as the municipal entity. It's

[2:58:03] what's the benefit to our residents who

[2:58:07] would like to have this additional

[2:58:09] freedom in their homes. balanced against

[2:58:13] the impacts that they might have on

[2:58:16] other residents. So, it's not like we're

[2:58:19] going to make a million dollars in gross

[2:58:21] receipts tax from these homebased

[2:58:23] businesses. That's not the point. The

[2:58:25] point is to satisfy desires of an

[2:58:30] important segment of our community as

[2:58:33] we've perceived it in wanting to have

[2:58:36] more freedom carry on these activities

[2:58:41] without doing undue harm to their

[2:58:45] neighbors. And if we didn't if the town

[2:58:48] didn't make a dollar, if the town just

[2:58:51] sort of broke even, that would be okay

[2:58:55] so long as the needs of the residents

[2:58:58] are carried forward. That's the way that

[2:59:00] I've seen it. And I think that's the way

[2:59:02] that I've heard it in committee, but

[2:59:05] maybe I'll yield now to the council

[2:59:08] members on the committee.

[2:59:10] >> Yes, Council Council Member Adams.

[2:59:14] Uh I think the important thing that we

[2:59:18] worked on with this is well written in

[2:59:22] the document. The town provides a

[2:59:25] variety of services that keep that

[2:59:27] create a safe and serene setting.

[2:59:32] Okay. So the serene setting is how we're

[2:59:37] looking at the impact on people who

[2:59:40] don't have businesses in their home and

[2:59:41] don't intend to ever, but also those who

[2:59:45] would like that flexibility, but we have

[2:59:48] an ordinance that we haven't actually

[2:59:49] looked at in 26 years. So this process

[2:59:54] of asking these very same questions will

[2:59:57] help us refine it before we get to the

[2:59:59] ordinance part. Again,

[3:00:02] you mentioned restaurant. I thought we

[3:00:05] had said restaurants were prohibited

[3:00:08] because they are ongoing with lots of

[3:00:12] traffic. So, we we'll look at that. Uh

[3:00:16] we also mentioned uh people who rent out

[3:00:20] their home in our current uh ordinance.

[3:00:23] Renting your home is a business and you

[3:00:26] are required to have a business license

[3:00:29] and also pay a gross receipts tax. So

[3:00:34] putting all these things together in

[3:00:36] this process is not only looking at

[3:00:40] what's already happening in our town,

[3:00:43] some of which is destroying the serenity

[3:00:46] of neighborhoods,

[3:00:48] but some of which isn't impacting

[3:00:50] anyone. So how can we have a balance

[3:00:55] that is part of the 21st century but

[3:00:59] also does not sacrifice that serene

[3:01:02] setting and that business businesses

[3:01:05] operate in a respectful manner. I

[3:01:08] thought that was a great sentence for

[3:01:10] what we're trying to do. So,

[3:01:14] we will take all of these

[3:01:15] considerations, I think, and need to

[3:01:17] reflect again. And uh that's why we're

[3:01:21] doing it, not just for council, but for

[3:01:24] the entire town to really think through

[3:01:27] what they may have seen already

[3:01:29] happening and what they would like to

[3:01:32] have happen. But when this was

[3:01:34] instituted 25 years ago,

[3:01:38] there was an uproar that we were could

[3:01:42] have any businesses. There were no

[3:01:46] employees allowed anywhere.

[3:01:49] We've stretched that a little bit in

[3:01:51] this and I think it will help us with

[3:01:55] enforcement because we'll have clear and

[3:01:58] fair regulations.

[3:02:00] But enforcement is something that our

[3:02:03] code officer will have to work on. But

[3:02:05] neighbors will have to recognize that we

[3:02:08] can't be everywhere and they need to let

[3:02:10] us know if there's something that's

[3:02:12] disturbing that serene setting or not

[3:02:15] being respectful.

[3:02:17] >> Yeah. I think because this could

[3:02:19] potentially change the character of the

[3:02:20] town, perhaps a study session to bring

[3:02:23] in more residents to weigh in on this

[3:02:25] conversation will be helpful. is

[3:02:27] something the subcommittee could

[3:02:29] consider to open it up to a study

[3:02:31] session and more discussion. Um,

[3:02:35] words like serene sounds really

[3:02:37] beautiful and I'm just not sure once you

[3:02:42] ask people to pay for business license

[3:02:45] and you tell them you give them all

[3:02:47] these restrictions, you know, you it

[3:02:51] seems like we want to have it all. we

[3:02:52] want to have and I'm not necessarily

[3:02:55] totally opposed because like I said I I

[3:02:57] paid three or different three to four

[3:02:59] different medical centers to see my

[3:03:01] patients and if I'm given the

[3:03:03] opportunity to bring them to Hillsboro

[3:03:05] not just me but maybe many of the

[3:03:07] physicians or psychotherapists in town

[3:03:09] will take that up and say I pay 49 even

[3:03:13] $400 a year to get a permit and I'll

[3:03:16] bring in those patients to my home. So I just think we need to be very careful

[3:03:21] once we open up this potential Pandora's

[3:03:24] box. We have to be clear with ourselves

[3:03:27] and with the community. We are now open

[3:03:30] for business in town and how we get to

[3:03:33] exclude one group like to say if you

[3:03:37] have a private restaurant where you

[3:03:38] hosting four to six individuals is not

[3:03:41] the same. You you're not allowed but

[3:03:43] this other person is allowed. That could

[3:03:45] be legally tricky. Yes. Go ahead,

[3:03:47] Council Member Krollic. Oh, Leslie, go

[3:03:49] ahead. Sorry, Vice Mayor. Uh,

[3:03:53] >> so when when I when I read this and just

[3:03:55] the questions, I was thinking of paper

[3:03:58] pushing business activities just like

[3:04:00] the the consultant that know we have all

[3:04:03] over town. They're taking phone calls

[3:04:05] and they're on Zoom. But when you

[3:04:07] started, and I'm glad you did, it didn't

[3:04:09] even occur to me that we were going to

[3:04:11] open the door to allow businesses that

[3:04:14] have customers coming and going. I mean,

[3:04:16] I I I I don't think we should even open

[3:04:19] that door. And to have a study session

[3:04:21] that that's a possibility, I think is

[3:04:23] opening a Pandora's box. So, a

[3:04:26] restaurant or a medical office or a

[3:04:29] therapist where people are coming and

[3:04:31] going, I I to me, I just don't see us

[3:04:37] entertaining that. To me, that really

[3:04:39] would change the character of the town.

[3:04:41] And I didn't read this to that that that

[3:04:45] was the sort of business that was being

[3:04:47] entertained, but I have to ask the

[3:04:49] subcommittee what you were thinking.

[3:04:52] >> Um, so I'll speak for myself. I I love

[3:04:56] our subcommittee. Um, but I can't

[3:04:58] completely speak for everybody because

[3:05:00] some things we haven't talked about. But

[3:05:02] um in my view,

[3:05:05] we're talking about um codifying

[3:05:09] basically what's happening right in town

[3:05:12] except for the fact that these

[3:05:14] businesses aren't registered and people

[3:05:16] aren't paying the grocery receipts tax.

[3:05:18] But to me, ideally, it still looks the

[3:05:22] same, still looks residential. people

[3:05:25] are doing their consulting calls, um,

[3:05:28] making their crafts, selling them on

[3:05:30] eBay, leaving their house to go mail

[3:05:33] them at the post office. So, ideally, it

[3:05:36] will be this the serene environment that

[3:05:39] we're used to. Um,

[3:05:43] I would say I know it's this is going to

[3:05:45] be the trickiest thing. Well, maybe not

[3:05:46] the trickiest, but tricky to um define

[3:05:51] substantial business activity.

[3:05:54] You know, we need to try um it's kind of

[3:05:57] I know it when I see it. Um but um you

[3:06:02] know, unusual traffic and parking

[3:06:04] impacts um noise. We h we have our noise

[3:06:09] ordinance, so not as worried about that.

[3:06:11] But you if there is a lot of coming and

[3:06:13] going then that's not looking like a

[3:06:15] serene residential environment if

[3:06:17] there's a if there's a lot of coming and

[3:06:18] going. Um so and I wanted to um

[3:06:25] uh let's see.

[3:06:29] Yeah. Um I wanted to just to have you

[3:06:31] Mark because you had mentioned in our um

[3:06:33] subcommittee and also you referenced

[3:06:36] Foster City in you know in particular

[3:06:38] but can you just uh let us know what um

[3:06:42] other towns have? It doesn't have to be

[3:06:44] the exact numbers or anything, but other

[3:06:46] towns do also have a home business

[3:06:49] regulation and gross receipt tax. So,

[3:06:51] we're not

[3:06:52] >> Yeah.

[3:06:52] >> We're looking to join them, not to be

[3:06:55] unusual.

[3:06:56] >> Yeah. So, in some locations that I've

[3:06:58] had to look at for clients,

[3:07:01] they'll have

[3:07:04] kind of a threshold license.

[3:07:08] one employee working out of your home,

[3:07:12] you pay a flat fee. You don't pay any

[3:07:14] gross receipts tax. That's not uncommon.

[3:07:18] Um, and it could be something that that would be the way the council would

[3:07:23] want to handle it here. Um, in other

[3:07:27] locations,

[3:07:30] no matter what kind of business you

[3:07:31] have, you have to pay although you

[3:07:35] oftentimes get to thresholds and stop.

[3:07:39] So the maximum would be X. Um so that no

[3:07:44] business is carrying more than its fair

[3:07:48] share just because it

[3:07:51] has a lot of sales and gross receipts

[3:07:55] that are generated outside the town but

[3:07:57] happen to be the home office is located

[3:08:00] in one one particular area. I've got one

[3:08:03] client in Foster City. They have maybe

[3:08:08] three or four individual offices on a

[3:08:10] tower in one of the office buildings

[3:08:13] there and they sell nearly a billion

[3:08:15] dollars worth of computer equipment

[3:08:18] worldwide. Well, if you applied the

[3:08:20] gross receipts tax to all of that,

[3:08:23] city's budget would be in a lot better

[3:08:24] shape. Um so it's different in each

[3:08:29] local

[3:08:30] and the kinds of services then that are

[3:08:33] provided are different because there are

[3:08:35] business districts in Berling game for

[3:08:38] example where

[3:08:41] a strong percentage of the services are

[3:08:44] business related of one kind or another

[3:08:48] quite distinct from the services that

[3:08:50] are provided in the residential

[3:08:52] sections. here. It's so homogeneous that

[3:08:55] you couldn't say that. So, it's just

[3:08:58] it's different from one city to the

[3:09:00] next.

[3:09:01] >> But, but other ones do have um home

[3:09:04] business regulations as well.

[3:09:07] >> That That's right.

[3:09:08] >> Thank you, Mayor.

[3:09:10] >> Yes, Council Bunk. I

[3:09:12] >> I I think that, you know, uh I

[3:09:14] understand the concept of the home

[3:09:15] business or the regulations that we want

[3:09:17] to provide. I think that it's really

[3:09:20] similar to having schools and having any

[3:09:23] kind of entities that when you have the

[3:09:26] sort of the impact on the public, right,

[3:09:30] by neighbors, by the roads that they

[3:09:34] travel, by the emergency service they

[3:09:37] may utilize. I mean it at the end of the

[3:09:40] day

[3:09:41] we are a bedroom community and so the sort of my take on the home business

[3:09:49] and the register or the uh regulation of

[3:09:52] it is more from the public impact. If

[3:09:55] it's going to impact the public, to what

[3:09:57] extent to what extent do do the police

[3:10:01] need to reinforce the speeding drivers?

[3:10:03] To what extent do the public were have

[3:10:06] to maintain the road? You know, to what

[3:10:08] extent would the neighbors be impacted

[3:10:11] with the traffic or the noise or

[3:10:13] whatnot? I think from that perspectives,

[3:10:15] it's not so much that we're interested

[3:10:17] in getting

[3:10:19] more in our budget for those revenues

[3:10:23] that we collect. We're not in the

[3:10:25] business of making money. We're really

[3:10:27] just passing through our services and

[3:10:29] making sure that the services up to the

[3:10:32] pars for protecting and serving our

[3:10:34] community. And so by that notion when

[3:10:38] we're looking at those business, we're

[3:10:40] looking at the homeowners or the the

[3:10:42] tenants or whatnot

[3:10:45] the honor system of providing their

[3:10:47] gross receipt and unless it raised of

[3:10:51] some concerns, we're not going to check

[3:10:54] on them for that matters. But really

[3:10:56] just on the perspective of the public

[3:10:59] impact that I think that we're looking

[3:11:01] at.

[3:11:04] >> Yes.

[3:11:05] Council member Adams. Yes.

[3:11:06] >> Thank you, Madam Mayor. And just most

[3:11:10] people who are doing this uh and there

[3:11:13] are a lot of people who are having home

[3:11:15] businesses are taking a tax deduction

[3:11:18] for the space within the home. And so

[3:11:21] they have acknowledged that this is a

[3:11:23] dedicated business. But I think council

[3:11:26] member Schwang is exactly right. It's

[3:11:28] the impact that we're looking at. Um,

[3:11:33] many streets in Hillsboro are

[3:11:36] substandard streets. Many don't even

[3:11:38] have parking uh strips.

[3:11:41] So, parking, noise, traffic are things

[3:11:45] that we've always looked at, but we need

[3:11:49] to look at it and that's how we will

[3:11:52] regulate this

[3:11:55] to continue. Uh but I think we need to

[3:11:58] recognize that we have to do something

[3:12:02] because this is happening in more places

[3:12:06] than we expected. But also some are

[3:12:10] quite exaggerated in what they have

[3:12:13] attempted to do. So in order to be fair,

[3:12:16] we need to have clear regulations that

[3:12:19] are well understood and are actually uh

[3:12:23] we educate the public with our

[3:12:25] intentions.

[3:12:27] >> So what I what I just um heard was

[3:12:31] enforce some of the current ordinance on

[3:12:36] parking, traffic, noise,

[3:12:39] fire risk emissions. All of these

[3:12:41] currently exist in our ordinance. Right?

[3:12:43] that that's one option would be to

[3:12:45] enforce what's already in the ordinance

[3:12:47] and find ways to enforce it more

[3:12:48] strictly so that we don't impact our

[3:12:50] neighbors. What I read, however, were

[3:12:54] exceptions now to bring to allow to

[3:12:57] legitimately legalize the process for

[3:13:00] residents to do business out of their

[3:13:03] home and those businesses could

[3:13:05] potentially impact their neighbors in

[3:13:08] terms of parking, traffic, etc. I think

[3:13:11] more clarity maybe I think council

[3:13:14] member Crowley maybe maybe is probably

[3:13:16] right maybe we don't want to open it up

[3:13:17] to study session at this point but maybe

[3:13:19] we just need more discussion along those

[3:13:21] lines. Yeah.

[3:13:22] >> So two things that I hear that probably

[3:13:25] need more discussion in committee. One,

[3:13:28] are there certain classifications of

[3:13:31] businesses which we should not allow

[3:13:34] like a restaurant? And two,

[3:13:38] are we not comfortable

[3:13:41] with having customers, clients, patients

[3:13:45] come to the residence, an employee or

[3:13:48] two, okay? But not having

[3:13:51] uh

[3:13:53] other people come. So those are things

[3:13:55] that maybe need some further discussion

[3:13:57] in our committee having another study

[3:14:00] session. I don't know how much public

[3:14:02] comment we have outside of the council,

[3:14:06] but I don't think we're getting that

[3:14:08] much feedback. And when we do get it,

[3:14:10] it's pretty targeted on what one

[3:14:13] particular resident is is concerned

[3:14:15] about. Uh so maybe one more turn with

[3:14:20] our committee. Uh, and then and we may

[3:14:23] or may not be ready to bring you back a

[3:14:25] draft ordinance for

[3:14:26] >> Well, I think this is such an important

[3:14:27] subject for the town that at some point

[3:14:30] if we don't feel like the residents are

[3:14:32] hearing this conversation, we must bring

[3:14:33] it to them and be as transparent as

[3:14:35] possible. Um, but um, thank you and and

[3:14:39] I know it's not easy to address this, so

[3:14:41] I really appreciate the work you and the

[3:14:44] subcommittee have done on it. Thank you

[3:14:46] very much.

[3:14:47] >> Mayor Cole, would you like to open

[3:14:48] public comments?

[3:14:49] >> Yes.

[3:14:49] >> Thank you. If I may, I'll share that as

[3:14:52] I did with the November study session on

[3:14:54] this topic, I did uh contact the 20 this

[3:14:58] time 29 U um permit holders of homebased

[3:15:02] business permit holders to notify them

[3:15:04] of this item uh on the agenda this

[3:15:07] evening. So, just wanted to announce

[3:15:09] that.

[3:15:09] >> Thanks for letting us know that.

[3:15:10] >> Uh Dan Kapont, I'm sorry. I I'll just

[3:15:14] ask if there's any members of the public

[3:15:15] who wanted to speak first

[3:15:18] and if so uh raise your hand.

[3:15:24] I'm sorry I mentioned Mr. Mr. Kapon

[3:15:26] because we had spoken earlier. So if he

[3:15:28] doesn't want to speak then okay that's fine.

[3:15:32] >> All right. No worries Dan. Thank you.

[3:15:35] >> Okay. Um

[3:15:40] I I I believe we've given enough

[3:15:42] directives on this subject to come back.

[3:15:44] Okay.

[3:15:46] >> Through the mayor. Um I I love the the

[3:15:50] summary that um Mark had. The only thing

[3:15:52] I'd add is something that we could talk

[3:15:54] about is the um minimum threshold and

[3:15:57] possible maximum gross receipt tax. I I

[3:16:01] think that was a that was a good point.

[3:16:08] I'm sorry. Are you asking that we

[3:16:09] discuss that now or bring it back for

[3:16:11] further discussion?

[3:16:13] >> Bring it back. Something the committee

[3:16:14] should talk about.

[3:16:15] >> Oh. Oh, I see.

[3:16:16] >> To bring to bring back after we talk

[3:16:17] about

[3:16:18] >> Okay. Thank you.

[3:16:20] >> Okay. I've got all my notes.

[3:16:22] >> Thanks everybody. It's really helpful

[3:16:25] and and I know on the committee and

[3:16:28] again w with the council everybody

[3:16:30] appreciates that this is

[3:16:33] a difference in how we're thinking about

[3:16:36] the town. You know, back when I started

[3:16:38] working with the town back in 1985, if

[3:16:41] somebody said you could do some business

[3:16:43] in the town, the residents I don't think

[3:16:46] would have stood for it. Look, times

[3:16:49] have changed. Our residents have changed

[3:16:52] and uh it's still something that's

[3:16:55] difficult to wrestle with and it takes

[3:16:57] time so that we don't enact something

[3:17:00] and look back and people say, "What the

[3:17:02] heck were they thinking?"

[3:17:04] >> Well, that's why we're all trying to get

[3:17:06] it right. So, thank you for your

[3:17:08] feedback.

[3:17:08] >> Thank you. Thank you.

[3:17:11] >> Okay. Um moving on to city council

[3:17:14] items. Um do I I will go last. Do any of

[3:17:19] my colleagues have uh city council items

[3:17:22] to report on? Starting with council

[3:17:23] member items.

[3:17:27] » Thank you. This is not my slide, but

[3:17:31] >> is this another Are we being Oh, there

[3:17:36] we go. Um, so this is reporting on last

[3:17:40] month's next slide.

[3:17:43] and giving you a preview of uh we're

[3:17:46] coming up on Earth Day as Shorewood

[3:17:49] Environmental Center in St. Carlos uh

[3:17:51] will be the site of the Rethink waste

[3:17:54] celebration of Earth Day facility tours

[3:17:58] uh planting at plants and uh compost

[3:18:02] giveaway and raffle prizes. I really

[3:18:04] want uh the community to come on

[3:18:07] Saturday, April 19th.

[3:18:11] Uh telecommunications is moving along.

[3:18:14] Uh an RFP has been responded to. So

[3:18:17] vendor selection is in process. Thank

[3:18:20] you to uh our assistant uh city manager

[3:18:26] and uh we're excited to see what comes

[3:18:30] out of that plan. Next,

[3:18:34] undergrounding utilities. The initial

[3:18:36] analysis is complete from an engineering

[3:18:38] firm. Uh we will be meeting this week to

[3:18:41] discuss next steps and how to present

[3:18:44] those results to the community. Again,

[3:18:48] thank you assistant city manager.

[3:18:51] Next slide. Uh Hillsboro Hillsboro

[3:18:54] Beautification Foundation, as you heard

[3:18:57] earlier, Celebrate May tickets are on

[3:18:59] sale. You can buy them now. And if you

[3:19:01] don't want to go to the Hillsboro

[3:19:03] Beautification Foundation website, you

[3:19:05] can also find the information in the

[3:19:07] town e newswsletter.

[3:19:10] Next,

[3:19:12] leadership council San Mateo. Uh I was

[3:19:16] put through my paces again for a full

[3:19:17] day at Franklin Templeton campus on the

[3:19:21] social dimensions of health and this was

[3:19:24] a housing uh discussion

[3:19:27] uh where we all

[3:19:29] as you can see stood up and did things.

[3:19:32] Uh next

[3:19:35] uh Tobin Clark ad hoc committee

[3:19:37] continues to meet. uh a draft is being

[3:19:39] uh developed

[3:19:41] uh going forward next

[3:19:45] and uh an alert to everyone that this is

[3:19:48] the month the probably the last month to

[3:19:51] deal with Scotch broom. Uh this is

[3:19:54] something that uh firewise at uh David

[3:19:57] Weisberg and I have talked about at this

[3:20:00] moment you can easily rid your property

[3:20:04] of scotch broom only in February and

[3:20:07] March. After that this very highly

[3:20:10] invasive and highly flammable plant is

[3:20:14] not able to be removed so easily. And uh

[3:20:17] we have a little video of how easy that

[3:20:20] is. Let's see how technology this will

[3:20:22] be the second appearance uh by former

[3:20:26] mayor uh Chick Adams. He is

[3:20:30] demonstrating here that at this time of

[3:20:32] year

[3:20:35] they just pull right out.

[3:20:37] And some may be a little bit harder,

[3:20:41] but you can still just pull them right

[3:20:43] out. Highly flammable, very invasive.

[3:20:47] those yellow flowers uh spread this

[3:20:50] plant all over our town and make it much

[3:20:53] more dangerous in fire. And that's it.

[3:20:56] Thank you.

[3:20:57] >> Thank you and thanks for that

[3:20:59] demonstration on how to remove this

[3:21:01] scotch. Appreciate that. Yeah, council

[3:21:04] member Schwang.

[3:21:07] >> Thank you. Um I attended the SAM

[3:21:10] Transport meeting, the one shoreline

[3:21:12] board meetings um and also sir training.

[3:21:16] Um so just highlight that Samr um just

[3:21:20] started the AI dash cam to enhance

[3:21:24] safety across Samran bus fleet. So I

[3:21:28] thought that that was uh very

[3:21:30] interesting to apply the technology to

[3:21:32] keep our drivers and operators safe and

[3:21:35] also the customers the writers. Um and

[3:21:38] this is international women's day and I

[3:21:41] do want to highlight that uh there are a

[3:21:44] lot of competent excellent women in the

[3:21:49] transportation um the CEO is trans you

[3:21:52] know of of uh the CEO of SAMR and um the

[3:21:58] uh executive director of Calrains um and

[3:22:02] u I do believe that MUN in San Francisco

[3:22:05] is also female executive director. So,

[3:22:08] just want to um highlight that. Um the

[3:22:12] other one is that um I I attended the

[3:22:15] council of cities in San Carlos and they

[3:22:19] um really uh uh presented about their

[3:22:23] excellent child care programs. They

[3:22:26] actually collected about they well they

[3:22:29] act the council actually not only

[3:22:31] streamline the child care application uh

[3:22:36] for the centers to set up but they also

[3:22:38] set aside $1 million impact fee from the

[3:22:41] impact fee to provide grants for

[3:22:44] nonprofit and profit um childcare

[3:22:47] programs. One of the interesting notion

[3:22:50] is that uh many of the schools uh

[3:22:52] district now offer um transitional

[3:22:56] kindergarten and that push the child

[3:23:00] care age to a younger age group four and

[3:23:04] four uh infant to four and that makes

[3:23:08] that requires different uh state mandate

[3:23:12] on the setup and so it push a lot of uh

[3:23:16] child care out of business because they

[3:23:19] just don't have the client that

[3:23:21] originally set up for. So, I thought

[3:23:23] that was uh very interesting to

[3:23:25] highlight. Um the SER training programs

[3:23:29] uh we just well CCFD and the SER

[3:23:32] instructor just finished up um one um

[3:23:36] and had a really uh great

[3:23:40] graduation and skill days and we have

[3:23:43] about seven those were residents who

[3:23:45] took the class. The next one that is

[3:23:48] going to start in mid-March will be in

[3:23:50] Mandarin Chinese instructions. Please

[3:23:53] share with your friends and network to

[3:23:55] see if there are people who are

[3:23:57] interested in signing up. Um a lot of uh

[3:24:01] past uh graduate have uh you know voiced

[3:24:04] that um the compliment of learning that

[3:24:07] in their um mother tongue the Chinese

[3:24:12] instruction was very helpful. So

[3:24:13] hopefully we'll have another successful

[3:24:16] session.

[3:24:17] So that's about it.

[3:24:18] >> Thank you, Council Member Trunk. Yes,

[3:24:20] Council Member Crowley. Thank you,

[3:24:22] Madame Mayor. Um so parade planning is

[3:24:25] underway. Um so please mark your

[3:24:27] calendars for um May 25th, Memorial Day.

[3:24:31] Um, and I want want to thank um the HPD,

[3:24:36] thank you and CCFD center truck and the

[3:24:39] mayor and William for welcoming our

[3:24:41] Japanese exchange students today um from

[3:24:44] our Rotary Club in uh Edagawa, Tokyo,

[3:24:48] Japan. Um, and I also want to thank

[3:24:51] Council Member Adams who's going to be

[3:24:52] covering for me on April 1st for the San

[3:24:54] Francisco airport roundtable. Thank you

[3:24:56] very much. And I'm planning to go to Fun

[3:24:59] Run on May 3rd. I didn't go last year,

[3:25:02] so if anybody else wants to come, we

[3:25:04] could, you know, we could get up early

[3:25:06] and we could all kind of do it together.

[3:25:08] It' be kind of fun. I walk it. I don't

[3:25:10] run it. Um, and that's it for me. Thank

[3:25:12] you.

[3:25:12] >> Thank you, Council Member Kley. Um, Vice

[3:25:15] Mayor Ragdale.

[3:25:17] >> Thank you. Um, I've got a little

[3:25:19] presentation, but I'm so glad um,

[3:25:21] Council Member Schwang that you went to

[3:25:23] the child care one because I was sad to

[3:25:24] miss that. I was out of town. And, um, I

[3:25:27] will walk the, uh, the fun run with you.

[3:25:29] So, Yes. Um Okay. So, what have I been doing?

[3:25:39] Talking about ebikes all the time. Uh

[3:25:42] talking to various people about ebikes

[3:25:44] and having opinions on ebikes. Um our

[3:25:47] ordinance committee, we just talked

[3:25:50] about that tonight. Uh the mayor and

[3:25:53] city manager and I went to a talk on

[3:25:55] vehicle license fee and the lack thereof

[3:25:58] and what that means for all of our

[3:26:00] finances. That was sobering. Um the

[3:26:04] volunteer party was fantastic and thank

[3:26:06] you to staff and to the Krix for

[3:26:09] seamlessly hosting and also for um

[3:26:12] everyone being so nice. I brought my

[3:26:13] friend and uh she she had a great time.

[3:26:17] Um so I really appreciate that. Um, I'm

[3:26:20] not sure, Christopher, you might know if

[3:26:22] we all have to do this. Um, I think we

[3:26:24] do SB827,

[3:26:26] financial training, we have to do every

[3:26:28] two years. I was able to get it free

[3:26:31] webinar, but I think it's for everybody.

[3:26:34] >> Correct. So, anybody who does ethics

[3:26:35] training and you're in the cycle, just

[3:26:37] get it completed before the next two

[3:26:39] years are up. Um, and I think this is

[3:26:41] your current year for ethics. Um so yes

[3:26:44] but yes all of everybody in essence all

[3:26:47] elected appointed officials.

[3:26:49] >> So if you get a chance to do it for free

[3:26:51] from your various um boards go ahead and

[3:26:54] do it. Um felt very well prepared from Jan and Rich. I'm like I I know

[3:27:01] the financial training. It's a it's a

[3:27:04] new brand new requirement. Oh,

[3:27:06] >> to add. So, we do the ethics, we do the

[3:27:09] learning about sexual harassment, and

[3:27:10] now they've added financial training

[3:27:13] every two years. Um, so I just went

[3:27:15] ahead and got it done because it was

[3:27:17] free and I already know so much from our

[3:27:20] staff. Um, okay, next slide.

[3:27:23] Um, PCE, I am now vice chair of the

[3:27:26] board. So, very exciting. Um, we had,

[3:27:30] this was a great night. Um, we had

[3:27:34] talked about our community advisory

[3:27:36] committee. We sunseted

[3:27:38] um to open it up to hear from everybody

[3:27:41] and not just the early adopters that

[3:27:43] tend to be the this community advisory

[3:27:45] committee. They were amazing and a lot

[3:27:48] of them came to this event, but it was

[3:27:50] in Half Moon Bay and there were um I

[3:27:54] think 70 people total somewhere online.

[3:27:58] Um, and they introduced PCE and then did

[3:28:02] a deep dive into solar and battery

[3:28:04] storage and then broke out broke into a

[3:28:07] lot of subgroups and talked about um

[3:28:11] solar and battery solar and battery

[3:28:13] storage for um on your house or portable

[3:28:18] for renters and divided up into the

[3:28:20] groups and people really seem to feel

[3:28:22] heard and the staff took it in and it

[3:28:25] was a great success. So there will be

[3:28:27] more. The next one will be in May. Um,

[3:28:30] Bosa, we had our board policy committee

[3:28:33] that's every other month and then the

[3:28:34] board meets every other month. Um, the

[3:28:38] big news from Hillsboro Recre is another

[3:28:41] title for Dr. Mayor Commissioner Cole is

[3:28:45] also the chair of Hre and right then and

[3:28:50] there then then she handles a meeting

[3:28:52] right after that happens and she did

[3:28:53] obviously a fantastic job. Uh, next

[3:28:56] slide. Um, this is just a picture from

[3:28:59] the community feedback forum. Next

[3:29:01] slide. Oh, commute.org. This guy, he's

[3:29:05] worked for commute.org for 25 years.

[3:29:10] Uh, Richard Fontella, he was uh honored

[3:29:12] at our our last board meeting. I just

[3:29:15] thought that was so impressive. He's

[3:29:17] basically been there almost the entire

[3:29:18] time commute.org has been in existence.

[3:29:21] And he looks so young. So they must be

[3:29:25] um they must treat the employees well

[3:29:27] there and I believe that's my last

[3:29:29] slide.

[3:29:30] >> Yeah. Thank you.

[3:29:31] >> Um thank you. Um thanks to all my

[3:29:34] colleagues for the hard work um

[3:29:36] throughout the months. Um I just to echo

[3:29:39] the town volunteer party. We are

[3:29:42] codifying that experience or at least

[3:29:44] formalizing it. And I really want to

[3:29:45] thank um Council Member Krollik and her

[3:29:49] husband Jeff Krick for hosting it at

[3:29:52] their home. Hopefully going forward

[3:29:54] we'll use some town property in the

[3:29:56] future. That's the hope and we can have

[3:29:58] it in the fall. But we did present a key

[3:30:02] to the town uh two keys actually, one

[3:30:05] for Kitty Mulli and Paul Rean. So we

[3:30:09] told them they have backup key. If

[3:30:10] anyone can get in, they can help each

[3:30:12] other get back in. So, we're very

[3:30:14] honored to have had their service over

[3:30:16] the many decades. Um, so I will use my

[3:30:20] time, not much else to report. My

[3:30:22] colleagues have reported on similar

[3:30:24] committees we attended, but I'm going to

[3:30:26] use my time to um just take a moment to

[3:30:28] reflect on someone whom we love very

[3:30:31] much and our beloved Dina Gunnin who we

[3:30:34] lost a few weeks ago. I just love this

[3:30:37] photo. to me just captures everything we

[3:30:40] love about dinner. And in reflecting

[3:30:43] about her, I've been emotionally quite

[3:30:46] sad and distracted um hearing her sudden

[3:30:50] pass uh a few weeks ago. Um so Dina was

[3:30:54] actually born in Hollywood, California.

[3:30:56] And when I think when I saw that I said,

[3:30:58] "Ah, that explains a lot." She has a

[3:31:01] certain professional flamboyancy about

[3:31:04] her. and you know, she she's got her

[3:31:06] hands in there doing the hard work, but

[3:31:08] she just carries such grace about her in

[3:31:11] just about everything she does. And I

[3:31:14] have it has been my honor actually to

[3:31:16] have known her and worked with her on

[3:31:19] several emergency preparedness for our

[3:31:22] communities um as well as at CCFD. She's

[3:31:26] very generous, always thoughtful, always

[3:31:29] dedicated in serving the community, and

[3:31:32] she always had a smile, and she was

[3:31:34] always filled with such boundless

[3:31:36] energy. And um

[3:31:39] when I reflect on the time I've known

[3:31:42] Dana in the conversations we've had on

[3:31:44] community service, she no matter what

[3:31:47] the subject is, she will find a way to

[3:31:50] get it done. She's a can do kind of

[3:31:52] person. She was a can do kind of person

[3:31:54] and she um she really inspired me in

[3:31:58] sort of a very basic way and I really

[3:32:00] will miss her dearly and um my thoughts

[3:32:03] have been with her and her especially

[3:32:05] with her family over the past couple of

[3:32:08] weeks. So I would love I would like to

[3:32:11] close this um this meeting in in memory

[3:32:15] of of Dena unless any of my colleagues

[3:32:18] would like to add to anything I've

[3:32:19] stated.

[3:32:22] Yes,

[3:32:26] council member Chuang. Um I I work

[3:32:29] closely with uh Gina on many of the sir

[3:32:32] trainings and um certainly she has a big

[3:32:36] heart and and absolutely everything that

[3:32:38] the mayor Cole had mentioned her

[3:32:41] personality about her can do uh you know

[3:32:46] attitudes and he she really has a deep

[3:32:50] uh convictions and and and passion about

[3:32:54] emergency preparedness and um she really

[3:32:58] just uh it's contagious um to to be able

[3:33:01] to uh get inspired uh for the work that

[3:33:05] she's done and also to be engaged in the

[3:33:09] um the daunting task of emergency

[3:33:11] preparedness at sometimes. So um she

[3:33:14] will be dearly missed and um certainly

[3:33:18] um at the last the week that she passed

[3:33:22] we we still have the s training going

[3:33:25] and so cause Chiao is the uh is the sir

[3:33:30] coordinator for central county fire and

[3:33:33] he led the class all the instructors and

[3:33:36] the volunteers came for to support him

[3:33:40] and the class and everyone everyone's

[3:33:43] day for the entire class. I had a

[3:33:45] picture of that and it was just really

[3:33:49] um heartwarming to know that the spirit

[3:33:52] of Dena was with us and that everyone

[3:33:55] wants to make sure that this sir

[3:33:57] training course gone through smoothly

[3:33:59] for all the participants and in memory

[3:34:02] of her. So it was it was lovely.

[3:34:05] >> Yeah. Council member Adams, did you want

[3:34:08] to make a statement? I I I could go to B

[3:34:13] >> Why don't you go next?

[3:34:14] >> Yeah.

[3:34:15] >> Um

[3:34:17] this is really hard to think of Dena in

[3:34:18] the past tense. I think we're all

[3:34:20] feeling that. Um she had such a presence

[3:34:24] and I think that however well you knew

[3:34:27] her, you really felt like you knew her.

[3:34:31] uh she was so relatable, so natural, and

[3:34:34] that made coming to something like a a

[3:34:37] Cert class um doable because it's it's a

[3:34:41] daunting thing to go to your first one.

[3:34:43] and she just made everyone feel at home.

[3:34:46] And uh you can see the um I know there's

[3:34:50] a GoFundMe and you can see the there's

[3:34:52] people from you know Berlingame,

[3:34:54] Milbury, Hillsboro, other family friends

[3:34:57] um all donating and we we all kind of

[3:35:00] feel like she was ours and she she's

[3:35:05] served our greater community and um and

[3:35:08] her family helped as well. sometimes

[3:35:10] they they would come to um cert events

[3:35:13] or other events and um just such a huge loss.

[3:35:19] >> Thank you for those comments.

[3:35:21] >> I'm ready now. Um I have to read this

[3:35:23] because uh this is an emotional thing

[3:35:25] for I think anyone who knew her and for

[3:35:28] all of us now. But I had written to

[3:35:30] cause because I felt that his uh tribute

[3:35:34] to her was so heartfelt and he's a great

[3:35:37] leader himself.

[3:35:39] Um, but this is what I said of Dena. She

[3:35:42] was quiet and confident leader. She was

[3:35:45] kind, organized, wellspoken, and smart.

[3:35:49] Plus, she was warm and funny. She handed

[3:35:53] me some Valentine sweethearts at our H&N

[3:35:56] meeting the week before she died. It was

[3:35:59] a thoughtful and sweet gesture that

[3:36:02] typified her unique combination of

[3:36:04] professionalism and humanity.

[3:36:08] This is a terrible loss for her family,

[3:36:10] but also for our community. We were very

[3:36:13] lucky to have her helping us for several

[3:36:16] decades to be better prepared to weather

[3:36:18] emergencies and to be better people.

[3:36:22] That legacy will continue for decades

[3:36:25] more and touch many more lives as we

[3:36:28] honor her through our own actions.

[3:36:33] >> Thank you for that for those comments.

[3:36:35] Yes. Um, yes, Council Member Kruik.

[3:36:38] >> Very well well said. Um, just our hearts

[3:36:40] are with Dena's family and with her

[3:36:43] friends and with her colleagues at CCFD

[3:36:45] because they really are a family and um,

[3:36:49] she was irreplaceable.

[3:36:52] >> Thank you. And with that, we will close

[3:36:55] in love and memory of our dear friend

[3:36:56] Dana Gunning.

City Council Meeting March 9. 2026

Transcript