[0:04] Thanks for being patient with us. Uh,

[0:06] we'll call the town council meeting of

[0:08] January 13th, 2026 to order. Jennifer,

[0:12] will you take role?

[0:14] >> Council member Alberish

[0:15] >> here.

[0:15] >> Council member Brown

[0:16] >> here.

[0:17] >> Council member Gold

[0:18] >> here.

[0:18] >> Council member Walt

[0:19] >> here. Mayor Donowski

[0:21] >> here. Mortm Gold, will you lead us in

[0:23] the pledge of allegiance?

[0:44] Okay, very good. Uh, we'll move right

[0:47] into public comments. Wishing to address

[0:50] the council on any matter not on the

[0:52] posted agenda are invited to do so.

[0:54] Please note, however, that the council

[0:56] cannot undertake extended discussions or

[0:58] act on non-aggendaized items. Such items

[0:59] can be referred to staff for an

[1:01] appropriate action in the future or

[1:02] placed on a future agenda. Are there any

[1:05] members of the public that would like to

[1:06] make a comment on any matter that's not

[1:09] on the agenda this evening?

[1:12] >> Pull up Zoom. One second here.

[1:18] » I didn't know you had coffee. Coffee is

[1:20] uh whatever it takes to get you here, we

[1:23] will we'll we'll we'll do. I I see no

[1:26] public uh comment beyond the coffee. Uh

[1:28] we will uh close public comment. Moving

[1:31] right along. Uh we have a presentation

[1:33] from Yip Housing. Hi.

[1:35] >> Hi there.

[1:36] >> Welcome.

[1:37] Uh my name is Troy Wilson. I'm

[1:39] here tonight to make a brief

[1:40] presentation. Um and I'm the fund

[1:43] development director of Hip Housing. And

[1:45] so um want to share something

[1:47] encouraging tonight. uh hopefully

[1:49] encourages everyone, lifts everyone up.

[1:51] Um since 1972, HIP Housing has been

[1:54] helping lowincome San Monteo County

[1:57] residents to find and maintain

[2:00] affordable housing. And we're listed in

[2:02] all 21 housing elements in Sonteo

[2:06] County, including yours. uh as a trusted

[2:09] affordable housing partner. Um last year

[2:11] we worked with uh over 4,000 individuals

[2:15] and provided housing to over,200

[2:17] lowincome households throughout the

[2:20] entire county. Um a quick update here on

[2:23] our 2425 fiscal year. 456 individuals

[2:28] applied to our home sharing program. Uh

[2:32] 141 individuals enrolled in our

[2:34] self-suffic self-sufficiency program.

[2:38] 700 tenants were housed in our property

[2:40] management program and 153 individuals

[2:44] received assistance through our home

[2:47] readiness program. Uh on behalf of Hip

[2:50] Housing, I would like to uh thank the

[2:52] honorable mayor and the members of city

[2:55] council here. I've given you uh each a

[2:57] calendar and um

[3:00] uh it is it is of our enduring your

[3:03] enduring support of our organization

[3:04] that we uh exist and continue to do the

[3:06] great services that we provide. And uh

[3:09] this is why I'm here tonight, just to

[3:11] show you a calendar. And um each year,

[3:14] Hip Housing asks children from around

[3:16] the county in grades kindergarten

[3:17] through fifth grade uh to draw a picture

[3:21] of home and as well as give a quote

[3:23] about what home means to them. Um and so

[3:27] it tells tells us what home means to

[3:29] them. Um and this year we had had over

[3:32] 120 calendar entries and from these

[3:34] entries we selected 14 winners. uh one

[3:37] for our front cover, one for our annual

[3:39] appeal uh presentation, and then the 12

[3:42] months of the year. Um my favorite is

[3:45] the front cover that that you see there.

[3:48] Uh it was it was our first place winner

[3:50] of our calendar contest by a third

[3:52] grader uh from Hillsboro and her quote

[3:55] is uh what my home means to me is being

[3:58] loved and cared for. My home is a safe

[4:02] place.

[4:04] So, we hope that you enjoy the calendar

[4:05] and that it serves as a beautiful

[4:07] reminder throughout the year of how

[4:10] important housing is to everyone in our

[4:12] county, especially our children. Uh,

[4:15] more information about our uh, hip

[4:18] housing programs and our calendar

[4:19] contest and even more can be found on

[4:22] our website uh, hiphousing.org. Thank

[4:24] you.

[4:25] >> Thank you, Troy. Are there any questions

[4:28] for Troy?

[4:30] Seeing none, we'll thank you for your

[4:32] wonderful work on behalf of the

[4:33] community and for being here to share

[4:35] these touching and lovely calendars and

[4:38] u for all the vital work you do in

[4:39] serving the community. We really

[4:40] appreciate it.

[4:41] >> Thank you.

[4:45] And we have uh

[4:49] a double show tonight. We have the

[4:51] library annual report as well. So,

[4:52] welcome.

[4:57] » Thank you. Good evening everyone. and

[4:59] Mayor Donowski, town council members,

[5:01] and town staff. My name is Carmen Latona

[5:04] Adams, and I'm the community library

[5:05] manager for the Woodside Library. And

[5:08] I'm pleased to share the fiscal year

[5:11] 2024 2025 annual report, uh, which I

[5:15] believe is also shared with you guys in

[5:16] advance. And thank you, Jennifer, for

[5:19] advancing the slides. So, first

[5:21] established as a county free library in

[5:23] 1912, the library joint powers authority

[5:26] was formed in 1999. Our service area is

[5:29] 351 square miles made up of 11 member

[5:32] cities and unincorporated areas of the

[5:34] county. Each of our 13 libraries is part

[5:36] of a larger system offering countless

[5:38] opportunities for connection and

[5:40] exploration. We curate our offerings to

[5:42] meet the needs and interests of our

[5:44] community to help them thrive.

[5:48] And uh this year we rolled out our new

[5:51] five-year strategic plan. Our new plan

[5:54] grounds us in our shared goals to

[5:55] listen, connect, discover, and engage.

[5:58] As we put our new vision, mission, and

[6:00] goals into action, we know our continued

[6:02] success depends on the insights and

[6:04] contributions of the voices in our

[6:06] communities.

[6:08] On the next slide,

[6:10] as part of our strategic plan, we

[6:12] introduced a new vision and mission to

[6:13] guide our work, which you see there. Our

[6:16] updated mission is together we build

[6:18] meaningful connections and inspire

[6:20] lifelong curiosity. Now I'd like to

[6:22] share uh how that's been coming to life

[6:25] in our libraries.

[6:28] This is our year in numbers. Um the

[6:31] programs and collections at Santo County

[6:34] libraries are very well used. This year

[6:36] we saw 1.7 million library visitors, 2.4

[6:40] million items circulated, and over

[6:43] 11,600

[6:44] programs and events. Beyond numbers,

[6:47] each data point represents the

[6:49] connections, learning, and growth that

[6:50] happens across our community. Next

[6:52] slide. We strive to deliver services and

[6:55] offer opportunities where our diverse

[6:57] communities feel seen, heard, and

[6:59] valued. Each of our library staff brings

[7:01] unique backgrounds and experiences to

[7:03] the library. This diversity strengthens

[7:06] how we serve through responsive

[7:08] programs, meaningful outreach, and

[7:10] culturally rich collections. Next slide.

[7:14] And more numbers. Our culture of

[7:16] discovery and exploration is reflected

[7:18] in our 249,967

[7:23] active library card holders. We saw 2.8

[7:26] million website visits, 41,984

[7:30] laptop checkouts, 4 million in library

[7:33] Wi-Fi sessions, and a huge increase here

[7:37] on 23,343

[7:39] hotspot checkouts thanks to additional

[7:41] hotspots that were added to our

[7:43] collection. and we're proud to welcome

[7:45] 14,274

[7:47] new active card holders. Next slide. And

[7:51] then at the local level for Woodside

[7:53] Library, we had over 57,700

[7:56] library visitors and circulated over

[7:58] 70,000 items last fiscal year and then

[8:02] Excel.

[8:05] and also on a local level, 65,000

[8:08] digital downloads for the Woodside

[8:10] Library uh through the platform

[8:13] Libby/Overdrive.

[8:15] Our program attendance at the library

[8:17] also reached over 7,217

[8:20] people. In addition to our popular

[8:22] on-site programs, we also make it a

[8:24] point to get out into the community. You

[8:26] have likely seen us this year at the

[8:28] horse park at water hutter in Wonderlake

[8:32] and also the Kinyatta College food

[8:34] distribution site that is uh on

[8:37] Tuesday's Kinyatta. Next slide.

[8:41] So we create moments for stage for every

[8:44] stage and phase of life to foster growth

[8:46] and curiosity. I'm excited to share some

[8:49] other great accomplishments. Next slide.

[8:52] So, this is actually a video that I

[8:53] won't play today, but was shared with

[8:55] you guys and um is also on our library

[8:58] YouTube channel. It's very adorable. So,

[9:00] if you haven't watched it yet, please

[9:01] do. Um and it's about our 55 plus aged

[9:04] programs. Um we love to connect older

[9:07] adults with opportunities to stay

[9:09] active, learn new skills, build

[9:10] friendships. We create welcoming spaces

[9:13] and provide meaningful experiences to

[9:15] help older adults find connection,

[9:17] routine, and a sense of belonging. Uh

[9:19] this particular video uh takes place in

[9:22] Phoi and um I believe this library

[9:26] that's featured was the North Oaks

[9:28] community, but locally for Woodside, we

[9:30] went to Pi Ranch over in Pescadero and

[9:32] that was a very fun trip. Next slide.

[9:36] So we're also helping families spark a

[9:39] love of reading from day one through

[9:41] Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.

[9:43] Children's ages 0 to 5 receive free

[9:45] books in the mail each month. Since

[9:48] launch, thousands of Sanonteo County

[9:50] kids have enrolled in this program.

[9:52] We're thankful for our partners at the

[9:53] Dollywood Foundation, the Foundation for

[9:56] Santo County Libraries, and our friends

[9:58] group who make this offering possible.

[10:00] Next slide.

[10:03] This is another video that's also fun to

[10:05] watch. It's actually the libraries at

[10:06] Giants Night. Um I believe it was in the

[10:09] spring or very early summer. So,

[10:12] together with our partners, we bring the

[10:13] library into the community in fun and

[10:15] unexpected ways. There was a library

[10:17] night with the San Francisco Giants.

[10:19] There were various libraries there, not

[10:20] just us. And uh we took our Makermobile.

[10:24] We had people browse ebooks and other

[10:26] baseball themed books that day. Uh we've

[10:29] also been to the Sanio County Fair. Of

[10:31] course, we go every year and we always

[10:33] create a very vibrant reading garden at

[10:35] the fair.

[10:36] So, wherever we go, we remind people

[10:38] that the library is always within reach.

[10:41] Next slide.

[10:43] and our staff are at the very heart of

[10:45] everything that we do. This year, our

[10:47] library champions leaned into growth and

[10:49] new ideas, turning creativity into even

[10:51] better services for our communities. We

[10:54] celebrate our team from lifelong staff

[10:56] who know our communities deeply to new

[10:58] team members who bring fresh

[11:00] perspectives. And we're also thankful

[11:02] for the support of volunteers and our

[11:03] friends groups who continuously help us

[11:05] reach even more people across the

[11:07] county. Next slide.

[11:09] And this is one more video from the

[11:12] Belmont reopening. If you weren't aware,

[11:14] they had a a refresh of their library

[11:16] space. So, it's a cute video of that

[11:18] day. Our libraries are, of course,

[11:21] community destinations. We provide

[11:22] welcoming spaces to gather, learn, and

[11:24] connect through continued upgrades and

[11:26] new spaces. We're always working to make

[11:29] them more comfortable, innovative, and

[11:31] inspiring for everyone in collaboration

[11:33] with the community and with the town.

[11:36] Okay, next up.

[11:38] So, our Woodside Library created its own

[11:40] winds in progress this past year. I'd

[11:43] like to specifically highlight our 55

[11:45] plus corner. It's a comfortable area of

[11:48] the library with views of the garden. It

[11:50] also has books um featuring different

[11:53] interests that might be of interest to

[11:55] older community members. There are also

[11:57] community resource pamphlets there,

[11:59] flyers highlighting free services um

[12:02] regarding mental wellness, health,

[12:03] transportation um mostly from the

[12:06] county. And uh our older adult

[12:09] programming is also hugely popular at

[12:12] the library. A computer basics and

[12:14] security is a um a very popular topic,

[12:18] but also wellness programs as well.

[12:21] presentations on traveling, especially

[12:23] for older adults, is very highly

[12:25] attended. And we also do maker programs

[12:27] for our older adults with hands-on

[12:30] activities. They're are highly popular.

[12:32] SL

[12:37] and

[12:39] I'd like to specifically highlight our

[12:40] partnership with the friends of the

[12:42] Wonder Lake, Wonderlake and Hutter Park.

[12:45] Uh this past summer we partnered with

[12:47] them to bring some uh wellness and uh

[12:51] art activities to both parks in the

[12:53] summer specifically for older adults.

[12:55] But um I think we had it as all ages

[12:58] mostly older adults came and um if I

[13:01] memory serves it was nature journaling

[13:04] and sound forest bathing both highly

[13:07] popular and um thanks to the friends of

[13:10] the library who supported that

[13:13] partnership with the friends of

[13:14] Wonderlick and Hutter.

[13:16] Um

[13:18] next slide

[13:20] and I'd like to highlight our high

[13:21] school summer adventure interns. This is

[13:23] Briana. But we also had another intern

[13:25] named Zoe. Uh they were both wonderful

[13:28] additions to the library, helping staff

[13:30] with numerous outreach events, programs,

[13:32] and even book displays. The kids love

[13:34] doing programs with them from crochet to

[13:36] slime. And I think there they were

[13:39] painting, and that was a lot of fun in

[13:40] that back patio. And the last slide is

[13:44] uh just a thank you to town staff and

[13:46] town council for your collaboration with

[13:48] us for championing the library in

[13:50] particular council member Brown who is

[13:53] on our uh JPA board as well as uh town

[13:57] manager Jason. Uh it's with your work

[14:00] with the governing board and operations

[14:02] committee that we can make a lot of

[14:03] these things happen. A thank you to the

[14:06] friends of Woodside Library of course

[14:08] for the ongoing support and library

[14:10] staff for their commitment and passion

[14:12] to their work and I'm happy to answer

[14:15] questions.

[14:16] >> Wonderful. Thank you. Any questions for

[14:18] Carmen?

[14:20] >> I'm very happy.

[14:23] >> Very good.

[14:25] >> Well then I will simply thank you for

[14:28] being here and for everything that you

[14:29] do for the community. It's a It's always

[14:31] a great reminder of the many services

[14:33] that you provide to our constituents and

[14:35] uh it's always a lovely presentation at

[14:38] start of every year. So,

[14:39] >> thank you.

[14:45] » Okay, I think with that we will move on

[14:48] to the town manager report. Mr. Led

[14:50] Better.

[14:52] >> Yeah, thank you Mr. Mayor and uh

[14:54] Woodside Town Council. a relatively

[14:58] brief report, but uh over the holiday

[15:00] break, the town offices were closed, but

[15:03] uh we had no shortage of response from

[15:05] the public works team due to storms uh

[15:08] primarily in the first week. But over

[15:10] the last few weeks, they've been

[15:11] responsive on multiple occasions. Uh

[15:14] multiple trees were down and there was

[15:16] some uh work that was done to make sure

[15:18] that drains were clear and anything that

[15:20] got clogged was alleviated. And what I'm

[15:23] hearing is that ultimately this was

[15:24] substantially a lighter storm that been

[15:28] past years from atmospheric rivers in

[15:30] the past. But it was also very

[15:32] successful break because we did fumigate

[15:34] this in the other building for termites

[15:36] and so that's been completed. Uh the

[15:39] town is scheduling administrative

[15:41] services director interviews over the

[15:43] next two weeks. The panel will include

[15:45] staff obviously, but we will have an

[15:47] audit committee member as well as an

[15:49] admin services director from another

[15:51] local agency on the interview panel.

[15:53] More information to come in the coming

[15:55] weeks on that. And then my final

[15:57] announcement this evening is that the

[15:59] town has hired a public works director

[16:01] uh/town engineer who is currently the

[16:04] deputy engineer in Pacifica. Lewis Sun

[16:06] will be starting after Martin Luther

[16:08] King uh Jr. Day on Tuesday 120 next

[16:12] week. So Lewis brings about 20 years of

[16:14] local government experience with primary

[16:16] roles in engineering, wastewater, and

[16:18] general public works. He is a graduate

[16:21] of the Ohio State University and holds a

[16:24] master's in engineering management from

[16:26] Santa Clara University. Lewis has been

[16:29] on the peninsula doing public works for

[16:30] well over a decade and prior to that he

[16:32] was a design engineer for the city of

[16:34] Bakersfield, giving him experience in a

[16:36] broad spectrum uh in the multitude of

[16:38] disciplines across public works. So,

[16:40] I'll be very excited to bring him to the

[16:42] next meeting.

[16:44] >> And that's all I have. Looking forward

[16:45] to it. Questions for Jason.

[16:49] » Um, and Jason, we had a chance to catch

[16:52] up about this this week. So, I had an

[16:53] opportunity to catch up with a San

[16:56] Carlos council member over the holidays

[16:58] and they uh she let me know that they

[17:01] are in the midst of doing their annual

[17:05] uh strategic planning process and goal

[17:06] setting process. I was wondering if you

[17:08] could just report out on sort of the

[17:11] process that you envision implementing

[17:13] in Woodside because I think you know the

[17:15] council would be interested to hear

[17:16] that. I'd be interested to hear that and

[17:17] I think it would be interesting to for

[17:19] our residents to hear that as well.

[17:21] >> Yeah, I'm glad we're having this

[17:22] conversation just so I can get a better

[17:24] understanding of the council's uh wishes

[17:27] based off of my understanding of all the

[17:29] different planning documents and goals

[17:30] that we currently have. So you know

[17:32] going through the review process with

[17:34] the facilitator ultimately I had this

[17:37] question for them because we did find

[17:39] seven goals essentially for myself as

[17:41] well as the CIP uh the housing element

[17:45] deliverables and then ultimately um when

[17:48] we're looking at the town center area

[17:49] plan deliverables to come. And so what

[17:52] I'm seeing is really an opportunity to

[17:55] finalize the town center area plan, then

[17:58] come back with all of these different

[18:00] deliverables that we're currently

[18:01] working on and come to the council at

[18:04] that time to determine if we want to do

[18:06] strategic planning at that point. uh

[18:09] because I'm not 100% sure if it makes

[18:12] more sense for the will of the council

[18:13] to work through our current obligations

[18:15] within the planning documents that we

[18:17] have primarily the housing element the

[18:20] CIP and then the the current planning

[18:23] document that's being done by the

[18:24] entirety of the town the town center

[18:26] area plan I'm going to assume that

[18:27] there'll be a multitude of projects

[18:29] there but the way I would take it if if

[18:32] none of that was currently happening I

[18:35] personally believe more in say what the

[18:37] library has done and and that ultimately

[18:40] strategic initiative should be

[18:42] multi-year and over say a five-year term

[18:45] rather than consistently changing on an

[18:47] annual basis. And so ultimately we can

[18:50] bring in a facilitator

[18:52] uh in order to do that. But based off of

[18:54] all of the multitude of documents that

[18:56] we currently have and the obligations

[18:58] that we're committed to, I think it

[18:59] would make more sense that I would lead

[19:02] with the council what staff felt were

[19:04] the priorities from uh those multitude

[19:07] of planning documents and then we would

[19:09] game plan with you other strategic

[19:11] initiatives that you would want to see

[19:12] us work on over the coming years. and

[19:15] then the staff would go work out

[19:17] projects and bring them back to you to

[19:19] see if they fit within the trunch of the

[19:21] strategic initiative that was set. So

[19:24] that's kind of how I envision us moving

[19:26] forward and I would not and this is what

[19:28] I need feedback from the council. I

[19:30] don't envision that before January of of

[19:35] be honest with you just because of the

[19:38] litany of obligations that we currently

[19:40] have. I don't know if it's the will of

[19:42] the council. Certainly, we'll do

[19:43] whatever they desire, but I'm not sure

[19:46] if we need more planning or the view

[19:49] that I currently have is we need more

[19:51] actual delivery of the current plan that

[19:53] we have.

[19:56] >> Yeah, thank you for that. Just a quick

[19:58] followup question because um and maybe a

[20:01] little bit of history here. the the

[20:02] council I've been on for six years now.

[20:04] We we did do a facilitated

[20:08] uh goal setting process at the end of

[20:12] 2024.

[20:14] Um and I know you've I you've reviewed

[20:17] the um the agenda and the the minutes

[20:21] from from that session. Um we didn't do

[20:25] any strategic goal setting. I think

[20:27] rightfully so. last year uh we had you

[20:30] know the change the new town man you

[20:32] starting um and I hear what you're

[20:35] saying in terms of we we definitely have

[20:37] a lot going on we've got a lot of

[20:39] initiatives I'd be curious though how

[20:41] you view those initiatives where do they

[20:43] slot into the town's current goals

[20:46] because we did set some goals right that

[20:48] and I think a lot of those initiatives

[20:50] are in service of those goals so I'm

[20:51] curious like what your thoughts on like

[20:53] do we kind of already have a strategic

[20:56] plan and those initiatives that we're

[20:58] working on serve that strategic plan,

[20:59] but we haven't really just kind of like

[21:01] mapped them together.

[21:04] >> That's a great point and that's what I

[21:05] would that's my preference is ultimately

[21:07] I think we have some gaps and I think

[21:09] one of the gaps is with hazard

[21:11] mitigation. I think that we need to

[21:13] really develop and I'm working with a

[21:14] couple council members specifically Dick

[21:16] Brown currently on some opportunities

[21:19] with with hazard mitigation. And so I

[21:21] think what I'd like to do is kind of map

[21:23] out how I see the current um obligations

[21:25] that we have, come back to the council

[21:28] and start from that point to um build

[21:30] out the missing pieces of the strategy

[21:32] right now that we should be focusing a

[21:34] percentage of time all the time on

[21:36] hazard mitigation. So if that's suit if

[21:39] that suited the council that would be

[21:41] what I would desire is to take a look at

[21:43] the current deliverables that we have

[21:45] build something out and then come to you

[21:48] during the budgeting process and

[21:50] showcase to you the current strategic

[21:52] initiative as I see it and then have you

[21:55] fill in the gaps and then

[21:57] >> help guide me as to when you think it

[21:59] makes the most sense to really have a

[22:01] retreat that would involve maybe a

[22:03] deeper dive into the next five years.

[22:07] Yeah, I think that would be really

[22:08] healthy because I think you know if you

[22:10] sort of mash together the work that we

[22:13] did in 2024 where we came up with our

[22:16] strategic goals. I I would I believe

[22:20] that a lot of the initiatives that you

[22:22] are currently working on are in service

[22:24] of those goals. We haven't we just

[22:25] haven't articulated it into a strategic

[22:28] plan which I think is really important

[22:30] to have as a town. Um, it's my

[22:34] understanding it's what our peer towns

[22:36] have and San Carlos are, you know, the

[22:38] examples before us tonight as a desk

[22:40] item. Um, so I would be very supportive

[22:42] of that to to kind of formalize I think

[22:45] what's already out there into a

[22:47] strategic plan.

[22:50] >> I would definitely uh advocate doing

[22:53] that myself as well. So if it suits the

[22:55] rest of the council, that would be um I

[22:57] think that would benefit us.

[23:01] Do we do we have the um we're we're a

[23:04] lot leaner than um San Carlos.

[23:08] Uh so tell me a little bit um about the

[23:12] resources. I mean when I think about

[23:15] time and meetings and outreach and

[23:18] dollars and whatnot. Um it's a process

[23:20] when you put together strategic plan.

[23:22] Now, I think a couple years ago at Jen

[23:23] uh Council Member Wall was talking

[23:24] about, I remember we all sort of

[23:26] submitted what we thought the goals were

[23:28] and uh or kind of

[23:32] uh aggregated um and most people kind of

[23:35] agreed. So, the good news was we're all

[23:37] sort of on the same page and I kind of

[23:38] feel like we're all on the same page at

[23:40] this very moment in a shared vision, at

[23:43] least in the broadest sense. But what

[23:45] would it take um I mean what would it

[23:47] take to actually do that process

[23:49] resource-wise and would it take away

[23:51] from execution?

[23:53] >> Yeah. So that's a great point. So

[23:55] ultimately what I'm hearing is that I

[23:58] would take the strategic initiatives

[24:00] that the council put together in 2024. I

[24:02] would look at the landscape of

[24:04] deliverables that we're already

[24:05] obligated to delivering projects that

[24:07] we're currently discussing as

[24:09] initiatives. And then I would put

[24:11] together essentially a couple pages that

[24:13] showcase this that those are the

[24:15] strategic initiatives of the town. But

[24:17] thank you for pointing that out because

[24:19] it'll be Christmas before I know it.

[24:22] Honestly, this job is incredible. Uh as

[24:24] far as working for the government, time

[24:26] goes so quickly that right now we only

[24:28] have three department heads that work

[24:30] for the town and two of them are not are

[24:32] currently not here. So ultimately that's

[24:34] defaulting to our, you know, assistant

[24:37] in in public works or it's defaulting

[24:39] back over to me. So capacity honestly is an issue at the moment ultimately and

[24:44] those positions need to get filled and

[24:46] those people are going to take time to

[24:47] bring them up to speed. So it may make

[24:50] even more sense. I know this may, you

[24:51] know, just for timing purposes, um,

[24:54] incorporating the TCAP into this or

[24:56] maybe this is actually we shoot for

[25:00] July or June, but it may be more

[25:02] realistic that this gets pushed back and

[25:04] as an obligation of mine before the end

[25:06] of actual the year of 2026

[25:10] just to put together the paper and not

[25:13] to do a strategic initiative planning

[25:15] session. and it would be bringing you

[25:17] how I'm envisioning our current

[25:20] obligations and that would be our

[25:21] starting point essentially.

[25:23] So I think I would be able to do that

[25:25] with a little bit more leeway just

[25:28] thinking about the obligations that we

[25:30] currently have if we were to maybe look

[25:32] at all of 2026 giving me that

[25:34] opportunity. I would shoot to do that

[25:36] soon. But based off of the capacity of

[25:40] the organization currently, it is

[25:42] definitely we're, as I like to say,

[25:44] we're punching above our weight level

[25:46] currently.

[25:48] >> Yeah. And I that's what I would have

[25:50] thought you would have said. So that's great. I personally I I see

[25:54] exactly the thought process. I um just

[25:57] question of timing uh and we have our

[25:59] feet on solid ground.

[26:04] There any other?

[26:05] >> I have a different question on a

[26:07] different topic. Um, congratulations on

[26:09] the hire of the public works director.

[26:10] How long was that position vacant by the

[26:12] way? Just curious.

[26:18] » October.

[26:19] >> Yeah, mid October.

[26:21] >> Yeah, October. It was very I mean we rap

[26:24] we moved so rapidly on this that I mean

[26:26] I feel very very good about how quick

[26:28] the caliber of the person that we have

[26:30] coming on and how how in government

[26:33] terms that was that was a quick

[26:35] turnaround of

[26:36] >> I was just surprised that it was it was

[26:39] so short. So congratulations on doing

[26:41] that. I don't have any other questions.

[26:42] >> Thank you.

[26:43] >> Town managers.

[26:46] If I could just make a quick

[26:48] announcement just that uh remind

[26:49] everyone that the planning commission

[26:51] has two vacancies terms ending uh for

[26:54] districts one and three. So just any

[26:56] chance I get and sorry I didn't give you

[26:57] a heads up but just a quick announcement

[26:59] for anyone listening or anyone who wants

[27:01] to tell their friends. Um we have uh two

[27:04] terms ending and applications for

[27:06] districts one and three to serve on the

[27:08] planning commission are due by February

[27:11] 4th. Then we did send out townwide

[27:12] mailers for that and just trying to

[27:14] advertise as much as possible.

[27:17] >> Quick question. Are they are are the

[27:19] current um

[27:22] two gentlemen who hold those two seats?

[27:25] >> One has moved districts. Um so that

[27:28] becomes a complication for that one.

[27:29] That's for district one. Um and then I

[27:32] think we're still waiting to hear from

[27:34] the incumbent on district three.

[27:38] So, um, we would have to recruit in

[27:41] district 1 and district three to fill

[27:44] those seats

[27:44] >> potentially if if the incumbent in

[27:46] district 3 does not

[27:48] >> Yeah, but they must be in district.

[27:50] >> Isn't Well, there's a way to get around

[27:52] that. Yeah,

[27:53] >> there's a code provision that allows for

[27:55] the council to override that should

[27:57] someone outside of a district apply.

[27:59] >> It requires a four-fifths vote,

[28:00] >> I believe. So,

[28:04] sorry for interrupting. I just want to

[28:05] get that out.

[28:06] >> No, that's a good double.

[28:10] » Okay. Any uh comments from the public on

[28:13] the town manager report?

[28:17] Seeing none, we will close the town

[28:19] manager report and move on to

[28:21] appointments. So, the appointments

[28:23] committee, I will hand off this uh

[28:26] recreation committee, which I know

[28:27] you're going to say is the best

[28:28] committee, but there are many wonderful

[28:29] committees.

[28:30] >> I'm glad that uh people are starting to

[28:32] come around that it's the best

[28:33] committee. That's

[28:35] >> um there is one applicant for the

[28:38] recreation committee. Um and that's

[28:40] Jonathan Goldman. He comes well

[28:42] recommended by

[28:44] um Rowan McN, the chair, who as you know

[28:47] is a very discerning uh individual and

[28:50] uh the recommendation of the committee

[28:52] is that we um accept this appointment to

[28:55] the recreation committee by Jonathan

[28:57] Golden. So I will nominate him. Oh,

[29:00] unless there's an second. Oh, good.

[29:02] Okay.

[29:04] >> Okay. Uh, Council,

[29:05] >> any discussion, this gentleman, or are

[29:07] we good to go to vote? I think we're

[29:09] good to go to vote. Yeah.

[29:11] >> Council member Aberish.

[29:13] >> Yes.

[29:13] >> Council member Brown.

[29:14] >> Yes.

[29:14] >> Council member Gold.

[29:15] >> Yes.

[29:15] >> Council member Wall.

[29:17] >> Mayor Donowski.

[29:18] >> Yes. Jonathan, welcome to the recreation

[29:20] committee.

[29:21] >> This committee,

[29:22] >> one of many wonderful committees.

[29:25] Uh, we certainly look forward to your

[29:26] contributions. Um, next up, we've got

[29:29] consent agenda and we've got a big one.

[29:31] So, all items on the consent are

[29:32] considered routine and will be approved

[29:35] by one roll call motion unless a request

[29:37] is made at the beginning of the meeting

[29:38] uh that an item be withdrawn or

[29:40] transferred to the regular agenda. We do

[29:42] have an extensive list. Are there any

[29:43] items on the consent agenda that any

[29:45] member of the council would like to pull

[29:46] for further discussion?

[29:49] >> Yes, Council Member Brown.

[29:50] >> Number 12.

[29:54] » Uh 5713

[29:58] will be quick.

[30:00] Okay.

[30:04] All right. Can we get a motion for 1 2 3

[30:06] 4 6 8 9 10 11 and 14?

[30:09] >> I move to approve 1 2 3 4 6 8 9 10 11

[30:14] and 14.

[30:16] >> Second.

[30:17] >> Council member Aberish.

[30:19] >> Yes.

[30:19] >> Council member Brown.

[30:20] >> Yes.

[30:20] >> Council member Gold.

[30:21] >> Yes.

[30:22] >> Council member Wall. Mayor Donowski.

[30:24] >> Yes. We'll go in order. So number five

[30:27] goes to you, Paul. Um so five is the um

[30:31] mayor's council member committee

[30:33] appointments for 2026.

[30:35] Um, as maybe the public doesn't know

[30:37] this, but in addition to serving coming

[30:40] in here, uh, two nights a month

[30:43] approximately, um, each of us serves on

[30:46] other we we not only, um, get to be a

[30:49] liaison to some committees, uh, the

[30:52] town's volunteer committees, but we also

[30:55] there's a lot of Bay Area, state level,

[30:58] local level, county level, uh,

[30:59] organizations that we also liaison to

[31:02] that we participate on. And um I didn't I mean I'm grateful that uh

[31:09] for the two that I serve on uh that are

[31:12] outside the town. Um and of course as

[31:14] you know I also serve as liaison to the

[31:16] recreation committee. Um but I think um

[31:20] one of the things that comes up is uh um I've heard back from some committee

[31:27] chairs that they want to make sure that

[31:30] we are participating at those committee

[31:32] levels. that is that um attending our

[31:36] liaison committees. I know you know most

[31:37] of us do this but I that that they want

[31:39] to make sure that we do attend um and I

[31:42] think that it really um is a nice sign

[31:45] uh of good faith to those committees

[31:47] when a member of the town council shows

[31:49] up. I think that they appreciate that we

[31:52] do serve some purpose and we can bring

[31:53] back information here. But um I just

[31:55] wanted to make that point that these are

[31:57] serious assignments and um we should

[31:59] take them as such and attend them. So,

[32:01] that was all I wanted to say unless

[32:03] there's some pop well public comment.

[32:05] No,

[32:05] >> you know, I'm glad you pulled it because

[32:06] maybe I should just summarize this a

[32:08] little bit, too. Um, in the spirit of

[32:10] continuity, I just made the assumption

[32:12] that by and large we're all staying on

[32:14] the same uh current assignments. Uh, if

[32:17] you want to change any of those, we can

[32:18] certainly talk about those right now. I

[32:20] the material changes here, just so you

[32:21] know, is that we stripped out uh the

[32:24] climate and sustainability uh committee

[32:27] uh given the lack of members uh which is

[32:29] really folding back, I think, in

[32:30] environment. So, Hassan, you got to drop

[32:32] a committee. Uh, the town manager

[32:34] review, we changed that to recognize

[32:35] that that's now facilitated as opposed

[32:38] to um just a couple folks doing and um

[32:42] made some other changes around, you

[32:44] know, just two people on the attorney

[32:45] review because only two of the five

[32:47] council members can be there. Uh we also

[32:49] stripped out the Pulla Valley Woodside

[32:51] ad hoc committee. Um we did that after

[32:53] learning from both attorneys that those

[32:54] would be Brown Act committees, which we

[32:57] didn't realize. Um, and because I don't

[32:59] think there's a lot of strategic

[33:01] interest, at least in the immediate

[33:02] term, in looking at, um, evaluating

[33:05] options, uh, and that any tactical cost

[33:07] issues for a sheriff's contract or

[33:09] something would come up from two town

[33:11] managers, uh, and be presented. So,

[33:12] there really wasn't no need for that.

[33:14] And then a good chunk of the staff

[33:16] leaison either changed out or optimized.

[33:18] Um, so those are the major changes. Uh,

[33:21] but for the most part, as far as we're

[33:22] concerned, I I largely just kept

[33:24] everything the same. Um, is there

[33:26] anything you need to drop for time

[33:27] reasons in order to uh be able to make

[33:29] the commitments that uh Mayor Prom Gold

[33:32] was just speaking to? We can certainly

[33:34] uh work on that right now or you can uh

[33:37] we can certainly do a swap out later. We

[33:39] can just talk about it. So, but with

[33:42] that I don't have anything else to add.

[33:44] >> I had nothing else on that point.

[33:48] >> Guess we can

[33:49] >> you want to just do them all at once if

[33:51] we can.

[33:51] >> Okay, great. Uh number seven, that's you

[33:55] on leaf blowers.

[33:57] >> Uh so seven is second reading and

[33:59] adoption of an ordinance adopting a

[34:00] Woodside municipal code new section

[34:03] 94.06

[34:04] prohibition of gas powered leaf blowers.

[34:07] Um I just as a courtesy to the public if

[34:10] there was any public comment. Um it's

[34:12] just opening up. Are there any members

[34:15] of the public that would like to comment

[34:17] on the second reading for the ban on

[34:20] leaf blowers effectively in central

[34:22] Woodside gas powered leaf blowers?

[34:28] Seeing none,

[34:30] we'll move on.

[34:32] >> 13 or 12 is going over to council member

[34:35] Brown. Yeah, I only wanted to comment

[34:37] that um I've noticed on some of our

[34:40] roadways, um we've been

[34:45] building up a lot of asphalt along all

[34:47] across the roadway except is now have

[34:49] drops drop offs, sizable drop offs, um

[34:52] that could become a hazard sometime in

[34:54] the future. And so I'd like to have

[34:57] particularly on our area um have have a

[35:02] survey done perhaps of are we giving a

[35:05] full coverage that we need or are there

[35:07] any unsafe areas that we should be

[35:09] looking at um in the future to uh make

[35:12] sure we're not just adding more asphalt

[35:15] and bigger drop off.

[35:17] That's all.

[35:18] >> Okay. Thank you very much. Uh, I know

[35:20] that the town has transitioned and and Cindy, you might be able to answer

[35:24] this, but that in the past we did more

[35:26] chip seal, which added actual um depth

[35:29] to the road, and now currently our model

[35:32] is more I call slurry seal, but

[35:34] ultimately a micro seal, which really

[35:36] adds no level of depth. But maybe you

[35:39] can elaborate on that.

[35:41] >> Good evening, mayor and council members.

[35:43] Um yes, in the past we've always did um

[35:47] hot mix asphalt which is actually you

[35:49] know the hotmix asphalt where it adds an

[35:51] inch and a half we and would would not

[35:54] cover a lot of streets because it's

[35:55] expensive. Right now what we do we are

[35:57] doing is microsurfacing which is very

[35:59] thin layer of basically oil and sand

[36:02] that we put in which does not add a lot

[36:04] of um it just creates protection to the

[36:07] street. It improves the um the life of

[36:09] the street for five for 5 years, 5 to 7

[36:12] years, but it does not add a lot of

[36:15] asphalt. But um yes, we will take a look

[36:17] at the locations that um um we will

[36:21] think it's unsafe to drive, but um as

[36:24] the public lets us know, we go and

[36:25] inspect it. Yes.

[36:27] >> Thank you.

[36:30] >> Okay. And number 13, back to you.

[36:33] >> Yes. 13 is a um resolution um approving

[36:38] the uh old La Honda Road drainage

[36:40] improvement project. Um I know that this

[36:42] is specific property that it's directed

[36:44] at, but I just wanted to bring up just

[36:46] sort of an ancillary one. Um I was made

[36:49] aware just last week that there were

[36:51] some uh funds I I think that uh the town

[36:55] manager is probably aware of this as

[36:56] well. um that um and Cindy as well that there is a um uh there were some

[37:04] funds allocated

[37:06] by I think the county uh to do some

[37:10] rehab to the drainage system on Old La

[37:12] Road and I just wanted to find out this

[37:14] is sort of related to it somehow that um

[37:17] are those funds available? Do you know

[37:19] if they were spent? Do you know the

[37:20] status of that or

[37:23] >> did I catch you off guard? Yeah, I'm not

[37:25] familiar with the county uh funds for

[37:27] old La Honda road drainage. I know that

[37:29] this project specifically is this is

[37:32] very specific project uh outside of that

[37:35] um uh from some obligations of the past,

[37:38] but I'm not sure. Are you familiar with

[37:39] any county projects?

[37:40] >> No. U we did not receive any funds from

[37:42] the county for Olahonda Road.

[37:44] >> Okay. Thank you. And I'd be wondering if

[37:47] the public had any comments.

[37:48] >> Okay. Is there any member of the public

[37:51] uh that would like to comment on item

[37:53] 13?

[37:54] the uh Oblah Honda drainage improvement

[37:57] projects.

[38:00] >> Just watching.

[38:02] We are not getting any hands raised.

[38:04] >> Okay.

[38:06] >> You need a motion.

[38:07] >> We have a need a motion for 5 712 and 13

[38:10] which I think we'll take in one unless

[38:12] there's an objection.

[38:14] >> No. Okay.

[38:15] >> I'll make a motion that we approve uh

[38:17] items 5, 7, 12, and 13.

[38:19] >> Second.

[38:20] >> Council member Alberish.

[38:21] >> Yes.

[38:22] >> Council member Brown.

[38:22] >> Yes. Council member Gold.

[38:24] >> Yes.

[38:24] >> Council member Wall, Mayor Donowski.

[38:27] >> Yes. And with that, we will move on to

[38:30] new business. So, um, item A, uh,

[38:34] tonight it is my distinct honor, uh, to

[38:37] be able to introduce this next agenda

[38:39] item. Uh this is a preliminary agreement

[38:42] in principle to accept the extraordinary

[38:46] generosity and civic-minded leadership

[38:48] of two anonymous private donors who have

[38:52] indicated a desire to make the single

[38:55] biggest private gift to the town since

[38:58] Barkley Fields by funding the

[39:00] beautifification of the median on

[39:03] Woodside Road from 280 to the Alama,

[39:05] which if accepted by council and funded

[39:08] subsequently uh would greatly of course

[39:11] um improve a vital public corridor in

[39:14] our community and turn it into a

[39:15] welcoming, calmer and safer

[39:19] uh thoroughare and of course create an

[39:21] enduring and lasting civic asset for our

[39:23] citizens and the surrounding residents

[39:25] of our community here. So uh it is a a

[39:28] big moment. I'll hand it off to you

[39:30] Jason to take us through the specifics.

[39:33] >> Yeah, thank you Mr. Mayor. This is a

[39:35] very spectacular moment for the town of

[39:37] Woodside. And so ultimately, as you

[39:39] alluded to, I'm told this is very

[39:41] similar to the Barkley Field Project

[39:43] that uh utilized the community donation

[39:45] and the Woodside Community Foundation in

[39:47] order to initiate the Barkley Field

[39:49] Project. The Woodside Community

[39:51] Foundation and the town of Woodside are

[39:53] back with another project that has been

[39:55] initiated by donors who wish to remain

[39:57] anonymous within the community to

[39:59] complete the 2026. The other thing that

[40:01] makes this really remarkable is that

[40:02] this project was on the 2026 capital

[40:05] improvement project list and that the

[40:07] town had ultimately set aside just

[40:10] $200,000

[40:11] to continue to move down and work the

[40:14] medians on 84 from essentially town

[40:17] center to Alama de las pulga. So we

[40:20] already had prioritized this as an

[40:22] initiative for the community in the town

[40:25] and now we're getting a donation to

[40:27] complete the entirety of this project.

[40:29] So, $2.5 million. Uh, we have a design,

[40:32] we have a a conceptual design currently.

[40:35] So, what would happen here ultimately is

[40:38] if you guys do approve this uh agreement

[40:41] this evening between us and the Woodside

[40:43] Community Foundation that we would

[40:46] anticipate that the actual donation

[40:48] would happen here in the next couple

[40:50] weeks. Once that donation happens,

[40:51] there's some obligations within the

[40:53] agreement that we have with the Woodside

[40:55] Community Foundation that initiate

[40:58] actions happening. So, we have a concept

[41:00] design. As soon as those obligations are

[41:02] met, the town then works to complete an

[41:05] engineered design. We would then spend

[41:08] 2026 doing that combined with working

[41:10] with Calrans on an encroachment permit

[41:13] because it is their median. We would

[41:15] also have to work with the county on the

[41:17] final uh median is actually doesn't

[41:20] belong to us as you get right in front

[41:21] of the high school. So we'd have to work

[41:23] with the county on utilizing and

[41:25] maintaining that median for them. And

[41:27] then in 2027, we would anticipate being

[41:30] able to break ground in the interim. We

[41:33] would get a final design back over to

[41:35] the landscape committee. and then

[41:36] inevitably to bid that project out, you

[41:39] guys would also see the final design and

[41:42] have approval of that design as well.

[41:44] So, if there's any other questions, I

[41:46] think that kind of explains kind of the

[41:47] broad 30,000 ft view, but really want to

[41:51] congratulate the town, the council, and

[41:53] obviously the mayor who has been working

[41:56] on this uh this predates me. And so to

[41:58] have two and a half million of really

[42:01] civic philanthropy money that's going to

[42:03] benefit this community uh is really

[42:06] remarkable and just um a testament to

[42:09] what a privilege it is to work here in

[42:11] Woodside to be honest with you.

[42:13] >> Thank you. Um any questions on the staff

[42:17] report from council?

[42:26] » We're all in awe. So comments, comments,

[42:29] uh questions, uh whatever. Uh

[42:32] >> we got comments.

[42:32] >> Yes. Yes, sir.

[42:33] >> That I really really want to thank uh

[42:35] you making this thing happen. I don't

[42:38] think we'd be where we are without it.

[42:40] Um you've been involved in the

[42:42] beginning, did found the donors,

[42:46] put the whole thing together. And a lot

[42:48] of thanks goes to Brian for that.

[42:51] >> And whoever else was on your team, I'd

[42:52] like to know who they were, too, because

[42:53] it was it's a great project.

[42:56] Well, that's a very kind

[42:58] acknowledgement. I'll just just be very

[43:00] clear. Um, this is occurring uh solely

[43:02] because of the generous civic-minded

[43:05] individuals here. Uh my role has been

[43:08] nothing but a resource

[43:10] uh and uh just helping them understand

[43:13] opportunity and how they could transform

[43:16] the town of Woodside as it relates to

[43:18] our capital project wish list and uh to

[43:20] assist in facilitating um the mechanics

[43:23] and the community around uh making their

[43:27] vision a reality. But uh certainly

[43:30] appreciate your comment.

[43:34] » How many now or taking? Well, I Oh, uh,

[43:38] questions for staff. That went right

[43:39] into comment. Sorry about that. Um, are

[43:42] there any other questions for staff?

[43:44] Okay, we will take public

[43:47] comment. Thank you, Jen. Uh, are there

[43:50] any members of the public that would

[43:51] like to comment on item A?

[43:58] Seeing none, we will go back to council

[44:00] deliberations and comments. uh which

[44:03] case I'd like to jump in with Michael.

[44:05] Um so yeah, I would just like to extend

[44:07] my gratitude and thanks to the donors.

[44:10] Um I think this uh we we've already seen

[44:13] the the first stage of the

[44:16] beautifification project which is really

[44:17] lovely. Um it really transformed the way

[44:21] uh Woodside looks when you when you

[44:22] enter Woodside. I think it was, you

[44:24] know, very tastefully done and I'm

[44:25] really really excited to see um how the

[44:28] rest of the project turns out. And so if

[44:31] you're out there, anonymous donors,

[44:33] thank you. We really appreciate this.

[44:37] >> And I'll just acknowledge that the chair

[44:39] of the landscape committee, Peggy Mloud,

[44:41] has just entered the room and we're a

[44:43] little bit ahead of schedule. So we're

[44:44] in the midst of it. But welcome.

[44:48] And you're of course welcome to make

[44:50] comments. We kind of went through public

[44:51] comment, but if there's anything you'd

[44:53] like to say at any time, feel free. Um,

[44:55] any other deliberations or comments?

[44:57] >> I do. I have a comment. Um, so first of

[45:00] all, uh, just

[45:03] immense gratitude

[45:05] to the town manager, to the staff, and

[45:07] especially to the mayor, um, for their

[45:10] efforts on this. Um, I'm just reminded

[45:13] when we when we did the original project

[45:15] that council member Wall was just

[45:17] referring to, um, and, uh, the, uh, I

[45:22] remember we were referred to as the

[45:23] front porch. um the usiders out there

[45:28] and um I I think this is just going to

[45:30] be a spectacular project and it's going

[45:32] to really set the tone as people cross

[45:35] the Alamita and go in front of the high

[45:36] school in Menllo Country Club that um

[45:39] I'm hoping it's going to be something

[45:40] that's um I know that it's going to be

[45:42] something really beautiful. Um but we

[45:44] really do appreciate it and I think that

[45:47] um we were expecting something about

[45:49] onetenth of what it actually turned out

[45:52] to be and I think that um really I know

[45:54] that the work that the that the town

[45:56] manager and our mayor did uh to this was

[46:00] no small task and I think that I know

[46:01] that didn't take a lot of arm twisting

[46:03] and we have very generous donors. We're

[46:06] very lucky in that regard, but um this

[46:08] is really just a spectacular result and

[46:11] um we esiders who are actually pretty

[46:13] well represented here tonight. There's

[46:14] at least three of us in the room um

[46:16] really do appreciate uh the efforts that

[46:18] were made here and uh in this

[46:20] beautifification of our front porch. We

[46:22] do um it's a very nice thing to do and

[46:25] um um I just can't thank you guys enough

[46:28] for for for this. Um, I remember that

[46:32] when this came down, the the the

[46:34] original project, which goes roughly

[46:36] from the 280 freeway um to uh just a few

[46:41] hundred yards or so uh to the west, that

[46:44] the very first person

[46:47] who said we need to do something from

[46:50] the 280 heading east was our mayor. Um

[46:54] he volunteered it. He didn't require any

[46:56] proddding at all. And um you know this

[46:59] is really just a major step in getting

[47:00] that done and uh I just wanted to say

[47:03] that we really do appreciate it and uh

[47:05] thank everybody and especially the

[47:06] donors for making this possible.

[47:09] >> Great. I'll also just mention that the

[47:12] um it's really the uh the work of the

[47:14] Woodside landscape committee uh really

[47:18] on the pilot project west of 280 and um

[47:22] at a cost of $165,000 93 of which came

[47:25] from the community uh uh really was the

[47:29] uh the genesis of this what was going to

[47:31] be possible and the things that we

[47:33] learned from that you know CALR works at

[47:35] night and all sorts of things really

[47:36] helped us sort of price out uh what this

[47:39] could be uh from a total cost uh point

[47:41] of view. So hopefully uh we are going to

[47:44] be able to see farther standing on the

[47:46] shoulder of of giants. So thank you

[47:48] again for the uh preliminary work that

[47:50] you all did to get this uh this idea up

[47:53] and up and moving. Appreciate it.

[47:57] Any other comments?

[48:01] And I will just maybe uh wrap up um this

[48:07] item just by uh acknowledging that this is a very

[48:12] noble expression of generosity uh to

[48:15] consider a civic gift of this magnitude

[48:16] for the greater good and it is both

[48:19] humbling and inspiring uh for all of us

[48:22] to be able to potentially accept an

[48:23] extraordinary gift uh like this in the

[48:26] intermediate future here. Um, this is

[48:29] going to be a really a landmark

[48:31] opportunity to uh improve the aesthetics

[48:33] and the traffic calming uh nature uh of

[48:37] uh for a group of what we we we think is

[48:40] conservative, but 9 million vehicles a

[48:42] year uh use this piece of the road. So,

[48:45] uh a real big impact and um and it also

[48:48] supports in many ways our strategic

[48:50] initiatives around the town center area

[48:52] plan. It expands upon and complements

[48:54] the work that we've been doing on

[48:55] circulation and safety for the area and

[48:58] it will create as I think was just

[49:00] beautifully mentioned for the front

[49:02] porch but a sense of continuity and

[49:03] union with our residents that are east

[49:05] of uh 280. So um really a

[49:09] transformational gift and um uh

[49:13] absolutely honored uh and looking

[49:15] forward to working with these donors uh

[49:17] to see this vision to its natural

[49:19] completion.

[49:22] So I think with that we would entertain

[49:24] a motion.

[49:25] >> I'd like to move to approve the

[49:28] resolution approving the agreement

[49:29] governing funding for the median

[49:31] landscape improvement project.

[49:35] >> Second

[49:36] member Alberish.

[49:37] >> Yes.

[49:38] >> Council member Brown.

[49:38] >> Yes.

[49:39] >> Council member Gold.

[49:41] >> Yes.

[49:42] >> Council member Wall. Mayor Donowski.

[49:44] >> Yes. Thank you.

[49:49] » Unbelievable. Um, relatedly in a way is

[49:53] business item B, which is a resolution

[49:56] requesting

[49:57] uh a 35 mph consistent speed limit on

[50:00] Woodside Road um between uh uh all the

[50:04] way down to the alam. I think headed off

[50:06] to to you all, Jason.

[50:08] >> Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This is

[50:10] Jason Leer, the town manager, and uh

[50:12] thank you uh council members for the

[50:14] town of Woodside. So, we had a request

[50:17] come in from members of the community

[50:20] that primarily live on the east side of

[50:25] uh the 280 uh requesting that this

[50:28] section of 84 from Alama Deas Pulgus.

[50:32] And I want to just um rectify a misnomer

[50:36] here in the staff report is that it is

[50:39] essentially leading into the 25 mph

[50:42] section of the town. So ultimately would

[50:45] be advocating here is 435 from Alama

[50:48] until you reach the 25 mile per hour of

[50:50] the existing town center. When I first

[50:53] received this job and I was consistently

[50:55] coming um from a motel on El Camino over

[51:00] here uh to uh interview and and to meet

[51:03] the staff and to do Mayday. I was really

[51:06] blown away at the different miles per

[51:08] hour speed limits just entering into the

[51:11] community and then exiting and the fact

[51:13] in some instances um you couldn't even

[51:15] see the mile per hour speed limit

[51:17] because it was blocked by foliage and

[51:19] that people were just seemingly speeding

[51:21] uh and and this is a response

[51:24] essentially I think to that and the

[51:26] difficulty that it is to make a

[51:28] left-hand turn out of some of these

[51:29] communities uh because people are

[51:32] speeding at an excess rate and so We're

[51:35] advocating that if you do pass this, doesn't guarantee anything happens.

[51:40] This basically lets the state of

[51:42] California, California Department of

[51:43] Transportation know that the agency

[51:46] approves of the request and they take

[51:48] that request seriously. They have a

[51:50] process at which they will analyze this

[51:52] request. We would assume that there

[51:54] would be a traffic study. There would be

[51:55] a time frame before there was a response

[51:58] back to whether or not they would

[51:59] facilitate this technical request. But

[52:02] to answer more questions about this and

[52:04] to give an opportunity to someone who is

[52:06] highly involved, I'd say one-third of

[52:08] the management within the public, we do

[52:10] have Dan Duker here this evening and I'm

[52:12] not sure Dan if you wanted to come up

[52:14] and give a couple comments about this

[52:15] request and what it means to uh the

[52:18] members that have made it.

[52:22] » So, um when you guys came in, Wendy

[52:24] Buckley, who runs the HOA in Woodside

[52:27] Hills was here. She had just um gotten

[52:30] back from a long trip and so she was

[52:31] tired so she left but she wanted to be

[52:33] here to tell you the same thing I will.

[52:35] So um one of the top requests from our

[52:38] residents so so um I got to be careful

[52:40] which hat I'm wearing. So I I serve on

[52:42] the circulation committee and I'll tell

[52:43] you what we've been doing on this in the

[52:44] circulation committee in a second but I

[52:46] also run one of the HOAs east to 280.

[52:49] And so the three uh the three of us who

[52:51] run the three big HOAs there um we field

[52:54] complaints from our residents all the

[52:56] time and one of their top requests and

[52:58] the top things they're afraid of is

[53:00] making left turns onto Woodside Road out

[53:03] of Menllo Country Club out of the high

[53:05] school out of Northgate and Southgate

[53:08] and more road and a high road. And why

[53:10] are they scared of that? Because traffic

[53:12] moves as fast as 60 miles an hour down

[53:14] the hill. There's limited visibility.

[53:17] Um, we had a fatality a few years ago

[53:19] coming out of Memo Country Club. Um,

[53:21] there are accidents all the time. It's

[53:23] also the top area in town, I know this

[53:26] from circulation, where our sheriffs

[53:28] write speeding tickets. So, it's a

[53:30] problematic area. And so um in parallel

[53:34] to the us advocating for this as the

[53:36] leaders of the HAS for residents for the

[53:38] last couple of years if I flip on what's

[53:40] been going on in circulation. So

[53:42] circulation's been tracking this issue

[53:44] for as long as I've been there and and

[53:46] before. Um we've been working really

[53:49] hard on our relationship with Calrans

[53:50] for the last couple years and uh as a as

[53:53] a good side of the unfortunate fatality

[53:56] that happened up the hill uh this

[53:59] summer. Um, we met a gentleman named Ang

[54:02] Mong who who uh presented at circulation

[54:05] a few months ago. He's the director of

[54:08] safety for all of Calrans district 4

[54:10] covers the whole Bay Area. And so their

[54:13] attention was put on this area because

[54:14] of the fatality we had up at Skywando.

[54:17] Um, one of the things we learned from

[54:18] him in August was that there was a

[54:20] process by which we the residents could

[54:23] request them to make safety

[54:25] improvements, one of them being change

[54:26] the speed limit. And so that happened

[54:29] about August when we met him. We talked

[54:31] to him about all the issues in Woodside

[54:33] that we were worried about and uh he's

[54:35] like, "Hey, we can actually make that

[54:37] change happen. We can get the the goal

[54:38] is getting rid of the 45 mph section

[54:41] that runs from uh approximately Menllo

[54:44] Country Club to Moore Road and making

[54:45] the whole thing 35 to try to slow things

[54:48] down for the residents. Also, it'll help

[54:49] bicyclists and kids going to Woodside

[54:51] High as you won't have traffic going

[54:53] quite as fast down the hill next to the

[54:55] bike lanes. So we learned this process.

[54:57] So what he asked us to do is create a

[54:59] petition and uh he said make make a

[55:02] petition and that'll give us a sense of

[55:04] what residents want. So we did that in

[55:08] October November time frame. We did a

[55:10] single email blast. One of the

[55:11] advantages we have in the HOAs is that

[55:14] we have our emails of all the residents

[55:15] in that part of town. So we sent an

[55:17] email blast out saying hey what do you

[55:19] guys think of this idea to reduce the

[55:21] speed limit? We learned at the same time

[55:23] of the mayor's project for the

[55:25] beautifification

[55:27] uh project on Woodside Road. So we

[55:29] couched this as there's this opportunity

[55:31] to do this whole beautifification

[55:33] project and improve safety do it all as

[55:35] one thing. We had learned from Calrans

[55:37] that to call that section of road a

[55:39] parkway which enables some of the

[55:41] landscaping changes we're talking about

[55:44] that has to be 35 miles an hour anyway.

[55:46] So the things kind of all came together.

[55:48] this idea of let's ask for a uniform 35

[55:50] now we can do the parkway with the

[55:52] donations the residents will be happy

[55:54] about improved safety um within uh a

[55:57] couple of days we got more than 140 h

[56:00] households responded that survey I

[56:02] provided that under it to the council

[56:04] members but we have all the signatures

[56:06] um recorded in the online petition we

[56:08] had 100% positive support we had zero

[56:12] negative feedback so really high

[56:14] response really quick we only did a

[56:16] single email blast people were just

[56:18] really excited about it. So that's kind

[56:21] of the history and what got us on the

[56:22] citizen side of this today was this kind

[56:24] of long-term desire to improve safety

[56:26] and then this opportunistic thing that

[56:28] came together was can we support Brian's

[56:30] project which also required a reduced

[56:33] speed limit. We put them all together,

[56:35] hence the petition. You're you're making

[56:36] faces at me.

[56:38] >> No, I just want to continue to emphasize

[56:40] that definitely donor's project, but

[56:42] >> I'm sorry. The donor's project supported

[56:44] by the most honorable mayor

[56:47] Um, and I apologize. And so that's kind

[56:50] of how we found ourselves where we are

[56:52] today. Calrans then said, "Take the

[56:54] petition and then have the town council

[56:57] endorse it with a with a with a

[56:59] proposition on top of that. Send it back

[57:01] to this guy, Angroved."

[57:05] Make sense, Jason? Did I do what you

[57:08] wanted?

[57:08] >> Yeah, that makes complete sense. Thank

[57:09] you very much, Dan.

[57:10] >> You got it. Okay. Yes, Paul.

[57:11] >> Yeah. Questions for staff and Mr. Duker.

[57:15] one. Thank you for um that presentation.

[57:18] Um

[57:19] so there's a you know we all know about

[57:22] speed surveys and that sort of thing. Do

[57:24] you do I mean people drive very fast

[57:26] there. I think it's considered one of

[57:27] the most dangerous sections. It's got

[57:29] the highest rating or the lowest rating

[57:31] for danger. It's the most dangerous road

[57:35] I think classification in Calrans

[57:37] anywhere. Uh I think from the country

[57:39] club to the 280. Um they people speed

[57:42] there routinely anyway. Is there any I

[57:46] mean I know that this is sort of a

[57:47] recommendation from the council to

[57:49] Calrans. Um what do you think's going to

[57:53] happen here um when the speed survey

[57:55] shows that

[57:57] people are actually going faster than

[57:59] the current speed limit?

[58:01] >> So my hope is and what I understand from

[58:03] him is that this is not a risk of the

[58:06] speed limits cars go faster so they end

[58:08] up raising the speed limit. Right? This

[58:10] is a request

[58:11] >> they do they actually do that I guess.

[58:12] >> So this is a request to turn this is a

[58:14] request to turn it into a parkway and to

[58:16] reduce and my hope is that that's what

[58:18] happens. The idea is that the visual

[58:20] cues of a parkway you know with better

[58:23] landscaping and less kind of concrete

[58:25] and pavers and you know more more trees

[58:28] and shrubs and all that will clue people

[58:30] in kind of like sandill and that's what

[58:32] we've been thinking about or like when

[58:33] you see foothill um that'll clue people

[58:36] in it's just not an appropriate road to

[58:37] go that fast on. Um that coupled with

[58:40] the changes that are also on your

[58:42] calendar about bike ballards and the the

[58:44] bicycle safety project we discussed in

[58:46] the last council meeting. We think the

[58:48] kind of whole thing runs as a package to

[58:49] just make it safer and slow traffic down

[58:52] and make it clear it's not okay to go 65

[58:55] on that road which is what people are

[58:57] doing today. So I I think I I just don't

[59:00] know. Is there is there a risk that they

[59:02] could run a traffic a speed survey and

[59:04] raise the speed limit? I don't know. I

[59:06] hope not. But you're out of my

[59:08] wheelhouse with that.

[59:09] >> By the way, I like the idea of using

[59:11] Sand Hill as the uh comp because

[59:13] >> yeah,

[59:15] >> the speed limit is low on Sand Hill.

[59:16] >> Yeah. And that's that's the picture we

[59:18] sent to our residents. We said we want

[59:19] to make it look like this.

[59:22] >> I don't know if we're going to have the

[59:23] answer to this or not, but are there

[59:25] other factors besides speed limit that

[59:27] go into lowering a speed limit? Like

[59:29] fact that there's a big bend and people

[59:31] trying to come out, it's dangerous and

[59:33] you know

[59:34] >> all sorts of things. Are there other

[59:36] factors and inputs or is it literally

[59:37] they're going to do a speed survey and

[59:39] they could it could go against us?

[59:41] >> No, I think you rais a really good point

[59:43] and I think that uh Mr. Duker raises a

[59:45] good point. There's a total a totality

[59:47] of package here, right? We have the

[59:49] median project and we have the bike the

[59:51] bike ped project and so ultimately uh

[59:54] we're advocating for a safer location

[59:57] for people to get from point A to point

[59:58] B on different modes of transportation

[1:00:01] into our town center. And so I think we

[1:00:03] will take the angle of advocating for

[1:00:05] those improvements to be considered

[1:00:07] within dropping the speed limit that

[1:00:09] we're going to have on the other side

[1:00:11] now the bike lane as well and a pedestri

[1:00:13] well we hope a pedestrian pathway um

[1:00:15] which is calling out for the need for

[1:00:17] more safety. So we will advocate to

[1:00:20] Calrans uh those points.

[1:00:22] >> Wonderful.

[1:00:22] >> And we have him scheduled to be at the

[1:00:24] circulation meeting next month.

[1:00:27] >> Great. Um, so maybe building off of

[1:00:30] Brian's comment, um, I think this is a

[1:00:33] slam dunk. Um, this and then, you know,

[1:00:36] the the addition of like the,

[1:00:38] um, bike pedestrian project, the

[1:00:40] beautifification together, I just can't

[1:00:42] wait to see how it turns out. Um,

[1:00:48] have you guys looked at other requests

[1:00:50] for um, lowering a speed limit and kind

[1:00:53] of done some leg work to figure out what

[1:00:56] makes a request successful or what makes

[1:00:58] a request not successful? So, I want to

[1:01:01] make sure that we really, you know, put

[1:01:03] ourselves that our best foot forward to

[1:01:05] make sure that this request gets

[1:01:06] approved. Um, so I'm wondering if any of

[1:01:08] that kind of background work has been

[1:01:10] done. Not for me personally, but Cindy,

[1:01:13] what's your experience with CALR and

[1:01:15] these requests and the does the town

[1:01:17] have any experience with that?

[1:01:19] >> Um, we haven't reduced a speed limit,

[1:01:22] but typically when there's a request for

[1:01:24] speed studies um speed reduction or um

[1:01:28] just speed studies done and then the 85

[1:01:31] percentile is what is set as a speed

[1:01:33] limit. Um we I did not do any research

[1:01:37] on uh how CALR uh works but for the town

[1:01:40] streets the traffic engineer looks at

[1:01:42] the 85 percentile speed. Okay. So it

[1:01:44] sounds like we might have a little bit

[1:01:45] of risk here right if the speed limit is

[1:01:47] typically set at the 80th percentile of

[1:01:49] the flow of traffic. That would make me

[1:01:51] a little nervous that there could be

[1:01:53] some risk that like a traffic study

[1:01:55] might not cut our way. So, I would

[1:01:58] really encourage the staff to to figure

[1:02:01] out like how could we make our best case

[1:02:02] here and and and and set ourselves up

[1:02:04] for success in getting the request

[1:02:06] approved.

[1:02:07] >> Absolutely. We can do that.

[1:02:09] >> I would point out though that the 45 mph

[1:02:12] zone is a very short stretch

[1:02:16] from basically Meno Country Club to

[1:02:19] >> more

[1:02:20] >> to more road and it's not like the whole

[1:02:22] road is 45 miles an hour. So, I don't I

[1:02:26] don't think a traffic study would show

[1:02:29] any any desire to go for 45 55 miles up

[1:02:33] and down.

[1:02:35] >> Uh, Council Member Brown, that's a great

[1:02:37] point and it I just want to make sure

[1:02:39] I'm clear. So, I want to uh make this

[1:02:42] caveat. I'd like to we change the

[1:02:44] resolution to instead of Alama de las

[1:02:47] pulgasta town center we'd be very

[1:02:49] concise with where where we're asking

[1:02:51] because ultimately if there is risk now

[1:02:53] all of a sudden okay this tiny 45 mph

[1:02:56] stretch you're saying CALR is going to

[1:02:58] go to 55 and then immediately fall to 35

[1:03:00] which would make absolutely no sense I

[1:03:02] think that would safeguard us and so

[1:03:04] when you guys do vote I would

[1:03:06] >> smart

[1:03:06] >> I would um and I think you pointed that

[1:03:08] out to me Dan so so we would we would

[1:03:11] ultimately have that would be the vote

[1:03:14] Yeah, it's literally a few hundred yards

[1:03:16] where it goes up back down.

[1:03:18] >> Yeah.

[1:03:21] » Nice. Uh, any other questions?

[1:03:24] Good workshopping going on here. Um, any

[1:03:27] comments from the public? And I think,

[1:03:29] uh, we can jump right to the Zoom room

[1:03:31] because I see Elliot and Steve, you're

[1:03:34] up first.

[1:03:35] >> Hello. This is this is Steve this time.

[1:03:37] Can you hear me?

[1:03:38] >> Yes, sir.

[1:03:39] >> All right. U well I totally support what

[1:03:41] Dan said. I'm also a member of

[1:03:43] circulation committee u and I think uh

[1:03:47] there I' I've been vaguely aware of

[1:03:50] changes in in state law that allows CALR

[1:03:54] to lower speed limits uh not you know

[1:03:57] below the 85th percentile and I hope we

[1:04:00] look into that and take full advantage

[1:04:02] of it. Uh lowering the speed would make

[1:04:05] the road much more attractive for

[1:04:07] walkers and bicyclists. And there was a

[1:04:10] bicyclist fatality there maybe 10 or 15

[1:04:12] years ago in this section. So that would

[1:04:14] be another evidence of why this should

[1:04:17] be lowered. And uh thank you. I'm very

[1:04:19] happy to see the landscape going through

[1:04:21] and hope if this speed limit gets

[1:04:23] lowered to 35, it also allows us to put

[1:04:26] some oak trees in the middle of the

[1:04:27] road. U which I think there's CALR rules

[1:04:30] about speed limits and trees. So, uh,

[1:04:34] that would be another advantage. So,

[1:04:35] thank you for both these last two agenda

[1:04:39] items.

[1:04:41] >> Thank you, Steve. And the landscape

[1:04:43] committee has recommended oaks where we

[1:04:45] can. And uh, you are right that there is

[1:04:48] a uh,

[1:04:50] trees can't go where there's a 40 mph or greater speed limit on on a state

[1:04:54] highway. And it back into the room. Yes,

[1:04:58] sir.

[1:05:00] >> I was thinking there was someone else on

[1:05:01] Zoom. Uh I'm Walker, Walker Wells. I'm

[1:05:03] also on the circulation committee. I

[1:05:04] just wanted to call out a big shout out

[1:05:06] to Dan and his work specifically as a

[1:05:10] liaison to Calrans

[1:05:12] I do think is making a very big

[1:05:14] difference. Um and um obviously Woodside

[1:05:18] specifically has this uh dynamic. we

[1:05:21] have a lot of people coming through the

[1:05:22] town and we have this huge dependency on

[1:05:26] Calrans and so I really do think just a

[1:05:29] major props to you to like you know he's

[1:05:31] doing a lot of work behind the scenes

[1:05:32] that you don't see to like really

[1:05:34] develop those relationships. Um

[1:05:38] just on that also there's another uh

[1:05:41] petition that's gathering signatures up

[1:05:43] at four corners to lower the speed limit

[1:05:45] up there as well which I think you'll

[1:05:47] hear more of uh soon. Um but uh yeah, I

[1:05:51] just wanted to call out the importance

[1:05:52] specifically for Woodside having this

[1:05:54] massive Calrans uh dependency that

[1:05:57] people like Dan who's really you know

[1:05:59] spending the time to develop that

[1:06:01] relationship will make a very big

[1:06:02] difference and they have indicated that

[1:06:05] you know uh if we were to go make a

[1:06:08] special request having the backing of

[1:06:10] the council having the signatures gives

[1:06:13] them the air cover to say hey this is a

[1:06:15] request from the town of Woodside this

[1:06:18] is not just us kind of, you know, uh,

[1:06:21] getting an email and lowering the speed

[1:06:22] limit. So, you know, gathering

[1:06:24] signatures and having these resolutions

[1:06:26] do make a very big difference.

[1:06:28] >> Wonderful. Thank you, Walker. And we

[1:06:30] will certainly echo that this is the

[1:06:32] most significant citizen petition uh

[1:06:34] that we've received since the outdoor

[1:06:36] dining parking expansion measure A. So,

[1:06:39] uh, thank you. It's really impressive.

[1:06:41] 140 odd signatures. Not so odd, but 140

[1:06:45] something.

[1:06:48] Uh any other comments from public?

[1:06:51] >> I'm looking and seeing nothing.

[1:06:54] I think with that we will close public

[1:06:56] comment and move on to council

[1:06:58] deliberations. Would anyone want to kick

[1:07:00] things off?

[1:07:02] >> Good.

[1:07:03] >> Really very enthusiastically supportive

[1:07:05] of this.

[1:07:06] >> Wonderful.

[1:07:08] Uh son.

[1:07:10] >> Yeah. Uh I've always thought that that

[1:07:12] was a a shockingly, you know, fast low

[1:07:15] traffic area. it just seems to come out

[1:07:17] of nowhere. You start driving up, you

[1:07:19] know, this normal 35 speed limit and

[1:07:21] then suddenly people are racing and so

[1:07:23] I've always thought it was dangerous.

[1:07:24] Felt uncomfortable there. Um, and I I

[1:07:27] appreciate all of your work, Dan, and

[1:07:31] uh getting getting this together and and

[1:07:34] um you know, making this happen to thank

[1:07:36] you

[1:07:39] >> others. Yeah, I also wanted to thank Dan

[1:07:41] the uh the Calrans man and um we

[1:07:44] appreciate your efforts. The uh um my so

[1:07:49] uh some really great points I think were

[1:07:52] made tonight. One, it is a very short

[1:07:54] segment where it goes up from 35 to 45

[1:07:58] and then back down to 35 just as you

[1:08:00] enter the um well as you pass by more

[1:08:04] road I think it goes uh it goes down

[1:08:06] again. So um that I think that's an

[1:08:09] important thing to to that that I think

[1:08:11] the current design is actually

[1:08:12] inconsistent because you have these

[1:08:14] changing speed limits and I think having

[1:08:16] one speed limit uh the entire way not

[1:08:19] that I don't think the resolution should

[1:08:20] be framed that way. We should focus on

[1:08:22] those few hundred yards uh for practical

[1:08:24] reasons but I think that um if we could

[1:08:27] um lobby and persuade Calrans I think

[1:08:29] that would go a long way. I'm I'm also I

[1:08:32] just wanted to mention something that

[1:08:33] Cindy had mentioned before this 85 85th

[1:08:36] percentile. The way I understand it, I

[1:08:38] was actually on a a call with Calrans uh

[1:08:41] few months ago for some other part of

[1:08:43] Woodside and um unincorporated uh county

[1:08:47] I should say. And the way I understood

[1:08:49] the way they do speed surveys, it was

[1:08:51] always kind of a mystery to me. I mean,

[1:08:52] how do they do this thing? My

[1:08:54] understanding at least this is what the

[1:08:55] CALR person said is that they actually

[1:08:57] clock 100 consecutive vehicles put them

[1:09:00] in order of speed and countdown 15 and

[1:09:03] that's the number. I mean it was almost

[1:09:05] that that I can only tell you that's

[1:09:06] what the CALR person said. Um and it was

[1:09:09] sort of like I was pretty shocked at

[1:09:10] that because um um they do count have a

[1:09:13] certain time of day that they do it but

[1:09:15] they were trying to get that and and um

[1:09:17] often speed surveys do show that the

[1:09:19] speed limit should go up not down. Uh

[1:09:21] that's because people speed a lot. Um,

[1:09:23] but I think that lobbying, this personal

[1:09:25] relationship, I think could go a long

[1:09:27] way. And I think our relationship with

[1:09:28] Calrans that actually dates back to the

[1:09:30] collapse of um, Highway 84 during, you

[1:09:33] know, what was it, three winters ago,

[1:09:36] uh, could really uh, help us here and

[1:09:38] hopefully there's a silver lining to it.

[1:09:39] But I definitely support the, uh,

[1:09:41] resolution for all the reasons said

[1:09:43] before and it'll u, I I I like the image

[1:09:46] of a sand hill road uh, in that segment.

[1:09:49] That's a that's a pretty nice image that

[1:09:51] um, we could use here.

[1:09:53] Wonderful. Thank you.

[1:09:54] >> I want to give an image to the town

[1:09:55] council. You're sitting in the We're

[1:09:58] getting ready to get on uh Woodside Road

[1:10:02] and you see the traffic light right in

[1:10:03] front of Woodside High change

[1:10:07] and the traffic begins to move. The

[1:10:09] speed goes from 35 to 45 on a speed

[1:10:12] limit and you're trying to turn left to

[1:10:14] go up the hill. I mean, your heart

[1:10:17] starts racing. Am I going to make it or

[1:10:19] not? I mean, it is scary. really scary

[1:10:22] and I think doing that one stretch can

[1:10:25] make a huge difference for a lot of

[1:10:26] people, especially me. So, thank you.

[1:10:28] >> Yeah.

[1:10:31] >> All right, that's that's great. I don't

[1:10:32] have a lot to add. That's uh it's an

[1:10:34] unsafe situation. It's inconsistent. Uh

[1:10:39] often I'm driving that stretch of road.

[1:10:41] I don't even I'm not even sure what the

[1:10:42] speed limit is. Uh so, I mean uh we do

[1:10:44] have to get some consistency going

[1:10:46] there. And uh we're doing so much

[1:10:48] wonderful work in this area. uh all

[1:10:50] these projects could come together and

[1:10:52] we could really uh really have a

[1:10:54] transformational impact here. So happy

[1:10:56] to endorse it and move it forward

[1:10:57] through the normal channels. So if we

[1:10:59] could get a motion with the adjustment

[1:11:02] to how we want to phrase that the

[1:11:03] adjustment to just the

[1:11:05] >> and at the very end it says Alama to

[1:11:07] town center if we can just replace that

[1:11:09] with um a Churchill to more.

[1:11:12] >> Churchill to Moore. Okay. If we

[1:11:14] >> is it Churchill where it's

[1:11:17] >> Yeah. Uh would someone like to make that

[1:11:20] motion? Substitution for Churchill to

[1:11:22] Moore.

[1:11:24] >> Thank you.

[1:11:26] >> I'll make it. Um uh I would like to move

[1:11:30] to approve a resolution of the town

[1:11:32] council of the town of Woodside

[1:11:33] requesting the California Department of

[1:11:35] Transportation Calrans to establish a 35

[1:11:38] mph speed limit on state highway 84 from

[1:11:42] Churchill to Churchill Road to Moore

[1:11:45] Road.

[1:11:48] Second.

[1:11:49] >> Council member Alberish.

[1:11:51] >> Yes.

[1:11:51] >> Council member Brown.

[1:11:52] >> Yes.

[1:11:52] >> Council member Gold.

[1:11:53] >> Yes.

[1:11:54] >> Council member Wall.

[1:11:55] >> Mayor Donowski.

[1:11:56] >> Yes. Thank you.

[1:11:59] Mr. Duker.

[1:12:01] Uh, moving on to new business item C,

[1:12:04] resolution modifying the town salary

[1:12:06] schedule and classification plan. Back

[1:12:08] to you again.

[1:12:10] >> Yeah, thank you, Mr. Mayor, and the

[1:12:12] Woodside Town Council. So this is an

[1:12:14] interesting interesting item just

[1:12:16] because of the size of the organization.

[1:12:19] So ultimately uh just to kind of cut

[1:12:21] through some of the verbiage in the

[1:12:23] staff report is is just to make it very

[1:12:26] succinct here is that we're talking

[1:12:27] about positions because we also are

[1:12:30] talking about personnel and the town

[1:12:32] council really manages the positions of

[1:12:34] the town and then the town manager fills

[1:12:37] those positions. And so I'm advocating

[1:12:39] here this evening within the staff

[1:12:41] report is an addition of an assistant

[1:12:44] town manager and a deletion of the

[1:12:48] assistant to the town manager position.

[1:12:51] Uh the staff report also requests the

[1:12:53] deletion of the administrative assistant

[1:12:56] position and replacing that with a

[1:12:58] management analyst position. And so

[1:13:01] there would be people that would be

[1:13:02] currently in these positions that would

[1:13:04] be moving into new positions and then

[1:13:06] these old positions would uh be removed.

[1:13:10] And so the full-time equivalency would

[1:13:12] be netneutral.

[1:13:13] So the management analyst position is

[1:13:15] offering social mobility within the

[1:13:18] organization to continue to develop and

[1:13:19] grow our team to take on more

[1:13:21] responsibility. Uh this move is a growth

[1:13:24] opportunity as the administrative

[1:13:26] assistant continues to assume and become

[1:13:28] a specialist within the functions and

[1:13:30] operations of our finance department.

[1:13:33] Uh the assistant to the town manager

[1:13:35] position has a draft job description

[1:13:38] that's been created and if approved this

[1:13:40] evening, the final job description will

[1:13:41] be completed by me later on this week.

[1:13:44] The role of the assistant town manager

[1:13:46] position will have a multitude of

[1:13:48] responsibilities with some of the

[1:13:49] highlights being responsible for IT,

[1:13:51] code enforcement, volunteer committees,

[1:13:53] staff management. So, I would like to

[1:13:56] see a process for hypothetically a

[1:13:59] budget, a very maybe a very meager

[1:14:01] budget for each of the uh volunteer

[1:14:04] committees because we do have noticing

[1:14:06] that happens. Ultimately, postcards get

[1:14:08] mailed out and right now that's coming

[1:14:11] out of a trunch of other monies. And so,

[1:14:13] I want to see more organization in this

[1:14:15] role would take that on. Ultimately,

[1:14:17] they would manage the liaison and then

[1:14:20] they would manage a process to get

[1:14:22] capital improvement brought to the town

[1:14:25] council from each of these volunteer

[1:14:29] committees. They would also be managing

[1:14:30] social media. And so this is beyond how

[1:14:33] we're currently doing it. This would be

[1:14:35] training individuals in the public works

[1:14:37] department on our expectations of when

[1:14:40] there is traffic or encroachment permits

[1:14:42] and things need to get noticed to the

[1:14:45] community. they would actually manage

[1:14:47] training the individual and then it

[1:14:49] would be expected that the individual

[1:14:50] department would then be uh facilitating

[1:14:53] some of this action. So it all be also

[1:14:55] be responsible for emergency

[1:14:56] preparedness. Uh the goal would also be

[1:14:59] to add flexibility within the

[1:15:01] organization to deal with what is

[1:15:02] currently happening. Obviously I was

[1:15:04] referenced this earlier this evening but

[1:15:06] we're uh a total of three department

[1:15:08] heads here in in Woodside and currently

[1:15:11] two of them are are not here. their unfilled positions. And so one of

[1:15:17] the first actions that would happen is

[1:15:18] the assistant town manager would be

[1:15:20] assigned ultimately rather than to split

[1:15:22] them up in this instance. They would be

[1:15:24] assigned if approved this evening uh the

[1:15:27] administrative services director

[1:15:29] position ultimately until we fill that

[1:15:31] position. They would I would be able to

[1:15:32] lean on that person to to provide

[1:15:34] oversight as an interim in that role.

[1:15:37] And this is a succession opportunity.

[1:15:40] Obviously, I'm just hired. I don't plan

[1:15:41] on going anywhere. And uh but ultimately

[1:15:45] something could happen to me, something

[1:15:47] could happen to a family member of mine.

[1:15:48] This gives flexibility within the

[1:15:50] organization to have at least an interim

[1:15:53] set, right? You are you you now have

[1:15:55] some some level of control. You can have

[1:15:57] maybe a more long-term approach looking

[1:15:59] to fill the position or hypothetically

[1:16:01] my goal is is that wherever I am, as

[1:16:05] weird as this sounds, my goal is to work

[1:16:06] myself out of a job, right? My goal is

[1:16:08] to put the organization in a position

[1:16:11] where I'm no longer needed and then I

[1:16:13] can ultimately do more at a higher

[1:16:14] level. Uh but right now that would be

[1:16:17] the goal is to get somebody in the

[1:16:18] position that we are grooming over a

[1:16:21] multitude of years. So the first special

[1:16:24] project because I would also see that

[1:16:25] this position would have special project

[1:16:28] uh opportunities and that would be the

[1:16:30] housing element deliverable. So, we have

[1:16:32] many ordinance updates that need to be

[1:16:34] done and completed within um the housing

[1:16:37] element for compliance with HCD. They're

[1:16:40] very lowhanging fruit. Uh and so

[1:16:42] considering this person's very strong

[1:16:44] legal writing and understanding of, you

[1:16:47] know, resolutions, ordinances, staff

[1:16:49] reports, uh they would be my liaison to

[1:16:52] organize within a meeting that we will

[1:16:54] be having here very soon on what those

[1:16:56] deliverables are, how many of these

[1:16:58] ordinances can we get done. they would

[1:17:00] be the go-between to orchestrate that

[1:17:03] work and then manage that work product

[1:17:05] that's going to take the planning

[1:17:06] manager and the town attorney in order

[1:17:09] to facilitate getting that in front of

[1:17:11] the council. So that is kind of the

[1:17:14] overarching view of how I see the

[1:17:16] position and then ultimately I imagine

[1:17:18] that we're going to have a multitude of

[1:17:20] projects that come out of the town

[1:17:21] center area plan. So this is increasing

[1:17:23] the capacity of the organization.

[1:17:25] Tonight you approved a contract for

[1:17:27] Shawn Rose Engineering. That is to

[1:17:29] increase the capacity of the projects

[1:17:31] that we can deliver. That is my um goal

[1:17:34] here through this alteration is to

[1:17:36] increase the capacity of our delivery

[1:17:38] but also to increase the capacity of our

[1:17:41] customer service to the community. So

[1:17:44] these moves are important to me as they

[1:17:45] offer what I consider to be social

[1:17:47] mobility within an organization which

[1:17:49] helps develop and retain talent. So the

[1:17:52] addition of an assistant town manager

[1:17:54] will allow for increased organizational

[1:17:56] management. One of the things that

[1:17:58] happens here is that inevitably

[1:18:00] uh especially in government it's

[1:18:02] difficult to make a decision. People

[1:18:04] cavitate at that decision and ultimately

[1:18:06] in my role I have to make a decision

[1:18:08] with the information that I have. I have

[1:18:10] to make the best decision that I can

[1:18:11] make at that time. And there's instances

[1:18:13] where I'm at the library JPA meeting in

[1:18:16] San Monteo or I'm at the CEO's office.

[1:18:19] I'm offsite. an action could be taken

[1:18:22] and a decision maker needs to be created

[1:18:24] in order for that action to be taken and

[1:18:26] right now the town of Woodside lacks

[1:18:28] that. So this would also rectify that

[1:18:31] issue as I see it. So if there's any

[1:18:33] questions I'd be happy to answer them.

[1:18:36] >> Thank you. Questions for Jason?

[1:18:44] » Okay. Yeah. Sorry.

[1:18:48] >> Go ahead. Yes. Council member Wall.

[1:18:52] >> So, couple questions. What is the salary

[1:18:55] delta between the I'm looking at the

[1:18:57] exhibit A, but it looks like the

[1:18:59] assistant the town manager is not listed

[1:19:01] here, which I understand because they

[1:19:03] this is being limited. What's the what's

[1:19:04] the salary delta between assistant town

[1:19:07] manager and assistant to do?

[1:19:10] >> Yeah, that's a that's a great question.

[1:19:12] And ultimately, what I'll have to do is

[1:19:15] look up the current salary schedule on

[1:19:16] our website right now to tell you what

[1:19:18] that is. So, if you can give me a

[1:19:19] second,

[1:19:20] >> while you're doing that, so I think I'm

[1:19:22] really supportive of this of this

[1:19:23] change. I think like giving you more um

[1:19:27] creating a position that is scoped in a

[1:19:29] way that will give you more um

[1:19:32] management efficiency

[1:19:35] um I think is is fantastic. I'm curious

[1:19:37] because what way this is playing out,

[1:19:39] right? Like we have an assistant town

[1:19:41] manager, Melissa. Looks like she is

[1:19:43] going to be our new assistant town

[1:19:46] manager. Um, I think that's my

[1:19:48] interpretation of how this is being

[1:19:50] presented. Um, I'm curious to what

[1:19:54] extent is our current assistant to the

[1:19:56] town manager, Melissa, is she already

[1:19:59] doing the things that are on the job

[1:20:01] description that you're finalizing?

[1:20:03] >> Yeah, that's a great point. She's

[1:20:06] physically doing a lot of those things

[1:20:08] now. And what this would alleviate is it

[1:20:10] would give her the ability to train

[1:20:12] someone else and hold them accountable

[1:20:13] to physically doing it. And so people

[1:20:17] are interesting, right? And managing

[1:20:19] people is fascinating. Quite frankly, uh

[1:20:21] the dynamics of people is interesting.

[1:20:23] It never is a black and white situation.

[1:20:25] And so it's very common for someone who

[1:20:27] is attempting to get something done,

[1:20:28] especially before I came on scene here,

[1:20:31] working with the department heads,

[1:20:33] working with people, and ultimately

[1:20:34] maybe not gaining the traction uh to

[1:20:37] have them have the buyin. And so what

[1:20:39] happens is is that this position, the

[1:20:41] administrative assistant position uh or

[1:20:44] the assistant to the town manager

[1:20:46] position regardless of uh this is just

[1:20:49] reality is that some people poo poo that

[1:20:51] position. They poo poo uh they they

[1:20:53] disregard it, right? It doesn't mean

[1:20:55] anything to them. That that person's not

[1:20:57] managing them. I'm not saying that

[1:20:58] that's what's transpired here, but

[1:21:00] ultimately what I'm seeing is that this

[1:21:02] individual that we're talking about is

[1:21:04] doing the work and doesn't have the

[1:21:06] ability to delegate and manage some of

[1:21:08] the people that we can hold accountable

[1:21:10] that ultimately should be doing some of

[1:21:13] this work because they're managing their

[1:21:14] own departments.

[1:21:15] >> Yeah. So, who will be reporting to the assistant town manager?

[1:21:21] >> Yeah, that has not I I'm a little leery

[1:21:24] to really say, hey, we're going to

[1:21:25] divide the town up, right? But I will

[1:21:28] ultimately uh they'll have technically

[1:21:31] the organization chart that we kind of

[1:21:33] brought for a desk item. They would be

[1:21:36] directly under me. Everybody else would

[1:21:38] flow up to both of us. So ultimately

[1:21:41] they would be I would be empowering them

[1:21:43] to make decisions and that would take

[1:21:45] probably 12 months if I'm being

[1:21:47] blatantly honest with you. And then over

[1:21:49] that time period we would look at we

[1:21:51] have opportunities obviously I think

[1:21:53] everybody's very well aware of. One of

[1:21:54] them that I haven't been able to enter

[1:21:56] into yet is the building department. We

[1:21:59] have an opportunity for management over

[1:22:01] there managing CSG. Uh when we lost the

[1:22:04] building official, right now that

[1:22:06] defaults to public works. Obviously, we

[1:22:08] have no public works director, but even

[1:22:09] for the public works director, it's a

[1:22:11] heavy lift. And so, you can imagine that

[1:22:13] one of the assignments right now over

[1:22:15] the first year could be overseeing and

[1:22:18] getting involved in that. But

[1:22:19] inevitably, everybody that reports to me

[1:22:22] technically would also report up through

[1:22:25] to Melissa as well. That's how I would

[1:22:27] run it.

[1:22:28] >> Sorry, I'm trying to understand. And

[1:22:29] they would report into her and then she

[1:22:32] to you

[1:22:33] >> kind of. It's just not the same as an

[1:22:35] organization of a 100 plus people. This

[1:22:37] is 24 people. Inevitably, I am very

[1:22:41] communicative and very engaged. And so

[1:22:45] we would be, you could think of this as

[1:22:47] kind of um a two-headed monster approach

[1:22:50] is that we would not at this point I am

[1:22:52] unwilling to to just put someone in this

[1:22:55] position and assign them certain

[1:22:57] departments. I really feel like they

[1:22:58] need to work with me for that 12 months

[1:23:01] before we explore whether or not

[1:23:03] assigning them to an a department makes

[1:23:05] sense or designing uh assigning specific

[1:23:09] departments to them. But eventually we

[1:23:11] would get to that point ultimately. That

[1:23:13] would be my expectation.

[1:23:15] >> How do you envision making it really

[1:23:17] clear to staff like who can make what

[1:23:19] decision?

[1:23:21] >> Yeah, I want to empower that actually. I

[1:23:23] want to I want more decision making. I

[1:23:25] want uh and so ultimately it's training

[1:23:28] people as to how we make that decision.

[1:23:30] Right now all decisions are defaulting

[1:23:32] to me. Hey, someone has a question about

[1:23:34] this bu this building permit

[1:23:36] application.

[1:23:37] Inevitably, that's an email to me that

[1:23:39] could go four or five days before

[1:23:41] because I'm out of the office, I'm at

[1:23:43] meetings and I'm not overlapping with

[1:23:45] the individual. Whereas I have someone

[1:23:46] who could physically be here who could

[1:23:48] rectify that. So announcement would be

[1:23:50] made. It would be made very clearly that

[1:23:52] the expectation is is that this person

[1:23:55] has the same authority essentially as I

[1:23:57] do and that they could go to this person

[1:24:00] when I am not here to have a decision

[1:24:02] made. uh the reason that this person

[1:24:06] uh meets my expectation is because I

[1:24:08] have this level of trust with that

[1:24:10] person. It's not someone on paper. I've

[1:24:12] worked with this person for seven to

[1:24:13] eight months now and I've seen that they

[1:24:16] have the innate qualities that I believe

[1:24:18] make me more successful and can branch

[1:24:21] my management style out better uh to the

[1:24:24] entirety of the organization.

[1:24:27] >> So, I just want to make sure I'm hearing

[1:24:28] correctly. This new assistant to the

[1:24:30] town manager will have equal

[1:24:32] decision-making authority as you.

[1:24:35] >> Yeah, in the broad sense of daily

[1:24:37] management. Absolutely. So the core

[1:24:39] functions of the business. Absolutely.

[1:24:41] Now, you know, hopefully in the broader

[1:24:44] sense of the terms, obviously I'm the

[1:24:46] town manager. Everything defaults to me.

[1:24:48] Uh so I am instilling and empowering my

[1:24:51] perspective into this person by working

[1:24:54] with me and understanding you know what

[1:24:56] would Jason do in this situation. That's

[1:24:58] the ultimate goal is that I am

[1:25:00] attempting you know for lack of better

[1:25:03] terminology to make a miniature me.

[1:25:05] >> Okay. Yeah. I mean I think this is a

[1:25:07] really big in my view really big move

[1:25:10] for the town. Um this is a a pretty

[1:25:12] significant administrative and

[1:25:14] management change. Um, so I would be

[1:25:18] really uh I would really love once you

[1:25:21] have it once you have the job

[1:25:23] description finalized um and and a

[1:25:26] better sense of like the roles the role

[1:25:28] and responsibilities of the new um

[1:25:31] assistant town manager. It would be

[1:25:33] wonderful if Melissa could come and kind

[1:25:34] of if you together could kind of talk to

[1:25:36] us about the specifics of you know what

[1:25:39] she'll be doing, the special projects

[1:25:40] that she'll be taking on um and when you

[1:25:43] know like you know to the extent there

[1:25:44] will be like formal uh reporting

[1:25:46] obligations, management

[1:25:48] responsibilities. I think that would be

[1:25:49] really um I would really be um very

[1:25:52] interested in hearing that.

[1:25:54] >> Absolutely. One of the first tasks of

[1:25:56] this person based off of what happens

[1:25:58] this evening is that they would be

[1:25:59] tasked with presenting that information

[1:26:01] to you because ultimately that would be

[1:26:03] the growth curve of this position is

[1:26:05] that if for some reason I can't be here,

[1:26:07] I mean I I assume I will always be here,

[1:26:09] but if there's overlap or a requirement

[1:26:11] for me to be somewhere else, the

[1:26:13] expectation is that they're going to be

[1:26:14] the one sitting in this seat that

[1:26:15] they're going to be presenting to you.

[1:26:16] And so ultimately that's a learning

[1:26:18] curve opportunity for this person is

[1:26:20] that we would purposely throw them in

[1:26:22] front of you to build up their public

[1:26:24] speaking skills.

[1:26:25] >> Right. And then were you able to find

[1:26:27] the salary delta?

[1:26:28] >> Yeah, I'm sorry. So right now we have a

[1:26:31] pretty wide range and that's something

[1:26:33] I'm would like to rectify when we get a

[1:26:35] new admin services director. But right

[1:26:38] now

[1:26:39] the assistant to the town manager, this

[1:26:42] is the monthly starts out it's very low.

[1:26:45] Our starting ones are extremely low,

[1:26:47] 7,430.

[1:26:48] And they've just never been changed.

[1:26:50] Ultimately, you normally move everything

[1:26:51] up for some reason in Woodside. It

[1:26:54] wouldn't surprise me if that number's

[1:26:55] been on here for more than a decade. And

[1:26:58] then that caps out at 14,860.

[1:27:02] And for the department head range, which

[1:27:04] is what I'm advocating for, it's uh

[1:27:07] starts out at 11,984

[1:27:09] and goes up to 23,968

[1:27:12] monthly. So there's a pretty decent

[1:27:15] overlap with with the position as it

[1:27:18] stands currently as it maxes at 14860

[1:27:21] and then it's it hypothetically the

[1:27:24] lowest point of entry is 119.84

[1:27:27] on our salary schedule.

[1:27:33] Okay, any other questions?

[1:27:36] We will open up public comment then. Any

[1:27:38] members of the public that wish to

[1:27:41] have a question on item C?

[1:27:45] Let me I'm sorry I've lost my Zoom

[1:27:47] screen. There it is. Okay. Uh here comes

[1:27:50] Walker. We got one in the room. Yes,

[1:27:52] sir.

[1:27:53] >> Uh no question. But uh because Jason

[1:27:55] comes to so many of the circulation

[1:27:57] meetings, I just wanted to give you big

[1:27:59] props. I've been very impressed by Jason

[1:28:02] and how he helps the circulation

[1:28:03] committee kind of understand their role,

[1:28:06] their scope, and how they can be

[1:28:07] effective. I just ever since I've met

[1:28:09] you, I've been very impressed and have

[1:28:11] enjoyed working with you. So, yeah.

[1:28:13] >> Thank you very much, Walker. This wasn't

[1:28:15] planned.

[1:28:17] Thank you.

[1:28:18] >> Thank you.

[1:28:18] >> And I don't normally give accolades,

[1:28:20] although I've given two tonight. Um, but

[1:28:22] uh yeah.

[1:28:23] >> Okay. Wow. Well, thank you very much. We

[1:28:26] appreciate hearing that, of course.

[1:28:28] >> I think with that we'll close public

[1:28:30] comment. Always close with a winning

[1:28:32] hand. Uh and we will open up any

[1:28:35] deliberations on this item. Any member

[1:28:37] of the council have anything to add?

[1:28:40] I

[1:28:40] >> think this makes sense.

[1:28:46] » I think we can take a a motion.

[1:28:49] >> I move that we approve the uh amendment

[1:28:51] to the town manager employment

[1:28:52] agreement.

[1:28:53] >> Uh the item C too far down.

[1:28:57] >> False.

[1:29:00] Resolution modifier

[1:29:01] >> that we modify the 25 28 to 2 can't read

[1:29:07] >> six

[1:29:07] >> 25 to 26 salary scheduling

[1:29:09] classification plan by adding an

[1:29:11] assistant town manager position removing

[1:29:13] the assistant to the town manager

[1:29:15] position adding a management analyst

[1:29:17] position within the finance department

[1:29:19] and deleting the administrative

[1:29:20] assistant position.

[1:29:24] » Second

[1:29:26] >> council member Alberish.

[1:29:27] >> Yes.

[1:29:28] >> Council member Brown.

[1:29:28] >> Yes. Council member Gold.

[1:29:30] >> Yes.

[1:29:30] >> Council member Wall. Yes.

[1:29:31] >> Mayor Donowski.

[1:29:32] >> Yes. Thank you. Uh and then finally, uh

[1:29:36] Gan, I'm handing this off to you.

[1:29:37] Approval of a first amendment to the

[1:29:39] town manager's employment agreement.

[1:29:41] >> Yes. Thank you. Good evening. Uh when

[1:29:43] your town manager was hired, your uh

[1:29:46] employment agreement with him provided

[1:29:47] that he would have a six-month

[1:29:49] performance review and thereafter a

[1:29:51] yearly performance review. You have

[1:29:53] completed the six-month performance

[1:29:55] review and pursue it to the terms of the

[1:29:56] contract. Um, each time you do a

[1:29:58] performance review, one of the questions

[1:30:01] to ask that you ask yourselves is,

[1:30:03] should there be a salary adjustment? And

[1:30:05] it is my understanding that there is a

[1:30:06] recommendation for a salary adjustment

[1:30:08] as a result of the six-month review that

[1:30:11] would move uh the town manager's salary

[1:30:13] from 300,000 to 315,000.

[1:30:16] That is the amendment that's before you

[1:30:18] this evening. I'm happy to answer any

[1:30:20] questions.

[1:30:20] >> Great. Thank you. Any questions from

[1:30:22] council?

[1:30:25] Seeing none, any comments from public?

[1:30:30] » Yep. Oh, hey, Walker.

[1:30:34] » The uh

[1:30:36] >> is is Melissa currently the assistant to

[1:30:38] the town manager?

[1:30:40] >> And she is.

[1:30:41] >> Yeah.

[1:30:41] >> Um I the range is it is interesting. The

[1:30:44] range I've never gotten a promotion

[1:30:47] that's double my salary. I don't know if

[1:30:49] that's I know there is

[1:30:52] >> some overlapping to the ranges. Um, so

[1:30:55] the idea would be Melissa moves into

[1:30:58] that new role, the assistant to the town

[1:31:00] manager, which effectively has

[1:31:04] it's not double the max. The maxes, I

[1:31:06] guess, are

[1:31:08] >> what is it?

[1:31:09] >> Yeah.

[1:31:09] >> 75% higher. She moves into that.

[1:31:12] >> Yeah. So, there's an overlap, I think,

[1:31:14] of a few thousand dollars from the max

[1:31:17] of her current role or the position's

[1:31:20] current role into uh this uh new role.

[1:31:25] And then ultimately, there's been no

[1:31:26] determination as to what that salary

[1:31:28] would actually look like. It's just it

[1:31:30] just

[1:31:31] >> it gives her that headroom.

[1:31:32] >> It gives the organization I think

[1:31:34] there's too much room at the moment. I

[1:31:36] think that the organization just for

[1:31:38] whatever reason it's extended 5% on the

[1:31:41] upper limit and it has it on the lower

[1:31:43] limit. And so when you look at the lower

[1:31:45] limit in comparison to the rest of the

[1:31:47] peninsula,

[1:31:48] >> it doesn't make any sense. It's

[1:31:49] non-existent. And so,

[1:31:51] >> uh, it's just dragging that it's just

[1:31:53] dragging things down at this point. So,

[1:31:55] but ultimately what you should know is

[1:31:57] that the salary for the position, that's

[1:31:59] the range. And so there has to be a

[1:32:01] negotiation between me and the employee,

[1:32:03] the person that is attempting to be, you

[1:32:06] know, we're attempting to place in that

[1:32:08] position. And so between her and I, that

[1:32:10] would end up being a personnel decision

[1:32:12] as to where

[1:32:14] >> in that range is appropriate. Yeah. But

[1:32:16] it would be very uncommon for it would

[1:32:19] be extremely questionable for somebody

[1:32:21] to be in the current position and then

[1:32:23] just magically at the top step. That

[1:32:25] would be right. I'm sure that the five

[1:32:27] people I report to would be um there'd

[1:32:29] be a lot of questions to me about that

[1:32:32] >> and I got to shut that down. I'm sorry

[1:32:34] guys. Just we're we're past public

[1:32:35] comment on that item. Uh so any public

[1:32:38] comment? Uh I already closed that. So

[1:32:41] any deliberation by councel

[1:32:44] on item D.

[1:32:47] >> Okay. Uh then I think we're ready to

[1:32:49] take a motion on this. Anyone? Thank

[1:32:52] you. Do it. Uh, I move that we approve

[1:32:56] uh the first amendment to the town

[1:32:57] manager employment agreement.

[1:33:01] >> I'll second it.

[1:33:02] >> Council member Aberish.

[1:33:04] >> Yes.

[1:33:04] >> Council member Brown.

[1:33:05] >> Yes.

[1:33:06] >> Council member Gold.

[1:33:06] >> Yes.

[1:33:07] >> Council member Wal. Mayor Donowski.

[1:33:09] >> Yes. Thank you. And uh volunteer

[1:33:12] committee updates if any.

[1:33:14] >> Yeah, I have a few. Uh, this Friday,

[1:33:16] January 16th, from 7 to 8:00 p.m. will

[1:33:19] be a sound immersion workshop with Danny

[1:33:22] Goldberg.

[1:33:24] >> Pardon me. Uh, check the town's calendar

[1:33:26] for additional 2026 dates. Wball

[1:33:29] registration is now open for kids

[1:33:31] between the ages of 3 to six, so through

[1:33:34] kindergarten only. Uh, who want to learn

[1:33:36] to play T-ball in a fun and safe

[1:33:38] environment. Check the town's website

[1:33:40] under the community tab for registration

[1:33:43] information. The next arts and culture

[1:33:45] committee first Friday event is on

[1:33:47] February 6th from 7 to 8:00 PM with poet

[1:33:51] Nancy Meyer interviewed by Veronica

[1:33:54] Kornberg. Uh flyers are in the back of

[1:33:56] the room or you can view on the town's

[1:33:59] website calendar. The Woodside History

[1:34:02] Committee's preservation awards ceremony

[1:34:05] will be on May 12th, 2026. More

[1:34:08] information to follow, but make sure to

[1:34:10] mark your calendars for that event.

[1:34:12] Thank you.

[1:34:13] Council member

[1:34:16] communications.

[1:34:19] » I have one. Yes. March 21, mark your

[1:34:22] calendar. That's memory day in the

[1:34:25] United States of America. And we are

[1:34:27] going to celebrate that with a openhouse

[1:34:31] workshop here describing methods and how

[1:34:35] to evaluate

[1:34:37] the status of a person's

[1:34:40] mental cap capability.

[1:34:43] is are they doing great? Great. Is it

[1:34:45] Alzheimer's? Is it uh what is it? And

[1:34:48] then what can you do about it if uh if

[1:34:50] you see relatives, friends, spouse

[1:34:53] starting to suffer some of those

[1:34:55] conditions?

[1:34:56] >> It's wonderful. Thank you, Council

[1:34:58] Member Brown. Council member Wallace, I

[1:35:01] had in my calendar that you were

[1:35:02] speaking at the youth civics event.

[1:35:05] >> How'd that go?

[1:35:06] >> Yeah. Um, I had a fantastic opportunity

[1:35:09] to to come speak to a group of I think

[1:35:12] it was 8 to 11 year olds. It was last

[1:35:15] Friday. Um, and they were super cute and

[1:35:19] really engaged and it was a lot of fun.

[1:35:21] So, I really enjoyed it. And so, to the

[1:35:23] extent other opportunities like that come up, I'd really encourage

[1:35:26] my fellow council members to raise your

[1:35:28] hand. Um, it's a really nice little

[1:35:31] thing that we get to do sometimes is is,

[1:35:34] you know, do stuff like that. So, it was

[1:35:35] a pleasure.

[1:35:36] >> Very nice. Thank you. Any other council

[1:35:39] communication?

[1:35:41] >> We've got two brief items. Um, one um at

[1:35:46] our I think it was the last meeting or

[1:35:47] the one before that when we were

[1:35:48] discussing the uh bike pathways on the

[1:35:52] um east side on the front porch of uh

[1:35:55] Woodside that uh Steve Luben had

[1:35:59] mentioned. He took issue with with uh

[1:36:01] that I I never see bicycles there. Um

[1:36:03] I've been paying very specific attention

[1:36:05] lately and um I have to admit he is

[1:36:08] correct. There are I didn't see a lot of

[1:36:10] bicycles but since our last meeting I

[1:36:12] have seen I I've lost count but it was

[1:36:14] I'm in the six to eight range something

[1:36:16] like that during that time period. Not a

[1:36:19] lot but um I said never

[1:36:23] and I was wrong. I was so I apologized

[1:36:26] to Mr. Luben. I wanted to do so

[1:36:28] publicly. Um, but I don't see a lot of

[1:36:30] bicycles in that area, but I, you know,

[1:36:32] I'm paying a lot more attention now, and

[1:36:34] I do see the occasional, uh, usually a

[1:36:36] pair of bicycles very early in the

[1:36:39] morning, uh, heading west. Uh, the

[1:36:42] second thing I wanted to mention,

[1:36:43] speaking of the, uh, there's a little

[1:36:45] work being done on the front porch of

[1:36:47] Woodside. Uh, High Road, which as you

[1:36:51] know, um, kind of a controversial area

[1:36:53] over the last couple of years, uh, is

[1:36:55] going to be closed

[1:36:58] starting one week from today on January

[1:37:01] 20th, for roughly till the end of the

[1:37:03] school year, May or June. It's a long

[1:37:06] time, probably four, five, maybe even

[1:37:08] six months. Uh, there's a main water

[1:37:10] line that runs roughly from Woodside

[1:37:13] Road uh, up the hill to the very first

[1:37:16] sharp bend to the left. Um there's a

[1:37:19] very large house there on the right but

[1:37:21] um right down the middle of High Road uh

[1:37:23] there will be construction major

[1:37:24] construction project. Uh the biggest

[1:37:26] inconvenience is of course going to be

[1:37:27] to the people who live on that stretch

[1:37:29] to Elmo Mundo and High Road going up the

[1:37:32] hill. There's about 15 or 20 properties

[1:37:34] there. Um they're actually not going to

[1:37:37] be allowed to get into their properties

[1:37:39] in and out of their properties

[1:37:41] routinely. Um there's only going to be

[1:37:43] certain times. It's going to be closed

[1:37:44] from roughly I think it's 9:00 a.m. to

[1:37:47] 400 p.m. Monday through Friday, it won't

[1:37:50] affect the people in this room too much.

[1:37:52] It'll actually affect me. Um but um what

[1:37:55] it means is that for the roughly 300

[1:37:57] orund homes or so um in that bottom

[1:38:00] area, Sight Hills, which is above it,

[1:38:02] and Lasus Estate, which is over where I

[1:38:04] am, um they'll all be very much affected

[1:38:07] by it and need to use the Alama de las

[1:38:10] exit. They won't be able to go down that

[1:38:12] way. It'll be closed for four or five

[1:38:13] maybe even six months as I said. Um so you're aware there's only two ways in

[1:38:18] and out and one of them being closed

[1:38:20] off. So um the sheriff, the fire

[1:38:22] department, emergency services, Amazon,

[1:38:25] UPS um are have been alerted to it, but

[1:38:28] it's going to be closed for quite a

[1:38:29] while and um a major inconvenience, but

[1:38:32] um just wanted to bring it to your

[1:38:35] attention. It's gotten a lot of

[1:38:36] attention in that area over the last two

[1:38:38] weeks or so.

[1:38:41] That's it. Thank you.

[1:38:42] >> Thank you.

[1:38:44] for your magnanimous apology.

[1:38:46] Uh

[1:38:48] hey, I'm I'm always very willing to

[1:38:51] admit when I'm wrong because it's

[1:38:53] frequent. I have a lot of practice on

[1:38:54] it.

[1:38:55] >> Okay. Anything else? I think uh with

[1:38:59] that we will uh we will adjourn at 8:45.

[1:39:03] Thank you all.

Town Council Meeting - January 13, 2026

Transcript