[This transcript was generated automatically from audio using AI and hasn't been reviewed by a person -- it can contain mistakes, including plausible-sounding sentences that were never actually said. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record.]

[0:04] We're going to get started in call to order the meeting of June 23, 2026. Jennifer, will you take roll?
[0:12] Council Member Abarish, Council Member Brown, Council Member Gold, Council Member Wall, Mayor
[0:19] Domkowski. Mayor Pro Tem Gold, will you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance?
[0:29] I have states of America, the Republic for which it stands on nation, under God, in the
[0:36] visible, with liberty and justice for all.
[0:39] All right.
[0:47] With that, we will open public comment. So, persons wishing to address the
[0:53] council on any non-agentized items that are within the jurisdiction of the town are
[0:57] invited to do so. Please note, however, that the council cannot undertake extended discussions
[1:03] or act on non-agentized items. Such items can be referred to staff for appropriate action
[1:08] or placed on a future agenda.
[1:10] You're limiting this to five persons, three minutes each,
[1:13] given the longest agenda I've seen since I've been here.
[1:18] So I think with that, we'll open public comment.
[1:22] Anybody here that would like to speak, please.
[1:25] Are there a razor hand or approach the microphone?
[1:30] Leave me.
[1:31] I wanted to be polite and see if anyone else
[1:32] wanted to come ahead of me.
[1:34] Thank you.
[1:34] Mr. Mayor, members of the Public City Council,
[1:38] I am Marjorie Ruiz.
[1:39] I've had the opportunity to leave with most of you for the last year, but I wanted to come in person and introduce myself.
[1:44] I am your senior government relations representative for PG.
[1:48] So this means that I take care of the peninsula, but I do not do it alone.
[1:51] I do it out of the St. Carlo Service Center, where vegetation, gas, electric, maintenance crews, construction crews.
[1:59] Everyone responsible for the customer experience takes on the lovely peninsula, the city, the county of San Mateo.
[2:05] I would love to talk to you about the reported app ahead of fire season.
[2:09] So please hear me from the top.
[2:11] This is not a replacement for 911, but it is an added layer in our safety toolkit.
[2:17] The reported app is available for Android for Apple.
[2:20] It's also available as a web desktop version.
[2:23] If you Google it, it should be the first or the second result.
[2:26] And what it does is that it connects members of the public to the PG&E public safety team.
[2:31] So I'll walk you through an example.
[2:32] if you're walking down the road and you perhaps see vegetation trees too close to a service line,
[2:38] perhaps you see a pole that's leaning not quite right and you're concerned.
[2:43] You can go directly to PG&E, you can download the app, you can take a picture,
[2:47] submit it directly to the PG&E public safety team. And what PG&E will do is they'll let you know if
[2:52] other members of the public have reported a similar issue, they'll let you know what the results are,
[2:57] what the conclusion is, they will hold your hand through the entire experience and let you know
[3:00] what's happening and what the results are and everyone will be alerted in its data that we can
[3:05] gather. I imagine on the back end it helps us inform our meeting and schedule what we do with
[3:09] vegetation. This is a lovely town heavily vegetated. I imagine you see your vegetation crews here all
[3:14] the time. So I want to make sure to say again this is not a replacement for 911. If you see a service line,
[3:21] if you see a downed wire, please walk away and call 911. If you smell gas, please call 911 and walk away.
[3:27] This is simply another tool kit, another layer of our toolkit that we encourage members
[3:33] of the public to use.
[3:35] Most of you have my business cards, do you know how to reach me if anyone has any questions?
[3:38] Please let me know.
[3:39] I'd love to follow up and send a little blurb about the reported app, things that you might
[3:43] want to include in communications.
[3:46] So the safer you feel, the safer I feel, please reach out.
[3:49] I'm here.
[3:50] Thank you.
[3:51] Thank you.
[3:52] We really appreciate you coming in and we'll follow up with what we can do to get the word
[3:56] out on that app.
[3:57] and it's great for all of us to put a face to a name.
[4:02] So thanks for being there.
[4:03] We know who to call when we have a grid reliability issue
[4:06] or an outage.
[4:07] We certainly have had a few of those
[4:08] and we appreciate coming in today.
[4:11] So thank you.
[4:14] We'll go to the Zoom room.
[4:17] It's on.
[4:18] Welcome.
[4:20] Hi, Mayor. Thank you.
[4:23] There we go.
[4:24] Yeah, I just wanted to, good luck on your agenda tonight.
[4:26] Looks quite long.
[4:27] So I hope you guys get through it quickly. I wanted to add my voice to the other folks who come up here previously in the last few weeks and asked to have the kind of report about the whistleblower.
[4:37] You know, report made public or at least made as an agenda item. I obviously I was named in that report. Maybe one of ten or so people.
[4:45] So I'll be honest. I was surprised when nobody from the investigation team reached out to me to ask me anything. You know, there weren't that many people named.
[4:51] So it felt like the people names should have at least had some sort of
[4:55] Interaction, and then I came to also find out that my name was also some emails that were released recently as part of one of the freedom of information acts
[5:01] So again, I don't know what happened, but I believe that the town deserves
[5:07] Open in transparency openness and transparency on this topic. I think you guys do a lot of really good work
[5:14] A lot of your work is based on you know trust that we put in you as elected officials
[5:18] tools, and I think if we don't do this, you're actually doing yourselves a disservice
[5:22] because when it comes to tough topics that I think you guys have actually handled quite
[5:25] well, such as housing element, which has been nothing but challenges and difficulty
[5:29] over the last many years, where you guys frankly, I think in the end you've done the right thing
[5:35] because of the constraints that were put on you, but yet you still get a lot of dispersions
[5:38] cast your way because people don't like the outcome.
[5:41] I mean, I've paid attention to most of it, but I think the outcome you guys came out with
[5:44] was the best of a bunch of bad options.
[5:47] So again, there wasn't anything better we could do, but when we don't have that openness and things like this seem to just be kind of swept under the rug, it takes away the trust we have in you guys.
[5:56] And then it does you a disservice down the road when you do have to make hard decisions and people can then throw all sorts of stones.
[6:01] So again, just adding my voice to the people who asked to agenda is the more open investigation or whatever you're not called on the whistle blow report.
[6:09] And again, as somebody who was named in it and yet was never reached out to by the investigator which I know it's hired by the insurance company not by you guys it just that that report was a joke. So I strongly encourage you to do it. I'd love to be part of it as whatever I can be obviously as part of the public.
[6:25] And I think in the end of the better better for with side and better for the council. So thank you.
[6:29] Thank you and we are working with outside council to determine what corrective action is warranted and what to do with the one sustained finding and we intend to address that before summer recess occurs.
[6:44] So look for that in over the next month.
[6:47] Thank you for calling it on the subject.
[6:50] Anyone else in the room or in the zoom room that would like to make a comment.
[6:57] Okay. With that then we will close public comment and we will move on to a presentation
[7:04] from the trails committee. Welcome and so
[7:11] it's going to end up.
[7:12] All
[7:32] right. Good evening everybody. Sir Mayor Council members thank you for letting me
[7:39] speak and I'm the current chair of the trails committee.
[7:46] Thank you for seeing me first.
[7:48] I know this is a full agenda and I promise I won't take too much of your time.
[7:55] We are such, you know, we have such a lovely, lovely place here that, you know, we as a
[8:02] trails committee want to make contributions to and continue to value, you know, our place
[8:10] with nature and horses and trails for everyone and we are very happy to have all our people
[8:21] currently on our trails committee although there are a couple of vacancies. I did put a summary
[8:30] of our mission statement in the front, of course the entire thing is on the website and I just kind
[8:37] of highlighted a couple of words, you know, for you to, you know, just remind ourselves
[8:45] that what the trails committee is doing and how we can be part of this town and help
[8:52] out, protect, preserve, enhance the pedestrian and equestrian trails.
[8:59] the connectivity is always high on our mind, you know, and that is what is
[9:05] here. Can we safeguard it? And how can we expand? And we know we have the
[9:12] support of our town to make that happen. Safe use, of course, is always on our
[9:19] mind. We also invite the public, although we must say we don't have a lot of
[9:26] people that come to our meetings, but it does happen that people have specific items and that we can hear them and then agenda is it for further direction.
[9:40] We, when asked, we advise staff, you know, sometimes about subdivisions or land that's
[9:49] going to be reused or used to, you know, we see the plans, we talk about it and see
[9:57] how it affects trails and hopefully can make and will make a contribution there.
[10:03] working with the circulation committee, I do want to just say one word about that and I know it's a little bit disappointing because we were tasked circulation and our trails committee were tasked with finding a solution for how to address e-bike use in the town and obviously that hasn't really crystallized in a specific guideline that we can both work with.
[10:31] I think we both come from, you know, safety is important, yes, use is important, multi-use
[10:39] on certain sections. We just don't see bikes and horses that are, they just can't coexist
[10:48] on some parts of the road. And hopefully, you know, going forward will find a way to work
[10:55] as out of that. We also work with our livestock and equine heritage committee. We do generate
[11:04] a yearly reminder to the property owners to remind them to renew their permit, their
[11:11] stable permit, and we're also in the process of kind of going through the years and see who
[11:18] has dropped off and can we possibly re-engage those people to either find out have they really
[11:26] no horses anymore or have they just overlooked the process and can we re-engage them so that's
[11:34] going on right now. Then also we do have a trail legacy trail appreciation program that is used
[11:44] as needed and then of course we also advise sometimes for a memorial trail
[11:50] dedication if if someone is really wanted to have that. I did print our names, I don't want
[11:57] to be on top of the list but I'm the chair so I am. So all these people I really think we make
[12:06] They make a good contribution, and I'm proud to say that both, yes, a question, participation
[12:14] is important, but also we have many people that are non-equestrian and look out also
[12:20] for pedestrians, bikers, et cetera.
[12:24] So on the next page, it talks a little bit just, you know, the first two paragraphs you can
[12:32] ignore. We do have 15 members and just as a reminder how many of us there are. But then recent
[12:40] projects that we are super proud of are the two crossings that are at Romero and Atkins Mountain
[12:47] and Woodside Road. They are being used and I think it makes for a safer town, safer communication
[12:56] or transportation for people.
[13:00] There is also an improved signage on Albion Road.
[13:05] I'm not sure if everybody is familiar with that,
[13:08] but there's kind of a blind curve in the road
[13:13] where especially when big groups of bikers come through there
[13:17] and it is a crossing for horses,
[13:19] we feel we have made it a lot safer by putting signs there
[13:24] that alert people for crossing that can have both pedestrians and horses.
[13:30] ongoing things in the in the town retaining remaining to trails is the main the issues that
[13:40] are addressed to either to Lewis directly or online in general and we're we're very happy that
[13:50] they are addressed and we keep an eye on that in the in the committee slippery driveways is just
[13:56] you know when someone puts a nice coat on their asphalt not realizing that it's part of the trails
[14:03] sometimes that can be an issue and we work with that metals on trails as we all appreciate that the
[14:12] crew looks out for that takes a magnet and makes sure that they are cleaned our current and future
[14:18] projects and you see a couple with asterisks there that refers to the next page that is actually a
[14:26] printout of our CIP and these projects some are ongoing current and some are in the future and we
[14:39] do realize that funds shift and as necessities arise that may change but just a little reminder
[14:48] that those are the ones that, as a trails committee, we think are very valuable and hope to crystallize
[14:55] sometime, sometime in the future. So the first.
[15:00] Three projects, which, which side road trail and bike improvements come in in different phases and we're very happy that Lewis gets up to speed on, on all of those. And I know he's working very hard on them, the Jefferson trail improvement as well. Central purtola road also shows up in that list. And we definitely hope to make it a difference there make it make an improvement there. We do realize it's not town of town of woodside property.
[15:29] and so there's other other issues that will play there.
[15:35] Bridge inspection is just completed with an extensive report on all the bridges
[15:41] where we now know specifically what needs maintenance, what needs improvement,
[15:47] and so thank you for that.
[15:51] John Olson will be on our radar because it's a wonderful place and I don't think many,
[15:58] many people may even know about it, but it's a place where people can, you know, be going
[16:08] into nature and we want to help them to know where to go and how to do it. The south side
[16:16] of Woodside Road is another project from King's Mountain Road to the elementary school. We're hoping
[16:22] to make a big difference there which then also will hopefully address some of the current
[16:29] issues there with parking or save going to school for kids ongoing every year's preparation
[16:38] for our trails so that the day of the horse can go on safely and we will share the trail
[16:47] with with Lewis and so that has been going on. That leaves me to thank you all, you know,
[16:55] special thank you to Lewis and the town crew for, you know, being so diligent with our trails
[17:02] and following up on our many, many questions and many, many asks. And then, of course, the staff
[17:09] and town council members for your ongoing support. Thank you. You have any questions?
[17:22] I'm concerned like you're hearing. I mean, I was aware that circulation and trails were talking about bikes, and you basically came to an impasse, and that's not acceptable.
[17:32] And we have to find a way past that and you have any documentation about how many incidents
[17:41] or potential incidents have occurred if you don't, I suggest you ask your people to start
[17:47] doing that.
[17:48] Yeah.
[17:49] So we have some way to determine is there a real problem here with a perception that there could
[17:54] be a problem?
[17:55] I think you're a latter comment is what's happening, people are afraid that
[18:02] something might happen. And to be honest there is two or three examples and I'm
[18:08] you know I don't know the exact details where people say oh yes a bike came
[18:14] blah blah blah. I see bikes on the trails, I am convinced that things can be
[18:25] worked out when you are both respectful and have the knowledge on how to deal with horses.
[18:32] Sadly, that's not true for everyone. Kids will come flying around the corner on their
[18:40] electric bikes, not knowing that a horse will spook at that. But then, from an ambassador
[18:48] the horse person, that's a unique example to slow them down, talk to them and educate
[18:57] them. So that is the reality, right? But then as a flat-out saying yes, bikes are allowed
[19:07] on trails, that's just in fighting problems. We think the trails committee thinks. So it's
[19:17] little bit there are certain spaces in town right now where there are specific no bike allowed on
[19:25] this trail even though it's on alongside the road and there's good reasons for that I want to
[19:31] say maybe five or six that I can just think about and it's because there's no line of side it's too narrow
[19:39] if a bike and a horse were to go at their normal speed there would be a problem so I don't see how
[19:47] a trails committee can say, oh yeah, bikes are not okay there, but e-bikes are? No, I really don't think so.
[19:57] Okay, thanks. I just asked you to one, try it one more time to maybe get together the circulation and come to some kind of conclusion.
[20:05] If you can't, we may have to find another way to get the two of you to agree.
[20:10] What can I ask what the urgency is from the town council, is there a rule you're
[20:20] looking to make about it, or is it indeed not a problem, and we just leave things as
[20:25] they are?
[20:26] No, I thought it was a problem.
[20:27] That's why you were talking to circulation about problem.
[20:31] Are you saying there is not a problem?
[20:32] Like
[20:39] I said, there's two or three people that have specific issues where they say I've been on the trail, a bike came to me and I came off because the worst booked.
[20:52] Now,
[20:55] I mean, I can't say more.
[20:57] All right.
[20:58] Okay.
[20:59] All right.
[21:00] Berna, thank you.
[21:02] Council member Wal.
[21:04] Yeah.
[21:05] Just wanted to thank you so much for your presentation.
[21:08] And yeah, really interested to hear your comments on the work at the Trails Committee and the
[21:14] Circulation Committee is doing on eBikes.
[21:17] And if you just for a little bit of context, we did a study session on eBikes.
[21:23] I think it was about a year ago at the town council level, and it was really to, you know,
[21:28] to explore the question of, is there a problem, I think myself and others were observing
[21:36] that we were noticing a lot more e-bikes in town.
[21:40] I think that's not unique to what side.
[21:42] I mean, e-bike usage has, you know, really exploded over the last few years.
[21:47] And as a parent, you know, I observed a lot of young kids riding e-bikes in unsafe
[21:53] ways. I know the school has taken some action to account for the fact that there's more
[22:02] e-bikes being written to school. So really the issue, I think like you said, it's a safety
[22:08] issue. And so, you know, I know you came tonight to do your presentation and we really thank
[22:16] you for that. I guess just an offer of support and help. If there's anything that me individually
[22:21] or that the council can do to kind of help facilitate the conversation between the trails committee and the circulation committee, please do let us know because I think, you know, this is, this isn't a super important issue.
[22:35] We want to make sure that Woodside makes, you know, whether it's municipal code changes or infrastructure changes, whatever it is, we need to, you know, be proactive about safety here and not reactive.
[22:49] So I just wanted to offer our support and if there's anything like I said, me as an individual or anything to counsel can do to help please, please do let us know.
[23:00] Thank you. Thank you for that.
[23:03] Well, thank you very much and we appreciate it. It's a great group you got here and you all have a big impact on a very important cornerstone of who we are as a community.
[23:12] So thank you for all the work that you do and thanks for being here tonight.
[23:15] Thank you all.
[23:16] Thank you. Thanks, Ann.
[23:20] Okay. Moving on to the consent agenda. All items on the consent
[23:25] are considered to be routine and will be approved by one roll call motion unless request is made
[23:30] for an item to be withdrawn and transferred into regular agenda. Is there any item on
[23:35] of the nine that any member of the council would like to pull? Three. Three.
[23:43] Five. Five.
[23:46] Is there any item that any member of the public would like to see pull?
[23:51] Yes, two. Okay. Two, three, and five. Okay. Can we get a motion for one, four, six,
[24:00] seven, eight, nine?
[24:06] I moved to approve. One, four, six, seven, eight, nine.
[24:10] Oh, second. Council Member Abriech. Yes. Council Member Brown. Yes.
[24:16] Council Member Gold. Council Member Wal. Yes. Mayor Delkowski. Yes. Thank you. And we
[24:22] We always go in order, so we're going to start with two, Ms. Hanson.
[24:26] Would you like to make any comment on consent item number two, register of demands?
[24:32] That's wrong.
[24:33] It was number three.
[24:33] Okay.
[24:34] Okay.
[24:35] That's okay.
[24:36] We'll handle this in a moment.
[24:37] Got it.
[24:39] Number three was pulled by, well, you, Council Member Abreche, so I'll hand it off to you first.
[24:44] Thank you.
[24:45] Yeah.
[24:45] So I know we just recently renegotiated this contract, and I saw that the increase is 8.1
[24:52] percent which is quite high this year and I was wondering why and so I started looking through it
[24:57] and I saw that there is a traffic enforcement overtime lined for $100,000 if you look I think
[25:05] it's on the very last page and I just I don't know if that's I mean it's still maybe a drop in the
[25:11] bucket but I thought that was that was the piece we had pulled right exactly and so Jason caught it
[25:18] last time, and you know, I've described it, found two million, you know, $200,000, and
[25:25] it looks like they've just added it right back in. So yeah, so I wanted to do that, and
[25:33] I think this kind of, you know, brings back Jen's point from last session that we really
[25:41] need some, you know, I think that the subcommittee, though, I would push to not approve this
[25:48] one and see if we can go back to them, push it back, and see if Jen and I can maybe meet
[25:55] with them, and if we can figure out, you know, a lot of these expenses look quite high.
[26:01] Like do we really need to, or is Woodside really costing 92,000 for vehicle maintenance
[26:07] and repairs for the handful of vehicles that they have in Woodside, and just making sure
[26:12] everything's going to back here and not just being thrown together?
[26:16] Excellent.
[26:17] Good.
[26:17] Fantastic.
[26:18] Did you want to give Ms. Hanson?
[26:22] Yeah.
[26:22] Thank you for catching that.
[26:24] I notice that too.
[26:25] The other thing is we have two.
[26:27] We pay two full time equivalents.
[26:29] And yet the budget says that they're shared.
[26:32] So that doesn't make sense to me because we're paying for two people.
[26:38] And also the overhead services.
[26:40] There wasn't any detail about what that was.
[26:42] I think it was like a 300 K line item so I just hope there's further discussion on those
[26:47] and the automatic overtime. Thank you. Thank you. And remind me, the reason it's two is
[26:54] once for daytime and once for nighttime. So I think that's how that works, but we gotta look at it.
[27:00] We got some stuff. Sure. Okay. Thank you. It's a great suggestion to hold it.
[27:05] to everybody.
[27:07] Great.
[27:08] Excellent.
[27:08] Eagle eyes.
[27:10] Great.
[27:12] Number five.
[27:14] I think that was from Brown.
[27:17] I'm just curious.
[27:20] What is the legal work that's being done by this group is this on our foreclosures.
[27:28] And the reason that's an additional $50,000 is that this is the enforcement part of what
[27:35] that they've been doing, or what's the reason that all of a sudden it's gone up?
[27:38] Yes, this is earlier this year you retained this outside firm to do some receiverships
[27:45] on two derelict properties in town, those abatement receivership processes of the gun,
[27:51] and the initial contract was led within the town manager's authority, and we've now hit
[27:58] that authority.
[27:59] If these receiverships proceed, all these costs will be recouped, all these legal fees
[28:04] will be recouped as part of that process. And we are seeing positive action on both of those
[28:10] properties to address the derelict conditions. Will we get any money back? You will, you will
[28:17] through the receivers ship. Yes, but that will be at the end of the receivers ship. Okay, thank you.
[28:24] I have a question on that. I understand that one of the properties is now in the process of being
[28:30] sold. That's our understanding yes and will so will there still be a receivership through
[28:36] which we could read the town can recoup its costs if it sold and the abatement occurs.
[28:43] We have already given cost estimates to the parties involved in that sale. So yes.
[28:50] Great. Thank you.
[28:53] Okay. Any other questions on five? Okay. I'm good. Can we get a motion
[28:58] for two and five and we're gonna punt on three
[29:01] and send it back to the workshop.
[29:03] I move to approve two and five from the consent calendar.
[29:07] Sorry, I don't.
[29:08] Council Member Abarish?
[29:10] Yes.
[29:10] Council Member Brown?
[29:11] Yes. Council Member Gold?
[29:13] Council Member Wall?
[29:14] Yes.
[29:14] Mayor Domkowski?
[29:16] Yes, thank you.
[29:17] Okay, moving on to a new business.
[29:20] We do have a laundry list tonight.
[29:23] Fortunately, a lot of it might be a little more checklist oriented.
[29:25] We'll find out.
[29:27] If we get to 10 o'clock, we'll see if we need to continue or not, but we'll see what happens here.
[29:34] So we'll kick off with item A, which is a resolution calling for and giving notice of a general election to be held on November 3rd.
[29:43] And I'm looking Melissa.
[29:49] Thank you.
[29:49] Thank you.
[29:51] So, before the council this evening is a resolution calling and giving notice of the general municipal election, which will be held on Tuesday, November 3rd.
[30:00] The election of two members to the town council, and there is also a service agreement with the
[30:05] San Mateo County Elections Office for review and approval, and the resolution outlines
[30:13] the dates for the nomination period, distribution and filing of nomination papers. It will open
[30:19] on Monday, July 13, and the last day to file nomination papers will be Friday, August 7. It
[30:26] It is for district two and district three in both are for a term of four years.
[30:32] And then with the service agreement with the county, some minor revisions are still
[30:37] being worked on and Jean can give some more information on that.
[30:41] Yes, the county city attorney's group is in discussion with the county council's office.
[30:47] The agreement as prepared has an indemnification provision that runs only one way.
[30:52] and we have objected to that and are hoping that we will be able to come to terms on a mutual
[30:57] indemnification. So with your approval this evening, I would ask that you allow for those
[31:03] conversations to continue and for the agreement to be signed if we are able to get to yes on that.
[31:09] And I know it's awkward to bring this to you while we're still in those discussions, but given the timing
[31:14] your meetings and when this contract needs to be approved in order for you to hold an election,
[31:19] we needed to bring it to you this evening.
[31:23] Okay, thank you.
[31:25] Any questions on item A from any member of the council?
[31:32] All right.
[31:32] Any questions from the public on item A?
[31:37] Seeing none?
[31:39] Any deliberation on item A?
[31:45] Here in none, we will entertain a motion on item A
[31:48] with the extra piece to deal with the indemnity clause
[31:56] that's still underway.
[31:57] motion along those lines. I move that we approve of item A including the
[32:08] extimotions agreement with the addendum that we have mutual identification.
[32:17] Correct. I'll second it. Councilmember Abarish? Yes. Councilmember Brown?
[32:24] Yes, Councilmember Gold. Councilmember Wall. Yes, Mayor Delkowski. Yes. Thank you.
[32:31] Moving right along, new business item B, which is a review of the new changes to the Brown
[32:36] Act that will allow volunteer committees to meet remotely and any technology policy issues that
[32:42] have to come into play. That is, I'm, hello, Jean. Good evening. You have two resolutions before
[32:50] this evening addressing the two issues that the mayor just identified. The Brown Act was changed
[32:56] substantially several months ago and let me address first the technology disruption policy.
[33:03] Under the new changes to the Brown Act, public entities are required now to and I'm just going to
[33:08] use the word zoom, that's okay, to zoom all meetings. Before that was not required but now that it is
[33:17] required, the Brown Act indicates that you need to adopt a technology disruption policy
[33:23] so that you can figure out what to do if you lose your Zoom connection because in the
[33:27] past, when that occurred, meetings had to stop and the legislature understands that sometimes
[33:34] meetings just can't stop, that you have important business that needs to go on and so by July
[33:39] 1st, all public entities are required to adopt a policy that says what are you going to do
[33:44] if you lose your zoom connection. So we've attached one of those policies and what the state
[33:50] law now provides is that you get up to an hour to try and figure out what's going wrong.
[33:54] If you can figure it out in less than an hour, you can go back into your open session.
[33:58] If you can't figure it out, then you can, by roll call, motion and adoption, agree to continue
[34:06] the meeting with a finding that it is more important that you conduct the business
[34:11] than to continue the meeting.
[34:14] The policy that attached addresses all of that
[34:16] and brings you into compliance with the Brown Act
[34:18] because we're asking you to adopt it before July 1.
[34:22] The second action item here is to allow
[34:25] your citizen advisory committees to meet completely remotely.
[34:30] And that is a new change in the Brown Act as well.
[34:32] It only applies to citizen advisory committees.
[34:36] I've been asked by every public body
[34:38] that I staff can't we do it to and the answer to that's no.
[34:44] It has to be a citizen advisory committee.
[34:47] If you adopt this resolution that would allow your citizen advisory committees to decide
[34:52] and they get to say in this as well, that they want to go completely remote.
[34:56] Now that doesn't mean that someone can't show up for a meeting if they want to
[35:00] and the reason for that is under the Brown Act, you still have to staff those meetings
[35:05] so you would still have to open the room, publish an agenda, do everything that your committees
[35:12] would normally be doing, but the members could be remote, should they choose to be remote,
[35:16] and they do not have to post their locations in order to do that.
[35:21] So this is the two action items. There are a number of informational items in here which I can run
[35:26] through if you'd like, but I know you have a lot on your agenda this evening and they're all discussed
[35:30] in the report. So I'll stop at this point and ask if you want more information from the
[35:36] reporter if there's any questions I can answer. Okay. Questions on item B. Yeah. I'm concerned
[35:44] about the citizen advisory committees being allowed to go full zoom. My observations of both zoom
[35:52] meetings is the participants who are on Zoom and hear well if they're paying
[35:59] attention but they don't really get as engaged in the conversation as in person
[36:05] and I'm wondering can we at least say you have to be at least a majority of the
[36:11] meetings in person and so many X number of meetings in on Zoom but you can't do
[36:19] all meetings, everybody in Zoom. I mean that would be just a disaster.
[36:24] Yes, you could choose to do that because you could also say we don't want our citizen
[36:27] advisory committee just to go completely remote. The law allows you to choose to do this
[36:33] if you want as a council. And I will say that the law also requires
[36:36] that each six months you revisit this issue, if let's say you decide you want to allow
[36:42] them to meet remotely now. Within six months you'd have to address this again
[36:46] the decide, is it working? Do we want it to continue to do this? Or you could put some
[36:51] limits on it as well. Complete your call.
[36:57] One quick fall up on that, but hybrid meetings
[36:59] are still okay. Half the people could be... Yes. That's allowed now, right? You have to have a
[37:07] quorum. Yeah. Go quorum. But this way, you wouldn't even need to have a quorum. Let's say you have
[37:11] a committee of five and four people decide they want to be remote and one decides they want to
[37:17] that would be okay because you're still required to have the room open, you're still required to
[37:21] have a staff member there so that members of the public can come to that location and be in
[37:26] person at the meeting even though most of your members of your citizen advisory committee may be
[37:31] remote. I've got a question about the changes regarding disruptive behavior and members of the public
[37:39] whether they're your in person or on Zoom. Could you comment on that? Yes, previously there'd been
[37:43] some real question if you have somebody who's zoom bombs you and who's saying inappropriate
[37:48] things or behaving inappropriately in a meeting to the point where you cannot conduct your
[37:53] business. The question has always been, can you silence that person? And this is indicating
[38:00] that if you have somebody who is zooming in and is making inappropriate comments disrupting your
[38:06] meeting, you can mute them. And that was always sort of an open question in the past.
[38:12] Good. Thank you.
[38:17] Okay. Seen no other questions? Any comments from public on this item?
[38:28] And Seen none?
[38:29] Oh, hi. Miss Hanson. Hello.
[38:32] I'm on two of the citizen advisory committees. It would be really nice. I agree with Councilmember Brown
[38:37] that you shouldn't do it all the time, but it would increase participation with the community
[38:44] for people if they could just still participate in the meeting, but zoom in maybe a couple
[38:50] of times a year.
[38:51] Thank you.
[38:53] Thank you.
[38:55] Any other questions, comments?
[38:59] Seeing none, we will close public comment.
[39:02] Any further deliberation or motion with amendments or something that would you'd like to propose?
[39:13] I agree with Council Member Brown and Kim Hinton.
[39:23] I think it makes sense to allow it sometimes but I would hate to see people showing up to be heard
[39:32] and they just start looking at a screen full of everybody, you know, on everyone's on Zoom.
[39:39] I think that would be unfortunate.
[39:42] And so, yeah, and I don't know, I'm not sure what that would look like right now.
[39:48] I think, because I guess right now, is it to do that?
[39:53] You need an exception, whereas this would allow it without an exception.
[39:58] That's correct.
[39:58] So I would I would propose maybe having at least still having a quorum in person and kind of removing the exception requirements is allowing, you know, negotiation or discussion among the members to figure out who has to be their person who doesn't.
[40:25] It's not what we have now, though, except you need an exception, right?
[40:30] Well, right now, you need to either be teleconferencing in or to have a just cause or an emergency.
[40:36] I think what I hear on some of our obiris saying is if there were a quorum in the room, and
[40:41] that would have to be somehow arranged, I would assume by your committee, maybe by assigning
[40:45] people to come to certain meetings, then those who weren't assigned to that meeting could
[40:50] then be remote for that meeting.
[40:52] My understanding you correctly.
[40:54] Yeah, that's an idea, not married to it, but so the quorum is in person.
[41:01] I think that's what you're suggesting, correct?
[41:04] Yes.
[41:04] And nothing else.
[41:05] No other, you don't need child exceptions or all that goes away.
[41:11] I believe that's what he's suggesting, yes.
[41:12] The quorum in person, you're fun.
[41:14] That's my thought.
[41:15] Yeah, that's good.
[41:17] Council member Wal.
[41:20] Yeah, thanks.
[41:21] So yeah, I agree kind of with everything that's being said, we're trying to kind of bridge
[41:27] two things, right, which is it's great to have people in person.
[41:32] I agree like that really adds the conversation and if members of the public show up, which
[41:39] I don't think happens very often, but I think happens, you know, does happen.
[41:44] You know what somebody said, I think, you know, we don't just want them showing up and not
[41:47] having committee members there. So fully in agreement you know it will start and then also
[41:54] to build up what Kim was saying like you know having you know zoom as an option is really wonderful
[42:00] for increasing participation. It you know makes it possible for you know young parents or people
[42:10] that are working like who otherwise might not be able to participate gives them that option. So
[42:14] of like how do we best kind of bridge those two valid interests.
[42:21] So yeah, I think just kind of thinking about the core of my idea though, I mean, for core,
[42:25] in order to establish core, I think that requires the town staff who manages the committee meetings
[42:35] to kind of check in with people.
[42:37] They're sort of like an administrative overhead to establishing, you know, whether there will
[42:43] be an in-person quorum in advance. So I wonder if that sort of defeats to some extent the idea that
[42:51] like allowing Zoom participation really helps with in participation and you know helps encourage
[42:58] participation by somebody that like oh shoot like I you know I'm that work laid I'm not going to be
[43:03] able to make it in person but I can join by Zoom. As an alternative I wonder building off of what
[43:11] council member Brown said, could we, would it be less sort of administratively complex
[43:15] to say, um, participants in a volunteer committee, um, commit to showing up in person, let's
[43:25] say half of the time, um, so that then that can sort of be administered on the back end
[43:32] and it doesn't require that like, you know, before meeting, um, administration by the staff.
[43:39] So just wanted to throw that out there for a discussion because I want to I want to make sure we strike the right balance between, you know, flexibility, participation, but also people showing up in person as well.
[43:59] Okay. I
[44:03] mean, using tech to make government more efficient and maybe more inclusive seems
[44:10] like a very good thing to be doing. So I'm sort of in general, just I'm in support of
[44:17] the proposal as posted.
[44:21] I certainly hear what people are saying. So perhaps if I had
[44:28] to tilt one way, I thought all ideas were good, but what Council Member Wall was saying
[44:33] is true that we have to find a way to do this. That's administratively reasonable. And
[44:38] if that means that a majority of meetings have to be held in person, whether we do that
[44:44] by individual or by committee, I mean, what I thought you were actually saying was a majority
[44:49] of the meetings would have to be in person, but a minority could be fully remote. So that
[44:56] what you're saying or are you saying, by individuals?
[44:59] Individuals.
[44:59] I see them.
[45:00] Moderate or more of his attendance in person. It's more of a commitment. Yeah. I agree with that. I mean, yeah, that sounds like a good compromise.
[45:13] Okay, so that's really a, a, a volunteer handbook issue. Is it not? I mean, what is, what is that? We're accepting this policy, but then also giving direction that the volunteer handbook should say you make a commitment to be at a majority of me. But I know that's in the handbook. I don't, I haven't looked at the handbook. I think it's not just a handbook, but we, we will amend.
[45:31] And the resolution to reflect whatever direction you get is in that that will make sure the committees are aware of it.
[45:40] I would add to that, not necessarily in the motion, but I have not seen a lot of enforcement of attendance.
[45:49] And I believe we have a policy as you have to tend so many, and if you have an attendance on, I don't think we've been doing that very aggressively.
[45:58] I think if we did that more aggressively, we'd make being on the committee more valuable
[46:03] those are there and potentially more attractive for other people.
[46:10] We do the attendance every January committee subcommittee goes through all the attendance
[46:18] and we actually ask the chairs if there's any problems, we kind of leave it to them.
[46:25] There's a big delegation issue here that we
[46:28] We want those chairs to be strong and we want those chairs to run their committees and
[46:31] it's up to them.
[46:33] I did want to come in on what Hassan had said before and the proposal that it simply
[46:40] be that a quorum is present in person and it makes it simple.
[46:47] If we leave it there, we just delegate it to the chairs to make sure that they conduct
[46:53] their committees appropriately.
[46:54] I don't want to shift the burden to staff.
[46:56] I think it should be the committee chair needs to make sure that there's a quorum present.
[47:01] It's their job. If they're not present, then they all showed up and they can all go home.
[47:04] I mean, it's just the chairs got to figure out that that's their job and they need to make sure
[47:09] that people are there and that there's an appropriate balance between who's in person and who's not.
[47:14] That's up to them to juggle them. So it makes it easier for us and for staff and it sort of shifts
[47:19] the burden to the chair. So by keeping it strictly the quorum has to be in person. That's
[47:26] all we have to be concerned. So if the staff can just say the quorum is present, we can go.
[47:31] It doesn't matter. I don't care who the people are. I mean, I care who they are. I don't
[47:35] care which ones are present and not as long as there's a quorum in this room. Makes it simple.
[47:43] Well, the only difference that you would really be doing then is allowing those people
[47:46] want to be remote to be remote without posting their location or giving an
[47:53] just cause or emergency excuse and it's up to the chair to make sure that
[48:00] they've got the quorum person. Correct. Well it's a you deal with a lot of
[48:04] committees. Does this make sense to you or what's the best. We can pass that to the
[48:09] chair right now staff obtains the quorum. We can pass that to the committee that
[48:14] they're required to make sure that there is a quorum present in the room and then everybody
[48:19] else could be on Zoom if they wanted to.
[48:22] And then you'd still do a majority of the meetings in person or eliminate that piece.
[48:28] We've got China.
[48:29] We've got several discussions.
[48:30] Okay.
[48:31] Chair could, we could, we could pass that on to the chair.
[48:33] That's not a problem.
[48:36] It's fine by me.
[48:37] Does that work?
[48:42] Okay.
[48:44] I think you're going to have to make that motion though.
[48:50] So I move we accept both resolutions with the change to the first resolution regarding
[48:58] the authorizing all citizen advisory committees to be conducted by teleconference provided
[49:07] that there is a quorum present in person for every meeting and that be managed by the
[49:15] chair.
[49:15] Thank you.
[49:18] Can I just jump in real quick, not to derail this, but as we're, you know, making changes to proposing to make changes to to quorum and things that impact our bond to your committees, I wonder, would it be worth
[49:37] table this for a meeting or two and getting feedback from the committees or the committee
[49:45] chairs saying, hey, the town council reviewed this. This is what we were going to vote on.
[49:50] We want to just solicit feedback because, you know, as a former volunteer committee member,
[49:58] I would have appreciated the chance to weigh in and say, yep, this totally works. No problem
[50:04] or, hey, did you think of this, I don't see a huge need to, or maybe Gene tell me if I'm wrong,
[50:12] but I'm not seeing like a huge urgency to pass this tonight. Like, do we have the time to maybe
[50:17] seek volunteer committee input? There is no time frame for this to be adopted. This is a completely
[50:23] voluntary policy for the council to determine.
[50:29] So, I would, as I would suggest, as taking our time,
[50:32] You know, particularly when we've sort of learned this lesson in the past and when we didn't seek volunteer committee input, I think it would be pretty easy to draft a letter to the volunteer committees.
[50:46] Tell them what we were planning on proposing and do one round of input and put it on the agenda for the last meeting in July.
[50:59] That makes sense to me, and I feel like either one of them works for me, I feel like they both make sense of it between the two options, but I don't know.
[51:12] Just the technology disruption policy, and it may, if you decide you want to follow that suggestion, I don't think we'll get it back to you in by the end of July, because I'm not sure if all your committees will meet before then we can try.
[51:29] Well, this is as she will try.
[51:30] I know recreation is not meeting for July and August, so the next meeting is September.
[51:35] So we could try to do some in July, September and we'll bring it forward as soon as we
[51:38] hear back from the committees.
[51:40] Okay.
[51:41] I think that is a wonderfully inclusive suggestion.
[51:45] So, and we can still move on the technology item.
[51:49] So, I'll make a motion that we approve the technology disruption resolution as written.
[51:55] second. Councilmember Barabarish? Yes. Councilmember Brown? Yes. Councilmember Gold?
[52:02] Councilmember Wall? Yes. Mayor Tom Kowski.
[52:08] A new business item C resolution on the 2526
[52:14] town budget pursuant to the third quarterly review and Ms. George, I'm handing this off to you.
[52:22] and you are muted this requirement, there we go.
[52:27] Yeah, so this is essentially the implementing resolution
[52:32] that will explain to you, oh gosh, I'm moving out of your,
[52:36] I don't know what's happening here.
[52:38] Anyway, that will implement the changes that we recommended
[52:46] in the third curly budget review that you saw on your last agenda
[52:50] and we're discussed with each of you individually.
[52:54] Some of the numbers went up, I feel it went down
[52:59] and this will just take care of that final business
[53:02] for the 25-26 fiscal year
[53:05] so that there is sufficient appropriate and legal
[53:11] expenditure authority to get through the rest of the year.
[53:15] And I'd be happy to answer any questions.
[53:18] Okay. Thank you. Any questions for Susan?
[53:26] Thank you. Briefed us nicely. Oh, hello.
[53:29] Councilman Wal. Just a quick question.
[53:31] Hi, Susan. Thanks again for being here tonight. Just a quick question. You said some numbers
[53:37] went up, some went down and just wanted to confirm. Those weren't, the numbers didn't material.
[53:41] Was that just sort of like on the margin? No, they didn't. You know, we we have been watching
[53:47] them carefully and we did another like full deep dive into all the numbers and a few of them
[53:53] went up and so we're offering a recommendation that you increase the appropriations by $600,000
[54:02] just to make sure that we end the fiscal year with legal authority that we need. But I didn't see
[54:08] anything that was really outrageously different from what we'd seen before. You know there were
[54:17] Some claims for issues that we knew we were dealing with in the February through May time frame.
[54:29] But most everything else kind of was the same pattern that we projected.
[54:42] Okay. Any questions from the public on item C?
[54:52] So looking at the budget, there are some items that are kind of buried and there is a from a transparency perspective, especially the legal expenditures.
[55:03] And I'm definitely not an accountant.
[55:07] I some days I can barely read and most days I can barely count, but the.
[55:14] It seems like the professional services and the legal services are all kind of rolled in.
[55:19] I think on page 22, there was 150K expenditure that wasn't budgeted for, but we're planning
[55:26] on spending that anyways, that town attorney and consultants and legal fees are all rolled
[55:33] together as being charged the planning department and there are big sums but there isn't any
[55:40] granularity to someone from the public who's who just kind of feels like there's a lot of lawsuits
[55:45] coming around right now and we it's hard for the public to understand yeah what are we spending
[55:51] what are we budgeted for and what is our exposure in in future years and what can we do as responsible
[55:58] great question yeah really great question yeah and so that that's the that's the big part I also have
[56:06] I also want to make a pitch for keeping defensible space, but maybe that's if that's not on the table, I can save that for another day.
[56:14] A defensible space cuts are not on the table.
[56:18] I'll save it for another day.
[56:19] So there's there's my comments about professional services, legal fees, granularity, transparency.
[56:25] What's the deal? Thank you.
[56:27] Thank you. Susan, do you want to respond to?
[56:29] Yeah, sure. Absolutely. So what happened in the last, I guess, few years, physical years,
[56:38] was that legal fees were all blended in with other kinds of professional contract services.
[56:46] And so it made it really hard, actually, so it's just the opposite about what you're saying. I'm sorry, I missed your name.
[56:52] otherwise I would address you directly. But the legal fees are being called out
[57:04] transparently here. And these legal fees don't have anything to do with litigation.
[57:10] They really are the day-to-day costs of the Errins and Dickinson-Colonel and
[57:17] own Gene's firm to provide the day-to-day services that the Council, the Planning Commission,
[57:25] the Code of Horseman services need, and we pulled them out this year to show that that's
[57:33] what we are paying for these services.
[57:36] Instead of bundling them in with a bunch of other professional services that, quite frankly,
[57:44] were more hidden, it had me not pulled out these legal costs. So I think this is actually
[57:51] a move towards more transparency about what the day-to-day legal costs of the TNR and
[57:59] that will make things that are out of the ordinary, stick out more if they, even when
[58:06] they do show up in the future. So I hope that makes any sense. But that was the, you
[58:13] That was the idea.
[58:16] Yeah.
[58:17] We have one follow-up on that, Susan, and from Kim.
[58:21] Yeah, Kim, Hanson.
[58:22] Thank you.
[58:23] So where do litigation fees get called out?
[58:28] If they're not in this budget, where do they get paid from, please?
[58:32] Well, this last year, the town actually didn't have any per se litigation fees.
[58:39] What they had were the normal day-to-day legal costs of running the town.
[58:45] The town also had the normal stuff assigned to the housing element in terms of hiring legal experts
[58:58] to help dredge through some of the issues that are inherent to the implementation or adaptation
[59:07] implementation of the housing element.
[59:15] Besides that, the only other thing where we have
[59:19] legal fees, and I'll just say this directly, had to do with the issues that the town had
[59:28] with now not longer town manager because the town had to hire investigators to investigate
[59:44] his claims and those claims have been forwarded to the town's insurer.
[59:50] We're still waiting to hear how much of that we will actually have to pay but we really
[59:58] in
[1:00:00] This year that's about to end, I have not seen any litigation fees. They've been legal costs from across a number of platforms, but not litigation, not litigation that you know where we've had good court. It's been just gene and her staff's normal costs of defending us on a day-to-day basis, doing the investigation.
[1:00:29] about Mr. Ledbetter's claims, which we had to do, and, you know, so I don't think there's anything hidden in any of this.
[1:00:46] Okay. You got to thumbs up on that response. Well done.
[1:00:51] Good.
[1:00:52] Okay. Any other comments on items seen?
[1:00:55] on the public.
[1:00:59] Seeing none, we will open for any deliberations from council. Yes, councilman
[1:01:05] Brown. I love the way you've tackled a budget, Susan. I'm looking specifically at the
[1:01:11] project as shortfall. And my simple question is, do you have any plans or any suggestions
[1:01:19] for how do we tackle trying to reduce that shortfall? Going after item by item and $10,000
[1:01:27] here $20,000 there if we did this, this, and this, and this, anything like that?
[1:01:31] Yeah, I think there are areas where expenses can be cut down on a day-to-day basis, you
[1:01:39] know, listen, I think that's true of every municipal budget, you know? I mean, I was
[1:01:46] manager in Woodside for 19 years and we cut back almost every year because, you know, you
[1:01:57] But I think Council Member Brown, there were things that were highlighted in the budget that will increase revenues.
[1:02:06] For example, meaning they'll decrease expenses by increasing revenues.
[1:02:12] One thing that comes to mind just really easily is pushing on the charge of credit card fees onto the users of credit cards.
[1:02:24] So that's like a $30,000 issue that immediately balances the current year, meaning 26, 27 budget.
[1:02:36] But there are a myriad of other little things like that that can happen.
[1:02:42] And I think that the staff is going to be bringing back some of those things to you,
[1:02:47] council member ran and thinking of other things that can be done over the next two to three
[1:02:58] years to make sure that you stay in the block. You know that you've got a balance budget and that you
[1:03:10] You can continue to be the really fiscally sound town that you have been for many
[1:03:18] number of years.
[1:03:20] Great.
[1:03:21] Thank you.
[1:03:22] So, I guess that's out of all that what I'd suggest, Miss, I'd love to see the town
[1:03:27] and you, for example, to get together staff and say, okay, here's where we are.
[1:03:32] What do you think you can do in the next 12 months to cut some of these expenses?
[1:03:39] Thank you.
[1:03:41] That's about a wall.
[1:03:43] Yeah.
[1:03:44] Thank you, Susan, very clear presentation.
[1:03:48] So maybe following up on Council Member Brown's comments.
[1:03:52] So when we looked at the budget a couple of meetings ago,
[1:03:56] Susan, you had made, I think it was about five recommendations
[1:04:02] around governance and ways we could balance the budget.
[1:04:06] But don't press me on reciting the five recommendations here right now.
[1:04:12] But I recall in that meeting, we gave direction that we wanted to follow up on those recommendations
[1:04:21] before we adjourned for the summer break.
[1:04:25] So I wanted to follow up on that and ask, you know, will that be happening?
[1:04:30] I guess the first product question.
[1:04:31] but also will that recommendation also include specifics on what staff proposes to do to whether
[1:04:42] it's fully balanced the budget or make progress towards balancing the budget.
[1:04:47] Can we expect that to happen at the last meeting before we adjourn for the summer?
[1:04:55] Okay. Well, so first of all, Council member, while I have to remind you that I am
[1:05:01] no longer the town manager. Yeah, so I should have said that my question is either directed
[1:05:06] to you or Melissa.
[1:05:07] Yeah,
[1:05:10] but I know that the current acting town manager and hopefully your new interim who will
[1:05:19] will start in July, will take all of the direction that you have given Melissa, and Melissa
[1:05:30] will share with her, you know, to come up with the specifics that you're looking for.
[1:05:41] I mean, I believe that they will, and, you know, and I'm still here to help if they need
[1:05:48] me, I don't think they will, you know, but I'm still here if they do. And you know, it's
[1:05:56] just discipline. You know, Councilmember Wall, when I started back in 1993, we were like
[1:06:02] broke here in Woodside. And we had no financial management halls. We had nothing. We were facing,
[1:06:10] you know, a budget deficit and it just took discipline and we are not like we were back
[1:06:17] then in 1993. We're way better off. So it really just takes some course corrections
[1:06:23] right now, you know, and those are all doable. I'm very optimistic. So yeah, that's great
[1:06:32] to hear. I guess maybe turning the question over to Melissa, do you have an update on kind
[1:06:37] kind of when we will hear about the course correction measures that the staff is going
[1:06:43] to be taking.
[1:06:45] Yes.
[1:06:45] Thank you.
[1:06:46] Council Member Wal.
[1:06:47] The old Mahonda road temporary traffic light kite hill and the credit card fee item will
[1:06:51] all be coming forward to the council at the July 23rd meeting.
[1:06:58] Awesome.
[1:06:59] And then do you recall like I seem to remember there were the five recommendations that Susan
[1:07:04] made.
[1:07:06] Do you have those top of mind?
[1:07:07] I think it was exploring the
[1:07:12] defensible space program that's going to take a little longer to craft some recommendations for changes to the program if council wishes we're going to bring forward alternative reimbursement items to list on the program. So that probably won't come forward until September.
[1:07:28] And the other item was the future internal budget processes which we will be meeting with staff.
[1:07:39] If the council approves it tonight, we'll be meeting with them in July to go over the adopted budget and
[1:07:46] ways that we can start exploring
[1:07:49] items that can be reduced
[1:07:52] Different things working with consultants how we can take some tasks internally
[1:07:58] including the department heads and in monthly meetings and touching base and making sure that they're aware of their
[1:08:06] accounts and and
[1:08:08] if they're at 25%, 50%, 75% and we're really going to track these and provide that information to the department heads, so they can pass that on to their staff as well.
[1:08:19] Fantastic.
[1:08:21] And what about the contract management software?
[1:08:26] Yes, I have tasked the town clerk gently and one of our senior management analysts to explore some programs,
[1:08:34] get some demos from these programs and I can check with Jenna, I'm not sure if
[1:08:40] that has started yet, but I did task them with that after the last meeting.
[1:08:44] And then once they have proposals in place, those will come forward to the
[1:08:48] council for review.
[1:08:52] Thank you for updating that.
[1:08:58] Any other comments or
[1:09:00] deliberation? I do have a question of Susan George and that is there are in
[1:09:06] In addition to the revenue enhancements that you were talked about, the Melissa just spoke about, credit card fee charges that's, you know, these all led up to some tens of thousands of dollars, so it's not insignificant.
[1:09:20] But we're also, is there any accommodation for the vehicle license fee that, you know, might be coming in from.
[1:09:26] Yeah, that we just that we just heard about right since the budget was put together I have not yet seen a number that will be attributable to woodside, but clearly that that would be revenue that's not in the budget that you I hope are about to adopt tonight.
[1:09:48] And that that will definitely give you a little bit more running room.
[1:09:54] So that's a pretty big number. Melissa, do you remember offhand with it? It's approximately
[1:09:58] $400,000. That's a big number. Yeah, which is great. It's a really lovely number. You
[1:10:03] know, we need to be careful to not see it. It's a number that is owed to us as I understand
[1:10:11] it from previous years. So don't see it as ongoing number, seeing it as one-time money.
[1:10:19] agreed. And on one time things. And the other one is potential recovery. We talked about
[1:10:25] this earlier tonight. Recovery from code enforcement actions that we've taken, which again
[1:10:29] is not an insignificant number. It's currently at 50,000. I think we just approved the expansion
[1:10:34] to 85,000 if I remember correctly. But I mean, there may be some recoveries of that, maybe
[1:10:41] not this fiscal year, but possibly next fiscal year. But some of them may be this fiscal
[1:10:45] year if there's a sale, one of those trouble property. So those are not reflected either.
[1:10:51] No, they're not. They're not. And that's again, that's one-time money that's probably paying off
[1:10:56] costs that you're paying this year. That's correct. Just remember to be conservative.
[1:11:03] I am, and I'm just pointing out some upside that may get us.
[1:11:06] No, absolutely, Council Member Gold. Yeah, yeah.
[1:11:09] Okay,
[1:11:14] I think with that, we are ready to entertain a motion on item C.
[1:11:21] I move to approve the modified 2025-2026 town budget under Agenda Item C.
[1:11:33] I'll second it.
[1:11:35] Council Member Operation.
[1:11:36] Yes.
[1:11:36] Council Member Brown.
[1:11:37] Yes.
[1:11:38] Council Member Gold.
[1:11:39] Yes.
[1:11:39] Council Member Wolff. Yes, Mayor Domkowski. Yes, thank you. And thank you, Mr. George.
[1:11:47] We appreciate all the help during this transitional period. Absolutely. I'm still here for one more item.
[1:11:53] I know. We'll bring it back. Thank you. Okay, moving on to item D, approval of an interim town manager employment
[1:12:01] agreement. And I'm handing that off to Melissa. Thank you, Mayor Domkowski. I wanted to say
[1:12:07] few words before this item that it has been an absolute pleasure to serve as Acting
[1:12:11] Town Manager since February. It has been difficult completing work for two
[1:12:15] positions and so I have made the decision to return to my role as Assistant
[1:12:18] Town Manager. So the quality of work that I believe this town needs can continue
[1:12:23] while the recruitment period occurs. I appreciate the support from the community,
[1:12:27] staff and council. I'm excited to work with Pam if the agreement is approved
[1:12:32] tonight and continue to learn and grow as a leader. I want to thank the council
[1:12:36] for hearing me and respecting my decision to return as assistant town manager. So as shown
[1:12:41] in the staff report, Pam would begin on July 1st. She would serve for one year or until a
[1:12:46] permanent town manager is retained. Her salary will be $335,000 and she will receive the same
[1:12:53] benefits as all other at-will employees. So before the council's interim town manager employment
[1:12:58] agreement for your review and approval, thank you. Thank you very much and on behalf of the entire
[1:13:04] to our town council, let me just also say that we're deeply appreciative of your willingness
[1:13:09] to step in during this transitional period. The leadership has been outstanding. Your
[1:13:15] collegiality has been wonderful, and I don't know what we would have done without you
[1:13:19] the last four months. So thank you very much, but we're also very grateful that you're going
[1:13:23] to be able to continue to contribute in your role, and we see where things are in the future.
[1:13:29] so thank you. We really appreciate it. Any questions on this item for staff from the council?
[1:13:41] Okay. Then we will move right into public comment. Are there any members of the public that would like to comment on item D?
[1:13:54] Seeing none, we will close public comment. Any further deliberation by council?
[1:14:05] Oh, go ahead. Council member one.
[1:14:08] Yeah, no, I just couldn't let the moment pass, Melissa, thank you so much for your leadership
[1:14:13] and all of your contributions over the last four months.
[1:14:18] It's been such a pleasure to work with you.
[1:14:20] I'm so excited to continue to work together.
[1:14:25] And I was just, I have been so impressed by how you stepped up and really supported the
[1:14:29] town during a difficult time, so, massive, massive thanks to you.
[1:14:34] Thank you, Councilmember Raul.
[1:14:38] Yeah, quick comment just to echo what you heard before, but a little slightly different
[1:14:43] spin. There were comments made, I mentioned this before, that the town was in chaos after
[1:14:50] you know, the February 17th approximately, not that I remember the date that well. And it
[1:14:58] And, you know, I think...
[1:15:00] That we talked with all the department heads, we talked with Melissa and really stepped up, but I wanted to thank the department heads in particular for stepping up. That was a moment of real test of people's strength and tenure and, you know, were they going to, it was a real show of integrity I think that people stood behind us. And I think that they did that largely because of you Melissa.
[1:15:26] It's the person at the helm who really kind of holds
[1:15:29] things together, and I think you sent that message loud and clear to everybody.
[1:15:33] So the point I'm making is not only was everything just held steady.
[1:15:40] You marched ahead because I remember your first meeting, it was one of the longest meetings
[1:15:45] we've ever had, and we had that whole budget thing that we went through, and it was pretty
[1:15:49] much of a nightmare, and it was a great show of your capabilities.
[1:15:54] And so in addition to what everybody else said, I just wanted to echo my thanks to you as
[1:15:58] well.
[1:15:58] And I understand your decision and we obviously respect that and that's great.
[1:16:02] I did want to make a comment about Pamela Antill who we interviewed and I just thought
[1:16:09] that she was an outstanding candidate, tremendous professionalism.
[1:16:14] I think she has a great background.
[1:16:16] I think that we've talked about some of the issues that are out there but she is a star.
[1:16:23] And I think she's actually exactly what we need at this particular moment in time.
[1:16:28] We need the help. I think that she has, you know, when we were talking to her about her experience, especially with things like the housing element, it could not have been more on point.
[1:16:36] I mean, it was, I mean, the the experience she has is exactly I think what we need at this particular moment in time.
[1:16:42] And so I heartily endorse this contract that we move forward with it.
[1:16:47] But again, I just wanted to thank not only Melissa, but I wanted to thank Jean for her efforts in identifying Pam.
[1:16:55] I know that wasn't necessarily an easy task.
[1:16:58] But I think we ended up in a very good place and I'm happy to move forward with this resolution when we get there.
[1:17:06] Very good.
[1:17:06] And maybe I'll just echo those comments that we're extremely fortunate to have Miss Antil bring her three decades of local government experience.
[1:17:13] to the town during this transitional period and what we're looking for is for her engagement to provide us with some time and some flexibility so that we can thoughtfully think about our needs and our priorities and also determine qualities and experiences that we would like to seek out in a permanent town manager role.
[1:17:34] So before beginning a formal recruitment process, so I will just echo the remarks of the Mayor
[1:17:40] Pro Tem and I look forward to welcoming Miss Antel to Woodside should this resolution pass.
[1:17:50] Yeah, but no, I'd like to make a motion to approve a resolution of the town council of the town
[1:17:55] of Woodside approving the employment agreement with Pamela Antel for the position as interim town
[1:18:00] Manager. Council Member Abarish. Yes. Council Member Brown. Yes. Council Member Gold.
[1:18:07] Council Member Wall. Yes. Mayor Duncowski. Yes. Thank you. And welcome Pam. Okay. We have a
[1:18:17] series of public hearings here. So we'll move right on to item E, which is a public hearing to
[1:18:22] Receiver Report, the town of which I've vacancies, recruitment, and retention efforts. And that is
[1:18:28] going to you, Cory. Thank you mayor. So I have the opportunity to discuss our vacancy, recruitment,
[1:18:35] and retention efforts related to California Government Code section 3502.3. So it mandates
[1:18:42] that public agencies present the status of vacancies and recruitment and retention efforts.
[1:18:46] I would say right now our recruitment efforts are fantastic because I have one person listed
[1:18:50] as a vacancy and we just filled that. So fantastic effort, Cory. Council. There we go.
[1:18:55] So moving on to recruitment efforts, typically we do job postings and we don't currently
[1:19:00] have any jobs posted.
[1:19:02] Typical time to hire can be 30 to 60 days pending the position, pending if we used a recruiter,
[1:19:07] or we do an internal recruitment that does change the length of time.
[1:19:11] Outreach strategies would obviously be the town website.
[1:19:13] We do word of mouth as well when staff attend meetings related to their specific subject matter,
[1:19:18] finance, public works, planning, etc.
[1:19:20] We utilize numerous job boards, I won't read all of them, but some of them are municipal
[1:19:25] management association of Northern California, which is also known as MMANC. We utilize
[1:19:31] also specific department areas of specialization, so for planning you might utilize the American
[1:19:37] Planning Association, Public Works, American Public Works Association, so on and so forth.
[1:19:42] Different retention strategies we have are employee feedback, so supervisors meeting with their staff
[1:19:47] as well as exit interviews with staff as they transition on to the next step. Competitive benefit
[1:19:52] We have fantastic benefits, our health, our dental, our vision, we do tuition reimbursement.
[1:19:59] We also have optional additional benefits.
[1:20:02] Should staff choose to elect to participate and that isn't something of your municipality offers.
[1:20:07] But here in Woodside, we do.
[1:20:09] And we don't currently have any challenges or proposed solutions while we are a small municipality.
[1:20:14] Our turnover is a lower rate than other cities given our size and our staff do really enjoy working here.
[1:20:19] I'm open to any questions that there are any from the town council.
[1:20:23] Thank you, Corey.
[1:20:24] Any questions for staff?
[1:20:29] Seeing none, any comments from the public on item E?
[1:20:37] Seeing none?
[1:20:39] Any further deliberation from council?
[1:20:44] You nailed it.
[1:20:45] Do we have a motion for item E?
[1:20:51] It's informational.
[1:20:52] Yes.
[1:20:57] Well, thanks for the information.
[1:21:01] Okay. Moving on to item F, resolution that we're going right back to you. Susan, adopting the town budget for 2627 and salary schedules and preparation limits. So I will head it back off you.
[1:21:18] Yeah. Thank you. This is actually Melissa's item, but I will just tell you that what's before you are resolutions that adopt by you.
[1:21:28] for 2627. The budget, as was discussed two weeks ago, the appropriation limit
[1:21:39] which you can ask Cory about because that's her baby and adopting the
[1:21:44] salary schedule for 2627 which is essentially the staffing that was laid out in
[1:21:50] the budget that was proposed to you two weeks ago. We'd be happy to answer any
[1:21:54] questions we can. You are still absolutely free to make any changes you want to
[1:22:01] it. You didn't direct any changes you gave Melissa and her staff things they
[1:22:09] needed to follow up on and she reported to earlier that they are doing that. So
[1:22:13] we're happy to answer any questions we can. Okay and Melissa I didn't mean to come
[1:22:18] Come through that. Anything you want to add? She summarized that perfectly.
[1:22:22] Okay. There you go.
[1:22:26] Teamwork makes the dream work around here.
[1:22:28] Okay. Any questions on item F for staff?
[1:22:35] No, we've been through this a bit. So, okay.
[1:22:37] Then we will open it up to the public.
[1:22:44] Well, second ratings are what they are.
[1:22:46] Seen no public comment. Any further deliberation from council?
[1:22:56] Yeah, other than the guidance on a number of issues that we talked about earlier in item C, it all makes sense to me.
[1:23:04] So, this one, we are asking for adoption, right? We're asking for a motion.
[1:23:10] Okay.
[1:23:11] There are three separate resolutions.
[1:23:15] Okay.
[1:23:16] Well, we can take them as one motion, right? Yes.
[1:23:21] I'll move that we adopt a resolution of the town council of the town of Woodside adopting
[1:23:27] a budget for fiscal year 2026-2027.
[1:23:34] Additionally, that we adopt a resolution, approve the resolution of the town council of
[1:23:38] the town of Woodside, determining the appropriation limit for the fiscal year 2026-2027.
[1:23:46] and the resolution updating and adopting the 2026 town salary schedule.
[1:23:57] All right. Council Member Abarish? Yes. Council Member Brown? Yes.
[1:24:01] Council Member Gold? Council Member Wall? Yes. Mayor Domkowski? Yes. Thank you.
[1:24:08] And moving right along to item. Thank you again, Susan.
[1:24:15] Thank you so much, guys.
[1:24:17] Yeah, enjoy the rest of your evening.
[1:24:19] Oh, thank you.
[1:24:20] You too.
[1:24:22] Moving on to item G, introduction and first reading of an ordinance to amend split codes,
[1:24:29] 151 and 153 on ADUs and Melissa Sage.
[1:24:36] Melissa Sage.
[1:24:37] Let's see what this is going to.
[1:24:38] Hi, Sage.
[1:24:39] Well, thank you Mayor, good evening Council members.
[1:24:42] So as everyone is well aware, the town has been updating its code in recent years related
[1:24:49] to the construction of accessory dwelling units, otherwise known as ADUs.
[1:24:54] Some of the requirements are mandated by the state, while others have been implemented
[1:24:59] by the town to provide increased flexibility for the construction of ADUs.
[1:25:05] So, as we've amended the code on a few different occasions, this is a continuation of that process.
[1:25:13] The current proposal is to make modifications to our standards for construction of ADUs,
[1:25:21] some of which are to maintain compliance with updated state laws while others are just local ideas to increase flexibility for construction.
[1:25:34] This staff report, it went to the Planning Commission on two occasions, the Planning Commission
[1:25:44] provided overall support for the project. Town staff has received several comments at the
[1:25:52] different meetings, including this meeting, and they were all overwhelmingly supportive of the
[1:26:02] general concerns overall, just in terms of being careful of increasing flexibility and
[1:26:08] how that may impact neighbors.
[1:26:11] What I have on the screen here is from the staff report that outlines these kind of nine
[1:26:17] different categories, these nine items that we've included with this proposed ordinance.
[1:26:23] I'm happy to walk through them all in extreme detail if you like, or if you'd rather just
[1:26:29] You know, if you have specific areas that you want to talk about or have questions, we can focus on those areas.
[1:26:35] Well, if others don't have any comments, we can move on.
[1:26:39] It's great. Any specific questions on item G from council?
[1:26:47] Got two that I would just like some amplification on. One, the second driveway exception and the amnesty proverb.
[1:26:52] So would you let me just go through those changes?
[1:26:58] Sure.
[1:26:59] You can summer on.
[1:27:00] Sure.
[1:27:00] Yeah.
[1:27:01] So I mean, for the second driveway exception, this is something that's been brought up in
[1:27:04] the past.
[1:27:05] It is currently is, may some may be aware, the town, code emphasizes one driveway for properties
[1:27:14] while a second driveway needs approval by the planning commission through a public hearing
[1:27:18] specific findings need to be made.
[1:27:21] And so it's been brought up on different occasions about trying to provide some relief for this public hearing requirement for ADUs on that may need a second driveway.
[1:27:34] So town staff has provided a recommendation that would allow for at the staff level to provide a second driveway exception for ADUs as long as certain criteria is met primarily related to safety.
[1:27:49] where some examples exist, some of the most obvious examples exist, we have some properties that may be bisected by a creek, but they may have streets on both sides of their property.
[1:28:02] Great example is some properties here on Whiskey Hill between Whiskey Hill and Manzanita Way.
[1:28:07] So instead of someone having to build a bridge across the creek and go through all of what that entails through local and state laws,
[1:28:14] They could now pursue this second driveway to the off of the other road and something the town can approve.
[1:28:20] Other times, other examples are when there's extreme topography differences when a property is accessed or is adjacent to or more roads.
[1:28:30] And so this would provide an opportunity for an ADU to be at the either higher or lower elevation without the need to run a driveway through that steep topography
[1:28:41] to ensure that there's proper fire access as well as just vehicle access.
[1:28:45] So this proposal is to basically provide a way in which someone proposed an ADU can have
[1:28:54] a second driveway without the need to go to planning commission.
[1:29:00] And with regard to the MC, I'm actually, thank you for bringing that up.
[1:29:03] There is something that I do want to mention with that one.
[1:29:05] It's not directly in the ordinance itself.
[1:29:08] But, you know, over the years, all of our code changes or ADUs have really simplified
[1:29:17] the process to convert structures or spaces into ADUs.
[1:29:22] And this would include ADUs that were already created without permits.
[1:29:27] So from a zoning perspective, the town has done a lot really to make that as easy as possible.
[1:29:33] The biggest issue often comes into play as health and safety improvements for property.
[1:29:39] So whether it be septic suitability or electrical or plumbing.
[1:29:44] And so someone still needs to comply with a certain level of health and safety standards.
[1:29:51] There is a state law that was passed AB 2533, then it's been amended to just change some
[1:30:00] Motion numbers. But an AB 2533, it provides local jurisdictions or directs local jurisdictions to allow for a kind of a lower level of building permit review as it relates to ADUs that were constructed without permits prior to 2020. So it's primarily a billion department.
[1:30:24] Something that is processed and provided by the building department.
[1:30:29] And the state law now provides, like I said, some lower level items needed that's still
[1:30:37] ensure health and safety requirements are met.
[1:30:40] So the town, this law is in effect.
[1:30:43] The town has one application that is pursuing this right now and we do know of others people
[1:30:50] that are interested in pursuing legalization of some of these unpermitted units.
[1:30:57] The town has created a checklist for folks that is on our website, so they give them some idea of what they need to do as well as they will talk to the building department and identify what items they may need to correct.
[1:31:13] One of the things that have come up in the state law is that cities have to allow for a third party inspection.
[1:31:19] would say like when people buy houses they hire an inspector on their behalf to kind of look at issues.
[1:31:25] So a resident could hire an inspector they don't have to but they could hire an inspector
[1:31:32] to go through their unit to see what they may need to modify to be brought up to code.
[1:31:39] The what came up from public comment as well as from the planning commission is a request to
[1:31:45] to allow the town building inspector to be used to go out to properties.
[1:31:51] So this is something that the town could provide as a service, the resident could pay for
[1:31:57] this service to offset any financial impacts.
[1:32:02] And this, you know, this building town inspector could go out and do the inspection.
[1:32:07] There would be the caveat that, you know, they don't see behind walls and there could be other
[1:32:12] items that just aren't easily identifiable. But this would be something that I think provides
[1:32:18] a little bit more confidence from the residents knowing that there's a town inspector who started
[1:32:23] to look at this stuff. It would not be a way to invite immediate code enforcement. It's just something
[1:32:29] a service that the town would provide. That's not something that we need to put in the ordinance itself.
[1:32:35] But if the council concurres with the idea of using town resources to be offset with
[1:32:42] costs from the residents that we could pursue that process with the building department.
[1:32:49] So those are those two items, and I'm happy to answer any questions yet.
[1:32:53] On the amnesty, thank you, and by the way, I'm impressed with the very forward thinking
[1:32:59] on both of those items.
[1:33:02] On the amnesty program, will any of those, because we don't count them now, will they count
[1:33:05] in the housing element?
[1:33:06] It's a good question.
[1:33:07] Yes, they will.
[1:33:07] So these are, you know, what it gets counted towards the arena numbers and the housing element are newly issued permits for units.
[1:33:17] So since they were never issued permits in the past, if they were to obtain a permit now, that would be a unit to be counted.
[1:33:23] So we should do something to encourage them.
[1:33:25] Yes, definitely a part of this is outreach as well.
[1:33:28] So we are putting together, we're kind of waiting for this ordinance to go through, but we've already drafted some stuff to get out to the public regarding 80 using general.
[1:33:37] And then this would be also something that would be emphasized. Thank you. Very good.
[1:33:43] I had a question.
[1:33:44] and all these regulation changes impact all properties in the town, correct?
[1:33:52] That's correct.
[1:33:53] So there's no differentiation between a quarter acre lot versus a 10 acre lot.
[1:33:58] No, the one item that I'll call out is that listed here, it's item number seven.
[1:34:05] And this relates to just the R1 district.
[1:34:08] So, whereas all of our districts outside of the R1 district allow for up to 4 ADUs, including a JADU.
[1:34:17] So, that's already been established by town ordinance, but currently the code for the R1 district only allows for 1 ADU and 1 JADU.
[1:34:25] But by state law, you have to allow these three different types of ADUs.
[1:34:31] One is a J-A-D-U, one is just a conversion of space, so whether it's a garage or part of your house.
[1:34:38] And then the other one is to allow for at least one detached A-D-U.
[1:34:42] That's at least 800 square feet, it's close to four feet to side, and we're probably line up to 16 feet tall.
[1:34:48] And so what we've done, so this is the one item which is just specifically for the R1 district.
[1:34:55] Although all other districts already are afforded these exceptions.
[1:34:59] They can use these types of ADUs already without changes to our code.
[1:35:03] And the R1 districts, they still can have to, are required to have two driveways, is that right?
[1:35:08] Oh, no, not necessarily. So the, none of them are required to have two driveways.
[1:35:12] It's just a matter of what we're doing with the driveway exception is if that's something an option that someone wants to pursue.
[1:35:19] If they can easily just, especially in the R1 district that's smaller lots, they could most of the time be able to just access the ADU from their existing driveways.
[1:35:27] Thank you, Council Member Wall.
[1:35:33] Yeah, I had a question. I wanted to dig into a little bit on the the ADU Amnesty Program,
[1:35:40] which I think is great and really pleased that this is on the in the packet and in a staff recommendation.
[1:35:48] Looking at or reflecting on some of the emails that we got as desk items, it seems sage kind
[1:35:55] in consistent with your comments that residents are really in support of letting owners do the
[1:36:04] embassy program but also pay for an assessment that kind of spells out and writing what legalization
[1:36:09] will require.
[1:36:12] In the desk items, though, nobody specifically called out the building inspector.
[1:36:17] When you set it here tonight, maybe you wonder, well, if we did rely on the building inspector,
[1:36:25] I think you said like it wouldn't be to invite enforcement, but do you think residents
[1:36:30] are going to feel would feel comfortable having it be the building inspector that would
[1:36:35] provide that assessment?
[1:36:37] I just worry that we're trying to really encourage ADU amnesty and might residents draw
[1:36:45] or whether true or not come to the conclusion that if the building inspector comes out,
[1:36:50] it might result in some sort of enforcement.
[1:36:53] So I guess my question is are there alternatives to the building inspector or is that really
[1:36:59] the only the only person that could do such an assessment?
[1:37:04] So there yeah so this would just be an extra option.
[1:37:06] So it's not something that would be required by folks.
[1:37:09] It would just be something if they would like to pursue that option.
[1:37:13] So the other option is one they just don't have anyone inspect the property prior and they
[1:37:18] They just move forward with their plans and inspections like a normal permit process.
[1:37:25] And then the other option that's always on the table which is what I mentioned earlier
[1:37:30] is that people can just hire their own third party building inspector.
[1:37:35] They could get the report, they don't ever have to show it to the town.
[1:37:39] They may decide to move forward, they may decide not to.
[1:37:43] And that's something that they could just keep for their own knowledge.
[1:37:46] So those would be the three options.
[1:37:48] They don't have to get an inspection prior to submitting, too, is to get their own inspector
[1:37:54] out there.
[1:37:55] And then this third option, this is something that actually was kind of encouraged by
[1:37:59] members of the public.
[1:38:01] I understand where there could be concern that, hey, maybe the town goes out there and finds
[1:38:05] a really significant health and safety issue.
[1:38:08] And at some point, some of those things may need to be addressed immediately if they're
[1:38:12] really dangerous.
[1:38:16] Whereas, you know, a lot of the comments we received in the public is they felt maybe
[1:38:21] more comfortable or that they would know what the town is specifically looking for as
[1:38:28] opposed to someone that they just hired maybe who works doesn't do too much work in
[1:38:34] woodside or something like that.
[1:38:35] So these would be different options.
[1:38:39] Yeah, no, yeah, I think, yes, understood, but in terms of like if it was the town offering
[1:38:45] the assessment as a service to residents, are there any alternatives to it being like
[1:38:53] the woodside building inspector? Like, for example, could we hire a third-party firm that
[1:38:59] becomes familiar with woodside requirements that kind of goes out and does that?
[1:39:04] Sure. I mean, in a sense, that's kind of what we do now. Our billion inspector is through
[1:39:09] firm CSG. You know, I'm not sure if it would be much different. If it was that firm
[1:39:15] who does our existing inspections and then also be another firm just for this specific
[1:39:21] use. That could be looked at. Okay. I guess thanks for reminding me that it's actually
[1:39:27] a third-party firm that does the... Okay. Great. Thank you.
[1:39:31] Any
[1:39:34] other questions from council?
[1:39:38] Hey, moving on to public comment on item G. Any members of the public that would like
[1:39:43] to weigh in?
[1:39:45] We've received lots of email traffic on this, but I got one in the Zoom.
[1:39:50] We'll take them first.
[1:39:51] Carrie,
[1:39:55] welcome.
[1:39:56] This is Carrie from Inspired ATUs.
[1:39:59] I am an architect focused on ATUs working a lot in Woodside and a resident in Woodside
[1:40:06] at 50 prospect with my own ADU in place. I'd love to, I just want to support Sage and his team
[1:40:13] on all they're doing for improving the energy around ADUs. We're seeing that a lot in the
[1:40:20] Bay Area, but not necessarily in our area, and it's really great to see it. I also, we just want to
[1:40:26] shed a little light on the legalization. We have a lot of clients right now who have illegal units,
[1:40:31] And while you can have some third party come in,
[1:40:35] there is really no one doing that right now.
[1:40:37] And even if you get a third party report,
[1:40:40] what happens is once you submit for permit,
[1:40:42] you get a building inspector who asks for different things.
[1:40:45] So what the state has done with 2533,
[1:40:48] which I know has changed,
[1:40:49] but that's the number I've memorized,
[1:40:52] is that they put it together a checklist.
[1:40:54] And it's really looking at simplifying an ADU
[1:40:58] that was built in the 60s isn't going to meet today's building code.
[1:41:00] and the state is put in place something to meet that part way, but there's some really
[1:41:05] subjective language still there mostly around foundations. And you know, foundation that was
[1:41:12] built in the 50 or 60s isn't going to have the proper waterproofing. We have tried to legalize
[1:41:17] a few 80s historically in the last three or four years. And the comments that we received back were
[1:41:23] really complicated and didn't our clients actually drop the project and didn't move forward. So
[1:41:28] So there needs to be a level of communication that builds off the state laws that's reasonable.
[1:41:35] Like if a foundation is in a place in the 60s, doesn't show any signs of cracking, doesn't
[1:41:41] show water intrusion, there's no problem with mold, then most likely that foundation
[1:41:47] is okay, right?
[1:41:48] It's been there, people are living illegally in these units.
[1:41:51] I think if we could give homeowners a pathway to find a reasonable means to legalize these
[1:41:57] units.
[1:41:57] We could improve things that maybe aren't there like a window for rescue from the fire department and upgrading, you know,
[1:42:05] a electrical connection that's not safe, but there is a big gap in understanding about the subjectivity especially around foundations.
[1:42:15] But I think if we, and I think clients would be very happy to pay the town for the expense, but finding a way to use an inspector to interpret this checklist that the state is provided.
[1:42:26] and find a way to legalize units.
[1:42:28] Those units are here.
[1:42:30] They're in woodside.
[1:42:31] Often people are living in them illegally.
[1:42:34] This would be a tax revenue for the town.
[1:42:36] It would be a way for us to get to our arena numbers.
[1:42:39] And it would be a way to improve general life safety.
[1:42:42] And I think it's a really important.
[1:42:45] There's, I practice in a lot of municipalities
[1:42:47] throughout Northern California.
[1:42:49] And there's a big gap in what the state's intention was.
[1:42:52] And then people actually feel uncomfortable.
[1:42:55] legalize these units and I think what I could put together a pretty reasonable program
[1:42:59] that would generate revenue and work with homeowners to figure out a way and I have several
[1:43:04] candidates who would be again, he paid for the program if he wanted to try.
[1:43:09] Thank you very much.
[1:43:11] Thank you, Sage.
[1:43:13] Do you want to weigh in on where we are on this and the subjectivity piece of it and inspection
[1:43:17] piece of it?
[1:43:18] Is that a policy that is something I think would be more of a policy and we don't need to
[1:43:22] put it in code.
[1:43:22] And I think the benefit of that is to be a little bit more nimble and
[1:43:27] as we learn of these units and figure out what is the easiest and best way.
[1:43:33] So my goal, the plan department would be to pass us on to the building department,
[1:43:38] speak with them more, understand, try to better understand and communicate to folks of expectations.
[1:43:46] So yeah, no, we definitely hear the comments.
[1:43:49] And I think and and carries her and I've worked together on a lot of these different issues just from state law point of view and so we're always welcoming input from people like her and her firm.
[1:44:03] So anything that provided we would communicate with the building department they can communicate with the building department directly as well.
[1:44:09] Okay.
[1:44:10] It sounds like an invitation to collaborate.
[1:44:13] Great.
[1:44:13] Kerry.
[1:44:14] Okay.
[1:44:15] Back to the room.
[1:44:17] Ms. Hanson.
[1:44:20] Hi.
[1:44:21] Thanks.
[1:44:21] Kim Hanson.
[1:44:22] I love on Remundo.
[1:44:24] So in 2020, and I've been told state ADU law has changed, but I'm just, I did make these
[1:44:35] points at the second planning commission meeting, and so I'm hoping to share those with you.
[1:44:40] Because in 2020, the new state ADU law set housing as the highest goal and while it requires
[1:44:48] more relaxed development standards, it does not sanction unsafe siding, which is siding
[1:44:55] within a fault zone on a landslide area in a flood zone.
[1:45:00] Or in a manner that does not comply with emergency response requirements. Also in 2020, town council asked for the planning department as a courtesy to let neighbors know that there was going to be ADU construction in the area in that their neighbors were going to do that. It's my understanding that that recommendation was not put into practice. My concern about this
[1:45:29] issue, I think the intent is really good. Provide more housing, do it in a way that helps
[1:45:36] our arena numbers, do it in a way that gives the property owner property rights and the
[1:45:42] ability to enjoy their property, but neighbors have rights too. And the whole town and community
[1:45:49] also has some common goal that all of our construction efforts are going to be safe.
[1:45:59] And
[1:45:59] for the neighbors. So my question really is around why do we need this increased flexibility?
[1:46:07] The suggestions that I had or comments that I had made for the planning commission were
[1:46:16] asking that an example would be it does an additional driveway option. Shouldn't there be
[1:46:23] some parameters around it? Shouldn't there be some guidelines saying maybe it can't exceed
[1:46:28] 20% grade, maybe it shouldn't be in a landslide zone, maybe there should be a length parameter.
[1:46:34] All of these things are health and safety.
[1:46:37] And I feel like the Planning Commission didn't consider the health and safety aspects of
[1:46:44] creating more flexibility.
[1:46:46] We have floor area, floor area exceptions and basements, even though the maximum size of
[1:46:55] an ADU is in a 3 acre property is 1500 square feet.
[1:47:01] We have an ADU being constructed in our neighborhood that's over 2300 square feet built on active
[1:47:09] landslide.
[1:47:10] It's at, I can't remember the grade, it's on a hill and the slope is, the slope of the
[1:47:20] property is also being additionally destabilized because they're putting leach fields for the
[1:47:27] increased septic system on the slope below the house. So my request is that we shouldn't sacrifice
[1:47:35] health and safety for housing units. Thank you.
[1:47:42] Maybe just two quick follow-ups there.
[1:47:45] I thought we, do we not notify people anymore within a certain hundred, a couple hundred feet of the so stay law doesn't
[1:47:54] Why are they noticing but the town did put that in the code it was specific for 80 use that were receiving some type of administrative exception, including those that would be located within the basic setbacks.
[1:48:07] It is for immediate neighbors, so just the ones next door and across the street.
[1:48:14] And that is something that's been in place, if it was missed once, it's a possibility,
[1:48:20] but I just even worked with a plan the other day that's issuing an impairment for an ADU
[1:48:24] and that noticing did go out.
[1:48:25] It did go out.
[1:48:26] It did go out.
[1:48:27] Yeah.
[1:48:27] Okay.
[1:48:28] It sounds like, yeah, maybe that would be consistently-
[1:48:32] And I was just like to add, you know, with this noticing, we know that there's no appeal
[1:48:37] rights for these kinds of things.
[1:48:39] And so we do clarify in the notice that it's just for notification purposes, but there's no actions to be taken.
[1:48:46] Okay. And then the second part was how are some of the considerations that Ms. Hanson has brought up.
[1:48:52] How are those how are those play out in a civil process?
[1:48:55] Just the same with any building permit.
[1:48:58] So there's geotechnical requirements.
[1:49:01] I won't pretend to be a geologist. They do go to our our town geologist.
[1:49:06] So the applicant provides their consulting team with the soils report and foundation recommendations.
[1:49:15] Those go to the town geologist for review.
[1:49:18] Then my understanding is that you'll have a structural engineer or architect of some type that is designing a foundation based on the recommendations from the geologist, which are then checked by the building department.
[1:49:32] and septic is looked at county.
[1:49:35] So all of these items, they, you know,
[1:49:39] I mean, we don't allow buildings
[1:49:40] and new buildings on earthquake faults
[1:49:42] so that just doesn't occur,
[1:49:45] but any type of soil conditions
[1:49:48] that may have landslides
[1:49:50] and the particular instance that Ms. Hansen has brought up,
[1:49:54] the town judges has re looked at the information.
[1:49:57] There was bedrock that wasn't too deep.
[1:50:00] And so my understanding of that particular location they were able to remove that top soil and get to the bedrock and place the acceptable foundation.
[1:50:11] So, you know, as a planner all I can say is that all of these health and safety issues are looked at early through the building permit process.
[1:50:20] They do have to comply with all these items, including drainage requirements and everything else.
[1:50:24] Okay. Okay. Thank you. Are there any other comments on item G?
[1:50:35] Seemed done? Oh,
[1:50:37] now saved by the bell. We'll go to Zoom Room, Kim.
[1:50:44] Good evening, everybody. Kim Juliachi,
[1:50:46] Fire Marshal with Scythe Fire. I just wanted to speak really quickly to this. The fire district is
[1:50:52] always in support of all the goals that the town has to meet when it comes to requirements for housing
[1:50:58] and especially with ADUs.
[1:51:01] We have an understanding of that,
[1:51:03] but I just wanna make sure that I mention
[1:51:05] and keep it to the forefront on everyone's minds
[1:51:08] that the district also has a different responsibility
[1:51:11] and that's for the life and safety of the residents
[1:51:14] and the firefighters around.
[1:51:16] One big concern that always comes up
[1:51:18] and it's always a problem when it came down
[1:51:20] to the housing element is the requirements
[1:51:23] that laws putting into towns and cities
[1:51:26] with the increase and making it easier for increasing construction for housing.
[1:51:32] It creates a big problem because the town of Woodside, like the town of Portola Valley,
[1:51:37] is already limited in not just ace-fit roads and evacuation. And we're also looking at density
[1:51:44] of structures. So when we look from a different perspective of the increase of structures,
[1:51:50] We start to look at how close are these being built and what's what's going to cause structure structure ignition points during a wildfire?
[1:51:58] This is with more housing more units. We're talking about more cars, more people
[1:52:03] evacuating on the same roads as other people. So it's just something to consider while you go through this process. Of course
[1:52:12] We'll always support the best that we can
[1:52:15] But we will also, when it comes through the district for review, it will be something that we look at considering with making sure that it is in compliance with all of the fire codes and local ordinances.
[1:52:29] Thank you.
[1:52:32] Thank you, Kim. And we certainly appreciate that perspective and all you bring to this part of what we do.
[1:52:41] any other comments from the public?
[1:52:47] Okay, seem then we'll close public comment. Any further deliberations or thoughts from council on these items?
[1:52:59] Council member Eberish?
[1:53:00] Thank you.
[1:53:02] Yeah, I living in the western hills, I, you know, I always think about what that we have.
[1:53:10] Yeah, the more density that the same issue or fire marshal just mentioned, the more density
[1:53:16] we have, the more difficult it's going to be to evacuate if there's a fire.
[1:53:20] And then on the flip side of that, if we don't meet our housing numbers, we're going to
[1:53:27] have new, we're just going to have more building remedies.
[1:53:32] And then we're going to have the same problem with less control.
[1:53:35] And so for here, I do see a benefit, the one benefit, one of the benefits I saw, I think
[1:53:43] would come out of this, is that hopefully better evacuation options for the people living
[1:53:47] in the houses.
[1:53:48] And for example, if they have roads on both sides, if there's a fire blocking one of their
[1:53:54] driveways, if they have a second driveway, great.
[1:53:56] and maybe more access for our trucks and not, you know, saying I'm all for maximizing housing, especially in the hills and everywhere else, but if it's going to happen, you know, better to have some control over it.
[1:54:15] And I succeed. Other comments from council?
[1:54:24] Maybe I'll just weigh in and just oh, council member wall.
[1:54:29] Thanks. Yeah, no, I I support this. I think it's a really really well thought out well crafted package. I think, you know, very supportive of the floor area, exception moving from 800 to 1200 square feet.
[1:54:46] the path to legalize the older and permitted units, the second driveway, you know, I think
[1:54:54] this has been under review for a long time and I think it strikes the right balance.
[1:55:00] I mean, I definitely appreciate and thank you, Kim, for both Kim's actually for your comments.
[1:55:05] In particular, you know, around fire safety, I mean, it's something that we always have to keep
[1:55:10] top of mine. But I think this proposal is practical. It brings needed flexibility. It helps with our housing element.
[1:55:23] And so I think, you know, all things being considered, I think it's a really good proposal.
[1:55:29] Very good. Yes. Yeah, I just, I agree. I like it because it takes me back to when I first started on the council.
[1:55:37] In fact, an ASRB, the goal for me was let's simplify how to build in this town, make it
[1:55:45] less expensive.
[1:55:47] I think this does a great job of getting through a lot of the red tape that we've been scrapper
[1:55:52] than giving us an opportunity to really start getting creative and how we get the buildings
[1:55:58] done that we need to get done in this town.
[1:56:00] Good job.
[1:56:03] You go.
[1:56:04] Great.
[1:56:05] Yeah.
[1:56:06] Okay.
[1:56:06] All right.
[1:56:07] One, thank you to the Planning Commission and the sage and his team for getting this done.
[1:56:15] This is a, I think, a big step forward. I certainly support it.
[1:56:19] In Woodside, the only way we can make our arena number is through ADUs.
[1:56:24] I mean, that's actually how we want to do it because they're organic.
[1:56:27] They're dispersed around the town.
[1:56:30] They have less impact on certain neighborhoods than building apartment buildings,
[1:56:34] which we'd like to avoid. I think if we could, I actually said that out loud, didn't I?
[1:56:39] But I think that the ADUs are really the way to go. And so anything we can do to make them
[1:56:44] easier and streamline it, I think is certainly consistent with what we're being asked of by Sacramento.
[1:56:50] I sent out, there was an article in the Palo Alto Daily Post yesterday, I think.
[1:56:58] And the headline was, get ready for more homes. And actually, I think there was an article
[1:57:03] in another local paper today about that the state is actually I think on a federal level
[1:57:09] they're doing it too.
[1:57:10] So everybody wants to build, build, build, build, build and you know woodside is not exempt
[1:57:14] from that although it's not particularly you know easy place to build.
[1:57:19] We don't have you know it's a very rural community and we don't have the infrastructure set
[1:57:23] up.
[1:57:24] So A.D.
[1:57:24] use are really kind of our own the outlet.
[1:57:26] I've quoted these numbers before but I'm going to quote them again just to give people
[1:57:31] an idea of what's coming here. We're now, what housing cycle are we on six, I think?
[1:57:36] Ah, yes. This is currently six. These are eight year cycles, I think, if I remember correctly.
[1:57:42] So these are eight year cycles. We're in the sixth cycle. So this has been going on for
[1:57:47] 50 years or so. I wanted to go back two cycles ago. So this started in 2007 to 2015. The statewide
[1:57:56] wide number was 188,000 units.
[1:58:00] I was just statewide number.
[1:58:02] They now sort of expect that to do that every month.
[1:58:05] But that's the statewide number back in cycle four.
[1:58:09] Cycle five, which was just the last one
[1:58:11] that ended in 2023.
[1:58:13] So this isn't like ancient history.
[1:58:15] The statewide number was 441,000 housing units
[1:58:19] to be built over a six year period that just ended.
[1:58:22] Just to give you some idea of what happened
[1:58:25] this housing cycle, the cycle that we're about three years into, the number was 2.4 million.
[1:58:34] Just think about that for a second. People talk about the number tripling for some communities.
[1:58:39] Statewide, the number went up sixfold from one cycle to the next. And that's in light of
[1:58:46] higher interest rates, recession, tougher labor rates, cost of building, cost of wood,
[1:58:51] cost of everything else just off the map and by the way an exodus of people from our state.
[1:58:57] So if you were people less going on there and I'll spare you with the other economic factors
[1:59:04] that are going into this. So the 2.4 million, this is the numbers I've used before, breaks down,
[1:59:09] the map is easy over the eight-year cycle. It's 300,000 units per year. Keep in mind just two cycles
[1:59:16] ago was 188,000 for the entire state or the entire cycle that was going on, eight year cycle.
[1:59:24] So that's just an insane number that we're not going to make. In fact, we'll be lucky to do 750,000 during
[1:59:30] this cycle compared to the budget, the allocation that we've been given of 2.4 million. Okay? We'll do 750,000
[1:59:40] stay wide if we're lucky. And just to put a finer point on that, the number in this article,
[1:59:44] I don't know, Woodside's numbers, but they did point out in Palo Alto the housing quota tripled
[1:59:51] for the current, so for the 2023-2031 cycle that we're now almost halfway into, for Palo Alto with
[1:59:58] 6,000 units.
[2:00:00] So far, almost halfway through the cycle, they've issued permits for 811 units, which is they should be 50% of the way there, roughly 40% of the way there, they're 13% of the way there. So this just gives you an idea of how far out of touch, I think Sacramento is with our towns. Nevertheless, the way we do it in Woodside is with ADU. So anything we can do to make it simple, I think is certainly welcome. And I think that to address some of the concerns that we heard earlier,
[2:00:29] I don't think those go away.
[2:00:31] I think that you still can't put a driveway on a 35% grade.
[2:00:36] I mean, all those things still apply.
[2:00:37] It's got to be safe.
[2:00:38] But I think that if there isn't available driveway,
[2:00:40] it makes sense for certain properties.
[2:00:43] We should certainly do that.
[2:00:44] Right now, I think, you know,
[2:00:45] and I think a lot of these things should be ministerial
[2:00:47] that is they should be over the counter.
[2:00:49] They shouldn't have to have a hearing on that.
[2:00:50] That's part of, I think, the, of what we're looking for.
[2:00:53] And I think we've gone a long way here.
[2:00:54] I asked the question about amnesty in particular
[2:00:57] because that comes up a lot. People have built. If there's an ADU or what we've termed now a JADU,
[2:01:04] they probably weren't called that in 1950. But if we we're going to find, as I think, one of the
[2:01:14] participants by Zoom had mentioned, anything that's older than 50, even 60, 70-year-old on these ADUs,
[2:01:21] they're not going to be compliant. They are going to have mold and water leak and crack foundations.
[2:01:28] And I don't think, and I think that those need to be addressed, but I think
[2:01:31] amnesty is a really, it sounds great in concept. It's a really complicated thing because
[2:01:36] we are going to discover things and they're going to say, gee, don't you want this to be legal?
[2:01:40] But I think that there's going to be some way where we kind of meet them and we provide
[2:01:44] some accommodations. The only thing I wanted to ask here is that we do some community outreach
[2:01:49] on the amnesty because making our numbers is important, we want to eliminate 10
[2:01:54] story high rises on Jefferson and I think we need to do that. And this is one
[2:01:59] way that we can do it. So anything we can do to make it easy is great. We need to
[2:02:02] make sure I maybe even have workshops or something to let people know what's
[2:02:06] going to be required here in the new rules, putting out a flyer, something like
[2:02:10] that, putting it in the wood cider, that we have new regulations on ADUs I think
[2:02:14] would be important because people like ADUs, they're using them and the more we
[2:02:18] can get that number up. The more compliant we're going to be and we can keep Rob Bonta out of
[2:02:23] her backyard.
[2:02:27] Nice finish, huh? Thank you. I'll just also mention obviously I was going to see
[2:02:33] everybody loves it but I guess it better just say it's overwhelming support and I just wanted to
[2:02:39] commend that sage in the planning department and the commission for listening to what people want
[2:02:45] and encouraging it and so thank you very much and I thought your report was wonderful
[2:02:49] And of course, anything we can do to reasonably loosen up code is a good thing and it certainly
[2:02:57] conveys the residents that would start as open for business when it comes to our housing
[2:03:03] goals.
[2:03:03] So we will maybe leave it with that and entertain a motion for item G.
[2:03:10] I'll make a motion.
[2:03:11] Do we need to modify the dates on this?
[2:03:13] So, this is an introduction of the ordinance, so it would be introducing the ordinance and then bringing it back the date on there, July 14th, but it's actually the 20th, oh, sorry, the July 28th.
[2:03:28] So, do I need to make that change now or should we make it on the second reading now?
[2:03:43] Council of the town of Woodside Amending Chapters 151 and 153 of the municipal code updating
[2:03:49] regulations for accessory dwelling units and paved area and surface coverage exceptions
[2:03:55] for increased fire safety. Second, council member of the reach.
[2:04:00] Yes. Council member Brown. Yes. Council member Gold.
[2:04:02] Yes. Council member Wall. Yes. Mayor Duncowski. Yes. Thank you. Volunteer committee updates.
[2:04:10] Melissa. Thank you. I wanted to mention that the softball adult softball co-ed league started yesterday with games will be on Sundays through Friday at 6 p.m
[2:04:20] I was at elementary school opening ceremonies are this Sunday, yeah, Sunday June 28th. If anybody wanted to go and see some of your
[2:04:30] many members out there on the softball field. It's all day. I think starting in 1130. Oh.
[2:04:37] Oh, yes, Council Member Wall definitely plays softball and we have a new member playing.
[2:04:43] Lewis has joined a team as well.
[2:04:45] Yes, sir.
[2:04:46] Lewis, see you on the field.
[2:04:49] We got a ranger.
[2:04:51] A lot of athletic prowess here.
[2:04:53] Wonderful.
[2:04:54] Okay.
[2:04:55] Mayor and council communications.
[2:04:57] Any members of, yes, Council Member Brown.
[2:04:59] Yeah, I've got three committees that I'm working with that have projects underway that I think
[2:05:05] going to have a big impact on the town.
[2:05:08] I've started working with the Environment Committee, Susan
[2:05:10] Sweeney.
[2:05:12] We're looking at, I asked her to look
[2:05:14] into what open space exists in the town
[2:05:20] so that we can identify who to talk to about what
[2:05:23] their fire safe practices are.
[2:05:26] Bring them in front of the council to tell us.
[2:05:29] And it turns out there are 37,000 square feet of open space
[2:05:34] within Woodside and adjacent neighborhood square feet that are out of basically out of our control, so I'm going to be working with her to identify who to talk to at each of these organizations, bring them in here.
[2:05:47] And I'm coordinating with Kim if she's still online to make sure that they're doing everything that the fire code requires to protect the town of Woodside from any fire,
[2:05:59] potential fire in those neighborhoods. I'm also working with Lewis and John
[2:06:08] Milliman from the emergency committee to put together a plan of identification
[2:06:13] of what are the power and communication needs on the emergency basis in this
[2:06:20] town. Now, well, are we equipped right now to meet them? And if not, well,
[2:06:25] equipped what we need to do to get well equipped. And finally, I'm talking about further conversation
[2:06:32] of the library about how to utilize that $5 million fund that has been accumulated and they
[2:06:41] have approved a $100,000 budget expenditure for a consultant to come in and start advising them
[2:06:47] and will be working with the library and that consultant on how to integrate a library further into
[2:06:55] down activities and could include walkways to and from the town to the library and
[2:07:05] be more mean spaces within the library, restructuring perhaps in the parking.
[2:07:11] I don't know any of those things yet, but all that's going to be looked at.
[2:07:15] And hopefully next year we'll have some kind of real concrete plan to come forward with.
[2:07:21] That's
[2:07:25] wonderful. Thank you. Any other council communications?
[2:07:29] That one. Thank you.
[2:07:30] Be quick. I know ALPR's license plate readers are controversial but
[2:07:36] it's actually pretty rare that there's a burglary in woodside that gets caught
[2:07:41] in woodside as well or gets caught quickly by our own cameras.
[2:07:46] We're often a burglary, a residential burglary or crime that's committed in another jurisdiction.
[2:07:51] We catch here or something that happens here, it gets caught elsewhere, we've talked about this before, but there was a residential burglary in greenways drive, which is over by the high school, which was reported on June 15th on June 16th using security footage and ALPR technology and the home security footage from the residents,
[2:08:13] the Sheriff's Department identified the vehicle and made two arrests one day using the ALPR.
[2:08:19] So it does work.
[2:08:21] You know, we don't get all the notices and things like that.
[2:08:23] And certainly, you know, get notices if, you know, a crime that occurs in Hillsboro and it's caught in San Jose.
[2:08:29] You know, we don't particularly pay attention to it.
[2:08:31] But here's one that actually did occur in our city and was caught literally the next day.
[2:08:36] So I just wanted to thank the Sheriff's Department for their work.
[2:08:39] and just to put in a, I know the overseas that's around it, I have the same concerns,
[2:08:45] but it is a good crime preventative system and technology.
[2:08:51] Great.
[2:08:52] Thank you.
[2:08:53] Any other comments from Council?
[2:08:56] All right.
[2:08:57] And I'll just, and by saying as was highlighted by the Mayor of Pro Tem and the prior item,
[2:09:01] we will be reconvening on July 28th.
[2:09:05] Thank you.
[2:09:06] And good night.
[2:09:06] at 910, we'll call it.