11.16.21 Meeting Summary

Last night the Council discussed a few significant items:

• We introduced an ordinance that would change our municipal code to allow for outdoor cultivation of marijuana for personal use.  Currently, only indoor cultivation for personal use is allowed, up to six plants.  The new ordinance would continue to have a limit of six total plants on a given property and only allow cultivation for personal use.  In addition, plants grown outdoors would be required to be behind a locked gate and not visible from the public right of ways.  
  
  This was the first reading of the updated ordinance.  Typically there are two readings required so we will see this item again on the next ,meeting agenda, and take effect shortly after that.
  
  
• We also approved the parameters for the Clayton Cares Program - the program designed to distribute ARPA funding for those businesses and households impacted by COVID-19.  The parameters were designed to distribute funds as quickly as possible in the first tranche, and therefore funds will be distributed on a first come first served basis.  If we do not exceed our allotment, we may advance future tranches.  
  
  There are a number of criteria that are required to be eligible, and differ whether the recipient is a business or an individual.  Most businesses that render services or sell goods to others within the city of Clayton, has an active business license and has been in business prior to the beginning of March-21, would be eligible with certain documentation and attestation requirements.
  
  Individuals would be eligible if they reside in Clayton as of the early March-21 date, and have household income below 50% of the Area Median Income (AMI) for Contra Costa County.  AMI is sliding scale that increases based on the number of individuals within a household.
  
  I'm glad we were able to move quickly on this program.  The initial amounts in this first tranche are not overly large, but hopefully these assist some of those that have been impacted by COVID-19.  We will take the data from this tranche to inform how we structure future tranches.
  
  
• We also approved a change to the types of public works projects that are subject to competitive bidding.  In the current state, any public works project in excess of $5,000 was required to go through a competitive bidding process.  To expedite projects and streamline processes, we increased this threshold to $60,000.