My 2.18.25 Meeting Summary

Last night the Council met and had one significant item on the agenda, however the meeting had extensive discussion on some other topics.

- We discussed a renewal of a noise abatement agreement with Oakhurst Country Club.  Due to the nature of golf course operations, several maintenance activities occur daily and at early hours in the day.  Things like mowing the grass and resetting tee boxes and greens take place before play begins, which is typically at sunrise.

Current City ordinances prohibit certain noise creating activities like mowing lawns prior to 7am each day.  Because time of use for the golf course starts at 7am, maintenance has always happened prior to that time.  Historically there has existed a noise abatement agreement which granted Oakhurst permission to operate certain equipment at earlier times in the day - with the focus on areas away from homes, though not entirely.

The noise abatement renewal did not change any of the existing provisions substantively.  We later determined that the wrong version of the agreement was included in the agenda packet.  In addition, there was feedback provided by residents regarding Oakhurst maintenance operations, alleging operations outside the time permitted per the noise agreement.  As such, the Council tabled this until a later date and asked our City Manager to approach Oakhurst to see if there were other provisions that could be adjusted.

- We discussed the salary schedule of the Police Chief position which is currently vacant and being filled on an interim basis.  The Council agreed to increase the salary schedule by 4% consistent with the agreement that was in place with the prior Police Chief.  When the recruitment period ends, we will discuss with the City Manager whether any additional changes need to be made to attract qualified candidates.

The Oakhurst Geological Hazard Abatement District (GHAD) Board also met and discussed a few significant items:

- We selected a new Chair (myself) and Vice Chair (Boardmember Enea)

- We received the annual engineer's report which indicated several areas where maintenance was recommended.  Without adequate maintenance, the risk of damage due to Earth movement increases.  Without additional funding however, the GHAD would need to use between 2-3 years worth of funding from the future to cover the cost.  Without additional funding, I did not think it was prudent to spend all of the remaining GHAD funds on maintenance that may not add value, and would need to be performed on a repeated basis.  Rather, I thought it was more important to take steps to increase the revenues so as to make the GHAD more solvent.

- We discussed the process for a ballot measure to increase GHAD assessments.  A notice would be sent to all residents in the GHAD, and ask them to approve a rate increase.  The amount of the increased assessment would vary based on the type of residence.  Votes are counted on a per residence basis, with a greater weight going towards those residences of higher value or at higher risk of being impacted.

The Board gave direction to pursue the rate increase, including the establishing of a reserve, and determine whether a citizen oversight committee was possible with this type of assessment.  If the voters of the GHAD approve the rate increase (towards the May/June timeframe), then the GHAD would be funded sufficiently to perform the operations it was intended to.  If the voters reject the rate increase, that would cause nearly all GHAD activities to cease.

Upcoming Meeting 2.18.25

At our next Council meeting there is one significant item we will be discussing:

- We will discuss an adjustment to the Police Chief job classification and associated salary schedule.  In connection with our recruitment effort to hire a full time Police Chief, the City Manager is recommending an increase to the base salary of the Police Chief of 4%.  This is consistent with the scheduled increase in the contract with the prior Police Chief.

If you have any thoughts or questions on the above, please let me know.

My 2.4.25 Meeting Summary

On Tuesday the Council met and discussed several significant items:

- We first interviewed three applicants for one open Planning Commissioner seat. The seat was vacated when Councilmember Enea was elected and we interviewed applicants in order to fill the open seat for the remainder of the term ending in June 2026.  Of the three applicants, the Council discussed and voted to appoint Nate Brzovich to the Planning Commission.  Nate's approach to listening to community feedback and balancing that with what the law requires was what was persuasive to the Council.  Congratulations, Commissioner Brzovich!

- We discussed and decided in favor of entering an agreement for investment advisory services with UBS.  UBS currently acts as a custodian of City funds in a non-discretionary manner.  This means that UBS can execute transactions for various securities, but only as the City specifically directs.  There are associated fees, and we are essentially buying at retail.  By entering into a advisory agreement, UBS becomes a fiduciary to the City, and will be authorized to act on the City's behalf within the approved investment policy of the City.

There are multiple benefits of such an arrangement.  While there is a 30 basis point fee associated with this arrangement, there is no cost for any individual transaction.  Because UBS is authorized to act on the City's behalf, there will be no time where cash is sitting idle and not being invested.  This will yield greater returns, but it will also free up staff time so they can focus on other activities.  We will also be able to exit certain positions that are underperforming and redeploy those funds towards higher performing securities.  Overall this should yield greater returns on the over $12M in City funds.

- We formed an ad hoc committee consisting of Mayor Trupiano and Councilmember Tillman.  Upon taking the role of Mayor, Mayor Trupiano reached out to Councilmember Tillman in an effort to address her previous requests for an investigation into fellow Councilmembers and training.  A result of that meeting was an agreement to propose this ad hoc committee in order to facilitate a governance training workshop for Council and staff.  Councilmember Tillman stated that this ad hoc committee and training satisfies her previous requests and I'm glad the Council can move forward and appreciate Mayor Trupiano's leadership in this matter.

- We authorized the City Manager to enter negotiations with Three Putt Development, the company that owns the Oakhurst Country Club, for the sale of city owned property adjacent to the overflow lot near Oakhurst.  The city owned property does not front any street, and was declared surplus by the City last year.  We also discussed with the City Manager the terms that the City was interested in during closed session later in the evening.

- We discussed the potential restriping project on the 4 lane section of Mountaire Pkwy.  Many residents spoke at the meeting, and others have been in communication via email and phone calls.  There were several that were opposed to taking action, and several that were in favor of taking action.  What was under discussion was a "road diet" - reducing the number of lanes in an effort to reduce speeds.  Included in this plan was also the addition of dedicated bike lanes.

There was some concern expressed regarding emergencies and egress.  Because there were no physical barriers being contemplated, in the case of emergency the overall width of the road was not going to be impacted so access would be unchanged if there were a need.

When the Dana Hills HOA surveyed its residents on a potential lane reduction, approximately 25% of households responded.  Of those that responded, 2/3 were in favor of the lane reduction, and 1/3 were opposed.  Ultimately the HOA did not feel it had enough feedback to take a position on the matter.

The largest concern the Council had was cost.  The section was recently repaved, though marked with temporary paint in anticipation of the discussion we had.  We have also applied for a grant that would cover a portion of the overall projected ~$250K cost.

Overall I was in favor of this work because the goal is public safety and reducing speeds.  Traffic safety and speeding is a significant concern I hear from residents all over town and while it does cost money I believe it worth it in an effort to improve overall safety.  The Council decided to proceed with the planned road diet, wait to hear if we are awarded the grant, then incorporate the actual road work into the already planning 2026 road work.  This has the potential of reducing the overall cost as we would get some economies of scale by grouping this project with larger projects.  The vote was 3-2, with myself, and Councilmembers Tillman and Diaz in favor.  Councilmember Enea and Mayor Trupiano voted no primarily based on the cost.

Upcoming 2.4.25 Meeting

On Tuesday the Council will meet to discuss several significant items:

- Earlier in the evening at 6:30 we will be conducting interviews for one open Planning Commissioner seat.

- We will discuss an update to our agreement with UBS Financial.  UBS Financial is one of the firms that the City engages to invest reserves.  There is a proposal to engage UBS for a more managed service in order to achieve higher returns on our investments.

- We will then discuss appointing one person from the earlier interviews for the open Planning Commissioner seat.

- We will discuss whether to create an ad hoc committee to facilitate a governance training workshop.

- We will discuss whether to authorize the City Manager to negotiate with Three Putt Development (the Company that manages Oakhurst Country Club) for the potential sale of certain surplus land that the City owns.

- We will discuss the road striping of Mountaire Parkway.  We previously discussed a potential road diet (reducing the number of lanes) at our 5.7.24 meeting and since then our City Engineer has done additional work to bring proposals forward.

If you have any thoughts or questions on the above please let me know.