Pinole City Council meeting, 1-21-25

Tuesday, 1-21- City Council meeting, 5 PM, Hybrid. You can find the
agenda packet at
https://pinoleca.portal.civicclerk.com/event/1014/files/agenda/769.

There is one closed session item- Conference with labor negotiators,
with the city manager, city attorney and the human resources director
negotiating with AFSCME Local 1, AFSCME local 512, and the Management
Compensation Plan. I would expect this one to take a while- 30 minutes
at least, possibly longer.

There are seven proclamations- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Day (page 6),
National Day of Racial Healing (page 7), Holocaust Day of Remembrance
(page 8), Lunar New Year (page 9), Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties
(page 10), Recognizing the City of Pinole’s Police Officer of the Year
(page 11), and recognizing the Contra Costa County Fire Protection
District’s Firefighter of the Year (page 12). There are two
presentations- a summary of “Glow Pinole” by Community Services Director
Andrea Dwyer, and an overview of the Community Services department by
Director Dwyer.

Then there’s the consent calendar- There are the normal warrants, along
with the minutes for the December 17th city council meeting, an update
on the city’s progress on implementing preapproval for accessory
dwelling unit (ADU) plans (staff report pages 55-6), a resolution to
accept a grant from Marin Clean Energy (MCE) (to support the city’s
community outreach program under the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan
and implement a one-stop energy efficiency permitting program (page 72
for detailed table) (staff report pages 57-60, resolution pages 61-2,
letter of application pages 63-71 fiscal impact gain of $7500 for city
page 60),

and last a resolution to increase the amount allocated to Coastland
Civil Engineering Inc for inspection and construction management
services for the Pinon Trunk Sewer Capacity Phase 2 project, increasing
the amount paid by $276,261 for a total contract amount of $315,261
(page 73), to be paid for from allocated funds (presumably the
contingency funds for SS2401, see page 32 of the final proposed FY24-25
Capital Improvement Plan at
https://www.pinole.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Final-Proposed-FY-2024-45-through-2028-29-CIP-6-18-24.pdf)
(staff report pages 73-4, resolution pages 75-6, task order proposal
pages 77-84).

There are 2 public hearings- considering adoption of updated development
impact fees, and the first read of municipal code amendments related to
housing element programs number 4,5,12 and 13, focusing on Accessory
Dwelling Units (ADUs), junior accessory dwelling units (JADUs), and unit
and lot split projects proposed under Senate Bill 9 and regulatory
consistency.

For the development impact fees, I think the most relevant pages are
162-3, which has a series of charts showing Pinole’s existing and
proposed fees by type compared to regional cities (Antioch, Lafayette,
Moraga, Hercules, Richmond and Brentwood). For a 2000 square foot (SF)
single family home, fees would rise from $22,594 to $30,277- about the
middle of the range, with Hercules and Antioch below and other
jurisdictions higher. For a 33 unit apartment complex with average unit
size 800 SF, fees would rise from $398,661 to $418,613 which remains on
the lower end of the scale- only Antioch would have less. For a 2000 SF
food service commercial building, there would now be fees of $31,040,
which places Pinole towards the upper end of the scale- only Lafayette
and Moraga would have higher. For a 15000 SF non-food service commercial
building, fees would *decrease* from $104,400 to $69,000- this is lower
than all communities other than Antioch. For a 20000 SF office building,
fees would increase from $84,450 to $127,800, remaining in the middle of
the range- Hercules, Richmond and Brentwood would have higher. And
finally for a 50000 SF industrial building, fees would rise from
$234,500 to $422,500- near the top of the range, with only Hercules
being higher. You can find the staff report on pages 85-7, resolution on
pages 88-90, the proposed fees on page 91, the nexus study on pages
92-145, the wastewater capacity charge study on pages 146-160, the
development impact fee comparisons on pages 161-175, and a summary
explaining why the fees are the way they are on pages 176-178.

For the municipal code amendments see pages 179-182 for staff report,
183-5 for ordinance, 186-227 for text of amendments, 228-231 for
highlighted programs addressed by amendments. Broadly speaking, this
batch of amendments is to make SB9 projects simpler, implement objective
standards for SB9 units, and update the city’s ADU ordinance to align
with state law (see pages 228-231).

Finally, there will be one item under new business- the Fiscal Year
2023/24 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (which apparently is ACFR
rather than CAFR now). The staff report is on pages 232-234, the AFCR
itself is pages 235-432, and the auditor’s reports are on pages 433-452.
I would also note within the report itself the statistical section
starting on page 397 and continuing to page 432- there are quite a few
interesting items here, including a rise in the city’s net property tax
assessed valuation from $1,974,488,120 in FY 2014-15 to $3,137,568,457
in FY 2023-24 (page 411), a rise in taxable sales from $3,072,548 in FY
2014-15 to $3,696,309 in FY 2023-24 while the fiscal year totals rose
from $5,318,751 in FY 2014-15 to $9,430,218 in FY 2023-24, mostly due to
the local transaction tax (i.e, Measure S 2014) (pages 414-15), and that
the city’s population continued to decline (though not as sharply as in
recent years) while median household and per capita income continued to
rise, and the unemployment rate rose to 3.3% (page 423). Also worth
noting is that the city’s total workforce more than doubled since 2015-
from 4,299 in 2015 to 9,300 in 2024 (page 425).

You can join the meeting by zoom direct link here
<https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89335000272>, entering the webinar ID
893 3500 0272 into zoom directly, or calling +1 (669) 900-6833 or +1 (253)
215-8782 or +1 (346) 248-7799, then entering the meeting ID 893 3500 0272#.
Once in the meeting by phone, you can raise your hand by pressing *9, and
unmute by pressing *6 once called on. You can also attend the meeting in
person at Pinole City Hall, 2131 Pear St.