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The Pleasanton City Council is set to hold a special meeting Tuesday to discuss several noteworthy items, including a resolution that could declare the city’s intent to issue $16.5 million in water revenue bonds in order to finance all of, or a portion of, the city’s planned capital improvements projects related to its water system.
These projects are part of the city’s efforts to improve several aspects of the city’s water system. The overall effort is collectively referred to as the “2026 Water Project”, according to the Aug. 11 City Council staff report. The projects were previously approved by the council through the five-year water capital improvement program.
“The 2026 Water Project will improve water system capacity, reliability, and supply diversification, including advancing the City’s efforts to restore local groundwater production by developing new wells,” according to staff.
During Tuesday’s meeting, staff will present a debt-financing overview and recommendation for the Pleasanton Joint Powers Financing Authority (PJPFA) to issue water revenue bonds in the “principal amount not-to-exceed $16,500,000 to finance all or a portion of the planned improvements to the Water System.”
If approved, the resolution would outline the city’s plan to “reimburse expenditures relating to capital improvement projects from the proceeds of tax-exempt obligations”, according to the Aug. 11 City Council staff report. Staff will then return to the council on Sept. 15 to seek approval for the bond sale.
If the bond sale is approved, the city would then “sell bonds around the fourth week of September and close (money would be in the project fund) during the second week of October.”
The City Council meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday (Aug. 11). The full agenda can be accessed here.
In other business
* After several discussions at the city’s Planning Commission, the City Council will now weigh in on a Pleasanton family’s proposal to build a multi-story residential development on Old Bernal Avenue, which includes some commercial aspects on the first floor.
The application, according to staff, seeks to demolish an existing 6,160-square-foot commercial office building in order to construct a 34-foot-tall, three-story, four-unit residential building. The approximately 21,384-square-foot building would be located at 231 Old Bernal Ave., between Augustine Street and Peters Avenue.
This is the latest development in what has been an ongoing discussion at the Planning Commission for just over a year. The commission first reviewed the project was back in August 2025 during a workshop which left commissioners undecided over whether they should make exceptions to the city’s Downtown Specific Plan — the proposed project does not meet many standards listed in the plan — to allow the project to move forward and lose that commercial space near downtown, or if they should deny the project
However, after the last commission in May, staff are now recommending that the council deny the application because the project plans are incomplete and the project is “inconsistent with the General Plan, applicable Objective Design Standards (ODS), the Downtown Specific Plan (DSP), and Pleasanton Municipal Code (PMC) regulations.”
“While the Planned Unit Development (PUD) process allows for deviations from the strict application of various standards, staff finds that the extent to which the project would deviate from these standards, and from the intent and policies of the Downtown Specific Plan, do not allow the necessary findings for approval,” the staff report states.
* During its consent calendar, the City Council will be poised to give Interim City Manager Joe Calabrigo the authority to amend the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department Joint Powers Authority’s agreement with Stoel Rives LLP to an amount not to exceed $1 million so that LPFD can continue its PFAS investigation into the department’s various facilities.
Items under the consent calendar are considered routine and are typically approved by a single vote with little to no discussion.
According to the staff report, the increase from the original $400,000 contract to $1 million is needed in order to “complete per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) investigations of various LPFD facilities in cooperation with the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board.”
This work, according to staff, comes as the water board continues its investigation into PFAS, also known as forever chemicals, that were detected in the region’s groundwater.
“The Water Board has requested that the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department (LPFD) conduct investigations to evaluate if PFAS was discharged from: LPFD’s Fire Training Center; and Fire Stations 1 (3560 Nevada Street, Pleasanton), 3 (3200 Santa Rita Road, Pleasanton), 5 (1200 Machado Place, Pleasanton), and 10 (330 Airway Boulevard, Livermore),” according to the staff report.
* After the City Council approved a list of documents related to the Arroyo Lago Residential Development on July 27 and gave staff the green light to proceed with plans to annex the project, which aims to construct 189 new single-family homes in East Pleasanton, the council will now vote on approving two additional conditions for the project.
These conditions, according to staff, came from the Dublin San Ramon Services District and are related to wastewater treatment facility analysis and funding. According to staff, the water agency had submitted a comment letter during that July 27 meeting but because it was received so late, the council will now be considering the additional conditions during its consent calendar Tuesday.
Staff concurs with DSRSD that adding the conditions would clarify the obligations of the developer with respect to the needed study(ies) and any fair share costs for improvements,” staff noted in Tuesday’s report. “Therefore, it is recommended that the City Council introduce the revised ordinance approving the project, with the addition of the two new conditions.”
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