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The Pleasanton City Council will be reviewing and discussing a presentation during Tuesday’s council meeting that outlines various potential revenue sources — including a ballot measure — that would be used to fund city infrastructure, programs and services.
During the March 21 council meeting, the dais had directed staff to look into possible revenue options, including but not limited to a potential ballot measure for next year’s elections, so that the city could “address infrastructure deficits and support ongoing city services and programs.”
“The goal is to collaborate with the City Council and the community to assess revenue measure feasibility, work together to build a secure financial future for Pleasanton and maintain a high quality of life for all residents,” according to the staff report.
Since the March council meeting, staff have been working with Clifford Moss, a revenue strategy consultant, to analyze different options for revenue streams.
Now, a representative from Clifford Moss will be presenting a report of that analysis regarding the local revenue measure process and will outline decision points and next steps to the council. Apart from a potential ballot measure, which would require community assessment and engagement, the analysis outlines other revenue sources such as different taxes as well as property related fees and charges.
City staff will be looking to the council for feedback and confirmation to continue exploring the different revenue measures.
“Once receiving feedback and direction from the City Council on August 15, staff will develop a communication plan to share information and receive feedback from the community,” the staff report states. “A public opinion poll will be conducted to seek input from the community regarding Pleasanton’s needs and identify potential revenue options.”
The meeting on Tuesday will once again be held at the Operations Service Center, located at 3333 Busch Road. According to city Communication Manager Heather Tiernan, the reason for this is because the council chamber that usually houses all city meetings is being renovated.
“The Council chamber was last upgraded more than 20 years ago, so it’s due for a refresh and some important updates,” Tiernan told the Weekly. “The city is making a variety of upgrades to the accessibility of the room, including a ramp to the dais, the addition of new hearing assistance devices and larger screens for viewing presentations.”
“Additionally, technology upgrades will support the quality of meetings being broadcast through Tri-Valley Community Television and allow for better connections with members of the public who wish to virtually engage in Council meetings,” she added.
Renovations are set to be completed by early October — until then meetings will continue to be held at the Operations Service Center.
The City Council meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday (Aug. 15). The full agenda can be accessed here.
In other business
* City staff will be looking to the council to approve and adopt the city’s updated Economic Development Strategic Plan, which includes plans to strengthen five priority areas for economic development activities in Pleasanton over the next five years.
This item was continued from the July 18 meeting.
Last August, staff began to update the city’s existing Economic Development Strategic Plan, which was adopted in 2013, in order to better reflect changing economic conditions that came out of the pandemic.
According to the staff report, an analysis of the strategic plan — which looked at demographics, economic, business, fiscal and market conditions — identified the strengths and opportunities for economic development in Pleasanton.
“The principal section of the strategic plan defines five priority areas for economic development activities in Pleasanton over the next five years,” the staff report states. “Each priority includes programs and services with key initiatives and implementation actions tied to a proposed timeframe for implementation over the next five years.”
The five priority areas include: economic development organizational capacity building; business retention, expansion and attraction; local revenue growth; entrepreneurship and innovation outreach; and major projects accelerator.
* With three of the city-operated groundwater wells not being currently used due to varying levels of PFAS chemicals detected at each respective well, city staff are recommending that the council approve various professional service agreements to improve the city’s water system capacity.
The recommendations are part of the consent calendar, which are items routine in nature and are typically approved without discussion.
The city is currently in the process of analyzing different alternatives to address the PFAS, otherwise known as forever chemicals, that have been found in the city’s three groundwater wells. But while city staff works on that, the issue at hand is that the city’s existing pipe network was designed to utilize those three wells.
“Increasing flows at the existing turnouts to meet the water demand without using the wells creates an imbalance in the system as well as higher pressures and velocities in the pipelines than is recommended by the American Water Works Association as the higher pressures and velocities lead to damaged pipelines and water main breaks,” the staff report states.
That’s why staff are recommending that the council approve three different service agreements with three different companies, for the design of the interim water improvements project.
According to the staff report, the scope of the interim water improvements would include constructing three 18- to 24-inch pipe segments — totaling 9,600 feet — and installing a new water turnout and booster station.
“The interim water improvements will build a firm capacity to meet the existing maximum day demand of 25.8 million gallons per day through the existing turnouts,” according to the staff report.
The total design expenditures for the improvements, including a 10% design contingency, is $1,119,487 and are recommended to be funded from both Annual Water Distribution System Improvements Projects.
The goal will be to complete these various improvement projects by next summer.
* Also on the council’s consent calendar, staff will be looking for approval to allocate funds toward several local nonprofits such as Tri-Valley REACH, CityServe of the Tri-Valley and Tri-Valley Haven.
In October 2022, Pleasanton submitted an application to the State of California, Department of Housing and Community Development for Permanent Local Housing Allocation Program. If approved by the council, the city will receive a total of $644,361 thanks to that application.
According to the staff report, those funds will then be utilized in the form of two separate professional service agreements — one for CityServe and one for Tri-Valley Haven.
CityServe will use its half of the funds for homelessness services such as providing housing relocation, rental assistance and case management services. Tri-Valley Haven will plan to use its half of the funds to assist with the rental, utilities, phone costs and hotel stays for the 30 residents that had to be relocated while the organization works on the full re-construction of a new shelter.
Tri-Valley Haven had to close one of its two emergency domestic violence shelters due to mold, structural health and safety concerns.
In a separate consent item, the council will look to provide Tri-Valley REACH a combination of $241,176 in Federal HOME funds and $58,824 in Lower-Income Housing Funds to go toward the construction of an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) on two of its single-family properties in Pleasanton.
The combined $300,000 will help the nonprofit, which operates six group homes on single-family properties in Pleasanton for residents with developmental disabilities, provide affordable housing for four additional residents with developmental disabilities.
The proposed ADU’s on two of the nonprofit’s single-family properties on Tanager Drive and on Hansen Drive had already received funding from the city’s $13.7 million Measure Al “Base City Allocation,” back in July 2022.
But due to “delays and rising costs for construction materials and labor” the previously allocated Measure Al funds are now sufficient to cover the construction costs for just the Tanager Drive property.
That’s why staff is recommending allocating the $300,000 toward the project as well other funds.
“In addition, staff recommends the City Council appropriate $20,000 from the Lower Income Housing Fund to be granted to REACH, to offset the cost of development impact fees for this project, and grant a waiver of $20,000 in building permit fees,” according to the staff report.
* During a closed-session meeting prior to the regular meeting, the City Council will be conducting a performance evaluation of City Manager Gerry Beaudin, according to Tiernan.
Additionally, the City Council will be meeting with city negotiators as well as a representative from the Municipal Resource Group, a Danville based consulting company that offers solutions to resolve workplace disputes.
According to Tiernan, this second closed-session item is not related to the contract negotiations regarding the Pleasanton Police Officers Association. As of time of publication, the PPOA have gone 75 days without a new labor contract with the city.
