What else happened at last week's city council meeting?
Draft Emergency Operations Plan, final minor street-repairs list, and an emergency sewer main replacement on High Street
We’ve already covered the biggest issues from the March 17 Sebastopol City Council meeting—choosing a new animal services provider and changes to the Business Improvement District—but there were a few other items worth mentioning, including the final street repair list, an emergency sewer replacement on High Street, approval of the city’s Emergency Operations Plan and the extension of Mary Gourley’s contract as Interim City Manager.
Mayor Jill McLewis, Vice Mayor Sandra Maurer, Councilmember Phill Carter, Councilmember Neysa Hinton, and Councilmember Stephen Zollman were present in chambers for the March 17 Sebastopol City Council meeting.
Quick look at the Consent Calendar
The consent calendar consists of items that are routine in nature or don’t require additional discussion, often because they’ve been discussed extensively at a previous council meeting.
In addition to approving the minutes of earlier meetings, the council unanimously approved the following:
Approval of a professional services agreement with Luhdorff & Scalmanini Consulting Engineers (LSCE) for a preliminary design of Well 4 for an amount not to exceed $378,095. The city has been aware of the need to replace this well for quite awhile; this is the first stage of that replacement and is already in this year’s budget. Well 4 was originally constructed in 1953 and supplies nearly half of the City’s water. Phase 2 (final design) will occur in 2026/27 and will be added to the 2026/27 CIP draft plan.
Acceptance of grant deed from Memorial Lawn Cemetery for Bodega Avenue. The owner of Memorial Lawn Cemetery is granting a two-foot strip along the cemetery frontage to accommodate the Bodega Avenue widening for the new bike lanes as part of the Bodega Avenue Bike Lane and Pavement Rehab Phase 2 Project.
Approval of a letter of support for the city of Santa Rosa’s funding request for the Regional Llano Trunk Sewer Line Rehabilitation Project to be sent to Senators Schiff and Padilla, and Congressman Mike Thompson. This critical regional wastewater infrastructure project is important to Sebastopol because the trunk lines transport significant flow to the Laguna Wastewater Treatment Plant, which handles Sebastopol’s wastewater.
Receipt of Annual General Plan Progress Report (APR). The state requires the city to create and submit this report, which details the city’s progress in implementing the Housing Element of its General Plan.
Clarification of the council motion regarding BayREN. The numbers got a little muddled during the Feb. 26 council meeting. The new and improved motion is for “the approval of a one-time settlement payment to BayREN to fully resolve and close out the Water Upgrade Save (WUSave) program, with $5,731.29 paid from the Water Fund holding account and the remaining $7,409.94 paid from the General Fund.”
Regular Agenda
Final list of streets and locations for proposed dig outs and repairs
This project was introduced by the city’s new director of public works, Oriana Hart, and city engineering consultant Mario Landeros. Dig outs, which are a step above pothole filling, involve removing a section of pavement, reinforcing the base, and filling it with new asphalt.
According to Landeros, the list of streets for dig outs was based on a compiled list of complaints and requests received from the public. “We reviewed these sites and determined where the dig out repair strategy would address the problem, or where instead this would require a more broad approach, such as overlay or street slurry, or in some extreme conditions, full reconstruction.” (Palm, Strout and Live Oak were mentioned as examples of the latter—these will be dealt with at a later date.)
According to Landero’s presentation, the project will be put out to bid on April 21, and construction is expected to begin in June. Noting that “people are clamoring for these streets to be fixed,” Mayor Jill McLewis asked if next year’s dig outs could happen earlier in the next fiscal year (which starts in July). Hart said yes, they could.
During public comment, Kyle Falbo asked why this project couldn’t be done by Public Works. Hart said the city didn’t have enough staff to do the job. Kate Haug asked if the city was coordinating sewer and road repair, and Hart said that in the case of more significant road repair or replacements, that would be the case.
Click here to see the staff report and full list of streets.
Emergency Operations Plan
The long-awaited Emergency Operations Plan is finally ready to be released for public comment. The plan was introduced by Police Lieutenant Andy Bauer, and Police Chief Sean McDonagh was on Zoom for questions. The main question that many of the councilmembers had was why their role hadn’t been spelled out in the plan and why they hadn’t been involved in any of the tabletop exercises. The Chief said he would like to hold a special tabletop exercise for councilmembers but said having electeds in the emergency operations center during an actual emergency would be “unorthodox,” which really got under the skin of Mayor McLewis and several councilmembers. Hinton, who was mayor during the last major flood, said she was very involved in the response to that event. During public comment, former councilmember Michael Carnacchi said the council should be discussing the nuts and bolts of the plan and not getting hung up on their specific roles, which had dominated the discussion of this item that evening. Commenter Kyle Falbo joined McLewis in her concern over the Chief's use of the word “unorthodox.”
In the end, the council voted unanimously to approve the issuance of the draft emergency operations plan for a period of 30 days, to clarify on the role of the city council members, to incorporate all the public comments for a final review, and to have the item return for final approval on May 19.
You can read the draft plan here. Feedback will be accepted until April 24. Send your feedback here: abauer@cityofsebastopol.gov.
Emergency Sewer Main Replacement on South High Street
According to the staff report, “Public Works staff recently investigated a sewer service request from a resident at 575 S. High Street related to a potential sewer lateral failure. During the investigation, staff identified significant deterioration of the City’s 6-inch clay sewer main located on South High Street between Calder Avenue and Maple Avenue. Inspection of the mainline revealed multiple failing slip-lined repair sections, extensive root intrusion, structural degradation of the clay pipe, and evidence of sewage exfiltrating into the surrounding soil.”
As a result, staff determined that approximately 156 linear feet of the sewer main must be replaced to restore the integrity of the system. Because the condition of the pipe presented a risk to public health, the environment, and essential sewer service, staff requested that the City Council declare an emergency and authorize immediate repair. The council obliged, voting unanimously to do so.
Public Works director Oriana Hart said that the long-awaited sewer master plan will be coming to the council soon.
Council extends Mary Gourley’s role as interim city manager
Council unanimously passed this extension.
In her staff report, Gourley noted that the Community Goals Survey is still available. Some users found the survey difficult to navigate, but Gourley said those problems have been fixed. You can take the survey here. Your answers will help inform the council about local priorities ahead of its upcoming Goals and Priorities meeting.
Watch the video of the March 17 city council meeting. The next city council meeting is April 7, 6 pm, at the Sebastopol Youth Annex, 425 Morris St., Sebastopol.