The Pleasanton City Council is set to review a presentation Tuesday on a recently conducted poll about the potential for a revenue bond measure on the ballot next year to help fund city infrastructure and capital needs.
According to the staff report, while the prospect for such a measure to be successful on the ballot is there, the council will now need to provide staff direction on how to engage in community outreach in order to further explore the option.
“Revenue measures are potentially viable; however, more education and community outreach is necessary to help the community understand the city’s funding needs,” the staff report states.
The council directed staff in March to look into possible revenue options so that the city could address infrastructure deficits and support ongoing city services and programs. A ballot measure was one of the many options that were discussed.
Then during the Aug. 15 council meeting, staff along with the city’s revenue strategy consultant, Clifford Moss, provided the City Council and the community with an overview of community needs, potential revenue options and the process and timeline for election-based ballot measure development.
While the possibility of seeking to place a bond measure — which would be a first for the city — in next year’s election is still in the early stages of gathering public desire, City Manager Gerry Beaudin said during the August meeting that a bond could be a good option to address issues such as water quality and public repair projects while also addressing rising costs elsewhere in the municipal budget.
That’s when the council directed staff to conduct a public opinion poll in order to seek input from the community regarding Pleasanton’s “service priorities and identify potential revenue options.”
“After conducting a comprehensive review of all the potential revenue options, staff and the city’s consultants developed a survey including sales tax, general obligation bond and hotel tax measures with a more thorough look at the sales tax measure,” according to the staff report.
FM3 Research, a research and data-analytics consultant, has since conducted phone and online interviews in multiple languages to ask voters about their top concerns, funding priorities and whether or not they would support any of the potential tax measures.
Apart from finding that the revenue measures are potentially viable — with the caveat that more education and community outreach is necessary — the polling also found that voters want to prioritize basic services such as 911 emergency response, police, fire, street maintenance, infrastructure maintenance and parks.
The City Council meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday (Dec. 5) in the Remillard Conference Room at the city’s Operations Services Center at 3333 Busch Road. The full agenda can be accessed here.
In other business
* Staff will be presenting an update on the development of a Water System Management Plan.
According to the staff report, the plan will aim to ensure the effective management of the city’s water system.
“Development of this plan includes a comprehensive review of the various elements of the water enterprise, including administration, planning, operations and maintenance, capital improvements, resources and financing,” according to the staff report.
The report states that the development of the management plan also includes an initial water enterprise 10-year capital improvement plan draft, which has been formulated to guide and plan for “investment and replacement needs to ensure a high-performing and sustainable water delivery system for the city.”
* City staff will be recommending that the council adopt various amendments to the Pleasanton Municipal Code and Zoning Map, which is required per state law as part of the city’s sixth cycle Housing Element.
According to the staff report, the amendments include the creation of a Housing Opportunity Zone District, creating an Objective Design Standards Housing Site Compliance review process, and amendments to the zoning map to rezone 21 housing opportunity sites, which were identified in the Housing Element, to the Housing Opportunity Zone District.
“Pursuant to State law, the City is required to complete said actions by Jan. 31, 2024,” according to the staff report. “The amendments to the municipal code and rezonings were recommended for approval by the Planning Commission and are now presented to the City Council for final consideration and decision.”
* City staff will be introducing and asking the council to waive the first reading of an ordinance that would ban gasoline-powered leaf blowers effective June 1.
The council was supposed to review the ordinance during its Nov. 7 meeting, but it was continued until Tuesday’s meeting.
The ban, which was a priority action item included in the city’s 2021-23 work plan, would cost the city about $180,000 in order to transition the city’s “fleet of gas-powered leaf blowers to all-electric models,” according to the staff report. That money would go toward purchasing new equipment and other components such as battery packs and charging equipment.
The staff report states that under state law, “gas-powered leaf blowers cannot be sold in California beginning Jan. 1, 2024, but state law would not prohibit the use of existing gas-powered leaf blowers.
* As part of its consent calendar, which are items routine in nature and are typically approved through a single vote, the council will be looking to adopt and waive the second reading of an ordinance to consolidate the newspaper racks scattered throughout downtown Pleasanton.
The ordinance, which the council previously discussed at the Nov. 7 meeting, would bring the number of newsracks downtown down to three. They would be located at 201 Main St., 624 Main St. and 400 Old Bernal Ave., which is right next to the Pleasanton Public Library.
With the three new locations all being on city-owned property, it would give the city the ability to maintain them and keep them clean.
* The council will be set to accept the annual water project as complete as part of its consent calendar.
The scope of the project consisted of removing and replacing a water line on Hopyard Road; removing and replacing a water pipeline at the bridge crossing on Wisteria Trail at the intersection of Kilkare Road; and executing several urgent water system improvements.
Those improvements included repairing a water line on Santa Rita Road that was out of service due to a leak; reconnecting a water line on Santa Rita Road between Mohr Avenue and Stoneridge Drive, and installing underground piping, fitting and site improvements for a temporary booster pump at one of the city’s water turnouts.
* In closed session before the regular meeting, the council will discuss the employee performance evaluation for city attorney Dan Sodergren.
