e in our community That you help to address the backlog of deferred payment rehabilitation on the west side of town Basically south avenue bar ham west bar ham Many of these streets have been in terrible shape for decades We come here and we talk with you We basically feel that because we've put this forward that you'll try to make it a priority But every year it seems that no it's not even a concern And most of your priorities go to the southeast you're getting technical assistance for the southeast greenway The roseland creek concept plan was done 20 years ago And nothing's gone forward on that This is where you could be getting some funding to help us on our side of town I believe these people these professional lobbyists They understand equity and they understand if they would look at the way our town is operating It helps the east side more than the west side west side stuff. We need to get more Helping the police department get extra Extra staffing if you're going to get extra fire also over for the west side So no offense intended, but it's really important that you reach out to the community to see what the community's interests are Before you go Out to the other agencies and say well, this is senator rosa's interest. Thank you Thank you, mayor. I see no one else approaching the podium for public comment on item 15.1 Thank you. Are there any comments from council before we get a motion? Seeing none council member rogers Thank you, mayor. I'll make a motion to approve this year's federal legislative platform Second I have a motion made by council member rogers and a second by council member flaming Madam city clerk, can you please call the vote? Thank you council member rogers. Hi Council member o'crepkey is recusing council member mcdonald is recusing council member flaming. Yes council member alvarez Vice mayor step. Hi mayor rogers. I let the record show this passes with five affirmative votes and council members mcdonald and o'crepkey recusing Thank you Thank you very much for being here and I would like to note that it is before eight o'clock DC time So thank you very much. Thank you We have one minute before I can do public comment on non-agenda Yes, madam city attorney. Um, I I suggest we wait the one minute and then Go ahead unless you want to start the next item and come back We can wait the one minute But I also would like to invite the two council members that left that I to to come back. I don't know All right, it looks like it is five o'clock. So we will now go back up to item 14 which is our public comment on non-agenda matters madam city clerk Thank you mayor. We are now taking public comment on item 14 non-agenda matters If you are in the chamber and would like to provide a comment Please make your way to the podium if you have not already submitted a speaker card or your name We will take 12 speakers under item 14 and if we have more than 12 public comments The remainder will be heard under item 19 The first public speaker will be dwayne next speaker speak. Oh, here we go.  Hello. My name is dwayne dewood. I'm from roseland. This is a photo from the newspaper on friday talked about the conference at san sonoma state university On economics for the state of california pointing out we're in good shape and we're going forward One of the things that's very important is that the home building sector is poised for growth It's really important that we understand What is low income and what is moderate income? the State of Economic affairs in sonoma county now is a low-income person by themselves Earning up to 70 thousand dollars one person That's stunning to a lot of people. That's more than i've ever earned in a year or many other people One of the dilemmas though is that when people come forward to seek the funding for the housing they Do this discussion where they say? affordable and moderate and they don't basically Cut the two as they should It should be that affordable is anything That is below 50 of the median income for this county It should be so that people who are truly in need Of housing and who are low income can get it not just building Any market rate type housing which is what moderate comes in at Recently i've been at some discussions through housing groups And there's some people actually advocating that we not have development impact fees on new housing That's the wrong way to go you need those fees That's the way you're going to be able to cover the costs of the infrastructure And be able to handle the city services that are necessary for us in our community And once again, I will point out that because your agenda said three minutes You should allow other speakers to have up to three minutes to speak and not just be cutting them off early at two minutes I really don't think you should have made that decision Unilaterally that you'll just go to two minutes Thank you. The next public comment will be from elie followed by jordan Thank you for your time today. My name is elie winds of egg On the current board president for a congregation show mitura We are the largest synagogue in california north of the golden gate bridge to the organ border I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the thoughtful decision to prioritize local issues In the recent city council meeting and not delve into the discussion of a ceasefire in israel In a world filled with numerous complex and sensitive global issues It's heartening to see our local representatives recognizing the importance of concentrating on matters directly impacting our community While international affairs are undeniably significant The decision to keep the agenda focused on local priorities underscores the council's commitment to addressing the needs and concerns of santa rosa residents As a lifelong member of this community I believe that our city council's dedication to addressing issues such as public safety Infrastructure and community well-being is crucial to maintaining and enhancing the quality of life for all santa rosa residents By avoiding the discussion of a ceasefire in israel during today's meeting the council has demonstrated a commendable understanding of the immediate challenges and opportunities Faced by our local community I acknowledge that global issues hold importance But the choice to prioritize local matters during this meeting reflects a commitment to effective governance and a responsible representation It's my hope that future council meetings continue to focus on the unique needs and concerns of santa rosa Ensuring that our community remains a vibrant and thriving place for all Once again, thank you for your dedication to addressing the issues that matter most to us here in santa rosa Your continued efforts are instrumental in shaping the future of our beloved city. Thank you Thank you. The next public comment will be jordan followed by johanna. Can you hear me? Okay, i'm trying to catch my breath. I literally just ran over here from work. I'm on my break. So hashtag dedication um I agree with that last point. Wouldn't it be beautiful for our three billion dollars over three billion dollars that we send annually to israel could Could go to our communities here I mean look at us trying to to fix the you know nationwide opioid and homelessness problem that we have in santa rosa Trying to squish Cookie crumbs together to make something that is a systemic issue in our nation Fixed when we really could use that those billions of dollars to fix that that problem on a nationwide Scale but anyways, I kind of want to bring it to the point that I've ascertained from talking to the various council members, which is that I understand that At this point, none of you really want to take the lead on putting this Cease fire resolution on the agenda, which I understand because it feels like putting your neck on the line But my response to that is you're an action is inherently taking a side And really at the heart of it promoting the small faction of people who are advocating essentially for an action Inaction and and the silencing of critiques of israel's actions and the us complicity Which directly paves the way for the continuation of this genocide and the bombing of children Apparently it seems that you may fear this small but very vocal community Which actually really has not been very vocal here at the city council, but I I find it sad that This community seems to Overpower the majority of us that value peace and justice not vengeful retribution and murderous punishment inflicted on children And I just want to let you know that No ceasefire no votes Period we've been working with you guys for months on this Um, respectfully councilmember alvarez mayor rogers Councilmember mcdonald who has not gotten back to our group at all Um, you're not making yourself very amenable to this process. No ceasefire Thank you. The next speaker will be johanna followed by brie Please go ahead members of the santa rosa city council. I'm johanna james a santa rosa resident for 45 years now I'm here today to add my voice to those already calling on you Our elected representatives to adopt a resolution on behalf of the people of santa rosa calling for a ceasefire in gaza I assume you are all no doubt already well aware of the horror of the situation in gaza And the ever widening conflict now spreading from that You can find an excellent overview and a piece by senator bernie sanders in the guardian on january 27th Just a few of the details as of that date 25 000 dead 62 000 wounded 70 percent of the housing damaged or destroyed 1.7 million refugees 80 percent of the population are now with almost no food or even water Imagine that in an area the size of winzer to petaluma No wider than santa rosa But densely developed and populated with about two million people Half of them children One might ask why bother with the resolution it won't make any difference. We're not in control But silence is implied consent We have a moral and ethical imperative to speak To oppose israel's actions and our u.s. Government's support of that to demand a ceasefire And to insist that this death and utter devastation is not in our name I urge you to join the growing number of cities in california Among them san francisco oakland and even our neighbor qatadi And others across the nation in doing this Blessed are the peacemakers Thank you. The next public comment will be from Excuse me brie followed by james While brie is making her comment if james can make his way to the other podium that would be great Hello, are you able to hear me? Okay Some yes. Um, hello. My name is brie. I'm a sonoma county resident And i'm here in solidarity with the people of gaza their families and their friends I don't have to repeat the devastating statistics to you. You're all informed individuals I'm merely here to continue to urge you all to move on an immediate ceasefire resolution For every moment we spend in deliberate in deliberate Deliberation more lives are needlessly lost in the name of colonial interests As a community we must take a stand for human rights not later now May sonoma county never suffer the same horrors occurring in palestine. Thank you Thank you. The next public comment will be from james followed by jacklyn than iran james duncan I've lived a short walk from the jennings avenue rail crossing for 45 years In 2016 the cpuc approved the city's application for a bed and bike rail crossing at jennings The approved crossing has not yet been built and there is now a real risk That all the efforts of the city council city staff The public and many civic and environmental organizations to keep the crossing open may be lost The original approval has been extended twice over the objections of spart and the cpuc's own staff The cd applied for a third extension last august Although the application is unopposed the cpuc's administrative law judges focused on the long Delay and ruled on november 15th 2023 That if an agreement isn't reached the cpuc will set in order to show cause Why are the city's application for an extension should be granted in other words The city has been given serious notice that the jennings crossing approval Is only one step away from being terminated I urge the council to direct staff to report on the status of an agreement at the next scheduled council meeting Ideally in open session so that the council and the public can know what's going on especially given The possibility that years of effort will be lost Possibly for all time yet to come. Thank you so much Thank you. The next public comment will be from jacklyn followed by iran and cloy Please go ahead. Thank you very much Thank you Honorable mayor and council members all of our public servants that are here this evening all of our Citizens that are here this evening. I also will not spend time going over the numbers and reviewing the facts because I know That you've all seen this happening What's happening in gaza is not right. I'm going to spend my time trying to appeal to your humanity I imagine that there's a reason that each and every one of you entered public service and Decided to become public servants I imagine that's because you wanted to do the public good Another citizen this evening imply that this is not a local matter I have had the immense honor of getting to know two local palestinian brothers that moved here in september of 2023 and On a reunification visa their father is a successful business owner here They moved five siblings and his their mother here and one of those siblings is facing bullying in their school They are witnessing a genocide happening to their people And they're watching their Representatives do nothing about it many of us feel very powerless in the larger role of our A duocracy government and you all have a unique opportunity to amplify our voices And it is so imperative that you do so I believe that you are uniquely situated to do that and calling for a ceasefire is a moral obligation Yes to our global community But also to people here at home. I've had to explain to my seven-year-old Who's gotten a great education and is a great reader because she goes to Santa Rosa district schools. What genocide is What world is this? We want a better world. We want peace and justice Please look in your hearts and do the right thing Ceasefire, thank you Thank you. The next public comment will be from iran followed by clowy then summer Hello, my name is iran hoads, and I am the associate director of development at the jewish community relations council Bay area I would like to thank all of you santa rosa city council for listening to the concerns of the local jewish community During this time of rising anti-semitism and yes, it's happening here at home in sonoma county I'm asking you to lead with empathy and not bring forward a ceasefire resolution And in so doing to ensure that all local residents feel supported and welcomed Last week the sonoma county board of supervisors chose to issue a statement of peace Rather than moving forward with a ceasefire resolution that would be quote More divisive and counterproductive than it's worth And I would urge you to take their lead Nonbinding resolutions will not solve an international conflict or bring us any closer to peace In neighboring cities in the bay area. It has opened a microphone for floodgates of divisive speech We must bring our communities together and not pull them apart I want to thank you for listening to our concerns and please know That we have enormous empathy for what is happening In the international arena. What is happening in gaza and what is happening in israel But focusing on the local issues the safety of all of our Citizens here at home and the anti-semitism that is indeed happening here in santa rosa and in sonoma county Should be paramount. Thank you so much for your time Thank you the next speaker will be cloe followed by summer. My name is cloe minervini Thank you so much for having me today. This is actually the first time I felt moved to speak at a city council Meeting but I am a santa rosa community member and a santa rosa family nurse practitioner in the area um I'm here today to ask us to actually follow in katadi's admirable example and support a ceasefire resolution in gaza Um, I'm from katadi. I now live in santa rosa. It's extremely important to me that our community remains aligned and together This has absolutely affected our community locally as you can see um And it's a monumental humanitarian crisis of our lifetime As a health care worker it has been Devastating to witness the collapse of an entire system of care compounded with the withholding of aid in gaza This is of the utmost importance to support our community Including our palestinian friends and neighbors here in santa rosa It is imperative to push forward a ceasefire resolution in order to uphold egalitarian health and safety for all I really thank you for your time your energy and your consideration to continue discussing this as an agenda item I look forward to working together. Thank you. I yield my time Thank you the next public comment will be from summer. Hi. Thank you so much. Um, my name is summer Abdul Khaliq. I live in santa rosa in district five and i'm here to also speak in support of a ceasefire resolution um I There's a lot I could say and I think a lot of people have said already regarding statistics and regarding the severity of what's happening in gaza um I Honestly, I don't want to be here right now. I don't want to be here at a city council meeting giving a public comment about what is happening on the other side of the world, but I know that my tax dollars Are being sent over there To murder people that i'm actually related to my dad um Peace be upon him was palestinian. He was born 1949 in a refugee camp he worked tirelessly to Work in a peaceful and diplomatic way for a solution over there he immigrated here and he was non-stop fundraising to send ambulances to the west bank I don't want to follow in his footsteps, but here I am I Am advocating for peaceful diplomatic solutions over there And amongst many many people right now calling for a ceasefire Our federal elected officials are not listening to us The percentage is like 66 percent of americans or something are in support of a ceasefire So I come here to you as my most immediate Local elected officials and i'm asking you to put something on the agenda And to adopt a ceasefire resolution Thank you Thank you. May I see no one else approaching the podium for public comment on non-agenda matters? Oh, we have a couple more people Okay, please if you have anyone else is wishing to provide public comment on non-agenda matters We have two more slots under item 14 the remainder of the public comments on non-agenda matters will be heard later on in the agenda under 19 So we'll start with the west lectern Please go ahead and identify yourself for public record if you choose to do so Can you hear me? Yes. All right. Hi. My name is zoe kesler. Um, I'm a longtime Sonoma county resident I'm Jewish I grew up many I grew up among many israelis my family very involved in the synagogue I was given a Jewish education. My Hebrew name is haya, which means life, which is sacred in Judaism No matter who you are who you were born as I'm sorry. I will probably get emotional here. I am writing to you. I'm speaking to you representing myself not only as a Jew But just as someone with a working brain and a working heart That can see so plainly the crimes against humanity that israel has committed is not in the name of Jewish safety The motivation behind this genocide is a siege and a barbaric conquering to take land This is a holocaust on the palestinian people We are witnessing a replay of what the nazis did to jews and other marginalized groups in all over europe As the world sees images of men fathers sons doctors educators artists and normal Good human beings just like us being rounded up stripped down and taken to their death on trucks I am reminded of the images and history I was shown of jews in concentration camps being sent to the death to the gas chambers Except they don't need gas chambers because they are carpet bombing with american made bombs that we are paying for Our president and congressmen have failed us council members some of the illogical excuses That we have heard is this is not a local issue The city council passed a divestment declaration against apartheid in south africa And has made declarations of anti-hatred in the past We have many palestinians and arabs in this city and county and many of them are afraid of their lives daily For just being who they are. How is that not a local issue to you? Thank you the next public comment will be thomas And this is the last public comment under non-agenda matters under item 14 the remainder of non-agenda Matters public comments will be heard under item 18 later on in the agenda Hello, thank you. Can you hear me? Good. Good. Thank you. Um So I guess I would ask Respectfully If not here meaning Sending a letter of support For having a ceasefire in gaza where if not now when Because As I've said before we have this here And it's growing a separation among our people And we've talked about it historically, but it is it's not dissipating And so I would just point to this issue that we have with the southwest which For santa rosa It is exacerbated by its annexation Now you must address it When it was under ken blackman he could say oh, no It's not part of santa rosa I don't have to address it even though state law under the under the planning code and the General plan of the county Required it because the city's general plan had to conform with the counties and the counties had to Deal with the with lafko and lafko had required Annexation which they did not do So that's why they could say well, we don't have to respond to that We don't have to actually deal with that and in talking about that recently Really realized that it was the raiders Facility training facility that sat on the east side of the freeway And they didn't want to have people from the west side coming over So they encouraged some restrictions That's little subtleties And there we have it. Thank you Thank you, mayor that is 12 public comments on non-agenda matters under item 14 All right, so because it is Almost 5 30 I will make that announcement that 15 Point two will be continued to our next Meeting um, and we will go to our first public hearing Of the evening so madam City manager Thank you item 16.1 is a public hearing teffra public hearing and issuance of bonds By the california municipal finance authority and an amount not to exceed 20 million for orchard commons 811 void street Good evening mayor and members of the council I'm nicole del furantino with the housing and community services department And I will be presenting the item this evening for this teffra public hearing The teffra acronym is the tax equity and fiscal responsibility act of 1983 So this is a public hearing tonight to provide an opportunity for the public to comment on the proposed issuance of bonds And the nature of this project We are requesting council approval for the issuance of tax exempt multifamily housing revenue bonds for the project A public hearing is required by the teffra act and all financial obligations of the bond issuance Will fall to the borrower and not to the city So a little bit about this project the project is called orchard commons. It's at 811 void street It was formerly called void street apartments The developer is the dango group and this developer also has two other projects in sanarosa There's a completed project at 80 college avenue called sage commons that has 53 units of permanent supportive housing There's also a development a pre development project down at 250 rosin avenue called ponderosa Village that is in that pre development stage. It's not yet completed The developer also has multiple other projects throughout california and the west coast This specific project orchard commons is a 46 unit affordable housing project that already completed construction in january of 23 The affordability mix on the project has 10 units at 30 of area median income five units at 50 percent and 30 units at 60 percent at area median income those 10 units at the most restrictive level are permanent supportive housing units also The housing authority has a 200 thousand dollar loan with a regulatory agreement on the property Which restricts all of those units at those affordability levels discussed The project was completed in january. So it is fully occupied Moving over to the benefits. So this item will help finance those 46 affordable units Since the project is already completed this item is needed for the construction financing to be converted to permanent financing There's no cost to the city or liability from the bonds And a no vote would be detrimental to the financing structure for this already completed development So this item came to council and was previously approved on january 14th of 2020 But because of covet related delays, they didn't close financing on the bonds within the one year period required by tefra So we are returning to the council for approval of this item in a new public hearing to meet the requirements of the tefra bond financing Permanent financing is scheduled to close on the project tomorrow So with that it is recommended by the housing and community services department that the council one conduct a public hearing under the requirements of the tax equity and fiscal responsibility act of 1983 and the internal revenue code of 1986 as amended And two by resolution approve the issuance of tax exempt multifamily housing revenue bonds by the california municipal finance authority In an amount not to exceed 20 million dollars to finance orchard comments at 811 boyd street And with that i'm happy to answer any other questions that the council has Thank you. Are there any questions from council for staff? Seeing none we will now open the public hearing Madam city clerk may please facilitate Thank you. We are now taking public comments on item 16.1 If you are in the chamber and would like to provide comment but have not yet submitted a speaker card or your name Please make your way to the podium. You will have two minutes and a countdown timer will alert at the end of that period We will start with dwayne Thank you There you go. Hello. My name is dwayne d. Witt. I'm from rosalyn nearby this project I have no financial interest in it in any way shape or form I ask you to approve the sale of the bonds I'm also glad to hear from the city staff that this organization is doing another project in rosalyn Apparently on rosalyn avenue I go by there frequently and haven't seen anything in the works yet so The main thing is sonoma county housing advocacy group is also supportive of danco and their efforts to get housing for people of low income I don't think you need to worry about moderate income anymore. That gets built for What needs to happen is more building for low income people making less than 70 000 a year And I do believe The sale of these bonds will help all those folks who've already moved in there You see them outside smoking on uh boyd street. So that means it's a no smoking facility quite interesting in itself All the best to you Thank you. Anyone else wishing to provide public comment on item 16.1. Please make your way to the podium Mayor i'm seeing no additional public comments Thank you. We'll now close the public hearing Are there any comments from council? Seeing none council member alvarez Thank you, madam mayor I move forward a resolution of the council the city of san rosa Approving the issuance of qualified residential rental project bonds in an amount not to exceed 20 million dollars by the california municipal finance Authority in accordance with the section 147 f of the internal revenue code and the joint exercise of powers agreement relating to said authority And we have further reading of the text Second, we have a motion made by councilmember alvarez and a second by vice mayor step Madam city clerk may you please call the vote councilmember rogers Councilmember okrepke. Hi Councilmember mcdonald. Hi councilmember fleming Councilmember alvarez. Hi vice mayor step. Hi mayor rogers. I let the record show this passes with six affirmative votes and councilmember rogers absent Thank you very much for that All right, we'll go back up to item 15.3 madam city manager Item 15.3 annual report of the community wildfire protection plan A wildfire annex to the local hazard mitigation plan Good evening mayor rogers vice mayor members of the council My name is paul loenthal division chief fire marshal with the fire department here to present the annual community wildfire protection plan annual report So real quickly the cwpp is a community wildfire fire protection plan It is essentially designed to protect our assets and values here within our community Those being the people that live here the homes the commercial structures the infrastructure Those that had been both threatened and directly impacted significantly since 2017 So quickly the little history the cwpp was first funded through the hazard mitigation grant program ironically That was one of the first grants that we actually were successful in receiving both before and after this 2017 fires It was initiated in 2019. It was approved a month prior to the glass fire Um, as those of you that remember the cwpp actually identified the greatest threat to the city was the unburned area between the tubs and the nuns fire Which is what was involved in the glass fire Council allocated five and a quarter million dollars in 2021 that was to establish a five-year Program with the last quarter of a million dollars to fund the renewal of the community wildfire protection plan in 2025 since it's a five-year plan The first report was at the end of 2021 and then we shifted it to an annual report typically around january to get us through calendar years So the cwpp itself Truly serves as a roadmap to protect our community It identifies nine objectives and 46 actionable items that fall underneath nine categories that include Gis related coordination tracking improving evacuation routes educating the public Improving overall wildfire preparedness increasing structural hardening treating vegetation to reduce our risk improving on defensible space within our wild end of an interface increasing staffing to address the wildfire vegetation management program workload And then lastly consideration to expand the wooey within our city So diving right into the highlights for this last calendar year We have initially Developed a gis database to track the vegetation management activities that we're performing in our community So essentially mapping where work is occurring and then keeping that database up to date We continue to coordinate with property owners both HOAs and open space management associations as well as mapping their activities and then ongoing support and coordination with our various Homeowner associations again, whether it's the oakmont village association the open space maintenance association or altivist HOA and several others throughout the community This is an example of that gis database where you can see in the purple Treatment that was done earlier last year along fountain Grove parkway And then the treatment that was just done within the last several months At the interchange of shenate and fountain grove parkway And our ability to map that to see when it was done What was done so that we can project future projects as the regrowth? Regrowth occurs, excuse me. All right. So second item section is improving evacuation routes So you've seen brought forward to the council as well as the climate action subcommittee Uh, the request to modify uh bring to forward a integrative pest management policy Our support and purpose behind it is dealing with the seasonal grasses As well as the invasive growth That was identified under the community wildfire protection plan also The vegetation management ordinance that we brought forward to you last month That is targeting invasive growth of scotch broom french broom And a lot of the dead and down fuels along our evacuation routes And we also are wrapping up Phase one of two hazard mitigation grant programs One of them for a little over two million dollars is specific to fuel treatment along About 10 different Identified evacuation routes both in and around our wildland urban interface. Our goal is to implement the actual work This calendar year This is some examples of why we're doing that targeted work with just the the fuel load that we're seeing along Areas both again in and out around the wildland urban interface Educating the public. Uh, we put on our third annual wildfire Ready event at the family community center. It was very popular.  They were funded by our Half million dollar hcd grant We actually ended up purchasing more through that grant And had additional A lot of people that ended up cycling through our fire administration picking up additional go bags that were at The event because we actually ran out Uh, continuing to increase our education on home hardening evacuation overall preparedness fire safe landscaping and all that in between and again a lot of that content both Through city connections the the handouts that we're producing Is being funded by a combination of our vegetation management program funds as well as the half million dollars from hcd We're also maintaining the two primary websites that we move to those are both the wildfire ready and the sr city dot org web pages that serve as the main landing pages for public and for public education related to being prepared for Wildfires as well as general emergency preparedness. This is an example of the landing page for wildfire ready One of the changes we're making right now is creating a new Icon at the bottom of the page that will be focused on the ordinance The goal of of that is to consolidate Whether it's the pile burning in the weed abatement Or the vegetation management ordinance into one user friendly page that lets people know exactly what they need to do to comply and by when And this is the ready Santa Rosa page that again is designed for overall emergency preparedness That also includes wildfire preparedness Some examples of the ongoing education outreach that is occurring around the community Improving wildfire preparedness. We're continuing to work with our cope organizations as well as the map your neighborhood organizations that are pretty Popular out in the oakmont area And continuing to explore additional opportunities to engage with different parts of the community Regardless of where they are in the city not necessarily being in the wooey But always open to engage with them on general preparedness Again continuing to foster and maintain relationships With the co-ads through community outreach and just a lot of the work that we're doing to target Different parts of our community We're also ongoing work to address vulnerable populations Including a lot of the work that we're doing both in oakmont as well as facilities like spring lake villages The structural hardening component initially started in 2019 when we implemented our first Ignition free zone that ranged anywhere from three to five feet. We built on that in 2023 the chief building official Jesse Oswald and our staff expanded upon that clarified the five feet That now includes the fencing materials too. So it really is truly Creating that ignition free zone for homes built after 2019 here in santa rosa The inspector is continuing to work on home hardening as well as defensible space assessments And then that second hazard mitigation grant Project is funding gutter guards vent screens and defensible space For those that opted into the program and again Both those hazard mitigation grant programs are Approaching their closeout phase Both are on target for completion And then we hope that both fema and callus will approve our phase two to actually do that work starting calendar year 2024 Treating vegetation This is what we you'll see as we kind of close this out This is what we want to be doing more of as we built the foundation to the program It's now actually physically doing work We use a combination of both any leftover funds through our annual we debatement budget as well as vegetation management Program funds to do treatment on city-owned open space We're we had our prescribed fire. The first one was on old rabbit highway and we've continued to burn annually we burned Last year in the open space On the undeveloped portion of the youth community park And we plan to burn on the thomas lake harris open space this year Also continuing to work on our both our agreements as well as Utilizing those that we have in place with the conservation corps of the north bay as well as sac sac is the Sonoma county probation crews not Uh cal fires in may crews so we contract with both the north bay conservation corps as well as sac to do fuel treatments within our city And continuing to work on the agreement with the junior college These are some examples of some of the fuel treatments that we've conducted The before and after on fountain growth parkway And then enforcing defensible space so with the new vegetation management ordinance that was adopted and passed that went into effect this month We plan to implement obviously those inspections in summer of this year We are in the process of developing and finalizing plans for a fire safe landscape project at fire station seven And then again with the adoption of the vegetation management ordinance The inspection program will be developed and implemented this calendar year Uh The staffing that is in place uh to Offset the needs associated with the project was funded primarily through the vegetation management program. So those are limited term positions So the plan right now is to figure out How to maintain that level of staffing uh to keep the vegetation management program moving right now We've been fortunate with the dollar amount That kickstarted the program as well as grant funding to offset some of those costs But putting together kind of a strategic plan To carry that into the future is going to be a priority for us And then consider expanding the wooey initially the cwpp itself identified coffee park We identified that not as a need to expand the wooey But then that action item and those objectives were essentially complete They've been reopened now because of the mapping that's occurring through cal fire Cal fire has what they refer to as very high-fired severity zones within our city They have not released the changes to what's in the city, but they did release the changes to what's around the city Based on those changes We're projecting that we're likely going to lose some of the very high fire hazard severity zones within fountain grove But we anticipate because where they're showing moderate risk now around the fairgrounds We will likely uh have to come back and modify our wooey to expand to areas To the east of petal of him or petal of hill road Towards uh benna valley road Uh But that's that has been in uh progress for a couple years now and and doesn't seem to be moving very quickly But we're continuing to monitor it This is the current wooey as it stands today This is the state's Current mapped very high fire hazard severity zones within the city So this is the wooey. This is what the state identifies as the highest severity zone within our city And it's based on this map Um, this is the old map and this is the new map So you can kind of see as I toggle back and forth The red is the highest level the yellow is the lowest level Where you see the red start to expand Kind of in the benna valley area We already have that area in the wooey what we have not accounted for is to the south Kind of where above where it sells to the northeast of where it says belvi on the map With that being identified now as a moderate that's what will likely Kick us to push part of the city into the wooey in that south part of san rosa Our priorities for the next calendar year based on the coordination that was done between multiple departments to develop the ordinance Will be obviously to implement it. We'll continue to investigate the ability to spray To mitigate The risks along our evacuation routes and just the explosive growth of that scotch from a french broom Again looking at long-term plans for staffing Conduct visible projects and yes, that does include grazing Just get that out there As well as ongoing efforts to do burning shaded fuel breaks As well as explore new hazard mitigation grant programs And lastly Support again the ongoing relationship and agreement we have with fire safe sonoma And then in addition to the relationship. We've been developing with the san rosa junior college happy to now also report The new relationship that we're building with the uc extension cooperative grazing program That we're looking at bringing some of those efforts onto city properties as well And unless there are any questions What is the ask is just to for council to uh, accept the annul report council member okrepke Thank you so much for that in-depth Presentation just a real quick question. Um, and treading lightly because of the subject matter, but um, would it be possible to uh support the additional staffing for the hmgp and the hcg grant with proposed ballot measures So the proposed ballot membership does include two Fire inspectors that are to be assigned for vegetation management We have to look and see it what the inspection program will look like and what the overall workload will look like but initially We will be in communication and let the chief kind of make that evaluation Okay, but since they're on grants now that wouldn't be precluded from it is what i'm asking so the The current two fire inspectors and one community outreach specialist are funded primarily through the dollar the dollars that were set aside Through the vegetation management program Some of those dollars are essentially being saved as we're able to charge staff time to the vegetation man management grants That also includes the community outreach specialist that's We're primarily able to fund right now through that hcd grant and that was intentional Vice mayor step Thank you as always fire marshal lowenthal As as you correctly intuited it always comes back to grazing But i have a somewhat tangential question That just occurred to me So i was looking at the map so the city has taken possession or we'll we'll soon take possession of the greenway So we got 48 acres of essentially grassland running running right through a populated area connecting to to anadel What kind of in short term what kind of increased fire risk does that create for those neighborhoods? So the director from parks has formed a working group that does include fire that's been looking at how to mitigate the work or at least some of the risks that could Be taken on by the city associated with the seasonal grasses that are primarily growing in that area Right now caltrans Is not Required to comply with our city weight of pavement ordinance because they're essentially exempt from it But they do maintain the area primarily from montgomery high school Down to summerfield road and they do mow that typically at least once sometimes twice a year So the fire department was asked by parks to look at what Grazing opportunities there are within that area. We've already been in communication with The uc Extension cooperative grazing program and had them look at it And they have indicated that that is an area that they would be able to potentially graze And we also had sack evaluate that area as well sack provided us with a couple different costs associated with both Doing mechanical work as well as handwork, so we will continue to explore both options and and provide that information to parks That's a perfect answer. You read my mind. Thank you for highlighting grazing once again Are there any additional questions from council members? No, I I did have a question not to get in the weeds, but expanding the wooey Expanding Expanding the wooey. What what are the implications that has on our residents here in san rosa? Uh, so if they do go into the wooey, they would be required to comply for new construction with building and fire code requirements Um, they would be included in the weed abatement program If they're an existing residents vacant lots in that area regardless of whether in the wooey or not are already required to comply with the weed abatement ordinance But homes that could already be built would be required to comply with it and then uh The majority the elements associated with the new ordinance Would not apply to the areas that would be in question But they would then be required to comply with the defensible space standards And with that we recognize that this is the there is the potential for the wooey to expand and the way that we wrote The ordinance with the city attorney's office gave us some flexibility to not just drop the hammer But also to focus on education and so that will really Help an area like that The final piece That again regardless of whether it's our wooey or the state's uh mapped areas There could be some potential of insurance concerns. That is one thing that we've seen a lot Based on where cal fire maps. They're moderate to very high fire severity zones And whether they follow fall in or out of a city's locally adopted Wildland urban interface fire area could prompt insurance concerns as well and From the the way that you're speaking i'm assuming this isn't a collaborative effort. This is just cal fire will Well cal fire is going through a community-based approach soliciting feedback to their current mapping We anticipated it was going to go a lot faster than it did But it has it seems to be crawling right now We have local contacts that we've kept in communication with but we have no projection as to when they will finalize the state's Areas which surround the city And have had no indication that when they're actually going to release the draft maps of what their recommendations are for inside the city borders Thank you councilmember mcdonough Thank you mayor I'm glad you brought up some of the things around the insurance because that's something certainly in district 3 that we've contended with That as we put um, you know different areas and we've expanded the wooey that many of our homeowners are having a hard time And I know it's part of the california legislative platform that we're going to be adopting at another meeting That we've added that to work with the insurance commissioner But I just want to talk about that a little bit when we go for building and and specifically around Evacuation zones because as we expand building in some of these wooey's I know that's something a concern that continues to come up that we're building homes and fire You know kind of in these fire areas And what is part of this plan that mitigates the evacuation zones or are there additional requirements on builders? To making sure that there's proper evacuation zones because you know, I know in the past we've talked about a plan that was from 2018 but since all of these fires are coming forward. I just wanted to know if this plan actually addresses that So the the plan doesn't necessarily address new development But it gives recommendations to what do what to do in specific parts of the city With where development is heading and the need for housing within our community That's something that we can definitely look at when we do the the update to the plan Which is not going to be that far away We'll probably have to actually start working on the development of it in late 2024 or early 2025 at the latest And that's something we can look at right now. There is a process to under sequa and part of the environmental review Is to look at evacuations Um and do that analysis as part of the development process And it's not uncommon right now for the city's traffic engineer myself to have some of those discussions as we're evaluating projects Thank you So we are going to go to public comment, but before we go to public comment I do want to say thank you. Thank you. Thank you for all the work that you do to keep our our residents and our visitors Safe, it is definitely appreciated. I think when we're not in the thick of things Sometimes we we may not really want to deal with it or we have the trauma behind it But you're continually doing the work and getting us where we need to be so thank you in your team Madam city clerk may you please facilitate public comment? Thank you mayor. We are now taking public comments on item 15.3 If you are in the chamber and would like to comment, but have not provided a speaker card or your name Please make your way to the podium You will have two minutes and a countdown timer well alert at the end of that period We will start with dwayne followed by thomas Hello, my name is dwayne dewitt. I'm from roseland. Thank you very much for having looked into the possibility of grazing as a way to help Undertake better care of some of the areas that you call the wooey the wild land urban interface Over in roseland. We have trees Nice little grove right next to houses that could easily catch on fire And we've been talking for years about bringing in livestock either sheep or goats to help with this Clearing of the understory as it's called It's even more important now because the transients that camp in that area have now begun to cut down trees And then they start pit fires And one of those fires could get out of hand and go over to the residences right nearby Which then they might perhaps say well the city Is perhaps libel. There's a sense of vicarious liability Because this problem is not getting solved The fire department has talked with some members of the community And the park superintendent I believe his name is james castrow. He's been very helpful in this idea of Getting the understory under control In the roseland neighborhood as we call it the only way this will happen We believe is if you find somehow to get extra funding because it's always coming down to do you have enough money to do it We believe there are people there are people who will Volunteer to have their sheep or goats come and graze there for free So that's a possibility. We'd like to see you undertake in the future. Thank you for your time Thank you. Thomas, please go ahead Well, uh, do forgive me and thank you Grazing very interesting So there is I would point to you point you out to an institute called the savory institute named after alan savory and He's the grandfather if you will of regenerative grazing And that increases the resilience By increasing the watershed function And by that I mean the sponge function When you have the grazing and he can show you you can look at videos on that He's from he was from africa and he's done tremendous Saving now I want to follow on dwayne's point about roseland and My experience before I moved to santa rosa in 1994. I came here many many times before that but But um, we had several catastrophic fires in san anna and orange county and Where the buildings? Were the fires fuel? So the buildings are the fires fuel? And so I would ask If there is this type of effort and study being done in regard to roseland Because the buildings Are the fuel As if you want to talk to susan gore and you can find out Yeah, some of those trees were but her house burned down and I mean many of those houses just completely eviscerated Due to the fire and and it was really very fortunate that the wind turned around And stopped the fire in The in the northwest quarter there and didn't continue because it would have trapped all those people And if it was to come around it would trap all the people in roseland and that Thank you Is there anyone else wishing to speak on item 15.3? Please make your way to the podium May I see no additional commenters on this item? Thank you before we get a motion. Are there any comments from council members? Seeing none council member o'crepky I'll make a motion to accept the third annual report from the for the community wildfire protection plan a wildfire annex to the local hazard mitigation plan in compliance with the healthy forest restoration act second I have a motion made by council member o'crepky and a second from council member flaming madam city clerk may please call the vote Thank you council member rogers Council member o'crepky. Hi council member mcdonald. Hi council member flaming. Yes council member alvarez Vice mayor stapp. Hi mayor rogers. Hi with a record show this motion passes with seven affirmative votes and council member rogers absent Thank you Moving down to item 17 if I still have my numbers, right? uh, is our written communications For for the evening madam city clerk. Can you please facilitate public comment on this item? We are now taking public comment on item 17 Point one if you are in chamber and would like to comment but have not provided a speaker card or your name Please make your way to the podium. You will have two minutes and a countdown timer. Well alert at the end of that period May I am seeing no one approach the podiums for this item Thank you. Moving on to item 18, which is our second public comment on non-agenda matters Madam city clerk may you please facilitate public comment? Thank you. This is the second opportunity for those who are not able to speak under item 14 non-agenda matters Uh, you will now be afforded the opportunity to speak on non-agenda matters under 18 We will start with anabelle followed by briga followed by jimmy Yes, uh, born and raised here in santa rosa And i'm just following suit with everybody who's asking for ceasefire But i'm asking for ceasefire of the children of santa rosa Specifically those children of color or children who are poor because those are the ones who are usually affected Um, I ask that you hold the srpd in santa rosa city schools Accountable for the violation violating our children's civil rights and the incarceration of our children Many of our children were integral interrogated without consent and many were misled by police officers here Many of these police officers have had teenagers and Asking them to throw up gang signs and to hold band and bandanas up so that they can take photos of them So that they can and discriminate themselves Many of these police officers have picked up some children teenagers from one said neighborhood and have dropped them off in other neighborhoods Why Why do you think, um, obviously so that there could be some kind of conflict there? Um Many have spoken of genocide tonight. Well, we too have suffered genocide Um, which no one seems to speak about and we are on indigenous lands and many of the native americans here have suffered a genocide Uh, we continue to struggle at the hands of police Um legal slavery may have been abolished, but then the prison system was created Um, so our sons and our men have been removed moved from their homes Please think about that when um, we're talking about putting police back into the schools as well Thank you. The next public comment will be briga followed by john or pardon me jimmy than linda Madison doctor I was born and raised here in santa rosa and i'm working here to Take care of the citizens of santa rosa. I'm here to speak in support of a ceasefire resolution Many of my patients are minorities and they already felt marginalized Even before the events of october 7th that have then resulted in a genocide in gaza Now my patients feel actively unsafe here in our community I am devastated by the violence against palestinian people that has been ongoing for the past several months As described by other speakers earlier today Gaza was essentially a concentration camp even before israel started to bomb it and now the palestinian people trapped there Are experiencing unimaginable horror every day As a health care worker who has dedicated my life to keeping my patients safe and healthy The lack of even basic needs like food water or medical supplies in gaza is intolerable As a doctor here in santa rosa, I take care of all people children adults grandparents And the fear and devastation my patients have been experiencing is at an all-time high since the start of this violence My patients the citizens of santa rosa feel unsafe here And I am speaking in support of a ceasefire resolution because I think that santa rosa can demonstrate solidarity with palestinian citizens abroad and with our palestinian citizens here in santa rosa and all minorities here in santa rosa I believe that this ceasefire would show that we are taking a stand against the violence that israel is enacting out there And that this would show that santa rosa does not support genocide and help strengthen our community members here. Thank you Thank you. The next public comment will be from jimmy followed by lynda than joseph jimmy are you in the room? Okay, we'll circle back to jimmy Okay, we'll okay. I'll I'll call him later And we'll move on to lynda Okay, i'm my name is lynda el-yad I'm an israeli-american citizen And i'm wondering How many of you have been to israel? really When I listened to people's comments They just Seem so unrealistic And People are not understanding Why the united states is supporting israel It's a long story. It started before you and I were born And it's important That we differentiate Between the federal government and the local government here in santa rosa Really Foreign policy is not Not What you're here for and I thank you so very much For not putting a ceasefire resolution On your agenda That really is the wise thing to do It's taking up too much of your time even now I understand that another local government that had a ceasefire resolution on their agenda San Bruno it cost the city 35 000 For the meetings and the security et cetera You don't need to do that. This is not your issue It's my issue as an israeli citizen and i'll tell you October 7th With the hamas infiltration of israel hurt Us emotionally even here in santa rosa But we didn't go to our local government and try to fight the war here No We I feel for people who have relatives in palestine and Gaza But it's not here Thank you. The next speaker will be joseph followed by josh joseph are you in the room? Josh all right. Hey um I'm josh and i'm here today to support um a movement towards a ceasefire resolution in santa rosa I encourage us all to keep pushing keep talking Meeting one another. I really believe this can be a point Into political participation for our community or can turn people away from local politics and create a lot of Hatred even for the institutions. I'm josh. I feel quite invested in the conflict going on I consider everyone there israelis and palestinians alike his family. So it's close for me, you know Um, I understand it doesn't seem local to a lot of folks But the more and more people I meet around here the more I notice that it really is a local issue It's in the hearts and minds of people around me. It's important to people in my community And so for that reason, I think there is a way to address this wound that is both global And local and to do it in a local way. I say this is someone who sees the complexity of the issue I understand there's a strong constituency that is looking You know rightfully so out for antisemitism. I'm one of them honestly I worry about the future for jews And I worry about the trajectory the way that global politics are going on the actions of israeli actions of everyone has Not being safe I find it frightening when the term ceasefires become such a loaded term I don't pretend to understand all the intricacies of political signifiers But I will say that a lot of people are really tired of seeing violence. They're scared and they're concerned They're well informed and they're talking. I think there's a way to talk about this publicly Come up with a call for peace and a cease to the violence I'm really happy to see so many folks out here To talk about it using tools of democracy and I hope that this can be an entrance into deeper participation in our local politics Thank you Thank you. Are there any additional public comments on non-agenda matters? Please go ahead. Hi. My name is tess and I was born in san rosa. I've lived here my whole life And this is most definitely a local issue in addition to a global issue There are countless people in our community who are feeling deeply personally affected by the genocide that is happening at this moment We have people in our community who may have just traveled back home from palestine or israel We have people in our community who have families still in palestine and israel We have people in our community who are scared day in and day out because of how they'll be treated here Because of their relationship to palestine and israel I think that the san rosa city council voting on a ceasefire resolution Makes a very strong statement about who we are as san rosen's and what we stand for The comment earlier about the genocide that existed here Is very relevant as we still fail to acknowledge all of the ways that it lasts until today And how different communities are marginalized based off of practices that legislatures like yourself will put in place So, please i'd ask you to take a leap out maybe get a little bit uncomfortable And and take a stand and pass a ceasefire resolution for our city our constituents need it We're hurting out here and we need to know that the people who we put into these seats Hear us and stand with us so that we can be safe Thank you Thank you Any additional comments on non-agenda matters? Did jimmy join the room? Okay, mayor. There's no one else approaching the podiums for public comment at this time All right and seeing no additional public comment In nothing else on the agenda. We will now adjourn the meeting. Thank you