At its regular meeting this week, the Cloverdale City Council will be reviewing its draft budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year, hold a public hearing on its Urban Water Management Plan and Water Shortage Contingency Plan and will receive an update on Pacific Gas and Electric’s (PG&E) Sustainable Solutions Turnkey program. The meeting is being held over Zoom and will begin at 6 p.m. on May 26. To view the full council agenda, click here.
In addition to regular business and public hearing items, the council will be issuing certificates of appreciation to its student liaisons, Summer Lands and Jenifer Ramirez Mora. It will also be proclaiming the week of May 9 as National Police Week and May 15 as National Peace Officers Memorial Day, and will be issuing a proclamation declaring May 2021 Older Americans Month.
Public Hearing – Urban Water Management Plan
As required by the state of California, Cloverdale has to adopt and update an Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) every five years to demonstrate its water supply reliability in normal, single dry and multiple dry water years.
According to city council background information, “The UWMP integrates local and regional land use planning, regional water supply, infrastructure and demand management projects, as well as statewide issues of concern like climate change and regulatory revisions. In short, the UWMP gathers, characterizes and synthesizes water-related information from numerous sources into a plan with local, regional, and statewide practical utility.”
The UWMP contains information about population and demand projects, drought risk, demand management and other components.
As part of the public hearing, the council will be receiving a presentation about the updated plan. To view presentation slides, click here.
Additionally, the UWMP includes an update of the city’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan. The plan outlines a six-step water shortage plan that outlines whether each step involves voluntary or mandatory water reduction compliance as well as estimated water savings from actions implemented at each step of the plan.
Budget Talk
The Cloverdale City Council is reviewing and providing direction on the city’s draft budget for the 2021-22 year.
According to the council agenda packet, unknowns relating to how COVID-19 may impact city revenue down the road give the city reason to believe that the city’s reserve fund will need to be dipped into in order to bridge funding gaps.
“During fiscal year ending June 30, 2022 staff is projecting that the use of approximately $424,000 in reserve balances to close the gap between revenue and expenditures in the General Fund. The total projected general fund balance at the end of the FY 2021-22 is $4,349,475 representing a 46.1% general fund reserve balance,” the council agenda states. “In addition to the general fund, utilization of unencumbered reserve balances (fund balances) will be required to close operational deficits in the Water and Sewer Enterprise Funds. Nonetheless, all reserve balances are proposed to be within established reserve policies (with the exception of fund balances within the Lighting & Landscape Districts). As such, all of the department requests that were submitted during the budget preparation process were not able to be brought forward for a recommendation of funding in the budget.”
Additionally, the council agenda notes that the city’s long-term forecast outlines major takeaways including that the city’s financial situation should be a substantial concern, current spending trends can’t continue without cost reductions or revenue increases and that revenue enhancement and expenditure reductions should continue to be a priority.
Following feedback given at Wednesday’s meeting, the budget is expected to come back to the council for final approval on June 9. If more revisions have to be made, it can come back again on June 23.
PG&E program
According to the council agenda item summary, PG&E’s Sustainable Solutions Turnkey program helps municipalities achieve a comprehensive approach to developing projects that promote water conservation and energy saving.
“The initial findings of the walkthroughs are promising, and it appears there are enough energy savings projects to make this effort worthwhile. Projects identified include, interior and exterior lighting, HVAC replacement, photovoltaic, water pump station upgrades, wastewater aeration and thermostats,” states the council agenda.
At this meeting, the council will recieving a presentation on the ins and outs of the program, as well as PG&E’s initial findings about what projects they believe will benefit the city. The intend to come back on June 23 to seek authorization for the city manager to enter into a contract with the city for the program.
