The Healdsburg City Council will meet on Tuesday, Sept. 7 to consider approvals for various budget amendments for the 2021-22 fiscal year and to discuss the future of the popular residential recycled water program.
The meeting will start at 6 p.m. and will be held via Zoom.
Announcements and presentations
To kick off the meeting, the council will read a proclamation recognizing Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 as Latin-American Heritage Month. The city will also issue a proclamation declaring the third week of September as pollution prevention week and the fourth week of September as creek week.
Healdsburg City Manager Jeff Kay will provide a COVID-19 update as well as a drought and water supply update.
Old business — budget amendments and recycled water
There are no public hearings set for the Sept. 7 meeting so the agenda will move right along to old business items.
The first budget amendment consideration is in relation to American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.
Earlier this year, Congress passed the ARPA in an effort to mitigate the economic impacts from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The city of Healdsburg will be receiving $2,833,576 from the ARPA. The city received $1,416,788 in July and will receive an additional $1,416,788 between May and July of 2022.
Eligible uses for the funds includes supporting public health expenditures by funding COVID-19 mitigation efforts, medical expenses, behavioral healthcare and public health and safety staff; addressing negative economic impacts caused by COVID-19 including economic harms to workers, households, small businesses, impacted industries and the public sector; replacing lost public sector revenue; providing government services to the extent of the reduction experienced due to the pandemic; provide premium pay for essential workers; offering support to those who have borne the greatest health risks; and investing in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure.
City staff worked with multiple finance organizations, including the California Society of Municipal Finance Officers, to understand the program rules and to determine how the funds can be used.
Staff has determined that 100% of the funds can be used under the category of replacing lost public sector revenue, the category that allows for the broadest use of funds.
Essentially, the funds can be used for government services which can include maintenance of infrastructure or pay-go spending for building new infrastructure, including roads; modernization of cybersecurity; health services, environmental remediation, school or educational services, and the provision of police, fire, and other public safety services.
With this in mind, city staff is proposing to fund the following projects with the ARPA funds:
– Citywide sidewalk repair: $17,968
– Pavement preventative maintenance: $850,000
– Public safety position funding: $448,820
– Public safety support funding: $100,000
The other budget amendment item on the agenda involves moving around funds and allocating money to projects that haven’t yet received funding due to COVID-19 induced budget restrictions.
“The city will receive $2,832,000 in funds from the ARPA. The city is able to use some of these funds to fund some projects previously funded by Measure T. Accordingly, the city now has an additional $1,416,788 in Measure T funds available in the current fiscal year. Should the city use the same amount of ARPA funds for the same project next fiscal year, another $1,416,788 would be available from Measure T,” states the agenda item packet.
With these available funds, city staff has created a two-year project plan for council’s consideration.
Projects cited in the plan include updating the city’s housing element, supporting the development of equity initiatives, homeless support and planning, targeted business loan forgiveness and recycled water delivery among others.
Also included in the budget amendments is consideration of approval of the use of various grant funds and Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) settlement funds.
The city is receiving $301,596 in settlement funds from PG&E’s Kincade Fire settlement with the cities of Healdsburg, Cloverdale, Santa Rosa and the Town of Windsor and County of Sonoma.
City staff is proposing a portion of the funds be used for the creation of a city community wildfire protection plan.
To view all of the proposed grant allocations and other proposed budget adjustments, see the city council agenda packet here.
Residential recycled water program
Healdsburg city staff is also seeking council direction regarding the future of the residential recycled water program.
Specifically, staff wants council direction on program duration, frequency of delivery, cost recovery and program participation.
Currently, the recycled water program is free for all residents at the city’s expense. According to the agenda item report, the program costs the city approximately $40,000 per week.
“Staff is seeking direction from council to either establish a fee that would either fully or partially recover ongoing program costs … Council may wish to also limit new program participants to cap program costs and/or mitigate the need for additional hauling contractors. As the city continues to receive new program participants the program’s scope and costs also increase,” according to the agenda item packet.
To view the agenda packet or to learn about how to watch the meeting, visit the city website here.
