Sebastopol City Council preview

The Sebastopol City Council is slated to address a small agenda at its meeting on Oct. 6, with one proclamation, one public hearing and two regular agenda items. The meeting will be held virtually starting at 6 p.m. The meetings are broadcast live over Zoom or livestream.com, and are also available to watch after the meeting occurs. To view the full meeting agenda, click here.
Here’s what’s on the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting.
As part of its consent calendar, the council will be considering the following items:
●      Approval of the minutes of the council’s Sept. 15 meeting
●      Receipt of notice for upcoming openings on the planning commission. Openings include the seats held by Patrick Wilson and Paul Fritz. Both terms end on Dec. 31.
●      Receipt of notice of upcoming openings on the design review board. Openings include the seats held by Ted Luthin, Gregory Beale and Cary Bush. All three terms end on Dec. 31.
●      Approval of amendment to the Facade Improvement Program.
●      Authorize city manager to establish the new classifications and salary range of principal civil engineer and senior civil engineer, effective Oct. 6.
●      Receipt of report of Gravenstein Health Action and Recommendation to schedule city council liaison appointment.
●      Approval of modification to city of Sebastopol Business Loan Program and extension of the program for 10 days.
Public Hearing: 2020-21 Capital Improvement Plan and council prioritization policy
The city council will review its capital improvement plan (CIP), which outlines capital improvement projects. The CIP being reviewed by the council covers fiscal year 2020-21 through 2024-25.
The plan outlines capital improvement projects that the city intends to work on, covering: bike, pedestrian and safety projects such as flashing lights for a crosswalk on South Main and Burnett streets, bicycle and pedestrian access on the west side of Ragle Road and others; ADA projects, like upgrading city hall and the youth annex to be more ADA compliant; housing projects, such as making building renovations for two apartments at Park Village; park projects, such as removing and replacing trees in Ives and Libby parks; paving projects; sewer and wastewater projects; stormwater projects; water projects; and art projects.
View the CIP here.
Lottery for local artists
The Public Art Committee (PAC) is requesting approval to allocate $2,000 from the city’s public art fund for the Lottery Support for Artists Program, as well as a request for the council to match an additional $2,000 for the grant program, which would allow the PAC to grant four more awards.
“The PAC has developed a ‘lottery’ program to provide a small amount of financial support to artists impacted by COVID-19 economic impacts. The proposed lottery …  would provide four $500 cash gifts to professional artists in the Sebastopol area using a lottery system,” reads the item description. “The PAC unanimously voted to recommend this program to the city council for approval of the funds, as well as a request from the PAC for additional funds from the city council (no account identified) for additional financial support/awards.”
View the request here.
The power of parklets
The council will discuss an application for the temporary installation of parklets in downtown Sebastopol. Parklets are areas temporarily constructed over a parking lot of part of the sidewalk to allow for seating or dining. They’ve been used around the county during the COVID-19 pandemic, since folks are unable to eat inside of restaurants.
During initial discussions about putting in parklets, Caltrans having the right-of-way to some of Sebastopol’s downtown streets proved to be an issue.
“Upon initial investigation, the Caltrans requirements looked quite daunting, either from expense, time to implement, and requirements for contents of a permit application. In addition, use of public, state-owned RoW (right-of-way) carries restrictions on banning commercial activities, which basically prohibits any commercial transaction, such as ordering or paying for food, at the parklet tables. However, it has since been learned that the City of Saratoga recently obtained Caltrans permits for parklets with a couple of the difficult requirements put in abeyance. Staff was able to get a copy of the Caltrans permit,” reads the staff report for this item.
Since finding that out, city staff are preparing to submit an application for three parklets: one in front of Screamin Mimi’s on the north side of Sebastopol Avenue, one on the west side of North Main Street between McKinley Street and Bodega Avenue and another on the west side of South Main Street, between Bodega Avenue and Burnett Street.
If the council recommends submitting the application to Caltrans that would allow for the potential installation of parklets, the timeframe would be to have them in place through the holiday season.
Read the agenda item here.