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Home My WebLink AboutItem 5b - 01-13-2026 City Council Minutes - Draft 1 Council Minutes January 13, 2026, 5:30 p.m. Council Chambers, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo Council Members Present: Council Member Mike Boswell, Vice Mayor Emily Francis, Council Member Jan Marx, Council Member Michelle Shoresman, Mayor Erica A. Stewart City Staff Present: City Manager Whitney McDonald, Christine Dietrick, City Attorney, Teresa Purrington, City Clerk _____________________________________________________________________ 1. CLOSED SESSION 1.a CALL TO ORDER (4:45 PM to 5:30 PM) Mayor Erica A. Stewart called the Closed Session of the San Luis Obispo City Council to order at 4:45 p.m. in the Council Hearing Room at City Hall, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo with Council Member Shoresman participating virtually. 1.b CONFERENCE W ITH REAL PROPERTY NEGOTIATORS ACTION: City Attorney Dietrick reported that the Council met in Closed Session and provided direction on negotiating parameters for price and terms and no further reportable action was taken. 1.c ADJOURNMENT Closed session adjourned at 5:20 PM. 2. CALL TO ORDER A Regular Meeting of the San Luis Obispo City Council was called to order on January 13, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, by Mayor Stewart, with Council Member Shoresman participating virtually. 3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Vice Mayor Francis led the Council in the Pledge of Allegiance. Page 7 of 114 2 4. PRESENTATIONS 4.a NATIONAL MENTORING MONTH - BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY Mayor Stewart presented a Proclamation to Carol Florence, representing Big Brothers and Big Sisters of San Luis Obispo County declaring January as National Mentoring Month and recognizing Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Luis Obispo County for their Youth Mentoring Program. 4.b NATIONAL ANTI HUMAN TRAFFICKING PREVENTION MONTH Mayor Stewart presented a Proclamation declaring January as National Human Trafficking Prevention Month. 4.c CITY MANAGER REPORT City Manager Whitney McDonald provided a report on upcoming projects. 5. PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD FOR ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA Public Comment: Steve Barasch Leslie Halls Alice Aldana Gerri Clemens --End of Public Comment-- 6. CONSENT AGENDA Mayor Stewart requested Item 6c be removed from the Consent Agenda. Vice Mayor Francis requested Item 6h be removed from the Consent Agenda. Public Comment: Steve Barasch - Item 6g John Ashbaugh - Item 6g --End of Public Comment-- Motion By Vice Mayor Francis Second By Council Member Boswell To approve Consent Calendar Items 6a, 6b, 6d through 6f and 6i through 6j. Ayes (5): Council Member Boswell, Vice Mayor Francis, Council Member Marx, Council Member Shoresman, and Mayor Stewart CARRIED (5 to 0) Page 8 of 114 3 6.a WAIVE READING IN FULL OF ALL RESOLUTIONS AND ORDINANCES Waive reading of all resolutions and ordinances as appropriate. 6.b MINUTES REVIEW - DECEMBER 2, 2025 AND DECEMBER 15, 2025 COUNCIL MINUTES Approve the minutes of the City Council meeting held on December 2, 2025 and December 15, 2025. 6.d AUTHORIZE THE TRANSFER OF CAPITAL AND OPERATING FUNDING FOR THE PURCHASE OF AN AUTONOMOUS FIELD STRIPER Adopt Resolution No. 11620 (2026 Series) entitled “A Resolution of the City Council of the City of San Luis Obispo, California, Authorizing the Transfer of Unused Fleet Capital Funding and Supplemental Salary Savings to the Parks Major Maintenance Capital Account for the Purchase of an Autonomous Sports Field Striper” for the Damon Garcia Sports Complex: 1. Approve the transfer of $38,000 in available fleet replacement funding from the Fleet Replacement Project (2000520-02.12), originally allocated for the replacement of fleet asset #0849, to the Parks Major Maintenance Capital Account (2001010); and 2. Approve the transfer of $3,640 in Parks Maintenance salary savings to the Parks Major Maintenance Capital Account (2001010). 6.e APPROVE RELEASE OF A REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS FOR AUDIO-VISUAL SERVICES 1. Approve the release of a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to establish a list of prequalified Audio-Visual (AV) Service vendors following the expiration of the 45-day notice period in compliance with AB 339 (no earlier than February 5, 2026); and 2. Authorize the Deputy City Manager to execute professional service agreements with the selected consultants; and 3. Authorize the Finance Director to execute and amend purchase orders for individual professional service agreements in an amount not-to-exceed the authorized budget. 6.f AUTHORIZE THE FIRE DEPARTMENT TO ACCEPT THE PRODUCT OF A FIRE SAFE COUNCIL GRANT, WHICH IS PREPARATION OF A ONE- TIME PROFESSIONAL SERVICE AGREEMENT FOR EVACUATION Page 9 of 114 4 DATA DEVELOPMENT AND INITIAL MODELING SERVICES FOR CITYWIDE EVACUATION PLANNING Authorize the Fire Department to accept the award from the San Luis Obispo County Fire Safe Council for a one-time professional service agreement for evacuation data development and initial modelling services for Citywide evacuation planning with a value of $30,000. 6.g SECOND READING AND ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE NO. 1753 (2025 SERIES) REPEALING AND REPLACING CHAPTER 14.01 OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE (HISTORIC PRESERVATION ORDINANCE) TO INCLUDE RECOMMENDED UPDATES AND AMENDMENTS Adopt Ordinance No. 1753 (2025 Series) entitled, “An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of San Luis Obispo, California, repealing Chapter 14.01 (Historic Preservation Ordinance) of the Municipal Code in its entirety and introducing and adopting a replacement Chapter 14.01 to include recommended updates and amendments as reflected in the attached Exhibit A (CODE-0758-2025)” 6.i APPROVAL OF A REIMBURSEMENT AGREEMENT WITH THE COUNTY OF SAN LUIS OBIPSO FOR THE SALINAS DAM FEASIBILITY STUDY 1. Adopt Resolution No. 11621 (2026 Series) entitled “A Resolution of the City Council of San Luis Obispo, California, Approving a Reimbursement Agreement with the San Luis Obispo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District to Support the Salinas Dam Feasibility Study;” and 2. Authorize the City Manager to execute the Reimbursement Agreement and related documents; and 3. Find the action exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act. 6.j APPROVE A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH SLOCOG AND WITH THE CITY OF SANTA MARIA FOR PILOT EXPRESS TRANSIT SERVICES Authorize the Mayor to execute a Memorandum of Understanding with the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments and with the City of Santa Maria for Pilot Express Transit Services. Page 10 of 114 5 6.c COUNCIL LIAISON SUBCOMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS FOR 2026 Motion By Mayor Stewart Second By Council Member Marx Approve the Council Liaison Subcommittee assignments for the 2026 calendar year with the following change:  The IWMA appointment will be effective January 15,2026 and the CAPSLO appointment will be effective January 16, 2026. Ayes (5): Council Member Boswell, Vice Mayor Francis, Council Member Marx, Council Member Shoresman, and Mayor Stewart CARRIED (5 to 0) 6.h AWARD CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT FOR SOUTH STREET AND KING COURT CROSSING PROJECT, SPECIFICATION NO. 2001059 Motion By Vice Mayor Francis Second By Council Member Boswell 1. Award a construction contract for the South Street and King Court Crossing Project to JJ Fisher Construction Inc. in the amount of $632,816; and, 2. Authorize the City Engineer to approve Contract Change Orders up to the available project budget, including any amendments authorized by the City Manager; with the following additional direction: * If funding is available at the end of the project a License Plate Reader camera be purchased and installed at this location. 3. Authorize the transfer of $150,000 from the Roadway Sealing 2024 Project (Account 2000615) to the South Street and King Cour t Crossing Project (Account 2001059); and, 4. Approve a purchase from AM Signal, not to exceed $204,600 total, for the purchase and installation of Emergency Vehicle Preemption (EVP) equipment for San Luis Obispo Fire and Police Department vehicles. Ayes (5): Council Member Boswell, Vice Mayor Francis, Council Member Marx, Council Member Shoresman, and Mayor Stewart CARRIED (5 to 0) Page 11 of 114 6 7. PUBLIC HEARING AND BUSINESS ITEMS 7.a ACCEPTANCE OF THE ANNUAL COMPREHENSIVE FINANCIAL REPORT, FEDERAL SINGLE AUDIT REPORT AND TRANSPORTATION DEVELOPMENT ACT REPORT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2024-25 Finance Director Emily Jackson, Deputy Director of Finance Debbie Malicoat, Senior Accountant Tavy Garcia and Mitesh Desai, Auditor provided an in-depth staff report and responded to Council questions. Public Comments: None ---End of Public Comment--- ACTION: By consensus the City Council accepted the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, the Federal Single Audit Report and Transportation Development Act Report for Fiscal Year 2024-25. 7.b INTRODUCE AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING CITYWIDE SINGLE VOTE FOR COUNCIL ELECTIONS IN 2026 AND SUBSEQUENT ELECTIONS Motion By Mayor Stewart Second By Council Member Shoresman To adopt Ordinance No. 1754 (2026 Series) adding chapter 2.38, entitled “Citywide Single Vote Method of Electing City Councilmembers” to the San Luis Obispo Municipal Code, implementing a new method for elections of City Councilmembers and adopting regulations providing for the administration of City Council elections by Citywide Single Vote beginning in November 2026 with the amendments included in the Staff Agenda correspondence. Ayes (5): Council Member Boswell, Vice Mayor Francis, Council Member Marx, Council Member Shoresman, and Mayor Stewart CARRIED (5 to 0) 7.c 2026 COUNCIL COMPENSATION COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS Motion By Council Member Shoresman Second By Mayor Stewart As recommended by the Council Compensation Committee: 1. Adopt Resolution No. 16662 (2026 Series) entitled “A Resolution of the City Council of the City of San Luis Obispo, California, setting Page 12 of 114 7 new salaries for the Mayor and Council Members and reaffirming compensation for Planning Commission and Architectural Review Commission and amending Council’s Policies and Procedures,” increasing the monthly compensation for the Mayor from $2,923 to $4,169 4,864 per month and Council Member from $2,319 to $2,780 per month, and provide a $160 per month stipend for any Council Member or Mayor who is appointed to a statewide board or policy committee for the duration of their appointed term, effective the first full pay period in January 2027; and renaming Professional Development funding to Reimbursable Professional Expenses funding; The change in Mayor compensation was due to the Council accepting Alternative 1 for the Mayor, basing the salary for Mayor on 35 hours worked per week, and 2. Increase the Reimbursable Professional Expenses funding amount for Mayor from $3,600 to $4,400 annually and for Council Members from $2,700 to $3,300 annually. Also, automatically roll over any remaining Reimbursable Professional Expenses funds from the first year of a Financial Plan to the second year; and 3. Establish an annual $1,000 reimbursement allowance for any Council Member or Mayor who is appointed to a statewide board or policy committee for travel expenses related to statewide meetings; and 4. Direct staff to explore the feasibility of an "opt-in" pilot-program to provide $25 per meeting for all City Advisory Bodies, not including the Architectural Review Commission (ARC) and Planning Commission (PC), with a cap of three meetings a month, totaling $75 per month. The ARC and PC compensation would remain at the same amount of $86 per meeting with a cap of $344 per month. Ayes (5): Council Member Boswell, Vice Mayor Francis, Council Member Marx, Council Member Shoresman, and Mayor Stewart CARRIED (5 to 0) 8. LIAISON REPORTS AND COMMUNICATIONS Mayor Stewart  Attended the SLO Council of Governments (SLOCOG) and SLORTA meetings on January 7  Attended the SLO Council of Governments Workshop on January 13 Page 13 of 114 8  Participated in the Downtown SLO Holiday Parade  Attended the CA Men’s Colony Advisory Committee meeting in December  Attended the Cal Cities Board meeting in Rancho Mirage  Attended her last session of the Rodel Institute Council Member Shoresman  Attended the menorah lighting  Attended the State of the State briefing at the SLO Chamber.   Attended the Zone 9 meeting in December  Attended an HSOC Executive Committee meeting  Rode the Trolley on its Holiday route with members of the Senior Center Council Member Boswell  Attended the Downtown SLO Board Retreat today.  Met with staff regarding his assignment to the SLO Climate Coalition -  Attended the ribbon cutting for the new public art in the San Luis Ranch roundabout  Attended the State of the State briefing at the SLO Chamber. Vice Mayor Francis  Attended the Community Action Partnership (CAP) on December 18, 2025  Attended WRAC on December 6, 2025 for Council Member Marx  Attended the ribbon cutting for the new public art in the San Luis Ranch roundabout Council Member Marx  Attended the ribbon cutting for the new public art in the San Luis Ranch roundabout  Attended an event at the History Center on January 3rd.  Attended the installation of officers for the King David's Lodge the Masonic Temple of San Luis Obispo Page 14 of 114 9 9. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 10:15 p.m. The next Regular City Council Meeting is scheduled for January 20, 2025 at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo. _________________________ APPROVED BY COUNCIL: XX/XX/202X Page 15 of 114 Page 16 of 114