Paso Robles City Council Meeting Highlights - Regular Meeting of the City Council May 4, 2021

In compliance with social distancing, the City Council, staff, and the public participated via conference call. The public was invited to view a livestream of the meeting at www.prcity.com/youtube,  to call into the meeting at 805-865-PASO (7276), and to email public comment to cityclerk@prcity.com prior to the meeting.
 
Highlights from the Regular City Council meeting, held on Tuesday, May 4th, 2021, are as follows. The recording is available at www.prcity.com/youtube. Council did the following:
 
Received an Update on COVID-19. The County is now in the Orange Tier of the State’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy (info at www.emergencyslo.org) and vaccine efforts continue with all residents age 16 and over now eligible (info at www.emergencyslo.org/vaccines). As of May 4^th, County vaccine clinics, including the clinic at the Paso Robles Event Center, area accepting walk-ins. Clinics are open this week Tuesday, May 4 through Friday, May 7 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (No appointments take place during the lunch hour, 11:30 -12:30.) Next week, clinics are open on Wednesday, May 12 from 12 noon – 6 p.m. and Friday, May 14 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Days of operation may vary in the weeks to come. For up-to-date hours and open days, visit www.RecoverSLO.org/Vaccine.
 
Proclaimed May 2021 as Older Americans’ Month. Council urged every resident to recognize older adults and the people who support them as essential contributors to the strength of our community.
 
Discussed Enterprise Funds Budget Development for FY 2021-22. The City’s budget provides funding for all City services, infrastructure investments, and activities performed during the year. The Enterprise Funds of the City cover Water, Wastewater and Airport operations. There are no significant changes in the operations of these three enterprises being proposed for the upcoming year. For FY 2021-22, the proposed Water Fund budget is $16.8 million, the proposed Wastewater Fund budget is $12.3 million, and the proposed budget for the Airport Fund is $1.9 million. Council will continue its budget discussions in June and will adopt a FY 21-22 budget on June 15^th.
 
Adopted an Ordinance Finalizing Sewer Rate Changes. The City provides for collection, treatment, and disposal of wastewater in Paso Robles, funded primary by sewer rate payments. Sewer rates have not been adjusted since 2016. As a result, Paso Robles has had some of the lowest sewer rates in the region. The City is obligated by State regulations to maintain the integrity of its sewer assets to protect public health and the environment, and costs to do so continue to increase. In recent months, the City completed a state-mandated Proposition 218 process, during which the City notified residents of the proposed rate increase 45 days prior to the public hearing and provided an opportunity for residents to protest. The Prop 218 process did not result in a majority protest, and Council voted to implement the proposed rate increase, effective July 1^st. 
 
Provided Direction on Parklets. Council clarified that any restaurants interested in parklets go before the Parking Commission for input, to seek staff input on design/technical/legal considerations and directed staff to take a minimum of 90 days to consider before bringing the item to Council for discuss.
 
The next regular City Council meeting is on Tuesday, May 18^th at 6:30 pm, via livestream at www.prcity.com/youtube.  Public comment can be made during the meeting by calling 805-865-PASO (7276) or provided prior to the meeting by emailing cityclerk@prcity.com.