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| Councilmember Wan |
On Tuesday the Council met and discussed several significant items:
- We first interviewed three applicants for one open Planning Commissioner seat. The seat was vacated when Councilmember Enea was elected and we interviewed applicants in order to fill the open seat for the remainder of the term ending in June 2026. Of the three applicants, the Council discussed and voted to appoint Nate Brzovich to the Planning Commission. Nate's approach to listening to community feedback and balancing that with what the law requires was what was persuasive to the Council. Congratulations, Commissioner Brzovich!
- We discussed and decided in favor of entering an agreement for investment advisory services with UBS. UBS currently acts as a custodian of City funds in a non-discretionary manner. This means that UBS can execute transactions for various securities, but only as the City specifically directs. There are associated fees, and we are essentially buying at retail. By entering into a advisory agreement, UBS becomes a fiduciary to the City, and will be authorized to act on the City's behalf within the approved investment policy of the City.
There are multiple benefits of such an arrangement. While there is a 30 basis point fee associated with this arrangement, there is no cost for any individual transaction. Because UBS is authorized to act on the City's behalf, there will be no time where cash is sitting idle and not being invested. This will yield greater returns, but it will also free up staff time so they can focus on other activities. We will also be able to exit certain positions that are underperforming and redeploy those funds towards higher performing securities. Overall this should yield greater returns on the over $12M in City funds.
- We formed an ad hoc committee consisting of Mayor Trupiano and Councilmember Tillman. Upon taking the role of Mayor, Mayor Trupiano reached out to Councilmember Tillman in an effort to address her previous requests for an investigation into fellow Councilmembers and training. A result of that meeting was an agreement to propose this ad hoc committee in order to facilitate a governance training workshop for Council and staff. Councilmember Tillman stated that this ad hoc committee and training satisfies her previous requests and I'm glad the Council can move forward and appreciate Mayor Trupiano's leadership in this matter.
- We authorized the City Manager to enter negotiations with Three Putt Development, the company that owns the Oakhurst Country Club, for the sale of city owned property adjacent to the overflow lot near Oakhurst. The city owned property does not front any street, and was declared surplus by the City last year. We also discussed with the City Manager the terms that the City was interested in during closed session later in the evening.
- We discussed the potential restriping project on the 4 lane section of Mountaire Pkwy. Many residents spoke at the meeting, and others have been in communication via email and phone calls. There were several that were opposed to taking action, and several that were in favor of taking action. What was under discussion was a "road diet" - reducing the number of lanes in an effort to reduce speeds. Included in this plan was also the addition of dedicated bike lanes.
There was some concern expressed regarding emergencies and egress. Because there were no physical barriers being contemplated, in the case of emergency the overall width of the road was not going to be impacted so access would be unchanged if there were a need.
When the Dana Hills HOA surveyed its residents on a potential lane reduction, approximately 25% of households responded. Of those that responded, 2/3 were in favor of the lane reduction, and 1/3 were opposed. Ultimately the HOA did not feel it had enough feedback to take a position on the matter.
The largest concern the Council had was cost. The section was recently repaved, though marked with temporary paint in anticipation of the discussion we had. We have also applied for a grant that would cover a portion of the overall projected ~$250K cost.
Overall I was in favor of this work because the goal is public safety and reducing speeds. Traffic safety and speeding is a significant concern I hear from residents all over town and while it does cost money I believe it worth it in an effort to improve overall safety. The Council decided to proceed with the planned road diet, wait to hear if we are awarded the grant, then incorporate the actual road work into the already planning 2026 road work. This has the potential of reducing the overall cost as we would get some economies of scale by grouping this project with larger projects. The vote was 3-2, with myself, and Councilmembers Tillman and Diaz in favor. Councilmember Enea and Mayor Trupiano voted no primarily based on the cost.
