City Council also discussed SLO County rejoining the Integrated Waste Management Authority

ATASCADERO—The Atascadero City Council met for their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, April 11, at 6 p.m. The hybrid meeting was held in the City Council Chambers.

The agenda passed unanimously.

Before the Consent Agenda passed, Mayor Pro Tem Susan Funk pulled Item 3, General Plan & Housing Element Annual Progress Report 2022. She gave a little bit more of an update stating that with housing already built and projects that are being built or have been approved that we are close to 78 percent of what is expected in the eight-year time frame, which is exceeding our current goal at the halfway point. She also stated that we are only behind on very low-income housing, with only four of the 207 units that the state expects our population will need.

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“The bottom line is in all the other categories of income, we are substantially exceeding what the targets of the state says our community would need for affordable housing,” concluded Funk.

The Consent Agenda was then passed unanimously.

Deputy City Manager Terrie Banish gave the council a Marketing Update for the 22/23 year. She went over all the events that Atascadero has added and or continued in 2022. She also reviewed social media reach, email newsletter reach, local city and tourism marketing, county marketing, and Atascadero’s tourism focus to Los Angeles, The Bay Area, and further. In general, the city’s reach has grown across the board.

“It is fun when people from out of the area are telling me what they’re hearing about Atascadero,” said Mayor Heather Moreno.

Administrative Services Director Jeri Rangel gave the council an updated Comprehensive Financial Strategy report. 

The report went over six sections:

  1. Key Actions
  2. Revenues 
  3. Expenditures 
  4. Long Term Costs
  5. Reserves 
  6. Policies

“This is really a big-picture perspective that can be used as another planning tool,” Rangel said. “The financial plan is useful for making decisions and considerations and to be flexible as conditions change. This is a snapshot in time that reflects current conditions and the assumptions and estimates that are based upon information that’s available now.”

This was a receive-and-file item for the board, and no decisions or final actions were made at the time of the meeting. You can find the Comprehensive Financial Strategy for more information here: records.atascadero.org/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=116657&dbid=0&repo=atascadero.

During Individual Determination, Councilmember Charles Bourbeau spoke about the San Luis Obispo County Integrated Waste Management Authority (IWMA), as he is the representative from the council.

On Oct. 15, 2021, the County of San Luis Obispo gave the IWMA formal notice that they would be withdrawing from the IWMA JPA on Nov. 15, 2021. The county then gave the IWMA formal notice that it wanted to rejoin the IWMA on March 23, 2023, pending further discussion between agencies.

The council went over the City of Atascadero, rejoining the IWMA. The benefits to Atascadero would include a cost savings for the city. 

The next Atascadero City Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 25, at 6 p.m.