Council passes motion on General Plan Update Project, Phases 2-6

ATASCADERO — The Atascadero City Council celebrated two ribbon cuttings over the last week, one for Lift Station #2 and another for the Local Transportation Fund Road Improvement Project.

One of the largest lift stations in town, Lift Station #2, needed repair and a size update. The lift accepts wastewater from residential and commercial dwellings between Santa Rosa Road and Vielo Camino.

The council also celebrated rehabilitation of the sidewalks on San Gabriel and San Marcos roads.

This week, The Atascadero City Council met for their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, Mar. 22, at 6 p.m. The hybrid meeting was held in the City Council Chambers and was followed by the council’s closed session.

The agenda and the consent calendar, which included implementing CALGreen requirements for covered projects and establishing water-efficient landscape and irrigation requirements in compliance with SB 1383, passed unanimously.

The first Management Report of the evening was a Contract Award for the General Plan Update Project, Phases 2-6. The presentation was given to the council by Deputy Director of Economic & Community Development Loreli Cappel.

Phase 1 of the project was discussed at the Dec. 14, 2021, City Council meeting. The plan will help Atascadero envision its community through 2045. The whole project should be completed by the end of 2023.

“In January, we had a scoping meeting with our consultant MIG Consulting, which we entered into a contract with,” said Cappel. “They helped us go through a process of looking at our assets, our challenges, our opportunities, and we did a lot of brainstorms. So we have actually put together a scope for the rest of the phases, phases 2 thru 6.”

Phase 2, Discovery and Visioning, will have a budget of $305,032. It will consist of gathering data and input from the community, as well as branding and communication portals. 

Phase 3, Exploring Alternatives, has a budget of $152,600. This includes the development of preliminary General Plan alternatives, including a fiscal impact analysis.

“So that’s a really big piece that I know we’ve talked about over the last couple of months, is how do we envision our future and make sure that everything we’re doing, we are fiscally sound,” continued Cappel.

Phase 4, A Plan for Atascadero 2045’s budget, will be $411,526. This phase will be about constructing and organizing a General Plan in a useful way for Atascadero, providing the public with a draft to give input on.

Phase 5, Celebrate Our Future, will have a budget of $98,728, and two Planning Commission, and two City Council public hearings on the General Plan.

Phase 6, Ongoing Team Coordination’s budget, is $52,746. While the team holds meetings for the next two years of the project. 

The city is currently 80% through Phase 1. The fiscal impact of Phases 2 thru 6 for the MIG contract will be $1,072,257 of general funds. $43,000 of that has already been allocated for Phase 1. 

The council went over optional tasks and decided to go through with the Youth Design Charrette and expanding their social media.  

“I think we need youth involvement of all ages,” said Pro Tem Mayor Heather Newsom. “I think it’s vital to making a plan for 2045 that affects them. I think it would be a great program to get the kids involved.” 

A motion to authorize the amendment of the contract, including options 6 (youth design charrette) and 8 (social media) as indicated, passed unanimously.

Deputy City Manager Lara Christensen presented SB 1383. Christensen went over the Recovered Organic Waste Products Requirements. 

According to SB 1383, the city will be required to procure an annual amount based on population, in this case 0.08 tons per resident. Multiple products can be used to get to the total goal. 

“Regulations also require us to purchase recycled content paper and paper products,” stated Christensen. 

Ten to 20 hours of record-keeping a week will need to be handled by staff regarding organic waste and paper product use. 

The motion passed unanimously.

Community Development Director Phil Dunsmore gave the General Plan & Housing Element Annual Progress Report. The report was filed and saved by the council.

The next Atascadero City Council meeting will be held on Tues., Apr. 12, at 6 p.m.