Members addressed the approval of the Broadband Strategic Plan Memorandum of Understanding

ATASCADERO — The Atascadero City Council met for their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, April 12, at 6 p.m. The hybrid meeting was held in the City Council Chambers and was followed by the council’s closed session.

The meeting started with Mayor Heather Moreno giving a proclamation designating the last week of April as World War II Commemoration Week.

“Now, therefore, on behalf of the City of Atascadero, we proclaim the last week of April as World War II Commemoration Week,” the mayor said. “Joining with the South County Historical Society and the History Center of San Luis Obispo County in marking this week to help educate our citizens about the brave men and women who endured enormous sacrifices of their property, their liberty, and in many cases, their lives to achieve victory in World War II and kindle the hopes for a lasting peace in the eight decades since.” 

Lieutenant Colonel Erik Brun accepted the proclamation.

“We embrace certain stories that are less well known,” Brun said. “The Philipino Batallion that activated in Camp San Luis Obispo in April of 1942. The 54th Coast Artillery, a Black Coast Artillery Unit that served out of our beaches in Morro Bay, Shell Beach, and Avila from 1942 to 1944. And the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and Military Intelligence Service that served our nation so valiantly, many who came from our varied coastline. This week is a great opportunity. I encourage the residents to embrace the memory of these sacrifices and participate in our commemorations.” 

The Consent Calendar passed unanimously.

San Luis Obispo County 5th District Supervisor Debbie Arnold addressed the council to clear up that even with the redistricting, she will continue to represent Atascadero on the Board of Supervisors until approximately Jan. 1, 2025. 

There was a public hearing on the Centennial Plaza Planned Development – Zone Change on East Mall, with no one speaking on the item. The item will be continued to the April 26 meeting. 

The council then addressed the approval of the North San Luis Obispo County Broadband Strategic Plan Memorandum of Understanding.

Loreli Cappel, the deputy director of economic and community development, gave a presentation on the item. 

“We are here tonight to talk a little bit about a memorandum of understanding between the cities of Paso Robles and Atascadero,” Cappell said. “We’ve been collaborating on broadband initiatives for a while and have a great working relationship. We are very excited to spearhead an effort to bring a strategic plan to North County to look at how we can work together as two cities to bring larger dollar amounts in grant funding to Atascadero to help fill in the gaps. 

Cappell continued to outline her goals on the agreement.

“Our goal is to sign a memorandum of understanding that will allow the cities to collaborate together on our project. We would refine a scope of work to send out to request for proposals, and that would be a project we would work on together. 

“And really, the scope of work there would be to help us understand what our problem that we’re trying to solve really is. We talk about broadband a lot, and we know that we don’t have enough of it from a lot of our technical difficulties that we experience working from home, remoting into our council meetings, and our local businesses. So, for the sake of our residents and our constituents, and our businesses, we’d like to move forward with the project that will allow us to look at the gaps, understand what our data needs are, and come up with a strategy of what our highest priority projects are between our two communities.”

The motion passed unanimously.

The City Council meeting then went into a study session where City Manager Rachelle Rickard and her team went over a progress update on the council’s goals and Action Plan. The council adopted the 2021-2023 Action Plan on June 8, 2021. The Action Plan is a culmination of public outreach efforts and includes specific actions on four different priorities. 

• Economic & Community Vibrancy

• Fiscal Infrastructure Efficiency & Sustainability

• Ensuring Public Safety and Providing Exceptional City Services

• Quality of Life

Each of the four points was gone over in detail by the City Management Team. To watch the Study session visit youtube.com/watch?v=L41a795wU5U.

The next Atascadero City Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 26, at 6 p.m.