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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 2407-3274CITY OF PALO ALTO CITY COUNCIL Regular Meeting Monday, August 19, 2024 Council Chambers & Hybrid 5:30 PM     Agenda Item     10.Approval of Amendment No. 2 to the Lease Agreement Between the City of Palo Alto and the County of Santa Clara (Contract No. 1557819) at 2000 Geng Road for Safe Parking to Expand the Premises of the Lease and Increase by 10 the Number of Safe Parking Spaces Permitted; CEQA – Exempt pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) Supplemental Report added, Consent Questions City Council Staff Report From: City Manager Report Type: CONSENT CALENDAR Lead Department: City Manager Meeting Date: August 19, 2024 Report #:2407-3274 TITLE Approval of Amendment No. 2 to the Lease Agreement Between the City of Palo Alto and the County of Santa Clara (Contract No. 1557819) at 2000 Geng Road for Safe Parking to Expand the Premises of the Lease and Increase by 10 the Number of Safe Parking Spaces Permitted; CEQA – Exempt pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that the City Council approve and authorize the City Manager or their designee to execute Amendment No. 2 (Attachment A) to the Lease Agreement by and between the City of Palo Alto (City), as landlord, and the County of Santa Clara, as tenant, at 2000 Geng Road for Safe Parking to expand the premises of the lease and increase by 10 the number of permitted parking spaces. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Approval of the amended Lease Agreement will allow the expanded operation of a 24-hour safe parking program at Geng Road (Site). The Geng Road site is the only one in the City which permits recreational vehicles (RVs) and is often at capacity with a waiting list. The site expansion is in response to the City Council request to expand safe parking at this site as well as to address vehicle displacement for the El Camino Real project. As of June 2024, 21 RVs/or campers and 16 vehicles were counted along El Camino Real (State Route (SR) 82) in Palo Alto. Within those vehicles, outreach workers connected with 35 people, including 14 children. The Caltrans SR 82 Repaving Project is scheduled to remove parking along SR 82 in Palo Alto beginning September 3, 2024, thus making this lease amendment time sensitive. Increased demand for expanded RV safe parking in Palo Alto is anticipated. Safe parking provides places where people living in their vehicles can safely and legally park and connect with services and support including a path to stable, permanent housing. Under the original Lease Agreement, the site was leased to the County for three years beginning in September 2020. The lease was amended on September 18, 20231 to extend the term, prioritize local populations, and clarify the City’s landscaping responsibilities. The County contracted with a local nonprofit organization, Move Mountain View, to operate the safe parking program at the site. The proposed amendment would allow for site expansion to accommodate up to 10 additional RVs, increasing the maximum site number from 12 to 22. This expansion requires a lease agreement with the County as the original lease did not include this additional space. The County provides the funding for the existing 12 safe parking spaces while this expansion effort will have operating costs to the City of approximately $266,162 annually. Staff will bring a recommendation to the Council in the Fiscal Year 2025 Midyear Budget Review for funding needs. However, in the interim time before Midyear Budget Review, Move Mountain View and community partners are actively fundraising for donations to cover the initial costs and have already received an initial gift from the Palo Alto Community Fund ($20,000). BACKGROUND Safe Parking Program Overview On September 14, 20202, the Council approved an interim safe parking ordinance and a three- year lease with the County at 2000 Geng Road for safe parking. The County, leasing property from the City, contracted with Move Mountain View to operate a safe parking program with 12 spaces for recreational vehicles (RVs) or two cars per space. In addition to this City/County partnership, several congregation-based sites host safe parking for passenger vehicles only. Geng Road Services Provided The Geng Road site provides a variety of services, including a kitchen, laundry facilities, shower facilities, and a children’s library, serving 25 households (84 individuals), with 64% of those affiliated with Palo Alto. A household is considered affiliated with Palo Alto if they answered ‘Palo Alto’ to any of the following questions: •If employed, what city do you work in? •If you go to school, in which city is your school? •In which city do you spend most of your time? •Which city did you live in prior to becoming homeless? Palo Alto's Safe Parking Landscape 1 September 18, 2023 Council Staff Report, https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/meetings/ItemWithTemplateType?id=3115&meetingTemplateType=2. 2 City Council, September 14, 2020, Item #9, https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/1/agendas- minutes-reports/reports/city-manager-reports-cmrs/year-archive/2020-2/id-11513.pdf?t=58031.91 Lease was included as a supplemental memo, found here: https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/1/agendas- minutes-reports/reports/city-manager-reports-cmrs/year-archive/2020-2/09142020-item-9-at-places-memo.pdf Safe parking programs offer unhoused individuals sheltering in their vehicles a place to safely and legally park while connecting with services and support. The programs aim to help participants find safe, stable, and affordable housing. In Palo Alto, safe parking programs operate in publicly owned parking lots and religious institution parking lots. Public lots, like the one at 2000 Geng Road, allow continuous parking and are supported by funding from the County of Santa Clara. Congregation-based programs require participants to leave the lot daily, with vehicles allowed on-site from 6:00 pm to 8:00 am, accommodating up to four passenger vehicles per night. The Council established a process for the establishment of new safe parking sites as part of the support for this program. Ordinance Development and Implementation The congregation-based safe parking policy (Palo Alto Municipal Code Section 18.42.160 and Ordinance 5490) was adopted by the Council in January 2020 after months of discussion. The idea began on June 10, 2019,3 and by January 13, 2020,4 the Council approved the congregation-based program. On September 14, 2020,5 the Council adopted an ordinance allowing safe parking programs on public land zoned for public use (PF), enabling 24-hour operations, and approved a three-year lease with the County at 2000 Geng Road for safe parking. Recent Developments On September 18, 2023,6 the Council renewed the lease with the County for the continued operation of the 24-hour safe parking program at Geng Road. The site serves approximately 12 vehicles and offers various on-site services. The City continues to support the Geng Road safe parking site operation in partnership with the County and a nonprofit service provider (Move Mountain View). In addition to renewing the lease for the Geng Road City-owned site, the City also made recent updates to the ordinance for congregation-based safe parking programs. On October 25, 2023,7 3 June 10, 2019, Council Agenda Packet, https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/1/agendas-minutes- reports/agendas-minutes/city-council-agendas-minutes/00-archive/2019/06-10-2019-71690.pdf 4 January 13, 2020 Agenda Packet: https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/1/agendas-minutes- reports/agendas-minutes/city-council-agendas-minutes/00-archive/2020/01-13-2020-ccm.pdf 5 September 14, 2020, Council Agenda Packet, https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/1/agendas- minutes-reports/agendas-minutes/city-council-agendas-minutes/2020/september-14-2020-city-council-meeting- agenda-and-full-packet.pdf. 6 September 18, 2023 Council Staff Report, https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/meetings/ItemWithTemplateType?id=3115&meetingTemplateType=2. 7 Verbatim minutes of 10-25-2023 PTC and HRC joint session/action item: https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/1/agendas-minutes-reports/agendas-minutes/planning- the Human Relations Commission (HRC) and the Planning and Transportation Commission (PTC) held a joint study session to discuss the draft ordinance. The PTC recommended modifications to the ordinance, including increasing the maximum number of vehicles allowed and clarifying amenity use. On December 4, 2023,8 the Council adopted ordinance 18.42.160 to permanently establish congregation-based safe parking and to establish regulations related to safe parking, including a maximum number of vehicles per night on each site. Additionally, Council directed staff to explore the expansion of safe parking, including at the Geng Road site which has higher capacity than the congregation-based sites. On June 18, 2024,9 as part of an item considering the Caltrans SR 82 Repaving Project, the Council authorized the City Manager or their designee to enter into agreements as needed to provide temporary safe parking for those currently along the El Camino Real project corridor in Palo Alto facing displacement. The recommendation for the lease amendment with the County aligns with this June 18th Council action. ANALYSIS Approval of the amendment to the lease agreement allows for site expansion to accommodate up to 10 additional RVs, increasing the maximum site number from 12 to 22. From mid- to late- June 2024, County outreach workers counted 21 RVs/campers and 16 other vehicles along SR 82 in Palo Alto. The Caltrans SR 82 Repaving Project will lead to immediate displacement of these vehicle- dwelling households by early September. Additionally, there is high demand for RV safe parking regionally, leading to a waiting list for this option. According to staff research and conversations with service providers, vehicle dwellers are resistant to accepting services that require moving from (and often losing) their RVs and possessions in order to obtain temporary shelter. Thus, creating additional safe parking capacity is critically important because it provides a better bridge for vehicle dwelling households to receive services and map a path to permanent affordable housing without the risk of losing their vehicles in the process. From January 2021 through June 2023, the Geng Road site has a 64.6% occupancy rate and 15.5% positive andtransportation-commission/2023/ptc-10.25.23-verbatim-minutes.pdf and video: https://midpenmedia.org/planning-and-transportation-commission-2-10252023/ 8 December 4, 2023, Council Staff Report, https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/meetings/ItemWithTemplateType?id=3191&meetingTemplateType=2&comp iledMeetingDocumentId=8590. 9 June 18, 2024, Action Minutes, https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/Public/CompiledDocument?meetingTemplateId=14318&compileOutputType =1 placements in shelter meant for human habitation.10 Positive placements for RV dwellers are likely dependent upon the availability of permanent affordable housing, and recently the Geng Road site has had a waiting list at times for a space. The existing Geng Road safe parking site is located on what was previously used as a temporary fire station location. The entirety of the premises is paved and fenced. The portion of the site currently used for safe parking, is not only paved and fenced, but also has striping for RV parking and structures providing showers, a kitchen, laundry facilities, and a children’s lending library and play area. The portion of the site proposed for expansion has been most recently used for Utilities construction staging activities. Expansion of the services-rich Geng Road site means the additional clients will have direct access to already-established services. Additionally, from a service provider perspective, this will allow for a smoother set-up and operation by the service provider who can leverage resources to enhance existing facilities. The amended premises exhibit can be seen in Exhibit A. The lease agreement has been reviewed by County staff and will be signed by the County Director of Fleets and Facilities. Other Alternatives Explored and Impacts Before moving forward with the expansion of the Geng Road safe parking site, staff pursued multiple other options in- and near Palo Alto working with dedicated community partners. However, after deeper investigation, none of these options proved feasible as they required more lead time and separate service locations than the existing safe parking site. The RV Dwellers Group reached out to private property owners as well, but no sites could work within the time period needed. The Geng Road site allows the provider (Move Mountain View) to leverage the existing site resources for the additional RV vehicles. The expansion of the Geng Road site results from the relocation of the Utilities construction staging that is currently in use at the site. Moving Utilities to the new site in Mountain View, allows Utilities to have a consistent construction staging site that is large enough and available for all of the upcoming Utilities electrification capital projects. The fiscal impacts of the new site lease and purchase are included in the fiscal impact section below. The relocation causes a slight project delay for the current Utilities Advanced Metering Infrastructure project as well. 10 December 4, 2023 City Council Meeting Staff Report https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/meetings/ItemWithTemplateType?id=3191&meetingTemplateType=2&comp iledMeetingDocumentId=8590; A positive placement includes anything other than a place not intended for human habitation: rapid rehousing, rentals by lient with and without vouchers or subsidy, rental by client in public housing, transitional housing, staying or living with family or friends, and emergency shelter. FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT The proposed expansion site for Safe Parking at Geng Road presently serves as the construction staging area for the City of Palo Alto Utilities (Utilities) Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) Project. Utilities currently holds a lease for this location paying rent of $3,064.25 per month ($36,771 annually) to the General Fund. This amount is expected to be reduced starting August 30, 2024 as Utilities has identified a new site which spans 0.86 acres in Mountain View. This lot can be used for the current AMI project, in addition to staging for current utility materials and future projects. The rent for this new location is significantly higher at $35,648.60 per month ($427,783 annually). This move is anticipated to postpone the AMI project by two months. Utilities is currently in the process of finalizing a lease agreement for the Mountain View site and plans to relocate there by end of August 2024. Utilities intends to secure a two-month short-term lease with approval from the City Manager. The Utilities Department will bring a consent item to Council in October 2024 before the two-month lease is over, requesting a four- month extension, for a total lease of six months and $213,892 in rent paid. A budget adjustment will not be needed as the lease will be funded by the Smart Grid Technology Installation capital project (EL-11014). During this time, the Utilities Department will be negotiating a purchase agreement that will be brought to Council in February 2025 for the purchase of the site currently estimated at $8.0 million. This amount will be funded by the Electric Fund, Water Fund, and Gas Fund, and the Utilities Department estimates this amount will cover the purchase and any unforeseen renovations making this site available for all future staging uses for Utilities. The County funds the current 12 space safe parking site; however, this expansion effort will have operating costs to the City. The annual estimated cost for the expanded site is $266,162. Staff will bring a recommendation to the Council in the Fiscal Year 2025 Midyear Budget Review for funding needs in FY 2025. In the meantime, working with the RV Dwellers Group (described in the Stakeholder Engagement Section of this report), there is an effort to raise funds to support the initial costs for site expansion (half of the annual operations costs). Community members interested in making donations can do so through www.movemv.org/donate. The Palo Alto Community Fund made an initial donation of $20,000. Funding for future budget years to support the Safe Parking site will be subject to Council approval during the annual budget process. Additionally, as mentioned in the amended lease agreement, the City will help with site preparation by painting the stripes for the parking spaces and removing the interior fence which currently divides the site into two sides. These activities will be conducted in-house and absorbed within existing budgets where possible but could require small additional contracts. STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT Stakeholder engagement includes regular and as-needed meetings between partners (e.g., Santa Clara County and Move Mountain View). Additionally, the City and County are part of the “RV Dwellers Group” of service providers, City staff, a representative of Stanford University, members of the faith-based community, and people from the philanthropic community who meet monthly and as-needed to discuss and share information relation to Palo Altans living in their vehicles along SR82. Additionally, in compliance with Palo Alto Municipal Code 18.42.170 public notice of this meeting was sent out to owners and residents within 600 feet of 2000 Geng Road. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW Adoption of this Ordinance is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3). This Ordinance identifies the regulations governing the use of certain, limited sites for safe parking. The ordinance itself does not authorize the use of any sites without subsequent approval from the City. Therefore, it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the ordinance will have a significant effect on the environment. The lease agreement for Safe Parking at 2000 Geng Road is exempt from CEQA in accordance with Section 15301 and 15303 of the CEQA Guidelines. Section 15301 applies to leasing or minor alterations of existing public or private structures and facilities involving negligible or no expansion of use; allowing the use of this existing parking lot for temporary safe parking would not constitute a significant expansion of use. Section 15303 applies to conversion of small structures from one use to another where only minor modifications are made to the structure. This applies to buildings up to 10,000 sf in urban areas. No modifications are proposed to the existing structures and the existing buildings total 5,500 sf in this urbanized area. This site is further from the Baylands and closer to nearby roadways. Only a portion of these existing structures would be open for use to facilitate safe parking at the site. ATTACHMENTS Attachment A: Amendment No. 2 To County of Santa Clara Lease Agreement APPROVED BY: Ed Shikada, City Manager Vers.: Aug. 5, 2019 Page 1 of 3 AMENDMENT NO. 2 TO CONTRACT NO. 1557819 BETWEEN THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AND THE COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA This Amendment No. 2 (this “Amendment”) to Contract No. 1557819 (the “Contract” as defined below) is entered into as of August 26, 2024 by and between the CITY OF PALO ALTO, a California chartered municipal corporation (“CITY”), and the COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA, apolitical subdivision of the State of California (“COUNTY”). CITY and COUNTY are referred to collectively as the “Parties” in this Amendment. R E C I T A L S A.The Contract (as defined below) was entered into by and between the Parties hereto for the provision of the use of a portion of 2000 Geng Road for the County’s 24-hour safe parking program for recreational and other vehicles and persons residing in such vehicles on a temporary basis (“Safe Parking”), as detailed therein. B.On September 18, 2023, the Parties entered into Amendment No. 1 to the Contract to extend the term, prioritize local populations, and clarify the City’s landscaping responsibilities. . C.The Parties now wish to amend the Contract in order to expand the premises of the lease as more particularly described in revised Exhibit A, and increase the number of parking spaces permitted. D.In accordance with Palo Alto Municipal Code Section 18.42.170, the City provided notice that the City Council was considering this amendment to owners and residents of property within 600 feet of the subject property. NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the covenants, terms, conditions, and provisions of this Amendment, the Parties agree: SECTION 1. Definitions. The following definitions shall apply to this Amendment: a.Contract. The term “Contract” shall mean Contract No. 1557819 between COUNTY and CITY, dated September 17, 2020, as amended. b.Other Terms. Capitalized terms used and not defined in this Amendment shall have the meanings assigned to such terms in the Contract. SECTION 2. Section 1 of the Contract is hereby amended to read as follows: 1. Grant of Lease. City hereby grants to County a lease for the exclusive right to use the Premises solely to provide Safe Parking in compliance with all federal, state, and local laws. Notwithstanding the previous Vers.: Aug. 5, 2019 Page 2 of 3 sentence, City may pass through the Premises with reasonable notice to County to access adjacent lots; and City may enter the Premises without any notice in emergency situations if there is a substantial risk to health, safety, or property. The County’s use of the Premises for Safe Parking is restricted to uses directly associated with providing a temporary location for and services to the homeless in compliance with the standards in Exhibit C and shall be limited to no more than twenty- two (22) RV-sized parking spaces at any one time (each such space may fit one RV or two cars). In addition to the 22 RV-sized parking spaces, additional vehicle spaces on the Premises may be used for staff parking and for the parking of commuter vehicles for Safe Parking program participants. Other than for Safe Parking, County will not, nor will County allow anyone else to, park on, remove, relocate, alter, attach anything to, or otherwise modify the Premises, without the prior written consent in each instance of the City, which consent may be granted or withheld in the City’s sole and absolute discretion. County understands, acknowledges, accepts and agrees that City is entering into this Agreement in its capacity as a property owner with a proprietary interest in the Premises and not as a regulatory agency with police powers. Nothing herein shall limit in any way County’s obligation to obtain any required regulatory approvals from City departments, boards or commissions or other governmental regulatory authorities or limit in any way City’s exercise of its police powers. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in Section 4 of or elsewhere in the original Contract, the City shall be responsible (at the City’s expense) for removing the existing fencing/wall between the original Premises and the newly expanded portion of the Premises and shall be responsible for restriping the newly expanded portion of the Premises to provide for the 10 new RV-sized parking spaces and 10 additional spaces for commuter parking. SECTION 3. The following exhibit(s) to the Contract is/are hereby amended or added, as indicated below, to read as set forth in the attachment(s) to this Amendment, which is/are hereby incorporated in full into this Amendment and into the Contract by this reference: a.Exhibit “A” entitled “Premises”, AMENDED, REPLACES PREVIOUS. SECTION 4. Legal Effect. Except as modified by this Amendment, all other provisions of the Contract, including any exhibits thereto, shall remain in full force and effect. SECTION 5. Incorporation of Recitals. The recitals set forth above are terms of this Amendment and are fully incorporated herein by this reference. (SIGNATURE BLOCK FOLLOWS ON THE NEXT PAGE.) Vers.: Aug. 5, 2019 Page 3 of 3 SIGNATURES OF THE PARTIES IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Parties have by their duly authorized representatives executed this Amendment effective as of the date first above written. CITY OF PALO ALTO City Manager APPROVED AS TO FORM: City Attorney or designee COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA Name: Jeff Draper Title: Director, Facilities and Fleet Department APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY: Name: Karen M. Willis Title: Deputy County Counsel Attachments: Exhibit A – Premises Item No. 10 Page 1 of 1 5 2 8 7 City Council Supplemental Report From: Lauren Lai, Administrative Services Director Meeting Date: August 19, 2024 Item Number: 10 Report #:2408-3367 TITLE SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT: Approval of Amendment No. 2 to the Lease Agreement Between the City of Palo Alto and the County of Santa Clara (Contract No. 1557819) at 2000 Geng Road for Safe Parking to Expand the Premises of the Lease and Increase by 10 the Number of Safe Parking Spaces Permitted; CEQA – Exempt pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) SUPPLEMENTAL UPDATE This supplemental report includes an exhibit that was inadvertently left out of the original staff report and attachments for Item 10 on the August 19 City Council agenda. Exhibit A (attached as Attachment A) displays the amended premises referenced in the lease document. ATTACHMENTS Attachment A: Exhibit A - Amended Premises APPROVED BY: Lauren Lai, Administrative Services Director Exhibit A - Amended Premises Outline is approximate and for visual purposes only. Dear Mayor and Council Members, On behalf of City Manager Ed Shikada, please see staff responses below for questions from Mayor Stone, Vice Mayor Lauing, and Council Member Tanaka on the Monday, August 19 Council Meeting. Item 6: Addition of Five Properties to the City’s Historic Resources Inventory Based on Owner Interest. CEQA Status: Pursuant to Public Resources Code Section 21065, the Historic Designation of Properties is not a Project Subject to Environmental Review – Mayor Stone 1. Regarding item #6, I wanted to clarify a procedural issue. Is this item solely to approve 5 homes where the owners proactively requested the city to add them to the historic registry? Staff response: Yes, the owners of the 5 listed properties responded to city outreach efforts and requested to be placed on the historic inventory. 2. Will a subsequent action item be scheduled to return to council for part 3 of the April 22 motion that requested staff to, "study the possibility of a process for removing the properties as shown as potentially eligible in the parcel reports and return to council with evaluations on any alternatives”? I just want to make sure that this consent item is not the full response to that previous council motion and that more will be returning to council. Staff response: It is the intent of staff to return to the council at a subsequent date to address part 3 of the council motion. At the most recent August 8, 2024, Historic Resources Board (HRB) meeting staff presented alternatives to the “potentially eligible” status for review and consideration. The HRB’s consensus was to closely align the City’s historic status language with the statuses found in the California Built Environment Resources Directory (BERD) for consistent messaging. Item 7: Approval of a Lease Amendment Between Palo Alto Players and the City of Palo Alto for the Premises at the Lucie Stern Community Center Located at 1305 Middlefield Road for an Approximate 36-month Term, at a starting Base Rent of $1,540.75 per Month and Increasing 3% Annually; CEQA Status – Council Member Tanaka 1. Considering that this lease could set a precedent for future agreements, what specific policies or guidelines does the City intend to implement to manage similar requests in the future? Could you provide detailed scenarios or case studies from other cities that faced comparable situations, and explain how they balanced support for cultural institutions with maintaining fair market practices? Staff response: This lease has been in place for many years, and the City’s policy on leased facilities provides guidance on leased use of City land/facilities. In addition, following a City Auditor report on non-profit relationships, the City will have an upcoming study session on prospective approaches for nonprofit relationships and risk management. 2. What stakeholder analysis was conducted to assess potential concerns from other local businesses or non-profits who might feel disadvantaged by this lease extension? Can you outline the specific outreach efforts made to these groups and how their feedback was integrated into the decision-making process? Staff response: The Palo Alto Players have been leasing this office space since 2012. Staff is unaware of any local businesses or nonprofits that have felt disadvantaged by their occupancy of this space. 3. Given that the Palo Alto Players are benefiting from a below-market lease rate, what specific measures has the City taken to ensure that other non-profits are not disadvantaged by this arrangement? Could you provide concrete examples of how the City plans to apply consistent criteria for lease agreements across different organizations to prevent potential inequities or perceptions of favoritism? Staff response: Please see the responses above. The City will have an upcoming study session on prospective approaches for nonprofit relationships and risk management. Item 9: Approval of Contract Renewal for Baylands Golf Links Management and Restaurant Operations – Council Member Tanaka 1. The staff report references the overall positive financial trajectory under OB Sports' management but omits a detailed analysis of specific areas where revenue has underperformed, such as merchandise sales falling 6% below projections. Considering the ongoing weekday traffic issues impacting utilization rates, what are the specific financial projections for these underperforming areas over the next two years, and how does the City plan to mitigate these ongoing risks to the revenue stream? Could you provide a risk assessment of these revenue shortfalls and their potential impact on the City’s broader financial obligations? Staff response: Traffic hindering access to the golf course has not been observed and has not impacted utilization. Merchandise sales are a small component with minimal impact on the overall revenue for the golf course operations. The golf course operator has shifted their merchandise sales model to include high-quality Golf Course (Baylands Logo) name- branded items to help offset the competition with online sales. 2. The staff report highlights OB Sports' current strategies but does not address the ongoing challenges of low weekday utilization due to traffic congestion. What innovative strategies, such as partnerships with local businesses or targeted marketing initiatives, are being planned to increase weekday play and improve underperforming areas like merchandise sales? How will the success of these strategies be measured and reported to ensure they contribute to the course's long-term growth and sustainability? Staff response: Traffic hindering access to the golf course has not been observed and has not impacted utilization. The weekly play has not been affected. Item 10: Approval of Amendment No. 2 to the Lease Agreement Between the City of Palo Alto and the County of Santa Clara (Contract No. 1557819) at 2000 Geng Road for Safe Parking to Expand the Premises of the Lease and Increase by 10 the Number of Safe Parking Spaces Permitted; CEQA – Exempt pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) – Vice Mayor Lauing 1. What is the official game plan for funding this operation, and how do community donations fit in? Staff response: Over the summer, staff worked quickly with community partners to find safe parking capacity to accommodate potential displaced vehicle dwellers from El Camino Real. With Geng Road expansion identified as the most feasible and timely solution, fundraising provides an opportunity for community members to start this operation quickly. In parallel, staff is working to identify a budget source to cover ongoing operational costs and will bring a funding proposal to Council at mid-year. Staff also applied for grant funding. Donated funds ensure the operations can begin quickly to serve displaced vehicle dwellers. The proposed safe parking expansion operations will cost $266,162 annually. For fundraising purposes, the amount being sought is approximately $130,000 to cover the 1st six months of operation and will go directly to the operator, MOVE Mountain View. The current operations contract with the operator is held and paid for by Santa Clara County, and the County has indicated it does not have budget allocated to cover expanded operations.