City of Benicia This Week
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In this edition: Notice of Public Hearing on Water & Wastewater Rate Increases, Design Standards for New Housing Adopted, Update to Online Bill Payment System Coming, City Employee Spotlight, Recall Election Information, COVID Assistance
Message from the City Manager
September 13, 2021

Hello Everyone,
What a stirring weekend of memorials and remembrances from 9/11. My thanks to the Fire Department for their steadfast efforts to recognize the 343 fallen firefighters. Often not recognized are the approximately 110 firefighters who have died from 9/11 related injuries since the attack. While the collapse of the twin towers posed some very unusual and massive health risks, it’s important to remember that our firefighters face health risks, and cumulative health risks throughout their careers. They truly put their lives on the line for the community. Not to be forgotten are the 71 law enforcement officers who died that day. All of these first responders ran towards danger when the moment came, many fully aware it was quite possible they would not survive.

I want to touch briefly on a very important topic found below in this week’s update. Namely, the Water and Wastewater Rate Study. At the August 17, 2021 Council meeting, City Council heard several options to adequately fund operating & maintenance expenses and high-priority capital improvements. As I’ve said before, for decades we have not done our due diligence in maintaining these two enterprises. It was in 2016 that the City finally took the positive steps to turn this around from a serious downward spiral. When this happened, our community saw a very significant increase, which was concerning to many. This time Council have chosen the second-to-lowest rate proposal at the recommendation of staff. This rate will keep the two enterprises solvent, allow for regular maintenance and affect several infrastructure upgrades. The critical work that will happen over the next five years of this rate study will set us up nicely for the next rate study in 2026 and ensure we are ready for some major projects in that cycle.

Up next in the process will be a public hearing and adoption of the rate study. I thank Council for their action to date, as this is an important step towards ensuring the future of this critical infrastructure.

The work we have done on our Water and Wastewater Enterprises over the last five years have helped bring us back from a precipice to what will be a very bright future. I credit the Public Works staff, and especially the Public Works Director William Tarbox and the Deputy Public Works Director - Utilities, Kyle Ochenduszko, for these achievements. Let’s keep our progress moving forward.

Thank you for your interest in the City of Benicia This Week!

Erik Upson
City Manager
City News
Notice of Public Hearing on Water & Wastewater Rate Increases
- Water and Wastewater Utility Rate increases proposed.
- Increases needed to maintain and improve systems.
- Notice of Public Hearing coming in the mail this week with info on how to protest.

City Mails Notices of a Public Hearing 
In the August 23 City of Benicia This Week article on the water and wastewater rates, it was noted that rate adjustments are necessary to adequately fund operating and maintenance expenses and high-priority capital improvements to support safe and reliable water and wastewater service. The Revised Draft Water and Wastewater Rate Study included four funding scenarios for consideration with Scenario 1 having the highest percent increases and Scenario 4 having the lowest. The main difference between the scenarios is the amount of capital projects to be funded over the next five years.
 
At the August 17, 2021 City Council meeting, staff recommended, and the Council selected, Scenario 3 for both water and wastewater proposed rates. Scenario 3 is the best affordable option at this time. It is the first step of a 20-year plan to maintain and rehabilitate aging infrastructure while maintaining adequate levels of service. Both Water and Wastewater Scenario 3 include fully funding operations and maintenance activities, saving appropriate amounts for reserves, while presenting a focused, critical list of capital improvement projects. If adopted, water bills could increase approximately 6.5% each year for the next five years. Similarly, if adopted, wastewater bills could increase 3% each year over the same period.

At the August 17, meeting the City Council directed staff to mail notices of public hearing to all utility customers and residences. These notices will be arriving by mail this week. The notice will include information on:
  • the public hearing to be held on Tuesday, November 16,
  • the proposed water and wastewater rates and water shortage contingency rate surcharges,
  • and community input. 

For rate payers who wish to protest the proposed rate increases, the notice will include details on how to submit a written protest. That information will also be shared in future editions of City of Benicia This Week.

Additional information may be found on the Public Works Department’s Water and Wastewater Utility Rates page at https://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/watersewerrates.
Design Standards for New Housing Adopted
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On September 7, the Benicia City Council updated its design standards for new mixed use and multifamily development projects. These standards, called the Objective Planning and Design Standards for Housing Development Projects, are used to guide the review of housing development proposals. In some instances, housing development applications must be streamlined according to State law (SB 35), which means that a project must be approved if it complies with the City’s adopted objective standards. The City of Benicia currently has two streamlined applications under review – 1451 Park Road and Jefferson Ridge (for more information visit www.ci.benicia.ca.us/planning).

While the City initially adopted the standards in 2019, they have been refined following extensive public outreach to provide better clarity and to reflect the community’s priorities for design quality, historic preservation, and compatibility with the historic districts.

To learn more about the Objective Planning and Design Standards, visit www.ci.benicia.ca.us/objectivestandards.
Update to Online Bill Payment System Coming
- City to launch new online utility payment system on October 18.
- No online payments available October 15-17.
- Current payment info will not be recognized in new system.
- Online payment customers will have to re-register using email address as user name.
- Finance Dept staff will have phone line for assistance

New Water/Sewer Utility Bill Paying Website
For customers who use the City's online customer self-service portal to make one time payments or use auto-pay for water/waste water utility bills, the City is upgrading to a more secure online bill paying system. The new system offers enhances security and a better payment experience for users.

To accommodate the conversion to the new system, online payments will not be available October 15-17. When the upgraded system launches on Monday, October 18, customers will need to re-register using their same account-customer number but must use their email address as their user name instead of their previous user name. Payment information in the previous system will no longer be available to the City on that date. To ensure payment is credited on time, you must enter your current account-customer number and online payment information in the new system, Citizen Self Service.

Once re-registered, customers may:
✓ Make a one-time payment by credit card or set up reoccurring auto-pay credit card payments.
✓ Pay by electronic fund transfer (EFT) from your checking account or set up reoccurring EFT auto-pay.
✓ Easily update your credit card or EFT information.

Customers may still pay in person at City Hall's Finance Department, use the secure drop-box in front of City Hall, or pay by mail.

Details on how to re-register will be shared as the date approaches. Once launched, Finance Department staff will have dedicated phone lines to assist customers.
City Employee Spotlight
Priscilla Gardiner handles Accounts Payable in the Finance Department for the City of Benicia. Before coming to the City, she worked at NAPA Auto Parts for 20 years starting as an office manager/bookkeeper, then moving her way up to the inventory control and loss prevention offices for four stores.

In her spare time, she enjoys baking and doing all kinds of crafts. She is extremely family oriented; she was a foster parent specializing in probation teenagers for 11 years. She decided on teenagers because over the years she has seen teens in the foster care system pushed into the background in favor of younger children, and wanted to help move them forward in life. 

She says she is blessed to have touched the lives of 88 children, from ages 9 to 17, in her time as a foster parent. As a result, she now has 162 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren! 

While caring for her foster children, she went to school and earned her certification in accounting at the Fairfield-Suisun School of Business. Each night, she would sit down with the kids and they would do their homework together.
Recall Election Information
The California Gubernatorial Recall Election will occur on Tuesday, September 14, 2021. Ballot boxes are available to drop off your ballot in the City Hall lobby, 250 East L Street, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. A second ballot box is available at Raley's, 890 Southampton Road, from 6 a.m. - 11 p.m. each day (To be removed earlier on Election Day.).

In addition, voter's may vote by mail, drop ballots off curbside at polling locations on Election Day or vote in-person at polling locations.

To find if you're registered to vote, visit the Solano County Registrar of Voters website. Click here for information on the election, and to find out where and when to vote, etc.
COVID Assistance
Find vaccine locations, resources and information for seniors, local food access, basic needs and rental assistance, mental health, stress and coping, and more courtesy of Solano County Public Health. Benicia residents in need of help during these difficult times may find assistance through these local resources:
Save the Date
  • Sep 13 - Human Services Board meeting, 6 p.m. via livestream. See the Full Agenda for more information.
  • Sep 14 - Board of Library Trustees meeting, 6:30 p.m. via livestream. See the Full Agenda for more information.
  • Sep 17 - City Offices closed for Alternate Friday.
  • Sep 18 - Coastal Cleanup Day 
Modified service due to COVID-19
City Hall is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you require entrance to City Hall offices outside of these hours, please make arrangements with staff from the department that you will be visiting.

All visitors shall be required to enter City Hall from East L street through the door located on the left (East) side of the building closest to the Post Office. Please check in with the staff person at the designated Welcome Window.

You will be required to wear a face covering over both your nose and mouth for the duration of your visit to City Hall. Please maintain 6 feet of social distancing between other visitors and staff. Do not visit City Hall if you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. Appointments can always be rescheduled.
City of Benicia This Week is published each Monday morning. Previous editions are available here. We also communicate on Nextdoor.com and AlertSolano.com. Sign up now!