At its regular meeting Tuesday, the city council issued a proclamation declaring Sept. 8 as International Literacy Day, appointed a new member to the Planning Commission to fill an unexpired term, heard a report from the Historic Preservation and Review Commission, and adopted a resolution to approve new fee structures for water and wastewater services, among other items.

International Literacy Day
On behalf of the council, Mayor Elizabeth Patterson issued a proclamation to to Benicia Public Library Public Services Manager Fran Martinez-Coyne to commemorate International Literacy Day, a designation observed by the United Nations on Sept. 8 of each year. Upon receiving the proclamation, Coyne shared a story about one family in particular that she felt represents the ways in which the city’s literacy program attempts to help residents obtain and develop English literacy.
“My daughter shared a conversation with a cook she works with in a Benicia restaurant,” she said. “She had expressed her excitement at starting nursing school, and the cook told her of his own desire to get an education.
“When my daughter encouraged him to do so, he shared that he works six days a week from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. to provide an education for his own child. He still only understands about 50 percent of what is said to him, in English. He was keenly aware that his current circumstances prevented him from getting the education he needs (for himself).”
Beginning in February of this year, the library’s adult literacy program embarked on a partnership with the Benicia Unified School District (BUSD) to obtain and implement a grant from the Solano Adult Education Consortium (SAEC). This has allowed the Adult Literacy Program to offer free GED test preparation classes for adult learners in Benicia. The BUSD was also able to share with the literacy program its license to access the Burlington Access Program, in which English learners can participate in online classes and access other language development resources. The partnership with the SAEC also enabled the library to obtain 20 new laptops for use by both ESL and GED students.

Historic homes
The council heard the annual report from the Historic Preservation Review Commission (HPRC), presented by Commissioner Jon Van Landschoot. The first issue he addressed was in response to questions he had apparently received regarding a revision to a 10-year Mills Act contract. It was determined, Landschoot explained, that at times, an issue may arise that takes priority over a planned renovation. A roof or foundation structure may come to require immediate repair, in which case a contracted commitment to replace functioning windows, for example, may need to be postponed. The revision allows for that flexibility.
The HPRC is also working to put in place provisions whereby anyone purchasing a home or property in an historic district would be necessarily advised of that designation. Currently, any experienced, local realtor would bring that up, but it is not currently required as a disclosure. There have been instances in which an owner has been surprised to learn that there are special restrictions on a property due to its historic designation.
Van Landschoot reported that one suggestion was made to limit the number of Mills Act approvals to some set number per year, so the city could estimate its maximum annual cost.
“I think that’s a good idea,” he added.
Another suggestion has been for the commission to designate an Historic Building of the Month. A committee has already been formed to pursue that.
“Once a month, put in the Benicia and Vallejo papers a photo of the house ‘then and now,’ who is living there presently and why it is historically significant” he said.
In earlier times, he recalled from perusing microfilm copies of issues from 50 or 60 years ago, the Benicia paper used to run an article on the third page, in the upper right-hand corner each month.
“We could re-invent history by putting that back there,” he said.

Bidding farewell
Just before beginning the sole business item on its agenda, namely the proposed water and wastewater rate changes, the council took a few moments to acknowledge the passing of former Benicia Poet Laureate Joel Fallon and heard a reading of two of his poems. Some closing thoughts included a general consensus that Fallon was “a mentor to many” and “a supporter of all things good for Benicia.”
Following the council’s final agenda item, the meeting was adjourned in Fallon’s honor.

Rate changes
For the final segment of the meeting, a public hearing was held in order to hear feedback from the public concerning the city’s proposed rate changes for water and wastewater services. City staff members summarized the reasons for the issue becoming now a top priority, and the city’s plan for the use of the new funds to make long-needed repairs and upgrade infrastructure to levels that will accommodate the city’s needs in the coming 10 years.
Benicia Finance Director Karin Schnaider explained to the Herald Wednesday that while the projections that are included in the rate plan report extend out for the coming ten years, any city in California is restricted by state law to limit new usage rates to a maximum period of five years, after which point the city would be free to ask for additional increases. It was expressed at the council meeting, however, that the hope is for savings from the anticipated benefits to result in a decrease, rather than increase, in future rates.
Some of the points raised during the hearing process were the additional burden to low-income individuals and families and those living on a fixed income; the perceived disproportionate financial burden to restaurant businesses in general; and a lack of public restroom facilities in the First Street Green area which results in a sometimes steady stream of visitors coming into Sailor Jack’s to use theirs.
“They don’t want to go out to the fishing pier,” owner Jim Morgan explained. “They don’t want to go to the gazebo.”
Morgan expressed concern that the general public’s use of his establishment’s facilities will undoubtedly result in high-use-category rates, especially during special events like the recent Peddler’s Fair on First Street.
“When those folks need to go to the bathroom, they come to Sailor Jack’s,” he said. “And we let them in. We pay for their water. Now we’re going to pay a surcharge on their water, apparently. We shoulder a burden to provide services to the citizens because the city does not do that.
“At the Peddler’s Fair, there was not one porta potty open within two blocks of Sailor Jack’s. There was a bank of 12 two blocks up the street, another bank of 12 another two blocks up from there. The one porta potty (at the First Street Green) was either locked or dysfunctional and we had an endless stream of people (using Sailor Jack’s restrooms). Now we’re going to pay a surcharge, for providing facilities that probably the city should be providing.”
The resolution to impose the rate increases was passed by a majority vote, with Vice Mayor Mark Hughes and Councilmember Tom Campbell voting no.
“I think it’s too much too quickly,” Hughes argued.
On the other hand, as Councilmember Alan Schwartzman put it, “In 2012, just coming out of the recession, we didn’t do the ‘optimal,’ we did more of the ‘achievable’ (minimum level of revenue to sustain functioning), to try to keep the operations running. But it didn’t leave enough money in reserves to do the emergency stuff, or the stuff that will come down from the regulatory agencies.
“We can push stuff down the road. We’ve been doing that. But I don’t think we should be doing that now. At this point in time, we need to get back to a balance where we will have the money to operate on a preventative basis.”

Sharing is caring!