The Pleasanton City Council increased a professional service agreement by $175,000 last Tuesday so a consultant could continue working with the city to develop its first-ever asset management plan, which staff said will help them be more proactive when it comes to managing the city’s property.
“The results are shocking in terms of how many assets do we truly own,” said assistant director of Public Works Adam Nelkie during the Feb. 4 meeting. He said it was the first time the city has compiled all of its assets in one database.
Last April, the city entered into an agreement with Kayuga Solution, an infrastructure asset management consulting firm, and began working on the first two phases of developing an asset management plan for Pleasanton.
According to Nelkie, the goal of the plan is to take inventory of all of the assets the city owns, assess the conditions and use that information to guide the city in terms of future needs and the budgeting that comes with it.
Colin Chung, principal management consultant and founder of Kayuga Solution told the council that the objectives of the plan are to establish an asset data foundation for management; continuously monitor asset conditions; predict asset failure and manage it before failure; better align annual budget process with projected infrastructure needs and create a platform for managing assets.
In other words, Chung said the city is trying to move away from a reactive management approach and practice proactive management by creating a workflow where the city predictively analyzes what condition the assets will be each year so that city staff can go inspect the assets that are predicted to be failing before planning out replacement projects for them.
Vice Mayor Jeff Nibert, whose previous employer had its own asset management plan, said when he assumed office, he was surprised when City Manager Gerry Beaudin told him the city did not have such a plan.
“One of the first things I asked City Manager Beaudin is I’d like to see the Asset Management Plan, I’d like to learn about it,” Nibert said during the meeting.
That’s why he said he was excited to hear the project is moving forward and with Tuesday’s decision, Nelkie said all three phases of the project should be completed by the end of 2025 — the original project completion was slated for 2026.
Chung explained all of the work both the city and his firm have done since last April which primarily consisted of entering over 79,000 of the city’s assets into a data base to date. Those assets include buildings, parks and trails, vehicles and equipment, the Callippe Golf Course and general utilities.
He said the city’s potable water distribution system and facilities alone make up over 52,000 assets.
Chung said other utilities, roadway, bridges, the cemetery and much more still need to be mapped out and put into the database but just to give an example of the level of detail they are looking at, he pointed out the 106 assets in Del Prado Park alone. Those assets they mapped out include irrigation controls, the lights and picnic tables.
Chung said they are about 80% done documenting what the city has and about 50% done with collecting the data and assessing the conditions. With last week’s decision, the council greenlit the consultant to advance to phase three.
The main questions raised by the council were from Councilmembers Matt Gaidos and Craig Eicher. Gaidos said he supported the project but he was a little concerned about the cost of the informational systems that are critical to keep the asset management plan work going.
Beaudin said the city has already been paying for the software and that those costs, which have been increasing every year, are something the city is looking at during its budget development process.
Eicher similarly asked about the cost for staff time to track all of those assets in future years to which Nelkie explained that staff are being trained to do so in a way that becomes integrated in their routine work. However, he said there could be future administrative costs to ensure the plan is fully implemented.
Mayor Jack Balch also said he was supportive of the continued work being done regarding Pleasanton’s Asset Management Plan, especially as the city currently faces financial difficulties.
“Proactive management of our physical assets and financial resources, obviously, is top of mind of our entire city right now,” Balch said.
* The council approved amendments to the city’s Master Fee Schedule which in turn updated various city fees and charges. This item was previously continued by the council during the Jan. 21 meeting.
The fees and charges that were updated were for special event and support services permit fees; Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department stand-by service fees; stormwater facility inspection fees; Pleasanton Public Library fines and fees; and co-sponsored group use of city fields fees.
One of the major points of contention was the amendment to the Co-Sponsored Group Use of City Fields Fees, which looked to introduce a $3.75 per hour usage fee for fields with natural grass — this includes parks such as the Ken Mercer Sports Park — and a $6.00 per hour usage fee for fields with synthetic turf.
In the past, the city did charge co-sponsored user groups fees to use the fields across Pleasanton. That’s why, according to Director of Library and Recreation Heidi Murphy, the city wanted to charge the small fee “as a way to really help us start to bring resources back in for maintenance and also to help us allocate the fields a little more equitably throughout the community.”
“These fees are lower than all of our neighboring cities and they do fit into our current cost recovery category,” Murphy said.
The synthetic turf fee will not be effective until Nov. 1, 2026, however the natural grass fee will take effect on July 1. Those two fees were intended to also increase every year due to consumer price index calculations, however, the council decided to amend staff’s recommendation so that those field fees would remain static for a year so that the council can revisit them in the future.
The decision to approve the fee increase for the fields specifically for just one year — which isn’t the case for the rest of the fee updates — stemmed from concerns raised by members of the Pleasanton RAGE Girls Soccer Club.
“If approved, these escalating fees would not only make our tournaments unsustainable, but also jeopardize the community events that have been a cherished part of Pleasanton for decades,” Sean Fogarty, president of the board of directors for the club, said during the meeting.
He said RAGE and other co-sponsored groups, for decades, have also worked with the city to develop, maintain and improve the sports facilities, which was something not considered when developing the fee updates.
“The fee comparisons being presented tonight fail to acknowledge this unique public and private partnership — something that sets Pleasanton apart from the neighboring cities.”
Vishakha Sant, a director at the soccer club, also said the fee increases could have a devastating impact on youth sports in Pleasanton.
“Pleasanton has long been a leader in fostering youth sports and community engagement,” she said. “We must continue this legacy by keeping sports affordable and accessible.”
She said they understand the city’s financial challenges and are not opposed to “fair and reasonable usage fees.” However, she said there is a “tipping point where these costs become barriers, pricing out lower income families and diminishing opportunities for our youth.”
While the council approved the single year fee for the fields, Gaidos said when the item comes back in a year he wants to see how it directly affects organizations like the soccer club so that he can make a better decision on future increases.
* The council also unanimously approved a sponsorship policy for city programs, which staff said will be a framework that will hopefully help bring in more money to the city.
“This has been a long time coming,” Beaudin said. “There are a lot of different ways that sponsorship policies can be used by cities for programs, facilities, parks … we’re establishing this policy with the goal of more actively seeking sponsorship opportunities in our community.”
The policy outlines specific eligibility exceptions for: entities whose revenue derives from the sale of illegal drugs and firearms; entities that promote adult entertainment; and entities that act on behalf of, in support of or in opposition to any political candidate, ballot measure or advocate a political position.
Murphy said the types of sponsorships can vary from community grants, gardens, park cleanups, events and even stages.
“Under the recommended sponsorship policy, the city would actively seek sponsors to assist the city in meeting community needs, protecting public interests — in the short and long term — providing opportunities that are open and accessible to all residents and meeting the city’s mission, vision, values and goals,” Murphy said.
According to the policy, naming rights and sponsorship agreements above $100,000 must be approved by council, but anything less is under the purview of Beaudin. The council will also have to vote on sponsorship terms longer than three years.
“I really hope this provides an opportunity to entice additional partnerships and sponsorship in our city,” Balch said.…Read more by Christian Trujano
