Live Blog From Feb. 22 City Council Meeting

5 p.m. City Council meeting convenes for the Pledge of Allegiance, and recesses to closed session. We'll keep you updated when the Council comes back.

6:10: Council reconvenes.

6:15: Jay Jasper presents urban groundwater management plan for the Santa Rosa Plain. The preliminary study the groundwater management plan completed, Jasper reports.

With the U.S. Geological Survey, the study looks at one of Sonoma County's largest groundwater systems, the Santa Rosa basin. Hydrogeology, groundwater quality,  local control, state funding, sustainability, water quality and how to coordinate water supply were studied.

All recommendations are voluntary, not regulatory.

6:25: Report on Tasty Tuesdays begins.

6:27: The first week about 200 people came, 300 people the second week, followed by a cold and windy Tuesday with less people, and today was another successful Tuesday. About 300 people showed up, the Parks and Rec. department reports. So far, it's looking like it's going to be a yearlong event.

Vice Mayor Jake Mackenzie asked if Tasty Tuesdays will stay in the current location, in between the Community Center, Spreckles and Callinan Sports and Fitness Center. It is, Parks and Rec. reports.

6:30: Quarterly update on new or increased revenue measures presented by Sandy Lipitz: Building fees, business license tax, refuse franchise fee, admissions tax, parking citation admin fee and sewer rates are all still under preliminary review.

6:42: General well-being of the city is at stake, and more discussions can be expected on these fees, Mackenzie said.

6:46: The pace of sales taxes income is increasing steadily, Lipitz reports in her financial report. The increase here from December 2009 to December 2010 is 11 percent, compared to the state's at a little over 3 percent.

Retail is primary business in Rohnert Park that generates sales tax dollars, and the city is lacking stability with business to business sales taxes and transportation, Lipitz said.

Some quarters, sales taxes are way up, and some are way down — it's like a rollercoaster, Lipitz said.

7:19: Public comments opened.

Liz Sutton, who works for North Bay Industries, an organization for people with disabilities, says she's worried about cuts from the state's budget. Elizabeth Clary, director of OADES in Rohnert Park, agreed. 

"If you're not already aware ... the magnitude of cuts ... will make it impossible for programs like ours to continue, Clary said. "We ask for endorsement of support from the city of Rohnert Park."

7:22: Christal Barquero asks what she can do to make people stop using their cell phones while driving. Barquero's comments come after a Dec. 1 deadly accident where a two-year-old's life was taken because of a driver who was texting and driving.

"Can we raise the penalty? How do we save lives, because I don't want to see another family ... suffer the tragedy. What can I do, what can we do," she said.

7:30: Presentation of sewer rate study begins.

"The current rates have not yet paced with the cost of running this system," said John Dunn, assistant interim city manager. "The reserves are a rapid decline and will run out in 14 months ... the situation is serious."

7:36: Bob Reed, an rate consultant, begins his sewer rate analysis for Rohnert Park. Find out what he said at .

8:28: Sewer rate report concludes. Reed proposes a rate increase of 25 percent in July and additional increase of 22 percent in January 2011, with an additional 3.5 percent rate increase from then on, annually.

9:07: Council breaks after concluding sewer rate discussion.

9:10: The Public Art Ordinance is officially repealed, with a sole 'no' vote from Mackenzie.

9:31: Mackenzie presents letter about critical habitat for the tiger salamander located within the Sonoma Mountain Village.

9:36: Mayor Gina Belforte says she's interested in looking at having a town hall meeting with state lawmakers in Rohnert Park on March 4. 

9:40: The council says it's important to work on the city's relationship with Sonoma State University. By adding signage to the thoroughfares and on Rohnert Park streets, highlighting what the city has to offer in terms of entertainment and food, the city can help promote economic development, councilmembers said.

9:43: It's got to be part of our economic development," Mackenzie said.

9:44: Council meeting is adjourned.