Modesto council faces full agenda

The Modesto City Council faces a full agenda Tuesday as it takes up items such as extending the ban on massage businesses; approving the sale of part of the city’s water system; moving forward on an assessment district in which downtown property owners would pay for improvements; and approving a cash-for-grass program in which a homeowner would get as much as $500 for replacing lawn with drought-tolerant landscaping.

Council members also are expected to vote on whether to put a general sales tax on the November ballot, an issue they have discussed several times in recent months.

The council is considering a half-cent general sales tax for a term of eight years. City officials have said such a tax would bring in about $14 million annually to the city’s $115 million general fund, which primarily pays for police and fire services. Because it’s a general tax, it would require a simple majority to pass.

A city staff report states it would take the votes of at least five of the seven council members to put the tax on the ballot. Five council members voted last week to bring the matter to a vote this week.

The city is considering two ballot measures – one for the tax and an advisory one that asks voters whether all of the tax should be spent on the city’s Safer Neighborhoods Initiative, which calls for such measures as hiring more police officers and firefighters, tackling nuisance properties and graffiti, and establishing youth programs.

Critics of the proposed tax have called it a “trust me” tax because as a general tax, it can be spent on any general government purpose. Others have suggested Modesto pursue a public safety tax because as a specific tax, it can only be spent on its specific purpose. But these taxes require two-thirds voter approval.

The council on May 12 approved a 45-day moratorium on the opening of new massage and bodywork businesses and the expansion and relocation of existing ones. City officials asked for the ban as they write an ordinance to crack down on massage parlors and spas that are fronts for prostitution and human trafficking and over concerns about the increasing numbers of these businesses opening in Modesto.

The moratorium can be extended twice for up to two years. Officials are asking the moratorium be extended Tuesday for 10 months and 15 days, but City Attorney Adam Lindgren reiterated that he expects an ordinance to come to the council for approval by late summer.

Modesto is modifying the moratorium in response to complaints from legitimate certified massage therapists and massage and bodywork business owners who say the ban has harmed them. If approved by the council, the moratorium will no longer apply to spas in which massage and bodywork make up less than half of the spa’s square footage, and it will no longer apply to certified massage therapists seeking a business license to work in an existing business.

The moratorium has not applied to massage and bodywork businesses that renew their business licenses, provided they are complying with all applicable laws and regulations and the renewal is not for a relocation or expansion.

The council also will be asked to approve Modesto selling its Waterford-Hickman Water System for $2.6 million effective July 1 to Waterford. The sale is contingent upon such factors as Waterford obtaining state permits to operate the system.

A city report states Modesto purchased the water systems owned by Del Este Water Co. in 1995, which included the systems that serve Waterford and Hickman. The two systems include eight wells and about 2,400 water connections. Waterford attempted to purchase the systems from Modesto in 1996 and 2003, and negotiations resumed in 2012.

The council will be asked to declare its intention to establish the Downtown Modesto Community Benefit District, in which property owners within the district pay an annual assessment for improvements, such as steam cleaning sidewalks and marketing to promote downtown. A city report states the district would raise $700,000 in its first year among the 316 parcels in the district.

The council’s action would not create the district. Instead it authorizes mailing ballots to property owners in the proposed district and holding an Aug. 5 public hearing to determine whether to create the district. The report states the life of the district would be for 15 years.

Modesto officials propose funding a residential turf-replacement program with $100,000. If approved by the council, the city would offer qualifying homeowners up to $500 for replacing 1,000 square feet of lawn with drought-tolerant landscaping. The rebate works out to 50 cents for each square foot of grass.

The council meets at 5:30 p.m. in the basement chamber of Tenth Street Place, 1010 10th St. The meeting agenda and the staff reports for agenda items can be viewed at www.modestogov.com/ccl/agendas and then by scrolling down and clicking on the link for the agenda.

This story was originally published June 22, 2015 at 1:47 PM with the headline "Modesto council faces full agenda."