CC 12-05-23 Item No. 8 Accept Silicon Valley Clean Energy Community Resilience Grant_Written Communications (2)CC 12-05-2023
Item No. 8
Accept Silicon Valley
Clean Energy
Community Resilience
Grant
Written Communications
From:Tracy Kosolcharoen
To:City Council
Cc:City Clerk
Subject:Written comment for Dec 5th City Council Meeting
Date:Tuesday, December 5, 2023 3:06:05 PM
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Dear City Council,
Please pull items 6 & 8 from the consent calendar.
#6 - If you are approving higher garbage rates on homeowners, this should be discussed.
- How exactly is the 10 year rate smoothing going to happen? I understand there's a 5%
increase for the first year but what about subsequent years? Are we eventually going to end up
at the top of the pack when it comes to rates? Please provide clarity for the 10 year rate hike
schedule.
- Is it fair to compare Cupertino to other cities that have higher levels of garbage sorting? Are
we paying more for the same lower level of service while other cities are receiving a higher
level of service?
- Why is only $547k of the franchise fees used to offset higher rates for ratepayers? Can you
please provide a clearer breakdown of what happens with the rest of $3.7M, and how the split
was determined?
#8 - It's great that we have a grant from SVCE. However, grant funding is finite and the
products we receive for free have the risk of negatively burdening this city once the funding
runs out. This is especially important to consider if Cupertino is in dire financial straights (and
can't even fund, say, July 4th fireworks).
- Who will have liability for the BEAM products if something wrong happens to a car that
uses them?
- Who bears the cost of "additional support and maintenance"? How much does it cost and
how frequently is this cost incurred? I get that the purchase is free from a grant, but similar to
cars, the maintenance and servicing is usually extra!
What I don't want is to end up after a few years with yet another cost line item that this city
must bear, while all our community services have been cut.
Thank you,
Tracy