Petaluma City Council to wrestle with budget issues, Dutra plant suit

Petaluma City Council members will wrestle with several diverse topics Monday, but all have a common denominator - the city's budget.

In closed session before the regular meeting, the council is to discuss the city attorney's analysis of a possible appeal of the dismissal of a lawsuit filed to stop the Dutra Materials asphalt plant. It is planned for just outside the city limits near a city park.

The city and several nonprofit groups sued Dutra, alleging that the county and the Marin-based company didn't properly examine the potential environmental impacts of the plant before it was approved in 2010. A Sonoma County Superior Court judge tossed the lawsuit last month, ruling the review was adequate.

The council asked City Attorney Eric Danly to analyze Judge Rene Chouteau's 32-page ruling and advise if there are legal issues the city could push. But also a concern is whether the city can afford what could be an expensive legal battle.

Councilman Mike Healy, a lawyer, has said his reading of Chouteau's ruling didn't yield any potentially successful arguments for appeal.

Also, he said, the city is not in a financial position to fund a continued fight. So far, the city has spent $72,000 in legal fees to fight Dutra, about a third of it on the suit.

"The city simply cannot afford to spend further general fund dollars on the Dutra litigation," he said.

Representatives of the nonprofit groups have said they hope the city joins but that they will explore fundraising on their own to fund an appeal.

If the city makes a decision about whether to join an appeal, an announcement would be made following the closed session.

Also Monday, the city will consider three items related to the dissolution of the redevelopment agency and how some of its functions will be reassigned.

The recent state Supreme Court decision that upheld legislation dissolving redevelopment agencies essentially requires the city to adopt new methods of handling its housing assets and any binding redevelopment contracts.

If a new "enforceable obligation payment schedule" isn't adopted, the city couldn't pay redevelopment-related bills that will come due through June, said Housing Administrator Bonne Gaebler.

The city also will hear public comment on the downtown Petaluma business assessment district, a self-imposed annual tax that funds security, marketing and beautification efforts. No major changes are proposed.

Council members will hear, but aren't scheduled to take any action on, a report on the city's financial status as of July 1, the end of last fiscal year.

The closed session begins at 5:30 p.m. and the regular meeting at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 11 English St.