This Week in City Hall: October 27, 2025

Welcome to our weekly digest on public meetings and agenda items worth your attention in the coming week. This guide is part of our mission to provide everyday Riversiders like you with the information to speak up on the issues you care about.

City Council

City Council will meet in closed and open sessions on Tuesday, Oct. 28, with an afternoon at 3 p.m. and an evening session at 6:15 p.m. (agenda). The agenda includes:

• Reviewing a feasibility study for creating a River District along the Santa Ana River that would improve parks, trails, and public safety to reconnect residents with the waterway through partnerships and revenue strategies designed to make the district financially self-sustaining.
• Establishing a new Community Facilities District that authorizes annual special taxes totaling approximately $642 per home on a 150-unit townhome development to fund public safety and maintenance services.
• Considering water treatment infrastructure upgrades that would construct three new facilities to remove PFAS contamination from groundwater using settlement proceeds from manufacturers to offset approximately $36 million of the $97 million capital cost, with the remaining balance funded through bonds and recovered via a monthly customer surcharge starting at $1-4 in 2026 and increasing to $9-21 by 2032 based on household water usage.

Housing and Homelessness Committee

The Housing and Homelessness Committee (Councilmembers Cervantes, Mill, and Robillard) meets on Monday, Oct. 27, at 3:30 p.m. (agenda) to review the Housing Authority's affordable housing development pipeline totaling 497 units citywide, with one-third of those designated for people experiencing homelessness, several major projects awaiting final state funding decisions and Ward 1's 278-unit concentration representing over half of all planned development.

Board of Public Utilities

The Board of Public Utilities meets on Monday, Oct. 27, at 6:30 p.m. (agenda) to consider five infrastructure and program updates, including:

• Approving $2.5 million to replace 1950s-era water pipelines on Delano Drive that have experienced 44 leaks,
• Contracting for the state-mandated 2025 water management plan due next July,
• Receiving information on declining groundwater levels in local basins supplying the city's water,
• Approving $1.6 million in critical control system upgrades at the Clearwater Power Plant, and
• Expanding electric vehicle rebate programs using state revenue to increase support for low-income residents purchasing used electric vehicles and installing home chargers.