Council Agenda: Focus on Development Plans

The Walnut Creek City Council has a special meeting at a special time and day — today (Wednesday) at 2 p.m. in the council chambers at City Hall, 1666 N. Main St.

The council is considering appointments to two ad hoc subcommittees:

• Broadway Plaza Development Agreement — In March, the council had a wide-ranging discussion of potential public benefits the city could ask for in negotiations with Macerich, the owner of most of the 25-acre plaza that anchors the south downtown.
• West Downtown Specific Plan — planning proceeds for the west downtown area, with a community workshop scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at St. Paul's Episcopal Church Parish Hall, 1924 Trinity Ave.

On the consent calendar are city responses to the Contra Costa County Grand Jury reports in the spring on "City Retirement Plans, an Unsustainable Benefit" and "Financial Transparency with Meaning." In one response, the city notes that it has implemented a recommendation of the grand jury by adopting a second-tier reduced pension formula for a safety employee group, and negotiated with the Police Officers' Association to have current and future employees begin paying the full 9 percent contribution to retirement cost over the term of the agreement.