Isabella Vanderheiden / Tuesday, May 27 @ 1:41 p.m. / Agendizer

TONIGHT IN EUREKA CITY COUNCIL: Special Budget Study Sesh, Bid Award for C Street Bike Boulevard Project, and More!

The Eureka City Council has a municipal double-header lined up tonight, starting with a budget study session at 5 p.m. and a regular meeting to follow. Let’s dig in!

2025-26 Proposed Budget Preview

During its special study session, the council will take its first look at the proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The presentation will cover revenue and expenditure trends for the 2025-26 Fiscal Year (FY), as well as overall changes to the General Fund and individual department budgets. 

Looking at the big picture, the city is projecting $121.35 million in revenue in FY 2026, up by about 10.1 percent from the current budget year, the draft report states. Expenditures are also expected to increase by about 12.6 percent to $121.85 million in FY 2026. That means the city is projected to spend nearly $502,000 more in FY 2026 than it will generate, representing a roughly 0.4 percent deficit.

Staff created an interactive budget tool with colorful pie charts and graphs to help the visual learners among us make better sense of the draft budget. You can find that handy little gadget at this link. If you’d rather get into the nitty gritty, you can check out the 87-page line item report here. 

The council isn’t expected to take any action on the item at tonight’s meeting.

C Street Bike Boulevard Bid

The council’s regular meeting will start right after the budget study session at 6 p.m. There are just three items on the agenda, including a bid award for the long-awaited “C Street Bicycle Boulevard” project, which aims to make C Street more bike-friendly and enhance connectivity between Old Town and Henderson Center by reducing through traffic between Waterfront Drive and Harris Street. 

The Eureka Bike Plan shows a map of “existing, planned and programmed” bicycle-friendly improvements to city streets. Click to enlarge.

“Local vehicular traffic will continue to have access anywhere along the corridor, though they may have to go ‘around the block’ to get to [a] destination on C Street,” the staff report states. “Traffic will be diverted by converting two-way road segments, one block in length, to one-way road segments at intersections spaced along the corridor, including 7th Street, 14th Street, Buhne Street and Harris Street. Bicycle and pedestrian traffic, however, will remain two-way.”

The project design includes 11 “enhanced” pedestrian crossings at high-volume intersections that feature concrete bulb-outs, rectangular rapid flashing beacons (RRFBs), signage, striping, pavement markers and planters. Median islands will be installed at three offset intersections, including Simpson and Hillsdale Streets, Del Norte and Hawthorne and Humboldt Street. 

The project, a part of the Eureka Bike Plan, is funded through a Caltrans Active Transportation Grant (ATP). The city received five bids for the project, ranging between $2.18 million and $3.31 million, and ultimately decided to go with the lowest bidder, Eureka-based RAO Construction Co. The construction contract includes a seven percent construction contingency, bringing the total cost up to $2.34 million.

The council will also consider letters of support for AB 609 and SB 79. AB 609 would exempt environmentally friendly housing projects from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to streamline the permitting process for new housing developments. SB 79 would set state standards for transit-oriented zoning to encourage the development of multi-family housing around transit hubs. Those letters can be found here and here.

###

Find the full special agenda, with our Agendabot’s item summaries, below. The Eureka City Council will meet tonight at 5 p.m. at Eureka City Hall — 531 K Street. The regular agenda can be found here.

Eureka City Council

May 27, 2025, 5 p.m.

A. HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN THE MEETING

B. LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

C. PUBLIC COMMENT

D. REPORTS/ACTION ITEMS

1. FY2025-26 Proposed Budget Study Session

The Eureka City Council is holding a study session to review and discuss the proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The session will include presentations from all city departments, discussing revenue trends, expenditure trends, and budget updates. The goal is to promote transparency and informed decision-making throughout the budget process. The council will receive a report with no fiscal impact and the session may take place over multiple meetings. The session will provide an opportunity for council members and the Finance Advisory Committee to ask questions and understand key changes from the prior fiscal year.

— LoCOBot

… or, as a sea shanty!

Come gather ‘round, ye city folk bold
For a budget study session, we’re told
The Eureka City Council sets sail
To review finances and not to fail

Lane Millar, he’s the man in charge
Presenting the budget, it’s quite large
With no fiscal impact, we receive the report
And discuss how our city can be a fort

With council goals in our sight
We aim for a financially stable night
An engaged public is what we desire
To run the city with effective fire

Revenue trends and expenditures too
We’ll dive deep into what we must do
Departmental updates on position changes
Budget shifts, no one arranges

Transparency is our guiding light
To make decisions that are right
For Eureka City, our home sweet home
We’ll review the budget, not alone

So gather ‘round, ye city crew
For a sea shanty just for you
As we sail through the FY2025-26 budget storm
With unity and purpose, we’ll reform.

— LoCOBot

DOCUMENTS:

Staff Report • FY2025-26 Line Item Proposed Budget • FY2025-26 Proposed Budget Book

---