Season 2 Premiere: New Year, Big Dreams: City Manager Shares Elk Grove’s Blueprint for Progress in 2024

🎙️ It’s a new year and we’re ready for it! Season 2 kicks off with an exclusive sit-down with Elk Grove City Manager Jason Behrmann. We’ll learn more about the role of the City Manager, the City’s CEO, and get his perspective on the City’s big goals and the transformative projects shaping Elk Grove’s landscape in 2024 and beyond. Whether you're a passionate local or a curious outsider, this episode promises an immersive journey into the heart of Elk Grove's future.

Want to learn more about Elk Grove’s priority projects? Details can be found at elkgrovecity.org/councilpriorityprojects. 

Transcript

Announcer: Welcome to Elk Grove CityCast, the podcast about Elk Grove. In each episode, we'll dive into hot topics, share what's happening in the city, and introduce you to some of the people making a difference in this place that we call home. 

John Hull: Hi everyone. I'm John Hull. Welcome to the Elk Grove CityCast. Joining me is the city of Elk Grove's public affairs manager Kristyn Laurence and Kristyn great to be with you once again as we talk about what is happening here in the city of Elk Grove and a happy new year to you.

Kristyn Laurence: Hi, John. Happy New Year. Can you believe it? Another year has flown by. It feels like Y2K was just yesterday, doesn't it? Here we are 2024. 

John Hull: 2024, exactly. Yeah, we do want to welcome a Happy New Year to our listeners as we begin Season 2 of the Elk Grove CityCast. So maybe you could help explain to us why you and the city administration [00:01:00] wanted to actually start the CityCast podcast. 

Kristyn Laurence: Well John, there's just so much going on in the world these days and so many places that we're all going to to get our news and information.

I recently read somewhere that about a third of people get their news from television sources, but a good percentage of the other two thirds are tuning into online search engines. I heard that was around 27%. Social media is like 19%, and a growing number, 9%, are starting to get their news regularly from podcasts.

So, I've been a big fan of podcasts myself. I listen to some of my favorites while I'm in the car, and it feels like a good way to learn on the go. And we really wanted to create the Elk Grove CityCast to provide another way to connect with Elk Grove residents and share information about people, projects, programs, and services that make living and working here so great.

And I really like how the podcast allows listeners to hear directly from the staff working in the community, like our traffic engineer, James Ashby, that came on in 23, our code enforcement manager and officers like Lieutenant Templeton and Sergeant Kearsing, who we heard from also this last year. I also like how the show allows us to engage in real conversations with you.

You're a longtime Elk Grove resident who brings questions and your own unique perspective to each episode. And I feel like those conversations make the work that we do more relatable to the people that we serve. So ours is certainly not the first city podcast out there. And it kind of took us a while before we figured things out, but it feels like 2023 was a turning point for us.

And we're now part of an emerging group of cities using podcasts to share our stories with others. And as we head into the second season, I'm excited about some of the topics and the guests that we have lined up, and I'm grateful for the feedback we've received so far from our listeners. And I hope that we can continue to build our following to connect with even more of the community.

John Hull: And you know, Kristyn, we encourage our listeners to contribute ideas for future Elk Grove City cast topics. You can email us at publicaffairs@elkgrovecity.org. Again, publicaffairs@elkgrovecity.org.

When it comes to the day in, day out function of the city of Elk Grove. The person who oversees everything is Jason Behrmann. He's the city manager. And for our first Elk Grove City cast of 2024, we thought it good to hear from Jason about the city's priority projects for this year. Jason, welcome to the Elk Grove City Cast. And I wanna thank you for your service to the city of Elk Grove. You know, a lot of people are familiar with the mayor and our city council members. But would you mind telling our listeners a little bit about yourself and the role of the city manager? 

Jason Behrmann: Thank you. John. It's my pleasure to be here I look forward to spending a few minutes talking about all the great things happening in our community So I've been in local government for about 25 years I started out working as an intern for the city of Bloomington Indiana where I completed my master's degree in public administration. I also worked for several cities in California, including the city of San Luis Obispo, Dublin, Galt, and of course here in Elk Grove, where I've been for a little over eight years, five of those years being a city manager, and I, I love Elk Grove.

I love my job. It's, it's a great opportunity to serve the community. So a little bit about kind of the city manager/city council form of government. So the city council and the mayor appoint a city manager to run the day to day operations of the city. So in that way, a city manager functions as the CEO of the organization.

Now, the mayor and the council, they set direction priorities, they make policy decisions and then it's up to me and my staff were charged with seeing that the work is done as effectively and efficiently as possible and making recommendations to the mayor and city council. So the reality is That the mayor and the council work collaboratively with the city manager and other executive staff.

And we here in Elk Grove are blessed to have a very high functioning council who work well together. I can tell you they genuinely all care about our community and they support and respect staff. So I think that's one of the things that really set Elk, sets Elk Grove apart. And as key as the city's success is the great partnership that we have between the staff and the elected officials working hand in hand for the betterment of the community.

John Hull: Yeah, that's great to hear. That's great to hear. Well, I have a document here in front of me with photographs and details of what's labeled as priority projects. And listed on the front page of this document are the Elk Grove Ace Station project, and then the Kemmerer Road extension, the Whitelock interchange at Highway 99, and traffic signal synchronization.

So Jason, who establishes these as being priority projects and why? 

Jason Behrmann: So the priority project list is something that we develop every couple of years. So the city council and staff, it's open to the public. We get together usually shortly after a council election and we take a look at our goals and our priorities and those projects that we want to work on over the course of the next couple of years.

So the mayor and council work together. with staff. We set those priorities and the direction for again the next couple of years. So in those priorities are largely established based on what the council's hearing from their constituents. There are things that staff is aware of and recommendations that we have based on our professional experience.

Also, what we've learned from community polling. We usually do polling every year, every couple of years, trying to find out what those priority projects are from our community. So taking all that information together, we then set out kind of those marching orders that we are then tasked with, with moving forward and developing over the course of those, the next couple of years.

John Hull: You know, there's quite a few other priority projects listed here. One's a potential new zoo, a new library location, and the Laguna Creek inter regional trail corridor. We're going to talk about all these if we could, Jason. So let's start first with the zoo and that announcement was made just what over a little more than a year ago, and we've had some public informational meetings for the project along the way.

So what is the status of the zoo project and what might we expect to happen or see happen in 2024?

Jason Behrmann: So that one probably is the big newsmaker in the city, the one that has most of the community talking a lot of excitement around that. We have done a lot of meetings, so we've been working hard over the last year plus with the Sacramento Zoological Society.

Right now we're finishing the schematic design. for the project. We're trying to right size it on a phase one project that will fit our fundraising capacity, specifically the zoological society's fundraising capacity, as well as the capacity within the Sacramento region to help support a zoo in Elk Grove.

We also have to match that with the city's own financial resources and our ability to contribute financially to that project. So, so we're still working through all of that, but trying to right size that phase one and get it to a point where we can get it in front of the city council for consideration.

So as far as that's concerned, we're also working on the environmental document, the E. I. R. Just about finishing that up right now. The draft will be released for public review. Once it's released, there's a 45-day public review period. Then in early February, we're planning a public meeting where the community will have an opportunity to review the document. We can receive feedback and answer any questions that the community might have about the project. Right now, we're expecting public hearings on the environmental document, as well as any other entitlements that are required to go before the planning commission in April and the city council in May.

And this will also include a plan of finance for the project. How we intend on on moving that project forward from a financial standpoint. So a lot of work has been done, a lot of work is left to be done, but some key milestones coming up that environmental review and then the project approval scheduled for late spring and then assuming those approvals are the end of the year achieved, then we'll be into some of the later work on the design more definitive work on the design development work of the project 

John Hull: Well, frankly, I mean I'm excited for this project coming up. I think it would be a great addition to the city of Elk Grove and I think a lot of people agree with me on that one We'll state we'll keep people informed here on the city cast as this project the zoo project progresses here in 2024.

Let's now talk Jason about the Elk Grove library branch. It's moving to 9260 Elk Grove Boulevard. The old Rite Aid location at Waterman Road. Two questions. What's the relationship between the city and the Sacramento County Library? Because the city used the facility as a winter sanctuary. In fact, you know, here in the winter months, it still is the winter sanctuary.

And why is the library moving after maybe only about 15 years at the corner of Elk Grove Boulevard and Elk Grove Florin Road? 

Jason Behrmann: So good question. So City of Elk Grove is part of the Sacramento County Public Library Authority. So as members, city's responsibilities are to have a building, so a library building. We're responsible for essentially acquiring or supplying that for the library authority. The library authority then is responsible for operating the library, including all the collections, the programs offered at the library et cetera. We're going through the design phase of the library. We hope to be out to bid for construction later in the spring or early summer.

We have all of the funding secured for that project, including a lot of federal grants, monies and state grant monies that allow us to build that project. So we're excited to build move forward on that. And so the winter sanctuary program will have to move after this winter because we will be hopefully under construction and moving into that by next year.

And so we'll be looking for a new location for the winter sanctuary. But we're excited about the new library potential. The current library simply is too small and with too little parking. Additionally, the two-story structure really isn't a very efficient design. The building wasn't built to be a library was built just as a commercial building, and it's been retrofitted for library, but it's really not optimal for that purpose.

So the new library would increase the size by about 30 percent and would nearly double the parking. So we've had a lot of community meetings and shown people about what this is going to look like and the capabilities that it brings to our community. So we're really excited to share this with the community and have that project underway in 24.

John Hull: All right, Jason. Last month. Our topic here on the Elk Grove Citycast was traffic concerns, and we heard from our traffic engineer and a Sergeant Kearsing from the traffic enforcement unit. And I want to follow up with you, though, on two traffic related projects. First, the traffic signal synchronization and a new interchange at Whitelock Parkway and Highway 99.

So, how will these projects impact local traffic and can we even expect to see a new interchange be constructed? Here in 2024. 

Jason Behrmann: So traffic congestion is certainly something we hear a lot about and we've been working hard to improve. The truth is that all large cities, really all cities have some level of traffic congestion in certain areas.

The key is to work to try to improve the flow of traffic. We have our own traffic engineering division in our public works department. We have a traffic management center with cameras, controllers, most of the city's 157 traffic signals. A few projects that you mentioned, which is the Synchronization Project and Whitelock Interchange, I can touch briefly on those.

So the Citywide Traffic Signal Enhancement and Congestion Relief Project, which will result in upgrading a signal communication network, new fiber optic lines advanced video detection, adaptive traffic signal corridor on Elk Grove Boulevard All of those things will enhance the traffic flow along the Elk Grove Boulevard, really in Laguna Corridors to have those signals be in better sync.

One of the things we just finished with, which is on Elk Grove Boulevard and Laguna Boulevard is what we call the Green Wave. Now this is phase two of signal synchronization. We just finished that and we've been running some numbers. The project resulted in an estimated average reduction of about 12 percent in travel time.

That may not sound like a lot, but every minute adds up. It also resulted in 40%, 46 percent reduction in the number of stops along the Elk Grove Boulevard and Laguna Boulevard corridors when those new timing plans were implemented. So we're continuing to work on, on synchronization, technology update, controller updates that will allow better movement, especially on our most congested corridors. The Whitelock Interchange that you mentioned is a very large project. It's over 100 million is the estimated cost. We're working on the design of it right now. The real reason for Whitelock Interchange is to pull traffic off of Elk Grove Boulevard.

Right now, a lot of the growth that's happening south of Elk Grove Boulevard. Most of that traffic along in Laguna Ridge, south of Whitelock, and some of our new areas of our southeast planning area, a lot of that traffic is flowing north to Elk Grove Boulevard and then getting on there, and that is a heavily congested area, probably the most heavily congested area of the city. So by adding a new interchange at Whitelock, they won't have to go up to Elk Grove Boulevard, they can get on right there and go north. to Sacramento or south along 99. So, we think that it has the potential to really improve that congested corridor. Problem is, because of the price tag we don't have funding to fully fund the construction. So, we're gonna take it through design get the right of way phase done, get all the environmental permitting we need, and then hopefully we can secure federal and state grants to allow us to complete construction on that. Because of that, I don't have a good timeframe when that might be completed, but my guess is it's probably a good five to 10 years away from construction on that project, just because of the size of that, that project and the difficulty in securing those funds. But we're gonna work hard to try to go after those funds and make the project a real possibility. 

John Hull: I'd say Whitelock again and Highway 99 for those who might have just tuned in to our CityCast.

That's going to be interesting to, to watch over the next several years and very badly needed, needless to say. Well let's move on. Connected to the issue of this growing traffic issue we have here in Elk Grove, a project that's frankly more regionally. Based, it's the extension of Camra Road from Bruceville West I five.

So Jason, can you share a little bit about the Capital Southeast Connector and how this will benefit our city? 

Jason Behrmann: Absolutely. So the Kammerer Extension from Bruceville out to I 5 is a part of the southeast connector. It's a really important critical component of the city's transportation network. It's that to completing another connection between 5 and 99.

Right now the city only has the two, Elk Grove Boulevard and Laguna, which are, which are congested. So this will help relieve congestion on those corridors, especially as the city continues to grow south. It's provided a needed access east and west along the city. If you want to deal with congestion, you need to provide transportation options for people, so this will provide that important connection and also provide an additional option for people heading east and west and just getting around. The city will also help support not only the housing down along that Kammerer area, but some of the amenities that are going on down there, the zoo being one of them, which is just north of Kammerer Road.

The Sky River Casino is another new amenity that opened up last year. And so, so that Kammerer corridor becomes really important as a city grows further south. So, as far as the status of that project, we just completed all of the environmental review on the project. And now we're working on the final design and the right of way acquisition.

Takes a couple years to get through that process before we're ready to break ground. And this is another project that's a very expensive project. We don't have all the funding yet for that project. We continue to seek. state and federal grants to allow us to move forward into construction. We're going to pursue that over the course of the next year.

We think we're going to put ourselves in a good position to be competitive. Now, the environmental review is done, and once we secure the right of way and the rest of the design, the project will be very attractive for those looking to fund this type of a regional effort that's part of the Southeast Connector.

So we're optimistic that over the course next few years, we'll be able to get the grant money in place to allow us to start construction. 

John Hull: Jason Behrman, City Manager, the city of Elk Grove with us this month on the Elk Grove CityCast. Let's talk about the super commuters. We got a bunch of folks who I guess we call them the super commuters. They live here in Elk Grove. They love living here in Elk Grove, but they actually work out of maybe the Bay Area. But for those folks. We, I understand that there are plans for a train station just north of the intersection of Dwight Road and Laguna Boulevard. And the ACE train, the Altamont Commuter Express, is planning an expansion north from Stockton to Sacramento, but they will stop here in Elk Grove.

So, Jason, do you know what the timetable is for this project currently? 

Jason Behrmann: Yes, we're excited about this one. Having a stop in Elk Grove, we think, will be a big boost to effort to attract not only people, but employers to our community. And so having that connection from Elk Grove to Silicon Valley and further north, we think is a big deal.

Property has been acquired. Design is well underway. Funding is in place. We should expect to start. to see construction in 2025-26 with completion 26-27. So so yeah, it's well underway. 

John Hull: Well, is it likely that this station would also be a stop for Amtrak and or the regional transit light rail trains?

Jason Behrmann: Yes, it will be a stop for Amtrak in the future. It will not be connected with the light rail. The light rail line will run south of the current CRC campus down Bruceville and then over to Big Horn Boulevard. That's the route for the alignment of the light rail line that will eventually come into Elk Grove But yeah, absolutely this ace train line will be the same one that the Amtrak is on So having an Amtrak station here in Elk Grove will also be a nice amenity for our community.

John Hull: Well this final project I'd like Jason for you to discuss is called the Laguna Creek Interregional Trail Corridor now Kristyn and I last month talked about Elk Grove's trails. I know there's a lot of work underway to connect our trails set into, you know, which are now several segments of trails into a more continuous series of trails.

So. There was some news recently that this project, it actually received some significant federal funding. So could you please tell us a little bit more about the city's goals for these trails and what improvements are envisioned for the future? 

Jason Behrmann: Trail connectivity is really important for, for any city. In Elk Grove, we've been working to complete various segments of the trail core and making these connections east, west, north, south. It's something that improves a community's ability to get people off the roads onto trails to and from work. It's a recreational amenity as well and actually opportunity for exercise. A lot of reasons. While trails are really important for communities and this Laguna Creek Trail corridor will be a key connection right now. The Laguna Creek trail kind of ends at 99 goes over from Camden and it just stops there and then it picks up on the other side of the West side of 99. And so this next phase of the project will create a new pedestrian bridge over 99 connecting the east and west components of this trail. So ultimately connecting up to CRC and into Sacramento and then really far on the east side past Waterman in the city of Elk Grove. So project is well underway right now in design. It's about a $12.5 million project. It's mostly funded with federal funds that the city was successful in securing. So again, we're expecting to finalize that design in the next year, year and a half, and then we should be under construction in 2025 2026.

And it can't really underscore enough the impact that it's going to have and the fact that we have the funding in place to allow us to move this project all the way through. Again, this will be the, this will be the city's second pedestrian connection over 99. That connects these important trails within our community.

John Hull: Well, there are, I know, a lot of other items that the city is working on, certainly, but a big shot in the arm financially for the city of Elk Grove has been Measure E funding. Now, that's allowed for 19 new positions at the city. It's allowed for several projects. to be funded. So could you give us a little progress update on Measure E funded projects?

Jason Behrmann: Sure. I would argue that Measure E is one of, if not the most significant things to occur since the city's incorporation. It's gonna allow the city to invest in community priorities and improve quality of life in a way that would not really otherwise be possible. So I'll just give you a few kinds of examples of things we're focused on.

And these are from born out by community polling and research. We did a lot of work heading into Measure E to find out exactly what the community wanted, what their priorities were. And those were things we've a lot of things we already talked about. Traffic congestion, public safety parks, addressing homelessness, economic development.

So it allow us to put significant financial resources into those areas. So even just since we started, our first payment came into the city at a June into July. So we haven't been receiving the funds very long, but in that short period of time, we've already hired I think upwards of 20 new positions, mostly in the police department.

We've also, though, hired a new homeless navigator position firefighters, et cetera. We've also opened the city's first single site winter sanctuary. We talked about briefly for those experiencing homelessness. So getting these individuals out of the elements, giving them a path for long term housing and services. That's a huge thing. It's a game changer for the city, but for these individuals in need of that support. We've also created a number of new economic development incentive programs, just a lot of things that we're just now starting to scratch the surface on. So the full year one Measure E plan is on the city's website.

We'll be working on the Year 2 plan shortly and also producing annual report for the community and how the funds are being invested. That will be an annual report that will come out saying here's the funds that came in. Here's how those are being spent. We thought that transparency is really important for our community who trusted us with their vote to tax themselves to reinvest in their community for these important priorities. And I think this is a game changer for the future of our city. 

John Hull: Right. And you know, for a city of our size to be really thriving, we have to have a very strong retail business climate. And in recent years, the big box retailers have established a presence in Elk Grove, but I do believe you agree that small family-owned businesses are essential to our city.

So what is the city of Elk Grove doing to help and assist our local businesses? 

Jason Behrmann: That's a great point, John. I think the locally owned small business that's kind of the lifeblood, right? The backbone of our community. And we've had a lot of success of having those new businesses open and thrive and be successful, particularly in the last year.

I mean, if you haven't really been paying attention, Elk Grove is developing quite a local restaurant scene with many people from the greater Sacramento region coming down to Elk Grove to try some of our more popular spots. You know, when I first came here, I heard complaints about too many chain restaurants and too many big box and all these things. But I think that's quickly changing. If you look at places like Pig Latin or Prost in historic Elk Grove or the new Raw Sushi Bar Lounge that opened up, or all these opened up just in the last six months. And then you've got Michael’s Slow and Low barbecue restaurant on Railroad Street that's set to open in early 24.

We're starting to get a reputation of curating and cultivating some of these, these local businesses that are able to be successful, and that's just scratching the surface. I could go on to a list of about probably 15 or 20 other businesses that have been successful here and opening in the last year or more.

So, you know, what are we doing as a city to help support those businesses or to attract them in the first place? So several new programs that we've rolled out just in the last year. One is called our Permit Assistance Program. It's a grant where the city will provide up to $10, 000 for new or expanding businesses to help pay for the cost of approvals or permits or whatever they need to get their business operational.

We also recently launched the BReW Incentive Program, which is aimed at providing financial assistance to new or expanding breweries, restaurants, and wineries And then we also have the new Facade Improvement Program that assists businesses, particularly property owners, making exterior improvements to improve the looks of their buildings.

We also, we're, we're blessed to have Economic Development staff. We have right now a staff of four who can assist small businesses be successful at Elk Grove and kind of understand what those needs are and help them sometimes navigate city or county or other processes that can be a little bit difficult.

And so we're there to do some handholding as much as we can, and we're continuing to look to improve those systems and those processes to make it even more attractive for these businesses to thrive and be successful in Elk Grove. 

John Hull: This is great, Jason. This is really good. Let's now take a moment and look beyond the next five years because the City of Elk Grove has about 180,000 residents. So could you just talk a little bit about the projected growth of our city, not just in census numbers, but in what amenities you expect Elk Grove to have around the year, let's say 2030 and beyond. 

Jason Behrmann: Yeah, I think the future of Elk Grove is, is really bright.

I'm really bullish on the potential that we have here. You talk about some of the residential growth, that's, that's going to happen. The thing that maybe surprises some people is they think of Elk Grove as this booming community. And we're really not growing that fast. We're growing at a sustainable rate.

We're 1-2 percent over the last 10 years annually is what our residential growth rate has been. So that when I say sustainable, that is sustainable, meaning we can keep up with infrastructure, we can put in the amenities, we can keep up with some of the traffic demands and things. So it's a really good place to be.

But as far as other things go, you know, things that I look forward to the next 5 to 10 years. One would be the zoo that we talked about. Right? Certainly by 2030 we have a real opportunity there. There's a lot of work to be done, a lot of approvals and considerations and other things that need to do. But there's certainly a potential there that we're excited about exploring. I think you'll continue to see an expansion of the Sky River. Casino resort complex down there. Southern Elk Grove, new hotel tower, convention center space, parking structure, all scheduled to be under construction next year. And they're going to continue to expand those entertainment elements of the project.

They've got land around there that I think they'll just continue to grow and be successful in that part of our community. to bring more entertainment related activities here in Elk Grove. I think one of the other things you're going to see and that we're really focused on right now is more integrated mixed use neighborhoods with more urban amenities.

We're working on the city's first really mixed-use village we call Project Elevate, which is across from District 56, where we bring in housing, high density kind of housing, office, retail, restaurants, entertainment, all within walking distance that we think people are really attracted to. People want to live in that kind of environment.

Maybe not everyone. The thing that's great about Elk Grove is there's so many different kinds of of housing options for people. If you want rural, we have a rural area, right? If you want traditional, suburban community, single family home communities, you have that. We're working on more densification and more options for these mixed-use villages that we think will be extremely successful as an additional option for people wanting to live in Elk Grove.

And more and more employers are attracted to cities that have exciting, these live/work districts with dining and nightlife and other things. that attract that. And so we want to be attractive for some of those employers that want to put down roots in our in our community. So I think we'll also see the, you know, the addition of some new major employers like Kubota that just opened up a few weeks ago at Grant Line Business Park down by Kubota is now open for business and I think you'll see some of those some new major employer announcements in the coming years and then just continuing to focus on what we do best.

Those community core priorities, right? Better connected trails and parks. We want to remain a clean and safe community where people of all ages, races, demographics want to live. You know, one of the things we're proud of is our diversity. So we want to continue to build on our diversity and continue to be a city welcome to all.

We think, you know, Elk Grove is on the rise with a ton of potential and we're super optimistic and bullish for the future. So. The best is yet to come. 

John Hull: Well, Jason Behrmann, I wanna personally thank you for your work as our city manager, and thank you for spending time with us today here on the Elk Grove Citycast. 

John Hull: Now in this portion of the Elk Grove Citycast, we call it our rapid fire segment. It's where I put Kristyn on the spot with questions about Elk Grove. Now if you have a question you want to hear answers for, you can email me at publicaffairs@elkgrovecity.org. Again, publicaffairs@elkgrovecity.org. and we'll put Kristyn on the spot and see if she even knows the answer to your question. So here we go, Kristyn. For the first rapid fire segment of 2024 Major industries, huge part of our city's economy, as in fact, Jason even referred to this one back on December 12th, Kubota Tractor, the Kubota Tractor Corporation, had a grand opening of its new distribution center on Grant Line and Waterman Roads.

So, can you offer us a little bit of insight on their $70 million facility? 

Kristyn Laurence: Yeah, December 12th, as you mentioned, marked a really big milestone for Elk Grove's economic development with that grand opening at Kubota Tractor Corporation's state of the art Western Distribution Center. Elk Grove was one of a number of cities in the region, and in fact the West Coast, that were considered for the project. And ultimately, Elk Grove won out with its location, affordable costs for development, and our workforce talent pool. Kubota’s opening is expected to kickstart other development in the new 400-acre Grant Line Business Park and Kubota now occupies 45 acres of previously owned city land and they'll serve as a hub for their Western Division Executive Offices, the Kubota University training classroom, so we'll have folks coming in from all parts of the West to receive training the Kubota way, and a distribution center for their farming, construction and turf parts and equipment for Kubota dealers and customers throughout the Western U. S. The company generated about 400 jobs during the construction period and is bringing about 150 permanent jobs to the city.

John Hull: Well, we welcome the Kubota people to Elk Grove. Well, the Elk Grove City Council. Here's our next question. On December 13th, our City Council adopted a new ordinance which established new speed limits on Bilby Road, Bradshaw Road, Grant Line Road. Sheldon Road and West Stockton Boulevard pursuant to the findings of the engineering and traffic surveys and upon the recommendations of our city's traffic engineer, Mr. Ashby. So what will be new speed limits on these major thoroughfares here in Elk Grove? 

Kristyn Laurence: So I had to go back and do some digging in my homework because as James Ashby, our traffic engineer, pointed out in our December episode, the speed limit on local roads can change based on the results of these traffic surveys to improve the traffic flow and public safety. 

The City Council actually heard the initial recommendations for revisions to the speed limit on these arterials and those changes came back as part of a second reading required to enact the changes on December 13th. So they heard them first in early November and then it came back because there's only one meeting in November, one meeting in December of the Council.

It came back December 13th and I did look up those changes and they are now in effect for the following roads. So I'm going to give you the laundry list. So Bradshaw Road from Elk Grove Boulevard all the way to Calvine Road is now 50 miles an hour. That got reduced from 55 miles an hour.

Grant Line Road from Highway 99 to Waterman Road is now 50 miles an hour. That was reduced from 55 miles per hour. But other sections, Grant Line Road north of Waterman to the city limits are staying at 55. to see a transition at around that Waterman area if you're traveling Grant Line from 50 to 55. And then Sheldon Road between Bruceville Road and Highway 99 is now Forty five miles an hour. So it went up by five miles an hour. It was 40 miles per hour on West Stockton Boulevard just south of Laguna Grove Drive to Promenade Parkway. So that area over by like the Auto Mall down to the casino is now set at 45 miles per hour So public works staff, they're in the process of posting new signs and Sergeant Kearsing and his team in the traffic enforcement unit will give probably the first 90 days or so to implement an education and enforcement period to ensure that all the motorists have a chance to acclimate to the changes.

And then after that, if you're violating it, you might be cited. But we're giving given about a 90 day leeway to get acclimated to those changes. But that's the new speed limits in parts of the city. 

John Hull: Okay, great. Great. Thank you for that answer. And finally, this it's time to probe into the mystery of Christmas 2023 in Elk Grove.

No, it's not “How does Santa Claus slide down chimneys?” Rather, what was that loud explosion? Now, Kristyn, I was awakened as several hundred of my neighbors were at 10 35 p. m. Saturday, December 23rd by what I'll describe as a loud, rumbling boom. Okay? Not an explosion got boom. Imagine the difference. So anyway, what I did, Kristyn, is I actually walked out my front door, looked around my house, seeing if anything, you know, was gone. And no, I didn't see anything. But returning indoors, my Ring app was just chiming away on my iPhone, as others in Central Elk Grove, where I live, were asking the same question. What was that? And by early the next morning, all social media was blowing up with rumors and misinformation. I'm going to call it misinformation because that's maybe you'll get into this a little bit.

There were some reports that just were totally not right. So please lend some insight on what that boom or explosion was. 

Kristyn Laurence: Okay. First, I got to ask, did you ever watch Bugs Bunny cartoons? Oh, of course. So every time I hear this, it makes me think of Marvin the Martian and the earth shattering kaboom. But but I hear, you know, who did not hear the loud boom?

It was the talk of the town on social media for sure. And the police department actually shared some information on their Facebook page. I know the dispatch center received calls from places all over town. Even as far as Wilton [00:38:00] Our officers checked several areas but the cause and the exact location of the boom still are unknown.

So there's been a lot of speculation. People thought maybe Santa's sleigh decided to enter the atmosphere with a sonic boom. There were some other off color comments that I can't repeat, but a lot of speculation, but nothing that has been substantiated. So I know the police department said that anyone with more information about the sound is encouraged to call their non-emergency line.

That number is (916) 714-5115. That's their non-emergency line. If anybody has any more information to share on it. 

John Hull: Yes, or, or email us at publicaffairs@elkgrovecity.org. You can give us your insight if you have any. I have a feeling this might be a topic that goes on here in 2024 on our Citycast. We'll try to get to the bottom of it. Let's just say that. Okay, no, it wasn't fireworks. I, I’m almost positive it wasn't somebody's M 80. It was too loud for an M 80. 

Kristyn Laurence: So, there were a lot of people saying that it was louder than an M 80 and to have like reports from that far away, it's, it's perplexing. 

John Hull: It is. It really is. So, all right. If anybody knows, call the police, okay, don't, don't, I don't want Kristyn to be inundated by reading your emails, but it wouldn't be bad to hear from you anyway. All right. If you have any questions for Kristyn, please email us right here. At publicaffairs@elkgrovecity.org. 

Hey, thanks for joining us here on our opening edition of Season Two of the Elk Grove Citycast for Kristyn Laurence, I'm John Hull. Thank you for tuning in.

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