What Brea is about to decide

Brea’s council meets Tuesday, sitting also as the Successor Agency to the Brea Redevelopment Agency: closed session at 6:00 p.m. in the Executive Conference Room, 3rd floor, and general session at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers, Plaza Level, 1 Civic Center Circle. The items below are described as posted on the agenda; what the council did, per the city’s draft minutes record, is in the results box below them. Every item links to the official record.

Source: City Council Regular Meeting agenda packet (PDF) · Brea agendas · Agenda posted October 1, 2026

✅ What actually passed (per the draft minutes record): The city’s minutes record on AgendaLink — headed “a draft of the minutes” and not yet adopted — records all five members present, with the general session running from 7:01 p.m. to 9:33 p.m. The e-bike fine ordinance was adopted. On a motion by Mayor Pro Tem Simonoff, seconded by Council Member Marick, at 8:11 p.m., the council voted 5-0 (Hupp, Simonoff, Marick, Stewart and Vargas) “to approve Consent Calendar items 3A - 3D, excluding item 3B,” and the record states that the council “waived full reading and adopted Ordinance No. 1277” (Item 3.C). The same vote approved the September 15 special meeting minutes “as written” (Item 3.A) and received and filed the August Outgoing Payment Log and the September 11, 18 and 25 disbursement registers (Item 3.D). Item 3.B, the office lease with Richards, Watson & Gershon, was excluded from that motion. The record shows one further motion in the consent section — by Marick, seconded by Stewart, at 8:28 p.m., passing 4-0 with Council Member Vargas abstaining — but its write-up of Item 3.B is still blank, so we are not yet reporting what the council decided on the lease. Both Mercury Lane hearing items passed 5-0. On Item 4.A, a motion to approve by Simonoff, seconded by Stewart, carried 5-0 at 8:38 p.m.; the recommendation before the council was to introduce Ordinance No. 1278, cancelling Development Agreement No. 19-01, and schedule its second reading for the next regular meeting. On Item 4.B, a motion to approve by Vargas, seconded by Stewart, carried 5-0 at 8:42 p.m.; the recommendation was to adopt Resolution No. 2026-66 approving the issuance of up to $60,000,000 in California Municipal Finance Authority bonds for the Mercury Senior Apartments — bonds the staff report says are “the sole responsibility of the Borrower.” The record has not yet filled in the written minutes for either hearing, so the exact wording of those motions is not stated. The record also notes the OCTA presentation on the SR-57 Truck Climbing Lane project and the police department’s update on the Integrated Crime Center and license plate reader program. We will update this section when the council adopts the minutes.

The headline: two public hearings on the same corner lot. The council is asked to hold a federally required hearing and approve the issuance of up to $60,000,000 in bonds by the California Municipal Finance Authority for the Mercury Senior Apartments, an 85-unit affordable senior housing project at Mercury Lane and Berry Street — bonds the staff report says are “the sole responsibility of the Borrower,” not the city. It is also asked to introduce Ordinance No. 1278, cancelling the development agreement for the 114-unit project that was approved for that site in 2020 and never built. On consent: a new office lease with the city attorney’s law firm at $10,657 per month, and the e-bike fine ordinance, back for second reading.

🏘 Mercury Lane and Berry Street: two public hearings

Up to $60,000,000 in conduit bonds for Mercury Senior Apartments. The council is asked to conduct a public hearing under the Tax and Equity Fiscal Responsibility Act (“TEFRA”) on the proposed issuance of qualified exempt facility bonds by the California Municipal Finance Authority (CMFA) “in an amount not to exceed $60,000,000” to finance or refinance the acquisition, construction, improvement and equipping of a senior multifamily rental housing project at the southeast corner of Mercury Lane and Berry Street, and to adopt Resolution No. 2026-66 approving the issuance for the benefit of Mercury Brea LP, a partnership of which C&C Development Co., LLC or a related person is the general partner. The agenda says the adoption “is solely for the purposes of satisfying the requirements of TEFRA,” the Internal Revenue Code and California Government Code Section 6500. This is not city borrowing: the staff report says the bonds “will be the sole responsibility of the Borrower, and the City will have no financial, legal, moral obligation, liability or responsibility for the Project or the repayment of the Bonds.” Staff adds that “it is expected that a portion of the issuance fee attributable to the City will be granted by the CMFA to the General Fund (110) of the City”; no amount is given. Item 4.B
Ordinance No. 1278: cancelling the 2020 development agreement. The council is asked to open a public hearing, find the action exempt from CEQA under Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3), and introduce by title only Ordinance No. 1278, “approving cancellation of Development Agreement No. 19-01 (Mercury Lane Residential Planned Community),” with second reading and adoption to be scheduled for the next regular council meeting. C&C Development Co., LLC is requesting the cancellation. According to the staff report, the agreement covers a five-story, 114-unit project the council approved on June 2, 2020 — 11 low-income units, 80 workforce units and 23 market-rate units — that “was not constructed and is no longer being pursued.” The 1.01-acre site (Assessor’s Parcel Number 296-143-01), described as “a vacant, unpaved lot,” is now approved for the Mercury Senior Apartments, “an 85-unit, 100 percent affordable apartment community, serving lower-income households.” Item 4.A
Why cancel it. Staff says the developer’s “construction lender, permanent lender, and tax credit investor require DA 19-01 and the Affordable Covenants for the Prior Project to be cleared from title.” The council would also authorize the City Manager, or their designee, to execute three documents: the Cancellation of Development Agreement, an Affordable Housing Agreement Termination and a Workforce Housing Restrictive Covenant Termination. The staff report says the cancellation “does not modify the approved entitlements for the Current Project” and “will have no fiscal impact on the General Fund (110).” The Planning Commission recommended approval on September 8, 2026 by a 5-0 vote (Resolution No. PC 2026-07), and as of the drafting of the report staff had received no public comments. The report gives a target of October 2026 for first permit issuance. Item 4.A

A discrepancy in the packet: the agenda, the bond staff report and the draft bond resolution name the borrower as “Mercury Brea LP,” while the draft of Ordinance No. 1278 names the current owner of the property as “Brea Mercury LP.” Council Brief reports both as printed and does not resolve which is correct.

💼 City Hall office lease with the city attorney’s firm

A one-year lease with Richards, Watson & Gershon (RWG). On consent, the council is asked to approve a one-year Commercial Office Lease Agreement with RWG; authorize the City Manager or designee to approve non-substantive changes and to amend and extend the term, “not to exceed a total of two years”; and amend the General Fund (110) Operating Budget “to appropriate $53,996 in Fiscal Year 2026-27 in additional revenue.” The firm occupies approximately 3,947 square feet on the 2nd floor of the Brea Civic and Cultural Center. Proposed rent is $10,657 per month, inclusive of utilities and janitorial services, calculated at $2.70 per month per usable square foot, with annual CPI increases from July 1, 2027 (minimum 2%, maximum 5%). The staff report quotes the 2004 legal services agreement as setting the firm’s payment at $5,567.27 per month, and says $73,888 in annual revenue from the RWG lease was budgeted for Fiscal Year 2026-2027, against $127,884 annually under the proposed lease. The draft lease calls for a $21,314 security deposit and lets RWG terminate on at least thirty days’ notice “if the City of Brea appoints as its City Attorney an attorney who is not an employee of Tenant.” Item 3.B
The background, per the staff report. “James Markman has served as the primary City Attorney for the City of Brea” and the former Redevelopment Agency/Successor Agency since November 1, 1977. The report says that “at the direction of the City Council,” the legal services agreement and the office lease “are desired to be separate, independent documents,” and that on August 18, 2026 the council approved a new, one-year Legal Services Agreement with RWG that “includes updated terms governing scope of work, compensation, and the designation of the City Attorney effective October 7, 2026.” The report does not name who is designated. Item 3.B

Two things to note in the packet. First, the staff report says the lease “shall become effective on October 7, 2026 for a one-year term ending on October 6, 2027,” while the attached draft lease says the base term is twelve months “commencing on October 1, 2026” and “ending on September 30, 2027.” Council Brief prints both and does not resolve which is correct. Second, the recommendation is worded as one for the Finance Committee to pass along to the council; the report says the September 29, 2026 Finance Committee meeting at which it was scheduled “was subsequently canceled on September 28, 2026.”

🚲 E-bike fines: second reading, again

Ordinance No. 1277. The council is asked to waive full reading and adopt Ordinance No. 1277, “An Ordinance of the City of Brea Revising Electric Mobility Device Regulations, Amending the Brea City Code, and Approving a CEQA Exemption.” The ordinance was introduced on August 18, 2026. Its operative text provides that the administrative fines for violations of the city’s electric mobility device chapter “are as established by City Council resolution.” The packet attaches Resolution No. 2026-63, dated August 18, 2026, which sets those fines at $250 for a first offense, $500 for a second offense within 12 months and $1000 for a third (or more) offense within 12 months, and which takes effect on the effective date of Ordinance No. 1277. The staff report describes “a potential increase in revenue from fines collected.” The same second reading was listed on the September 15 special meeting agenda; the draft minutes of that meeting attached to this packet say the item “was removed from the Consent Calendar and will return at a later date.” Item 3.C

🚨 Police technology and the SR-57 presentation

Integrated Crime Center and license plate readers. A presentation from the Brea Police Department: an update on the Integrated Crime Center (ICC) and an overview of the Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) program. The recommended action is to receive and file; the staff report, prepared by Police Chief Adam Hawley, states “there is no fiscal impact to the General Fund.” The packet attaches three police department documents on the program, including one stating the department “flatly prohibits sharing ALPR data out-of-state or with federal authorities (e.g., ICE, CBP) for civil immigration enforcement or religious/ethnic profiling.” Item 2.G
OCTA SR-57 Truck Climbing Lane Project. A presentation; the packet includes no staff report for it and no action is listed. Item 2.F

🔒 Closed session, 6:00 p.m.

Anticipated litigation — exposure. Conference with legal counsel under Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(2): “Significant Exposure to Litigation: 1 potential case. Facts and Circumstances: Urban Habitat Claim.” The agenda gives no further detail. Item 1.C
Anticipated litigation — initiation. Conference with legal counsel under Section 54956.9(d)(4): “Initiation of Litigation: 2 potential cases.” The agenda does not identify them. Item 1.D
Existing litigation. Conference with legal counsel under Section 54956.9(d)(1): City of Brea v. Schwarze Industries (Case No. 30-2024-01437243-CU-BC-CJC). Item 1.E

🪑 Also on the agenda

Minutes. Approval of the September 15, 2026 Special City Council Meeting minutes. The packet includes them marked as “a draft of the minutes” and not the official approved minutes. Item 3.A
Money on receive-and-file. The August Outgoing Payment Log and the City Disbursement Registers for September 11, September 18 and September 25, 2026. Item 3.D
Opening items include commendations for Shirley Marks’ 100th birthday and for Brea Police Department K9 Mirk, the Pledge led by Boy Scout Troop 707, and an invocation by Pastor Dan Crane of Formation Church. Items 2.B–2.E
Public comment on agenda items is taken early in the general session, with comments on the two hearing items heard during the hearings; comment on non-agenda items follows the hearings. Speakers are limited to five minutes, in person or by Zoom. Items 2.I, 5.A

Council Brief summaries are produced from official public records by our automated newsroom and reviewed before publication. Items are described as posted; the council may amend, continue, or remove items at the meeting. Spot an error? hello@councilbrief.com — we publish corrections.