What Cypress is about to decide
The Cypress City Council meets Tuesday, September 22, 2026 in the City Council Chambers, 5275 Orange Avenue — closed session at 5:30 p.m., general session at 6:00 p.m. These are pending decisions from the posted agenda — nothing below has been approved yet. Every item links to the official record.
Source: official agenda · Cypress agenda portal · Written comments: cityclerk@cypressca.org by 3:00 p.m. on the day of the meeting
✅ What actually passed (per the posted minutes): The city’s minutes of the September 22 meeting, posted on its agenda portal (unsigned; the record does not say whether the council has adopted them), record all five members present. The consent calendar (Items 1–7) passed 5-0 on a motion by Council Member Burke, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Chang — including the $20,780,000 Fund Balance Policy transfer from the General Fund into five reserve funds and the year-end budget adjustments (Item 3), the award of the user fee study and cost allocation plan to Willdan Financial Services, with total compensation not to exceed $65,000 (Item 5), and the Grand Jury responses (Item 7); no item was pulled. The 112-unit townhome development at 4691 Katella Avenue was approved 3-1 (Item 8): on a motion by Mayor Pro Tem Chang, seconded by Council Member Peat, the council adopted the resolutions approving Site Plan Review No. 2025-01 (Resolution No. 7075) and Tentative Tract Map No. 19413 (Resolution No. 7076), with Chang, Burke and Peat in favor and Council Member Strong Carnahan opposed. Mayor Medrano recused himself — the City Attorney announced that he “lives within 500 feet of the subject location” — and Chang chaired the item. The minutes identify the applicant as Melia Homes. From closed session, the City Attorney reported no reportable action on the police labor negotiations, that the council “conducted and concluded the periodic performance evaluation of the City Manager,” and that a letter threatening litigation “challenging certain prior City actions” would be “tendered to the project applicant, who has a duty to defend the City if litigation is filed.”
The headline: the night’s one public hearing is a 112-unit townhome development at 4691 Katella Avenue — staff recommend approving Site Plan Review No. 2025-01 and Tentative Tract Map No. 19413. On the consent calendar, a year-end budget item would move $20,780,000 out of the General Fund into five reserve funds under the city’s Fund Balance Policy.
🏗️ Public hearing: 112 townhomes on Katella
- 4691 Katella Avenue: the council is asked to “adopt Resolutions approving Site Plan Review No. 2025-01 and Tentative Tract Map No. 19413 for a 112-unit townhome development at 4691 Katella Avenue, subject to the attached Conditions of Approval, and finding the project exempt from California Environmental Quality Act requirements.” The agenda does not name the applicant. The public may speak before any action is taken; speakers get three minutes. Item 8
💰 Money on the consent calendar
- $20,780,000 to reserves: as part of the Fiscal Year 2025-26 fourth-quarter financial report, the council would “authorize implementation of the City’s Fund Balance Policy by transferring $20,780,000 from the General Fund (Fund 111)” to the Employee Benefits Fund ($6,926,668), Workers Compensation Fund ($2,080,000), Infrastructure Reserve Fund ($7,617,334), City Capital Replacement Fund ($2,770,667) and Technology Master Plan Fund ($1,385,331). Item 3
- Year-end budget adjustments in the same item: General Fund revenue up $545,000, expenditures up $477,100 and transfers out up $44,400, “for a positive net change of $23,500”; the Cypress Recreation and Park District General Fund and its Park Development Fund each up $975,639 in both revenue and expenditures, “for a $0 net change”; and smaller adjustments to the grants, asset seizure, cable TV franchise and recreation foundation funds. Item 3
- User fee study: award of a Request for Proposals for a Comprehensive User Fee Study and Full Cost Allocation Plan to Willdan Financial Services, with the City Manager authorized to approve change orders and amendments “provided that Willdan Financial Services’ total compensation does not exceed $65,000.” The agenda lists no fee changes as part of this item. Item 5
📝 Also on consent
- Grand Jury responses: the Mayor would be authorized “to sign the attached responses to the Orange County Grand Jury reports for submission to the Presiding Judge of the Orange County Superior Court.” The agenda does not name the reports. Item 7
- An update on the Strategic Plan objectives; the investment reports for the month ended August 31, 2026; the register of warrants, transfers and wires for August 8 through September 4, 2026; and minutes of the August 25 workshop, the August 25 regular meeting and the August 26 strategic planning meeting. Items 1, 2, 4, 6
🔒 Closed session
- Labor negotiations with the Cypress Employees’ Association, Maintenance Employees’ Association, Police Officers’ Association, Police Management Association and unrepresented employees; negotiators are City Manager Shannon DeLong and Stephanie Sikkema, Director of Finance and Administrative Services.
- City Manager evaluation: a public employee performance evaluation “for the position of City Manager.” The City Attorney will announce any reportable action when the council reconvenes.
Next meeting per the agenda: an adjourned regular meeting on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
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.
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