What Cypress is about to decide

The Cypress City Council meets Tuesday, October 13, 2026 in the City Council Chambers, 5275 Orange Avenue — a workshop on the Active Transportation Plan at 5:00 p.m., closed session at 5:30 p.m. and the general session at 6:00 p.m. These are pending decisions from the posted agendas — nothing below has been approved yet. Every item links to the official record.

Source: official agenda (regular meeting) · official agenda (workshop) · Cypress agenda portal · Written comments: cityclerk@cypressca.org by 3:00 p.m. on the day of the meeting

🌳 Public hearing: park fees on new housing

• What the council is asked to do: “Introduce for first reading an Ordinance repealing Article VI and adding a new Article XII entitled ‘Park and Recreational Facilities Fees and Improvements’ to Chapter 25 of the Cypress Municipal Code,” and adopt a resolution “adopting the Park Development Impact Fee Nexus Study, updating the Quimby Act in-lieu fee, establishing a Park Development Impact Fee for new residential development, and amending the Master Fee Schedule to include both fees.” Item 6
• The numbers, per the staff report: the city “currently charges a flat Quimby Act fee of $23,421 per dwelling unit for residential subdivisions, regardless of unit size,” and “residential development that does not involve a subdivision is not currently subject to a park impact fee.” A Willdan Financial Services nexus study found “the maximum legally supportable fees are $23.44 per square foot for residential subdivisions and $17.41 per square foot for other residential development.” The fees would apply only to habitable square footage (garages, storage and mechanical rooms excluded), and a development would pay one fee or the other, not both. Item 6
• Why now: the staff report says the current fee rests on a 2017 nexus study and a Quimby ordinance “adopted in 1976 and last updated in 1991,” and that Assembly Bill 602 now requires fees calculated by square footage. The study lists 19 planned park projects from the city’s Capital Improvement Program “with a total estimated cost exceeding $50 million.” The council reviewed the study at its August 25, 2026 workshop and, per the report, “directed staff to prepare the documents necessary to implement the maximum fee supported by the study.” Both fees would be adjusted annually by the Construction Cost Index beginning July 1, 2028. Item 6
• Staff ask the council to find the actions are not a project under CEQA (Section 15378(b)(4)). The public may speak before any action is taken; speakers get three minutes. Item 6

💰 Money on the consent calendar

• Network security monitoring: “a three-year agreement with SHI International Corp. for $121,435.00 to renew the City’s Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response Network Security Monitoring Services,” for October 2026 through October 2029, bought through an OMNIA cooperative agreement without separate bidding, per the staff report. Item 1
• Audiovisual upgrades at the Community Center and Senior Center: award to Western Audio Visual “in the amount of $130,166, and authorize a contingency of $13,167,” with total compensation not to exceed $143,333. Western Audio Visual ranked first of three proposers (196 points). Per the staff report, $25,000 and $30,000 already budgeted would be combined and “an additional appropriation of $88,333 is required” from the Recreation and Park District Capital Replacement Fund. Item 5
• Tree trimming: Amendment No. 1 with Great Scott Tree Services, Inc. “to increase the annual contract amount to $350,000” (from $275,000). Per the staff report, $51,750 covers extra pruning along the landscape berm next to the Stanton Channel in the Business District and $23,250 is for emergency tree care, citing “forecasted El Niño conditions.” A budget-amendment resolution is attached. Item 4
• Budget software rejected: staff recommend rejecting all six proposals for new budget software and producing the budget book in-house, which the staff report says “will save the City approximately $18,000 annually.” Item 2
• Organic waste procurement policy (SB 1383 compost and mulch purchasing), to receive and file; “no fiscal impact” per the staff report. Item 3

🚲 Workshop: Active Transportation Plan

• A 5:00 p.m. special-meeting workshop on the city’s Active Transportation Plan; the recommendation is “Hold the workshop.” No action is listed. Under special-meeting rules, public comment is limited to the item on the workshop agenda. Workshop Item 1

🔒 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. The City Attorney will announce any reportable action when the council reconvenes.

Also on the agenda: a proclamation recognizing Fire Prevention Week. Next meeting per the agenda: a special meeting for the Mayor’s State of the City address, Monday, October 19, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. at the Cypress Community Center, 5700 Orange Avenue.

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.