The San Ramon City Council is set to consider increasing the fees assessed in one of the city's central neighborhoods as the operating and replacement costs have increased, with the final decision in the hands of property owners in the neighborhood and votes set to be counted Tuesday.

City staff determined that the "Lighting and Landscaping" zone encompassing the city's Vista neighborhood between Canyon Lakes Golf Course and Central Park would no longer be able to run at the current or desired level of service in the near future under the current fee structure, according to a staff report prepared for the upcoming City Council meeting.

"Zone 4 is at its maximum assessment rate," wrote John Bell, public works program manager. "To maintain the desired service levels, an increase in the maximum assessment for the Zone will be needed."

Councilmembers approved an engineer's report describing proposed improvements in landscaping and lighting services in the zone as well as a financial assessment justifying the proposed fee increase on May 9, with ballots on the item then sent to property owners in the Vista neighborhood. The votes will be tabulated and results announced at the upcoming regular council meeting.

Staff recommend increasing the annual fee to $385 per assessment unit, with annual increases thereafter based on the February Consumer Price Index for the Bay Area, and point to support for the measure based on their discussions with the neighborhood's homeowner association.

If the fee increase isn't approved by property owners, the city would then be prohibited from increasing the maximum fee for lighting and landscaping services in the neighborhood, and staff would look into ways to cut services to the zone in order to balance costs from the city with fees from property owners.

If a majority of votes are in favor of the measure, staff would then file the engineer's report and proposed fee increase with the Contra Costa County Assessor's Office by Aug. 10 and put the program described in the report into action.

The San Ramon City Council is set to meet at 7 p.m. on Tuesday (June 27). The agenda is available here.

In other business

*Councilmembers will consider appointing members to the city's Arts, Library and Senior Citizens' advisory committees.

* East Bay Municipal Utility District directors John Coleman and April Chan will present an update on the district's water supply.

* Mayor Dave Hudson will present a proclamation recognizing California High School's stunt team champions.