Unknown: SS
Unknown: Good evening and welcome to the Energy Resources and Customer
SPEAKER_07: Services Committee and Special Board Meeting of February 18, 2026.
SPEAKER_07: This meeting is being recorded and can be accessed on SMUD's website.
SPEAKER_07: Please remember to unmute your microphone when speaking in order that our virtual attendees
SPEAKER_07: can hear you.
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SPEAKER_07: during the committee meeting may do so by using the raise hand feature in Zoom or pressing
SPEAKER_07: star 9 while dialed into the telephone toll-free number at the time that public comment is
SPEAKER_07: called.
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SPEAKER_07: the public comment period.
SPEAKER_07: You can also submit written comments by emailing them to publiccommentatsmud.org.
SPEAKER_07: Written comments will not be read into the record but will be provided to the Board electronically
SPEAKER_07: and placed into the record of the meeting if received within two hours after the meeting
SPEAKER_07: ends.
SPEAKER_07: Chief Legal Officer, will you please conduct a roll call?
SPEAKER_05: Director Sanborn?
Unknown: Here.
Unknown: Director Fishman?
SPEAKER_05: Here.
Unknown: Chair Buie Thompson?
SPEAKER_05: Director Fishman and Sanborn are present.
SPEAKER_05: Chair Buie Thompson is absent.
SPEAKER_05: Also present are Directors Rose, Herbert, Kurth and President Tamayo.
SPEAKER_07: Thank you.
SPEAKER_07: Item number one on tonight's agenda is to discuss adoption of a resolution declaring
SPEAKER_07: the following properties identified by assessor's parcel numbers, APNs, as surplus and exempt
SPEAKER_07: from the notice and disposal requirements of the Surplus Land Act.
SPEAKER_07: They are RP085 Alamo's, a former substation site, RP158, Amador Power In West's TAP, a
SPEAKER_07: former unused parcel, and ARRP038 Ice House Highland Day Use Area.
SPEAKER_07: I believe we have Emily to walk us through this one.
SPEAKER_03: Great.
Unknown: Good evening.
SPEAKER_03: Thank you, Director Fishman.
SPEAKER_03: As was mentioned, my name is Emily Bikini and I'm the interim director for the Safety,
SPEAKER_03: Environmental and Real Estate Services Team.
SPEAKER_03: I am here tonight to ask the Board to request that the Board declare the properties listed
SPEAKER_03: on the slide as surplus and that they're exempt from the notice and disposal requirements
SPEAKER_03: of the Surplus Land Act.
Unknown: The three properties in question include the Alamo's property.
SPEAKER_03: It is a recently decommissioned substation.
SPEAKER_03: The Amador Power In West property, which is a vacant lot that was never built on, and
SPEAKER_03: the Highland Point Day Use property, which is up in our Upper American River Project
SPEAKER_03: in El Dorado County.
SPEAKER_03: Brief background on the Surplus Land Act.
SPEAKER_03: This was originally enacted in the late 1960s to provide a framework for local government
SPEAKER_03: agencies to manage their excess public land.
SPEAKER_03: The act requires that when local agencies declare land as surplus, they must prioritize
SPEAKER_03: its use for affordable housing, parks and open space.
SPEAKER_03: In order to declare land as surplus, the local agency's governing body takes action at a
SPEAKER_03: regular public meeting to declare the land as surplus and that it's not necessary for
SPEAKER_03: the local agency's use.
Unknown: Additionally, there are several reasons that property could be considered exempt under the
SPEAKER_03: Surplus Land Act.
SPEAKER_03: For today's purposes, the first two properties, the Alamo's and Amador Power In West properties
SPEAKER_03: are exempt because they're less than half of an acre in size and they're not contiguous
SPEAKER_03: with land that's used for open space or low and moderate income housing purposes.
SPEAKER_03: The third property that is up in El Dorado County is considered exempt from the Surplus
SPEAKER_03: Land Act because we intend to transfer it to the U.S. Forest Service.
SPEAKER_03: This is a condition of our FERC license that we build a day use recreation area along Icehouse
SPEAKER_03: Reservoir and this was the property identified for that purpose.
SPEAKER_03: A little more details about the three properties in question.
SPEAKER_03: So the Alamo's property is located in North Sacramento in Ward 5.
SPEAKER_03: It's about a tenth of an acre in size and we had a substation there that was recently
SPEAKER_03: decommissioned.
SPEAKER_03: The adjacent landowner has expressed interest in purchasing the property and our real property
SPEAKER_03: asset management committee has determined that there's no other needs for it within SMUD.
SPEAKER_03: The second property is the Amador Power In West property.
SPEAKER_03: It is located in Ward 3.
SPEAKER_03: It's a little more than a quarter of an acre in size.
SPEAKER_03: We purchased it in the late 50s.
SPEAKER_03: We thought we were going to build a substation at that location but didn't end up needing
SPEAKER_03: to.
SPEAKER_03: And again it was designated as surplus by the real property asset management committee
SPEAKER_03: late last year.
SPEAKER_03: And then last but not least we have the Icehouse Highland Point Day Use Area.
SPEAKER_03: This is about three quarters of an acre located adjacent to the Icehouse Reservoir.
SPEAKER_03: Again we have a FERC license requirement to create or build a recreation day use facility
SPEAKER_03: in that area for the public.
SPEAKER_03: So after we will declare that if the board approves the surplus land act request it will
SPEAKER_03: be donated to the U.S. Forest Service.
Unknown: And that in closing requesting that the board declare these properties as surplus and that
SPEAKER_03: they're exempt from the surplus land act.
Unknown: Director Herber?
Unknown: Thank you Chair Fishman.
SPEAKER_00: Today we got an email from the Lutheran Bethany Church that would really like to have that
SPEAKER_00: parcel of land that we are considering surplus.
SPEAKER_00: Is it possible for us to make a donation to them?
SPEAKER_00: Can we give this to them?
SPEAKER_00: It seems to me like it doesn't make a lot of sense if we have a well non-profit that
SPEAKER_00: wants to take over something that we don't even want anymore but I don't know what all
SPEAKER_00: the rules are.
Unknown: Laura?
Unknown: Laura, this is Chief League on Government Affairs Officer.
SPEAKER_05: So we would need to ensure that we receive a fair return for the property because we
SPEAKER_05: can't donate property.
SPEAKER_05: That would be a gift of public funds.
SPEAKER_05: But certainly we could talk to this Lutheran, this Lutheran Church I believe and I think
SPEAKER_05: there's another property owner nearby that's interested and so we'd have to negotiate something
SPEAKER_05: that was consistent with the board's policies and getting a reasonable return for that market
SPEAKER_05: value for that property.
SPEAKER_05: And I don't know, I don't have any idea what that would be but we can't just give it away
SPEAKER_05: but we can certainly discuss that with them.
Unknown: Okay, well it would be nice if we could reach out to them and talk to them and you know
SPEAKER_00: there's a, I understand that there's a requirement that we can't give it away and that they
SPEAKER_00: have to, we have to provide fair market value and I've also seen a lot of variety in the
SPEAKER_00: costs for land.
SPEAKER_00: So I'd really like to see us make an effort to help them.
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, stuff will definitely reach out and what this board action does is allows us to
SPEAKER_05: do that because you're declaring it surplus and then we can go and engage with them.
Unknown: Have we heard from them prior to the email that showed up today?
SPEAKER_03: Not to my understanding.
SPEAKER_03: Okay, just curious.
Unknown: I've heard from them in the past on the site.
SPEAKER_02: It's been an issue.
SPEAKER_02: It's been vacant for some years and so the fences are always being cut and things are
SPEAKER_02: being left there.
SPEAKER_02: It's been a big mess and kind of a headache for smud.
SPEAKER_02: We've always out there had to patch it up and fix things and clean it up.
SPEAKER_02: So it's a site will be nice to have off our list and I would just want to second Bethel
SPEAKER_02: Lutheran has been just a great community organization for a long, long time and I hope we definitely
SPEAKER_02: reach out to them.
SPEAKER_02: Thanks.
Unknown: Just to be clear to what we're talking about tonight is not the final disposition of the
SPEAKER_07: land.
SPEAKER_07: It's just whether or not we declared surplus.
SPEAKER_07: That's right.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but we won't see it again.
SPEAKER_07: True.
Unknown: Yeah.
Unknown: Thank you.
SPEAKER_07: Emily.
SPEAKER_06: So a couple questions.
SPEAKER_06: So after we assuming we approve this, then what is the normal process that staff goes
SPEAKER_06: through to dispose of this property?
Unknown: That's a really good question.
SPEAKER_03: We would be able to reach out a couple of one of the properties has a property property
SPEAKER_03: owner that's interested in purchasing it.
SPEAKER_03: So they've already reached out to smud to see if we were willing to sell it.
SPEAKER_03: Not this one.
SPEAKER_03: A different one.
SPEAKER_03: It's a different one.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
Unknown: So so we would engage with that that individual and or that organization to work to sell the
SPEAKER_03: property to them.
SPEAKER_03: The other one we would engage in a conversation with the Bethel Lutheran Church.
SPEAKER_03: We had also been approached by the city of Sacramento.
SPEAKER_03: They were also interested in that property.
SPEAKER_03: So we would need to have some conversations around the best use and how to ensure that
SPEAKER_03: we're not giving public not providing a gift of public funds.
SPEAKER_07: I want to make sure that I'm clear on something because I have not had a chance to see that
SPEAKER_07: email and read it all the way through Bethel Church is interested in the property in North
SPEAKER_07: Sacramento.
SPEAKER_07: Right.
SPEAKER_07: And I thought the city of Sacramento was interested in the property along Powering Road.
SPEAKER_07: That's correct.
SPEAKER_06: That's correct.
SPEAKER_06: And then the Forest Service is.
SPEAKER_06: Right.
SPEAKER_07: But there's also a property owner adjacent to the North Sacramento lot that is interested
SPEAKER_07: in purchasing that property as well.
SPEAKER_07: Okay.
SPEAKER_06: Well, I guess this gets into reputational stuff.
SPEAKER_06: And so I just want to make sure and it doesn't sound like it's super clear what the process
SPEAKER_06: is to dispose of land.
SPEAKER_06: And when we do do it, it's just important that we're really fair with who has knowledge
SPEAKER_06: that this is even available.
SPEAKER_06: And just because somebody comes to us first as a neighbor doesn't mean that's really the
SPEAKER_06: right fair thing.
SPEAKER_06: And also we have to think about the right payers and get a good price for the land that
SPEAKER_06: we've held for a long time.
SPEAKER_06: So I just think it would be useful to be able to explain to us the normal process and
SPEAKER_06: making sure it's a fair disposition.
SPEAKER_06: Because those kinds of things we will be brought in and emails will come to us if people are
SPEAKER_06: upset and don't think.
SPEAKER_06: You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_06: And then lastly, the Forest Service, unfortunately right now, is thinking of disposing of land
SPEAKER_06: to highest bidders.
SPEAKER_06: And I am no longer comfortable that it's going to stay as forest.
SPEAKER_06: And I guess I wonder, is there a way that we could ensure, because that's in our area
SPEAKER_06: of our territory, that we could ensure that the Forest Service doesn't sell it?
Unknown: It's down the road.
SPEAKER_06: It's a condition of our FERC license to build the day use recreational area on that property.
SPEAKER_03: So we're not disposing of it?
Unknown: No.
SPEAKER_03: Well, we're transferring it to the Forest Service and building on it.
SPEAKER_03: Got you.
SPEAKER_03: That's a condition of our FERC license.
SPEAKER_03: That one's clear.
SPEAKER_07: So Emily, the day use facility has not been constructed yet.
SPEAKER_07: Correct.
SPEAKER_07: But it's part of our FERC license that we will construct it.
SPEAKER_07: Is there a reason we're getting rid of it before we actually build on it?
SPEAKER_03: It's easier to transfer it if there aren't facilities already built.
SPEAKER_03: But we're not exactly sure how the timing of things are going to work out.
SPEAKER_03: And we've got the funding to build the day use facilities for this year.
SPEAKER_03: So we're going to build them regardless of whether we're able to transfer it to the Forest
SPEAKER_03: Service before we build them.
Unknown: Okay.
SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
SPEAKER_03: And then I'd like to invite Chris Metters up to talk a little bit more about how we dispose
SPEAKER_03: of properties for your question.
SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
SPEAKER_03: Appreciate it.
Unknown: Good evening.
SPEAKER_01: Chris Metters.
SPEAKER_01: I'm the real estate manager for SMUD.
SPEAKER_01: So we would assign a value to it.
SPEAKER_01: So basically every property that we would sell or dispose of has an assigned property
SPEAKER_01: value.
SPEAKER_01: We would typically reach out to people that have expressed interest in it.
SPEAKER_01: And then basically with that assigned value, ask them if they're interested in paying what
SPEAKER_01: that value is.
SPEAKER_01: Now I think you're concerned about fairness of everyone being aware that we're disposing
SPEAKER_01: of this.
SPEAKER_01: And quite honestly, that's not normally what we do with this process.
SPEAKER_01: So that might be something we could try to entertain with some sort of posting or something.
SPEAKER_01: But that would not, you know, really for us, we want fair market value.
SPEAKER_01: So making an assigned value on the parcel to say we're meeting that threshold and then
SPEAKER_01: reaching out to people that have communicated interest and then going from there from the
SPEAKER_01: disposition.
SPEAKER_07: In this case, the two smaller parcels down here in Sacramento are pretty specialized.
SPEAKER_07: It's not like I'm going to buy it for my own use and build a house on one of them.
SPEAKER_07: I mean, they're pretty small parcels.
SPEAKER_07: Are they big enough to do that?
SPEAKER_07: Well, one of them might be.
Unknown: Yeah, I think as small parcels get built with houses now, I think you don't need a lot of
SPEAKER_01: space.
SPEAKER_01: So there is that potential.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
Unknown: I mean, I think the church property or the church adjacent property, they're having issues
SPEAKER_01: with it.
SPEAKER_01: They see we're having issues with it.
SPEAKER_01: So I think that's their avenue of just trying to not have to deal with someone else with
SPEAKER_01: the fence getting torn up and, you know, the security and all that, I would assume.
SPEAKER_01: Well, if we were a private business, I'd be more comfortable with that.
SPEAKER_06: But I can tell you as a public agency and having public land that we're disposing of,
SPEAKER_06: that feels odd to me.
SPEAKER_06: I'm just going to say that and you guys can decide how to handle it.
SPEAKER_06: But I could see that being a problem if people disagree with whoever we sell it to and other
SPEAKER_06: people may not have known it was up for sale.
SPEAKER_00: I just want to say kind of in response to that, I think we all share the values of not
SPEAKER_00: giving a gift of public funds.
SPEAKER_00: And I also think some of this land is not pretty at all.
SPEAKER_00: It's not like I'm going to want to build a house on it.
SPEAKER_00: I do think it's important that everybody get a chance to say, I want that deserted crummy
SPEAKER_00: lot.
SPEAKER_00: But I also don't think that we should deny a neighbor who has been living with, you know,
SPEAKER_00: people going on to that site, cutting the fence, you know, garbage, et cetera.
SPEAKER_00: If we've got a partner that, you know, can help solve that.
SPEAKER_00: So you know, staff will end up, you know, doing this.
SPEAKER_00: But I just want to say that the flip side is that there might not be anybody who's interested
SPEAKER_00: in the land at all except for Bethany.
SPEAKER_00: And you know, I don't want them to have to pay, you know, a huge amount.
SPEAKER_00: But you guys will get the amount from the real estate agent.
SPEAKER_00: And you know, I just think that they should have a chance to talk with us.
SPEAKER_00: And anybody else who's out there and listening, we welcome you to come talk to our staff too.
Unknown: Well, with land, the beauty is always in the eye of the beholder.
SPEAKER_01: Something to always remember.
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, I mean, ultimately, there's two separate avenues.
SPEAKER_01: We will assign a value, which is our requirement based on, you know, fair market value.
SPEAKER_01: How we go about that, if there's any sort of special circumstances, we're happy to take
SPEAKER_01: input.
SPEAKER_01: Typically, it's going to be who's expressed interest or you have to just put it out there.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the assigned value.
SPEAKER_01: It's listed for sale, essentially, you know, and market it.
SPEAKER_01: And people, you know, that would meet your requirement.
SPEAKER_01: But not yours.
SPEAKER_01: I think we're also getting dangerously close to meddling where the board typically does
SPEAKER_07: not in terms of day-to-day operations.
SPEAKER_07: And so if somebody were to come with us, come to us and say, gee, we have three or four
SPEAKER_07: or five offers on this property and then we're supposed to pick which one, that's...
SPEAKER_07: No, no, no, Mr. Chair.
SPEAKER_00: That is not anything that we're talking about.
SPEAKER_00: I think both Director Sanborn and Director Herber said, you guys will figure it out.
Unknown: I have no desire to take on this work.
SPEAKER_07: Okay, good.
SPEAKER_07: So this is a consent item?
Unknown: Yes, it is.
SPEAKER_07: Any problem in putting just the declaration of surplus property on the consent calendar?
Unknown: Okay.
SPEAKER_07: Thank you.
Unknown: Thank you.
SPEAKER_07: Do we have any public comment on the second?
Unknown: I do not see any hands at this point, no.
SPEAKER_07: All right.
SPEAKER_07: That's really all we have on our agenda?
SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
Unknown: The next item on the agenda is public comment for items that are not on the agenda.
SPEAKER_07: I don't have any cards.
SPEAKER_07: Do we have anybody who wants to speak?
Unknown: No, we do not.
SPEAKER_07: All right.
SPEAKER_07: Written comments received on items not on the agenda will be included in the record
SPEAKER_07: if received within two hours of the end of the meeting.
SPEAKER_07: The last item on the agenda is to provide a summary of committee direction.
Unknown: I don't have anything.
SPEAKER_07: All right.
SPEAKER_07: Do we have any request to speak on the closed session agenda?
Unknown: No, we do not.
SPEAKER_07: The board will now enter into closed session to discuss the following item, conference
SPEAKER_07: with legal counsel, anticipated litigation, significant exposure to litigation pursuant
SPEAKER_07: to paragraph D2 of government code section 54956.9, one case, no further business appearing.
SPEAKER_07: The board will now adjourn into closed session.