Councilmen will be sworn into their new terms in the Tuesday, Dec. 20, meeting

PASO ROBLES — Tuesday night’s City Council meeting was dedicated to Patty Strong, Councilman Fred Strong’s wife, who passed away last week. 

“Behind the councilman, the people who are elected to do things there are always the wives, there is always the families that put out a lot to keep us going and it’s the better half basically,” said Councilman John Hamon as he motioned to dedicate the Dec. 6 meeting in her memory.

Councilmembers were not sworn in for their new terms at the Tuesday night meeting as planned, due to the final ballot count not being certified yet by the San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder. In an announcement last week, Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano stated the final election results will be certified on Dec. 8. 

advertisement

Councilmembers and the incoming mayor will be sworn in at the Dec. 20 meeting.

The proposed Spaceport’s agreement with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo was discussed at the Tuesday meeting.

The Cal Poly Corporation is a nonprofit organization established in 1940 to aid the university in its educational and extracurricular missions. According to the staff report, “the contract will be executed by and administered by Cal Poly Corporation. The performing institution is the California Polytechnic State University.”

City Council approved a new agreement with the Cal Poly Corporation in preparation for the Federal Aviation Administration Spaceport license application. In August, the Cal Poly Digital Transformation Hub (DxHub) presented a proposal to the City Council for connecting Cal Poly with the Paso Robles Space Innovation and Technology Park, including the completion of the FAA Spaceport License Application. The Cal Poly Dx Hub has subsequently provided a scope of services with a proposed budget not to exceed $110,171.

The agreement between the city and the Cal Poly Corporation brings the city one step closer to achieving the spaceport. With the agreement, Cal Poly will provide the capacity and expertise to develop the application.

The Cal Poly Corporation proposes providing the following:

  1. Activity: Drive the completion of the FAA Spaceport License Application, including the identification and coordination of Cal Poly and other subject-matter experts, and the management of project and technical support to that end. Deliverable: Completed FAA Spaceport License Application by Aug. 31, 2023.
  2. Activity: Develop, map, and grow public-private sector partnerships for technology and innovation in the space, ag-tech and supporting industry ecosystems. Deliverable: Create visual framework of existing and potential space and ag-tech industry ecosystem, including the design of a webpage/site for the city of Paso Robles used to promote and advertise the strategic plan. To be completed by Aug. 31, 2023.
  3. Activity: Research education and work forced evelopment needs across ecosystems and stages of plan implementation. Foster effective partnerships with local educational institutions and explore the development of apprenticeship models with current and potential industry partners. Deliverable: Research framework for quantifying education and workforce development needs across relevant ecosystems, and strategy outline for meeting those needs. To be completed by Nov. 30, 2023.

The Pioneer Park sale has been continued to the Tuesday, Dec. 20, meeting, the next scheduled for the City Council.