On Tuesday, the Antioch City Council will discuss the idea of providing warming centers when temperatures fall below 40 degrees, amend its HomeKey+ resolution, talk purchasing thresholds and the hiring of consultants.
Warming Centers
According to the staff report, the County has confirmed it will activate centers during qualifying conditions, it does not seem that any specific locations are identified in East Contra Costa County, specifically in Antioch.
Staff has reached out to multiple local churches in the last month to check to ascertain whether any were offering warming centers to the public. None were found to operate public warming centers. However, one church in Antioch has recently expressed willingness to activate a warming center if the City provided funding for staffing, supplies, and operations. Another option is for the City to work with local faith-based organizations to jointly explore partnership models, shared-resource approaches, or cost-sharing options, which might be more sustainable than a City-operated center.
One possibility that can be considered is for the City of Antioch to operate its own warming center based on activation criteria established by the Council, such as when temperatures fall below 40 degrees or other local thresholds. However, this option is not recommended due to staffing limits and high estimated costs. All responsibilities would be managed through overtime, with estimated nightly expenses ranging from $3,500 to $4,500.
HomeKey+ Program
Antioch is being asked to Amended and Re-stated Resolution of the City Council Authorizing Joint Application to and Participation in the HomeKey+ Program after receiving a letter on November 18 from the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD)
The adopted fiscal year 2025/26 General Fund budget includes $400,000 towards the one-time $750,000 contribution upon receiving the HomeKey+ award. The City’s funding obligation remains as a one-time contribution of $750,000 on receiving the HomeKey+ award that will be used for acquisition and rehabilitation, in addition to a yearly operating subsidy required of the City of up to $1,200,000 annually for 5 years with two five-year extensions contingent on the property meeting the required HomeKey+ guidelines and affordable housing regulatory agreement. — note, Antioch approved the application in May 2025.
Council Set to Talk Purchasing
The provisions affected by the proposed ordinance, which principally concern the thresholds for administrative and City Council approvals, have not been amended since 2010. The ordinance would update these thresholds by modernizing the now 15-year old thresholds. Specifically, for general contracts and services, the ordinance would:
- Increase the lowest department contract authority—which may be exercised by a department head or designee—to $15,000 from $5,000;
- Increase the department head contract authority to $50,000 from $15,000;
- Increase the City Manager’s contract authority to $100,000 from $50,000; and
- Require City Council approval for all contracts over $100,000
For public works contracts, the ordinance would:
- Increase the lowest department contract authority—which may be exercised by a department head or designee—to $10,000 from $5,000;
- Increase the department head contract authority to $75,000 from $10,000;
- Increase the City Manager’s contract authority to $220,000 from $76,000; and
- Require City Council approval for all contracts over $220,000
According to the staff report, any marginal benefit of maintaining the current contract thresholds would be greatly outweighed by the benefit that would be created if Department heads and City Administration could shift some of their agenda-item preparation time to project and policy implementation. In this regard, there would be a significant opportunity cost in not approving the ordinance.
Contra Costa Farms Seek Volatile Manufacturing Use Permit
Contra Costa Farms currently operates a retail storefront dispensary, and has approvals for other cannabis operations at 3400 Wilbur Avenue. The applicant is seeking Use Permit approval to operate a new cannabis use of volatile manufacturing on the existing site.
Type 7 manufacturers can:
- Use volatile solvents for extraction or post-extraction processing of cannabis
- extract
- Use non-volatile solvents for extraction or post processing
- Use mechanical methods for extraction
- Make cannabis products through infusion
- Package and label cannabis products
Volatile solvents are chemicals that produce a flammable gas or vapor. Examples include butane, heptane, hexane, and propane.
According to the staff report, On November 19, 2025 the Planning Commission held a public hearing to consider the Use Permit. At the hearing, staff provided a staff report and the applicant presented the project. The Commission asked questions about worker safety, site security, and the manufacturing process. After deliberation, the Commission voted 4-1, with one Commissioner absent to recommend approval of the Use Permit to the City Council.
Note – During the review of this application, a member of the Antioch Police Department and members of the Planning Division performed a site inspection and discussed the proposed project with the business owners. The Antioch Police Department found the proposed plan consistent with the security expectations and did not find the need for additional conditions of approval to be added for the proposed use.
Consultants, Consultants, Consultants
The Antioch City Council will look to approve a series of consultant agreements within the consent calendar. This includes nearly a million dollars:
- Walter Bishop Consulting for Water Resources Management and Planning Consultation Services in the amount of $50,000 for a total contract amount of $100,000
- Consulting Services Agreement between the City of Antioch and WBA Consulting and Investigations, LLC for an amount not to exceed $300,000, extending the term through June 30, 2026, and authorizing the City Manager to execute the agreement in a form approved by the City Attorney.
- Amendment No. 2 to the Consulting Services Agreement between the TM Consulting Inc., for an amount not to exceed $100,000, with a total contract amount not to exceed $213,000 for a term ending June 30, 2026
- Consulting Services Agreement between the City of Antioch and DAS – Development Advisory Services, INC, for an amount not to exceed $160,000, extending the term for an additional six months through June 30, 2026
- Raney Planning and Management, Inc. for a period of three years from March 2, 2026 through March 1, 2029, for on-call environmental services and contract planning services
- agreements with Stantec for a period of three years from March 2, 2026, through March 1, 2029, and De Novo Planning Group for a period of three years from January 1, 2026, through December 31, 2029, for on-call environmental services
If You Go
Antioch City Council Meeting
Date: Tuesday, December 9, 2025
Time: 5:00 P.M. – Closed Session
7:00 P.M. – Regular Meeting
Place: Council Chambers
200 ‘H’ Street, Antioch, CA 94509
Full Agenda: Click Here