ELK GROVE, CA (MPG) - City Council members got an update at their Aug. 13 meeting on efforts to gain community input on a proposed city-built permanent homeless shelter.

The city’s contract with its current homeless shelter at Calvary Christian Center expires in September, 2028, and council determined at previous meetings that a new, permanent shelter was needed. To that end, council issued a contract at its June 25 meeting to Lodi-based NJA Architecture for consultant work on the first two phases of the proposal, using up to $230,000 of the $400,000 in Measure E funding set aside for shelter architectural services.

Elk Grove Housing and Public Services Manager Sarah Bontrager said NJA is currently working with city staff on Phase 1 of the process to gather input on a shelter conceptual design. This includes elements such as what is needed in a shelter design, services to be provided, amount of space each service could require and site size and configuration.

“We are looking at something that will be welcoming and calming, but there are many ways to get there from an exterior perspective and an interior perspective,” Bontrager said.

Phase 1 involves several in-person community meetings, an online virtual meeting and survey. The first meeting was scheduled for Aug .20 at Elk Grove Library to kickoff the process. A second community meeting “Imagine the Space,” will be on Sept. 17 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at District 56, 8230 Civic Center Drive, Suite 100.

Bontrager said this meeting is an open house format with stations where participants can comment on conceptual plans. There will also be “Mood Boards” to gauge from citizens if the city is “headed in the right direction.”

An online, virtual meeting will take place on Sept. 6 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. where residents can provide input on options through interactive comments, online polls and breakout discussions.

Access to the meeting is available at bit.ly/41GQdoa (case sensitive), as is an online survey residents can take about the shelter. The survey is open now through Sept. 20.

Besides community feedback, Bontrager said they are also collecting information through interviews with homeless service providers and community partners. Finally, they also are contacting individuals who have used shelter services in the past or are using them now.

Bontrager stressed that Phase 1 input does not involve determining where the shelter will be sited. That will come in Phase 2, scheduled to run October through January 2026.

“That is likely the more controversial of our two phases,” she added.

Also, at the Aug. 13 meeting, council received an update on projects they had prioritized at an April retreat, projects that meet the city’s vision and mission statements as well as council goals. Those goals include “a vibrant community and sustainable economy with diverse businesses and amenities,” “a safe and resilient community,” “high performing and stable government,” and “infrastructure that meets current and future needs.”

Twenty-five projects were identified as “high priority,” with biannual updates given to the council on their progress.  Elk Grove Senior Management Analyst Aishwarya Kumar said two of those projects could be listed as complete.

The first was a three-year agreement with the Elk Grove Unified School District to provide three, fulltime school resources officers beginning in the 2025-2026 school year. At its June 25 meeting, council approved a $1.68 million contract with the district to provide these officers.

Also marked as complete was an expansion and renovation of police department facilities at its campus locations at 8380 and 8400 Laguna Palms Way.

Kumar said work continues with several other projects, including upgrades to traffic signal communications at 103 identified intersections in the city. Construction work has begun on the new Elk Grove Library, with interior underground utility work complete and completion targeted for summer 2026.

Pre-design and conceptual work also continue on the city’s plans for a permanent homeless shelter, the mixed-use retail, dining and entertainment “Project Elevate” at 20-acres of city-owned land at the southeast corner of Elk Grove and Big Horn as well as plans for light rail in the city.

Regarding the latter, Kumar side alignment, visions for station areas, ridership projections and traffic analysis are nearly complete, with public outreach scheduled to begin in September and plan adoption hopefully slated for spring 2026.