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rentals and placement/removal to close and re-open Main Street each of the weekends ($104,000), and staff overtime for placement/removal of signage and traffic circulation measures ($14,000); these costs have been included in the current fiscal year budget of the Operations Services Department. Additionally, the City incurs costs for police and traffic engineering staffing as will be included in the FY2022/23 Mid-term Budget, downtown cleaning, and event oversight that are absorbed into the ongoing operations of the department. Event sponsorship of the Weekend on Main series of $100,000 is proposed to come from the Business Support Fund established by the Council in 2020, which has approximately $1.35 million available. BACKGROUND The Weekend on Main street closure program was introduced in 2020 by the City, with support from PDA, to provide outdoor space for downtown merchants to expand their operations while indoor operations were restricted due to County and State health orders, and to draw people downtown in an expanded pedestrian environment that provided more space for gathering while maintaining social distancing. The program involved closure of Main Street to vehicular traffic every weekend, Friday evening through Sunday evening, from mid-June through the end of October. The street closures extended almost the full length of Main Street, as this allowed merchants which had previously been excluded from street closure events to participate. During the closure period businesses could expand dining and other outdoor activities into the street, and pedestrians could stroll and circulate in this area as well. This initial Weekend on Main season was well-received by the community and helped to bring much-needed activity into the downtown during the pandemic. In 2021, after considering the collective responses to a member survey and the continued response to COVID, the PDA requested that year's Weekend on Main street closures take place every weekend between April 30 — and Labor Day on September 6, 2021 . This timing was intentional in allowing restaurants to utilize the street during the spring and summer months when outdoor dining is at its peak, and then allowing the retailers to take full advantage of the fall months leading into the holiday season. DISCUSSION Stakeholder Input At its August 17, 2021 , meeting, the City Council discussed the Weekend on Main closures and directed staff to collaborate with the Pleasanton Downtown Association to develop a program framework for future years that balanced the varied interests of downtown merchants as well as those of the community. During late 2021/early 2022, City and PDA staff collaborated to solicit input from a range of stakeholders, including an advisory group comprised of a downtown retailer, downtown restaurateur, downtown service business, downtown area resident and non-downtown resident. After considering multiple perspectives, the advisory group's preference was to hold the 2022 Weekend on Main series one weekend a month, from Friday late afternoon through Sunday evening, May through October. The group felt that it was important for each weekend street closure to be programmed with activities that would draw patrons downtown and activate Page 2 of 6