Sonoma County officials have given Santa Rosa a little more time to decide whether to join the launch of its fledgling public power agency, defusing what had become a tense political standoff over the timing of the high-stakes decision.

Rohnert Park on Tuesday became the second Sonoma County city to opt out of the first year of Sonoma Clean Power, while Santa Rosa’s leaders continued to push back against the June 30 deadline set for the decision.

Twenty units of affordable housing will be built in the largest subdivision under construction in Santa Rosa — they just won’t be as affordable as the city hoped.

Though disappointed to see the top five stories disappear, Santa Rosa City Council members unanimously supported a scaled back version of the Museum on the Square project Tuesday.

With a budget burdened by higher fuel, insurance and pension costs, Santa Rosa is increasingly relying on volunteers to keep the city’s 66 parks tidy, a service once considered a basic government function.

The San Francisco developer who once planned a sweeping transit-oriented retail and housing complex in Railroad Square has abandoned a scaled-back version of the project, citing political opposition by the City Council.

A decision last week by the Santa Rosa City Council to pull the plug on a senior housing project in Railroad Square isn’t necessarily the end of the line for the 93-unit complex.

A spirit of cooperation and compromise appears to have taken root on the Santa Rosa City Council as newcomers unscarred by ideological skirmishes of the past are working hard to forge pragmatic solutions to the city’s pressing issues.

Two recent policy debates underscore how the dynamic has shifted since three new members have taken seats on the council since the November election.

Julie Combs and Erin Carlstrom were both elected to the seven-member council in the fall, and Robin Swinth, a former Board of Public Utilities member, was appointed in January to replace now 1st District Supervisor Susan Gorin.

The Santa Rosa City Council voted Tuesday to support paying 5 percent more for the water it buys from the Sonoma County Water Agency, agreeing that the increase was necessary to build reserves for large upcoming construction projects.

Santa Rosa got an early start to its annual budget battles Tuesday, with some of the newest faces on the council driving a lengthy and often confusing debate about funding for next year’s Police Department budget.