Uh good afternoon. It is May 28, 2026.
The time is 5:28.
Uh welcome to our city council meeting.
Uh I would like to call the meeting to
order. Would you please stand with me
for the pledge of allegiance?
» Stand. Salute. I pledge allegiance to
the flag of the United States of America
and to the for one nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice
for all.
» Thank you. And this is the time where
council meets to conduct city business
with the community. Uh at this time I
would like to call uh roll call. Uh
please before we proceed I'd like to
read a statement please.
My understanding that is that the county
elections office has certified their
recall results
that the recall of four council members
is now official as of as of 8:00 a.m.
this morning and there is currently no
court order injunction or stay pre
preventing
that certification to take legal effect
under California Election Code section
11382.
When a majority votes yes on on a local
recall, the officers in are removed
immediately after certification
and becomes vacant until filled
according to the law. Because of that, I
respectfully ask that city attorney
to state on the record the specific law
authorizing the city is relying on to
permit the recall council members to
continue sitting, voting, directing
staff and approving expenditures,
participation in close session, or
taking official action on the behalf of
the city until authority is clearly
identified by our council.
I object to rec I object to the recall
council members participating in votes,
contracts, financial approvals,
litigation decisions, close sessions
matters or staff direction. My
attendance tonight should not be inter
interrupted interpreted as consent,
waiver or validation of any action taken
by individuals who office off offices
that have been vacated by the law
operational law.
Before proceeding with the agenda items,
I respectfully request the city attorney
to provide legal
clearly legal
explanation on the record. Please
Yeah, thank you. Um, we my understanding
is that there was uh information from
the Kings County register voter
transmitted to city today. Uh, it's
currently not on the agenda. We need to
review it and schedule a future council
meeting at some point uh for the council
to act on.
>> Okay. Please, please, please, please.
>> The council to act on it pursuant to the
Excuse me. Please don't interrupt. Yeah.
Thank you,
>> please.
uh in accordance with the procedures
which the legislature has set out in the
elections code. So uh
in on January 14th I asked the Kings
County registar of voters to provide me
with a copy of a resolution agreement
ordinance state law or any other
documentation
uh showing that he was delegated legal
authority to uh conduct any municipal
recall election functions or election
itself and I still have not received
that information.
>> I think you got that from the courts two
different courts. There's been no court
ruling. That's another misconception
which I understand has been presented by
the county uh claiming that there was a
ruling in the courts. There was no
ruling on the legal merits. Uh the fifth
district court of appeals said that the
case that they do not want to issue an
advisory opinion. And so at this point
in time uh there there was no ruling
from the uh district court of appeal. Um
at the trial court level, the judge had
never ruled on the merits uh of the of
the case. There's been no judgment
entered. Uh I understand that there are
folks in the audience um who may have a
different view
uh from people that are sitting here. Uh
but there's a process uh and uh you know
unfortunately the courts did not decline
to issue a uh decision on the merits and
so um so at this point in time what we
received we have to review it uh before
we can comment but uh it's my
understanding that um there should be a
uh future meeting to consider those
results and to act on them. But what's
the what what are the certain court
orders or injunctions that state that they can they could still
operate on their being on council right
now?
>> What what court order I have to offer uh
is there's been no ruling on it. So we
have to review it and take action on it
at the appropriate time. That's all I
have. I don't have anything further on
that.
Thank you. And also under governing code
section 54957.95
uh there's some uh rules uh uh regarding
disrupting the meeting. So I would like
to warn this is the first warning to all
of them that been uh disrupting the
meeting. Chief would you please let them
know that this is the first warning. If
they continue I will ask them either to
leave or be sced out of the meeting. So
thank you very much. This is a official
city council meeting with the community,
not a community meeting with council. So
please respect the process.
Okay.
And I'm looking at you, Kobai. Why are
you laughing? Please be respectful. Be
respectful.
Whoa. Well, chief, they've been warned.
So this is the first warning. This is
the first warning.
Quiet. Quiet. Please let us let us
conduct the meeting. Okay.
>> Okay. We'll continue.
>> Let me re reread a statement. Okay.
>> I'm going to reread a statement. I
object to this actions taken by recall
council members after certification of
the recall. Again, my presence here
should not be treated as consent,
waiver, or validation of this process or
any votes.
So with that, uh, I will ask our city
cler to, assistant city cler to please
read the, uh, do the roll call, please,
to make sure we have a quum.
>> Council member Reosa absent. Council
member Berdugo.
» Council member Hernandez
absent. Mayor Prog.
Yes.
>> Here.
>> Need a
>> So, little council, do we need a verbal?
>> Yeah.
>> Answer statements into the record.
>> So,
>> we don't. So, we continue with the
meeting then. If he can leave, if he
wants, we can see now what side of the
uh
Okay.
At this time, I will ask our city cler
to please read that statement there.
>> Government code section 54952.3,
members of the city council successor
agency are entitled to receive a total
of $450 per month due to their serving
on the city council. They receive no
other compensation for serving as
members of the successor agency.
>> Thank you. With that, we'll go into item
number three, public comments,
announcement, and unscheduled
appearances. Uh, will you also read that
statement?
>> This time is reserved for members of the
audience to address the city council on
items of interest that are both on the
agenda or not on the agenda and are
within the subject matter jurisdiction
of the city council successor agency.
State law prohibits any member of the
council from commenting or acting on
matters not on the agenda. The council
asks that you keep your comments concise
and respectful. Criticism, concerns, or
support are welcome provided they are
expressed with appropriate courtesy.
» Each speaker will be allowed three
minutes. A timer will notify you when
your time is expired. Please begin your
comments by stating your name and place
of residence.
And we'll start off with Frank Lopez.
Yeah, I'm getting it up right now. One
second.
» Uh, good evening, council. I just wanted
to uh update and share uh some of the
Rotary uh events that have been going
on. Uh yesterday uh Avanol Rotary had a food distribution uh which as
always we thank the city for assisting
uh with putting up tarps, the canopies
and helping out uh with a lot of the
movement of things. Uh it's a big big
help. Uh our our team uh that usually
comes to the food distributions is about
10 to 15. Uh but uh especially with uh the need right now, it's definitely a boon and a help. Uh we had about 250
people who had come over to uh pick up
food and so that was great. Uh we were
planning on having a cleanup here uh for
King Street on Saturday, but because of
the weather, we're going to cancel that.
Um just it'll probably be a little bit
too wet and and a little inclement. Uh
but what I did want to uh invite
everybody to uh and the city and all the citizens and residents uh to our
cruise night. Uh it's the summer. It's
going to be June uh we're starting that
uh on the every first Tuesday of the
month. June 2nd, we're going to be
having that meeting. Uh it'll be right
out here uh near uh near the theater.
Uh, and we're also going to try to get
some cars to help cruise around with folks. Uh, and we'll have free um
hot dogs and free food for people to
come and enjoy. Uh, if the weather is
inclement, we may uh ask the city to let
us borrow the the the theater so that we
could also uh hang out there. Uh, it's
just a a free open uh event for the
community uh and hoping that they can uh
come over. Um, and as a individual uh
resident, I do want to uh exclaim my
excite excitement for the new fire
department that's coming. Um, it looks
like uh they have uh are going to be
above and beyond our expectations. Uh
what we had thought about even just last
year. Uh three people uh fully uh on on
the crew uh every day. We'll have a
chief, an assistant chief, uh, and some,
uh, cadetses, uh, that will be coming
from Fresno City College, uh, training
program, uh, to help fill that out, uh,
and also, uh, other folks in in the
local area and, uh, new programs that
they're going to be bringing. So, really
excited about that. Uh, as a resident
who never had uh, the chance to see the
original Ainal Fire Department that was
here, uh, it's really great to be able
to see that uh, come out. uh and I hope
that the uh city and residents really uh
partake in uh the joy of something new
also some something that is going to be
another cornerstone for the city. Thank
you.
>> Thank you. Thank you for your comments.
Next on
Lupia.
» Good evening, city of Avenue staff. My
name is Lupia, register of voters for
Kings County. I'm here today regarding
the results of the April 28th recall
election. We have completed the official
canvas for the recall election and
certified the statement of vote in
accordance with the elections code. The
certified documents are available online
and were provided to the city
electronically earlier today. The
statement of vote provides the final
official results and certifies the
outcome of the recall election. In
accordance with the elections code, when
a majority of the votes cast on a recall
measure for a local officer are yes, the
officer is moved from office and that
office becomes vacant until filled
according to the law. The certified
results show that the votes for each of
the four council members subject to the
recall reflect majority yes votes.
Thereby, the council seats held by the
recall officers are deemed vacant. As I
noted in the email that I sent yesterday
to city clerk and the city manager, it
is customary practice for a governing
body to acknowledge receipt of the
certified election results through
adoption of a resolution declaring or
reciting those results.
However, the city is not legally
required to take any additional action
in order to certify the results to
become effective or part of the official
record. The certified statement to vote
and related election materials are
available through the elections
department at our website at
votekingstown.com and will be maintained
as part of the public record. Thank you
for your time and hope you guys have a
great evening.
>> Thank you for the comments.
>> Excuse me, sir. Do you have a second?
>> I I'm not going to take any questions.
Yeah, I'll be more than happy to engage
with you. You can call me tomorrow at
559-852441
and I'll be able to discuss
>> declaration under penalty of perjury
saying you you my fax to you from
December 25th got stuck.
>> Come on.
» You did.
didn't you?
Oh, you want to deny that you signed
that declaration on penalty of purchas
the public information.
>> Come on, Lupe.
>> Save all the records.
>> This is for the record.
Oh, look at this. Hey, what's going on?
can see Verdugo's side of uh the story
now.
>> Continue.
>> So, it's public. Uh what is happening is
being recorded. It's going to be on the
record.
>> Kelly Guzman.
» Hello.
>> Good evening.
>> Can you hear me?
>> Hello.
>> Yes, you're good. Go ahead.
Oh, more assistance. Okay.
>> Well, I'm um speaking here for several
people,
>> not just myself tonight. Um
good evening, Council Member Verdugo,
City Clerk, Attorney, City Staff, and
members of the public. Um before I
begin, I want to clearly state, can you
guys hear me? I want to clearly state
for uh this for public record, we do not
acknowledge this gathering as a lawful
city council meeting if it is being
conducted by recalled members whose
authority ended with the certified
recall results. We do not recognize the
recalled members as having authority to
make decisions for the city of Avenel
unless the city identifies a valid court
order
or specific legal authority allowing
them to continue acting after
certification. And page 11 of that extra
51 pages that was added to the agenda
that that's not I don't think it's a
valid law anymore.
I could be wrong.
Um,
I stand here today as a resident and as
a voice for community members who have
asked that this concern be placed on the
public record. We understand that the
recall election results of four council
members have been certified
with higher votes than what actually
voted them in. By the way,
uh, if the city disagrees, then the city
attorney should clearly state the legal
authority being relied upon and place it
in writing before the public record.
Without that authority, any continued
votes, spending approvals, contracts,
personnel actions, litigations,
decisions, or policy decisions may be
subject to challenge.
Um,
no, we didn't get anything higher in the
court. I I heard you on that. Um, how
that your action against us was um not
merited.
Therefore, the judge doesn't agree with
you.
and what you uh tried to stop which was
an actual legal election.
The voters participated in a lawful
recall process. The results have been
certified. The community deserves
respect for that process. We're asking
recalled members to step away from
positions the voters have recalled them
from unless clear legal authority is
publicly identified. We also ask the
city clerk to preserve this statement in
an official record, not just noted, but
please preserve it in official record
and minutes of this meeting. If the city
continues to allow recalled members to
act without identifying the legal
authority for doing so, we will seek
review from appropriate oversight
agencies.
>> 10 seconds.
>> Including Yeah, but this isn't a real
counsel, so I'm going to talk as long as
I need to. Including the California
Department of Justice, the attorney
general, the secret state the other
agency in authority over
time is up. Chief, would you please
escort this lady outside?
>> We need to conduct it.
>> Respect,
>> please. Your time is up.
>> We ask you please.
>> Your time is up.
>> No quum.
Thank you.
>> Your time is up.
something.
>> Yeah, go ahead.
>> Uh just uh briefly to respond.
>> It's not it's not
>> close.
» Just uh just briefly to respond uh the
document on page 11 of the agenda.
» Yeah,
just to respond. Oh, this is better. Uh
just to respond to the um comment about
the documents in the agenda packet. Uh
that was an item submitted to the city.
Uh and I I believe the uh member of the
public asked that it be included as part
of the record of the minutes. So it was
in regard to u Mr. Via's comment that
the that his alleged uh election results
are automatic. Um the elections code is
clear. It says that u recall elections
are held uh uh with the same process as
a regular general election and that
requires that the results be um
certified by the city elections
official, not the county elections
official to uh the governing body. That
has not occurred.
>> Yeah. Yeah. Page 11 was submitted by Mr.
Keith Jackson. So that's is included on
the record as requested.
>> I have no more public comments.
» Oh, he's obeying you.
» Hey, be quiet. Be quiet. Be quiet.
Is the mayor able to call a recess?
>> So, we're going to have a recess. Uh, we
have two council members coming in late,
so we will have a chrome and with the
meeting, we'll continue. Thank you.
And this uh just came in. Uh I believe
city manager was also notified that
David uh
>> yes David's been finishing projects or
Councilman Reos has been finishing some
projects. I know uh Councilman Ernnandez
said that he had a prior commitment.
That's why he wouldn't be here until
around six. So,
>> just on time.
>> So, we'll continue. Uh would you uh
please uh call call roll call again,
please.
>> Council member Reosa absent. Council
member Verdugo absent. Council member
Hernandez
>> here.
>> Mayor Prom Gamus
>> here. Mayor Brazil
>> here. So for the record, we do have a
quorum. Three council members present,
two absence. Uh we should be getting
another one uh coming in late.
>> Yeah.
>> Hopefully
>> waiting for
>> uh working out
>> working out of town on a job.
» I think we finished public comments
already.
>> Yeah. Already done.
>> So we'll move over into item number
four, which is consent calendar. The
time for reconvening the meeting it's uh
6:05 for the record. Uh we'll move over
into the consent calendar and uh we have
uh to consider the city of Avenue and
also successor agency's approval of
minutes for May 14, 2026 regular
meeting. There any questions uh concerns
or
if not there's a motion to approve the
consent calendar as presented.
Oh, I move.
>> So, we have a a motion by Mayor Protein
Gams. Is there a second?
>> Second.
by Council Member Hernandez. Uh,
roll call, please.
» Council member Reinosa absent. Council
member Rodo absent. Council member
Hernandez.
>> Yes.
>> Mayor Prom Gamas.
>> Yes.
>> Mayor Pel,
>> yes. The record will pass uh 302
absence.
And with that we'll go into item number
five uh which is which is mayor and
council member and also sister agency
items for consideration we have none
item number six it is activity reports
and we'll go through the very first one
police department activity report we
have Cecilio Velasco chief of police
present go ahead sir
» good evening council members
honorable council members, mayor, city
manager,
community members, and guests.
>> Thank you.
>> For this chief uh for this uh monthly
chief's report,
we have leadership stability. Commander
Ridge continues assisting with field
operations, ensuring personnel perform
professionally and in accordance with
department standards. He also continues
to oversee the fleet readiness and
equipment inspections to ensure
department vehicles and critical
equipment remain properly maintained and
adequately stocked for operational
needs. Uh he continues to participate in
management meetings hosted through the
Kings County District Attorney's Office
alongside public safety leaders
throughout the county. These meetings
provide valuable opportunities for
collaboration, information sharing, and
strengthening inter agency partnerships.
Uh regional leadership collaboration.
Chief Philosco attended meetings with
police chiefs, the sheriff, and
additional department leaders at Kings
County DA's office to discuss regional
public safety concerns, current
challenges facing law enforcement
agencies, collaborative solutions, and
opportunities for continued
partnerships. Detective Ramos continues
professional development.
He continues to excel in his assignments
with the Kings County Major Crimes Task
Force. 's continued work with the task
force further enhances the department's
investigative capabilities through
exposure to complex investigations,
regional intelligence sharing, and mult
multi- agency collaboration. Detective
Martinez is attending the ICI core
investigators course. Detective Martinez
is currently attending post-certified
institute of criminal investigation and
core investigators course. Advanced
training provides comprehensive
instruction in criminal investigations,
including interview and interrogation
techniques, search warrants, crime scene
management, case preparation, evidence
collection, investigative strategies,
and courtroom testimony. This training
further strengthens the department's
investigative professionalism and
effectiveness.
Officer Hardy is attending uh the post
range master school. Officer Hardy is
scheduled to attend the postcertified
range master school for firearms and
rifle instruction. This course provides
advanced training in firearm safety,
range operations, tactical firearms
instruction, liability considerations,
and weapons proficiency standards. The
training will assist the department in
continuing to maintain high professional
firearms training standards for
department personnel. DUI enforcement
efforts. Sergeant Jose Gonzalez will be
leading DUI a DUI checkpoint coming this
coming weekend funded through the
department CHP cannabis tax fund grant.
These enforment these enforcement
efforts remain an important part of the
department's continued commitment to
traffic safety. DUI prevention and
protecting the community from impaired
drivers. Future leader development. As
the department continues to stabilize
staffing and development and develop
personnel, the organization now possess
sufficient experience and leadership
depth to begin evaluating opportunities
to fill vacant promotional positions in
the near future. Recruitment and
retention, retaining the best. Uh, the
department continues our recruitment
efforts and has recently experienced an
increase in qualified applicants
expressing interest in joining the Avana
Police Department. Hiring process
update. The department recently
interviewed three police officer
candidates and has and has since
received three additional applications.
Recruitment efforts continue to remain
positive and the department is nearing
full staffing levels with potentially
only two positions remaining available.
At this time, we have two officers that
just completed backgrounds and will now
be moving on to the psychological and
medical exam. and one officer, one
candidate is a male and one candidate is
a female.
>> International model of community trust,
community engagement and outreach. The
department continues to consistently
engage with community through positive
interactions, outreach efforts, and
public events. Community trust remains
one of the department's highest
priorities. And these relationships play
a critical role in improving
communication, increasing crime
reporting, and assisting with case
resolution through community cooperation
and witness participation.
Recent community events. The department
personnel recently participate in
several community events and outreach
activities including the scooter safety
event. Avanau police department spring
block party. Avanol's day celebration
and Kings County peace officer memorial
ceremony.
These events provided additional
opportunities for positive interaction
between department personnel and
community members while strengthening
their relationships throughout the city.
A skip community presentation. The
department recently hosted a Spanish
language skip grant presentation focused
on extreme risk protection orders,
firearm safety, secure firearm storage
and mental wellness awareness. The
presentation was designed to better
serve our Spanish speaking community
while promoting education, prevention,
and available resources. Upcoming DUI
presentation. The department will also
be announcing an upcoming Spanish
language CHP grant funded community
presentation focused on DUI awareness,
impaired driving prevention, and traffic
safety education. As you're aware, we we
held uh these uh English uh versions of
both the DUI and the skip grant
presentations.
So now we we as part of the grant, we're
doing them now in Spanish.
>> Explorer program participation. The
Avenue Police Department Explorer
program continues to actively
participate in community events and
outreach efforts. Explorers recently
participated in the department spring
block party during the opening ceremony
assisted throughout the event. Explorers
also part participate in the old-timers
day parade and related community events.
Their continued involvement supports
development, mentorship, leadership
growth, and positive community
engagement. Violent crime are violent
crime reduction efforts uh to strive to
be among the safest cities in America.
The department continues its proactive
crime reduction efforts and remains
committed to combating violent crime,
gang activity, gun violence, and
narcotics related offenses within the
community. Chief Alasco has submitted a
violent crime reduction grant to assist
with funding with implementation of
modern records and case management
system. The proposed system would
improve operational efficiency, data
utilization, crime analysis
capabilities, and hotspot focused
enforcement strategies. The system would
also provide a more robust and
user-friendly platform compared to the
department's current outdated system
while reducing impacts to the city's
general fund and preserving additional
state grant funding opportunities for
other critical equipment and operational
needs. Proactive enforcement
investigations. The department continues
utilizing proactive enforcement
strategies, legal investigative
techniques, and collaborative
partnerships with the Kings County DA's
office to ensure criminal cases are
thoroughly investigated and prosecuted
to the full fullest extent of the law.
DUI
enforcement and recognition. Traffic
safety and DUI enforcement remain a
continuing priority for the department.
Detective Martinez will be receiving a
uh the mothers against drunk driving
award on June 17th in recognition of
recording the highest number of DUI
arrests within the department during
2025. Uh re regional law enforcement
part partnerships. The department
continues to maintain strong working
relationships and partnerships with law
enforcement agencies throughout Kings
County and the jurisdictions including
agencies with Tallery, Fresno and Kern
counties. These partnerships allow
agencies to share resources,
intelligence personnel, and operational
support when needed, serving as valuable
force multipliers to help improve
regional public safety. Flock safety
camera system update. The department's
flock camera systems are operational.
However, final approval for CALR remains
pending for additional deployment
locations. The department has
experienced delays due to extended
response times from CALR to flock safety
representatives. While the delay has
been disappointing and frustrating, the
department remains hopeful that the
progress will continue moving forward in
the near future. CAD system grant
efforts. As previously discussed, the
department continues pursuing grant
funding opportunities for the
procurement and implementation of a new
computer aided dispatch system. The
department has already obtained
preliminary system quotes to assist with
the grant ef grant preparation efforts.
Embracing wellness amongst our
employees, the Avenue Police Department
remains committed to supporting the
mental, emotional, and physical
well-being of all department personnel.
Law enforcement remains a demanding
profession. A leadership and leadership
recognizes the importance of ensuring
employees feel supported both
professionally and personally. Positive
organizational environment. Department
leadership continues working towards
fostering a professional and positive
organizational culture where employees
feel value, motivated, and connected to
the department's mission and community.
Long-term health and resilience by
emphasizing wellness, balance, and
professional support. Our department
continues striving to ensure employees
remain resilient, focused, and capable
of providing the highest level of
service to the community while
maintaining long-term personal
professional well-being. The data for
2026
for for April uh we had uh for the rest
of the month, we had 823 calls for
service. Uh 482 of those were officer
initiated calls uh which include traffic
stops, field contacts, and premise
checks and warrant services. We had 26
citations, two traffic collisions, and
26 arrests for the month of May,
five traffic collisions,
» that was me yesterday.
>> Oh, that's right. Right. We're at six
now. and uh and 16 arrests.
>> And that's my report. Any questions?
>> Any questions for Chief?
>> So, just uh to remember the public that
the UI checkpoint will be tomorrow,
>> right? It's going to be tomorrow between
6:00 and 1:30. And uh I know there were
some questions online uh and typically
we don't comment online uh to not single
people out but the reason why we uh we
do post the loca not the location but
the time and the date is because uh you
know due to California Supreme Court
decisions and also the uh United States
Supreme Court decisions we have to
notify the public of that we are uh
conducting a DUI checkpoint driver's
license DUI checkpoint and this is part
of the CHP P uh Canada's grant plan.
>> Thank you. So, see no questions. Thank
you for your report.
>> Thank you.
>> Uh we have uh our next activity report
uh with the fire department activity
report and uh with Jacob McCaffy, fire
chief.
» All right. Good evening, honorable
mayor, city council, staff, community
members.
>> Move the mic just a little. Yeah, like
that.
>> Is that better?
>> Yeah.
>> Um, just to give an update on kind of
where we're at with fire department
operations. Um, before I give the
update, I just want to just take a
second just to recognize the work that
is being done irregardless of uh outside
activities. Um, my assistant chief A
Morales, uh, one of our captains,
Gutierrez, and some of the folks that we
brought on early to help out. um what
we've done in a short period of time is nothing short of extraordinary. Just
give them um I just want to give them a
shout out real quick and also city
staff. Um lots of agencies have been
helping us out. Fresno County, Kings
County, uh EMS really bending over
backwards uh to help us out to get to
where we need to be. So, I'm really
appreciative of those relationships and
all the work that we've done. So, I'm
really proud of where we're at
currently. Um, just to give an update,
uh, I know we get updates quite often,
every every city council meeting, but a
couple couple new things to note this
week, uh, Wednesday throughout tomorrow,
we've been having our radio frequencies
and radios, both portable and mobile
radios in our apparatus along with our
MDTs installed in our fleet. And I think
the last rig got done today. So all of
our radios and frequencies and and
communication channels have been uh
outfitted in our not only our portable
radios but in our mobile apparatus
radios as well. Uh and then as well as
our MDTs. We've been working with our
dispatch center uh to coordinate uh
frequency testing to make sure that the
frequencies work as intended in various
areas of the city including over the ridge towards the uh towards
the I5. That has been pretty successful
so far. Um, all of our apparatus up to
this point, uh, the two type ones, type
six, the water tender and the area
apparatus, including the command
vehicles have gotten new decals, uh,
city avenue decals put on them as well
to make sure they're ready to go.
Apparatus identifiers have been have
been put on, um, for the specifically
for the city of Avanol. Um, that's just
been a monumental um, push. Uh we had
our EMS inspection today from Fresno
County uh EMS or or um CCMSA to make
sure that the equipment we have, the
apparatus we have are in accordance with
the EMS policies. Uh we passed that
inspection and so we're we're able to
provide those services. So there's just
a lot of work being done. I'm really
proud of of where we're at so far. Um in
regards to the the radio install uh and
the fire station design build obviously
will be ready to go. Um I I said last
council meeting ready to go June 1st. Uh
I just want to say real quick thank you
to Chief Chamberlain. He's been really
good um in communicating with me. We
we've met a couple times to kind of
discuss transition and really just um
talk about how we operate more
interoperably because at the end of the
day we we have to work together
especially on the fire ground. So he's
been really good with policies in the OP
area and uh uh things that we need to
consider as far as how we respond and
when we respond to work better with our
partners in the op area. So, I
appreciate that collaboration. Um, we
will be ready to respond to our own
calls on June 10th. Um, in discussions
with the city manager, we decided that
just because there's a lot of things
that we have to take into consideration
with communications and fireground
operations and even training uh with
Kings County and some of our operational
partners, we do have quite a few
agreements that are are still waiting to
be finalized. Uh, both autoate
agreements and mutual aid agreements uh
with other agencies. And so we felt like
that transition from June 1st to June
10th uh would be more appropriate start
date as far as June 10th goes. Been
talking to Chief Chamberlain on what
that would look like as far as how we
lean into that um starting June 1st and
uh start running calls and delivering
certain types of services to the city in conjunction with Kings County. Uh,
addition, I'm hoping we can do some
training during that time frame and and
build relationships uh and have our
members that are going to graduate here
this Friday. Um, become more familiar
with the city and do some target hazards
um review the the the city area and
their coverage areas. So, I think that
transition piece will be important uh
especially for a new new fire
department. Even though everything um I
believe is in place sufficiently, there
are there are going to be kinks that
need to be worked out both on the fire
ground in communications and just with
our personnel as well. So that gives us
a nice transition period to make sure
that uh on that June 10th that we're ready to go on our own. Um so
that's the intended the intended start
date as far as full operational
capabilities on our own. Um I just
mentioned on Friday we've had a uh our
fire captains and our fire engineers.
They've been in a firefighter recruit
academy. Um they're all laterals, but
it's a firefighter academy. Um they're
on their last day tomorrow. So, the last
day is going to be area fam, target
hazard fam here, meeting with um some of
the local agencies, and then we'll have
our p badge pinning and graduation
Friday night. Uh and then we'll have a
busy weekend kind of leading up to June
1st. Um all those folks will be in the
city a helping us do our smoke smoke
detector installation campaign on
Saturday. So, uh we canvased the city.
We had people apply um to get smoke
detectors installed in their house if
they didn't have them along with fire
extinguishers as well. And so um
Saturday the firefighters we just
graduated on Friday uh will be helping
go install smoke detectors in the in the
residents that that ask for those smoke
detectors to be installed. So that'll be
a good way for them to get out in the
community a little bit. um make it make
an impact in the community risk
reduction field and and hopefully make
some of our residents safer, but at the
same time um building those
relationships um on the ground. And then
on Sunday, we have a community event
just to let the community introduce
themselves um uh to the firefighters and
the firefighters introduce themselves as
well. Uh we'll have our apparatus there
for static display, our equipment, our
personal protective equipment um for for
community managers to ask questions and look at what we've done uh over the
past few months. So I'm excited about
that. And then obviously, like I said,
on June 1st, we'll be ready to provide
limited services uh in coordination with
Kings County, of course, and I'll
continue to work with Chief Chamberlain
to make sure that at least for public
safety, um we're putting public safety
first, and we're working together
collaboratively
to make sure that the the city continues
to get the best service possible and the
service they deserve during that
transition period. Um lastly, we made a
lot of progress on our infrastructure
area behind city hall. a lot of good
progress on the uh fire apparatus bays
making those capable in order for us to
deploy it appropriately. Um when Cooks
Communications came in to do all of our
radios um they also evaluated station
alerting and implemented station
alerting so we get appropriate alerts um
for our fire crews to get a call and and
bay doors open and gate opens and etc uh
to go to a call. And then uh we also are
um we're in the process and and have
been in the process to uh establish a
living quarters. Um we're pretty
creative in what we ended up finding. We
ended up doing a living quarters that
was uh essentially made out of conx
boxes uh by a company in Reedley. Really
welldesigned. Um, honestly, um, before I
went and saw it, a little skeptical, but
once you went and when I once I went and
looked at it and toured it, uh,
>> little
a little skept I was more than
skeptical.
Um, but once we went and did the tour,
honestly, if if you didn't look at the
outside and you walked in, you wouldn't
even know it's not a house, uh, a
residential home. So, plenty of space
for us to staff our our minimum
staffing, which is 300 on the fire
engine, but also on days where we have
additional staffing, it can house up to
six firefighters uh in that facility as
well pretty comfortably. There's three
rooms. Each room sleeps two two
bathrooms. Uh accommodates female
firefighters if we were to bring on a
female firefighter. Plenty of office
space and and um um obviously space for
them to cook and and have a day room and do the things they need to do. So, I
am excited about that. Um, but overall
just the direction we've been going has been fast but rewarding. Um, and
just to reiterate from from my
standpoint, everything that I've done
since I've been here is really just
focused on how can I provide the best
service possible to City Avenue. Um,
both in our our fleet, in the way we
serve, in the people we hire, in the way
we operate on the fire ground, and the
facilities that uh that we're trying to
uh construct or organize. And so I'm
really proud of of what we've done so
far. Um, any questions? Oh, we did I did
send did interview eight reserve
firefighters and uh so just to clarify,
the reserve firefighters um are all
firefighters that graduated from a
firefighter academy. Um most if not all
of them have been through a CalFire
basic academy and have all their
wildlands. Most of them have EMT. Um,
but I'm not worried about all of them
because the rest of the apparatus has
EMT and so they'll the ones that don't,
they just have uh emergency medical
responder will be limited in scope in
that way. Um, but they're all certified
firefighter ones from a firefighter
academy, a regionally accredited
academy. So I'm excited about that that
they already have some basic training
standards that are are widely recognized
across the county. And so I'm excited to bring them on and see where they fit
and provide them additional training uh
so we have additional staff to serve the
community. So I'm excited about that as
well. four of those members are are
either from or now living in the city
avenue. So that's exciting to me because
it gives opportunities for people in the
community not only to make money but
serve the community that they're from.
So I'm really excited about that. Um any
questions about any of the updates that
I just provided?
>> Any questions for Chief McCaffy?
like we're coming along quite
swiftly
on on budget and on time. So, we did
extend the the date to the June 10th or
11th. Thought it would be
>> the 10th. The 11th at 8 a.m.
>> But the 10th is the transitional period.
Um and and like I said, the only reason
we did that is um with communications is
always tricky. even though we've tested
our communications, I can talk to our
dispatcher or they can talk to us. Um,
communications is finicky, right? So, I
want to make sure that um have an
appropriate trans transition in that
period to make sure that if there is a
bug or we do find something that um
could work better or a thing and we need
to address, we have time to do that uh
and make it work the way we want it to
work. It also gives our our firefighters
and our our members a time time to get
acclimated to the community, acclimated
to our policies. We are a new fire
department. Um, so there may be policies
and operational
processes and procedures that they may
not be familiar with because they came
from other fire departments. Um, it also
gives us time to make sure that, um,
when I talked about Kings County and
being interoperable within the county,
not just King County, but the state
prison and any other partners that we
may operate with, Fresno County, NAS,
Lammore, Lemore, um, to make sure that
there if there are uh, regional, meaning
county level operational policies that
everybody else follows that we're
familiar with those. And so when we all
work together, whether we go help
someone on an incident or whether they
come to one of our incidents, we're
operating within the same scope um of
practice. And I think that's that's
absolutely important for firefighter
safety and civilian safety. So it gives
us that opportunity to do that.
» U
any other questions, comments?
I just want to say that uh uh
congratulate your yourself and your
staff for you know facing the challenges
and creating a new fire department in so
short time. believe you came around
March and now we're almost uh ready to
start looking forward to tomorrow's uh
surren ceremony but also uh Sunday
afternoon and continue to look for the
best interest of the city providing uh
more services quality services that our
community deserve. Uh I know we had a u
the best quality service from Kings
County, but I think it does make a big
difference when that service come from
uh local our own local community, our
own local department. I think uh the
community should be proud of what we
have accomplished uh working towards
this just like we did with the police
department in 2010 and I believe we'll
continue providing quality service to
our community. So I want to thank you
for that for your commitment and being
so responsible and and creating this
department now. It is coming coming
soon. Thank you.
>> Just I can I add can I add I should
forget something. Sorry.
>> Um I'm not as polished as Chief Blasco.
He was hard to follow. Um we are the
grant period did open for the assistance
to firefighters grant and the safer
grant as well. Uh so I know I'm
intending to um discuss a little more
with the city manager, but intending to apply for six to nine firefighters
with the saber grant to to increase our
engine staff in the 40 um and then
improve some of our equipment including
SCBAs um a new apparatus uh training
grant and a prevention grant uh through
the assistance firefighters grant been
really successful with those in the
past. So I'm hoping we can be as
successful with that here. So bring a
lot of uh extra financial support to the
city uh in all those areas and training
prevention
opportunity to apply for those grants
and bring that back to CO. So I'm
excited about that. Isn't my time right
now?
» Please to put him.
» Good evening. John Chamber County Fire
Chief. Um so uh Chief McCaffy not
withstanding anything, he's done an
amazing job of standing this up. We've had a pretty good cooperative
working relationship. Um, the one thing
I would comment on, um, I am in receipt
of the city manager's letter relation to
the 1st to the 11th transitional period
with 11:00 a.m. I'm sorry, 0800 on the
11th. Um, I just want to put it back on
the record right now that I have no
contractual obligation and I'm providing
services under a court order. Um, so my
suggestion would be that we get relieved
of that because I'm not leaving. Um,
I've been ordered by the court to be
here until such time as I'm relieved of
that. And even if you do stand up your
own department, until I've been relieved
by a judicial officer of that
responsibility, I'm not leaving my
watch. So, thank you.
>> Thank you for your comment.
>> Um,
with that being said, I believe we'll
continue with the order of the agenda.
Our next uh activity report is by uh
community development department and I
believe we have uh Joshua McDonald.
>> Yes. for creeks online.
>> Good evening, Mayor. Uh this is Josh
McDonald and council.
>> Uh can you hear me?
>> Yes. Go ahead.
>> Excellent. Uh thank you very much for
the opportunity to report to you this
evening. Uh once again, Josh McDonald
with Four Creeks, your contract city
planner, and I'm pleased to provide an
interesting report uh this month to your
council. the
uh community development activity has
actually been ticking up a little bit
over the past several weeks in
particular. And when I say that, I'm
referring to inquiries that the city has
received and that your staff is
responding to uh both uh primarily from
a commercial development uh activity
perspective. I may have mentioned last
month that the city has received
interest in a new car wash and a new uh
coffee kiosk. In addition, uh there has
been interest from other types of uh
commercial uh endeavors that are very
exciting, but I will leave to the city
manager to describe in greater detail.
economic development is is always touchy
and we always want to be careful to not
uh divulge anything that the potential
users uh would not want uh divulged
ahead of their own plans. And so I'm I'm
not trying to be koi or anything, but I am very pleased to state that uh there
is interest in uh potential economic
development on uh several fronts and
we're actively working with them. uh
building permit activity continues to be
uh steady as well as business license
applications. We continue to receive and
process those on a on a consistent
basis. So from that perspective, uh
activity appears to be nice and steady
right now. Your council uh approved a
zoning text amendment uh for the parking
lot uh allowing for offsite parking
facilities for the community health
center at the last meeting. and uh
they're moving forward actively with
that which is uh going to be a very nice
addition to the downtown area. And
finally, I'll end with uh long range
planning. uh your council uh the city
took a major step a couple of weeks ago
in approving the housing element and
that that was a big deal and the
document is now at stateh and we're uh
anxiously awaiting their final
certification letter and I anticipate
that it'll be coming any day now. Uh, an
important reminder is that once the city
of Avanol has received that formal
certification that we do then need to
implement the housing element. And there
are a variety of relatively minor zoning
code amendments that the city will need
to process in order to maintain its
certification with state housing and
community development department. and in
the weeks and months ahead uh your staff
will be bringing those to both the
planning commission and the city council
uh for consideration. And I'll finish
with uh your planning commission is
scheduled to re uh hold a public meeting
on Monday where uh I'll be conducting an
orientation along with Tesla for the
city council me uh I'm sorry the
planning commissioners will be doing an
onboarding process and and uh helping
those commissioners
uh get a better a better grasp of things
like conditional use permits and
variances and subdivision maps and kind
of uh the language that goes along with
community development. That does
conclude my report and I'm happy to
answer any questions if your council has
them.
» Thank you. Uh any question from council
Pablo?
I just have one real uh quick question
and see if you can help out. I received
a call from a resident regarding he
applied to sell help for I believe a
program that that will help him uh put
shingles at his house. So I believe he
applied about three months ago, maybe a
little over three months, but uh he's
confused about how the process uh works.
I believe he's uh waiting for how does
it work. So he applied to sell health.
Then cell health will come to the city
with the permit application to install
the shingles and then the city will set
an appointment with four five creeks in
order to come and inspect the the roof
or how long does it take a process like
that?
>> Uh mayor the it's a a simple uh action
for a building permit. We call it a re-
roof permit and it's it's a ministerial
permit. It's over the counter and it's
something where the permit can be issued
very quickly. So the the there may be a
miscommunication somewhere between
self-help and the applicant. I haven't
seen anything come through uh the city
yet and I can double check, but mayor uh
please feel free to uh give the
individual my phone number if they're
primarily a Spanish speaker. uh solo mu
poito espanol but te tesla uh our my
coworker is fully fluent in
>> really good
» and uh so either one of us uh can help
the individual and we'd be happy to act
as a go-between between uh the homeowner
and self-help and and try and get that
processed no problem.
» Sounds good. Thanks for that information
and I will contact him so he can reach
out either to you and between you and I
help probably get this uh project moving
for him. Thank you.
>> There's usually just to chime in there's
usually some coordination between with
also with with the city clerk is also
our community development coordinator
just to kind of with the home programs
and the funding as well.
>> Yes.
>> Okay. Well, thank you Dutch for your uh
report and to see you soon
the planning commission meeting.
>> Thank you.
>> Uh with that we'll go into our next
activity report. Thank you.
And that it's um economic development
and grand writing report. And we have
John Basmeagian and he's the
governmental affairs manager from Chris
Company.
Good evening. Thank you for having me.
My name is John Bazm. I'm the
governmental affairs manager for the
Chriscom company. I'm here to give our
advocacy, economic development, and
grant writing report. So, I'll start
with the state side of our advocacy
section. Governor Nuome released the May
revise to the 2026
and 2027 budget on May 14th, and the
outlook is considerably more stable than
many anticipated. The revised plan
proposes 246.6 6 billion in the general
fund spending and closes what had been a
$2.9 billion deficit, resulting in a
balanced budget for the next two fiscal
years. Rather than launching new
initiatives, its administr the
administration is prioritizing long-term
stability, including a $9.7 billion
transfer into the state's investment
fund. The legislature now enters the
final stretch of budget negotiations
ahead of the June 15th constitutional
deadline. The Senate and Assembly
subcommittees will continue refining
their respective versions of the budget
bill before a conference committee
reconciles differences and prepares the
final package for four votes. On the
federal side, the conflict in Iran
continues to dominate federal attention.
Congress has been actively debating its
role and on May 14th, the House voted on
a war powers resolution asserting
congressional authority over the
conflict. To date, the House and Senate
have rejected nine such measures with
the Republicans largely supporting the
administration's position. Domestically,
the 76-day partial government shutdown
concluded on April 30th when President
Trump signed legislation funding the
Department of Homeland Security. The
shutdown, which began in midFebruary,
stemmed from a standoff over immigration
enforcement reforms. Republicans also
attempted to advance a second
reconciliation bill to fund ICE and
Border Patrol, but the effort stalled
before the Memorial Day recessed. That
proposal is expected to resurface when
Congress returns. Earlier this month, we
were pleased to welcome Congressman
Valado to Avanel for a site visit with
the city council and staff. As
previously reported, in a year when
federal funding was nearly non-existent,
Chriscom worked closely with the
congressman to secure $4 million for the
city's water storage tank project. His
visit pro provided an important
opportunity to see firsthand where these
dollars will be invested.
Chriscom distributes a bi-weekly
Sacramento snapshot summarizing key
policy developments and legislative
activity. The city manager currently
receives this update and we'd be pleased
to add any council members who wish to
be included. Any council member seeking
additional information on pending or
emerging legislation is welcome to reach
out. Our team is always available to
assist and everyone has my phone number.
On to economic developments. This month,
our efforts centered on expanding
Avenel's visibility and strengthening
relationships with groups actively
evaluating new locations in the Central
Valley. Last week, Chriscom attended the
ICSC convention in Las Vegas where we
met directly with retail brands,
brokers, and developers. While we
engaged broadly, we placed particular
emphasis on national food chains,
especially those focused on chicken
concepts given their current expansion
trends. These conversations helped place
Avanol firmly on the radar for future
site selection opportunities and
provided valuable insight into what
retailers and developers are
prioritizing in today's market.
Following the conference, we are
continuing those discussions and
building on the momentum established at
ICSC. We also maintained outreach to
industrial users, including logistics
and warehouse operators, highlighting
Avanel's affordability and available
land and strategic access to key
regional routes. Our goal remains
consistent, ensuring Avanel is part of
an early stage a part of early stage
conversations so that city is well
positioned as projects uh begin to take
shape. Onto our final portion, the grant
writing section, Chriscom continues to
work closely with city staff to identify
strong funding opportunities, align
projects with eligibility requirements,
and prepare competitive applications.
There are currently a few upcoming grant
opportunities. There's the urban
greening grant program, the
transformative climate communities,
active transportation program, and
finally the community connection grants.
And lastly, there's one current active
grant, the rural law enforcement violent
crime reduction initiative grant.
Looking ahead, as we move through uh
quarter 2 of 2026, our focus remains on
advancing Avenel's priorities at both
the state and federal levels, staying
closely engaged as Sacramento's budget
negotiations narrow ahead of the June
15th deadline, and as Congress returns
from recess to continue work on the
second res reconciliation effort. As
budget discussions unfold in both
capitals, we will begin uh we will work
to ensure that the city is well
positioned for emerging funding
opportunities by maintaining strong
relationships with key decision makers,
continuing proactive re outreach and
monitoring developments that may affect
the community. Our team will also
sustain close coordination with local
stakeholders and provide timely updates
to the city council and staff,
reinforcing Avenel's visibility and
readiness as opportunities arrive. We
appreciate the opportunity to serve the
city of Avenel and look forward to
continued progress in the months ahead
and thank you. That's the rest of my
report.
>> Thank you. Are there any questions from
council to John?
» The grant writings, the grant writings
are potential uh grants coming up. Then
they're due on June 4th, 15th, and 22nd.
>> I'm so sorry. I could uh faintly hear
you.
>> Uh the grant writings that um the
upcoming grants, urban green grant
program,
>> these are potential grants that we're um
that are coming up and and
you're ready to assign them.
>> Yes. So, these are potential grant
opportunities that we uh will work with
city staff uh if there's interest in
these programs. will work with them to
put together a wonderful grant package
and have them submitted on behalf of the
city of Abanel.
» It doesn't say how much the grants are
for or it's just
>> Yeah, we can provide uh
>> Oh, I'm so sorry. Can you repeat that,
please?
How much are these grants for? Are they
um
it depends on their ability to pay or
>> Yeah. So these grants uh so it depends
on a variety of factors of how much uh
is qualified for. So it varies on each
one and of course we could provide um
Tony with a list of how much each of
them can break down for and what the
city could receive from them.
Thank you.
>> Of course. Thank you.
>> Thank you, John. Uh I'll I'll be
reaching out to you later uh regarding
some u grant opportunities with the
Kings County Association of Government
regarding SMAC, but I'll be reaching out
to you to give you a little bit more
information uh when when I got more
time. So, thank you for your
presentation.
Thank you so much. Have a good evening.
>> Good evening.
Uh we'll move over into item number
seven, which is public hearings, and we
have none.
Item number eight, old business. We have
none. Item number nine, new business.
uh 9 AAA it is uh the notice of
completions and we also need to
authorize the filing on of a notice of
completion for the 2024 road maintenance
project and appropriation
and this will come with a resolution but
I believe uh he'll take care of it. Uh go ahead.
>> Yeah, good evening mayor, council
members, staff. Um so yeah this is just
the dose of completion for the
construction project that was completed
in the fall of 25. This was for the
micro seal on various local streets that
was performed by VSSS international and
um yeah the work was done done well. Um
there was some adjustments in the field
that led to a minor change order related
to striping that they had to redo on
some streets where we actually extended
some of the work and that's as noted in
the in the staff report. And then there
would be then an appropriation request
just to manage um the cost as well for
the construction management and close
out of the project. So yeah, if there
are any project specific questions or
otherwise I'm happy to provide. Um I'm
Dio Carver by the way, contract city
engineer.
>> Yeah. Uh do you remember how many
streets we did with the project? But no,
>> I don't have that off hand. Um but um I
can certainly provide just kind of the
layout of the plans. This was uh Yeah, I
think we covered a few blocks um kind of
in the northwest side of town.
>> Mhm. And the that uh micro uh ceiling
will continue in the near future. Right.
>> Correct. Yep. We have another one where
we've I've driven around with uh Scott
Davis, the PW director, and we've
evaluated the next set of streets that
would be prime candidates for the micro
seal.
>> So, yes.
>> Yeah. looking forward to continue uh
providing uh maintenance and uh in those
uh streets within the city. Are there
any other questions for uh this uh
project?
>> So see no questions
Mark's comments.
>> Yeah, I appreciate Diego kind of he's
catching up on a lot of the work with
um&m. There's some stuff with since
Javier had to kind of focus on community
center. So, we're kind of backtracking
on some stuff and just closing all the
little gaps. So, D's been great. He's
come out every time we ask him to. He's
advancing our projects.
>> He still keeps some of our estimates a
little too high,
>> maybe a little bit.
>> I'm going to still scold you on that
one.
>> But otherwise, he's definitely sees the
vision of what we're trying to build
here in the community. So, I appreciate
that he's another partner with us on
making Avan home for everybody.
>> Yeah.
just just send our our words to Javier
and I know you and Javier make a good
team and we appreciate your commitment
to our community uh with the projects
and grants even grants that you guys
been uh successful applying for the city and
we'll continue with that trending. Thank
you so much. That being said, is there a
motion to approve resolution 2026?
Touch 35.
>> I move.
>> We have a motion by council member
Hernandez. Is there a second?
>> Is second by council by Mayor Pro Tim
Gamas. Uh roll call, please.
>> Absent. Council member Verdugo absent.
Council member Hernandez.
>> Yes.
>> Mayor Prom Gamas.
>> Yes.
>> Mayor Piello.
>> Yes. For the record, resolution passed
by the board of three yes and two
absent.
Thank you. And without we go into our
new business,
>> if I if I could, I think the last
council meeting you had inquired about
concrete on the
>> Oh, yes. We went ahead and just produced
a quick I can handle.
>> Oh, okay. Appreciate that.
» This is for the avenue cut off two mile
section or right.
>> Thank you. These high numbers too.
>> Yeah,
>> it's it's really just a snapshot. So I
just want to provide a general overview
when we talk about between concrete and
pavement for highway design. Concrete
really just becomes beneficial when you
have high volumes usually plus 20,000
vehicles on average per day as well as
high truck volumes.
>> So it's really not something that at
this time would be an economical
solution for the cutoff road. The the
volumes there just don't do not meet
that and the life cycle. Um it's just
it's not conducive for concrete at this
time. It's something we can then
evaluate maybe 30 if freight and things
change um and there's yeah the the
volumes increase the truck volumes
increase that's when that can be
evaluated once again but at this time
the overlay would be the mo most cost
effective approach for the cut off road.
>> Mhm. Uh we do have a business uh Kurugan
uh compost company and and can be
something down there uh specifically
because there's a lot of uh heavy
traffic coming in and coming out and
what I noticed with the asphalt
and in in the hot weather usually
oscillates
because they're breaking trying to come
in or you know so would something
special be done in in that area? I can
say maybe 100 to 100 ft within that area
within that entrance.
>> Yes, that is something we can evaluate
kind of a hybrid where at like you're
saying at an intersection where there's
a lot of stopping of heavy traffic,
there can be that heating of the asphalt
and that's stuff that we can get a look
at. We can probably touch base with the provider the trucking and get a feel
for the counts and get an idea of the
condition and see if we can actually
have more of like maybe concrete
sections in those areas just to prevent
>> those issues. Yeah, we can look at that
further. just something to consider and
bring it back.
» Grants if I if I would the uh the ATP
grant um that you had asked about. So we
are looking at about $3.5 million and
that will be we're planning to have a
staff report come through at the next
council meeting that will speak to
what's being proposed based on all the
outreach that we've done.
>> Um so the ATP program there is 3.5
million that we're going to be asking
for. That's a kind of the the upper
threshold before matching funds are
required. And then we are still working
on the parks grants. And we also have
some CMAC funding that we'll be looking
to apply for for design for projects
based on existing city plans and
ordinance. And we'll be working closely
with Anthony on on making the final
decision on that ahead of uh the CMAC
call for projects which is due on the
1st.
>> Mhm. So, uh, like I told Joshua, uh, uh,
in our meeting yesterday
for Kings County Association million
dollars for CMAC and and that qualifies
for uh, bike uh, routes and also safety
public safety infrastructure like cross
uh, crossings and things like that. But
I believe uh and not NG um um she
mentioned that uh you have to apply
directly with her. So I don't know if
you're aware of that situation or I
don't know insurance.
>> Yeah, well we're actively working
closely with KAG right now. We have the
application um for the CMAC which is due
on the first. We have the all the
calculations that are required for that
application and um we're going to
provide the information then to Anthony
to review and then we would submit in
accordance with um the plans that have
been developed to to address pet and
bike safety specifically. Yeah,
>> sounds good. Look, looks like you're on
top of it. Thank you.
>> Great. Thanks.
>> Thank you, Diego.
With that, we're going to So,
>> sorry, Mayor. Can I interrupt really
quick?
>> Have a comment.
>> Got a big announcement.
>> Big quick announcement.
So, we're interrupting.
>> Okay, let's see.
» And we'd like to share that our Aven
High School softball varsity team uh
just won the championship.
Um,
» we also have the parks director's
daughter, Anna's daughter. Um, Chloe is
on the team. Yeah.
>> One of the pictures.
>> Oh, the pitcher.
>> She's the junior.
>> Yeah.
» And this is section six.
That's big big division.
Well, congratulations and hopefully uh
you know we can invite him to recognize
him in that city council. That'll be something nice to do.
It's always good to see some positive
news happening in our community.
Uh
for that uh we'll move into uh let's see
we did a B
>> no now we move to 9B that is to consider
ratification of pure agreement with
container stop incorporation for the
custom container leaving quarters for
the fire department and I believe Chief
McCaffy will take it or you'll take it
to
>> we'll take the bulk of it. Chief Mc
Mackey already presented kind of a
prelude to it. So, thank you honorable
mayor and city council members. So, as
mentioned in the previous council
meeting and also earlier today in the
fire report regarding the living
quarters for our firefighters. um that
we've worked to stand up the fire
department as quickly as possible,
understanding that public safety is a
number one priority for the council and
for the community and wanting to stand
up the department and make it um
effective as soon as possible knowing
that the always looming threat that the
county could pull out of the contract as
they've done now two or three times.
Mhm.
>> So under that guys, uh we've moved
forward on figuring out how to have
living quarters that would be adequate
for the three different shifts that will
be um the main shifts for our full-time
firefighters.
We worked with our city engineer, our
public works, even Chief McAfee looking
at kind of what would be adequate living
quarters. Council may recall that
originally the plan was to build out um
a kind of a a site behind the hospital.
>> Um trying to use some of that open space
out there would have required a higher
um investment in all the utilities given
that all the utilities extend out that
way. Um, and when we started looking at
what that cost was looking at, and this
is why I poke at Diego a little bit,
that what we were hoping would be about
3400,000 was closer to a million if we
were going to do everything the right
way, as we like to say. So, we started
looking at other possibilities and an
alternative came up um by happen stance
between the assistant city manager and
fire chief looking behind city hall with
the the metal buildings that we already
have in the open space out there. Um we
speaking with public works looking at it
be wouldn't be too difficult to extend
services as there were services in that
space already. That used to be the old
public works yard. So we started
exploring that idea and that would
already kind of get us ahead being able
to open and start the department as soon
as possible. So besides the
communications um item then it became
how do we get living quarters up and
running as soon as possible. So started
looking at possibly modulars something
like you see the schools. As we started
looking at that possibility, it would be
something that could only be leased for
3 years. Would have cost upwards to
about 120 to 150,000 after at least just
getting a foundation, getting um getting
it just set up. It would have been two
modulars, 20 by 40. It would have been
just enough space for four for three,
four individuals at a time. Um
unfortunately, like I said, it only been
leased for three years.
uh we started looking at what other
options were out there and I started
calling some of the C container um
companies in the area and I have the
list there as a container
uh we spoke to mobile modular we
container backcountry containers all
them had a lead time of at least a few
months at best was getting something
maybe in July probably more likely
August and then us doing a lot of site
work to get it prepared
Uh, one of another one that we spoke to,
Container Stop out of Paso, they have
their construction out in Breedling,
said they actually had something that
may fit what we're looking for. Chief
McAfee and I went and visited and we saw
what's basically five units, 40 by 40,
and the inside was already 90% complete.
There are pictures at the end of the
packet as you can see.
>> Uh, we've taken two two visits so far.
my understanding that's almost more
fully complete now because these were
from last week. So, this was something
that they were willing to sell. They
were trying it was built for another
purpose for a family, but then didn't
end up taking it. So, they've had it for
about a year. They were looking to sell
it for 290,000. After some negotiations,
we got it down to 270 out the door. So
with them delivering it and installing
and whatnot.
Um so we looked at that being something
that was more feasible in the interest
of time because they expect and
anticipate delivering it on June 9th.
>> So this would coincide more cleanly with
our intended purpose of starting up the
fire department.
Um this will offer three sleeping rooms
so we could have bunk beds of two people
in each. There'll be one office. Now,
there'll be two bathrooms, a large
kitchen and living space, and a utility
room, the washroom, and then another
little storage space. This would be a
lot more respectable, more functional,
and would allow for co-ed or both male
and female firefighters if we have that.
Um, the best thing is that it's a lot
reduced cost on the footings and the
foundation. We don't have to put a full
foundation, just footings for where the
actual seat container edges sit. We'd be
able to get it, like I said, a lot
faster. And if in the future there was a
development or expansion behind city
hall, those could be relocated.
Um, and the city would own it instead of
leasing and having to give it back in
three years. So, we are still finalizing
some little details. Uh, we're debating
about painting it red. I still want
blue.
>> The chief chief and assistant city man.
>> What pony wants?
We asked Chief, he already he already
picked red. So, I guess we're going with
red. I lost this one. Oh, well. Um, but
yeah, so we're gonna make it something
very more presentable, especially if
it's going to be behind city hall,
something that community will be able to
see. The fire trucks will all be out
there. So,
>> as a fire,
>> yes, absolutely.
So that being said, that is kind of what
we've been working on. We've kind of
went ahead in the interest of time as I
mentioned and following the municipal
code under the procurement process that
the city manager is able to when
applicable exemptions for public safety
make emergency purchases. Um we are
asking council to ratify this action but
it is all under the same municipal code.
Um, in terms of the bidding process,
this was something that no other company
was able to provide something as soon
>> would have taken at least a month to two
months of build time than actually
delivery and then all the additional
cost for the prep work. This would be a
lot more reduced. Um, the one positive
with developing behind city hall is like
I said, we're reestablishing utility
lines. There's already electricity.
We'll have to upgrade a panel. We'll be
able to extend out water and waste
water. we can extend out the gas line.
So, this is going to be a lot less
expensive. So, we felt moving some of
the the money set aside for building for
the living quarters and area towards
having something more presentable for
the actual living quarters for our
firefighters.
If there are any questions, otherwise
requesting council to consider the
purchase and ratifying the agreement.
>> Any questions or comments from council?
Oh, I'm looking at the pictures. Um,
the ceilings are pretty tall, pretty
high. Looking at the for being a
container, right?
>> Yeah. I mean, this is where I would say
I don't know if Chief wants to chime in
anymore about the positive aspects of
this,
but if not, yeah, I mean, you can see
that it's if if you walk in, chief said
it, and then when we went by, they said
if you walked in blindfolded and just
open your eyes, you'd think it's you're
in a normal house.
>> I can just speak to just the differences
between the module building that we
we're trying to get. Um, that one was
originally three bedrooms. One of them
was actually going to serve as as an
office. Um, in this this fire station
living quarters location, there's a
dedicated office for supervisory
responsibilities, which is really
important because the captain needs
space to do his administrative work, but
also provides supervision uh to his
employees as well. I have a private
space to talk with them. Um, it also has
a laundry room. They stay 48 hours at a
time. So, it has a dedicated laundry
room, you know, for station supplies and
for them to do their their laundry in
there as well. And so, that that space
is not available in the other one. So
just just those two spaces, but really
the ability to have two bathrooms in
there was really huge for me only
because um there
» go ahead.
>> There is uh there is potential in the
future that we do hire a female
firefighter. Actually, a couple of the
reserves that that did apply are emails
as well. So it gives us the ability to
have separate spaces for them and make
sure that we abide by all the the state
laws and make sure that they're
comfortable in that space as well. So
that was that was really huge for us.
But uh in general, the rooms are good
size and so it does allow us with even
without bunk beds to two separate beds
to have at least two firefighters in
each room. So a total of six really. You
could fit a little more in one of the
rooms, but six sleeps pretty
comfortably. Uh and so overall, it
functions more along the lines of what
we would expect out of a a station
living quarters for us. Um and you know,
honestly, the inside once it's done is
going to look, you know, more like a
>> it's modern.
>> Yeah. modern residential home.
>> You can see all the lighting they have.
They ask me, "Do you do you guys want
all this lighting?" I'm like, "Yes, keep
it."
>> So,
way way way a way more efficient, way
more realistic option for future
operations. Uh especially, you know, I'm
anticipating more than three people on
shift often in the year. So, it allows
us to have that ability um to sleep
extra fires.
>> Yeah.
>> Great. My my comment my comment is that
uh I can see the benefit of uh owning
and not renting or leasing. That's a big
benefit. But also you're talking 40 by
40 that's uh 1,600 square ft. I mean you
cannot build a home from zero to no less
than $250,000.
So for 270 and having all these
amenities like an office, you know, I
think it's it's a really good deal. And
looking at the time frame, I think that
is also a section to move this project
ahead. So I just want to
>> sure we can always use them as a burn
room.
>> Okay.
>> To the training center.
>> Oh, thank you.
>> Right. And then the last thing I'll add
and it's included in the resolution and
a little bit in in the staff report is
this is not just the cost of the
building but um and we'll bring back
final cost on everything but any other
the site work that's needed like I said
extending the services up to this point
all we've done is clear out everything
we're working on figuring out what will
be contracted and what public works can
still do
>> just keep the cost low. Wow.
» Something playing on the computers.
>> Berto, what? We have uh
>> audio
>> one
on the screen.
>> It's just us on.
It's a three bedroomedroom two bath
Russian
>> officeable.
You can always move it in the future,
>> right? I think it's 270. It's just
>> the timeline is a big piece. That's why
I tried haggling them more, but they're
like, well, if you want it sooner,
>> unless you want us to start from
scratch, it might be
>> containers.
>> Even our public works director was
surprised. I'm always gonna keep
repeating that.
>> And I believe the tallest seat trains
are 9 ft tall.
There interference from something.
opening on June 1st and then June 11th
as we're ready to fully assume all
services and and all all the calls. Uh
this weekend we do have our skate event
on Saturday and then Sunday we'll have
the pre-opening of the fire department
or station 30. So invite everyone to
those events. We'll be posting them
again on our social media and what June
1st. Yeah, we're working already on our
budgets. So that'll be something we'll
present to council pretty soon. Um the
23 audit is complete and 24 and 25 is
being compiled together at this time.
We're hoping to have those by the end of
the summer as well. So, those are
progressing. Um, what other updates do
we have from staff? We'll have some new
staff presentations at the next meeting
as well. We do have an IT manager that
we hired. I was unable to to come out to
this meeting, but we'll have them at the
next meeting. And yeah, we continue
staying busy. I'll continue letting
council know everything that we're
working on. And I believe IT directors
got an announcement.
>> Looks like the Lady Bucks just won
division four softball. So round of
applause again.
>> Great deserved. Great deserved. So
that'll be on also on the next council
meeting to congratulate them maybe.
>> Yes. June 11th.
>> June 11th.
>> Yeah. So we'll work on that. And then
just one little um housekeeping item is
there was an error in the agenda. So
item 11 A that should be crossed out. Um
that's no longer um an item.
I just would like to uh ask you uh to be
give a brief comment or information
about how important is that uh daily uh
operations of the city providing
services to the community uh paying city
devs uh and dealing with uh vendors and
especially water treatment plan was
water treatment plant buying chemicals
having to pay city state employees, all
of that, how important it is to have a
local government active running every
day.
>> Yeah. Right. I know. So, I'll just
mention briefly, you know, at the
direction of the council, you know, sta
under the city manager's direction,
staff works every day to provide all the
services, a lot of the items, day-to-day
things that we take for granted, like
being able to open your faucet and
having water run through it and have to
think twice about that, knowing that
it's potable water and being able, of
course, to run the day-to-day businesses
of the city, having our events, having
um any recreation that we can have with
folks and then maintaining our streets
and roads and our parks. So all that is
part of what we as a city incorporated
in 1979 worked to have um
self-fulfilling all the needs of this
community. So that's something that we
are all striving for and continue doing
day by day again at the direction of the
city council that we will continue doing
regardless.
>> Thank you.
We'll go to legal council closing
comments announcements.
>> Not at this time mayor. Thank you very
much.
>> Thank you. With that, we'll go to uh
council member Ernnandez.
>> Thank you. We'll go to our mayor pro
team, Miss Gams. Closing comments.
» Well, I just want to report that I've
been representing the city in different
boards about uh 10 of them at least. Uh
we'll be uh I was there yesterday at
Kings County with uh Lavco. Uh we had a full quorum, everybody present uh
looking at approving the budget for the
next fiscal year. It's going to be about
$94,000 for Kings County LFCO. Uh
planning adding one more member to go to
the annual LFCO
um conference usually uh south uh as far
as San Diego and as far as uh Monterey
or Sacramento up north. Uh we also
discuss um card uh Kings area uh
regional transit uh discussing uh
changes in in the routes. They're going
to be stopping some routes and adding
some other ones in order to meet the uh budgets and give more service to
other areas that needed the most. Also,
uh we had uh the Kings County
Association of Governance meeting where
uh you know we discussed uh the uh trip
to Washington DC for the uh Sanwaqin
Valley Policy Council which compromised
the eight counties on in the central
valley from uh Stockton Modesto area all
the way to Burkasville Arvin. Uh they'll
be going to DC in September 11, 12 and
13. Also uh talking about um the uh new
uh the new changes that we coming that
will be coming uh regarding meetings
looking because now we have meetings in
two different places. Before used to be
one place for all four meetings and
quarterly we have five meetings.
uh the uh vehicle availment uh program
that's only every quarter of the year,
but now having to and usually it's at
one place and now it's at the new
building, the $30 million new building
for the uh transportation uh department.
So now we have to move from the cham uh
supervisor chambers all the way to seven
avenue and the mill is once every hour.
So now look
in order to be on time to the other
meetings at the other building.
But also uh I would like to uh commend
everybody who's been working together
with the city recreation planning
commission uh public works uh for doing
what they do. uh food distributions uh
the the city of Aven working together
with Rotary Club uh uh to being able to
provide uh free food to our community. I
believe uh Wednesday was uh more than
expected. Uh we had uh over usually it's
about 150 160 people but I believe uh
last Wednesday we had over 200 people.
Is that correct Frank?
Yeah. So there's a big need. Uh I know
that other uh entities uh other
nonprofits try to do their own too and
that's really appreciated.
But uh as you know a lot of our uh
people are working not able to attend.
So that is good that they have different
times and and in the mornings and
afternoons. So appreciate KCAO also with
Valley Voices doing their food
distribution in the afternoon to
accommodate more people that are working
uh uh looking at uh continue uh with uh having uh moving the city forward. I
just want to say that uh uh
you know we feel that uh that uh we're
representing the city for the best
interest not our own interest but to the
benefits of the whole community of a
being able to provide daily services to
them and uh we'll continue with that
trend either with this council or new
council in the near future no none of us
will be here eventually time progresses
and there's boards everywhere that
change and that will be the time for who
knows when but for for now we'll
continue providing services to the
community. we'll go into close session
and if there's anything to announce
we'll be doing so in about I don't know
40 minutes or so but we got about five
items to discuss but if there's any
action taken by council we'll be coming
back and reporter it and uh looking
forward to see everyone who is able to
attend uh Saturday skateboard u activity
and also Sunday for the soft opening of
uh fire department
uh 528. Thank you. And uh we're going to
close session. We're going to give a
three minute recess to go into close
session. Thank you.
The time is right now about 7:18.
So we'll see 7:22
if you ask me to go.
>> Yeah.
just announce the time.
Good evening. We're out of close
session. Uh
so didn't take action during close
session, so there is nothing to report.
The time is 9:16. Uh meeting a journ.
Good night.