[1:37] Good afternoon. We're going to call the
[1:38] study session for the city of Indo to
[1:40] order. Uh, can we have a roll call,
[1:41] please? Council member Ortiz, present.
[1:45] Council member
[1:46] Ferman. Council member um, Watron is
[1:50] absent. Mayor Pro Tim Holmes present.
[1:53] And Mayor Miller present. This time, if
[1:54] you could all please rise, we'll do the
[1:56] pledge of allegiance. If Oscar, if you
[1:57] could please lead, please lead us.
[2:00] Place your right hand over your heart. I
[2:03] pledge allegiance to the flag of the
[2:05] United States of America and to the
[2:07] republic for which it stands, one nation
[2:10] under God, indivisible, liberty and
[2:13] justice for all. Amen. Thank
[2:16] you. Number three is public comment.
[2:19] Anybody wishing to speak on an item? Uh
[2:21] is there anybody in the queue? Sabi,
[2:24] anybody in the audience wishing to speak
[2:25] at this time? Okay, with that we'll move
[2:28] on to item number four now which is
[2:30] discussion for the fiscal year 2526
[2:32] budget recap and discussion to include
[2:34] India water authority in the city's
[2:36] capital improvement plan. Miss Walla are
[2:38] you handling this for us? I might do
[2:41] just a very brief intro because first of
[2:43] all the last meeting when she had a
[2:45] budget present or a presentation she was
[2:47] wearing red and I had that in my mind
[2:49] that we were in the red. She's wearing
[2:51] green today. We're talking about money.
[2:53] She probably did that intentionally, but
[2:55] I wanted to take the time to not only
[2:57] thank uh Ruby and her team, as I'm sure
[2:59] the council always does, but a lot of
[3:01] the work that goes behind the
[3:04] uh that you see presented uh uh today.
[3:07] Uh much like I indicated in a memo to
[3:09] you, council, the um the budget is
[3:12] pretty much the similar to previous
[3:13] years. Uh you know, we're continuing to
[3:15] to move things along. Uh we are seeing
[3:17] some flattening in revenues that Ruby
[3:19] will go through. Um and trying to
[3:22] address some of the needs operationally
[3:24] and when we get into the capital
[3:26] projects, you'll see that we're just
[3:28] focusing on a couple of new projects
[3:30] that you've already identified and and
[3:32] approved. Uh but we'll need to seek
[3:35] additional appropriations. Monroe
[3:36] Interchange, for example, the PD
[3:38] headquarters building. So again, just
[3:40] wanted to give a broad overview that the
[3:42] budget is balanced. That's great news.
[3:44] But um there's certainly a lot of work
[3:46] that that went in to make uh make that
[3:48] happen. So there is a PowerPoint
[3:50] presentation and our finance director is
[3:52] all ready to go. Okay. Please let the
[3:54] record reflect that council member
[3:56] Gutron has joined us and Miss Walla,
[3:59] please. Yes. And thank you for all the
[4:01] hard work in this and we know how
[4:02] important the budget is to us and how
[4:04] much work it does to get it all to put
[4:06] together when especially when you're
[4:07] speaking millions of dollars of
[4:09] investment. Yes. much appreciated and I
[4:11] echo that even to the staff here and the
[4:15] department directors in sense of all the
[4:16] work that they put into it and then
[4:18] helping me to get it consolidated and
[4:21] doing the back and forth and review. So
[4:23] their efforts as well um helped to get
[4:25] us here today. So for our presentation
[4:28] today um you have been provided an
[4:32] electronic copy of a document that um
[4:35] Brian um gracefully sent out last week
[4:38] um as a preview. There have been changes
[4:40] of course um some different changes from
[4:43] what was presented to what we got what
[4:45] got us here today this afternoon. So
[4:48] we'll just kick off the presentation in
[4:50] terms of what's in that workbook um what
[4:52] you received and what's in the packet
[4:54] today. You have the key budget
[4:56] modifications. So we highlight in
[4:58] summary of what the changes were amongst
[5:00] departments as well as providing some
[5:04] context as to those that were big
[5:06] changes or significant items and things
[5:08] that we felt were important to highlight
[5:09] for the city council in their um review
[5:11] of the budget. So what you have is the
[5:14] general fund budget. You'll have the
[5:15] general fund budget summary um by budget
[5:18] unit. You'll have the general fund
[5:20] revenue general fund budget unit detail.
[5:23] The also included a special revenue
[5:25] funds in their detail as well. Capital
[5:28] projects funds, enterprise funds, the
[5:31] internal service funds that we'll talk
[5:33] about as well um in general and of
[5:36] course the India water authority. Um as
[5:38] you may recall last year it took a
[5:40] little different shape when as I joined
[5:42] uh team India and we kind of
[5:44] consolidated efforts between the city
[5:46] finance and IWA finance and that
[5:48] continues to progress. Um, so I'm I'm
[5:51] happy to present on behalf of IWA as
[5:54] well. So today's session, um, again, I
[5:58] would appreciate any conversation, any
[6:01] questions along the way. Um, yes, I'd
[6:03] love to go through the presentation, but
[6:05] anything that comes up, please feel free
[6:06] to ask. ask if there's any
[6:08] clarification and highlight. Um again,
[6:11] myself and Brian are available to answer
[6:14] questions as well as the staff as
[6:15] they're equipped to as as far as the
[6:18] efforts that gone into their um programs
[6:20] or their divisions. So today we're going
[6:23] to uh review the 2526 preliminary draft
[6:26] budget in detail um highlighting
[6:28] primarily general fund, India water
[6:30] authority and the capital improvement
[6:32] plan. Although I did um advise you also
[6:35] have preview of the special revenue
[6:38] funds and the internal service funds
[6:39] which in the key modifications sheet
[6:41] that you have highlighted some changes
[6:43] in there as well. And then at the end of
[6:46] this what we hope to is get some
[6:48] direction from city council. either you
[6:51] love what we've done and you want us to
[6:53] move forward with adoption um and bring
[6:56] that back to you in June or are there
[6:58] things on your wish list or things you
[7:00] want to see different or maybe you want
[7:02] us to go back to the table and kind of
[7:03] evaluate our operations happy to do that
[7:06] as well. Um but hopefully as we take you
[7:08] through the presentation um you'll see
[7:10] that um staff has been thoughtful in
[7:12] their um application of their budgets.
[7:17] So what went into the budget? Um a lot
[7:20] of the work again started in the finance
[7:22] department. As far as what we start
[7:24] working with are what are the changes
[7:26] that we know are impacting. We take into
[7:28] consideration allou changes that we know
[7:31] of any merits any cost um benefits that
[7:34] we have coming down the pipeline. Those
[7:36] known factors we do implement those. So,
[7:40] anything that has to do with a um
[7:43] kelpers adjustments, u cafeteria
[7:45] allowance adjustments, colas that we may
[7:48] be anticipating or any other bargaining
[7:50] unit that have a compensation or any
[7:53] dollar value associated with that. That
[7:55] goes in there as well. We also work
[7:57] actively on the revenue projections and
[8:00] as we go through you'll see and we'll
[8:01] highlight the revenues as well. Um what
[8:04] goes into that. Still trying to take a
[8:06] conservative approach. Um but we will
[8:09] highlight the as we did before at the
[8:11] midyear was the what we're experiencing
[8:14] with sales tax which then is
[8:16] complemented by measure X dollars as
[8:18] well which kind of drives that um
[8:20] additional revenue stream that we need
[8:21] to fund capital and then debt service as
[8:24] well as those types of commitments.
[8:26] There are a few one-time rollover
[8:28] projects. So you'll see we have about
[8:30] six million. You'll see that in the
[8:32] detail as well of um projects that we
[8:35] funded this year in the current year
[8:37] that we've recognized need to continue
[8:38] on into the next year. So, we've
[8:40] captured that and it'll show as a
[8:42] beginning fund balance in there to
[8:44] balance out those expenditures still
[8:46] rolling into the new year, but we're
[8:48] accounting for that fund balance coming
[8:49] in as well. And at the end of this
[8:52] you'll see the robust and uh aggressive
[8:54] capital plan um between city manager
[8:58] myself and public works working with the
[9:00] team um really diving in getting what
[9:04] are the needs what do we have um I've
[9:06] been impressed since I've been here at
[9:09] what Indo is doing and all the great
[9:11] things as well as I think everybody else
[9:13] and the people that that I've talked to
[9:15] that gravitate towards that. So, we've
[9:17] spent a lot of time on capital. So,
[9:20] happy to um present that to you as well.
[9:22] Um Brian will take the lead on that
[9:26] primarily. So, here we're going to talk
[9:28] about revenues to give you an overview
[9:30] of general fund
[9:31] revenue and I'll switch to my notes. And
[9:34] again, if there you have any questions
[9:36] along the way, please feel free to ask.
[9:39] Um so these are just by the category of
[9:42] all the revenue sources that come
[9:45] through the city. Um in your packet you
[9:48] do have where the the line item these
[9:50] roll up too, right? So um the next slide
[9:53] will show the taxes broken down but each
[9:56] category is rolled up by several
[9:58] different types of revenue sources that
[10:00] we do have throughout the city. And so
[10:03] what we have here are some actuals just
[10:05] to provide some historical context as
[10:08] well as what we experienced in
[10:10] 2324, what we projected into 2425. And
[10:14] mind you, we didn't make any real
[10:16] adjustments at mid year. So these are
[10:18] budgeted what we thought we were going
[10:19] into the year and then what we're
[10:22] looking at in
[10:23] 2526. Um so there, as you can see,
[10:26] there's not a lot of changes amongst
[10:28] them. Um, you'll see more changes more
[10:31] in the tax arena in terms of where we
[10:34] made some of those adjustments as well
[10:36] as charges for services because of the
[10:38] experiencing we're seeing with um the
[10:41] city's applied fee schedule and all the
[10:43] activity that we have there. Any
[10:46] questions on this slide before I move
[10:48] forward? No.
[10:54] So, I want to talk about general fund
[10:56] tax revenue. Um these are just the
[10:59] specific categories that roll into um
[11:02] the taxes, the line item that we saw on
[11:05] the previous slide. Um and show where
[11:07] our tax dollars are associated and how
[11:10] we're the experience that we have. Um
[11:13] the biggest significant that might stand
[11:14] to you is actual versus budget is the
[11:17] toot. Um that's the one that that's you
[11:20] know in 23 24 it increased um
[11:23] significantly and then we kind of came
[11:25] back down and we're just there taking a
[11:27] conservative conservative approach and
[11:30] what went into that last year was the
[11:32] fact that we weren't going to have power
[11:33] trip come
[11:40] back you know again we don't know that's
[11:43] the uncertainty um you know how it's
[11:46] going to perform that we don't have
[11:47] that, you know, crystal ball to
[11:49] determine that. Um, so we anticipate we
[11:52] probably will see an upswing above the
[11:54] 15 million, but we'll we'll continue to
[11:56] see that, but trying to remain
[11:58] conservative. Um, and that's why you see
[12:01] the 15.9 just trends just slightly
[12:03] higher. The one that I want to call your
[12:06] attention to is the sales tax. the one
[12:08] that I just um we did come back if you
[12:11] recall during mid year we did update
[12:13] that we were seeing a decline in um
[12:16] actual versus budgeted for 2425
[12:20] um by about 400,000 on each right
[12:22] because it's assumed dollar for dollar
[12:24] although we know that measure X does a
[12:26] little bit better um but during that
[12:29] conversation at that quarterly report it
[12:31] was discussed that they could see 2526
[12:35] coming back up so with that Being said,
[12:38] we went with those projections. So,
[12:39] builtin is us going back up to the 8 18
[12:43] 18.5 18.2 scenario that we had estimated
[12:46] and a little bit more to adjust for some
[12:48] growth. However, this morning we did
[12:51] have we had our quarterly u sales tax
[12:54] meeting and actually they just showing
[12:56] some slow progression at this
[13:03] point in on that meeting. But there what
[13:06] we're looking And what they're basing it
[13:08] off is uh quarter 4 2024 which means we
[13:11] have other things coming into play right
[13:13] we have tillies we have sketchers we
[13:15] have you know wings stop um canes um in
[13:19] and out and all those things and what we
[13:21] saw you know what the potential
[13:22] additional revenue growth that that will
[13:24] be brings. So we anticipate that our
[13:27] revenue projections are fairly uh
[13:30] probably still a little on the higher
[13:32] end but we think fairly well. So, we may
[13:34] adjust those as we move forward to bring
[13:35] you the final final budget. Um, but just
[13:38] wanted to highlight those things. And
[13:40] what then articulates is this chart
[13:43] here, right, that shows like how we had
[13:45] significant growth and now we're just
[13:47] kind of really flattening out um here
[13:50] and with slow growth. And so, the hopes
[13:52] is that we want to see something that
[13:54] balances that growth in revenues to
[13:58] complement our growth in
[14:00] operations. Any questions? Any
[14:03] questions? Taxes?
[14:05] Thank you.
[14:08] This slide is just um really small and
[14:11] so I I apologize to those that have to
[14:13] read it. I know it's in the packet. Um
[14:14] but I just wanted to give you a summary
[14:16] of what goes into
[14:18] um the budget development and all the
[14:21] departments categorized. And I know in
[14:23] council's packet you have the full scale
[14:25] report that shows each department and
[14:27] the DV the variations and the changes.
[14:30] Um, but on the next slide, we'll
[14:32] highlight the bottom portion of that.
[14:34] We'll tell you where our resources are
[14:35] going.
[14:38] And if we could go back for a second, of
[14:41] course. So, imagine you know, you see
[14:44] the investment that we have in public
[14:45] safety. We're almost at, you know, 70
[14:48] million dollars and from the year before
[14:51] obviously we're at 41. You know, fire
[14:53] kind of hits me. It's a little bit more
[14:55] public safety, police, you know, we've
[14:57] added on, but you know, we do have to
[14:59] have a long term over the fire uh
[15:02] situation. We can't continue to take
[15:05] million million4 dollar hits. We got to
[15:07] come up with some creative ways to be
[15:09] able to look at ways to either change
[15:12] our service, partner with people, but a
[15:14] million four at a time. You can only put
[15:16] so many wing stops in. So, we actually
[15:19] need to have some kind of idea and
[15:20] thoughts behind that or it's going to
[15:22] swamp the rest of our budget. So, right
[15:25] now, we got to do something. But even
[15:26] with public safety, it is a big issue
[15:28] with our residents. One of the main
[15:30] things that we're, you know, tasked to
[15:32] do. But at the same time, you know, we
[15:35] have other services we need to provide.
[15:36] So, if we could start looking at
[15:38] creative ways, we might even need to
[15:40] have a study session after this is done
[15:41] to figure out how to how to corral this
[15:44] or work a way into it. Maybe it's a
[15:46] another uh some kind of fee for some
[15:49] other people utilizing it, the new
[15:51] houses. Is that going to help us? You
[15:53] know, what's it going to be? It's a it's
[15:54] a great point. And I just wanted to draw
[15:56] attention as you look at this slide, you
[15:57] see it better on your screens, but an
[15:59] actual in
[16:01] 2021 of
[16:03] 14.8 and an estimated uh next year's
[16:06] budget of
[16:08] 23.3. And that's that's to your point,
[16:11] Mayor, that's insane. I mean, this these
[16:14] are these are costs that are not
[16:16] increasing the level of service, only
[16:18] increasing the cost to our residents.
[16:20] So, so yes, uh, and another good point,
[16:22] uh, as you say, you know, it's we can't
[16:24] change it this coming fiscal year. Some
[16:26] sort of evolution to a solution could
[16:29] take a couple of years of
[16:30] implementation. So, um, why not start
[16:34] sooner than later? Yeah. And I think we
[16:36] need to bring in Chief White and his
[16:38] team and look at it. I know the county
[16:40] has a, you know, way that they do
[16:42] things. Do we go I mean, don't want to
[16:44] go over it all now, but it's telling and
[16:46] and our residents should know. I mean,
[16:47] we're investing almost $70 million in
[16:50] public safety for him. I mean, that is a
[16:52] massive amount of the the actual income
[16:55] that we bring in for for everything. So,
[16:58] it's not for faint heart, but at the
[17:00] same time, you know, we have to have a
[17:02] safe city, but we also have to have a
[17:03] clean city and we also have a lot of
[17:05] other services we need to provide that
[17:07] actually bring in some of this tax
[17:08] dollars. So, absolutely something we got
[17:10] to look at. Mr.
[17:12] I just my comments to that and obviously
[17:15] I've expressed them to the to both the
[17:17] city manager, assistant city manager and
[17:19] the chief regarding programs that we
[17:22] need to look at. The city of Palm Desert
[17:24] Ranch and Raj Indian Wells have co
[17:26] communities with their ambulance
[17:27] services and how that's been done. The
[17:30] city we looked at it 15 years ago we
[17:33] glanced at it and we never went back to
[17:35] it. It's we need to kind of look at
[17:37] that. the the the community is really
[17:39] challenged with the ambulance especially
[17:41] with the big growth from our senior
[17:44] community. They're counting on those
[17:45] services and the way the services are
[17:48] done. We need to look at a different
[17:49] model and the model's already there. Uh
[17:53] those three communities have been
[17:54] together, they've been able to sustain
[17:56] it. Um and it's been creative, but I
[17:58] think we need to look at that. The other
[18:00] thing, the fire department should be
[18:01] present.
[18:03] We if I look at this correctly and based
[18:05] on my mentor Mayor Miller as I've been
[18:08] on the council and the other council
[18:09] members that have given input is that
[18:12] I'm looking at this that at 26 27 we're
[18:15] looking at almost 24 million at the rate
[18:17] we're going. So, I think it's imperative
[18:20] that we really take a breather, but the
[18:22] fire department needs to be present. And
[18:24] we also need a breakdown of what they
[18:26] have
[18:27] firefighters versus their paramedic
[18:29] firefighters besides the county support
[18:31] staff because that's another component
[18:33] and the administrative fees. We just
[18:35] invested a lot in that fire department.
[18:37] And it's not criticizing their efforts
[18:40] of life saving, protecting property, and
[18:42] transporting the ill and the injured is
[18:44] not questioned. It's just it's a big
[18:46] ticket item. And it's tough, but we're
[18:49] going to have to talk about it. The
[18:51] other thing, too, is we have just
[18:53] gotten, for whatever it's worth, when we
[18:56] got hit with the recession and those
[18:58] very tough times, we're just getting
[19:00] back to where we were at that level.
[19:01] That's almost 17 years ago. It's taken
[19:03] us 17 years to even see the light on
[19:06] where we're going. And that's not just
[19:08] the bodies, it's also the equipment. So,
[19:11] that's something that we really need to
[19:12] look at it closely. And I agree with the
[19:14] mayor that of the public's trust in
[19:16] putting some of these measures, the lead
[19:18] was public safety.
[19:21] Anyone else? Thank you. I just it's such
[19:23] a high ticket item. We did we need to
[19:25] address it. Thank you.
[19:33] So again, just to on this is the blown
[19:36] up version of what was on the bottom of
[19:38] that um previous slide. So overall in
[19:41] the general fund in summary um we're at
[19:44] 111 million in expenditures with um
[19:47] 105.9 million in revenue
[19:51] um which is showing at a uh over budget
[19:54] of 5.7 million. However, as I alluded to
[19:57] in the beginning of my presentation of
[19:59] those one-time um resources is basically
[20:03] we identify here about 6.7 million in
[20:07] those resources
[20:09] um that will be uh available fund
[20:11] balance at at the end of um June 30,
[20:14] 2025. Therefore, coming into the new
[20:17] year as available and then
[20:19] reappropriated. Um so with that being
[20:22] said um we're estimating then a net
[20:27] surplus if you would call it at 1
[20:29] million and then with that
[20:31] recommendation similar to what we
[20:33] recommended um the previous year is that
[20:35] we would recommend uh city council give
[20:38] direction of of reallocating half a
[20:40] million towards the economic uncertainty
[20:42] to fund that debt um reserve fund. We
[20:46] are at the threshold the 15% requirement
[20:48] of revenues. We do exceed that
[20:50] currently, but uh best practice is just
[20:53] to continue if we have that ability and
[20:54] available resources to put um to uh
[20:57] reappropriate that at this council's
[21:00] discretion. Um in addition to just
[21:03] wanted to highlight we also made the
[21:05] assumptions and included uh continuing
[21:08] the contribution similar to last year of
[21:11] including a $1 million pars contribution
[21:14] that funds pens of pension for future p
[21:17] for our current pension liability or
[21:18] future pension costs as well as an op
[21:21] contribution to our server trust of 1.5
[21:24] million and those have been um already
[21:27] assumed and included in that 10und
[21:29] million uh 11 million uh expenditure
[21:32] budget there. And the 500,000 is the the
[21:34] 500,000 that's down below. It's not an
[21:36] extra 500,000. Correct. Correct. Okay.
[21:39] Right. Thank you.
[21:42] Questions?
[21:44] Balanced. Close. Yeah, it's
[21:48] balanced. Worked really
[21:51] hard. So, the next um few slides are in
[21:54] summary, and I won't go through and read
[21:56] them all, but it's basically to just
[21:58] give you um you do have the
[22:01] within your packets. Um but these are
[22:03] just high level um again increases or
[22:08] decreases to the general fund budget
[22:10] categories. Um some will be higher, some
[22:12] will be lower of course. Um overall what
[22:15] I alluded to and I'm happy to go through
[22:17] um each of the slides or each of the
[22:20] departments as well as if there's
[22:21] something you would like something
[22:23] specific to hear from the department
[22:26] specifically, they're available as well.
[22:34] changes, colas, um, uh, KLPERS
[22:37] adjustments and and any ISF changes that
[22:40] would drive off of those kind of
[22:43] expenditures. Um, so that's what you see
[22:45] here. And this is a result as as when
[22:47] you talk about ISFs, it's their
[22:49] proportional share, right? It's the
[22:50] weighted average and it just funnels
[22:52] through. So that's why there it varies.
[22:55] Um
[22:56] but so these have um so all these
[23:00] departments don't have anything of great
[23:01] significant to highlight other than
[23:03] those those specific items. Um the same
[23:07] goes through for these departments as
[23:11] well. There's quite a
[23:15] few. Um I did want to highlight PD
[23:19] because I know that that would stand out
[23:20] at you know 1.6
[23:22] But that is it's just the proportional
[23:24] share and they're the most significant
[23:26] and since we have our annual U payment
[23:29] does increase. It's just how the the the
[23:32] breakdown goes on that one. Um but
[23:36] before we move on on these that I
[23:37] highlight um the other item I wanted to
[23:40] add we we as a team went through an
[23:43] exercise as far as evaluating all our
[23:46] expenditure budgets and and resources
[23:48] and they do a good job on the daily but
[23:50] part of our um budget exercise this year
[23:52] was
[23:54] saying could you cut your budget and if
[23:56] you can where um knowing all things
[23:59] constant we're building we're growing we
[24:02] have operational needs. Um, so some of
[24:05] those decreases that you see there can
[24:08] be attributed to some of that that
[24:10] although they had some increases, they
[24:12] also did some decreases or they
[24:14] restructured their their organization.
[24:17] And basically, we're trying to align. So
[24:19] what you have in your packets, you see
[24:21] the line item detail. And so our goal is
[24:24] to get departments to have their budgets
[24:26] really be in line with what their
[24:29] operations are. So, we just had some um
[24:32] balancing adjustments we did within each
[24:34] department
[24:36] just to give some extra context as far
[24:38] as the development. If anybody has any
[24:40] questions as we go along, just please
[24:43] engaged. Oscar, I have one question. I
[24:45] know in the past we talked about the new
[24:47] sports park that's coming up and how
[24:49] that could add expenses to our
[24:52] landscaping and maintenance. Is any are
[24:54] any of those increases included in this
[24:56] budget? Yes. How much increase? Um
[25:00] It's a little over
[25:02] 300,000. We've got increased water
[25:04] costs. There'll be some electricity
[25:06] cost. And then an the Excel agreement, I
[25:08] believe, is almost 25,000 a month
[25:10] estimated to maintain the the new sports
[25:13] complex coming online this fall,
[25:16] September. So, it won't be a full fiscal
[25:17] year, but maybe 10 of the 12 months. So,
[25:21] that is included. That is part of that
[25:23] increase you see embedded here. Okay.
[25:25] And with uh with that, you done Oscar?
[25:28] Oh, no. The other thing I was going to
[25:29] ask is I know there's um a change in
[25:31] contracts that's in our agenda packet
[25:34] for later on today. Are those changes
[25:36] reflected in this budget already? They
[25:38] are as well. Yes. And is that a savings
[25:40] or It's about
[25:42] $175,000 savings uh as well as an
[25:45] additional facilities maintenance person
[25:48] that's covered by that savings uh the
[25:50] additional savings. So, those are
[25:52] embedded as well. Um if I might just off
[25:55] those those good questions and something
[25:56] that Ruby indicated. One of our tasks
[25:58] too is to make sure that our line items
[26:01] accurately reflect the expenditure
[26:04] um put things in the right place. So
[26:06] actually this slide right here might be
[26:08] an example of that is we're just merely
[26:10] moving it from one general fund
[26:12] department to the other, but this is a
[26:13] more appropriate to it. Um there are a
[26:16] couple of those that went on. Um the
[26:19] assistant city manager position used to
[26:21] be mostly in finance. Now it's more in
[26:23] the city manager budget. So you see the
[26:25] the city manager budget goes up but the
[26:27] finance budget goes down. So you just
[26:29] see a little bit of that just trying to
[26:30] properly align where it's at. Um and I
[26:33] don't know if you want to touch on this
[26:34] Ruby but the fact that the
[26:36] communications and marketing budget um
[26:39] wasn't necessarily the best place for uh
[26:42] uh the community or the uh special
[26:44] events uh or vice versa. Right. So that
[26:47] was kind of the budget development side
[26:49] and as we've restructured some of the
[26:51] organizational responsibilities as well
[26:54] um was highlighted that the special
[26:56] events budget you know was better suited
[26:59] within um communications and marketing
[27:02] just on the scale of the work that
[27:04] they're doing. So basically trying to
[27:05] fit it in where it best makes sense as
[27:08] far as those that have oversight of
[27:10] those functions. So this is exactly what
[27:12] you see on this slide. Um the
[27:14] significant component is the increase
[27:16] and decrease. They did have some
[27:17] balancing acts between um line items,
[27:20] but overall the most significant was
[27:22] that 6 it was last year was 691. This
[27:25] year their budget 694. So that's why
[27:27] it's it's different. But 691 was what we
[27:29] pulled out of that budget as the as what
[27:32] was sitting in community services. And
[27:34] then that request came in at
[27:36] 694 into um communications and
[27:40] marketing. And I take it it's broken
[27:42] down in some of the data in here
[27:44] actually what it's being spent on. Yes,
[27:46] it is. We can get to that when we can.
[27:49] You don't have to do it. I was just
[27:50] curious if it was broken down completely
[27:52] into its own separate category. Yes, it
[27:54] has its own line item and it's actually
[27:56] outlined as special events and it and it
[27:58] has all the um events that it's will be
[28:01] funding. Perfect. And then go ahead, Mr.
[28:04] Pet. No, I just getting back to the
[28:06] parks and the conditions that we've been
[28:09] challenged with. We you see going out to
[28:11] bid for parks again because of the
[28:13] maintenance issues or is it because
[28:15] staff doesn't have enough staff to
[28:16] maintain the parks? Well, we we contract
[28:20] almost all of the maintenance and you're
[28:22] you're right. We we had a contract with
[28:24] Excel. We went out to an RFP and then we
[28:26] switched to another company and now we
[28:28] switched back to Excel. Uh your call on
[28:31] when you'd like to direct us to do that.
[28:33] Too much back and forth probably isn't
[28:35] isn't helpful, but um something we can
[28:38] evaluate and we talked about this the
[28:39] other day. you yourself and the mayor,
[28:42] could we over time hire the staff that
[28:45] right now we pay Excel to do? It's an
[28:47] evaluation that we've, you know, got to
[28:49] to see whether it's more cost-effective,
[28:51] greater quality, but right now we
[28:54] contract almost all of that maintenance
[28:55] to a private third party um including
[28:58] what's proposed for the sports complex.
[29:00] So, I know Tim and Jose do their best,
[29:02] but if they don't have the staff to stay
[29:04] on top of it because there's so much
[29:05] going on, then what do we you know, it's
[29:08] just we it's hard to maintain them.
[29:11] That's why Councilman Ortiz brought up
[29:14] the good point with the sports party.
[29:15] It's another big animal that's part of
[29:17] our family to be able to maintain them.
[29:19] And if we can't do it, well, without
[29:23] respect to Tim, he's trying to build
[29:25] bridges. He's got to be paved roads.
[29:27] Paved roads
[29:30] and everybody in this team wears more
[29:32] than one hat and I'm just concerned we
[29:35] just can't keep up. It's a great point
[29:38] on two points. One is the mayor probably
[29:40] has been the the largest voice on if
[29:42] we're going to build it, we're going to
[29:43] maintain it. So the question of we've
[29:45] got this beautiful sports park that's
[29:46] underway. The question is how do we best
[29:49] maintain it? Right now we utilize a
[29:51] third party contractor. Um, if we need a
[29:54] little more, then we usually just add to
[29:56] that contract. The point though that
[29:58] could be evaluated over time is should
[30:00] we bring on city staff, lower the third
[30:03] party to do some of that maintenance.
[30:05] It's something we've considered with
[30:07] janitorial, something we've considered
[30:09] uh in other areas as well. But right
[30:12] now, if if we need more maintenance, we
[30:15] just pay more to the contractor, which
[30:16] is in the budget right now for the
[30:18] sports complex. We've also added a
[30:20] little bit for the additional medians
[30:22] that we've we've landscaped. So, we've
[30:25] built those. We need to make sure they
[30:26] keep looking nice. So, the number I
[30:29] believe is another 60,000 a year to them
[30:31] to make sure that those are maintained.
[30:35] Good. Mr. Yes, sir.
[30:39] Mr. Montgomery is the uh the lack of
[30:42] maintenance. Not that they can't do it,
[30:44] but if they're going to do the same job
[30:45] that they do on Davis Field to the new
[30:47] pole park, it's not adequate. So, do we
[30:50] have a um
[30:53] new, you know, like template of work
[30:55] they need to do because now we have
[30:57] soccer fields, different size soccer
[30:58] fields, you know, do we move the things?
[31:00] Do we mow it? Different mowing. Do we
[31:02] how often do the ball fields do how
[31:04] often do they rake the DG? Is that all
[31:06] in there? somebody making sure they do
[31:08] it because if it ends up being like
[31:10] Davis Field in the long run, we pay more
[31:11] money or or we or it just doesn't
[31:13] happen. So, it's a brand new piece of
[31:16] property that needs to be maintained
[31:18] from the start like a like a good golf
[31:20] course. You know, you put in the extra
[31:22] you for the weed control. You put the
[31:24] stuff in before it does it before it
[31:26] gets to a point where it's out of
[31:27] control. So, we can't treat it like all
[31:29] the rest of them. We actually got to
[31:30] treat it like it's brand new. The same
[31:31] with our other landscape. You know, we
[31:33] got to treat it differently so that it
[31:35] doesn't get like other time will always
[31:37] kill things off. That's just natural.
[31:39] But when you start talking weeds and
[31:41] stuff or you're not raking fields or
[31:42] you're not, you know, they don't have to
[31:45] have a set time when they go and drag
[31:46] the infield like every Monday and
[31:48] Friday. They need to really go out and
[31:50] make sure that they have a checklist to
[31:52] what they're doing. And it's just not
[31:53] like Davis Field is mow it up and back
[31:54] and forth and and until somebody says
[31:57] something, uh, you know, um, we're not
[31:59] going to do it. Kind of like the Gophers
[32:00] and that and they're trying hard. I'm
[32:02] not knocking them, but I'm just saying
[32:04] we've invested millions into this thing
[32:07] to invest a little bit more to make sure
[32:08] it's maintained. It's probably a smart
[32:10] investment on our on our part. You bet.
[32:12] And I'm sure the team is is hearing that
[32:15] uh hearing that loud and clear. Uh you
[32:17] know, we do have an older facility. It's
[32:19] a little harder to maintain. Davis
[32:21] Fields and then will be the new one. Um
[32:23] but you make a great point. I think it
[32:24] was President Reagan that said trust but
[32:26] verify. So the agreements we have do
[32:28] specify how often it's supposed to mow,
[32:30] what's the trimming schedule. It's just
[32:32] that someone has to verify that they're
[32:34] doing that work and that is the task of
[32:36] the team and we'll get that done. And
[32:37] then one other thing I want to go
[32:39] backwards for a second on the budget and
[32:41] and we talked to reserve. We're at 15%.
[32:43] And now we're going over that. We might
[32:45] need to re-evaluate that and put it into
[32:47] different categories or up it to a
[32:49] different amount so that people
[32:50] understand what we're doing. it it's a
[32:52] rainy day fund for later on in case we
[32:54] do have a big downturn and I I don't
[32:56] want to get into the same situation when
[32:58] I first got on council where we were
[32:59] laying people off and cutting people's
[33:01] 10% salary. Last thing we want to do is
[33:03] do that. But we also got to be smart
[33:05] with our money because we got to balance
[33:06] our budget now. If we need to, maybe we
[33:08] do need to move it to 17% or put it in
[33:11] different categories so that we can give
[33:13] that story to not only our union
[33:15] partners but also the community is why
[33:17] we're putting it aside and not spending
[33:18] it now. So if it's at 15% we're over it.
[33:22] They can always come back and say,
[33:23] "Well, you said 15%, you're at 17%.
[33:25] Why?" Well, because we have other things
[33:27] we need to do or we're going to invest
[33:29] it in cars or we're going to ne invest
[33:31] it in more work. So, we might want to
[33:33] look at that and reset our priorities so
[33:35] they know. Perhaps you're about to jump
[33:37] in. When we bring back the for adoption
[33:40] in June, we want may want to bring that
[33:42] policy back as the mayor suggesting, let
[33:44] the council look at it. What should our
[33:46] reserve be? I've been in cities where
[33:48] it's been 20%, I've been at 25%. I've
[33:50] been there where it's 10%. The 15 is
[33:52] probably a common number, but we could
[33:54] split the difference. Um, and it better
[33:56] protects us. That's music to the ears of
[33:58] the team that you've hired to maintain
[34:00] all of these things. Is there cushion
[34:02] when the economy slips and so wise, very
[34:07] smart. Well, and if we break it into
[34:08] cars, so when we do have to do it, we
[34:10] don't take it out of the general fund.
[34:11] We can take it out of this. If we have a
[34:13] reserve for like vehicles and we need to
[34:14] buy 400,000 and we put that money aside,
[34:17] then we actually dip into the reserves
[34:18] to pay for those vehicles so it doesn't
[34:20] stop our general fund and then we
[34:22] rebuild it back up for the next time we
[34:24] do it. But, you know, for strategically
[34:26] placed things, I think it's pertinent
[34:28] that we do it and then that way nobody
[34:30] can really come back and say why is it
[34:31] there? Why are you putting more money
[34:32] in? So well I think it's it's probably
[34:35] wise to visit that as our policy is 15%
[34:37] of revenues operational revenues and
[34:41] which at this point I mean at a time
[34:43] when we're
[34:45] increasing aggressive because our
[34:47] revenues were growing and growing but
[34:49] now that we're seeing that trend and
[34:50] we're flattening out it may be best to
[34:53] re-evaluate because we know our costs
[34:55] continue to go up so maybe flipping it
[34:57] may be an option at looking at
[34:58] expenditures for the for the long term.
[35:01] Okay thank you. You're welcome. And then
[35:04] I just wanted to recap go back as far as
[35:06] if you wanted to see those breakdowns of
[35:08] those events. No, as long as it's in
[35:10] there, we'll we'll look through them at
[35:11] another time. I appreciate just want to
[35:12] make sure. Okay,
[35:14] perfect. So, we're moving on to non-EP
[35:17] departmental and measure X. Um here
[35:20] again, uh what we commit to the in the
[35:23] non-EP departmental fund. Um these are
[35:25] the things that run through that are the
[35:27] significant items that run through as
[35:29] far as other nonop um non-depart
[35:31] specific expenditures that kind of
[35:33] funneled through there but primarily we
[35:35] have a debt service contribution that we
[35:38] um contribute uh from the general fund.
[35:41] We do a small portion. We also have this
[35:44] is where we talked about the OPED
[35:46] contribution, the PARs contribution, um
[35:49] property acquisition funding as well as
[35:51] well as a LLD uh city contribution that
[35:54] we provide of 210,000
[35:57] um measure X again being that we're um
[36:02] estimating a little bit on the higher
[36:03] end comparing of all the things that
[36:06] learned new information today, but this
[36:08] is the breakdown is fully maximizing our
[36:11] ability of what we are receiving.
[36:13] receiving for measure X at this time and
[36:15] recommending as part of the budget. Um 5
[36:18] million again the ongoing commitment for
[36:20] streets and roads. We have the 2017 debt
[36:23] service that's a commitment of um
[36:25] obligated from measure X's at 1.2
[36:28] million. We now have increased um debt
[36:31] service commitment for the 2022 lease
[36:33] revenue bonds of 6.7 million which also
[36:37] we're recommending is an additional 5
[36:40] million of the 5 million we already
[36:42] committed um for a set aside fund for
[36:45] the PD admin building and you'll see
[36:47] that as we walk through as well in the
[36:50] uh capital improvement plan. But again,
[36:52] setting aside these extra resources as
[36:54] we move forward for that. Again, a
[36:56] recommendation um staff recommendation
[36:59] for city council's consideration. And
[37:01] then what remains of that is about
[37:03] 781,000 that can be uh attributed to all
[37:07] existing uh what we believe for needed
[37:09] for existing capital funding. Mr. Gron,
[37:13] the only thing I have which I mentioned
[37:14] before and I know that you have tried
[37:17] diligently to get seaxs to look over our
[37:20] bonds. I know you have. I I I think
[37:23] you're better off doing a birthday party
[37:25] at your house than try to get Cax
[37:27] together. And I just we have to have
[37:30] them do their job. I don't know. And I
[37:33] know that from my understanding from the
[37:35] last one that was canceled is we had
[37:37] another member resign. And so it's
[37:40] important the mayor mentioned it why
[37:42] they were developed and we need them to
[37:44] look at this and I would like them again
[37:46] to look at this budget. Um I mentioned
[37:48] it before when you a presentation for
[37:51] the midyear review. Um I think it's
[37:53] important we do that. So we're actively
[37:56] trying to coordinate them. Um the the
[37:59] comm the commissioners
[38:06] Yeah, please. Okay.
[38:11] our planning budget uh increased 337,000
[38:14] in here was if I just wanted to draw
[38:16] your attention back to we have this on
[38:18] last couple years a 690,000 was
[38:21] allocated and but that was a partial um
[38:24] role of about 470 of that. So this is an
[38:28] ongoing project which is also an item on
[38:30] your um agenda tonight for regular
[38:32] session. Um but this is what's also in
[38:35] there as well as a addition of one
[38:37] associate planner um increasing the FTA
[38:41] account for the city public works um
[38:44] 90,000 overall but in there was a
[38:47] $300,000 increase to plan check services
[38:50] but we have um offset that by
[38:52] anticipated salary savings as well um
[38:55] significantly due just to the uh
[38:58] inability to recruit staffing.
[39:02] Mr.
[39:03] just had a question regarding the
[39:05] ability to recruit staff. Is it because
[39:07] it's the opportunity of salary and
[39:11] benefits? Are we at a place that we can
[39:14] because I know that I asked how we were
[39:15] doing with the engineering staff. They
[39:17] needed help and I'm trying to
[39:19] understand. I think you've done well in
[39:21] every other department, but I know that
[39:22] they're behind. Um, probably Andrew or
[39:25] Tim can speak to that. As far as I know
[39:27] that there have been recruitment efforts
[39:29] as far as the caliber or the quality of
[39:31] the the pool that's available. I I would
[39:34] not be able to speak to that. Um, the
[39:36] the issue here is because we couldn't uh
[39:39] couldn't recruit the staff that we felt
[39:41] would be necessary, we're just hiring it
[39:44] out to a a third party and that's the
[39:46] plan check services. So, by taking the
[39:48] money out of the engineering staffing
[39:50] and put it into a contract, we're
[39:52] providing the services. It's just
[39:53] through a different method because we
[39:55] couldn't find the the staffing. It is
[39:57] tough to hire engineers to bring them
[39:59] out here. And I was surprised at one
[40:02] time it wasn't a challenge, but things
[40:04] have changed. But I'm looking at it from
[40:06] the bigger picture. How's Tim's
[40:08] department moving these big projects if
[40:10] he doesn't have the people to do it? And
[40:11] it's with contract engineers and then
[40:13] we're doing contract for everything
[40:16] because we can't find it. Which goes
[40:18] back to you contracting gardeners versus
[40:20] what we're doing actually. Yeah. And we
[40:22] may be able depends on the position.
[40:24] These planners you mentioned the
[40:25] addition of planner. It's tough to find
[40:27] planners.
[40:28] So and this is good for the public to
[40:30] know. That's what I'm saying that you're
[40:32] trying or if they're in college right
[40:34] now go study planning or engineering. We
[40:37] we need you. Or dispatching. I'm sorry
[40:39] chief. There's some other code
[40:41] enforcement. We We have other needs,
[40:43] too.
[40:48] And there's um now we're at parks and
[40:50] parkways. I know we've talked about that
[40:51] a bit, but these are all the the um
[40:54] changes that they've submitted um and
[40:56] requested as part of their operational
[40:57] budget um to accommodate a lot of the
[41:00] increases and operational needs that
[41:02] have been addressed. Um if you want any
[41:05] specifics on these, I mean you do see
[41:07] here u most significant is the sports
[41:10] complex um and additional landscaping
[41:12] needed throughout the city
[41:16] there. Now I think uh we talked about it
[41:19] before city manager, but when we did we
[41:21] ever get an estimate on the
[41:24] landscape maintenance through Desert
[41:27] Wreck? I know they've been doing the
[41:29] like bathroom maintenance and that
[41:30] stuff, but actual turf maintenance.
[41:32] Yeah. Um, they actually like us, I'll
[41:35] ask the team here in a second. They
[41:37] contract with others. They do use a
[41:38] different company. So, if we did use
[41:41] them, they would just contract with
[41:42] somebody. But, did we get a number from
[41:44] them? I forget. It was high.
[41:50] So, for them to kind of oversee the
[41:51] contract, I think it was with Vintage,
[41:53] which is another company, and it was
[41:55] something like $200,000 to monitor that
[41:57] for us. So, it was just cheaper to do it
[41:59] ourselves. Okay.
[42:02] Just a quick question. What is the
[42:04] 300,000 for fall protection and shade
[42:07] structures?
[42:10] We we have the team the team has done a
[42:12] great job. I apologize for keep
[42:13] answering the questions. I know the
[42:14] time's limited. Um the fact that we're
[42:16] required by our insurer to make sure
[42:18] that the surfaces are safe and our
[42:20] playground systems. Also, we have
[42:22] requirements that shade is provided. So
[42:25] we have some of our facilities are not
[42:27] quite up to that standard and the team
[42:29] is recognizing that and jumping in to
[42:31] make those safer uh and shaded which is
[42:34] also that foam padding and stuff to
[42:36] maintain it and the shade like at
[42:37] Bertech or Burr Park that's over the top
[42:39] of the u jungle gym and that so it's not
[42:42] so hot when the kids are on it. It's
[42:44] keeping up with that. That's maintenance
[42:46] exactly what it is. And that sun just
[42:48] beats it down. It does. Just makes it
[42:50] deteriorate. It just beats it down.
[42:52] just breaks up whether it be the only
[42:57] Yeah, absolutely. The only thing I was
[42:58] going to add to council may Ortiz and
[43:01] looking you bring up a good point, city
[43:03] manager, the vendors that they have with
[43:06] Desert Recreation District is how
[43:08] they're able to stay on top of them.
[43:10] It's because they probably have the
[43:12] staff. And when this that scenario did
[43:15] come up of doing a bid, it was
[43:17] everything and it was too expensive. And
[43:19] my advice was, should we try one park
[43:22] and see what they can do. Should it be
[43:25] the sports park? Should it be South
[43:26] Jackson Park? I mean,
[43:29] uh, I think Councilman Miller and I were
[43:31] in event in the city and they were
[43:33] maintaining them. We said, "Why can't
[43:35] the grass be green?" It was during the
[43:37] water shortage. So, then council member
[43:39] went back and he said, "I think we need
[43:41] to give them more water regardless of
[43:43] the water shortage." And it was green.
[43:45] But it's because they have the time. Our
[43:47] people again are tasked having a
[43:49] designated person to do it. So, do we
[43:51] take the risk in trying it, testing
[43:54] them? The only challenge is we have they
[43:56] have to come and give us updates on how
[43:57] they're doing. Yeah. And unless the rest
[43:59] of the council objects, we can ask for a
[44:02] price from them for the turf, the the
[44:05] maintenance of the sports complex
[44:06] because we have not entered into that
[44:08] expanded agreement with Excel yet. We
[44:10] have the money in there, but of course,
[44:12] it isn't ripe yet. It'll be August,
[44:13] September. So, unless there's an
[44:15] opposition, we could compare them.
[44:16] Here's Excel's price and here is uh
[44:20] DRD's price and we can try it uh and
[44:22] compare them because we the price we
[44:25] received Council Ortiz was about a year
[44:27] and a half ago and it was for everything
[44:28] other than the sports complex.
[44:31] I I think there's always a benefit to
[44:33] comparing um although I don't want staff
[44:35] in an endless cycle of of of doing that.
[44:37] But my concern is always and we'll take
[44:39] a look at the numbers is by the time you
[44:41] have DRD and their their fees and then
[44:44] you have additional administrative fees.
[44:46] I mean it stacks up to some to to to
[44:50] something to a number that's that's
[44:51] huge. um where perhaps we can look at uh
[44:55] other opportunities for us to uh have
[44:58] the kind of and level of staffing and
[45:00] oversight that could allow an even an
[45:03] even better job rather than two or three
[45:05] levels of additional third party
[45:07] administrative fees. I'm just looking at
[45:09] the other cities that they're doing. I
[45:11] can name five of them and they're I'm
[45:13] sure they are and I'm sure there's a
[45:15] cost for that as well. Well,
[45:17] unfortunately, you and the business that
[45:19] you do, sometimes you got to spend money
[45:20] to make money. This say, we got to
[45:22] invest in order to get quality. That's
[45:24] the only thing. I completely agree. I
[45:26] think there's just different avenues of
[45:27] of looking at that that level of
[45:29] comparison to see what we can do. We can
[45:32] bring it bring it back. Uh, you know, we
[45:34] would need somebody to monitor the DRD
[45:36] contract and DRD is monitoring their
[45:39] contract. I'm confident it would be a
[45:41] little more expensive. The question is
[45:42] quality. The point you're making, that's
[45:44] what the residents are asking. And yeah,
[45:47] and I think if we start on that one and
[45:48] we make Excel have a different schedule
[45:51] and and and
[45:53] and program like preventive maintenance
[45:56] on that thing, we could we could
[45:57] probably accomplish the same thing. But
[45:59] I'm I'm more happy to open to have DRD
[46:02] look at it what it cost. One of the
[46:04] questions I have now now is if we just
[46:06] do the one park, is that going to hike
[46:08] the price for the comparison because
[46:11] they're only doing that one park or are
[46:13] we going to get a good comparison? Good
[46:14] point. I will ask that question. Another
[46:16] thought is you just mentioned that it
[46:18] it's fairly easy to maintain a brand new
[46:21] facility. If we really want to challenge
[46:23] them, it would be Davis fields. That
[46:26] would be the real test. But we can ask
[46:27] that question say, you know, well,
[46:29] there's some economies of scale here if
[46:31] it was more than just one. Maybe it
[46:32] could be the sports park, Davis, and
[46:35] Miles and check with those three or they
[46:39] could give us a menu. They could give us
[46:40] a menu pricing and if there's some
[46:42] economies, I can guarantee they'll be
[46:44] more than Excel. That's just Vintage
[46:46] does good work. They're very expensive,
[46:47] but they do very good work. I give them
[46:50] high kudos for what they do. Should we
[46:53] try to go straight to Vintage? Well, we
[46:55] we'd have to go out and bid them. We'd
[46:56] still have to bid. It'd still have to be
[46:58] I think they did submit a bid and it was
[47:00] it was high. So, I mean, I'm not against
[47:02] that. I I just like I said, Excel I
[47:04] think if you set their standards of what
[47:05] you're looking at them to do and make
[47:07] sure that you keep up on it. I mean, if
[47:08] we have to spend $200,000 more for them
[47:11] to oversee our contract, would it be
[47:14] easier for us to hire our own person and
[47:15] have them do nothing but parks
[47:17] themselves and take the
[47:19] otherundund,000 or 75,000 and put it
[47:21] back in the parks? But it's good to bid.
[47:24] I'm not against I'm just thinking we
[47:26] need to look at our options right now
[47:27] because we've been going back and forth
[47:28] over the past couple of years and the
[47:30] quality I mean it's gotten better,
[47:32] right?
[47:33] But some of the other cities where it
[47:35] does Rex involved really on the
[47:37] maintenance that you really got to
[47:38] follow. It's all preventive. It's the
[47:40] aeropine. It's the fertilization. It's
[47:42] the weed control. It's it's really doing
[47:44] exactly what it was because what always
[47:46] happens like anything else, you look at
[47:47] it and it looks great. So, oh, we'll
[47:50] skip that application. Then all of a
[47:51] sudden the weather changes or that and
[47:53] the weeds come out or all of a sudden
[47:55] there's the fertilizer doesn't work
[47:56] because you didn't put it down right and
[47:58] you throw out fertilizer and you're
[48:00] trying to figure out why it didn't turn
[48:01] green. Well, it's not going to absorb.
[48:02] It's already gone dormant. So, it's
[48:03] really making sure you follow the
[48:05] preventive maintenance practices like
[48:06] everything else. That's why you always
[48:07] see golf courses so beautiful and green
[48:09] and lush because no matter what happens,
[48:11] they follow that schedule. Yeah, it's
[48:12] it's a schedule. So, but yeah, we can
[48:15] look at it. I mean, it's it's a big
[48:16] investment that we have and that sports
[48:18] park is going to be a hit with our
[48:20] community once it opens up. It just is.
[48:23] So, okay. So, good for that. All right.
[48:26] Okay. Sorry, we got off on a tangent off
[48:29] the That's what we're here for, right? I
[48:31] mean,
[48:37] So, these are the last two of of these
[48:39] modifications. Again, highlighting the
[48:41] PD. Obviously, you I highlight 281,000
[48:46] versus the 1.6 million. Again, it was
[48:49] alluded more to, but I wanted to
[48:50] identify the body warn cameras and what
[48:52] the onetime purchase and it actually
[48:53] it's there's grant funding tied to this
[48:56] um that they're purchasing. And then
[48:58] again what we talked about is the fire
[48:59] ambulance going up another million.
[49:01] Again I I just wanted to remind you that
[49:03] they do have a high estimate. John and I
[49:06] had the privy of sitting in on a meeting
[49:07] with them and trying to go through that
[49:09] and we are trying to get more detail and
[49:11] more information. Um but you know we do
[49:13] budget not at the max end and they do
[49:16] definitely um provide an estimate at the
[49:19] higher end right fully burdened but also
[49:21] at the higher end of what the potential
[49:23] staff would be be at. But we do adjust
[49:26] down. But even us adjusting down, we're
[49:28] still facing a million dollar um impact
[49:30] there.
[49:32] Mayor, if I may interject,
[49:35] um special assignment, he did let me
[49:37] know that before the council meeting,
[49:38] but he is um watching online and he's
[49:41] taking notes and and texting me
[49:42] information. So, I am sharing with him
[49:45] the comments about possibly having a
[49:46] study session after the budget's done to
[49:48] explore some of these different options
[49:50] for the firing ambulance contract. Yeah,
[49:52] this is pertinent that we it's just a
[49:54] million dollar every year. Like I said,
[49:56] we can only put in so many wing stops.
[49:59] So, you know, eventually it'll cut into
[50:01] the service. I'd rather be ahead of the
[50:02] curve than behind the curve. Yeah, he's
[50:04] logged in. He's taking notes on that.
[50:06] Tom, we appreciate it. Tell him. Thank
[50:07] you. Definitely.
[50:14] You lost your mic. It looks like. Sorry
[50:17] about that. Just a reiteration here on
[50:19] measure X of what we've talked about the
[50:22] breakdown just in just in
[50:25] summary. And here's just our authorized
[50:27] and amended positions. Overall um you
[50:30] know for 2425 we started with 349. We've
[50:35] had some changes and um the we've had a
[50:39] decrease in one FTE
[50:41] um and then increasing two in the
[50:43] proposed budget which will bring us to
[50:45] 350 recommended FTEES um if approved um
[50:50] with this budget cycle. Okay.
[50:53] Um any questions regarding that? Open to
[50:57] the council fire away depending on what
[51:00] you guys want to talk about. So Okay.
[51:02] Okay. So, we can Yep. We can't have any
[51:05] more wing stops, but can we have more
[51:06] In-N-Outs or handles ice cream or, you
[51:09] know, there's got to be I'm not not
[51:11] knocking wings stop. I'm just saying you
[51:12] can only have so many fast food
[51:14] restaurants opening up at a time that we
[51:16] really need to kind of get some kind of
[51:18] other
[51:19] catchers to things like that are going
[51:21] to are make a difference. Family stores,
[51:24] clothing stores, shops, our mall. Mall.
[51:28] The mall.
[51:31] what goes in the mall. No, if I may.
[51:35] Sure. Absolutely. Um I think the only
[51:36] thing that again I'm on a concern
[51:38] because the city manager put it a good
[51:40] point. We've invested a lot in the
[51:42] public safety. Um I know that I think
[51:46] the last time I looked before I retired,
[51:48] we were we're at e either 81 or 83. I
[51:50] think we're at 81. And and I think when
[51:53] the council, if I remember when we're do
[51:57] doing fin presentations to our budget to
[52:00] the bodies. We It was a goal that you
[52:02] would have five every year. So, I think
[52:04] you're at the fourth or fifth year of
[52:06] having five every year um from staffing
[52:09] invested into it. That's one. Second, uh
[52:13] I know that Tim's team has tried
[52:15] everything to get our mobile equipment
[52:16] going. There's been all kinds of
[52:19] downfalls, but the last we have vehicles
[52:22] that are pushing 120,000 still. Even
[52:25] though you put a good dent in it, it's
[52:26] not as much as it was. But you're still
[52:28] going to have about at least maybe a
[52:30] half a dozen to eight that have 108. And
[52:34] anything over 110, it's no longer safe.
[52:39] It's it's costing more putting it on the
[52:41] road. Um your our fleet supervisor has
[52:45] been doing triage like a mash unit with
[52:48] our vehicles, taking parts from other
[52:50] cars, parts that not available. Um, and
[52:53] some of those vehicles do not have to be
[52:55] frontline police pursuit vehicles. They
[52:57] can be support vehicles. Um, some of the
[53:00] cars, even the unmarked, they can be
[53:02] done locally. I know it because I dealt
[53:05] with three or 400 units myself. So, I'm
[53:08] thinking from experience, but we need to
[53:10] do something. It's when it's three in
[53:13] the morning and it's August and
[53:14] nothing's working on you and everybody's
[53:16] home, you depend on that vehicle. So,
[53:20] and that goes for all the public safety
[53:21] vehicles. That's my comments on that. Do
[53:25] we have an update, Tim, on where the
[53:27] vehicles are, the ones that are in doing
[53:30] right now that we're working on?
[53:33] If you could just And maybe Tim, as you
[53:35] think of as you're walking up, uh I I
[53:38] think the purch 25 PD vehicles we bought
[53:40] in the last two years. You'll remind 22
[53:43] 23, but that took a big hit. Go ahead.
[53:46] I'm sorry. Yeah, we we got uh we got the
[53:48] majority of them almost delivered. Uh we
[53:52] got probably a couple of them that we're
[53:54] still working on them, but we've
[53:56] replaced a lot of them, but we still
[53:59] have a few more to go and we have a
[54:01] little bit of of budget. Uh but with the
[54:03] city manager, what he recommended that
[54:06] we start from now saving because in 10
[54:09] years from now, we'll probably need to
[54:11] replace everything that we replace
[54:12] today. So, we're trying to set aside
[54:14] some money for the future for the
[54:17] replacement as we continue to replace
[54:20] the current fleet as the prices continue
[54:24] to go up and availability of vehicles.
[54:27] It's just a huge challenge and then you
[54:31] know as soon as we deliver one
[54:32] unfortunately we lose one for in an
[54:35] accident or something like it gets
[54:37] totaled and you know accidents happen.
[54:40] So, so it's a
[54:41] continual challenge, but we're working
[54:43] on it. We're doing the best we can. The
[54:45] vehicle crisis didn't help us any
[54:48] because he had to get everything at
[54:49] once. So, that means everything
[54:51] literally ends at once. It's the same
[54:53] thing with staffing. If you hire 20
[54:55] people at one time, they're going to
[54:56] retire within that time period. So, no,
[54:59] I get it. But I'm just saying is that we
[55:01] can't just stop. We have to kind of
[55:03] figure it out. There's I know that there
[55:06] was downsizing of vehicles. That doesn't
[55:08] always work in the desert either. It's
[55:10] it's a hazard. Some can can do it. I
[55:13] know you've done a really good job in
[55:14] public works. I mean, but that's your
[55:16] baby and I can understand. I know the uh
[55:19] the water department's done a really
[55:21] good job, but both of them are essential
[55:24] because we need them. I'm just saying
[55:26] let's not I just didn't see what it was
[55:28] in the budget for the public safety side
[55:30] of it. But I I'm just bringing it out
[55:32] that we need to look at. If we're just
[55:33] five or six away from what we already
[55:35] have, it's better than we were at 30.
[55:38] That's I'm just saying there is a
[55:39] replacement schedule. The point you're
[55:40] making and my recollection Ruby is
[55:43] $750,000 is in fleet now. What's needed
[55:48] some public safety, some other city
[55:50] vehicles. So that's what's proposed in
[55:52] this year's 750 700 annually. Yes. Well,
[55:56] this coming fiscal year. It's been 500
[55:58] in the past, but we to Tim's point, we
[56:00] need to set set aside a little more to
[56:02] replace all these that are yet to be
[56:03] done. So, we moved that up from 500 500
[56:05] to 750. I did see the 750, but when it
[56:08] was broken down, I didn't see those
[56:10] other vehicles that were able to be. So,
[56:12] and I I brought it to the mayor because
[56:15] I wanted to be sure what we were talking
[56:17] about. And we kind of did what you
[56:19] figured maybe about another 400,000,
[56:21] maybe
[56:22] 420,000 at least. That was a ballpark
[56:25] because I wanted to be sure before I
[56:26] said what I said today. I might I know
[56:29] we're going to be running out of time,
[56:30] but as Ruby went through the pluses and
[56:33] the expenditures and revenues in the
[56:35] general fund, there was about $500,000,
[56:37] which isn't tons of cushion, but if you
[56:40] chose and said, you know what, we could
[56:42] make that u
[56:44] $319,000. Let's put another
[56:47] $200,000 into fleet vehicles. this is
[56:50] the time to kind of give us that
[56:51] direction and may not be a bad
[56:53] investment in light of of of the needs.
[56:56] In addition, Mr. City Manager, we did
[56:59] not spend all of our 750 from this year.
[57:02] We still owe some of the money for the
[57:04] upfitting. So, we may have a little bit
[57:05] of cushion from this current fiscal
[57:07] year. We want to clean up whatever we
[57:10] have remaining and then we will look at
[57:12] it. But an additional $200,000 will
[57:15] definitely go a long way. But even the
[57:16] the manufacturers and the outfitters,
[57:18] the people that outfit them, they've
[57:20] been so behind. They're still the Tim's
[57:23] been waiting. Francisco's been waiting
[57:24] for those cars. Even when I retired, we
[57:26] were still waiting. It did everything.
[57:29] It took us almost two and a half years
[57:31] to deliver the ones that we the 20 that
[57:33] we bought a while back uh during co
[57:37] right after. Yeah. Well, there's people
[57:39] waiting for cars to be able to go in the
[57:41] field. is Tim is Tim. Is any of those
[57:44] pieces of equipment on that? Is it
[57:46] equipment or it's just vehicles of the
[57:48] 750,000?
[57:50] Uh, no. The the 750 You mean the one for
[57:54] next year? Yeah. The 750 is vehicle
[57:56] replacement. Vehicles only. Well, it
[57:59] Well, the vehicle replacement usually
[58:01] includes the upfitting cost. So, the 750
[58:03] is all what we get, okay, for vehicles
[58:06] and upfitting of each unit. So mind you,
[58:09] each each one of the uh police units is
[58:12] probably in the upward of $100,000
[58:14] upfitted. So it's the 750 is not a lot
[58:17] of Yeah. And and what are we looking at
[58:19] in terms of any kind of equipment? Is
[58:20] there any big equipment we're buying as
[58:22] part of this budget too? We're not
[58:24] planning on it. Not not this next fiscal
[58:27] year. No. Because the only reason I say
[58:28] that is if I look at it, I I would think
[58:31] maybe measure X or E. You know what I'm
[58:33] saying? And if we had to do a one time,
[58:35] if we were buying a big piece of
[58:36] equipment, we could take that off and
[58:37] say it's 300, say it's a dump truck,
[58:39] it's 350,000, we could pay it as a
[58:41] onetime project, take that 350 and put
[58:43] it into cars, you know, like a onetime
[58:45] deal if we had to. So I just just
[58:48] curious we had any big piece of
[58:49] equipment that is going to last because,
[58:51] you know, if we get a big skip loader or
[58:52] a dump truck, they're a good 10, 15 year
[58:55] vehicle. You know, we don't drive them
[58:56] that much. They outlive the pickup
[58:57] truck. Yeah, they out. So I that's all I
[58:59] was just trying to bring. trying to be
[59:00] creative without cutting our $500,000
[59:03] down. We're already cutting it very,
[59:05] very close. And we know we're going to
[59:06] have some adjustments on taxes and that.
[59:08] We will definitely be looking at
[59:10] possibly a new street sweeper here
[59:12] pretty soon, too. I mean, the street
[59:13] sweeper is the one that takes a lot of
[59:16] hit. The newer one that that we got has
[59:18] been doing a great job, but I have three
[59:20] other old ones that we're just limping
[59:23] on these and eventually we're just going
[59:24] to have to bite the bulletin and buy
[59:26] another one. So, our team has a
[59:28] replacement schedule. we could just send
[59:29] that to you assuming that you
[59:31] appropriate the 750. Here's what's on
[59:33] the schedule to be replaced so you have
[59:34] an FYI on it. So, and we're lucky we
[59:37] have the replacement schedule because we
[59:39] eliminated it one time and it killed us.
[59:42] We went to leasing and it was horrible.
[59:44] Yeah. But, you know, at the same time,
[59:46] we're very blessed in ways that, you
[59:48] know, we have a balanced budget and a
[59:50] lot of people can't say that. I've been
[59:51] here, this is 17 years now, and we've
[59:54] had a lot of times where we've made
[59:55] massive cuts and we didn't have the
[59:58] staff and we didn't have the things. So,
[1:00:00] this is really actually a good problem
[1:00:02] to have is that we're we're looking at
[1:00:04] advancing. We're putting money away in
[1:00:06] our in our pars and other retirement
[1:00:09] accounts. We're putting money in our in
[1:00:11] our, you know, reserves. We're buying
[1:00:13] equipment. We're doing other stuff.
[1:00:14] We're fixing $5 million worth of
[1:00:16] streets. A lot of very good positive
[1:00:18] things. So my hats off to all the staff
[1:00:20] and and our residents. So well said
[1:00:22] maybe the CIP slides real quick. Not
[1:00:26] sure if Yeah. Do you have a few? And
[1:00:28] there is an ID IWA set, but we'll
[1:00:30] probably do at the very end if you want
[1:00:32] just because I think we'd like to get
[1:00:33] your input or just maybe just to inform
[1:00:35] me where it's at. This won't surprise
[1:00:37] you. Uh and this is in your packet. So
[1:00:40] the the green binder that um Ruby
[1:00:43] prepared has a a pull out spread of
[1:00:45] those projects. Almost all of those
[1:00:48] there you already have approved. Yes,
[1:00:50] that's it has orange on it. You've
[1:00:52] already approved. And so if you see
[1:00:53] money in there, it's not that we um are
[1:00:56] asking for new money. Those that's just
[1:00:59] rollover for projects that um have not
[1:01:02] quite been completed and some of the the
[1:01:04] purchases, some of the costs will will
[1:01:05] take place next fiscal year. So really
[1:01:07] all you see is an additional $8 million
[1:01:10] for Monroe, right? and an additional
[1:01:13] five million to complete the payo
[1:01:15] portion of the uh headquarters building.
[1:01:18] So where in the past with my predecessor
[1:01:20] Mark Scott, we had the above the blind,
[1:01:22] below the line, above the line, and even
[1:01:24] my during my tenure, we had quite a bit
[1:01:25] of projects to go back and forth on. Y
[1:01:28] doesn't mean we can't do a lot of
[1:01:30] shuffling, but we know that Monroe is
[1:01:32] going to cost much more than we had
[1:01:33] thought. Y um and that the PD building,
[1:01:36] you've already approved, but we just
[1:01:37] needed to make one more allocation to
[1:01:39] meet the expectations. So, not much to
[1:01:42] say on the CIP other than that, but
[1:01:44] certainly as you review that, let us
[1:01:45] know if you have any other questions.
[1:01:47] And I'm sure there a couple other
[1:01:48] slides. Um, well, the slides go through.
[1:01:51] What's our current estimate on Monroe?
[1:01:53] It's like 170 174. That's insanity.
[1:01:58] No, the $40 million increase is
[1:02:00] insanity. Well, we're at 117 last time,
[1:02:02] right? Yeah. No, they they bid out a job
[1:02:06] in TmAcula and increase it by But I'm
[1:02:08] glad you asked that question because
[1:02:09] this will be bid in about about a year
[1:02:12] from now in the spring. Let's pray
[1:02:14] literally that it comes in much cheaper
[1:02:17] than this $40 million excess. If it does
[1:02:20] and we don't need to move all that eight
[1:02:22] over to Monroe, we can sit down at mid
[1:02:24] year and say, "Hey, there are two or
[1:02:26] three million you can allocate to some
[1:02:28] other projects." Just right now, we
[1:02:29] don't know until it's biz. How much do
[1:02:31] we have saved so far? It's 26 million.
[1:02:35] We have 26 with this 8 million. It will
[1:02:37] be 26. Is that right? Yes. So the 40
[1:02:41] million was a high prediction based on
[1:02:43] what comes what Mayor Pro Tim said would
[1:02:46] happen in Tmacula. That's the high.
[1:02:48] We're going the high so we can track
[1:02:50] down low. Let's hope it's less. And
[1:02:53] Tmacula is a very difficult animal
[1:02:54] because of that freeway is so busy and
[1:02:56] everything else. I know the interchange
[1:02:57] there. It's a difficult interchange to
[1:02:59] close and do stuff and they're going to
[1:03:00] do stuff at night. So hopefully ours
[1:03:02] isn't, but that's insanity. 68 million
[1:03:04] for Jefferson, which was a large lot
[1:03:06] bigger project. I know it's a few years,
[1:03:08] but not that much. That that's like
[1:03:10] almost g that's gouging. So we hope
[1:03:12] we're wrong and we hope it comes in much
[1:03:15] much less. Um so let's go skin through
[1:03:17] those just quickly. I know our time's
[1:03:18] limited. These these are you can see
[1:03:20] these. They're already approved
[1:03:22] projects. You know, 44 bridge. Um the
[1:03:25] next one, next one, next one. Maybe
[1:03:27] there's one that has a summary. So the
[1:03:29] streets are in there again. Uh the fiber
[1:03:31] one is
[1:03:32] a we received a grant for that the 8 8.7
[1:03:36] million um but I wanted to draw
[1:03:38] attention to just three things quickly.
[1:03:40] The next one um take your time
[1:03:45] maybe the next right there. Um you will
[1:03:48] see that you've approved funding for
[1:03:50] Miles Avenue skate park, John Noble's
[1:03:52] Park and George Dog Park. You'll see
[1:03:55] that in that spreadsheet. We have not
[1:03:58] started those yet. And one reason is,
[1:04:02] you know, where to exactly put those. We
[1:04:04] have applied for the second phase of the
[1:04:07] sports complex and we've gone through
[1:04:09] the first step and received a positive
[1:04:11] nod. Um, it's approximately $7.5 million
[1:04:15] grant, but we have to match that with
[1:04:17] 7.5 million. So, here are a few projects
[1:04:20] you can play with. there's a couple
[1:04:23] million dollars there, but we're holding
[1:04:25] back because we may need to come up with
[1:04:27] seven and a half million to finish the
[1:04:28] sports
[1:04:29] complex or we don't do phase two. Um, so
[1:04:33] I just want to let you know those are in
[1:04:35] in the budget, but I put the word pause
[1:04:38] just to let you know we've been kind of
[1:04:40] pausing waiting to is this where you
[1:04:42] want it to spend? Um, so something we
[1:04:45] can discuss certainly at the June
[1:04:47] meeting, you know, do you want those in
[1:04:48] or out? Should we hold them in obeyance
[1:04:50] until we know if if the sports complex
[1:04:52] is coming up or not? Or should you want
[1:04:53] us to go build them and we can go build
[1:04:55] them? Okay. Uh John Nobles, for example,
[1:04:57] is the developer. It's the parcel behind
[1:04:59] the mall. The the ideal would be to wait
[1:05:01] till there's a developer and work it
[1:05:02] into their project. But if you like us
[1:05:04] to go build it, we could just plop
[1:05:07] a build around that park. So your your
[1:05:10] direction, your call,
[1:05:13] but I think that's it other than the IWA
[1:05:15] portion.
[1:05:16] Would you like to proceed with the IWA
[1:05:19] or
[1:05:20] Yes. Okay. I'll go back few slides.
[1:05:28] They did a great job. So, it would take
[1:05:29] a a lot of time, but Ray's here and
[1:05:32] available to answer questions.
[1:05:36] So for IWA for the 20 2526 um
[1:05:39] recommended operating and capital budget
[1:05:42] um we'll go over the proposed revenues
[1:05:44] for 2526 um as you see there's a slight
[1:05:47] decrease that's in here 28 24.8 8
[1:05:50] million. And what's driving this is
[1:05:52] basically as as you also have another
[1:05:54] item later today on the regular business
[1:05:56] is uh regarding the rate study um and
[1:05:58] the rate hearing. And so we're actually
[1:06:01] taking those estimates per that study as
[1:06:03] far as what our current revenues and how
[1:06:05] they've been projected out. So that's
[1:06:06] why you see that that change in um
[1:06:09] decline
[1:06:10] there and it doesn't assume any in
[1:06:13] potential increases at
[1:06:14] all. And then as we discussed
[1:06:17] operational same impact increased um exp
[1:06:20] expenditures in terms of operations um
[1:06:23] the IWA staff did an excellent job on
[1:06:26] providing me all that contact. Um this
[1:06:29] is just a breakdown overall of that they
[1:06:31] have an expected $36.5 million in in
[1:06:35] expenditures and a significant portion
[1:06:37] of that is a transfer out of $10 million
[1:06:40] to fund capital projects on um for
[1:06:43] existing infrastructure. Um what you see
[1:06:46] here is nothing is highlighted there as
[1:06:47] far as a CIP for Chromium 6. Um and
[1:06:51] again that's that ongoing conversation
[1:06:54] at this point. The 1.3 million that was
[1:06:56] allocated prior year was for the design
[1:06:58] for that. And Ray, am I missing
[1:07:00] anything? No. Okay. And so that in
[1:07:03] summary is for uh IWA and in summary
[1:07:06] this is how it breaks down in terms of
[1:07:07] our operating revenues and we will have
[1:07:10] a allocation of 11.7 million 11 11.7
[1:07:14] million from um um unrestricted fund
[1:07:18] balance uh to attribute to the
[1:07:20] operations um including the capital
[1:07:22] needs and the one-time needs of uh
[1:07:25] IWA. And in a nutshell, that's IWA and
[1:07:30] in terms of operations and these are
[1:07:32] diff funds that they actually are um
[1:07:34] planning to to use throughout the year.
[1:07:36] Um and these are consistent with what
[1:07:38] has been provided prior. These are
[1:07:40] necess um in essence rollover projects
[1:07:43] as well where we're giving a $200,000
[1:07:45] annual contribution to ERA as well as
[1:07:48] continuing the Avenue um and Madison
[1:07:50] Street pipeline project at 3.8 million.
[1:07:54] Other than that, that's all we have for
[1:07:56] IWA. Happy to answer any questions.
[1:07:59] Sure. Uh Ray, could you give us is is
[1:08:02] there any big ticket items that are
[1:08:03] coming in for that CIP uh budget that
[1:08:06] you want us to keep in mind?
[1:08:11] Yeah, the major ticket items are
[1:08:13] consistent with public works. We're
[1:08:15] contributing towards the 44th bridge.
[1:08:17] So, we have a pipeline going through
[1:08:19] there. Addition to that, as we spoke, we
[1:08:21] have a regional project with Coachella
[1:08:23] Valley Water District, which is an
[1:08:25] additional 1 million plus in terms of uh
[1:08:28] real uh relocating a pipeline. Oh,
[1:08:31] that's right. Uh we have a Which project
[1:08:32] is that? That's a uh the storm water
[1:08:34] project uh located about 42nd in
[1:08:37] Madison. Okay. Yeah. So, it's a regional
[1:08:39] project where one of our pipes is is uh
[1:08:42] has to be relocated to to make room for
[1:08:44] that storm water which benefits India on
[1:08:46] the north side when we have the excess
[1:08:48] rains. Uh in addition to that, we just
[1:08:51] awarded 1.5 million that'll be spent in
[1:08:53] this fiscal year for retrofitting the
[1:08:55] three wellhead treatment plants for
[1:08:56] chromium 6 and that'll uh bring us into
[1:08:59] compliance. We would have to shut down a
[1:09:01] few wells until we get additional
[1:09:02] funding, but the goal here is to comply
[1:09:05] with existing. So those are the major
[1:09:07] factors in our uh $10 million CIP 1.5
[1:09:10] for retrofitting. What do you mean by
[1:09:12] that? That means we have three existing
[1:09:14] facilities that were built back in 2015
[1:09:17] for wellhead treatment for chromium 6.
[1:09:19] What we want to do is bring them back to
[1:09:20] par. Meaning that we want to make sure
[1:09:22] and replace any of the equipment on
[1:09:24] there so that we can fully utilize them
[1:09:26] rather than spending about 30 million to
[1:09:28] replace them. We want to make the best
[1:09:30] use of the existing life cycle of those
[1:09:32] plants. In addition to that, we also
[1:09:33] want to retrofit them or add components
[1:09:36] that allows us to uh bring a vendor to
[1:09:39] clean the vessels within the vessel and
[1:09:43] not store hazardous waste on site. So,
[1:09:45] it is a retrofit to utilize a vendor to
[1:09:49] remove the hazardous waste while
[1:09:52] regenerating our on-site uh ion exchange
[1:09:55] resin. Uh again, for 1.5 million for all
[1:09:57] three facilities. Got it. uh at the end
[1:09:59] of the day what we're trying to do is uh
[1:10:01] make the best use of the existing life
[1:10:03] cycle of the investment made back in
[1:10:06] 2015. Okay. Thank you. Thank you very
[1:10:08] much. Any other questions of the IWA or
[1:10:12] CIP? No. Thank you. Yeah. Well, with
[1:10:15] that concludes um our presentation and
[1:10:17] and in terms of the study session. Um
[1:10:20] other than that, we are just looking for
[1:10:21] council direction on how you would like
[1:10:23] us to proceed. if you would look for or
[1:10:26] would like us to proceed as presented,
[1:10:28] make adjustments and come back with the
[1:10:29] recommended budget come the first
[1:10:31] meeting in June at the leisure of the
[1:10:34] council.
[1:10:37] My is the comments that we gave to
[1:10:41] incorporate and come back with with
[1:10:42] answers with that everything that we
[1:10:45] made comments on and you're talking
[1:10:46] about with the car vehicles the parks
[1:10:49] parks okay the stuff that we pointed out
[1:10:52] I think we mentioned fire as well right
[1:10:54] fire yeah that's going to be a longterm
[1:10:56] discussion but I mean at least give us a
[1:10:59] direction where that's the platform
[1:11:00] we're working on you good with that me
[1:11:03] yes you got what you need thank you
[1:11:06] thank All right, with that we will
[1:11:08] adjourn our study session at 4:10 and
[1:11:11] move into close session. Can I have roll
[1:11:13] call, please? Uh, for the record, all
[1:11:16] council members are present except for
[1:11:18] uh council member Weman Perman. Okay,
[1:11:20] and at this time we'll do item number
[1:11:22] two, which is public comment. Is there
[1:11:23] anybody here wishing to speak or is
[1:11:25] anybody in the queue? Sabdi.
[1:11:28] Okay, with that we'll go on to item
[1:11:30] number three now is adjourn to close
[1:11:31] session to consider uh 3.1 which is
[1:11:34] conference with legal council potential
[1:11:36] litigation pursuant to government code
[1:11:38] section
[1:11:42] 54956.9D and one case and please let the
[1:11:44] record reflect that Councilman Wayman
[1:11:46] Ferman has joined us for close session
[1:11:49] and we'll adjourn to close session.
[1:11:50] Thank you. He smells very nice. He does.
[1:11:53] I wonder what I said. I didn't
[2:03:50] ready something.
[2:03:53] Good evening everyone. We're going to
[2:03:54] call the regular session of the city
[2:03:56] council meeting to order. If we could
[2:03:58] have roll call, please. Council member
[2:04:01] Gron present. Council member Ortiz
[2:04:04] present. Council member Ferman present.
[2:04:06] Mayor Prom Holmes present and Mayor
[2:04:08] Miller present. This time if you could
[2:04:11] all rise if you'd like with us. We have
[2:04:14] a invocation by Pastor Tony Williams of
[2:04:16] Love of Christ Community Church. And Mr.
[2:04:18] Williams, if you could stay after you're
[2:04:20] done. We have a very special lady that's
[2:04:22] going to do the flag salute. We'd like
[2:04:23] to talk to you.
[2:04:26] Let's please uh bow our heads, close our
[2:04:27] eyes. Father God, we just bless you. We
[2:04:30] praise you. We thank you, Lord. We as
[2:04:32] the city of India just are gracious,
[2:04:35] Lord. We're we're grateful that you've
[2:04:37] given us a fine city, that you've given
[2:04:38] us a great community, and Lord, you've
[2:04:40] given us uh governance and you've given
[2:04:42] us stewardship. So, let everyone that
[2:04:44] has decision-m ability be wise stewards.
[2:04:47] Consult you for wisdom and guidance. And
[2:04:50] Lord, let's not forget the least of us
[2:04:52] because the least of us matter the most.
[2:04:54] And as we endeavor to do your work, let
[2:04:56] us do it with a smile. Let us do it with
[2:04:59] integrity and let us do it with courage,
[2:05:01] Lord, knowing that if we do something
[2:05:03] for somebody else, it's done for us. So
[2:05:05] Lord, please we turn this meeting over
[2:05:07] to you and we just ask you to govern it
[2:05:10] and do what you will. In the name of
[2:05:11] Jesus, we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you
[2:05:14] all. Thank you, Pastor Williams. Now, we
[2:05:16] have a special guest going to do our
[2:05:18] flag salute. Uh Reagan Hunter from
[2:05:21] Amelia Heheart Elementary School. Reagan
[2:05:23] is a fifth grader at Amelia Heheart
[2:05:25] Elementary School. She's an active
[2:05:27] member of ASB, participates in theater,
[2:05:29] and proudly earned the title of runner
[2:05:32] up in a school spelling bee. In her free
[2:05:35] time, Reagan loves hanging out with her
[2:05:36] friends, singing along to Taylor Swift,
[2:05:38] a Swifty, getting creative with crafts,
[2:05:41] and playing soccer. During the summer,
[2:05:43] she enjoys going to the lake with her
[2:05:45] family where she has fun water skiing,
[2:05:48] kneeboarding, and tubing with her
[2:05:50] brothers. Side note, Steve Robbins was
[2:05:53] her grandfather. and your father was
[2:05:55] grandfather was a great man. Please, the
[2:05:58] floor is yours.
[2:06:01] Ready, begin.
[2:06:03] Allegiance to the flag of the United
[2:06:06] States of America and to the republic
[2:06:08] for which it stands, one nation under
[2:06:11] God, indivisible, with liberty and
[2:06:14] justice for all. All right. Very
[2:06:17] nice. We got a little swag bag for you.
[2:06:20] Don't go. I want you to be the envy of
[2:06:23] your school.
[2:06:32] Did an amazing job here. Let's go out
[2:06:34] front. We'll get a little picture real
[2:06:36] quick and then Mr. Williams, when you're
[2:06:38] done, can you come on up?
[2:07:06] Oh, Mr. Williams, don't go away. And if
[2:07:07] I can bring the the city council down,
[2:07:09] we have a little presentation for
[2:07:12] you. Come on. Youth Advisory Council.
[2:07:16] For those of you that don't uh know Tony
[2:07:19] Williams, uh you're going to hear a
[2:07:20] little bit about him. Most of you
[2:07:22] probably do. He's he's a great man. Not
[2:07:24] only is he a good family man, loves his
[2:07:27] his community, loves his church, he's
[2:07:29] actually the lead pastor along with his
[2:07:31] beautiful wife of Love of Christ
[2:07:33] Community Church. But he also spent over
[2:07:35] 30 years working with the Boys and Girls
[2:07:37] Club changing people's lives, changing
[2:07:41] young people's lives to have a great
[2:07:43] opportunity here in the city of India
[2:07:46] and has worked many years and has
[2:07:48] retired. But we are here to honor you
[2:07:50] and we got a a proclamation here. And
[2:07:53] I'm just going to read a few words
[2:07:54] because you deserve it and we're going
[2:07:56] to let you say a few words and bring up
[2:07:57] any of your friends and family and
[2:07:59] whatever you'd like to do because it's
[2:08:00] your day. So, we're honoring Pastor Tony
[2:08:03] Williams whereas uh Pastor Tony Williams
[2:08:06] has dedicated his life to service,
[2:08:08] mentorship, and leadership, positively
[2:08:10] impacting the lives of countless youth
[2:08:13] here in the Coachella Valley. And
[2:08:15] whereas Tony Williams joined the Boys
[2:08:17] and then the Boys and Boys Club in 1974
[2:08:21] as the young age of seven, beginning a
[2:08:24] lifelong affiliation with the Boys and
[2:08:26] Girls Club of Coachella Valley that
[2:08:28] spanned five decades until his
[2:08:30] retirement as director of operations in
[2:08:32] December 2024. And whereas a young boy
[2:08:35] attending the India club, Tony found
[2:08:37] guidance and support from dedicated
[2:08:39] mentors such as Dave Eisens, Jim Ducat,
[2:08:42] Danielle Gordon, and Grady Gordon who
[2:08:45] installed in him the values of
[2:08:48] perseverance, self-worth, and courage of
[2:08:51] of dream big. And whereas with the
[2:08:54] support of a scholarship from the
[2:08:56] organization, Tony pursued higher
[2:08:58] college education at College of the
[2:08:59] Desert and later earned his division one
[2:09:02] scholarship to Cal State University
[2:09:04] Fullerton, demonstrating his commitment
[2:09:06] to excellence both academically and
[2:09:08] athletically. And whereas Tony Williams
[2:09:11] further showcased his dedication and
[2:09:12] talents as a professional athlete
[2:09:14] playing a defensive back for Ottawa Ruff
[2:09:17] Riders of the Canadian Football League.
[2:09:20] Go Rough Riders. Tony further uh
[2:09:23] showcased or excuse me uh whereas
[2:09:26] following his athletic career Tony
[2:09:28] returned to the Boys and Girls Club of
[2:09:29] the Coachella Valley where he dedicated
[2:09:31] over 30 years of employment steadily
[2:09:33] rising through the ranks to serve as
[2:09:35] director of operations for over a decade
[2:09:37] ensuring that generations of youth
[2:09:40] received the same mentorship and
[2:09:41] guidance that he had shaped his own
[2:09:43] life. And whereas beyond his
[2:09:45] professional contribution, Tony Williams
[2:09:47] also dedicating himself to spiritual and
[2:09:50] community leadership, serving alongside
[2:09:52] his wife Melissa, as pastors of Love of
[2:09:54] Christ Community Church, continuing to
[2:09:57] inspire and uplift those around him. Now
[2:10:00] whereas be it resolved that I, Glenn
[2:10:02] Miller, mayor of the city of Indo, along
[2:10:04] with the great Indo city council, do
[2:10:06] hereby recognize and honor Pastor
[2:10:07] Williams for his outstanding
[2:10:09] contributions to youth, families, and
[2:10:11] the greater community of Indo and the
[2:10:13] Coachella Valley and extend heartfelt
[2:10:16] appreciation for your longtime service
[2:10:18] and dedication here on the 7th of 2025,
[2:10:22] Tony Williams Day. How you like that?
[2:10:29] [Applause]
[2:10:38] here. I mean, I have my Is this thing
[2:10:42] on?
[2:10:44] I usually just speak one way, but you
[2:10:46] you made a mistake. Uh, mayor, you gave
[2:10:48] a preacher the mic.
[2:10:49] Um, I have my wife Melissa. She's pastor
[2:10:53] of the church as well. We co-founded
[2:10:54] Love of Christ Community Church.
[2:10:59] We've been in ministry for now 30 years.
[2:11:02] Um, started in 1996 and served under a
[2:11:06] few pastors. Then we went out on our own
[2:11:09] 13 years ago. Uh, still preaching and
[2:11:11] teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.
[2:11:13] Man, I can't believe I got a Tony
[2:11:14] Williams
[2:11:16] day. Mayor said it, so it's got to be
[2:11:19] true. I just came back from there with
[2:11:21] my my granddaughter.
[2:11:24] Um, I I'm just I'm honored. I'm I'm
[2:11:29] really uh speechless in a way. Um, I was
[2:11:32] telling my wife, I don't know if it's
[2:11:34] even a big deal um because I have so
[2:11:37] much more work to do. Um, I've been
[2:11:40] blessed. I've been fortunate. I've had
[2:11:41] great mentors, great guidance. I've had
[2:11:44] great opportunities. I've been a fair
[2:11:46] child. And I tell people I'm I'm Indo's
[2:11:48] boy. I'm Indo's favorite son. And I mean
[2:11:51] that with my whole heart. Uh, I've been
[2:11:53] nothing but loved here. I've been
[2:11:54] nothing but respected here. I've been
[2:11:55] nothing but given opportunities since
[2:11:57] the time I was very young here. And, uh,
[2:11:59] I could never do enough in this
[2:12:00] community to repay the people and the
[2:12:02] legacy that's been before me. So, I'll
[2:12:04] always endeavor to my very best. You
[2:12:06] have, uh, a retired person from one
[2:12:09] position, but, uh, we're about to do
[2:12:11] some stuff uh, with the homeless, drug
[2:12:13] addicted. We're about to do some stuff
[2:12:15] with the mental health people. We're
[2:12:16] about to do something to help people
[2:12:18] start changing their lives in impactful
[2:12:20] ways. I gave a teaching about ago and I
[2:12:23] was teaching on um the different animals
[2:12:26] and birds and things from the ground all
[2:12:28] the way up and a lot of the different
[2:12:30] animals and different insects. They do a
[2:12:32] lot of things similar but every last one
[2:12:34] of them does something unique. So it's
[2:12:36] okay that we do something similar but we
[2:12:38] always have to do something unique. So
[2:12:40] the Lord has got blessed us with certain
[2:12:42] skill sets, certain talents, certain
[2:12:44] people in our church that we can do
[2:12:46] things that are similar but at the same
[2:12:47] time we can make an impact that's
[2:12:48] unique. So, we're about to go to work in
[2:12:50] a different level. I'm I'm glad I got
[2:12:52] you all here with the uh with the with
[2:12:55] the a city manager because I'm about to
[2:12:57] start knocking on you guys' doors a
[2:12:59] little bit. And uh I got Ben. I I raised
[2:13:01] Ben, too. I raised Oscar. I raised Way.
[2:13:04] I did. I raised these guys. And uh not
[2:13:06] so much Ben. Ben and I are more like
[2:13:08] Pierce, but I was a couple years older
[2:13:09] than him. So, I raised him, too.
[2:13:13] But the reason why I don't have his mind
[2:13:15] is because of people like you.
[2:13:19] But uh that being said, we're we're
[2:13:20] we're we're going to go to work in a
[2:13:23] more um more focused way, a more
[2:13:27] in-depth way, a more way that we partner
[2:13:29] more to help more and uh with the
[2:13:32] balance of life that the Lord has given
[2:13:34] me. I'm going to make some more changes
[2:13:36] that that make an impact. I'm not going
[2:13:38] to give people things. I'm going to go
[2:13:40] listen to see what people need and help
[2:13:42] them with the things that they need. and
[2:13:44] uh we're going to need to partner
[2:13:45] together because because we can't do it
[2:13:47] all by ourselves. But do know this, I'm
[2:13:50] grateful. I'm beyond, you know, words. I
[2:13:53] I I I appreciate everything that the
[2:13:56] city has done for me uh personally and
[2:13:59] everything that you endeavor to do for
[2:14:00] the people that we serve as our clients.
[2:14:02] And let's always serve the least of
[2:14:05] them. I I would like to bring my wife up
[2:14:08] though.
[2:14:09] [Applause]
[2:14:17] a few words on their behalf.
[2:14:24] Yes.
[2:14:30] Uh I I just want to say uh Pastor
[2:14:32] Melissa, thank you for uh letting us
[2:14:34] borrow him sometimes and uh thank you
[2:14:36] for your work also because we know it
[2:14:38] does take a team and and by the looks of
[2:14:41] the folks here that is uh shows that it
[2:14:44] also takes a village. So everything you
[2:14:46] said we underscore, but specifically to
[2:14:49] you pastor, thank you for your
[2:14:51] commitment to the city. Thank you to
[2:14:54] those folks, including myself, that you
[2:14:56] had a hand in nurturing and bringing up,
[2:14:58] not just bringing up, but still being
[2:15:00] included in their lives today. And I I I
[2:15:03] want to be short because I want to give
[2:15:04] people time to speak, but I want to
[2:15:06] share something that the pastor always
[2:15:09] does with us when we go to our men's
[2:15:12] group. Um, he leaves us with something
[2:15:14] and and and you think about it all week
[2:15:16] and then you think about the end of the
[2:15:17] month to our next group. And one of
[2:15:19] those things is is today is my best day,
[2:15:24] right? Today is your best day. Today is
[2:15:26] his best day and today is Tony Williams
[2:15:29] day. And so that's great.
[2:15:31] Congratulations on all your achievement
[2:15:34] retirement from one endeavor, but the
[2:15:36] work is still there and we have work to
[2:15:37] do and you have a partner in all of us.
[2:15:39] Thank you.
[2:15:42] Excellent. Yes. I mean, first of
[2:15:44] all, first of all, I look forward to
[2:15:46] what you have coming down the pike. I'm
[2:15:48] really looking forward to it. I came
[2:15:49] here 20 years ago. I was introduced to
[2:15:51] you and boy, the the difference you make
[2:15:54] in people's lives. Thank you for
[2:15:56] everything you've done for the kids and
[2:15:57] the youth. You have saved some. You have
[2:16:00] nurtured some. Um you have really taken
[2:16:03] the taken this kids in in this community
[2:16:05] and helped them build. And I appreciate
[2:16:08] that. I'm sure they appreciate that. And
[2:16:09] God bless you and everything that you
[2:16:11] do.
[2:16:14] [Applause]
[2:16:17] Well, I I first met Pastor Williams as a
[2:16:20] bronze father when I was playing on the
[2:16:22] high school basketball team. And uh the
[2:16:24] pastor would show up once in a while and
[2:16:25] set us straight a little bit, but he
[2:16:28] really gave us a really good example of
[2:16:29] how to be um just respectful, have a
[2:16:33] good vision for our community, how to be
[2:16:34] community based in our decisions. So,
[2:16:36] really appreciate all that guidance and
[2:16:38] even today helping us with guidance as
[2:16:40] adults. you're still there for us,
[2:16:42] sharing your life with us, sharing your
[2:16:44] wisdom with us, um just uh being able to
[2:16:47] share all that wisdom that um we need at
[2:16:49] this moment in these tough times. So, we
[2:16:51] just really appreciate uh Pastor Melissa
[2:16:53] as well as sharing your husband with us,
[2:16:56] man, and also giving us your guidance
[2:16:58] and uh both of you have done so much
[2:17:00] work at the Boys and Girls Club and also
[2:17:02] at at the church and you just continue
[2:17:04] to give and you're a great example for
[2:17:06] us um who are looking up to you and
[2:17:08] watching all the great things that you
[2:17:09] do in our community. So, just want to
[2:17:10] say that I appreciate you and thank you
[2:17:12] again.
[2:17:16] I can't say any more than it's already
[2:17:18] been said, but I can tell you one thing.
[2:17:20] Your heart is there and your heart
[2:17:22] doesn't leave you since the day we met.
[2:17:25] You mentioned people like Grady Gordon.
[2:17:26] You mentioned people like Jim Dat. Those
[2:17:29] are people that I have respect. God
[2:17:31] bless. But Jim Dott's still there. What
[2:17:34] they put in you, put in all of us, put
[2:17:36] in us. We're products of people that we
[2:17:38] looked up to. and you're continuing that
[2:17:41] cause. The other thing that you did is
[2:17:43] me seeing you with this vision. Hey Ben,
[2:17:45] I got to find a place to do church. I
[2:17:46] got to find a place to do church. And I
[2:17:48] always brag about that because you're so
[2:17:49] determined. I would find you in places
[2:17:51] throughout the city park vision what
[2:17:53] that church would look like. So you went
[2:17:55] to a part of a city that needed that
[2:17:57] love. You went to a part of the city
[2:17:58] that needed it was challenged. You've
[2:18:01] completely changed that whole
[2:18:02] neighborhood. You put life into that
[2:18:04] church that is has done well. members of
[2:18:06] your congregation all over the city, but
[2:18:09] it's because of what your spiritual lead
[2:18:11] is what's making a difference and you're
[2:18:13] continuing that path. So, thank you.
[2:18:17] Listen, none of this would be possible
[2:18:18] without you. Uh, please say a few words.
[2:18:22] Well, I would say thank you to making a
[2:18:25] Tony Williams senior day.
[2:18:29] Yes.
[2:18:31] Put the senior in there. Yes, I did.
[2:18:33] because Junior's right right behind
[2:18:36] right there with vision. Um I would just
[2:18:39] say that um I'm thankful and grateful to
[2:18:42] be in this city. Um I know how much my
[2:18:45] husband loves the city of India. And
[2:18:50] when I say that he loves the city of
[2:18:52] India, there are not too many things
[2:18:55] that I'm able to do behind the scenes if
[2:18:58] it does not include the city of India.
[2:19:01] um because there was so many
[2:19:02] opportunities for us to be able to be in
[2:19:04] other cities, but he loves the city of
[2:19:07] Indo. And so we want to, you know, um
[2:19:10] put our stamp here and do what we need
[2:19:13] to do for the city of Indo and u for the
[2:19:16] people of India. And so um thank you for
[2:19:19] this opportunity. And honey, I'm so
[2:19:21] proud of you. So proud of you.
[2:19:25] And and the city of India loves both of
[2:19:27] you. So let's take a
[2:19:29] picture. I just want to acknowledge our
[2:19:31] church members if you can wave. You guys
[2:19:34] can
[2:19:36] wave and nothing nothing it might be my
[2:19:39] day but nothing that I've done has been
[2:19:40] by myself. So I want to acknowledge
[2:19:44] that Eden it's my day.
[2:19:49] She's saying give him the mic. Give him
[2:19:50] the mic.
[2:20:06] [Applause]
[2:20:19] Yeah. Oh yeah, we got
[2:20:28] the next presentations, right? So, next
[2:20:31] we have uh our presentations of our new
[2:20:34] new employees and the city manager so uh
[2:20:37] thoughtfully told me that uh yeah, we
[2:20:39] should all stay down here. So, save you
[2:20:41] some exercise. Hey, it's my it's my
[2:20:43] great honor to introduce the newest
[2:20:45] members of our employee team. And as a
[2:20:49] fellow Indo resident, I present them to
[2:20:51] you. they're listening and specifically
[2:20:53] to the mayor and city council as people
[2:20:55] that are worthy of the positions they've
[2:20:56] been assigned and people that are going
[2:20:58] to make a difference uh for us here here
[2:21:00] in India. So, as I call your name,
[2:21:02] please come forward and uh we do have a
[2:21:05] little swag bag for you. I know the
[2:21:07] council will want to congratulate and
[2:21:09] welcome you. And if you can stay up
[2:21:10] here, we'll take a group photo. So, uh,
[2:21:13] we we're bringing back because, uh, this
[2:21:15] member of our team was here previously
[2:21:17] and we brought him back as a principal
[2:21:18] planner, uh, Gus Gomez.
[2:21:21] [Applause]
[2:21:28] The the chief's going to be our swag bag
[2:21:30] man.
[2:21:34] It's great to have Gus back with
[2:21:38] us. Thanks. Hold tight right here.
[2:21:41] Thank you, Chief. Um, as an accountant
[2:21:44] in our finance team, uh, America
[2:21:47] [Applause]
[2:21:54] Fuentes. These team members are coming
[2:21:56] with a lot of experience, dedication to
[2:21:59] the public service. Thank
[2:22:01] you. Um, in the city manager's office,
[2:22:05] administrative assistant Jackie Sanchez.
[2:22:08] [Applause]
[2:22:13] She just skipped over you. She knows you
[2:22:15] guys.
[2:22:18] We're all family now at this point.
[2:22:20] Raise your swag back.
[2:22:23] Melissa Deler, dispatcher.
[2:22:25] [Applause]
[2:22:33] We've added some great members to our
[2:22:34] dispatch team. Diane
[2:22:39] Welcome again. Thank you. Um uh we have
[2:22:43] a community program aid that wasn't able
[2:22:44] to be with us this evening, Vanessa
[2:22:46] Valencia. We certainly welcome her. We
[2:22:48] have a uh an interesting and um
[2:22:51] progressive program to bring people into
[2:22:53] this the team that um are working their
[2:22:57] way to a career. We call them fellows.
[2:23:00] Some entities call them interns. So I'd
[2:23:02] like to introduce our planning fellow,
[2:23:05] Jose Tortois.
[2:23:06] [Applause]
[2:23:13] So, he's gonna greet them all.
[2:23:18] He's a planner. He He planned it out.
[2:23:23] Welcome again, Jose. Hold tight. The
[2:23:25] chief's here.
[2:23:28] Um, we Is Victoria here? No. But we have
[2:23:31] Victoria Tariqz and Dea Lopez who are
[2:23:35] also uh fellows that are working within
[2:23:37] the uh city manager and the marketing
[2:23:40] department. So we can welcome Victoria
[2:23:41] and Dea at another time. We also have a
[2:23:45] uh senior planner who is part-time but
[2:23:47] retired from another place and he enjoys
[2:23:49] the desert and we decided to put him to
[2:23:52] work. Uh Scott Albbright, if you want to
[2:23:54] come forward.
[2:23:56] [Applause]
[2:24:00] Scott's in addition to our planning team
[2:24:02] brings a lot of experience. Not that the
[2:24:03] gray hair shows that.
[2:24:06] Sandy gray. Sandy gray. Desert gray.
[2:24:11] Oh, that's right. Scott, welcome. We got
[2:24:13] a little bag for you. So, again, I want
[2:24:16] to want to commend uh these members of
[2:24:19] the team for those that going to help
[2:24:22] make India even better. Uh using our
[2:24:24] tagline, uh they're ready to take uh
[2:24:27] center stage. Great. All right. So,
[2:24:29] mayor, I know you want to say a few
[2:24:30] words. Uh, just quickly, welcome to the
[2:24:32] Indial family. You know, we we love our
[2:24:34] employees. They are the front line of
[2:24:36] everything that makes the city great.
[2:24:38] You are the first people that they see.
[2:24:40] Council, we're here to help. So,
[2:24:42] anything we can do to help, please let
[2:24:43] us know. And for all the people out
[2:24:45] there in Indo and are watching us, we
[2:24:47] are always looking for good people that
[2:24:49] want to come work for us. So keep an eye
[2:24:52] out for uh our HR and and different
[2:24:55] positions here and come volunteer for
[2:24:57] commissions or try and be a part of it.
[2:25:00] We want you to be a part of the city of
[2:25:01] India. It's your city. We work for you.
[2:25:03] God bless you and thank all of you for
[2:25:05] coming. Let's take a picture. Big round
[2:25:06] of
[2:25:10] applause. Squeeze in here. So you'll be
[2:25:13] better seen.
[2:25:32] Give a warm welcome again.
[2:26:08] Great
[2:26:10] stuff. Thank you again, Mr.
[2:26:13] Williams for attending. And with that,
[2:26:16] we'll move on to item number six, which
[2:26:17] is the uh youth advisory
[2:26:20] council. Oh, let me let me do one thing
[2:26:23] first. Uh do we have a report out of
[2:26:26] close session? City attorney.
[2:26:30] I don't know. It was not in close. There
[2:26:32] was no reportable action. Then there was
[2:26:33] no reportable action. Thank you very
[2:26:34] much. With that, we'll move on to item
[2:26:36] number six now, which is the youth
[2:26:38] advisory council.
[2:26:40] Good evening, city council members. My
[2:26:42] name is Vianka and I am the current Yak
[2:26:45] mayor. As we get closer to the end of
[2:26:47] our year, we are trying to get in as
[2:26:50] many events and volunteering
[2:26:51] opportunities as possible. Since our
[2:26:54] last
[2:26:55] meeting, the youth council has has
[2:26:58] attended several events. First, a couple
[2:27:00] of our members attended Chella at center
[2:27:02] stage. We were excited to see so much
[2:27:04] activity going on downtown and the
[2:27:07] amount of people there and we definitely
[2:27:08] had a lot of fun enjoying the artists.
[2:27:11] Next, Yak volunteered at the Arbor Day
[2:27:13] event. We helped some of the council
[2:27:15] members, community members, and public
[2:27:17] works plant trees at the South Jackson
[2:27:19] Park. We had a lot of fun learning about
[2:27:22] trees and how to properly plant them so
[2:27:24] that they grow healthily. Finally, we
[2:27:26] would like to remind everyone that our
[2:27:28] annual mental health hike will take
[2:27:30] place on May 16th at the Badlands Trail
[2:27:32] in India at 7 a.m. Thank you. And that
[2:27:35] concludes my report. Thank you. And
[2:27:37] would you like to stay or would you like
[2:27:38] to be excused? Uh, I can stay. Okay.
[2:27:41] Wonderful. Thank you. And uh, city
[2:27:44] manager, if we could make sure we get
[2:27:45] that hike maybe up on the website, maybe
[2:27:47] get a a Facebook post out so people know
[2:27:50] that it's available and the
[2:27:51] opportunities are out there, that would
[2:27:52] be great. And with that, we'll move on
[2:27:54] to item number seven now, which is city
[2:27:56] manage report and information. Thank
[2:27:58] you, mayor. Um, this weekend on
[2:28:01] Saturday, we have our Assada Fest. I
[2:28:03] know we've well advertised the event.
[2:28:04] There'll be great food, great fun, great
[2:28:06] music from 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. here
[2:28:09] downtown. So, please uh join us this
[2:28:11] Saturday. And as always, the food truck
[2:28:14] Fridays um every Friday night here at
[2:28:17] the Citrus or the Cactus Plaza. And uh
[2:28:20] of course we have our farmers market
[2:28:22] during the summer. That will be there
[2:28:24] will be a hiatus but uh this will be um
[2:28:27] the last uh uh farmers market until we
[2:28:30] hit the summer uh recess. So with that,
[2:28:31] mayor, that's my report. Thank you, Mr.
[2:28:34] Montgomery. With that, we'll move on to
[2:28:36] item number eight, which is a city count
[2:28:38] uh council conflict of interest. Do we
[2:28:39] have anybody that has a interest that
[2:28:41] needs them to be addressed? I I do. I
[2:28:43] just want to let everyone know that um I
[2:28:45] I I'm conflicted on item 12.2 uh because
[2:28:49] within 1,000 ft of my business. So, it
[2:28:51] uh turns out to be a financial conflict.
[2:28:53] So, I'll be recusing myself. Thank you
[2:28:55] very
[2:28:57] much, Mayor Prom. And
[2:29:01] number nine now, which is city council
[2:29:03] reports on meetings attended for
[2:29:04] government code section 53232.3D.
[2:29:09] Well, the two things that I'll just
[2:29:11] bring up that I was able to do. So on
[2:29:14] the first of this month, I had the
[2:29:17] opportunity invited to the India High
[2:29:19] School dance team spring concert. Um
[2:29:22] very good team of about approximately 30
[2:29:25] kids showed their talents on stage and
[2:29:27] coordination, different presentations.
[2:29:29] It was beautiful. It was well attended.
[2:29:31] They must had about maybe about 300
[2:29:33] attendees watched most of them obviously
[2:29:35] their parents. But it was an excellent
[2:29:37] evening and uh it was really rewarding
[2:29:40] to see something different more than
[2:29:42] what we see um to have how they
[2:29:44] coordinate and do their presentations.
[2:29:46] Um and they received some funding from
[2:29:48] the community that helped them be able
[2:29:50] to compete in certain areas that they
[2:29:51] needed some assistance. It was kind of
[2:29:53] nice to see all that. Um so we really
[2:29:55] appreciated that. Um along with that, I
[2:29:59] had the opportunity with the mayor pro
[2:30:01] Tim to uh attend the Hispanic uh
[2:30:04] American Chamber um their mixer here in
[2:30:07] India at Char restaurant on India
[2:30:10] Boulevard in Hoover. It was really nice.
[2:30:12] Uh it's kind of haven't seen that in a
[2:30:14] while. So, it's nice to see the momentum
[2:30:16] and the small businesses predominantly
[2:30:19] um representing obviously the Latin
[2:30:22] communities of not just India but
[2:30:24] throughout the valley cities and it was
[2:30:26] a really nice event to see how
[2:30:28] encouraged and the comments of seeing
[2:30:30] the growth of our city and the
[2:30:31] investments that the city's doing. Uh
[2:30:33] they expressed that that there's a lot
[2:30:35] of uh center staging going on in India.
[2:30:38] So um but we were we were glad to attend
[2:30:40] that and that is be my report at this
[2:30:42] time. Thank you Mr. Kramis Ortiz.
[2:30:46] Thank you mayor. Last week I attended
[2:30:48] the opening of TOED's new farmworker
[2:30:50] justice center where our farmworker
[2:30:52] community can get help with legal
[2:30:53] support and support getting whatever uh
[2:30:56] resources they need. Uh they were also
[2:30:58] able they are also able to support in
[2:31:01] English, Spanish and some of the other
[2:31:02] ind indigenous languages that our farm
[2:31:04] worker populations uh speak here in the
[2:31:06] region. And so I want to congratulate
[2:31:07] Toadex workers and thank them for their
[2:31:09] support for our farmworker community at
[2:31:11] a time when people are going through a
[2:31:12] lot of fear and family separation. Uh I
[2:31:15] also attended the Chella event sponsored
[2:31:18] by Golden Voice here in downtown. We had
[2:31:20] a great turnout. So I want to thank our
[2:31:21] staff uh for helping out with that
[2:31:23] event. Also want to thank our staff for
[2:31:25] the movies in the park which had a great
[2:31:27] turnout as well. Even though it was a
[2:31:28] little windy, our staff was out there
[2:31:30] handing out free popcorn and free Indoor
[2:31:32] branded lightsabers which the kids and
[2:31:35] adults really like too. So, it's really
[2:31:36] fun time out there. So, appreciate that.
[2:31:39] Uh, last week I was also invited on a
[2:31:40] call by Betty Ye. Uh, we talked to a
[2:31:42] builder who was making fireproof homes
[2:31:45] out of magnesium oxide panels, which was
[2:31:48] pretty interesting. Magnesium oxide's
[2:31:50] used a lot in China and Russia, but
[2:31:52] there seems to be new resources coming
[2:31:53] from Canada that they're using to
[2:32:01] re California Association of Governments
[2:32:04] conference in Palm Desert with council
[2:32:06] member Ferman. Uh this conference brings
[2:32:08] in elected officials and government
[2:32:10] staff from all over the region and we're
[2:32:11] able to share experiences and ideas with
[2:32:14] each other to learn from each other's
[2:32:16] cities. I got some good contacts uh from
[2:32:19] some of those conversations for our
[2:32:21] potential sustainable homes pilot
[2:32:23] project that we discussed in our
[2:32:24] strategic plan. And so a request that I
[2:32:26] wanted to see if we can get from our
[2:32:28] council. I'd like to see I know we have
[2:32:30] a plot of land in front of the history
[2:32:32] museum. It's about an acre. I'd like to
[2:32:35] see if we could direct staff to start
[2:32:36] looking for potential partners that
[2:32:38] could help us build uh some of those
[2:32:40] sustainable homes on that area. Uh and
[2:32:42] and some of the things that I want to
[2:32:43] see is um how we can build two of the
[2:32:46] things that I'm looking at is adobe
[2:32:48] construction but also strawhouse
[2:32:50] construction. And these are both very
[2:32:52] high high energy efficiency and they're
[2:32:55] also very fire resistant. So I think you
[2:32:58] know those studies that we can do here
[2:32:59] in the desert can help us see uh for
[2:33:02] look for better solutions for the future
[2:33:04] in terms of energy efficiency but also
[2:33:06] helping to rebuild some of these um
[2:33:08] fireprone areas throughout the state of
[2:33:10] California. So, I wanted to see if we
[2:33:12] can get direction from staff to start
[2:33:13] looking for potential partners on that
[2:33:15] project. Thanks, Council. Yes. Yeah. Or
[2:33:19] could look at it. Yeah, let's have a
[2:33:20] look. Council member, would it be just
[2:33:22] one type of house or would you have
[2:33:24] staff look at multiple kinds of house
[2:33:27] because there might be other ones out
[2:33:28] there that they could bring to us to
[2:33:30] look at. So, I think it it depends on
[2:33:32] what our partners what we look at with
[2:33:34] our partners because I'm not sure if one
[2:33:36] of the technologies after a little bit
[2:33:37] more research is going to stand out
[2:33:39] above the other ones, right? But I think
[2:33:40] it potentially could be multiple types
[2:33:43] of construction also multiple sizes. I
[2:33:45] know the side because one of the other
[2:33:47] things that we want to look at is
[2:33:48] financial feasibility of these things,
[2:33:50] right? And so um looking at if different
[2:33:53] sizes are going to be more energy
[2:33:55] efficient or just a lot more expensive
[2:33:57] or different things that um we can study
[2:34:00] uh so we can have more information for
[2:34:02] later uh that we can later use in in
[2:34:04] similar projects. And and will you help
[2:34:06] give guidance to staff on this
[2:34:08] considering it's a yeah unique Yes. I've
[2:34:11] I've shared a couple of um resources
[2:34:13] already with our staff that we're
[2:34:14] looking at together that have some um
[2:34:16] good information that we can potentially
[2:34:18] use for this region. Okay.
[2:34:21] City managers acknowledges that waste
[2:34:23] transfer station. Oh yeah. We also had a
[2:34:26] meeting with the waste transfer station
[2:34:28] where we approved uh the uh new fees
[2:34:30] that are going to be coming in to keep
[2:34:32] up with the new cons uh expansion of our
[2:34:34] waste transfer station. And uh I'll
[2:34:37] leave the rest to you. Thanks. Thank
[2:34:39] you,
[2:34:41] Mr. Ferman.
[2:34:43] Thank you, Mayor. Uh good evening. Um
[2:34:45] over the past few weeks, I had the honor
[2:34:48] of attending a few ribbon cutings and
[2:34:49] some community events. I might attempt
[2:34:51] the ribbon cutting and open it for a
[2:34:53] Babe Smokehouse Tavern at the C Canopy
[2:34:56] here in India. Um, great new concept,
[2:34:59] smaller than the other one, but a little
[2:35:01] bit more precise. Has indooroutdoor
[2:35:04] um, another great location surrounded by
[2:35:06] other restaurants. So, um, welcome to
[2:35:08] Indo uh, to Bapes. And so, um, we also
[2:35:13] celebrated the grand opening of uh,
[2:35:14] Wings at Avenue 42 in Monroe. um that's
[2:35:19] bringing some more uh food options uh in
[2:35:21] that area. As you know, we have a couple
[2:35:24] uh few more popular uh restaurants
[2:35:26] getting ready to open there soon, but uh
[2:35:29] Wings beat them to the punch. So, uh
[2:35:31] welcome to Wings. Also, um we also went
[2:35:33] down the street of our council members
[2:35:35] to ribbon cutting for uh the Desert
[2:35:37] Luxury Pools uh which is located at
[2:35:39] Showcase and that's another great
[2:35:42] business coming to Hendio. So with these
[2:35:44] businesses coming to our city, it just
[2:35:46] shows the growth and and uh the
[2:35:48] commitment to our cities. So it's great
[2:35:50] and welcome to those those businesses
[2:35:52] who are transforming our city. Um
[2:35:54] additionally, I joined uh some of our
[2:35:57] council along with the mayor for the um
[2:36:00] opening of the Coachella Valley Rescue
[2:36:01] Mission uh women and children's shelter.
[2:36:04] Um another great uh important facility
[2:36:08] that's going to offer some safe housing,
[2:36:09] supportive services for women and
[2:36:11] children in that area. And that's one of
[2:36:14] the challenges that we have. Um it's not
[2:36:16] only the housing or trans transformative
[2:36:19] housing. It's it's also the wraparound
[2:36:22] services that come with it with the
[2:36:23] mothers and children. And um I also sit
[2:36:26] on that board and there's a lot of great
[2:36:28] work uh going on at the rescue mission
[2:36:30] along with other uh entities. But um it
[2:36:33] it was just special to see all the uh
[2:36:37] folks in the community, a lot of
[2:36:39] employees, a lot of nonprofits, a lot of
[2:36:42] volunteers, and also the elected
[2:36:44] officials come together and make this
[2:36:45] happen. So um great work to the rescue
[2:36:48] mission and all their their support. Um
[2:36:50] I also along with the mayor and uh mayor
[2:36:53] pro Tim and and u other folks attended
[2:36:56] the Arbor Day uh tree planting ceremony
[2:36:58] we did at South Jackson Park. Um another
[2:37:01] important event. I know we we kind of
[2:37:03] skip over Arbor Day sometimes, but um
[2:37:06] you know I I remember when the city
[2:37:08] manager first first came to India, he
[2:37:10] brought something to my attention and
[2:37:12] after I know after I speak on it, it
[2:37:14] it's more prevalent now. Um if you guys
[2:37:17] look across our city, something that's
[2:37:19] very very important is our canopy. And
[2:37:22] what some of us who don't speak the the
[2:37:24] the the lingo, we're talking about our
[2:37:26] tree canopy that covers our city,
[2:37:28] specifically our palm trees, right? A
[2:37:30] lot of our palm trees are leaning
[2:37:32] because of the high winds. Um it's dry
[2:37:34] here. Um we don't get a a lot of rain
[2:37:37] and so uh that that's the issue
[2:37:39] especially in places that are very
[2:37:41] dense. But where it becomes an issue
[2:37:43] with us is most of these trees are on
[2:37:46] private property, right? So it it
[2:37:48] becomes hard that uh how the city could
[2:37:51] help uh replace some of those trees. So,
[2:37:54] what I like to ask the city manager is
[2:37:57] if we could look for any kind of funding
[2:37:59] or grant programs or someone we could
[2:38:01] partner with that um maybe in the next
[2:38:04] five years or to the general plan we
[2:38:06] could do something to start to address
[2:38:08] our tree canopy because um you know
[2:38:11] every now and then a tree goes down,
[2:38:13] smashes into a house or an apartment and
[2:38:15] it has happened. and I've responded to
[2:38:17] some of those uh just to check on folks.
[2:38:19] But now um you know if you look at our
[2:38:22] trees a lot of the trees are leaning
[2:38:24] because of the wind. So if we could look
[2:38:26] for something like that um that would be
[2:38:29] appreciated. I also attended uh the
[2:38:32] Chella event, you know, another great
[2:38:34] event, you know, um thank you to our
[2:38:36] staff and appreciation little boys for
[2:38:39] bringing that to our downtown area and
[2:38:41] that's important because what what's
[2:38:43] that doing is bringing these events
[2:38:45] downtown and we're having something that
[2:38:48] a lot of us didn't have here growing up,
[2:38:50] you know, and it was special walking out
[2:38:51] of this council meeting and going over
[2:38:53] there and seeing almost 3,000 people, if
[2:38:56] not more, enjoying a free concert,
[2:38:59] enjoying some of the restaurants nearby
[2:39:01] and I I I gaze our events off of two
[2:39:04] things. One is if if I don't feel like
[2:39:08] I'm in India and two if if I don't know
[2:39:12] anybody there. If that those two things
[2:39:14] happen, it's successful and I felt like
[2:39:16] a old guy there. So, I hurry up and got
[2:39:17] out of there. I got my little one. I
[2:39:18] said, "Okay, it's time to go." But great
[2:39:20] event. It was it was fantastic. And you
[2:39:24] know, our center stage here, a lot of
[2:39:26] great events. So, hats off to everyone
[2:39:28] and I'm glad that we had that in our
[2:39:30] city. And uh lastly, I I participated in
[2:39:34] the SCAG regional conference that you
[2:39:36] know uh Council Member Ortiz said. Um I
[2:39:38] had the honor of presenting uh some
[2:39:40] traffic safety initiatives that the city
[2:39:43] is uh uh participating in and also um
[2:39:47] our Coachella Valley. And some of the
[2:39:49] things I highlighted were the CV link uh
[2:39:52] CV Sync and um Indo Drive Safe
[2:39:55] initiative which is headed by our police
[2:39:58] department. Um you know kudos to the
[2:40:01] police department for for uh heading
[2:40:03] that program and working with our youth
[2:40:05] with that because um we we received a
[2:40:07] lot of questions about it. Um and folks
[2:40:10] are you know inquiring how how do we get
[2:40:12] that going? How how did you do that? How
[2:40:13] did you work with the students? And so
[2:40:16] um I had some stickers. gave out stakers
[2:40:18] and so um thank you chief uh for working
[2:40:20] with us for that and also improving
[2:40:23] traffic flow, enhancing safety and uh
[2:40:27] also how we deployed our license plate
[2:40:29] readers and how they actually work. And
[2:40:30] so I know a lot of times people they
[2:40:33] wonder like what what are we doing about
[2:40:34] traffic safety and and I just have to
[2:40:36] tell you traffic safety is not just
[2:40:39] about having a patrol officer out there
[2:40:41] pulling people for tickets. It takes a
[2:40:43] lot of different things in there. It
[2:40:44] takes community initiatives. uh uh
[2:40:47] speaking to your neighbors, uh speaking
[2:40:48] to the youth. Um it it also takes
[2:40:52] education. There's a lot of education
[2:40:54] that goes into it. I know if I get in my
[2:40:56] car without my seat belt, my little one,
[2:40:58] she'll remind me, "Dad, put your seat
[2:40:59] belt on." You know, so that's why we use
[2:41:01] the kids for for these vices. And so, um
[2:41:04] it's just a great tool and we and of
[2:41:06] course we want to combat speeding and
[2:41:08] distracted drivers because I believe
[2:41:10] that those are our our biggest
[2:41:11] challenges in the city, distracted
[2:41:13] drivers and speeding. But there's things
[2:41:15] that we're doing within the city and
[2:41:17] also our transportation commission with
[2:41:19] CVAC and RCTC to address that and also
[2:41:22] the growth. you know, our city is
[2:41:25] growing, but once we grow um there's
[2:41:27] more cars and during this presentation,
[2:41:30] I explained that um we are also uh uh
[2:41:34] tasked with our arenaification
[2:41:36] allocation numbers and that's our
[2:41:39] regional housing needs that we have to
[2:41:41] uh uh have this cycle and uh very uh big
[2:41:46] number 7,800 approximately, right? But
[2:41:50] if you take 7,800 homes and you put 1.5
[2:41:53] cars into that home, it's a lot of cars
[2:41:56] that could potentially be on the road.
[2:41:58] So that's why uh we are encouraging
[2:42:00] public transportation, shared vehicles,
[2:42:03] uh bike lanes, uh uh CV link, motorized
[2:42:06] uh uh small vehicles. So there's a lot
[2:42:09] that goes into traffic, but it all is
[2:42:11] for safety to get you from point A to
[2:42:13] point B safely. And so, um, it was
[2:42:16] great, uh, uh, doing that presentation.
[2:42:18] And I have to thank our staff because a
[2:42:20] lot of these things that I'm talking
[2:42:21] about, staff is is doing the work behind
[2:42:24] the scenes to help us get to where we
[2:42:27] need to go. And I just have a couple
[2:42:30] more requests. city manager. I know that
[2:42:33] was longwinded, but um one is
[2:42:36] um you know, we talk about our great
[2:42:39] things that we're doing and we highlight
[2:42:41] those things and we as we should, right?
[2:42:44] But I I want the community and the
[2:42:46] people to know we're still focusing on
[2:42:48] the challenging things and those are not
[2:42:50] things that we're going to brag about,
[2:42:52] but it's also important that we bring it
[2:42:53] to your attention that we still are
[2:42:56] watching it. We're still working to fix
[2:42:58] them. And one of those things is we we
[2:43:01] still have a challenge on Highway 111 in
[2:43:04] the road um with transates um on shelter
[2:43:08] folks, people who have uh uh uh
[2:43:11] substance abuse or mental issues. And so
[2:43:15] as a council member, I I can't just
[2:43:18] drive by and and look the other way. Um
[2:43:22] over the weekend, I stopped and I had to
[2:43:23] talk with some folks about some
[2:43:25] activities that I I didn't approve of.
[2:43:27] And you know, our our police officers
[2:43:29] can only do so much. They're out there
[2:43:31] once they leave, you know, uh folks come
[2:43:34] back and they engage in these
[2:43:35] activities. There's already been some
[2:43:37] things that the city has done to try to
[2:43:38] curb those activities. Um but I think we
[2:43:41] we still need to do more. And um maybe
[2:43:44] the chief can address this later on if
[2:43:46] this is already in place. But we have
[2:43:49] folks walking in traffic with signs
[2:43:51] asking for for money um for for
[2:43:55] homegoing services. I I don't know if
[2:43:58] you know if that's true, but what what I
[2:44:01] do know is dangerous being in the middle
[2:44:03] of Monroe and Highway 111, especially
[2:44:06] when we have a lot of vehicle versus
[2:44:07] pedestrian fatalities, right? So, I I I
[2:44:11] don't know if there's something we could
[2:44:12] do about that. The other thing is I I
[2:44:15] like to ask the city manager to look at
[2:44:17] um a ordinance against uh what we call
[2:44:21] oil burners or rose pipes um and to
[2:44:25] speak uh English. Those are uh pipes
[2:44:29] that are used to consume
[2:44:31] methamphetamines. Um they're being sold
[2:44:33] in in some of our smoke shops and I like
[2:44:37] to look at some ordinances to get those
[2:44:39] uh banned in our city. Um, I know San
[2:44:42] Francisco has something similar.
[2:44:43] Spokane, Washington has something
[2:44:45] similar. And not to say that it's going
[2:44:48] to stop it, but it will make it a little
[2:44:51] tougher and it will show that we are
[2:44:54] being assertive in curbing uh that those
[2:44:56] activities in our city. And uh that will
[2:44:59] complete my report. Thank you, Mr.
[2:45:00] Mayor.
[2:45:02] Yeah. Yeah, Mr. T. I just want to add
[2:45:04] something to that because the the other
[2:45:06] thing that I've seen at certain smoke
[2:45:08] shops is the nitrous oxide that's being
[2:45:11] sold at some of those facilities. And I
[2:45:13] know, you know, people are buying them
[2:45:14] there. It's for inhalation. And there's
[2:45:17] a lot of our young folks that are
[2:45:18] getting caught up into some of that.
[2:45:19] I've seen it, you know, throughout LA
[2:45:21] kind of spreading out. So, we could also
[2:45:22] look at uh the sales of nitrous oxide in
[2:45:25] smoke shops and see if there's anything
[2:45:27] we can um put restrictions on in that
[2:45:30] sense.
[2:45:32] Mome look into that for us. You bet.
[2:45:34] There's some great sample ordinances on
[2:45:36] both those that we can bring forward.
[2:45:38] Okay. Thank you, Mr. Ferman. Anything
[2:45:39] else, Mayor Pro Tim? Thank you. Uh, you
[2:45:43] know, one thing that makes me so proud
[2:45:44] to be a council member is how involved
[2:45:47] each of us as council members are. It
[2:45:49] makes me feel very, very proud to be on
[2:45:50] this team and and as we go through,
[2:45:52] you're going to find that most of us
[2:45:53] have attended the same things just
[2:45:55] because we are so proud of our city and
[2:45:57] we are such a cohesive group. So, let me
[2:46:00] just dive in and I know you've heard
[2:46:01] some of this before, but you get to hear
[2:46:03] it again. cello. What an outstanding
[2:46:06] concert that was and and what really uh
[2:46:08] many of you know how excited I've been
[2:46:10] about downtown over the years and to see
[2:46:12] I took pictures yes of the concert but I
[2:46:15] took pictures of a packed sidewalk
[2:46:19] there on the sidewalk in every
[2:46:21] direction. It was just great to see
[2:46:22] there was an open market there selling
[2:46:25] everything from jeans to jewelry and
[2:46:27] everything and and vintage. So that was
[2:46:29] really really wonderful to see. um you
[2:46:32] know it's it's great to bring our
[2:46:33] community back into into India and
[2:46:36] clearly it's very exciting they're very
[2:46:38] excited because they attend these events
[2:46:41] um the movie at the Star Wars movie on
[2:46:43] Sunday Star Wars fan had to see the
[2:46:45] movie but what I observed were all the
[2:46:48] families on blankets even though it was
[2:46:51] teeth chattering cold um nobody really
[2:46:54] moved uh they were all under blankets u
[2:46:57] great kids families moms dads and then
[2:46:59] when the movie was over. What was
[2:47:01] particularly telling to me is that
[2:47:03] people didn't just leave. Uh they were
[2:47:06] playing with the sabers. They were
[2:47:07] hanging out. They were talking. They
[2:47:09] were laughing. Again, a testament to the
[2:47:11] community. Thank you staff very, very
[2:47:14] much um for your focus on doing things
[2:47:17] that bring the community together,
[2:47:19] particularly at Center Stage. Uh let's
[2:47:21] see, also attended Babes Ribbon Cutting.
[2:47:23] It's just a terrific addition um to our
[2:47:26] community. It's, you know, it's
[2:47:27] unfortunate that they opened, you know,
[2:47:29] during summer season, but I'm sure all
[2:47:31] of us will be out there supporting Babes
[2:47:33] and all the other restaurants that we
[2:47:35] have in our city. Arbor Day has always
[2:47:37] been something near and dear to my
[2:47:39] heart. So, I got to participate in that
[2:47:41] as well. Our trees are very, very
[2:47:43] important. Um, not just from a
[2:47:45] beautifification perspective, uh, but
[2:47:47] for the health benefits as well. There
[2:47:49] was a period of time um you know when we
[2:47:52] had issues with water where many of our
[2:47:54] trees uh had to be removed and to see
[2:47:56] them replaced replenished and to add
[2:47:59] trees to our uh community I think is
[2:48:01] just really tremendous again health
[2:48:03] benefits and it really beautifies the
[2:48:05] city and let's face it we live in the
[2:48:06] desert so shade is an important
[2:48:08] component there. uh the the Coachella
[2:48:11] Valley Rescue Mission. It was so great
[2:48:13] to see everybody there. But was
[2:48:15] spectacular um is just the amount of
[2:48:17] support and the people that gave and
[2:48:19] contributed. 60 beds in that facility um
[2:48:22] for mothers and their children. And if
[2:48:25] you see the rooms, they're just
[2:48:26] beautifully outfitted and and the
[2:48:29] services in the kitchen, in the living
[2:48:30] room. Um, and it's just so conducive to
[2:48:33] to helping uh families, mothers, and
[2:48:36] their their children really build a
[2:48:37] relationship, get the the the tools that
[2:48:40] they need, the education, the support um
[2:48:43] to lives together and move forward. What
[2:48:46] an amazing organization the rescue
[2:48:48] mission is. So great to have this uh 60
[2:48:51] bed facility in our city. Let's see. Uh,
[2:48:54] as uh, Council Member Gutron meant, the
[2:48:56] uh, mentioned, the Hispanic Chamber of
[2:48:58] Commerce is just really a great
[2:49:00] organization. So nice to see our Latino
[2:49:02] businesses um, just getting together and
[2:49:05] and really trying to market themselves
[2:49:07] uh, within our city. So something great
[2:49:09] to support and be a part of. Uh, let's
[2:49:13] see. I'm a member, as many of you know,
[2:49:15] the Women's Club of India. Today was
[2:49:17] their lunchon. I think one of the last
[2:49:19] lunchons of the season. As you know,
[2:49:21] they're very philanthropic. They do a
[2:49:23] lot of things, a lot tremendous, many,
[2:49:25] many thousands of hours of volunteer
[2:49:28] work. We have an annual uh fundraiser
[2:49:30] event this year. It uh raised
[2:49:33] $60,000. Um almost all of that went to
[2:49:36] scholarships and those scholarships go
[2:49:38] to um Indo High School, Shadow Hills
[2:49:41] High School, um Amastad High School are
[2:49:44] local high school graduating kids. they
[2:49:47] submit um and there's a a part of that
[2:49:49] organization that reviews them and um
[2:49:52] and many of those and those certificates
[2:49:54] or those dollars by the way will be
[2:49:57] handed out on May 31st. We're going to
[2:49:59] have a lunchon um for everyone that
[2:50:00] received those scholarships. And then
[2:50:02] there are uh $25,000 of that um to some
[2:50:06] of the local nonprofits like the Rescue
[2:50:09] Mission, like the Cancer Society, uh
[2:50:11] like Read with Me. Um and so a an
[2:50:15] organization that really focuses on
[2:50:18] their community on serving others. Proud
[2:50:20] to be a part of that. Very excited that
[2:50:22] um the fundraiser netted enough dollars
[2:50:24] for us to be able to support so many
[2:50:26] kids and give them scholarships. Thank
[2:50:28] you, Mayor. That ends my my report.
[2:50:30] Thank you, Mayor Portim. Before I get
[2:50:32] started, I I want to thank staff and
[2:50:33] everyone. You know, we just had 125,000
[2:50:36] people in our in our city all weekend
[2:50:38] long. And you know, people come in to be
[2:50:41] entertained, but that doesn't mean our
[2:50:43] staff and all our public safety and
[2:50:45] everyone else is all working. You know,
[2:50:47] it's 125,000 people, but there's also
[2:50:49] 10,000 people in there supporting them
[2:50:52] that are working daily uh while the
[2:50:54] concert's going on. And it's a 400 plus
[2:50:57] million dollar economic boom to the
[2:50:59] Coachella Valley and and to the city of
[2:51:01] India as a whole. that we continue to
[2:51:04] get the international recognition of
[2:51:05] having the world's largest concerts uh
[2:51:08] and most acclaimed concerts. Lady Gaga,
[2:51:11] Post Balone, you know, Ed Sheeran, I
[2:51:14] mean, we can go on and on with people
[2:51:15] that you you always talk about. And so,
[2:51:17] my hats off to everyone for being able
[2:51:18] to do it. And Golden Boys who had a
[2:51:20] hiccup at the first day and then
[2:51:21] adjusted, you know, just like you would.
[2:51:23] And you think about it, 125,000 in one
[2:51:26] square mile. the same amount of people
[2:51:27] that live in the city of Indo and our
[2:51:29] little surrounding area around it set in
[2:51:31] one little small area. So, uh my hats
[2:51:34] off to everyone that did that and all
[2:51:35] the supporting agencies that help us
[2:51:37] because the city of Indo can't do it
[2:51:38] alone. We have the the sheriff
[2:51:40] department, DEA, everyone is out here
[2:51:42] working to make sure it happens in all
[2:51:43] the other cities. So, thank you very
[2:51:45] much for that. Um on uh my committees at
[2:51:48] the waste transfer station as uh council
[2:51:50] member Ortiz said uh our waste transfer
[2:51:53] station is a joint powers agreement for
[2:51:55] our trash to be able to take it and
[2:51:57] recycle it and utilize it. We are
[2:51:59] building a new facility further down to
[2:52:02] be able to take the the amount of trash
[2:52:04] that is now being developed because of
[2:52:05] the city's growth both here and in
[2:52:07] Coachella. And all that trash is being
[2:52:09] taken down to either be recycled or is
[2:52:11] actually going to the dump in the Sultan
[2:52:13] Sea towards the Salt Sea area, not being
[2:52:15] taken here to the city uh dumps that are
[2:52:18] on the other side here in Riverside
[2:52:20] County. So, our hats off to everybody
[2:52:22] working on that. It is a great
[2:52:24] opportunity for us to be able to utilize
[2:52:26] a lot of that for recycling and be able
[2:52:28] to do it in an efficient manner. So,
[2:52:30] we're building a larger facility. As
[2:52:32] everyone said, we have a lot of ribbon
[2:52:34] cutings. Our staff and everyone around
[2:52:36] works hard tirelessly. You heard all the
[2:52:38] ones coming, more coming in the next
[2:52:40] couple weeks. You're going to see the
[2:52:41] In-N-Out Burger. You're going to see uh
[2:52:44] raising canes and others come forward.
[2:52:47] So, you're just going to continue to see
[2:52:48] the city of India grow. And we
[2:52:51] appreciate the uh investment in our
[2:52:53] city. And with that, you'll see a lot
[2:52:55] more come as as we develop and the city
[2:52:57] becomes more and more popular, we will
[2:52:59] have more and more restaurants and more
[2:53:01] and more businesses come. Exactly what
[2:53:03] we need. Uh I was very fortunate to be a
[2:53:05] part of leadership Coachella Valley. I
[2:53:07] spoke on with other uh mayors to the
[2:53:10] class. If you don't know what leadership
[2:53:12] Coachella Valley, it's a group run by
[2:53:13] the Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce
[2:53:15] with all the other chamber of commerces
[2:53:17] and it tells you about the Coachella
[2:53:19] Valley. It really is a telltale of what
[2:53:22] makes this valley run from government to
[2:53:25] the Coachella Valley Water District,
[2:53:27] IID, the hospitals to the judges. And I
[2:53:30] was there with Mayor Linda Evans, uh,
[2:53:32] Mayor Scott Madison, Desert Hot Springs,
[2:53:34] and Mayor Jan Hornik of, uh, Palm Desert
[2:53:37] talking about, uh, local government
[2:53:39] along with other individuals from other
[2:53:41] governments. So, very fortunate. They
[2:53:42] are taking applications. So, if you'd
[2:53:44] like to join leadership Coachella
[2:53:45] Valley, please look it up. Uh, you will
[2:53:47] be excited. I' I've been here for over
[2:53:49] 40 years, and there was things I didn't
[2:53:51] even recognize and know, and it was an
[2:53:53] opportunity for me to meet some great
[2:53:55] people. So, it's a great opportunity for
[2:53:57] all of you if you'd like to join. And
[2:53:59] then also uh supervisor Bmanuel Pres had
[2:54:02] his state of the fourth district. I was
[2:54:04] able to go to that with a few of the
[2:54:05] other council members hear about what's
[2:54:07] going on throughout the whole fourth
[2:54:09] district from Ble all the way down to
[2:54:11] the Banning Bulmont area and what's
[2:54:13] going on. Very exciting what's happening
[2:54:14] here as a region. The city of Indo
[2:54:16] prospers by having the other cities be
[2:54:19] uh as strong as they can be. So when we
[2:54:21] get the arena in and thousand palms palm
[2:54:23] desert area it helps the city of India
[2:54:25] because like I've always said the city
[2:54:27] of Indo not everybody works and lives in
[2:54:29] the city of India. So the more the other
[2:54:31] cities are the more beneficial this this
[2:54:33] whole Coachella Valley is. So very
[2:54:35] excited about that and then uh want to
[2:54:38] thank the staff for Chella we great
[2:54:40] opportunity that center stage is being
[2:54:42] done with things to it that we exactly
[2:54:44] want to do. You have the movies in the
[2:54:48] park. You have the concerts. You have
[2:54:50] events there. Exactly what that was
[2:54:52] visioned to be doing for our community
[2:54:54] is being done. And our staff is a lead
[2:54:56] part of that. So, thank you to everybody
[2:54:58] that's helping out with that food truck
[2:55:00] Fridays. We have the farmers market, but
[2:55:03] we also have, you know, second
[2:55:04] Saturdays. We have music. So, come on
[2:55:06] out, enjoy your your community and meet
[2:55:08] some great people. So, with that, I will
[2:55:10] get off the soap box and I will move on
[2:55:13] to the consent calendar. We have items
[2:55:15] 101 through 10:15. Does anybody want to
[2:55:18] pull anything or do we have a motion?
[2:55:20] Uh, I'd like to pull 1012 and 1213.
[2:55:23] Okay. Why don't we go Why don't we go on
[2:55:24] those first, then we'll approve the
[2:55:26] whole thing at one time? Sounds good. Go
[2:55:27] ahead. Anybody else?
[2:55:30] Okay, cool. Please. Yes. I just wanted
[2:55:31] to clarify because I think last time um
[2:55:33] we had some residents concerned about
[2:55:35] the changes in the park maintenance and
[2:55:38] so I wanted to see if we can get uh
[2:55:41] staff to present you know what are the
[2:55:43] changes that are being proposed and for
[2:55:45] what reasons those changes are
[2:55:46] happening. Perfect. The assistant city
[2:55:48] manager has been leading this very uh
[2:55:50] important cause so I'll I'll turn some
[2:55:52] time to him. Mr. Nicks, thank you mayor
[2:55:55] and council members. Uh yeah, the uh
[2:55:57] city staff, our public works department,
[2:55:59] we engaged with uh Desert Recreation
[2:56:01] District in October of 2023 to uh do two
[2:56:05] things. Work as a park ambassador. So
[2:56:08] visit the parks, check on any issues,
[2:56:10] and if there's any um issues that maybe
[2:56:12] need to be escalated to our police
[2:56:14] department, act as that ambassador, also
[2:56:16] provide information to folks in the
[2:56:17] parks, then also to help with some
[2:56:19] janitorial services for our park
[2:56:21] restrooms. So that's been going on for a
[2:56:23] little over a year and a half. We um
[2:56:25] myself and Tim Wel, our public works
[2:56:28] director, uh met with um Desert
[2:56:30] Recreation District a few times. We do
[2:56:31] quarterly meetings with them on updates
[2:56:33] and u we kind of evaluated that cost
[2:56:36] versus using some of our current
[2:56:38] contract service providers. So we um um
[2:56:41] evaluated it versus using Dynamic who
[2:56:43] provides our janitorial services in all
[2:56:45] of our facilities and then also using
[2:56:47] Cerna who provides security services in
[2:56:50] our downtown area quite successfully
[2:56:51] especially with all these events that
[2:56:53] were mentioned um by the city council.
[2:56:55] So we asked those two contract providers
[2:56:57] Cerna and Dynamic if they could also
[2:56:59] provide us quotes and um and for doing
[2:57:02] that similar services. So Cerna doing
[2:57:05] that park ambassador program doing the
[2:57:06] outreach very similar to how they're
[2:57:08] doing those services in the downtown
[2:57:10] area and at the center stage and at
[2:57:12] miles park and then also dynamic
[2:57:14] providing those custodial services which
[2:57:15] they specialize in at our park restrooms
[2:57:18] and cleaning those areas. So when we got
[2:57:20] those u bids from those providers and
[2:57:22] compared it to the current costs at uh
[2:57:25] DRD is we see a significant amount of
[2:57:27] savings. It's around $171,000
[2:57:30] uh per year on an ongoing basis. So uh
[2:57:33] we talked to Desert Recreation uh
[2:57:35] district about this. Um they they are
[2:57:37] still a very good partner with the city
[2:57:39] of
[2:57:40] India these services. We were already
[2:57:43] contracting with them for programmatic
[2:57:44] aspects of uh programming the parks and
[2:57:47] working with the leagues. So we
[2:57:49] anticipate to continue with that great
[2:57:50] partnership. We're also talking to their
[2:57:53] general manager about, you know, other
[2:57:55] opportunities like a park master plan,
[2:57:56] looking at other developments and
[2:57:58] community and partnering with those same
[2:58:00] uh scheduling reservation services for
[2:58:02] our new big sports park that will be uh
[2:58:04] open later this year. So, we're going to
[2:58:06] continue that great partnership with
[2:58:08] DRD, but for these specialized services
[2:58:10] of park ambassador and um janitorial
[2:58:13] services, looking to our current service
[2:58:14] providers and making that switch. That
[2:58:16] that is the recommendation before the
[2:58:18] city council and Tim Waso or myself are
[2:58:20] available for any questions. And city
[2:58:22] manager, you mentioned there was going
[2:58:23] to be an additional staff member
[2:58:25] provided. Is that Yes. Are we using that
[2:58:29] 170,000 to hire that new person or No,
[2:58:31] we've actually been able to work that
[2:58:33] into the overall cost. What happened is
[2:58:35] when we decided to contract with DRD a
[2:58:38] little over 18 months ago, is that what
[2:58:39] it was?
[2:58:40] um we didn't fill a position, a staff
[2:58:43] position, because we moved some of that
[2:58:45] money over to help pay. We knew it was
[2:58:47] going to be expensive, but it was worth
[2:58:48] a try. Now we'll be able to put that
[2:58:50] position back in. Plus, there's a
[2:58:52] savings of about
[2:58:54] $170,000. So, overall, um it's just a
[2:58:57] more cost-effective way of doing it,
[2:58:59] continuing with DRD on some services,
[2:59:01] but on others, the proposal is a
[2:59:03] different approach. Okay. Thank you.
[2:59:06] Next is another one, Mr. Satis. No, that
[2:59:08] was both of those. Okay. Those are both
[2:59:10] uh on one was maintenance, the other one
[2:59:12] was the park. Your questions are
[2:59:14] answered. Yeah. Okay. Mr. Katron, I just
[2:59:16] I had two things. So, one, I know we
[2:59:19] talked about it during the agenda
[2:59:20] review, but to assure the all the sports
[2:59:25] organizations, the soccer and the
[2:59:27] baseball and so forth. Were they who is
[2:59:30] going to continue to coordinate those
[2:59:33] activities and events? because that was
[2:59:35] a big ticket item as far as
[2:59:37] communication maintenance issues because
[2:59:39] the residents, you know, we figure out
[2:59:41] like with the soccer team, there's about
[2:59:42] 3,300 people. That's,00 of the kids that
[2:59:46] are there. So, we don't have to
[2:59:47] replicate what happened the last time.
[2:59:49] So, we just need to assure who would be
[2:59:52] managing facilitating those schedulings
[2:59:54] working with the our staff because staff
[2:59:58] wants to maintain them. And I think
[2:59:59] there was comments when we made a site
[3:00:02] visit you mentioned that the need to be
[3:00:04] treated earlier so it doesn't coincide
[3:00:07] with their league schedules. So
[3:00:11] yeah, that overseating schedule seems to
[3:00:13] always be a struggle. Um, so how we
[3:00:16] managed it before we tried this
[3:00:18] temporary uh experiment with them. They
[3:00:21] were managing the parks uh with regard
[3:00:24] to the programs as the assistant city
[3:00:26] manager indicated and we would
[3:00:28] coordinate with them but they receive
[3:00:29] all the fees paid for the for the park.
[3:00:32] So they don't continue to do that. So,
[3:00:33] we kind of just go back to about 18
[3:00:35] months ago of how we did it. Uh, it
[3:00:38] doesn't change what DRD's been doing and
[3:00:39] that coordination you speak to. We we
[3:00:41] don't interface with those leagues. It's
[3:00:43] DRD. But who would be that who would
[3:00:46] continue to do the interfacing for those
[3:00:49] schedulings? Uh, it's DRD.
[3:00:52] Yeah, they they handle they the leagues
[3:00:55] coordinate directly with DRD and DRD
[3:00:57] programs. whatever the practices are,
[3:01:00] the leagues are, uh they do notify us
[3:01:02] from a maintenance standpoint. That's we
[3:01:04] indicating, okay, here are the times
[3:01:05] we're going to be on the field. So, this
[3:01:07] is when the irrigation schedule should
[3:01:09] take place. This is the overseating. We
[3:01:11] do coordinate those with our uh
[3:01:13] landscape contractor. So, I think we
[3:01:14] need to make sure because it didn't work
[3:01:17] the last time something failed. I don't
[3:01:20] know what it would be, but something
[3:01:21] fails. I think it's in the best interest
[3:01:23] for us to make sure that we assure that
[3:01:26] communication is whether we have
[3:01:27] meetings with all those organizations
[3:01:30] um and do that. That way there's no
[3:01:32] misunderstanding about what was going
[3:01:34] on. Absolutely. The second thing is the
[3:01:37] notification of termination of service.
[3:01:40] I contacted the mayor last night is how
[3:01:42] it was delivered. So we have that
[3:01:45] misunderstanding and what the contract
[3:01:48] dictates on how that notification was
[3:01:50] done.
[3:01:52] So
[3:01:54] yes, uh within the existing contract, we
[3:01:56] had to provide a certain number of days.
[3:01:59] So while these research and RFPs were
[3:02:02] being sent out to make sure that we knew
[3:02:04] what the prices were, we notified them.
[3:02:06] That was the intent until we presented
[3:02:09] this to you tonight. It wouldn't be
[3:02:10] final, but that was the intent. We
[3:02:11] provided the proper notice pursuant to
[3:02:13] the agreement. And that's because of the
[3:02:15] comments that the members of the
[3:02:17] community came from the last meeting
[3:02:19] that they said, "Hey," and and you
[3:02:21] mentioned, "Hey, it's a mis
[3:02:22] misunderstanding. The facts aren't what
[3:02:24] you have." So, obviously with so much
[3:02:27] investment we're doing, we don't need to
[3:02:29] have that for them. We just have to make
[3:02:31] sure that we do our best to that
[3:02:33] communication's clear. I'm just
[3:02:34] mentioning it. Sure.
[3:02:37] Anything else, Mr. Tom? No, that's it.
[3:02:39] So, any other comments, questions? Like,
[3:02:40] somebody like to make a motion? I just I
[3:02:42] I um just want to assure the public that
[3:02:46] much isn't changing. There's going to be
[3:02:47] security at the parks and park program
[3:02:51] is still going without a hitch. It's
[3:02:52] just going to be changing hands. That's
[3:02:55] what this is. Yep. Going back to what it
[3:02:58] was, Cern and also the other
[3:03:00] organization that cleans our restrooms.
[3:03:02] So, do we have anybody like to make a
[3:03:03] motion? I will I will make a motion. Are
[3:03:05] we just doing that one or we consent
[3:03:07] calendar 101 through 10:15? Uh consent
[3:03:09] calendar. I'll make a motion. Yes. I'll
[3:03:10] second that. First by council member
[3:03:12] Ferman, second by mayor pro Tim Holmes.
[3:03:15] Please vote.
[3:03:19] Passes unanimously. 50. With that, we'll
[3:03:21] move on to the administrative items
[3:03:22] which is 111. It's consideration of
[3:03:24] membership in and approval of agreement
[3:03:27] for the Coachella Valley Power Agency
[3:03:29] Joint Powers Authority regarding
[3:03:31] electrical power in the Eastern
[3:03:33] Coachella Valley. Mr. Montgomery, are
[3:03:34] you handling this for us, sir? Uh yes,
[3:03:36] but there'll be many that might want to
[3:03:38] chime in and answer any questions that
[3:03:39] you might have. Uh the city council is
[3:03:41] well aware of what a joint powers
[3:03:43] authority is. But perhaps for the
[3:03:45] benefit of the public and those
[3:03:47] listening in, when a group of public
[3:03:48] entities see a common issue to address
[3:03:51] and know that it has some regional
[3:03:53] components, they tend to get together
[3:03:55] and form a joint powers authority kind
[3:03:57] of a separate entity to coordinate uh
[3:04:00] and cooperate towards some solutions. So
[3:04:02] that is what's being proposed here. very
[3:04:05] similar to what the city of India and
[3:04:07] IID did a couple of years ago in forming
[3:04:09] the Indo electric finance authority
[3:04:12] knowing that there were some electrical
[3:04:13] infrastructure needs that needed to be
[3:04:15] addressed. IIAD is the service provider
[3:04:18] the city anxious and eager to get these
[3:04:21] uh infrastructure issues addressed. We
[3:04:23] formed a JPA which is the
[3:04:25] IEFA. Um, and I only mention that
[3:04:28] because it is an example of what's being
[3:04:32] proposed here, but on a more regional
[3:04:34] basis. So yesterday the board of
[3:04:36] supervisors approved this very agreement
[3:04:38] that is before you this this evening and
[3:04:41] the city of Lita just two or three weeks
[3:04:42] ago did the same. This proposal was
[3:04:45] vetted by the Coachella Valley Energy
[3:04:48] Commission which both the mayor prom and
[3:04:50] and council member Ferman sat on after
[3:04:53] two years, three years of evaluation.
[3:04:55] You've got this
[3:04:56] impending termination of the IID
[3:04:59] agreement with CVWD. You've got the
[3:05:01] issues of this infrastructure. Uh
[3:05:04] there's a lack of governance. As we all
[3:05:05] know, the IAD board is elected by
[3:05:08] Imperial County residents, not by
[3:05:10] Coachella Valley residents. So what is
[3:05:12] presented to you this evening is a
[3:05:14] proposal to form a JPA to address the
[3:05:17] issues related to governance electrical
[3:05:19] infrastructure and policies and and the
[3:05:22] directions of how we would want those
[3:05:23] services to be provided. IAD would
[3:05:25] continue to serve and provide those
[3:05:28] services but this JPA would provide some
[3:05:30] regional governance uh over that. And uh
[3:05:34] we have with us this evening Emanuel
[3:05:35] Martinez uh from CAG who's also been
[3:05:38] helping to coordinate and facilitate
[3:05:39] this effort. So, it's pretty
[3:05:41] self-explanatory in the document in the
[3:05:43] staff report of what this would do, but
[3:05:46] the summary just quickly, we know
[3:05:48] there's an issue and a problem. A group
[3:05:50] of entities are getting together,
[3:05:51] forming an entity to help address those
[3:05:53] issues. This will not, if approved, this
[3:05:57] uh will not replace the Indo Electric
[3:05:59] Finance Authority. That has to continue
[3:06:01] for the life of the of the assets that
[3:06:03] we're purchasing. So, that smaller uh
[3:06:07] more focused JPA would continue. this
[3:06:10] more regional focus would be what's uh
[3:06:12] presented to you this evening. So happy
[3:06:14] mayor or council to answer any
[3:06:16] questions. Again, Emanuel's here. Uh
[3:06:18] certainly council member uh Ferman and
[3:06:20] the mayor prom knowledge on this matter
[3:06:22] as well should you have some questions.
[3:06:24] And I see we have ID in the back. Oh,
[3:06:26] are they hiding too? Yeah. Oh. Oh,
[3:06:28] that's San Antonio's here. Our our India
[3:06:30] resident.
[3:06:33] Yes. Yes. Sorry. Yes. Uh comments,
[3:06:37] questions, Mr. Furman, you're you're
[3:06:39] most engaged in this. What's what's your
[3:06:41] thoughts? Um I you know I I sit on this
[3:06:44] uh commission and um you know I I I got
[3:06:47] to give a lot of credit to our city
[3:06:50] manager um IID uh CAG um the mayor pro
[3:06:54] Tim and the folks who uh been working on
[3:06:57] this effort for the last few years. um
[3:06:59] the city of India, you know, we we made
[3:07:01] some history forming that that JPA with
[3:07:04] IID and strengthening our relationship
[3:07:06] with with IID and in coming up with, you
[3:07:09] know, this concept of uh funding our
[3:07:13] infrastructure in our city and um the
[3:07:17] city council didn't fund it, our
[3:07:18] residents fund it. And so we appreciate
[3:07:21] you all trusting us as stewards of of
[3:07:25] these dollars. Um and we're putting them
[3:07:27] to good use with energizing your city um
[3:07:31] your schools, your places of business
[3:07:34] and um our homes because we know in this
[3:07:38] climate um without a reliable source of
[3:07:41] energy um we'll have a lot of
[3:07:43] challenging issues with the heat. Um we
[3:07:46] have a a big senior uh population. We
[3:07:49] have a lot of uh children and so it's
[3:07:52] very important that we have a
[3:07:54] infrastructure that um could fit the
[3:07:57] capacity of what we're trying to do in
[3:08:00] here and our improve our quality of life
[3:08:03] and also support what we already have
[3:08:06] and continue to rebuild what we already
[3:08:08] have. Um we gone on circles about how we
[3:08:13] got here. Um now it's about solutions
[3:08:16] and how we can move forward and um the
[3:08:19] city has took the initiative to do that
[3:08:21] with the JPA and quite frankly what
[3:08:24] we're looking at now is the other cities
[3:08:27] the county um um tribal nations are
[3:08:31] looking at the blueprint of what Indo
[3:08:33] has done and said um that's a good idea
[3:08:36] I think we should do that now I say that
[3:08:38] uh somberly but what I mean is we looked
[3:08:41] at other uh uh ways of doing is uh MUD
[3:08:45] um just different uh uh structures
[3:08:48] throughout the state and we figured that
[3:08:50] what Indo has agreed upon was the way
[3:08:53] that our region should go and like the
[3:08:56] mayor mentioned earlier if the other
[3:08:58] cities win India wins and if India wins
[3:09:00] the other cities wins well this is on
[3:09:02] broader scope uh of the service area of
[3:09:06] IID um if this passes we're winning and
[3:09:11] um IID is going to be a component of
[3:09:13] this JPA, right? So, it's not like we're
[3:09:15] not going to have any more that that
[3:09:17] we're not going to have governance. We
[3:09:18] will have some some sort of governance
[3:09:20] and decision- making of where your
[3:09:22] dollars are going. So, um you know, I I
[3:09:25] will leave that there because it's still
[3:09:26] a lot more that we could talk about
[3:09:28] there, but like the city manager
[3:09:29] mentioned, the goal is that we all come
[3:09:31] together and figure out how we're going
[3:09:33] to move uh forward with our future
[3:09:36] energizing our um eastern Coachella
[3:09:39] Valley and the service providers of
[3:09:40] Impro. So that will complete my
[3:09:42] comments. Mr. Chair, anyone else? Mayor
[3:09:45] Patel, just a a quick comment to to
[3:09:47] follow up or additionally to council
[3:09:50] member um Ferman. This has been
[3:09:52] something we've been working on for a
[3:09:53] very long time. The future of our
[3:09:55] valley, the future of our city as well
[3:09:58] within the Coachella Valley is so
[3:10:00] important and electrical infrastructure
[3:10:02] is pivotal. Um really the JPA that Indo
[3:10:07] put together became the model where
[3:10:09] there was a tremendous amount of
[3:10:10] analysis and research uh and work with
[3:10:12] with the other cities and other entities
[3:10:15] and at the end of the day after a few
[3:10:16] years of all this research it was really
[3:10:18] determined that that our model of a JPA
[3:10:21] is what would benefit the community
[3:10:23] India and the communities beyond um in
[3:10:26] the best possible fashion. And so that
[3:10:28] was what we moved on and that is
[3:10:30] direction this is taking. So I'm very
[3:10:32] happy to see this on the agenda. Thank
[3:10:34] you, Mr. Ortiz. Mr. Bonan, anything? I
[3:10:38] do have one person wants to speak later.
[3:10:39] So say what you have to. We can always
[3:10:41] keep going back. You need to go ahead.
[3:10:43] No, I was just going to say thanks to
[3:10:45] Councilman Layman for a good media
[3:10:47] presentation. Okay. It generated people
[3:10:50] to ask questions, positive questions.
[3:10:53] Obviously, uh, working with you
[3:10:55] mentioned the tribes and the two and
[3:10:57] twos. They're very interested in what
[3:10:59] India's doing. So, um, there's a lot of
[3:11:03] opportunity with the groundwork. At
[3:11:05] least we're doing our best to secure
[3:11:06] what our future would look like.
[3:11:09] Before you want, I want to add something
[3:11:11] that I skipped over. Um, city manager
[3:11:15] mentioned it. Um, it's that this is the
[3:11:18] agreement that we're going to join,
[3:11:20] right? There's still uh implementation
[3:11:23] phase and things that we need to work
[3:11:24] on. So, that's why our financing
[3:11:26] authority will stay intact, right? So
[3:11:29] it's important that we recognize this
[3:11:31] too. Yes, if this passes we're green,
[3:11:33] but there's still more work to be done.
[3:11:35] So um we'll be coming back with with
[3:11:38] more s and I think that's what my
[3:11:41] question was on in the future. When are
[3:11:43] we going to see more details on what
[3:11:45] what will we actually be able to dictate
[3:11:48] on our own as that JPA compared to what
[3:11:50] we see now? It's a great question and it
[3:11:53] really will be up to the board. Uh so as
[3:11:55] stated in in the bylaws or in the
[3:11:58] agreement rather a an entity will be
[3:12:00] formed and a representative will be
[3:12:02] selected amongst uh the council here to
[3:12:05] discuss that very issue. What are our
[3:12:07] concerns relating to governance? What
[3:12:09] are our concerns uh relating to
[3:12:11] infrastructure then at that point as a
[3:12:13] board you would be working we would be
[3:12:16] working with IID to then address those
[3:12:18] issues. And so it's really up to what
[3:12:21] the board feels like the highest
[3:12:22] priority. For example, rate setting. If
[3:12:25] we feel like rate setting ought to be a
[3:12:27] local issue, not an Imperial County
[3:12:29] issue, uh this board would then
[3:12:31] determine that, set the rates, and
[3:12:33] contract with IIAD to collect that fee,
[3:12:35] which is very similar to what we did in
[3:12:36] our our arrangement. other policies
[3:12:39] related to development like what should
[3:12:41] development pay, what should the entity
[3:12:43] pay. If this JPA determined that it was
[3:12:46] in the best interest to change that
[3:12:48] policy, we would then coordinate with
[3:12:51] IID saying this is what this Coachella
[3:12:53] Valley wants and coordinate with them to
[3:12:55] make that sure that's implemented. There
[3:12:57] may be a cost to that. There may be
[3:12:59] other adjustments and IID would guide us
[3:13:01] on that but it would be dictated from
[3:13:03] this JPA board. Okay, that helps. And
[3:13:06] then uh for I know one of the issues
[3:13:09] we've had in the past is is solar
[3:13:11] payback for solar energy. Is that
[3:13:13] something that would be it's a perfect
[3:13:15] example because the board may want to
[3:13:17] use the C the JPA board may want to have
[3:13:19] different policies than what currently
[3:13:21] exists and one reason that solar has
[3:13:24] been so difficult as you are well aware
[3:13:26] is IAD's rates have been so low.
[3:13:29] uh they're working on their own rate
[3:13:30] case study and and with the evolution of
[3:13:33] things it's going to make solar more
[3:13:35] viable making it more important that
[3:13:38] policies are in place to incentivize and
[3:13:40] encourage solar uh that's not may not be
[3:13:43] something that the ID board is
[3:13:44] interested in but this JPA may be and
[3:13:46] can therefore dictate those policies.
[3:13:49] Thank you. So Mr. manager. Let me let me
[3:13:51] ask you. So CVAG would be the
[3:13:53] administrator as I read this, right? And
[3:13:56] I would be a partner with us in this as
[3:13:59] a member or and CBWD. Is that how I read
[3:14:02] this? I Yeah, I would probably explain
[3:14:04] it. CVAG would be the coordinator kind
[3:14:07] of like our other Exactly. They kind of
[3:14:09] bring us together and help kind of
[3:14:10] monitor it, but the decisions would not
[3:14:12] be made by CEAG. They'd be made by the
[3:14:15] members of the entity. Important to note
[3:14:17] too that the document indicates that
[3:14:20] there would be weighted votes. So should
[3:14:22] there be a controversy
[3:14:24] um the smaller entities uh would not
[3:14:27] have the same vote as the larger entity
[3:14:28] and the India is the largest entity
[3:14:30] within the users. Um but once the board
[3:14:34] acts it is true that the board would
[3:14:36] then have to coordinate with IID and say
[3:14:38] this is what you told us that you would
[3:14:40] support this entity ID and we've come up
[3:14:43] with these ideas and policies IID we
[3:14:46] want to enter into agreement with you to
[3:14:48] make sure they're implemented and the
[3:14:51] cooperation that the council member
[3:14:52] Ferman indicated I think that we started
[3:14:54] with our JPA is right uh IAD the board
[3:14:58] the staff is anxious to have this
[3:15:01] adopted and anxious to have this
[3:15:03] cooperative arrangement. They understand
[3:15:06] and recognize that there are different
[3:15:08] interests in the Coachella Valley
[3:15:09] compared to Imperial uh county. So yes,
[3:15:13] it's possible that some things that the
[3:15:15] JPA board wants, ID would say it's going
[3:15:18] to be difficult or we're going to have
[3:15:19] to do this and there'll be some
[3:15:21] negotiation and hard work to be done,
[3:15:23] but at least the decisions be be made
[3:15:26] here.
[3:15:27] And an example might be uh the city
[3:15:30] contracts with Calire and the county for
[3:15:33] fire. Um we dictate the level of
[3:15:36] service. We dictate how much we're going
[3:15:37] to pay. They provide the service. So
[3:15:40] this JPA board would dictate the
[3:15:42] policies, dictate what we're going to
[3:15:43] pay. IID would provide the service.
[3:15:46] They're much like a contractor. Excel,
[3:15:48] our our landscape contractors may be a
[3:15:50] better example. We tell them what we
[3:15:51] want them to do. They do give us a price
[3:15:54] and we may not always like the price but
[3:15:56] at least we would control those
[3:15:57] decisions. And can we get out whenever
[3:15:59] we want? Yes, there are some provisions.
[3:16:02] Uh the one exception would be if we
[3:16:04] enter into any debt as this new entity.
[3:16:06] Okay, there are some restrictions for
[3:16:09] exiting at that scenario. There are also
[3:16:11] provisions in the agreement for entry.
[3:16:14] So should the tribes want to enter, the
[3:16:15] city of Coachella want to enter, the
[3:16:17] cove communities want to enter, there
[3:16:19] are provisions for them to do so. Yeah.
[3:16:21] My my concern is and I'm not as vested
[3:16:24] in as as the mayor prom and and and
[3:16:26] council Ferman is that we put a lot of
[3:16:29] effort into this and a lot of money way
[3:16:30] ahead of everyone else. We we asked our
[3:16:32] residents to invest in us when everybody
[3:16:35] else wasn't so sure. They weren't sure
[3:16:37] if IID was going to stay. They weren't
[3:16:38] sure where the power is. And the only
[3:16:40] way that the city of India could
[3:16:42] continue to grow was to go into a joint
[3:16:44] powers authority with them. That's the
[3:16:45] only way we could do it is because they
[3:16:47] control the power. so that we could
[3:16:49] build our
[3:16:50] substations. So, as long as it benefits
[3:16:54] India and if we do it and we have a geo
[3:16:56] fence around our substations because I
[3:16:58] don't want to be grabbing part of this
[3:17:00] thing and I'm not against helping other
[3:17:02] cities because it is regional, but I
[3:17:04] don't want to make sure that our
[3:17:05] substations are powering everybody
[3:17:06] else's who didn't put into it unless
[3:17:08] they're either paying us for the power
[3:17:10] or we agree to do it because when it
[3:17:12] comes time to turn on like a new
[3:17:15] hospital or the mall or the 4,000 homes
[3:17:18] we have going in or the apartments, I
[3:17:20] want to make sure our power is coming on
[3:17:22] and I don't get something from IID
[3:17:24] saying h you guys owe us another $8,000
[3:17:27] or 20,000 or
[3:17:29] $100,000 because we're investing in
[3:17:31] this. We are the ones that are making
[3:17:33] the investment. We're the ones that did
[3:17:34] the leap of faith with our residents and
[3:17:36] I want to make sure we get that credit,
[3:17:38] but I don't want to get stuck. I I I do
[3:17:40] agree with the regional approach, but
[3:17:42] we've got so much more skin in the game
[3:17:44] than anybody else. And so I just want to
[3:17:46] make sure that if we do this that it's
[3:17:49] it's noted that you know we're we're
[3:17:51] doing the right thing because we're
[3:17:52] jumping in even though we have our own
[3:17:55] we still are now a larger group and even
[3:17:57] though it's weighted we have to worry
[3:17:59] about the ideas and thoughts of IID
[3:18:01] CBWD city of Lita the county who
[3:18:06] all needs and obligations and so you
[3:18:09] know it's just a little jumping into
[3:18:11] some of these things. It's like public
[3:18:12] safety, you know, you watch the the cost
[3:18:16] rise. Uh, and we're stuck in that
[3:18:18] agreement. And I want to make sure that
[3:18:20] we don't after we've invested this much
[3:18:22] money get stuck in something that's not
[3:18:24] in the best interest overall of the city
[3:18:26] of India because our only obligation
[3:18:27] really is to the city of India and then
[3:18:29] the region as a whole. Yeah, very well
[3:18:31] said. I'm glad that was on the public
[3:18:33] record because it's important for
[3:18:34] whomever you appoint to be on this
[3:18:36] board, assuming this is adopted, keep
[3:18:38] that in mind and keep your eye on that
[3:18:40] that ball. But you use the word skin in
[3:18:42] the game which I think is so critical
[3:18:44] that this regional approach approach now
[3:18:47] calls on the city of Linta who who's
[3:18:49] joined and the county to put skin in the
[3:18:52] game. Okay, these electrons don't really
[3:18:55] know city limit lines and so it is a
[3:18:57] little bit hard to geoence completely.
[3:19:00] The four substations that we're building
[3:19:01] through the IFA were selected
[3:19:03] specifically because they're more core
[3:19:05] central to our city, a little easier to
[3:19:07] protect. But the next ones we build and
[3:19:10] as we move on they they will overlap and
[3:19:14] so why not we why not do it regionally
[3:19:16] so everyone does what we do and all
[3:19:18] residents the city of Lita residents
[3:19:20] need to pay just like the city of India
[3:19:21] residents are paying which I think is
[3:19:23] part of your point. Yeah, and I agree.
[3:19:25] And the difference is unlike with us
[3:19:27] though too is that these are three or
[3:19:28] four years out. The problem is is
[3:19:31] there's no way anybody can tell me that
[3:19:32] because we have new four substations put
[3:19:34] in. We'll have them before anybody else
[3:19:35] because we've already
[3:19:37] that they're not going to see that as
[3:19:39] power that they're able to utilize for
[3:19:40] other areas near us too. So, I want to
[3:19:42] make sure that when we're doing it that
[3:19:44] we're getting our due and if we're
[3:19:46] giving electricity to the county or
[3:19:48] whoever that we get paid back into our
[3:19:51] account so that our residents get their
[3:19:53] their due back into it. Just want to
[3:19:55] make sure it's fair on the way around
[3:19:56] until we all get on equal footing. And
[3:19:59] this is the goal is to get on equal
[3:20:01] footing, but in the meantime, we are
[3:20:02] not. Um, one thing that I has agreed to
[3:20:05] since the cit the cities the citizens of
[3:20:08] India and the city's formulating and
[3:20:10] coordinating these new substations, it
[3:20:12] will be the city of Indo that determines
[3:20:14] how to allocate that that new capacity.
[3:20:16] And they've been sending people with uh
[3:20:18] to us already. So when a developer lands
[3:20:21] at IAD, they're saying you'll want to
[3:20:22] talk to the city of Indo. They're
[3:20:24] building some capacity. You'll want to
[3:20:25] coordinate with them. So I think we're
[3:20:27] on the right track to your to your point
[3:20:30] and and our things if we decide one of
[3:20:31] the council members it it doesn't matter
[3:20:33] to me who it ends up being. So we would
[3:20:35] decide that later or we would decide
[3:20:37] that tonight assuming that there are at
[3:20:39] least three that join. So once you join
[3:20:41] then there would be a subsequent meeting
[3:20:42] where you would want to appoint somebody
[3:20:44] to then begin the the activities of the
[3:20:46] JPA much like council member Ortiz and
[3:20:48] yourself mayor or on the waste uh JPA be
[3:20:52] a similar arrangement whomever you'd
[3:20:53] like to select and we would have Ry Tjo
[3:20:56] as our lays on on the city side of it to
[3:20:58] make sure that we uh are taken care of.
[3:21:01] Yeah. Staff on on each entity
[3:21:04] power and water guy. He said it's power
[3:21:07] and water mix. They do. Yeah. I I feel
[3:21:09] comfortable with a good council member
[3:21:10] on which could be any of the four. I I
[3:21:13] exclude myself from this deal. Uh one of
[3:21:16] you are going to end up having to take
[3:21:17] this if we agree to go and Ray. As long
[3:21:19] as you're willing to help us, I'm I'm
[3:21:21] comfortable with it. The can't have a
[3:21:23] piece of you, Ray. Yeah. So, anyone
[3:21:26] else? We do have Mr. Anderson who would
[3:21:28] like to speak and then we can have some
[3:21:30] more round table. Mr. Anderson, would
[3:21:31] you like to come up?
[3:21:34] It's been a while, Mr. Anderson. Yes.
[3:21:36] Thank you. Everything's changed. I see
[3:21:38] the city attorney. Uh I see she's got a
[3:21:41] job again. No, I'm kidding. I'm only
[3:21:43] kidding. Uh uh again, my name is Brad
[3:21:46] Anderson. I currently in the city of
[3:21:47] Answer the once great city of Anarrage.
[3:21:50] U I wanted to speak on items 11.1. Um I
[3:21:54] I did submit written comments. Hopefully
[3:21:57] you got them. Uh and I would encourage
[3:21:59] anybody that's really interested in that
[3:22:01] to look at that. I was at the board of
[3:22:03] supervisors yesterday. I submitted
[3:22:04] written comments for that, too. and I've
[3:22:06] been actively involved in the Catilla
[3:22:09] Valley Energy Commission um since the
[3:22:12] beginning. Uh so I'm kind of wellware
[3:22:14] well informed to what's going on. I'm
[3:22:16] not a not I'm not I'm absolutely opposed
[3:22:19] to this. Um has written everything about
[3:22:21] it. Um and uh not to give the city a
[3:22:24] hard time. The mayor brought up some
[3:22:26] very good points that there's going to
[3:22:28] be a lot of conflict in this type of
[3:22:30] organization. I'll see if the city
[3:22:32] doesn't join my calculations that this
[3:22:35] this
[3:22:37] valley is that public authority power
[3:22:41] authority I just abbreviated uh won't
[3:22:44] exist we'll continue that's my
[3:22:46] calculations I might be wrong on that um
[3:22:49] the biggest uh I had I had issues uh
[3:22:53] when the city uh did
[3:22:56] the is that what it is authority uh
[3:23:00] because I missed that meeting. I did
[3:23:02] review it later, but I felt that the
[3:23:04] city residents, the people in the city
[3:23:07] didn't know about it. I mean that the
[3:23:09] purpose of that like council member said
[3:23:12] was to really it's a financing
[3:23:14] authority. So it's collecting search
[3:23:16] charges. IID is involved and they're
[3:23:18] doing that to everybody. And my point of
[3:23:20] that is everybody that has a home or a
[3:23:22] business in the city already paid their
[3:23:25] fair share. I'm going to put it like
[3:23:27] that. As far as infrastructure costs,
[3:23:29] it's not up to them
[3:23:31] to fund a developer that comes into
[3:23:34] town. Yes, the city wants to grow.
[3:23:35] That's great. I'm not here to dictate
[3:23:37] any anything, but I'm just concerned
[3:23:39] that
[3:23:41] people were were not aware of that at
[3:23:44] the time. I may be wrong now because he
[3:23:46] said it's it's been over a year, maybe
[3:23:48] two years. U and this whole organization
[3:23:53] now, if it's if it continues, and it
[3:23:55] will. I have no doubt about it. Uh it's
[3:23:58] going to be a taxing mechanism and and I
[3:24:00] can guarantee you everybody's fees are
[3:24:02] going to go up. Uh and it's going to be
[3:24:05] a lot of conflict in that organization.
[3:24:07] The three cities, well, the Riverside
[3:24:09] County, Indo, and Lita will be running
[3:24:12] the show. They will be dictating what's
[3:24:14] going on. And so anyway, uh my
[3:24:18] information is out there. Please, uh
[3:24:20] please look me up. I'm in the book. uh
[3:24:22] and I can give you my spiel in a more
[3:24:24] complete way than I can in three minutes
[3:24:26] or two minutes and that's all I have.
[3:24:28] Thank you. Thank you Mr. Anderson for
[3:24:29] your comments.
[3:24:31] Anyone else wish to speak on this
[3:24:33] subject? Okay.
[3:24:41] [Laughter]
[3:24:46] So where are you going to sleep? Hey
[3:24:48] when you get your day you just you got
[3:24:49] to use it. And this is on this is on
[3:24:51] item 111 sir. Yes sir. Yeah. Okay. Um
[3:24:54] what you guys are just talking about
[3:24:56] um I um personally for my stance
[3:25:03] um like to say politics local. what
[3:25:06] matters and what what what matters to me
[3:25:08] is this that
[3:25:11] um right now I have a an ADU that I'm
[3:25:13] building in the back of my house um you
[3:25:15] know for my one of my kids and
[3:25:19] uh my issue is that I have a company now
[3:25:23] who could put
[3:25:25] solar on that for me free of
[3:25:29] charge really free no money but I have a
[3:25:34] church member now who has their whole
[3:25:36] solar system built out right now who
[3:25:38] cannot get their power turned on. So,
[3:25:41] they're going to be forced to sell a
[3:25:42] home because they can't
[3:25:44] afford not to pay to pay the solar
[3:25:47] company and to still pay electricity
[3:25:50] bills because IID for whatever reason
[3:25:53] will not turn their power on to their
[3:25:55] solar. So, for me, it's like I
[3:25:58] understand that the rates are lower. I'm
[3:26:00] I'm grateful for that. However, there to
[3:26:03] to mitigate the the The lack of power
[3:26:07] let people have their own infrastructure
[3:26:09] of power. We use solar. It lessens the
[3:26:12] strain on on on the grids which makes
[3:26:15] more sense. Less of a carbon footprint,
[3:26:18] the whole thing. So, there needs to be
[3:26:20] some type of power that we can wield if
[3:26:22] we're going to go into these types of
[3:26:23] situations that can make things make
[3:26:26] sense for the common folk. Don't just
[3:26:29] make me pay more taxes, which I don't
[3:26:30] mind. I'll always pay my fair share. I
[3:26:33] love my city, but make it make sense.
[3:26:36] There's low-inccome people who could get
[3:26:38] solar. There's people have uh less
[3:26:40] income than I do that can get solar.
[3:26:43] There's a company that'll do it for
[3:26:46] free. Free is
[3:26:50] good, right? So, we need to my my point
[3:26:53] is we need to have some power. We don't
[3:26:55] just need to have a a a seat. We need to
[3:26:58] have some real power that that that goes
[3:27:00] and advocates for the things that are
[3:27:01] important to us. For me in my house
[3:27:03] right now, if we could get the solar put
[3:27:05] on, it would make a whole lot of sense
[3:27:06] and it make me help help me save some
[3:27:08] money. So, I would just say whoever vote
[3:27:11] for it, whoever would really take take
[3:27:14] stock of what the city wants, not just
[3:27:16] what maybe the council might think is
[3:27:18] best, but I'm a resident. I'm speaking
[3:27:20] in real time. So, I thank you for
[3:27:22] allowing me to use time for on my day.
[3:27:25] Thank you, Mr. Williams.
[3:27:26] Hope I made sense. Okay. So, uh,
[3:27:30] comments, thoughts among council. I I
[3:27:33] just just to follow up. I'm I'm not
[3:27:35] responding. I just want to follow up is
[3:27:38] um the comments make perfect sense and
[3:27:40] that's that's why uh we have this in
[3:27:43] front of us. U prior to this where we
[3:27:46] stand right now, we're we're kind of in
[3:27:48] an advisory role, right? And what this
[3:27:51] would do um ID is not only the power
[3:27:54] provider but they become a partner and
[3:27:57] so we could kind of work with them what
[3:28:00] are are what's going to happen in our
[3:28:02] region and that's why it's it's hard for
[3:28:04] them to decipher the interests of
[3:28:07] Imperial County and Riverside County
[3:28:09] Service Area. So that's why we're doing
[3:28:12] this and so we will have as the term was
[3:28:15] used earlier more skin in the game when
[3:28:17] we uh sit on a deas with
[3:28:21] if this shall pass. So, I wanted to say
[3:28:23] that and as always when we talk about
[3:28:26] energy and power in our city for the
[3:28:28] folks who um are on fixed income and who
[3:28:31] have challenges with their income, there
[3:28:34] is also a rate um um assistance program
[3:28:38] with IID and it's online. Um IID is
[3:28:42] happy to work with people and while
[3:28:44] we're happy personally I've done it work
[3:28:46] with folks to um have those challenges
[3:28:48] if they assistance with their their
[3:28:51] energy. There are programs that will
[3:28:53] help you. And if there's no further
[3:28:55] mayor, um I'll make a motion to approve.
[3:28:58] Anybody else have any questions? No, we
[3:29:00] have a we have a first. We have a
[3:29:01] second. I'll second that. We have a
[3:29:03] first by Councilman Ferman, second by
[3:29:06] Tim Holmes. Please
[3:29:08] vote. Pass
[3:29:11] unanimously. Antonio Emanuel, you heard
[3:29:15] our comments.
[3:29:17] Please help.
[3:29:19] Thank you. With that, we'll move on to
[3:29:21] item 1112 now, which is the presentation
[3:29:23] on the East India employment corridor
[3:29:26] annexation study and provide input to
[3:29:28] staff regarding phase one of the
[3:29:31] project. Mr.
[3:29:32] Halister
[3:29:34] Halverson, mayor, mayor prom, members of
[3:29:37] the council, Brian Halverson, director
[3:29:38] of community development. I just want to
[3:29:41] quickly introduce uh this item before
[3:29:43] our consultant due uh Rachel Lynn will
[3:29:46] come up and do the presentation. Um,
[3:29:49] back in uh 2019, the city council
[3:29:51] amended the general plan to show
[3:29:53] different areas of the city where we
[3:29:54] would uh grow. Uh, in the case of
[3:29:57] tonight, there's an area on the far
[3:29:59] northeast part of town called the
[3:30:01] eastern Spear. Um, myself and the
[3:30:04] assistant city manager have been working
[3:30:06] with Due Deck to study that area and to
[3:30:08] see opportunities uh to potentially
[3:30:11] annex uh land in that area with the
[3:30:14] focus on industrial jobs. We're trying
[3:30:17] to balance housing and jobs. Um and so
[3:30:20] this area would u help the city to try
[3:30:23] to balance that um discrepancy that we
[3:30:26] have. We're doing pretty good with
[3:30:27] housing. We're building some housing,
[3:30:28] but we need uh more jobs. And so this
[3:30:31] area that we're going to present
[3:30:32] tonight, this is phase one of a phase
[3:30:34] two project. Um you saw earlier um on
[3:30:39] your agenda this item regarding this
[3:30:41] annexation study. funding um hopefully
[3:30:44] will be set aside also to do phase two,
[3:30:46] but we're also looking for input. So, I
[3:30:48] want to go ahead and bring uh Rachel
[3:30:50] Lynn up uh to do the presentation. And
[3:30:53] um Brian, if I could real quick, how
[3:30:56] does this go in with our general plan
[3:30:58] that we changed and we put the
[3:30:59] enterprise or the zones in for different
[3:31:02] uh development and that is this
[3:31:04] coordinate with it or does this help
[3:31:05] change it or does this just put an
[3:31:08] overlay on top of some of the areas?
[3:31:10] That's a good question. So, it's within
[3:31:13] our sphere of influence. So, it's an
[3:31:15] area that we're planning to grow. It's
[3:31:17] just not within our city limits, right?
[3:31:19] So, it's already on the general plan
[3:31:20] land use map. Okay. Um but we haven't
[3:31:23] annexed it obviously. So, it's in the
[3:31:25] county. So, that area is is already been
[3:31:28] earmarked for an area that we want to
[3:31:30] grow. Okay. Um and it's uh we'll be
[3:31:32] presenting it um just east of Dylan
[3:31:34] Road. So, we'll go ahead and put some
[3:31:36] maps up and show you what our findings
[3:31:38] of phase one. Thank you. Welcome. Thank
[3:31:41] you so much. Thank you, Brian, for that
[3:31:44] introduction. Good evening, mayor, mayor
[3:31:46] prom, uh, members of the council. My
[3:31:49] name is Rachel Lint, and I am a senior
[3:31:52] planner um, at Dudek and I'm also this
[3:31:55] um, project manager on this project. Um,
[3:31:58] I am joined um, this evening um, by my
[3:32:01] colleague Rachel Stullia. She's the
[3:32:03] environmental lead for the effort and
[3:32:05] also um, a project director with the SQA
[3:32:08] NEPA group at Duda. We have a fantastic
[3:32:12] consultant team that has been part of
[3:32:14] this effort that you see on the screen
[3:32:16] here. Um with Dudek being the prime
[3:32:19] consultant and um proform adviserss
[3:32:21] leading the uh market analysis uh CV
[3:32:25] strategies and so happy to have Beatric
[3:32:27] here this evening assisting with the
[3:32:29] outreach and engagement and lastly
[3:32:31] intersecting metrics um focusing on the
[3:32:33] transportation component.
[3:32:36] So, um, as Brian mentioned, uh, the
[3:32:38] purpose of tonight's presentation is
[3:32:40] three-fold. Uh, to share a summary of
[3:32:43] work to date and to update city council
[3:32:45] on findings. Uh, to receive feedback on
[3:32:48] some of the constraints that we have
[3:32:50] found through our desktop work and to
[3:32:52] discuss priorities for the project as we
[3:32:54] move forward. And lastly, to share next
[3:33:00] steps. We have five parts of the agenda.
[3:33:04] And I'll just note um the presentation
[3:33:05] I'm going to go through tonight was uh
[3:33:07] attached as the staff report and um I'm
[3:33:10] going to be giving kind of a truncated
[3:33:12] presentation in the interest of going
[3:33:13] through the slides and having uh what we
[3:33:15] hope is a good discussion. So we we'll
[3:33:18] go over um project overview very
[3:33:20] briefly, talk about our desktop
[3:33:21] opportunities and constraints analysis.
[3:33:24] Uh present a little bit about our market
[3:33:25] demand and economic development
[3:33:27] strategy. um go over some of the
[3:33:29] priorities for the conceptual planning
[3:33:31] scenarios and then um wrap up with next
[3:33:34] steps prior to uh
[3:33:39] discussion.
[3:33:42] Sorry. Here we go. Okay. So, let's dive
[3:33:45] into a brief overview of the project. Uh
[3:33:48] so as Brian mentioned, June of last
[3:33:49] year, the city committed to exploring
[3:33:52] 3,300 acres in what's referred to as the
[3:33:54] east eastern sphere of influence for
[3:33:57] potentially um uh employment generating
[3:34:00] uh development. You can see the the map
[3:34:02] on the right hand side of the screen is
[3:34:04] the area that we are focusing on for
[3:34:06] this project. Um, as Brian mentioned,
[3:34:09] it's part of the um sphere of influence
[3:34:11] established by the general plan and so
[3:34:14] it's currently outside of uh the
[3:34:16] municipal limits uh within Riverside
[3:34:19] County. And it's important to note also
[3:34:21] that the area is uh primarily um open
[3:34:24] space with some uh commercial use and
[3:34:27] resource extraction, but largely kind of
[3:34:29] vacant open space. And then a few um key
[3:34:32] statistics to kind of paint the picture
[3:34:35] around the purpose and need for this
[3:34:36] project. So first um about 1.6% 6% of
[3:34:40] city uh parcels are zoned for industrial
[3:34:43] use in the city of India and so this is
[3:34:46] um going to limit growth with regards to
[3:34:48] manufacturing
[3:34:56] lightly 84% of India residents are
[3:34:59] employed outside of the city so they
[3:35:01] leave the city for work and this is
[3:35:03] based on 2021 data and so with such a
[3:35:06] large number of employees leaving the
[3:35:08] area. Um, this can cause obviously a lot
[3:35:11] of um economic issues, uh, loss of
[3:35:13] talent, loss of tax revenue that can
[3:35:15] strain public services, infrastructure
[3:35:17] maintenance, um, congestion. I know that
[3:35:19] was brought up tonight as well. Uh, and
[3:35:22] then when looking at um, Indio as as it
[3:35:25] compares to the county of Riverside,
[3:35:27] there's a few key statistics to share
[3:35:29] around um, job makeup. So first um when
[3:35:33] looking at India compared to the county,
[3:35:35] India has a lower percentage of
[3:35:37] industrial and commercial flex jobs um
[3:35:40] transversely uh India has a higher
[3:35:42] percentage of service jobs and so
[3:35:44] there's sort of that mismatch there and
[3:35:47] um an opportunity for more workforce
[3:35:49] diversification and development.
[3:35:55] So thinking about the long-term vision
[3:35:57] for this area and this is very much a
[3:35:59] long-term planning project. Um we have
[3:36:02] understood that the project vision is
[3:36:04] really to expand industrial development
[3:36:06] opportunities in Indo given the low
[3:36:08] percentage of industrial land to support
[3:36:11] job creation, diversification, enhance
[3:36:13] services and promote investment within
[3:36:15] the city. Um as Brian mentioned the work
[3:36:18] is divided into two phases. So tonight
[3:36:20] I'll be um giving a snapshot of our
[3:36:23] phase one work which is the constraints
[3:36:24] opportunities and conceptual planning.
[3:36:27] Phase two would um would be if if the
[3:36:29] city would like to move forward uh would
[3:36:31] be the um LAFCO reorganization request
[3:36:34] which is an application. It's a very
[3:36:36] robust application that requires a lot
[3:36:38] of analysis um and that would be part of
[3:36:41] phase two.
[3:36:46] So taking a look at um the work that
[3:36:48] we've been doing within the the context
[3:36:50] of our phases. You can see on the the
[3:36:53] screen here we have u three phases of
[3:36:55] work um generally data gathering,
[3:36:57] desktop opportunities and constraints uh
[3:36:59] market and economic development strategy
[3:37:01] and conceptual scenarios and final
[3:37:03] report. This um diagram here just sort
[3:37:06] of highlights very at a high level that
[3:37:09] throughout the process we've um made
[3:37:11] sure to have touch points with
[3:37:13] interested parties. So we've met with
[3:37:15] LAFCO, we've done um some informal
[3:37:18] tribal coordination. We've met with um a
[3:37:21] variety of service and utility
[3:37:23] providers. We have a technical advisory
[3:37:25] committee. Uh we're meeting here tonight
[3:37:27] for for council meeting. You can see
[3:37:28] there is a star. Um and so all this to
[3:37:31] say um that we've been um very diligent
[3:37:34] about um speaking with various
[3:37:36] perspectives and um interested parties
[3:37:38] to influence the
[3:37:43] project. Okay. So now I'm going to um
[3:37:47] walk us through a highle summary of the
[3:37:48] desktop opportunities and constraints
[3:37:50] work.
[3:37:53] Uh the dude team developed seven topical
[3:37:55] reports um related to the opportunities
[3:37:58] and constraints work that you see on the
[3:38:00] screen here to analyze the project area
[3:38:01] and the extent to which constraints may
[3:38:04] impact development. And we also
[3:38:06] conducted robust interested party
[3:38:08] outreach as I mentioned with various
[3:38:09] entities. I just want to give you a
[3:38:11] sense um of all the different groups
[3:38:13] that we spoke to on the right hand side
[3:38:15] of the screen um including our technical
[3:38:18] advisory committee uh which is made up
[3:38:20] of various city of India departments
[3:38:22] including planning engineering economic
[3:38:24] development police fire India water
[3:38:27] authority and the city manager's
[3:38:31] office. So in terms of our um our
[3:38:34] process we went through a three-step
[3:38:36] process um in terms of the opportunities
[3:38:39] and constraints work. So, first we
[3:38:40] mapped all of our constraints by
[3:38:42] technical topic to illustrate key
[3:38:45] constraints for development for the
[3:38:46] overall project and specific locations
[3:38:49] within that 3,300 acres. Next, we joined
[3:38:52] all constraints and approximated the
[3:38:54] level of constraint. This step helped us
[3:38:58] to communicate the level of constraint
[3:38:59] and risk for development and to identify
[3:39:02] potential opportunity areas for the
[3:39:04] project. And then lastly, we joined um
[3:39:09] uh constraints and opportunities that
[3:39:11] were not geographically
[3:39:15] focused. And this slide shows the
[3:39:17] outcome of our process. Um in the
[3:39:20] presentation that you received in the
[3:39:21] staff report and went through each um
[3:39:24] topic area, but in the interest of time,
[3:39:26] I want to just share this summary. So
[3:39:28] this slide um shows um uh portions of
[3:39:32] the project area that are shaded in
[3:39:35] different colors. And so you can see
[3:39:37] those that are red are high um high
[3:39:41] constraints um while those that are
[3:39:43] green are high opportunity which really
[3:39:46] just indicate that there's um
[3:39:48] opportunities to sort of lower the cost
[3:39:50] or for there to be streamlined um steps
[3:39:53] that can be taken for um for
[3:39:56] development. But what you can see here
[3:39:58] is that um over half of the project area
[3:40:01] is um either low or high constraint. And
[3:40:04] so I think that's important to note. Uh
[3:40:06] the area that you see um outlined in
[3:40:09] red, the the polygon sort of in the
[3:40:11] center of the 3,300 acres um between
[3:40:14] 40th Avenue and Fargo Canyon Road has
[3:40:16] the lowest level of constraints. And
[3:40:18] this approximately equals um 700 acres.
[3:40:21] So, of that 3,300 acres, we found that
[3:40:23] 700 has sort of the the lowest level of
[3:40:26] constraint for development. Sorry, uh,
[3:40:29] quick question. Yes. In these areas, is
[3:40:31] there any difference between which areas
[3:40:33] are constrained by power versus water?
[3:40:36] Yes. So, great question because um, some
[3:40:40] of the Sorry, this seems okay. Some of
[3:40:44] the topics were not geographic meaning
[3:40:47] power, water service, wastewater and gas
[3:40:51] are constraints for constraints um or
[3:40:54] opportunities for the project as as a
[3:40:56] whole. So it didn't relate to the
[3:40:58] northern part being any different than
[3:41:00] the southern part. And so we created
[3:41:02] this um the this graph that you see on
[3:41:05] the screen to help conceptualize those
[3:41:07] topics that relate to the project are as
[3:41:10] a whole. So we had a great discussion
[3:41:12] right before this about the constraints
[3:41:14] as it relates to power. So I think we're
[3:41:16] all um we have a good understanding of
[3:41:19] um issues related to power. I do want to
[3:41:21] say that um because of the
[3:41:23] EEFA that is actually an opportunity
[3:41:26] because that mechanism already exists
[3:41:28] but as it relates to connecting to
[3:41:31] existing substations um it's definitely
[3:41:34] a very costly endeavor. Um with regards
[3:41:38] to water service um new water
[3:41:41] distribution infrastructure to serve the
[3:41:42] project area um would also be high from
[3:41:45] a cost perspective due to also the
[3:41:48] distance in connecting to existing water
[3:41:51] infrastructure. So that's why we place p
[3:41:53] power and water on that high constraint.
[3:41:56] Wastewater has a similar situation in
[3:41:58] that um the uh connection points to
[3:42:02] existing facilities is far. However,
[3:42:05] there is um a workaround through um uh
[3:42:08] investigating on-site treatment. So,
[3:42:11] that's something that could be uh
[3:42:13] mitigable and developed through through
[3:42:15] the project. And the reason I ask as
[3:42:17] well is because I think with with power,
[3:42:19] you know, there's new technologies where
[3:42:20] there's micro grid possibilities and
[3:42:22] stuff where we might be able to figure
[3:42:24] out some ways to do battery storage and
[3:42:27] uh generators or solar, that kind of
[3:42:29] stuff. Whereas with water, you know, I
[3:42:30] know that's you have to get the lines
[3:42:32] there. Yeah. No, absolutely. No, that's
[3:42:34] a really good point. And and power could
[3:42:36] be something that we can um sort of
[3:42:39] design our way out of um as opposed to
[3:42:41] water service and connecting
[3:42:43] infrastructure, hard
[3:42:49] infrastructure. Okay. Um the next
[3:42:52] section highlights um key findings from
[3:42:54] the market demand and economic
[3:42:56] development strategy
[3:42:59] work.
[3:43:01] Our subconsultant pro for adviserss
[3:43:04] completed a market analysis that um uh
[3:43:08] developed market us for the project
[3:43:10] looking at um a few key factors. So
[3:43:12] employment trends looking at uh regional
[3:43:15] versus local also looking at specific
[3:43:17] industries and growth projections um as
[3:43:20] well as trends. They also looked at
[3:43:22] commercial real estate. They were market
[3:43:25] specific in that they looked at India.
[3:43:27] They looked at Coachella Valley and the
[3:43:28] Inland Empire and they looked at
[3:43:30] specific uses since we're just focused
[3:43:32] on industrial and office. And then they
[3:43:35] looked at planned and proposed
[3:43:36] development within India to get a sense
[3:43:38] for the commercial real estate
[3:43:40] environment. And lastly, um they were
[3:43:43] able to develop an employment um project
[3:43:47] demand for employment serving uses. And
[3:43:49] this was um influenced by qualitative
[3:43:52] input input from stakeholder interviews.
[3:43:54] And so we were able to speak with
[3:43:55] developers and the real estate community
[3:43:57] to help influence the preliminary
[3:44:01] demand. What they found from the market
[3:44:03] analysis that is that the site's
[3:44:05] location within the Coto Valley suggests
[3:44:08] that a mixeduse business park could be
[3:44:10] targeted in the long term. And in terms
[3:44:13] of demand, um they looked at the
[3:44:15] long-term job projections and historic
[3:44:17] capture of office space over a 20-year
[3:44:20] horizon. They found that there's demand
[3:44:22] for 20 to 35 acres of office as well as
[3:44:26] 215 to 640 acres of light
[3:44:30] industrial. The bubbles on the right
[3:44:32] hand side of the screen show the pre
[3:44:34] preliminary land use development
[3:44:35] strategy which shows that 40 uh 430
[3:44:39] acres would be devoted to light
[3:44:40] industrial 70 acres to infrastructure to
[3:44:43] serve the development. 60 acres of open
[3:44:46] space to create a campuslike setting. 35
[3:44:49] acres of office and five acres of
[3:44:57] retail. This la last section of the
[3:44:59] presentation highlights priorities for
[3:45:01] the project to influence the conceptual
[3:45:03] planning
[3:45:06] scenarios. This slide that you see on
[3:45:08] the screen um highlights what we've
[3:45:10] heard from the city so far in this
[3:45:11] process um as themes and priorities for
[3:45:14] the project. Uh, and we're certainly
[3:45:16] interested in hearing um your
[3:45:18] perspective tonight and see if there's
[3:45:20] anything else that you want to add and
[3:45:22] I'll just briefly go over them. Um,
[3:45:23] importance of revenue generation,
[3:45:25] focusing on job growth, increasing
[3:45:28] industrial uh, manufacturing presence,
[3:45:31] diversifying employment tax base,
[3:45:33] compliance with the multiple species
[3:45:35] habitat plan, uh, importance of
[3:45:37] prioritizing safety and habitat, uh,
[3:45:40] minimizing exposure to environmental
[3:45:41] hazards such as fault lines. Um and then
[3:45:44] the use of flood planes as parks,
[3:45:47] trails, and other recreation uses.
[3:45:58] And to reiterate, um we're in the
[3:46:00] process of the conceptual uh scenarios
[3:46:03] and and final report phases. You can see
[3:46:05] the the star there in May 2025. And we
[3:46:08] have several additional outreach touch
[3:46:10] touch points upcoming including uh
[3:46:13] meeting with utility and service
[3:46:15] providers um and the technical advisory
[3:46:17] committee for a second time to influence
[3:46:19] the conceptual scenarios. Uh we will
[3:46:22] return to council in July to present the
[3:46:25] findings from the conceptual scenarios
[3:46:27] phase and the final report for the
[3:46:29] project.
[3:46:33] And with that, um, we can, um, end the
[3:46:37] the presentation and open it up for
[3:46:39] discussion. Council,
[3:46:44] uh, for light industrial, are there some
[3:46:47] examples you can share with us of other
[3:46:49] light industrial um, businesses that
[3:46:51] have been coming to the to the region?
[3:46:53] Yeah. So, I think that um some of the um
[3:46:56] mix of uh uses when we're talking about
[3:46:58] light industrial could be um logistics,
[3:47:02] it could be warehousing. Um uh it's
[3:47:05] definitely a changing market. Um some of
[3:47:08] the um additional uses we're looking at
[3:47:10] are commercial flex, which might mean a
[3:47:13] little bit of production um but could
[3:47:15] also have a sort of office portion of it
[3:47:18] that is more sort of like public facing.
[3:47:20] And so it's um looking at uh basically
[3:47:23] those those three categories in terms of
[3:47:26] um the the trends within Coachella
[3:47:29] Valley.
[3:47:32] I think in that sense I would just want
[3:47:33] our council to consider um when we bring
[3:47:36] in those businesses are those going to
[3:47:38] be job creating businesses or is it
[3:47:40] going to be a lot of automation because
[3:47:41] those are going to be different impacts
[3:47:43] on our community there.
[3:47:46] Anyone else? Can I ask? Go ahead, Mr.
[3:47:50] Good.
[3:47:52] I was just looking what we experienced
[3:47:56] when we annexed the west side of it.
[3:47:59] From the public safety side, we need to
[3:48:02] take in the effect that it's being more
[3:48:04] open land. Uh the mayor pro
[3:48:08] Tim's there. It's an educational thing.
[3:48:11] It's nothing. I think from what we
[3:48:12] learned from the last time, there's just
[3:48:14] a couple of things we need to do for the
[3:48:16] interest of the public because those
[3:48:18] areas have been used for all kinds of
[3:48:20] rec recreational outdoor activities.
[3:48:23] Fargo Canyon Road is a principal avenue
[3:48:26] of going further east. So, it brings a
[3:48:29] lot of travel activities for that type
[3:48:31] of activity. It would be limited to
[3:48:33] doing that in the future if we annex
[3:48:35] based on our current municipal codes,
[3:48:37] illegal dumping, off-roading, sport
[3:48:40] shooting, whatever you might call. And
[3:48:42] Burdue Canyon Road is the next one
[3:48:44] further north, which puts it back in the
[3:48:47] county where it should be. But those are
[3:48:49] things that we definitely will have an
[3:48:51] educational from the public safety side.
[3:48:56] So when you're looking at this, there's
[3:48:57] 3,300 acres. We're talking about
[3:48:59] developing 600 of them basically. The
[3:49:01] other ones are challenged by other
[3:49:03] issues. Is it challenged anything
[3:49:06] geographically wise where can't be
[3:49:08] utilized because it's uneven mountain
[3:49:12] range? What's the other, you know, 2,700
[3:49:15] acres? Is it still available for use
[3:49:17] with certain grading or is this just the
[3:49:20] most prevalent area that we can focus on
[3:49:23] right now? Uh, yeah, that's a great
[3:49:25] question. So, um I can flip through a
[3:49:28] couple of the other um environmental
[3:49:30] constraints because it's it's quite a
[3:49:32] few. Um just get through you know I mean
[3:49:37] the city of India when we had the
[3:49:38] opportunity to go all the way to to
[3:49:40] Washington Street and we didn't take it
[3:49:42] because it just wasn't at that time in
[3:49:45] the purview. They didn't feel it was
[3:49:46] very important and obviously we've seen
[3:49:48] how it grows. So I think anytime we can
[3:49:50] build bring in land to be able to
[3:49:52] redevelop it to bring in jobs,
[3:49:55] infrastructure, and other stuff that's
[3:49:56] going to make the city more viable, but
[3:49:58] we also got to marginize it by what it's
[3:50:01] going to cost us now to maintain it
[3:50:03] because now we are going to do the
[3:50:04] dumping. We do have the other stuff. We
[3:50:06] do have things that go in there. Uh the
[3:50:09] part of on the top of uh Sun City uh by
[3:50:12] Sun City Shadow Hills and City uh Sun
[3:50:14] City Palm Desert. We took that area.
[3:50:16] They didn't even have the roads paved.
[3:50:17] we paid to have the roads done and
[3:50:19] everything else. So there's
[3:50:21] opportunities there, but there's also
[3:50:22] costs and what's that going to cost us
[3:50:24] in the short term to be able to maintain
[3:50:26] that too. So, so if we can look at other
[3:50:29] areas of restraint in that because we
[3:50:30] will have to have our police department
[3:50:32] and we will eventually have to put water
[3:50:34] and power and other stuff in. So go
[3:50:37] ahead. I'd like to see what the rest of
[3:50:39] it is. I I'm going to agree with you.
[3:50:40] you know, the potential impacts of um
[3:50:43] from a public safety perspective as you
[3:50:45] mentioned um in terms of cost. I mean,
[3:50:48] there's bound to be a lot of potential
[3:50:50] impacts because there's only essentially
[3:50:52] 700 acres at this in the near term that
[3:50:55] we can utilize effectively, you know.
[3:50:58] So, I I would appreciate seeing that
[3:51:00] analysis. Earthquake and flood zones
[3:51:02] never good two signs.
[3:51:04] You start off bad
[3:51:07] there. I do want to highlight. So,
[3:51:10] there's a couple different um topics
[3:51:12] that you brought up that I think are are
[3:51:14] really important, but I'll I'll just go
[3:51:15] over the environmental constraints at
[3:51:17] first um just to kind of paint a
[3:51:19] picture. So, um what you see can see in
[3:51:21] um Teal is um part of a special flood
[3:51:24] hazard area which is not um not like a
[3:51:27] FE FEMA flood hazard area. So it's not
[3:51:29] as serious as that, but it is something
[3:51:31] that requires um additional hydro
[3:51:34] modeling and studying to really look at
[3:51:36] over um the years and um through
[3:51:39] different flooding events like 10year um
[3:51:42] 100redyear what really happens in that
[3:51:45] land as it as it relates to to flooding.
[3:51:49] And so that'll help us sort of
[3:51:50] understand um the extent to which
[3:51:52] flooding may impact development. But
[3:51:54] certainly for our awareness knowing that
[3:51:56] the northern half is in the um flood
[3:52:00] hazard area, it's something that we're
[3:52:02] trying to avoid as a initial step. And
[3:52:05] then second um you can see kind of going
[3:52:07] diagonally these are fault zones and um
[3:52:12] it is best practice to not develop
[3:52:14] within the fault areas. You I'm probably
[3:52:17] stating the obvious there but there are
[3:52:19] um buffers that you can design so that
[3:52:22] you are you know away from them, but you
[3:52:25] certainly don't want to have any um you
[3:52:28] know, housing or anything related to uh
[3:52:31] housing people um in those areas. So,
[3:52:33] you can see as as these two areas kind
[3:52:35] of um consume the the north and the
[3:52:38] south, it starts to sort of narrow us
[3:52:40] down. And so, this is I think one of the
[3:52:42] most um poignant slides to just sort of
[3:52:45] show from an environmental perspective.
[3:52:47] Um there's uh other ones to highlight,
[3:52:50] but I think maybe this one is um
[3:52:53] probably the one to to focus on. And I
[3:52:55] will note that um the the market
[3:52:57] analysis showed that from a historic
[3:53:00] standpoint and a um projected standpoint
[3:53:03] that there's demand for 600 acres. And
[3:53:06] so I think that's worth noting that um
[3:53:09] when thinking about creating a
[3:53:11] development that would um not be vacant,
[3:53:14] that would actually have um you know
[3:53:16] development come and uh business owners
[3:53:19] come to to the site. We want to make
[3:53:21] sure that um within the long term um
[3:53:25] we're we're sitting within that market
[3:53:26] demand. But the good thing is um that's
[3:53:29] you know that's based on historic and
[3:53:31] projected and so things can change in
[3:53:32] the market and if the city really
[3:53:34] creates um a priority to focus on
[3:53:38] eastern India that um that dial may
[3:53:40] change and so that's really just um take
[3:53:43] it with a grain of salt. Uh but I think
[3:53:45] the cost benefit analysis that you were
[3:53:47] mentioning uh mayor about uh the cost of
[3:53:50] services and maintenance and then how
[3:53:52] much you would get in terms of um per
[3:53:55] you know tax revenue. So, I think that's
[3:53:57] a really important uh equation to think
[3:53:59] about because that can also help to um
[3:54:02] center in on the amount of acreage that
[3:54:05] could help to have that costbenefit
[3:54:08] analysis come out in the positive. Okay.
[3:54:11] Thank you.
[3:54:12] Yes, absolutely. First of all, thank you
[3:54:14] for your presentation. Um I you know,
[3:54:17] I'm interested in looking at some cost
[3:54:18] analysis in the the the near and the
[3:54:21] future, but um you know, I think that
[3:54:23] the mayor hit it on the head. He said
[3:54:26] that you know, we we had a loss
[3:54:27] opportunity by expanding to Washington
[3:54:30] and u when we have opportunity to get a
[3:54:32] land that's cost effective um it's it's
[3:54:35] a good u idea to look at it right and a
[3:54:38] lot of these scenarios and and questions
[3:54:41] that we have u will be sorted out and
[3:54:43] looked at during the lab process as well
[3:54:46] so I think just having the opportunity
[3:54:48] to look at it I think that works in our
[3:54:50] best interest um this is something that
[3:54:53] if this does pass wouldn't be next
[3:54:55] It's it will be but what it will do
[3:54:58] it'll give us opportunity right and
[3:55:01] without looking at it we don't have that
[3:55:03] opportunity it sits as it is and um we
[3:55:06] may not be here but um our city is
[3:55:09] growing and eventually it will be built
[3:55:11] out and that's something that Indo has
[3:55:14] that a lot of other cities don't have
[3:55:15] they don't have room to grow right and
[3:55:18] yes it'll be some dollars to expand uh
[3:55:20] uh um utilities out there but we still
[3:55:23] have opportunity other cities don't. So,
[3:55:26] it's I think it's a great opportunity to
[3:55:28] look at it and thank you for bringing
[3:55:29] it. We're all good. Mr. Halverson, do
[3:55:32] you need anything else from us? No, I
[3:55:34] just I just want to reemphasize that
[3:55:37] we'll be back in July, bring some final
[3:55:39] reports to you and then of course that
[3:55:41] cost benefit analysis you brought up.
[3:55:43] Very good point. But I'm what I'm
[3:55:45] hearing is that you do want to move
[3:55:47] forward at least go to another meeting
[3:55:49] in July to get those final results
[3:55:52] results and talk a little more about
[3:55:54] what phase two would encompass and how
[3:55:56] to move forward on phase two. Is that
[3:55:58] kind of what I'm hearing? Yep. Okay.
[3:55:59] Thank you. Thank you. All right. With
[3:56:02] that, we'll move on to 12.1. Do we need
[3:56:04] a break or do we want power through
[3:56:06] this? Let's go ahead and move power.
[3:56:08] Let's go. Okay. Move on to public
[3:56:11] hearing. Number 12.1 is approval of the
[3:56:13] annual action plan for 2025 2026 for the
[3:56:16] program year 2025 community development
[3:56:19] block grant allocated an anticipated
[3:56:21] amount of five $750,000
[3:56:24] and1 reprogram of unspent prior year
[3:56:28] CDBG funds and authorize the finance
[3:56:30] director to make any necessary budget
[3:56:32] adjustments for receipt and utilization
[3:56:34] of the fiscal year 2025 allocation an
[3:56:37] unspent prior year for CDBG funds. Mr.
[3:56:41] Raza, you handling this for us, sir? I
[3:56:43] am, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. That is a uh
[3:56:46] mouthful. Yeah, it was mouthful. I was
[3:56:47] thinking the same thing.
[3:56:49] Uh good evening, honorable mayor, Mayor
[3:56:51] Pro Tam, city council members. So, uh
[3:56:55] just a moment. There we go. This
[3:56:58] evening, I am in fact presenting on the
[3:57:01] annual action plan uh for approval to
[3:57:04] the Department of Housing Urban
[3:57:06] Development.
[3:57:09] So, a quick uh recap of the program. The
[3:57:12] community development block grant is a
[3:57:14] federally funded program. The city of
[3:57:16] India receives a direct allocation as an
[3:57:19] entitlement community. And so with these
[3:57:22] funds provided by HUD, the city is able
[3:57:26] to address one or all national
[3:57:28] objectives. Uh the priorities are
[3:57:31] benefits to low and moderate income
[3:57:33] persons, aid to the prevention and or
[3:57:36] elimination of slum and blight or
[3:57:39] meeting an urgent need. And so with that
[3:57:42] in mind, the funds are typically used to
[3:57:45] address public services, public
[3:57:47] infrastructure or in uh
[3:57:51] facilities. Quick couple uh HUD
[3:57:54] guidelines. Uh part of this program is
[3:57:58] required a consolidated plan which we
[3:58:00] came before city council in 2024 for the
[3:58:03] 2024 through 2029
[3:58:05] uh fiscal years. Within that five-year
[3:58:09] plan, every year we are required to
[3:58:11] renew uh based off our goals and
[3:58:14] objectives. And so this evening we are
[3:58:16] entering the second year of our
[3:58:19] consolidated plan. There are per
[3:58:21] requirements. There is a 30-day public
[3:58:23] review uh that began April 4th through
[3:58:25] May 5th. The draft was um provided on
[3:58:29] our city website. And if you recall, I
[3:58:32] was here in April presenting on the
[3:58:35] annual action plan for solicitation and
[3:58:37] feedback both from the city council as
[3:58:39] well as the community. So this evening,
[3:58:42] I'm here for approval of the annual
[3:58:44] action plan. staff has provided a
[3:58:47] recommendation of how to utilize the
[3:58:49] current fiscal year funds which is in
[3:58:51] your staff report as well as exhibit B I
[3:58:54] believe and on the presentation. So I
[3:58:56] apologize for those in the audience. It
[3:58:59] is a little uh difficult to read from
[3:59:02] afar. Staff is recommending the proposed
[3:59:05] allocation uh anticipated allocation I
[3:59:08] should add of
[3:59:09] $750,000 and $750,01
[3:59:14] and distributed accordingly. There is a
[3:59:17] component of public services, a
[3:59:19] component of public facilities,
[3:59:21] infrastructure, and then the remaining
[3:59:24] cap of administration. And so with the
[3:59:28] $750,000 of the anticipated allocation,
[3:59:31] there is a breakdown of the potential
[3:59:34] public service agencies who would
[3:59:35] benefit from the funds as well as the
[3:59:38] amounts and a very brief description of
[3:59:40] the deliverables for those services.
[3:59:44] The larger percentage of the allocation
[3:59:47] is for public facilities improvements.
[3:59:50] In this case, the Indo Sports
[3:59:52] Park. Uh there is again an
[3:59:55] administration component not to exceed
[3:59:58] 20% bring in your total annual program
[4:00:00] of $750,000
[4:00:03] $750 and1.
[4:00:06] Uh I will note there are some additional
[4:00:08] unspent funds in the rough ballpark of
[4:00:12] 480,000. Uh staff is also requesting uh
[4:00:16] by the city council to use those funds
[4:00:18] to reprogram into the current uh public
[4:00:21] facilities project assuming it is
[4:00:23] approved and bring oh which will bring a
[4:00:26] grand total for this current fiscal year
[4:00:28] of a little over a little over 1.2
[4:00:31] million. So that is again the uh
[4:00:34] proposed activities
[4:00:41] and request the approval on behalf of
[4:00:44] the city for the annual action plan
[4:00:47] fiscal year 2025 through 2026 to be uh
[4:00:52] submitted to HUD as well as
[4:00:55] reprogramming of any unspent funds from
[4:00:58] previous years and authorization of the
[4:01:00] finance director to make any necessary
[4:01:03] budget adjustments for receipt and
[4:01:05] utilization. I will note this is an
[4:01:07] anticipated amount subject to change. I
[4:01:10] believe we should receive our exact
[4:01:11] allocation towards the end of this
[4:01:13] month. That concludes my presentation.
[4:01:17] I'd like to say something. Thank you for
[4:01:18] your presentation, Mr. Mayor. If I can,
[4:01:20] I need to recuse myself for this item.
[4:01:22] Um, some of this funding is going to be
[4:01:24] used for emergency and transitional
[4:01:25] housing for Coachella Valley Rescue
[4:01:27] Mission, and I sit on that board. So,
[4:01:29] there's potential conflict for that. So,
[4:01:31] I'll step out. Okay. Thank you. We'll
[4:01:33] wait for you to leave.
[4:01:38] It's on the page.
[4:01:45] Third item from the top of the top to
[4:01:47] the left.
[4:01:49] Yeah, it's right here.
[4:01:53] But if he feels comfortable.
[4:02:05] All right,
[4:02:07] Mr. This is a public com uh public
[4:02:10] public hearing, so we'll open up. But do
[4:02:12] you have something to say, Mr. I was
[4:02:14] just curious is what the future holds
[4:02:15] for the same type of funding amounts
[4:02:17] besides where we're at right now.
[4:02:20] In terms of this program, I am
[4:02:23] optimistic.
[4:02:25] uh but I can't predict uh what next year
[4:02:28] will look like or the future years.
[4:02:30] Okay,
[4:02:36] I know sometimes u I get confused. I
[4:02:39] know there's two different pots of money
[4:02:40] that we send uh over to the rescue
[4:02:43] mission and Martha's Village. Is there
[4:02:46] other funding that we're allocating to
[4:02:48] the rescue mission? That isn't the
[4:02:50] proposal this year. uh it was to focus
[4:02:53] on CBDG. Um at your direction, we could
[4:02:56] certainly do so. If you recall, and
[4:02:58] maybe it was mentioned, but the fact
[4:03:00] that some of these fundings are so small
[4:03:02] that there's a lot of paperwork to do
[4:03:04] for such a small amount. So, the request
[4:03:06] was can we just kind of give it all one
[4:03:08] year to one group and then the next year
[4:03:10] to the next group? It's just so much
[4:03:13] paperwork. Um the other money you speak
[4:03:15] to doesn't have the same strings and
[4:03:17] paperwork that this one has. Which one?
[4:03:19] The if it's a general fund contribution.
[4:03:21] So during the pandemic, as you recall
[4:03:23] and are mentioning, we provided, I
[4:03:25] believe it was a $100,000 to each of
[4:03:28] those during the pandemic to kind of
[4:03:30] help them through. Um, but I don't
[4:03:33] believe that's something that we have
[4:03:34] suggested or recommended to continue,
[4:03:36] but that's certainly up to you guys if
[4:03:37] you'd like. I know with the I believe
[4:03:40] with the rescue mission, I don't know,
[4:03:43] are we alternating with those at the
[4:03:44] moment? Is that what you're saying? Or
[4:03:46] remind me, David, where we're at on
[4:03:47] that. I will note that uh the rescue
[4:03:50] mission which is Coachella Valley rescue
[4:03:52] mission which you're referring to did
[4:03:53] not apply this year. So I will note that
[4:03:57] uh last year fine food bank did receive
[4:04:00] CDBG funds a larger portion. Um this
[4:04:03] year Martha's applied and Martha's
[4:04:05] received a larger portion.
[4:04:09] The only thing that I know that there's
[4:04:10] really good partnerships that Palm
[4:04:12] Springs has done with Martha's Village
[4:04:14] dealing with the homeless besides CV
[4:04:16] rescue mission and our quality of life
[4:04:18] team has those partnership with both
[4:04:21] even
[4:04:22] ABC. So I don't know what other
[4:04:24] opportunities where um CVRM has their
[4:04:28] max. Does Martha's Village have anything
[4:04:31] else to help us with the homeless?
[4:04:34] So just something to think about.
[4:04:37] Thank you. So you're talking about the
[4:04:38] programs. Yeah. Because if they're
[4:04:39] tapped out on what they're doing because
[4:04:42] what we're doing is we want that here to
[4:04:45] serve us here, not serve the valley. And
[4:04:47] so they assure that bed. So if CBRM is
[4:04:51] over here where they're at, I'm
[4:04:52] assuming, then where is Martha's Village
[4:04:55] at? If they're going to help us to
[4:04:56] offset Indo only because that's what
[4:04:59] they're doing in Palm Springs. Yeah. And
[4:05:01] I think that, you know, we did talk
[4:05:03] about I think last time we gave it
[4:05:04] somehow with a general fund to up
[4:05:06] everything to make sure that we did it.
[4:05:07] We gave them barely, you know, funds
[4:05:09] from our general fund. But like on this,
[4:05:12] you know, the difference is is you said
[4:05:13] that the the grants a lot of paperwork,
[4:05:15] but there's one for $10,000. Are they
[4:05:17] willing to do the actual work for the 10
[4:05:19] grand? I mean, it's Yeah, remind me the
[4:05:23] 10 if you have that list. But yes, I can
[4:05:25] speak on that. Uh you're referring to
[4:05:26] say Family Justice Center. That was
[4:05:28] their requested amount. Okay. So, and
[4:05:31] they know the paperwork and everything
[4:05:32] that goes with it and everything.
[4:05:33] Probably $9,000 of paperwork for the
[4:05:35] 10,000.
[4:05:37] You know, the thing that always amazes
[4:05:39] me about the CBDG funding is that you
[4:05:41] give 15% to charity and 20% nothing
[4:05:44] personal, but 20% to the city to
[4:05:46] administer it. It doesn't make any sense
[4:05:48] to me. The money should be going out to
[4:05:49] the community. Yes, we need to have a
[4:05:50] fair thing, but they should open that
[4:05:52] up. So, if we want to give some of that
[4:05:54] funding to nonprofits more, we could. It
[4:05:57] should be related should be Yeah. Let's
[4:05:59] say the city's 20% but the 80% we should
[4:06:02] be able to move it back and forth as we
[4:06:03] want for projects to be able to do it
[4:06:05] because a lot of these projects might
[4:06:07] not be funding for like the sports park
[4:06:09] which will help us but there might be a
[4:06:12] need for like fine food bank which had
[4:06:14] the big issue when we had the pandemic
[4:06:16] and other stuff. Yes, there is some
[4:06:17] funding sometimes but it should be more
[4:06:19] open to be able to be utilized. It just
[4:06:21] seems like that funding is very limited.
[4:06:25] So, uh, honorable mayor, I will note
[4:06:27] that the public service cap has come up,
[4:06:30] um, on a national level. Uh, we are not
[4:06:34] unique. That has come up multiple times.
[4:06:36] Yeah, I know. So, well, we appreciate
[4:06:38] that. So, let's open the public hearing.
[4:06:41] Uh, would anybody like to speak on this
[4:06:43] subject? Is there anybody that asks to
[4:06:44] speak on the subject? Anybody here? With
[4:06:47] that, we will close the public hearing.
[4:06:50] And what's the pleasure of the council?
[4:06:53] Any comments, questions? Anybody like to
[4:06:55] make a motion? I'll so move the motion.
[4:06:58] I'll second.
[4:07:00] Do we have to read the motion? Are we
[4:07:01] good? Okay. So, we have first by council
[4:07:03] member Gatron, a second by council
[4:07:05] member Ortiz. Please
[4:07:13] vote. Passing nicely 4. Thank you very
[4:07:17] much. We can bring in Mr. Ferman and
[4:07:19] we'll move on to item 12.2. I know that
[4:07:22] council or mayor Tim Holmes has to
[4:07:24] recuse herself on it because her
[4:07:27] business is within 500 ft of this uh new
[4:07:31] business possible
[4:07:32] bu license business
[4:07:37] license trade one council member for the
[4:07:42] next. So uh 12.2 two is now the approval
[4:07:45] for a certificate certificate of public
[4:07:48] convenience or necessity case file
[4:07:50] number
[4:07:54] PL-PCN-25-6 for a type 20 off uh sale uh
[4:07:59] alcohol license issued by the California
[4:08:01] Department of Alcohol Beverage Control
[4:08:03] ABC for PS bottle shop a proposed
[4:08:07] convenience market located within the
[4:08:09] place at 45151 Oasis Street India
[4:08:12] California 921 one. Mr. Halperson, you
[4:08:15] handling this, sir? Yes, mayor and
[4:08:17] members of the council. Um, there's this
[4:08:20] rumor going around that the name should
[4:08:22] change instead of PS, which is Palm
[4:08:24] Springs. Yeah, I
[4:08:26] was um but yes, I would like to present
[4:08:28] this item on uh the PS bottle shop for
[4:08:31] public convenience or
[4:08:33] necessity. So, the applicant is Chris
[4:08:36] White, as you can see, for uh the sale
[4:08:38] of beer and wine um at 451 51 Oasis
[4:08:42] Street. So you saw the first slide
[4:08:44] showed the location that's going to be
[4:08:45] called the place. Um there is an undue
[4:08:48] concentration of licenses. Um there's
[4:08:51] seven actually. Um the concentration um
[4:08:55] they can't go over two. So that's why
[4:08:57] we're here this evening is they're over
[4:08:58] the concentration. There isn't a
[4:09:00] concentration of crime but of course
[4:09:03] licenses. Uh this shows just real
[4:09:05] quickly a visual of where those licenses
[4:09:08] are. You can see the the star is the new
[4:09:11] location, the proposed location for a
[4:09:13] new ABC license for offsale um beer and
[4:09:17] wine. So, as I mentioned, maximum two.
[4:09:20] There's seven that are
[4:09:22] existing. So, we've done our our
[4:09:24] research um and make sure that it's
[4:09:27] compliant with the development code as
[4:09:29] well as the general plan and the
[4:09:31] downtown specific plans. This is in the
[4:09:33] heart of of downtown. And I also just
[4:09:35] wanted to mention a couple things as
[4:09:37] well. Um, under development code
[4:09:41] 6.0408 under certificate of public
[4:09:44] convenience or necessity, it also talks
[4:09:45] about the review criteria. Not just the
[4:09:48] general plan, but it also talks about
[4:09:50] the uses compatible with the nature,
[4:09:52] condition, and character of the adjacent
[4:09:54] land uses, which it is. It also talks
[4:09:57] about uh no adverse effect on adjacent
[4:10:00] land uses uh which it would not. Um, and
[4:10:03] then lastly is whether or not the
[4:10:06] proposed use would result in
[4:10:09] excess proximity. Um, going back to that
[4:10:13] map, I just wanted to show this real
[4:10:15] quickly. You know, most of the other
[4:10:17] ones are kind of away from the proposed
[4:10:20] one on Oasis Street. So, it meets that
[4:10:23] criteria as well for the council. So,
[4:10:26] um, we are recommending approval of the
[4:10:28] certificate of public convenience or
[4:10:30] necessity for this particular business.
[4:10:32] the PS bottle shop. Um, and that does
[4:10:34] conclude a very short presentation and
[4:10:37] I'm available for questions. Thank you.
[4:10:38] Any questions? This is a public hearing.
[4:10:41] Okay. With that, we open a public
[4:10:43] hearing. Is there anyone in wishes to
[4:10:45] speak on this subject? Is the applicant
[4:10:48] here? Yes, sir. Can you come up and
[4:10:50] state your name for us? Uh, yes. Hi. Uh,
[4:10:53] thank you for taking this in
[4:10:54] consideration. My name is Chris White. I
[4:10:56] am one of the four owners of PS Bottle
[4:10:58] Shop. We're located in Palm Springs, as
[4:10:59] was mentioned. Uh we have two locations
[4:11:02] there. Uh we are a queer, black, and
[4:11:04] womenowned business. Uh we are not just
[4:11:07] a wine shop and beer shop. We're not
[4:11:08] just a convenient mark convenience
[4:11:10] market. Uh we focus on selling products
[4:11:12] that are made by women, people of color,
[4:11:14] and LGBTQ plus identified entrepreneurs,
[4:11:16] makers, uh producers. Uh over 80 85% of
[4:11:20] our products come from those types of
[4:11:22] producers and owners uh entrepreneurs.
[4:11:25] uh when we were invited uh to join the
[4:11:28] place uh we were very excited about the
[4:11:31] opportunity to uh be part of a
[4:11:33] collective and so we're actually
[4:11:35] licensing 500 square feet of a 15,000
[4:11:38] foot uh space um and when we were
[4:11:42] invited to be part of this collective we
[4:11:43] were excited to be part of uh a number
[4:11:46] of incredible entrepreneurs makers and
[4:11:49] artists from across Coachella Valley um
[4:11:52] and also we feel like our concept and
[4:11:54] our philosophy and our mission as a
[4:11:56] business to lift up and uh promote and
[4:11:59] sell products that you don't see in a
[4:12:01] mainstream market uh would be a great
[4:12:03] addition to uh downtown India and that's
[4:12:05] all I wanted to say and thank you so
[4:12:06] much. Thank you sir for coming. Is there
[4:12:08] anyone else that would uh like to speak
[4:12:10] on this item? Anyone in the queue? Okay,
[4:12:14] with that we will close the public
[4:12:16] hearing. What's the uh pleasure of the
[4:12:17] council? Any
[4:12:19] conversation?
[4:12:21] I'll make a motion to approve the
[4:12:23] certificate of public convenience
[4:12:25] necessity case file plan
[4:12:28] PCN25006. I'll second. All those in
[4:12:31] favor, please vote or
[4:12:36] vote. Pass unity 4. Thank you, sir.
[4:12:39] Welcome to the city of India. And we can
[4:12:41] call in Mayor Pro Tim from outback.
[4:13:04] Move on to item number 12.3 which is the
[4:13:07] acceptance of fiscal year 2024 Edward
[4:13:09] Burn Memorial Justice Assistance Grant
[4:13:13] JAG in the amount of
[4:13:15] 27,592 to purchase public safety
[4:13:18] supplies and other services and approval
[4:13:20] of the JAG grant interlocal agreement
[4:13:23] and budget adjustments. Chief Toy, you
[4:13:25] handling this for us, sir? Yes, I am,
[4:13:27] mayor. Good good evening. Good evening,
[4:13:29] Mayor Pro Tim and members of the
[4:13:31] council. This grant uh enables us to uh
[4:13:35] purchase uh a number of things. It's an
[4:13:36] annual grant that we uh seek out to uh
[4:13:40] to acquire. Um we utilize it to buy
[4:13:43] small equipment such as a true narc uh
[4:13:47] electronic uh narcotics detection uh
[4:13:50] equipment. It provides additional safety
[4:13:53] for our personnel and it allows us to
[4:13:56] identify fentanyl, cocaine and other uh
[4:14:00] costic um narcotics in a safe manner.
[4:14:04] Also, we utilize the remainder of the uh
[4:14:06] grant to uh to do um provide officer
[4:14:10] wellness counseling services to our
[4:14:13] members. So, the staff tonight is uh
[4:14:15] seeking approval of this JAG grant uh
[4:14:19] for these for these items.
[4:14:23] All right. Any questions of the chief?
[4:14:25] Mr. Gatron? No, just like to make a
[4:14:28] motion. We got to do public hearing. No,
[4:14:29] I mean, sorry. Yep. So, with that, we
[4:14:33] will open the public hearing. Anybody
[4:14:34] like to talk about this grant or
[4:14:37] anything else? Thank you, Chief, for
[4:14:38] bringing this to us. Anybody in the
[4:14:40] queue subject? Thank you. With that, we
[4:14:42] will close the public hearing. What's
[4:14:44] the pleasure of the council? Just like
[4:14:46] to make a motion. Okay.
[4:14:48] To basically uh to accept this uh the
[4:14:53] Edward Bean Memorial Justice Assistance
[4:14:55] Grant, the JAG in the amount of
[4:14:58] 27592 to purchase public safety supplies
[4:15:00] and other services and approval by the
[4:15:02] Jag Grant. Okay. We got a first by
[4:15:03] council member Petron. We have a second.
[4:15:06] Second by council member Ferman. Please
[4:15:08] vote.
[4:15:12] passes unanimously. 5-0. With that,
[4:15:14] we'll move on to item number 12.4, which
[4:15:16] is public hearing to consider adoption
[4:15:18] of resolution number 10489 of the city
[4:15:22] council, the city of India, and the
[4:15:23] India water authority board approving
[4:15:26] the water rate adjustments and the
[4:15:27] amounts as provided in exhibit A to the
[4:15:31] resolution and declaring that no
[4:15:33] majority protests exist. Mr. Tjo, are
[4:15:35] you handling this for us, sir? Welcome.
[4:15:36] Uh I am and I'm collaborating with our
[4:15:39] city attorney as well, Ray Tjo, general
[4:15:41] manager of India water authority and at
[4:15:44] this time it's more procedural. So we'll
[4:15:46] go ahead and have our city attorney uh
[4:15:49] go over the staff report and the
[4:15:50] processes. I am standing by for any
[4:15:52] technical questions. So is our
[4:15:54] consultant in the room. So Okay. Thank
[4:15:56] you so much, Mr. Mayor. Members of the
[4:15:58] city council, the item that you have
[4:16:00] before you uh this evening, we this is a
[4:16:02] public hearing and the resolution would
[4:16:05] be to um approve the water rates that
[4:16:07] are actually low in the resolution and
[4:16:09] declare that there's no majority protest
[4:16:11] and it's very procedural. Um we've been
[4:16:13] going through the process of uh coming
[4:16:16] to the council a few times specifically
[4:16:18] related to the rates. Um in particular
[4:16:21] on March 19th, city adopted a resolution
[4:16:24] to of intent to actually go through this
[4:16:27] process, the Proposition 218 process.
[4:16:29] And at that time, uh we went ahead and
[4:16:33] um established the hearing for this
[4:16:34] evening. With that, uh notices were sent
[4:16:37] out to property owners and um and
[4:16:40] customers. There were
[4:16:42] 28,853 notices. Um they were sent out in
[4:16:46] full compliance with Proposition 218,
[4:16:48] both in English and Spanish. And then
[4:16:50] after that on April 15th, staff had a
[4:16:52] community meeting um to further uh talk
[4:16:55] about rates if anybody did have any
[4:16:57] questions with respect to that. And then
[4:16:59] further notice uh was um published in
[4:17:02] the newspaper on April 23rd and May 6
[4:17:05] specifically with respect to this
[4:17:06] hearing. And so this hearing really is
[4:17:09] uh to see if there's any further uh
[4:17:11] protests. To date, we have received two
[4:17:15] protests. So, um, as far as I could
[4:17:17] tell, there would be no majority
[4:17:18] protest. We would need over half of the
[4:17:22] 28,853, uh, to protest for this not to
[4:17:25] move forward. Um, I would, uh, Miss
[4:17:28] Sanchez could go ahead and kind of
[4:17:30] attest to that. She's going to need to
[4:17:31] do that. It is in the resolution. Um,
[4:17:34] but as far as I understand, we've only
[4:17:35] had two. We will see tonight also if
[4:17:37] there's anybody in the audience or if we
[4:17:40] do receive any further protests. And
[4:17:42] with that, um, if the council does, uh,
[4:17:46] declare that there's no majority
[4:17:47] protest, the new rates, uh, would take
[4:17:49] effect, I believe, on July 1st. And with
[4:17:52] that, I'm available for any questions.
[4:17:54] Any questions, city attorney, before we
[4:17:56] open the public hearing and mayor, just
[4:17:58] for the record, I would like to confirm
[4:18:00] that we did receive only two letters of
[4:18:02] protest. Thank you, Sabi. U Mr. Ortiz,
[4:18:06] just a quick question. How was the
[4:18:08] participation at the community meeting?
[4:18:11] Uh we only had staff present of which uh
[4:18:14] four of the staff members were
[4:18:16] residents. Uh we didn't receive any uh
[4:18:19] participation from the public. I also
[4:18:21] placed my city cell phone on the
[4:18:24] notices, all 28,000 of them. Oh wow. And
[4:18:27] received received uh five calls and the
[4:18:30] calls were directed to how staff or how
[4:18:34] the residents could participate in turf
[4:18:36] removal programs. And so that's the
[4:18:39] quantity of of folks that were involved
[4:18:41] in this process. Uh I think it's due to
[4:18:45] the communications that was sent out and
[4:18:47] the clarity that that was presented by
[4:18:49] by the team. While I got you here, how
[4:18:52] much money is turf removal program.
[4:18:55] So well over well depending on what the
[4:18:58] federal side is. We did receive $800,000
[4:19:01] on the federal side. A 50% match that's
[4:19:03] on hold. Uh but to date we do have
[4:19:06] 200,000 for disadvantaged communities
[4:19:08] that we've exhausted and we are probably
[4:19:12] first in line for an additional 300,000
[4:19:14] specifically for disadvantaged
[4:19:16] communities uh for turf removal. So
[4:19:19] 300,000 is available for disadvantaged
[4:19:22] communities. In addition to that we have
[4:19:23] another
[4:19:26] 300,000 come first serve on turfable.
[4:19:28] Okay. And we started with like 900,000
[4:19:30] right maybe a year or two ago. That is
[4:19:32] correct. So, we do have uh again the 800
[4:19:35] pending uh pending the current
[4:19:37] administration because that's fedally
[4:19:38] funded, but that's new funding, right?
[4:19:40] Correct. Okay. Yes. Thank you. And Ray,
[4:19:42] what is the uh dollar amount up to you
[4:19:44] could do for individuals and businesses?
[4:19:47] Yeah. So, for just turf removal without
[4:19:49] any trees is $2 per square foot, but uh
[4:19:52] IWA also introduced a new program new
[4:19:55] new to the valley which is introducing
[4:19:56] an additional dollar total of $3 per
[4:19:58] square foot if you plant a tree. And we
[4:20:02] have a list in the portfolio of trees
[4:20:04] that are natural or desert friendly and
[4:20:06] desert native. And if you do plant a
[4:20:09] tree again supporting the canopy
[4:20:11] efforts, it's $3 per square foot. Thank
[4:20:14] you. Thank you very much. Anyone any
[4:20:16] other questions? Okay, with that we will
[4:20:18] open up the public hearing. Is there
[4:20:20] anyone here that wishes to speak on the
[4:20:22] subject? Sab, do we have anybody in the
[4:20:25] queue? None, mayor. Okay, then we will
[4:20:28] close the public hearing. And what do
[4:20:29] you need from us? just the approval or
[4:20:31] do we need to have anything else read in
[4:20:32] the record?
[4:20:34] So what it would be is a approval of the
[4:20:36] resolution and that is all that's left.
[4:20:39] Okay. Any other questions, comments
[4:20:41] among us? Okay. Somebody like to make a
[4:20:43] motion. I'll motion to approve the
[4:20:44] resolution. Okay. We have a second.
[4:20:47] Second. Okay. We have first by Council
[4:20:49] Member Ortiz. Second by Council Member
[4:20:50] Ferman. Please vote.
[4:20:56] Passes in.
[4:20:59] Yep.
[4:21:00] for
[4:21:04] passing nasty 5-0. We got the rookie.
[4:21:08] So with that, we'll move on to item
[4:21:10] number 12.5, our last public hearing
[4:21:12] item for the evening. It's apply a
[4:21:14] compliance with new legal obligations re
[4:21:17] public hearing on city vacancies and
[4:21:19] recruitment and retention efforts
[4:21:20] assembly bill 2561 government code
[4:21:23] section
[4:21:24] 3502.3. Andrew, are you handling this
[4:21:26] for us, sir? I am, sir. Good, good
[4:21:28] evening, Mr. Mayor, council members,
[4:21:30] Andrewan Surriion, director of human
[4:21:32] resources and risk management. It's my
[4:21:35] pleasure to uh provide a status update
[4:21:37] on vacancies and recruitment and
[4:21:40] retention efforts uh that the city has
[4:21:42] conducted in 2425. This is in compliance
[4:21:45] with a new bill called
[4:21:49] AB2561. Um quick review of the agenda.
[4:21:51] I'm going to skip that because I know
[4:21:52] it's getting late, but I I couldn't go
[4:21:54] any further in the slide deck without
[4:21:57] emphasizing and expressing my
[4:21:58] appreciation for my colleagues. Um, the
[4:22:01] HR department's mission is extremely
[4:22:03] clear and it's something we take very
[4:22:04] seriously. It's very simple. We're our
[4:22:07] goal and purpose in life is to attract
[4:22:09] and retain people who are eager to
[4:22:11] improve the lives of our community. Um,
[4:22:13] we can't do that alone though. But I
[4:22:15] need to give a special thanks to my HR
[4:22:17] team. Um, the other recruitment team
[4:22:20] over in IPD for all of their intensive
[4:22:22] recruitment efforts, department leaders
[4:22:24] for taking staffing and and talent uh
[4:22:27] search and retention seriously, the city
[4:22:29] manager for his support. He is a uh he
[4:22:33] is a true leader when it comes to
[4:22:34] finding talent and retaining talent.
[4:22:36] city council for giving us uh policies
[4:22:39] and support through the negotiation
[4:22:41] processes and the workforce itself has
[4:22:44] transformed over the years and they are
[4:22:46] some of our best recruiters because
[4:22:47] they're out there marketing and
[4:22:48] promoting the city and attracting talent
[4:22:51] to our city.
[4:22:52] Um
[4:22:54] AB2526 was effective January 1, 2025.
[4:22:57] And it basically requires all
[4:22:59] municipalities to report their vacancies
[4:23:02] before they adopt a budget. If there are
[4:23:05] vacancies within a bargaining unit that
[4:23:06] are over 20% or more, it triggers some
[4:23:09] additional reporting. Um fortunately, we
[4:23:12] haven't triggered the 20% uh at the
[4:23:14] point of pulling the
[4:23:16] data. A brief background on our
[4:23:18] workforce and how it kind of looks. Um
[4:23:21] the authorized FTE says 313 and uh uh
[4:23:24] Miss Walla probably is going to say
[4:23:26] Andrew that number is wrong. I included
[4:23:28] interns and fellows in my number Miss
[4:23:30] Walla but because it's an activity and
[4:23:32] they are people we attract and try to uh
[4:23:34] bring to the bring to the city. Um I
[4:23:37] want to point your attention to the
[4:23:39] generations at work because when I first
[4:23:41] arrived here that generational
[4:23:44] distribution was much different. We've
[4:23:46] seen a massive changeover in the age of
[4:23:49] our workforce which is causing us to
[4:23:52] change the way we lead, change the way
[4:23:55] we train, consider different ways of
[4:23:57] compensating and providing benefits for
[4:23:59] staff because this emerging gener
[4:24:01] generation of Gen Zers want different
[4:24:04] things and actually need different
[4:24:06] things. So we are learning that we have
[4:24:08] to provide some almost some at times
[4:24:10] different levels of training that we
[4:24:12] never had to provide to different age
[4:24:14] cohorts.
[4:24:16] uh vacancies by unit. The left column is
[4:24:18] the bargaining units that we have at the
[4:24:20] city. I'm sure you're all familiar with
[4:24:21] them. The authorized FTEES to the right
[4:24:25] in the green column. And then as of
[4:24:28] pulling this data on March 12th, 2025,
[4:24:31] um those were our vacancies. The column
[4:24:35] columns in yellow are the vacancies by
[4:24:37] bargaining unit. The ones in orange are
[4:24:40] the vacancies that were actively
[4:24:42] recruiting for. So you see a little bit
[4:24:44] of a differentiation there. Um if you
[4:24:46] look at Indo City Employees Association,
[4:24:49] it shows that we have eight vacancies.
[4:24:52] Um uh eight vacancies. Um Water has zero
[4:24:56] vacancies, but we're we're actively
[4:24:58] recruiting um for three. Um the one at
[4:25:03] position is the assistant chief, which
[4:25:04] we're currently recruiting for. So if
[4:25:07] you'll notice the percentages, um
[4:25:09] nothing has hit the 20% threshold. The
[4:25:12] Service Employees International Union
[4:25:14] came close. They have a 19%
[4:25:17] um vacancy rate right now and that's
[4:25:20] primarily our engineers and I believe uh
[4:25:23] um council member Gutron referenced that
[4:25:24] earlier this evening. That has been a
[4:25:26] where's Tim? That has been a very
[4:25:28] difficult occupational area along with
[4:25:30] planners to recruit and fill. Um I think
[4:25:33] we did a recruitment pretty aggressive
[4:25:35] recruitment this year for engineers and
[4:25:37] it didn't pan out. Um we did experiment
[4:25:40] with something in IWA for engineers last
[4:25:43] year. We did an internship program for
[4:25:45] engineers. It worked out so well that um
[4:25:48] Mr. Tjo decided to hire the candidate
[4:25:51] and that now we have a junior engineer
[4:25:53] in water. And so we're going to look at
[4:25:55] creating some unique pipelines to get
[4:25:56] some of these hard to fill hard to fill
[4:25:58] positions filled.
[4:26:01] Uh number of recruitments. So you can
[4:26:03] Andrew quick when you go back you said
[4:26:05] the service employees inter union uh
[4:26:07] there's the vacancies in engineering but
[4:26:10] here it shows full-time vacancies with
[4:26:13] active recruitments and we show a zero
[4:26:15] correct we're not recruiting for them
[4:26:16] right now we we tried uh for about 3 4
[4:26:20] months we had them all doing a
[4:26:22] full-blown search through all the
[4:26:24] publications using a variety of
[4:26:26] resources we we just had a very weak
[4:26:29] talent pool and they weren't the caliber
[4:26:31] of candidates. We felt like we're going
[4:26:33] to meet the needs of the city. So, we
[4:26:34] closed those searches down, but those
[4:26:36] are still vacancies that we have and
[4:26:38] we're contracting out that work or some
[4:26:40] of that work is being contracted down.
[4:26:42] Isn't that correct? Isn't that correct,
[4:26:43] Tim?
[4:26:44] Yeah. Okay. Thanks. Good question. No.
[4:26:47] Recruitments over the years, you can see
[4:26:49] uh this starting in 1617 all the way to
[4:26:52] the current year. You can notice in 2122
[4:26:56] we see we saw an ex significant spike in
[4:26:59] recruitment activities. a variety of
[4:27:01] reasons. We were coming out of COVID, so
[4:27:04] there was an increase in staffing needs.
[4:27:06] We had turnover. We had a new city
[4:27:08] manager setting a new vision um applying
[4:27:12] new expectations and there was some
[4:27:14] natural attrition, but we also had a lot
[4:27:17] of vacancies when I arrived here that we
[4:27:19] weren't recruiting for. And department
[4:27:21] heads came to me and said, "Look,
[4:27:22] Andrew, we need help." And so my team
[4:27:26] pulled together. We work collaboratively
[4:27:27] with the department heads and we've been
[4:27:30] going full steam ahead in recruitment
[4:27:32] efforts. Chief and his team have doing
[4:27:34] been doing a magnificent jobs
[4:27:35] particularly in police officer
[4:27:37] recruitment and dispatch recruitment. So
[4:27:39] we're busy and we've added no staff. So
[4:27:42] I'm very proud of my HR team. They are
[4:27:44] very passionate about finding good
[4:27:46] people. But let me
[4:27:53] um we work very effectively and
[4:27:55] efficiently. The average day number of
[4:27:57] working days it takes to fill a position
[4:27:59] in the city of India was 24 days. That
[4:28:02] doesn't include IPD. We're going to talk
[4:28:04] about IPD in another slide, but 24
[4:28:06] working days to fill a position in a
[4:28:08] public sector position uh uh employer is
[4:28:11] is a a herculean achievement. Um and
[4:28:15] that's because we have department heads
[4:28:17] who take staffing very seriously. And
[4:28:20] when we find someone, we get them in
[4:28:21] here and we vet them
[4:28:22] quickly.
[4:28:24] Any questions on this slide? Nope. Okay.
[4:28:28] Uh, recruitment investments. Um, we take
[4:28:30] a very multi-prong approach to finding
[4:28:32] talent. And I've tried to make a little
[4:28:34] graphic there. I'm not very artistic, so
[4:28:36] that's the best I could do. But we use a
[4:28:38] multi-prong approach from employee
[4:28:40] referrals to job boards, the internet,
[4:28:44] uh, social media, word of mouth,
[4:28:45] professional organization. But an area
[4:28:48] that we've really tapped into is this
[4:28:50] intern and fellows um strategy. We pilot
[4:28:54] tested it a couple years and now we're
[4:28:56] getting six to 10 interns coming into
[4:28:59] our organization. And guess what? They
[4:29:01] may not be employed right away after an
[4:29:04] intern, but they have a positive
[4:29:06] experience when they work with us as in
[4:29:08] an intern or fellow capacity. They tell
[4:29:10] others and sometimes they in fact come
[4:29:12] back when we hire them. In fact, I think
[4:29:14] we have about three or four that we've
[4:29:15] hired in the last three years. So, those
[4:29:17] are major successes and we are receiving
[4:29:20] calls from other agencies in the
[4:29:21] Coachella Valley to copy our program.
[4:29:24] And if you don't mind, I don't want to
[4:29:25] share how we're doing it.
[4:29:27] Can you go back one slide? Yes. Um, when
[4:29:30] you have the number for the 54
[4:29:32] recruitments, is that people who were
[4:29:36] like applied or No, that's actual
[4:29:38] searches that we've started. So, let's
[4:29:40] say um Ruby has an opening for a
[4:29:42] financial analyst. You don't have one,
[4:29:44] Ruby, but let's say you did. She would
[4:29:46] submit a request to start a search. My
[4:29:48] team would start a search that counts as
[4:29:50] one recruitment. Gotcha. Yeah. There
[4:29:52] might be multiple positions in that
[4:29:53] recruitment, though. Okay.
[4:29:58] Applications. Here's another great sign
[4:30:00] that we've done something right here in
[4:30:02] in the city of India with regard to our
[4:30:05] reputation out there in the in the labor
[4:30:09] market. Look at the applications that we
[4:30:11] received in 2223. We were receiving
[4:30:14] about 2,300 applications a year. Now
[4:30:17] we're up to 3,100 in a year.
[4:30:20] Recruitment's all about the same area.
[4:30:22] That's because more people are
[4:30:24] interested. And what makes this number
[4:30:25] even more remarkable is unemployment in
[4:30:28] this area is under 5%. You see, you
[4:30:31] should see a slope downward. When
[4:30:33] unemployment's that low, application
[4:30:35] should be lower. We're seeing the
[4:30:38] reverse. That's because people see what
[4:30:41] we're doing. They see the change. They
[4:30:43] see the transformation. They hear good
[4:30:46] things about what it's like to work in
[4:30:48] this new culture that we have. So,
[4:30:50] people want to join the team. I hear
[4:30:51] about it all the time. I play pickle
[4:30:53] ball throughout this valley and I wear
[4:30:54] an Indo hat when I play and people are
[4:30:56] always asking me what is going on in
[4:30:58] India and uh we're doing something
[4:31:01] right. Um going back to the police
[4:31:04] officer search I think it's good for um
[4:31:06] the public and maybe some of my
[4:31:08] colleagues to realize and I know chief
[4:31:10] you know
[4:31:11] this like the back of your hand but it
[4:31:14] is a m and Mr. patrol certainly knows it
[4:31:17] is a significant investment that the
[4:31:21] city makes to find and employ and put a
[4:31:25] police officer on the streets. It just
[4:31:28] takes five to six months from the point
[4:31:30] we screen their application to get them
[4:31:32] in the academy. And by the time we
[4:31:34] screen their do the do the paper
[4:31:36] screening by the time they actually are
[4:31:38] released to go on their own on the
[4:31:40] street it could be 18 months
[4:31:45] approximately investment a lot of
[4:31:47] hurdles and a lot of people candidates
[4:31:50] through the process fall out at various
[4:31:52] stages. Chief if you want to chime in at
[4:31:53] all if I've missed anything important
[4:31:55] please do. Okay good. Um but I thought
[4:31:58] it was important that everyone
[4:31:59] understand it it's not just a difficult
[4:32:03] job it's difficult to select people
[4:32:05] through the processes we
[4:32:08] have obstacles recruiting um these
[4:32:11] aren't necessarily uh gerine just to the
[4:32:14] city of India but this is this these are
[4:32:16] some of the common obstacles pay and
[4:32:18] benefits but pay doesn't keep people
[4:32:20] culture keeps people and we're keeping
[4:32:22] quality people because of the culture
[4:32:24] we've created here we've created a
[4:32:27] culture where people know they're cared
[4:32:28] about. They know the mission of the
[4:32:30] organization. They know they're going to
[4:32:32] get a good competitive pay. They know
[4:32:34] they can develop and work on a variety
[4:32:36] of projects that they won't be able to
[4:32:38] do in maybe larger agencies. Um so these
[4:32:42] are some of the obstacles um that most
[4:32:44] organizations experience. Um and we're
[4:32:48] trying to address some of these when
[4:32:50] they they approach us. There are some
[4:32:52] obstacles like higher ed's not producing
[4:32:55] enough planners or
[4:32:57] engineers. We can't really control that,
[4:32:59] but maybe someday we'll get a program
[4:33:01] together where we build our own planners
[4:33:02] and we build our own engineers. Maybe
[4:33:04] that'll be our solution. Retention over
[4:33:07] the uh last uh couple years has been
[4:33:09] great. The national average for
[4:33:12] voluntary turnover, and just so everyone
[4:33:14] understands, voluntary turnover are
[4:33:16] voluntary resignations or retirements.
[4:33:20] Involuntary turnover is when people
[4:33:24] leave the organization for po per
[4:33:26] performance related reasons. Okay. Uh
[4:33:28] the national average for voluntary
[4:33:30] turnover right now is 13.5. We're well
[4:33:33] below that mark. Last year we were 10.4.
[4:33:36] This year we're about 10.37. We'll
[4:33:38] probably get to 10.5 when the fiscal
[4:33:40] year is over. Um, total turnover is a
[4:33:44] combination of voluntary and involuntary
[4:33:46] turnover is 15% last year, 13% this
[4:33:49] year. The red flag is if you hit 20% in
[4:33:53] total turnover in a in a year. And if
[4:33:55] you do that for a couple years, then
[4:33:57] you've got a problem. Okay, right now
[4:33:59] we're in a really good spot with our
[4:34:01] retention. Every organization has
[4:34:03] turnover, by the way. But the unknown
[4:34:06] fact is if you don't have turnover that
[4:34:08] means you're not holding high enough
[4:34:10] expectations for your
[4:34:13] staff retention investments. Um we've
[4:34:16] done a lot of improvements in pay and
[4:34:18] benefits with your support as a city
[4:34:20] council through the negotiations. We've
[4:34:22] worked great with some of the labor
[4:34:23] organizations. They're not here with the
[4:34:25] labor organizations with studying our
[4:34:27] salaries across job classifications and
[4:34:29] making market. I'm going to come to the
[4:34:32] employee survey part, but this is
[4:34:34] something that that this this city does
[4:34:36] that I don't know many cities do. They
[4:34:38] we we survey our employees and I'm going
[4:34:40] to give you some results of that. Um we
[4:34:43] do a lot of appreciation events. I've
[4:34:45] never seen uh I've been never been to an
[4:34:47] employer who does as many recognition
[4:34:49] and appreciation events and I think our
[4:34:51] employees uh really appreciate those.
[4:34:53] One program that we started was Future
[4:34:55] Leaders of India. This is a in-house
[4:34:58] training program that we designed um and
[4:35:01] it's for our emerging and aspiring
[4:35:02] leaders because we're trying to build
[4:35:04] the leaders of the city of
[4:35:06] Ind. We're not just hoping leaders will
[4:35:09] come to us. We're trying to build them
[4:35:10] in house and I think there's a a few
[4:35:12] that have been been involved with the
[4:35:13] program and Mr. Treyo and Miss Walla are
[4:35:16] are presenters in it as long as well as
[4:35:18] me.
[4:35:19] Um, one another unique thing that I've
[4:35:22] never seen happen, but our city manager
[4:35:24] meets with every single new
[4:35:26] hire. Every single one. They learn what
[4:35:28] GSD is. They learn what the three Ps
[4:35:30] are, and they understand that we're here
[4:35:32] to serve, period. Um, I've never seen
[4:35:35] that
[4:35:36] before. Now, this is something that I'm
[4:35:39] very proud of. We, uh, we partnered with
[4:35:42] the Gallup company, an international
[4:35:44] company I'm sure most of you familiar
[4:35:46] with. They do a lot of employee surveys
[4:35:47] for Fortune 500 companies and we
[4:35:50] partnered with them in 2022 because when
[4:35:52] I first got here, one of the things I
[4:35:55] kept hearing was, "Andrew, morale's low.
[4:35:57] Morale's low. Morale's low. People
[4:36:00] aren't happy. No one
[4:36:01] smiles." Um, and but there was no data
[4:36:04] to support that. It was just a feeling.
[4:36:07] And so we put in some improvements and
[4:36:10] practices and we've done training and it
[4:36:12] changed expectations, but we needed to
[4:36:14] get data to demonstrate where we are now
[4:36:19] and where we need to go. So we surveyed
[4:36:21] all of our
[4:36:22] nonIPD employees because IPD was doing
[4:36:25] their own um study at the time, own
[4:36:28] survey at the time. And um we used the
[4:36:32] Gallup instrument which has been used
[4:36:34] over 30 million times
[4:36:37] nationwide and we got some results
[4:36:39] across every department. We had an
[4:36:42] exceptional participation rate. 70% of
[4:36:45] our employees participated in the
[4:36:46] survey. Gallup took all the data didn't
[4:36:50] share one person's identity with any
[4:36:52] city official. They just gave us the
[4:36:54] aggregate reports and we gave those
[4:36:56] reports to every department head. And we
[4:36:58] told every department head to put
[4:37:00] together a team, pick two areas you want
[4:37:02] to improve, put some strategies in
[4:37:05] place, and work towards improving
[4:37:08] it. When we got the results, we were
[4:37:10] 58th in the 58th percentile in the
[4:37:14] nation. That didn't make Mr. Montgomery
[4:37:17] really happy, but I was okay with that
[4:37:19] because I knew we could only go up. 58th
[4:37:22] percentile in the nation on the Gallup
[4:37:24] study wasn't anything to be proud of.
[4:37:26] But after our department heads took that
[4:37:29] data, put real changes in place to make
[4:37:32] people feel like they cared, felt like
[4:37:34] they've had a voice, felt like they
[4:37:36] could, they were getting good feedback,
[4:37:38] felt like they were growing and
[4:37:39] developing. We redid the survey in 2024
[4:37:43] and now the city of India, I'm proud to
[4:37:45] say, is in the 71st percentile in the
[4:37:47] nation. And that's because of all of our
[4:37:49] good leaders and managers and
[4:37:51] supervisors taking this data seriously
[4:37:54] and wanting to make change. And that's
[4:37:56] how you change culture, things like
[4:37:59] that. Um that that concludes this
[4:38:01] report. It's a receiving file, isn't
[4:38:03] that right, uh Sabi? But I'm happy to
[4:38:06] field any questions or comments. Yep.
[4:38:10] Well, it's a public hearing, so I do
[4:38:11] have to open up public hearing for
[4:38:13] anybody, but we will get some comments
[4:38:14] for you in a second. Okay. So, with
[4:38:17] that, I'll open up the public hearing.
[4:38:18] Is there anyone that wishes to speak on
[4:38:20] this
[4:38:21] subject? With that, I will close the
[4:38:23] public hearing.
[4:38:25] Andrew, would you come on up? Do you
[4:38:26] have any questions of Andrew? Anything
[4:38:28] you'd like to say? I mean,
[4:38:32] go ahead.
[4:38:34] It's is impressive. When we sat down, we
[4:38:36] have Chief Washburn, he and I sat down
[4:38:38] with Jeremy, we had Andreas there
[4:38:41] because we wanted to look at a different
[4:38:43] approach looking at what youth coming
[4:38:47] up, young adults coming up. We were
[4:38:49] going to hit all the colleges and we did
[4:38:51] really good especially for the police
[4:38:54] department. But I think we can also use
[4:38:56] that same concept that you encourage
[4:38:57] from your experience in education is to
[4:39:00] getting those locals back home. So
[4:39:03] they're going out for school, they're
[4:39:05] achieving their undergrads, masters, but
[4:39:07] they're coming back home or some of them
[4:39:09] ended up establishing a relationship.
[4:39:11] That's been really successful. The
[4:39:13] retention rate, that's what worries me
[4:39:15] because a lot of things have been slow
[4:39:18] and we did lose. I mean, dispatch was a
[4:39:21] big challenge uh no more than what six,
[4:39:24] seven months ago. the chief's been able
[4:39:27] to recruit that thanks to Sergeant um uh
[4:39:32] Rick Cerna and Andreas that was
[4:39:35] assisting him. Now that teams is going
[4:39:38] to be changing. Those are the things we
[4:39:40] have to mentor other teams to continue
[4:39:41] that drive. Um the other thing that I've
[4:39:44] seen is it's also to know those that are
[4:39:46] going on to bigger and better things is
[4:39:49] having those exit interviews. I know
[4:39:51] that the exit interviews is a form with
[4:39:53] an HR person, but I think the director
[4:39:55] needs to hear if they're leaving on good
[4:39:57] terms. Directors need to hear from them
[4:40:00] to gauge where what their relationships
[4:40:02] are. What concerns me is you look base
[4:40:05] everything on ER evaluation, but it's
[4:40:09] that human connection they need to do.
[4:40:11] Somebody's leaving in bad terms as you
[4:40:13] mentioned not meeting probationary per
[4:40:15] issues, challenges with work. That's
[4:40:18] that's the environment. But I think it's
[4:40:20] a very important value when they're
[4:40:22] moving on because maybe they're going to
[4:40:23] be a director or they're going to be a
[4:40:24] supervisor somewhere. They say, "Hey,
[4:40:26] what would you change? What can we do?"
[4:40:28] Is hearing those comments. I think those
[4:40:29] are important. The last thing
[4:40:31] is this law was brought in because
[4:40:34] unions felt that spots were not being
[4:40:37] filled. They were deliberately being
[4:40:38] held back. It is what it is. The law
[4:40:40] passed. We have to comply. What concerns
[4:40:42] me is we're getting data from this past
[4:40:45] year and be able to compute what we're
[4:40:47] actually at at the time that we adopt
[4:40:49] the budget. Those figures are important
[4:40:51] because you're doing so much good work
[4:40:54] that we're going to reflect what
[4:40:55] happened. It's kind of like crime stats.
[4:40:57] People look at crime stats, by the time
[4:40:59] we get them nationally, they're already
[4:41:00] 10 months old. Doesn't do anybody any
[4:41:03] good. the actual statistics. I think we
[4:41:06] need to look at taking the initiative
[4:41:08] and just updating it because all we're
[4:41:10] going to do is what we did in the past,
[4:41:11] but it's not going to show what we've
[4:41:13] accomplished. So, I know that's what it
[4:41:15] says and I know there's going to be a
[4:41:16] process, but I think every the hard work
[4:41:20] that the team has done, I think needs we
[4:41:23] that's pretty good bragging rights. So,
[4:41:26] thank you, Council Member Katron. As far
[4:41:28] as real time data, that's something I'm
[4:41:29] tracking now. Yeah. Pro Tim, I just
[4:41:33] wanted to thank you for the
[4:41:34] presentation. It was just really an
[4:41:35] outstanding presentation. Um
[4:41:37] particularly, you know, I've noticed
[4:41:39] over the last gosh, quite a few several
[4:41:42] years even um the change the change in
[4:41:44] morale, the change in in productivity,
[4:41:47] um the change in energy there at city
[4:41:48] hall. So, there's a lot of good things
[4:41:50] at city hall and to see it um in in a
[4:41:53] statistical format really underscores
[4:41:55] that and I appreciate the presentation.
[4:41:57] Thank you. And just two quick questions
[4:41:59] for me on the recruitments. Like you
[4:42:01] said, you're not actively going out
[4:42:02] because you didn't get the participation
[4:42:04] or the the candidates you thought you
[4:42:06] did. When do you decide to go back out
[4:42:08] from that to be able to do it? Because
[4:42:10] that's where the unions or the other
[4:42:11] individuals that are our partners would
[4:42:13] say, you know, yeah, you got a fill of
[4:42:15] need, but if you're not even recruiting,
[4:42:17] when are you going to recruit to bring
[4:42:19] these people in? Yeah, there that's
[4:42:20] there's a lot of nuance in that. I can't
[4:42:22] give you a specific uh indicator that
[4:42:25] goes off, but for engineers, for
[4:42:27] example, a good time to start recruiting
[4:42:29] is after um winter break because those
[4:42:33] graduates, for example, out of college,
[4:42:36] they're starting to look for jobs. Then
[4:42:37] right now to search for engineers is
[4:42:40] that that's been picked over. Not a lot
[4:42:43] of people want to come to India or the
[4:42:44] desert. That's right. July. That's
[4:42:46] right. Now, there's other recruitment.
[4:42:48] There's That's right. There's other
[4:42:49] recruitments. We just keep open
[4:42:50] continuously. dispatch, code, police
[4:42:54] officer, we keep those continuously
[4:42:55] open. And if you had to look at
[4:42:57] something that we're not doing now, and
[4:42:59] I'm talking about benefit wise, because
[4:43:00] it's a it really isn't about pay, it is
[4:43:02] about culture. It pay is a part very
[4:43:04] much so like amenities, you know, when I
[4:43:07] look at something, I would think
[4:43:08] something like daycare, you know, how
[4:43:10] does the city help with that? maybe at
[4:43:13] our teen center or something where we
[4:43:15] partner with Cood or some one of these
[4:43:17] organizations where or you know we have
[4:43:19] the art center here where we bring that
[4:43:21] in and some of our partners or somebody
[4:43:23] we work with or work with College of the
[4:43:24] Desert students that are doing it
[4:43:26] because it's so needed in this area. But
[4:43:29] if we could get some of these workers to
[4:43:31] bring their children here, know that
[4:43:33] they're taken care of, they can come
[4:43:34] out, go back out from work,
[4:43:37] not a little ways and go, it it's
[4:43:40] something I think that we we need to
[4:43:41] kind of look at to see if there's
[4:43:43] something out there that we can do that
[4:43:44] puts us above everybody else. All right.
[4:43:47] So, this is a brainstorming session
[4:43:49] right now, right? No bad answer I'm
[4:43:51] going to give you, right? I hope not.
[4:43:53] child care and some type of subsidized
[4:43:56] for housing would be two differentiators
[4:44:00] if we could put something together like
[4:44:01] that.
[4:44:04] Furman, first of all, thank you for your
[4:44:06] your presentation. Um, good like you
[4:44:09] said, we need that and this is good.
[4:44:11] But, um, you know, if you walk through
[4:44:14] city hall, you know, you you could feel
[4:44:15] that there has been a change. So, I I
[4:44:18] appreciate those efforts. I appreciate
[4:44:20] the the Gallup uh study because a lot
[4:44:22] it's it's anonymous, right? So, you
[4:44:24] know, nobody knows and it doesn't go
[4:44:26] through your hands. So, I I appreciate
[4:44:28] that as well. Um I I wanted to talk
[4:44:30] about some of the subsidies. You know,
[4:44:32] we we have uh opportunity possibly to
[4:44:36] partner with Call to the Desert with
[4:44:37] their child care uh um program here. I
[4:44:40] know that as we grow as a city, as we
[4:44:42] grow as a city hall, um those challenges
[4:44:45] are going to be more prevalent. and some
[4:44:47] afford affordability thing too as well.
[4:44:49] Proximity as well. So, um there's
[4:44:52] opportunity there. The mayor just spoke
[4:44:54] on it before I got to it. So, I think
[4:44:56] that's something that that we could look
[4:44:58] at. But, um I also wanted to speak at
[4:45:00] the efforts of the police department. Um
[4:45:03] um folks always say, "Hire more police.
[4:45:04] Hire more police." Well, if there were a
[4:45:06] bigger pool to hire from, every police
[4:45:09] department would be hiring because
[4:45:10] across the board is it's hard to hire
[4:45:12] police officers, especially right now
[4:45:14] there's a big turnover with retirements
[4:45:15] and things like that. And so, but um I
[4:45:18] I've witnessed the the process. I I've
[4:45:21] been to the teen center when uh uh when
[4:45:24] Jeremy was still here and I I watched,
[4:45:27] you know, how they went through some of
[4:45:28] the testing and I believe it was, you
[4:45:31] know, part of, you know, during the the
[4:45:32] pandemic when we had some challenges
[4:45:34] there, they were able to to make some
[4:45:36] modifications and testing. So, um you
[4:45:39] know, just to put it out there, our
[4:45:40] police department is always actively
[4:45:43] hiring and looking for folks and local
[4:45:45] officers. And that takes me to my next
[4:45:48] um you know, statement that I really
[4:45:51] like is the future leaders you spoke
[4:45:53] about of growing people and nurturing
[4:45:55] them inhouse, right? And there's more, I
[4:45:58] believe, pride and and more um you know
[4:46:02] commitment when you have that folks who
[4:46:04] are in-house and they want to grow into
[4:46:06] different positions or learn different
[4:46:07] positions. And so right now with our
[4:46:09] growth, we have a perfect opportunity
[4:46:11] for interns or folks to come in and
[4:46:13] learn from the folks that we have in
[4:46:15] this room. So, um, I'm very pleased with
[4:46:18] what I see and, uh, our trajectory keeps
[4:46:20] going up and so that's that's a good
[4:46:22] thing. Thank you. Thank you, Andrew.
[4:46:25] Thank you. Detailed.
[4:46:28] With that, uh, we'll move on to our
[4:46:31] public comments and this is time for
[4:46:33] people to speak on something that's not
[4:46:35] on an agenda. Uh, we have one, uh,
[4:46:37] person, Mr. Zoodio. Come on up.
[4:46:40] Mike, if anybody else would like to
[4:46:43] speak, please fill out a form and bring
[4:46:44] it up to the city clerk.
[4:46:46] Okay. Been a long meeting here.
[4:46:50] Well, you know what? You're always at
[4:46:51] the end. You can always come later.
[4:46:53] Yeah, that's exactly what I was
[4:46:55] thinking.
[4:46:56] You're a taller.
[4:47:01] Uh, good evening, uh, mayor, uh, council
[4:47:06] members, Mr. Montgomery, Chief, and the
[4:47:10] audience. Um, let me start off by
[4:47:13] saying, uh, I want to thank whoever took
[4:47:15] care of the issue and in reference to
[4:47:17] the debris that was over at the, uh,
[4:47:19] armory, the piles of trash and so on so
[4:47:22] forth. That's been pretty well cleaned
[4:47:24] up. I did notice that there I don't know
[4:47:27] who it is, but they're still dumping
[4:47:29] today. There was something dumped there.
[4:47:31] There was piles of rubbish.
[4:47:34] Um, one thing
[4:47:36] that I mean you were talking about just
[4:47:39] just recently in reference to uh
[4:47:43] hiring. Um, I want to see if
[4:47:46] maybe it's possible to
[4:47:49] hire two city employees with a pickup
[4:47:53] truck. Um, just going around the city,
[4:47:56] keeping the city clean, the the curb and
[4:47:58] gutters, the grass that's growing in
[4:48:00] between the sidewalks. uh just the signs
[4:48:05] that are left on the poles, the yard
[4:48:06] sale signs, they're everywhere. They're
[4:48:09] they're just it's ridiculous. But I
[4:48:12] don't know if it's uh feasible to hire
[4:48:15] somebody back in the day, but I don't
[4:48:17] know what it's like
[4:48:18] now. Um the other thing is uh DG for uh
[4:48:23] baseball fields. Our fields have not had
[4:48:28] uh DG replacement which is the bin
[4:48:39] field 20 years 25 years since I last uh
[4:48:44] coached and it's very slippery out there
[4:48:47] for those kids. It's a lot of low sand
[4:48:49] that's mixed in there. It's really it's
[4:48:51] in pretty bad shape. all all the
[4:48:54] baseball fields, Davis Field, uh the
[4:48:56] fields over at Jackson
[4:48:58] Park, they're they're pretty bad
[4:49:01] shape.
[4:49:03] Um let's see.
[4:49:09] It's your
[4:49:11] wife. Uh
[4:49:14] uh I know that
[4:49:16] um you probably have in front of you the
[4:49:19] uh petition that I have uh going out uh
[4:49:23] that myself u family members uh local
[4:49:29] businesses and uh just people in
[4:49:32] general. Um, and it talks about the uh
[4:49:35] signage that's over
[4:49:37] in the the North Indial area, but it's
[4:49:41] left our area, our original North India
[4:49:44] area
[4:49:47] out to recognize the old North India as
[4:49:51] who we are, which is North India, the
[4:49:54] original North India. Um, we've been
[4:49:57] left out. Um, not and I want to stress
[4:50:01] that I'm not trying to take away the
[4:50:04] name North India from the residential
[4:50:08] area on the other side of the I 10 on
[4:50:11] the north side of I 10. I'm not trying
[4:50:13] to take that away. So, I just want our
[4:50:17] our community to be
[4:50:21] recognized. I mean, if if there's
[4:50:23] they're going to be recognized, why
[4:50:25] can't we? That's all. So, uh, with that,
[4:50:30] I just want to say thank you for such a
[4:50:33] long meeting. You're welcome. Man, I'mma
[4:50:36] tell you for everything you learned. I
[4:50:39] think I'm watching TV. I think I'm going
[4:50:41] to take you up on that.
[4:50:43] I'll come. I'll I'll watch
[4:50:47] when it's time for public comment. Thank
[4:50:50] you. Thank you, Mr. Montgomery. Can you
[4:50:52] check into those ball fields just to
[4:50:54] make sure they're they're safe? I mean,
[4:50:55] I could see it blow sand. Just look at
[4:50:57] the infield DG. Yeah. Okay. Exactly. And
[4:51:02] maybe we can call it old north.
[4:51:05] Sure. Just a little thing on there. So
[4:51:09] if you look at it, you can see the
[4:51:11] petition. So with that, is there anyone
[4:51:13] else wishing to speak? Okay. We're we
[4:51:16] are going to adjourn the meeting at at
[4:51:18] uh 7:50, but also we have the Assada
[4:51:22] Festival this Saturday. Please come. And
[4:51:24] you're also going to see a bunch of
[4:51:26] opportunities for our birthday. They're
[4:51:28] going to come some events. Our birthday,
[4:51:31] our 95th uh anniversary for the city of
[4:51:33] Indo is on May 16th. So we'll see you at
[4:51:37] the Sada Festival this weekend in in
[4:51:40] downtown India.
[4:51:43] Fire yourself.