[0:00] May 5th, 2026 meeting. When I wish everybody a happy new year, I hope everybody enjoyed. They're all in a season

[0:07] or begin tonight with an invocation from Mr. Lamar Henderson, and after that, we're

[0:12] tall, we'll lead us to the pledge of allegiance. We're able to please rise from your

[0:15] handers.

[0:19] That is pause for just a moment for prayer and reflection. If you can

[0:24] bow your head, please. Heavenly Father, as we gather at the beginning of this new year, we give

[0:30] thanks for the opportunity to serve, for the trust placed in this body, and for the community

[0:36] that looks to this council, for leadership, fairness, and vision.

[0:42] May we enter into 2026 with humility and wisdom, guided by integrity in our decisions,

[0:49] compassion in our deliberations, and encourage in addressing the challenges before us,

[0:59] help

[0:59] in ways that uplift the common good.

[1:02] May our work be marked by collaboration over division, understanding over assumption, and

[1:09] service over self-interest, and grant us clarity of purpose as we seek solutions that

[1:16] strengthen families, protect the vulnerable, and promote a thriving and inclusive community

[1:22] for all.

[1:24] As we move forward together, May our efforts reflect respect for one another and a shared commitment

[1:31] to progress, accountability, and hope.

[1:35] We ask these things in a mighty name of your son, Jesus Christ.

[1:45] To the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, on nation,

[1:52] under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[1:59] Thank you, Councilor Cal.

[2:01] Thank you, Zoe.

[2:02] Clamark.

[2:03] Okay, tonight, MD, roll call.

[2:05] Councilmember DePont.

[2:06] Town.

[2:08] Paris.

[2:09] Smith.

[2:10] Present.

[2:11] Jean.

[2:11] Here.

[2:12] Mayor Brotin Boyle.

[2:13] And Mayor Sorato.

[2:15] Marad Leitu.

[2:16] Remind the audience that if they wish to address the city council, they must submit a green

[2:19] request to speak for and locate it at the podium in the back of the chamber.

[2:23] Additionally, citizens can submit public comment to the city council electronically,

[2:27] no later than one PM on the day of the meeting.

[2:29] The comments received before the deadline will be set to the Council and will be part of the record and will be mentioned as part of the written petitions and communications portion of the agenda and it will also be posted on the city's website.

[2:41] Material may be e-mail to city clerk at city of mrsad.gov.

[2:45] And any correspondence received after one PM will be distributed to the city council and retained for the official record.

[2:51] Also for those audience members who wish to hear the council meeting translated and to Spanish or mom please let our interpreters know.

[3:19] In accordance with government code 54952.3, it is here by announced that the city council sits

[3:25] simultaneously or certainly as the public financing and economic development authority,

[3:30] parking authority, and or successor agency to the redevelopment agency.

[3:34] City Council members receive a monthly stipend of $500 by charter for sitting as a city council,

[3:39] and the mayor receives an additional $100 each month as part of the adopted budget

[3:43] and resolution 2024-78. The public financing and economic development authority, parking authority,

[3:49] and successor agency to the redevelopment agency receive no compensation.

[3:53] agenda item e report out of closed session.

[3:56] There is no report out of closed session.

[3:58] agenda item f written petitions and communications.

[4:01] Mayor of the clerk's office received an e-mail from Strong Towns

[4:03] Merced regarding public comment and e-mails from Curtis Thomas

[4:07] regarding agenda items each for an age 11.

[4:10] The e-mails are received by the one PM deadline.

[4:12] They were sent to council and post on the city's website.

[4:15] Any e-mails received after the one PM deadline will be sent to council.

[4:19] agenda item G public comments, members of the public who wish to speak on any matter not

[4:23] list on the agenda may speak during this portion of the meeting and will be a lot

[4:27] of three minutes.

[4:28] The mayor may propose a further limit to the time available for all speakers at the discretion

[4:32] of the city council in order to accommodate as many speakers as possible.

[4:37] State Lopper Hibbets is a city council from acting at this meeting on any matter raised during

[4:41] the public comment period.

[4:42] And any members of the public who wish to speak on a matter that is listed on the agenda will

[4:47] We call it upon the speed during the discussion of that item.

[4:50] And Mary currently have three of your requests to speak for.

[4:54] Okay, three minutes each, thank you, gentlemen.

[4:56] Okay, if I can get Tamar Cobb, Jennifer Flackman, and Mike Weber to the podium to my

[5:03] left, please.

[5:18] Ms. Cobb, we have an agenda item for the street closure.

[5:23] So, whichever way you want to, I know you're smart enough, you can handle it in whichever way

[5:28] you see best.

[5:28] I think if it pertains to the street closure, it has to be heard connection with that, but

[5:32] obviously talking about the event in general is different.

[5:35] So.

[5:36] I know you're going to handle that.

[5:37] We've been doing this this year for 10 years now.

[5:40] Okay.

[5:41] The reason why I'm here today.

[5:42] Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

[5:44] City Council members.

[5:47] City attorney.

[5:48] The reason why I'm here is to formally invite you all to the Martin Luther King.

[5:51] Unity, Martin, celebration.

[5:54] This will be my can't hear doing it, but this will be the 29th event.

[6:00] I want to say that when Martin Luther King was killed, I was in the sixth grade.

[6:05] So I am a member of Merced. I've been here for some time.

[6:09] I can remember when we were not allowed across the tracks by the railroad,

[6:14] Santa Fe Railroad.

[6:16] We have come a long way in Merced.

[6:18] My senior year in high school was brought with race riots, we've come a long way, and so I find

[6:26] a very important that we continue on this path of reuniting the community every year this year

[6:34] we are celebrating immeasurable because that's what Martin Luther King and his journey was immeasurable.

[6:42] we cannot measure his efforts and his visions.

[6:48] And that is why I'm up here today,

[6:50] and not to speak about the street.

[6:51] I know that's taking care of.

[6:53] Thank you, please department, as well.

[6:56] And that's why I wanted to do

[6:57] and I'd stick to seeing all of the air.

[7:00] Thank you very much.

[7:02] Thank you, it's called.

[7:02] Thank you for all your great work every year on this.

[7:04] Thank you, sir.

[7:10] Next speaker.

[7:12] Good evening, Jennifer Plackman, Public Information Officer.

[7:14] So I'm here to remind and invite everyone to this Wednesday's last town hall meeting for maintenance districts assessment ballots.

[7:25] And that's at Golden Valley High School starts at six and then our city council community town hall starts this Thursday at Stephen Leonard Park Community Center starting at 530.

[7:37] And again, next Tuesday, January 13th, that Burbank Elementary, and then the last one is Wednesday, January 14th at El Capitown High School, and again, those start at 5.30.

[7:49] Thank you.

[7:50] Great.

[7:50] Thank you, Chair.

[7:54] I'm Mr. Webber.

[8:06] First, I'll say I'm used to being on that side of the table, not on this side of the table at Board meetings.

[8:13] Good evening, Mayor, council members, and staff.

[8:16] For the record, my name is Mike Weber on the superintendent of the Weaver Union School District.

[8:23] I want to start by saying thank you to council member Darren DuPont for coming out to meet with me in December.

[8:29] I'd also like to say thank you to city manager Scott McBride for being open and receptive to meetings and having discussions.

[8:38] Just about future growth in our district so I appreciate that from both of you.

[8:46] I'm here tonight simply to raise awareness about future growth and the future growth that's

[8:51] in our district and what it means to our schools.

[8:54] The weaver district fully welcomes and supports growth in the number said area and as someone

[8:59] who grew up in the number said area, I'm also excited about the growth.

[9:04] I've seen all the revitalization that's gone on recently, the things down town looking forward

[9:10] to what's going to happen in the future.

[9:12] It's all been great, and it's been a long time coming for the city, it's going to mean

[9:18] a lot of opportunities for a lot of people.

[9:22] Projects in our district, the University community, Mission 82, Tyler and Mission, and

[9:29] Gerard Campus Parkway will bring families and opportunities into our community, opportunities

[9:36] that we would agree or much needed.

[9:40] Collectively, though, those projects are currently somewhere in the planning or pre-planning

[9:45] stages in represent 4,500 new hopes,

[9:51] and that is if they actually build out.

[9:55] That doesn't include projects that are already under construction or future infill, small,

[10:01] medium-scale developments that are going on, or are not on the radar at this time.

[10:08] Perhaps the most important thing that I do want to point out this evening is a misconception

[10:13] that most people have, that is that developer fees finance new schools and they don't.

[10:20] Those fees often cover less than 25% of a natural school construction project.

[10:26] And that's only if the district has not already used much of that funding on portables

[10:31] to house students in the interim.

[10:35] When land is set aside, school districts often still have to pay for that land that was set aside for the schools.

[10:42] I'd also like to highlight that we've heard three schools are currently at 1,000 per school.

[10:51] Students at the average school in the county other than high schools run about 550 students, 580 students per campus.

[11:01] So obviously we're well above that.

[11:07] Even though our campuses are extremely far,

[11:10] the three minutes is up.

[11:13] We'll look forward to future conversations for sure.

[11:15] Please feel free to follow up with us offline

[11:17] and come to a future meeting and address us again.

[11:20] I will.

[11:21] I'll take you to second half.

[11:23] All right.

[11:23] Thank you.

[11:23] Look forward to future conversations.

[11:26] Thank you.

[11:29] Anybody else?

[11:31] Mayor, we do have one more from Glen Camarta.

[11:33] Mr. Camarta.

[11:38] Alrighty, I will make this short and sweet.

[11:39] My name is Glen Camarta.

[11:40] I'm a photographer here in Merset, California and I want to show you guys the calendar

[11:44] that I've made about Merset.

[11:46] This is the fifth year that I've done it.

[11:48] If you would like to get one for yourself, contact me on Facebook, Glenn Commarter.

[11:53] You'll see them around town, I'm actually working on getting a couple brick and mortar

[11:57] places to carry them.

[11:58] Out of the net, support your local artists.

[12:00] Thank you for your time.

[12:02] Okay, thank you, sir.

[12:08] We have one more man.

[12:09] Thank you.

[12:15] Alrighty.

[12:15] Even Mayor Council, city of Merced, my name is Karthik Prasad, here on behalf of Congressman Adam Gray, and happy new year.

[12:21] I hope everyone's new year is as warm as cheerful as mine.

[12:26] It's been a very busy past two weeks and through all the crazy stuff happening in DC right now.

[12:31] Just wanted to go over some of our legislative priorities going forward.

[12:34] House is going to be in session pretty quickly.

[12:36] And past two weeks have been nothing but reaching out to folks and getting their thoughts on things.

[12:41] because we want to be sure that we're representing Merced in the folks of Merced in DC.

[12:45] Our biggest concern is working to lower health care costs as a lot of folks costs have

[12:51] gone up with this month beginning and in the new year and that's going to be our biggest

[12:55] biggest priority in DC alongside lowering grocery prices and lowering gas and energy prices.

[13:00] And just wanted to let folks know that if they have any issues with federal government, whether

[13:03] that be Social Security, IRS, the VA, any federal agency or any federal issues, don't

[13:09] to bring it to our attention, our office is at 602, West 23, just a couple blocks down, and

[13:15] they can give us a call at 209, 226, 6, 8, 8, 0, so.

[13:20] Anyone on the council or in the room knows anyone is at any issue with the federal government

[13:23] on has data send them our way.

[13:25] We want to be able to help them however we can and make sure we're doing a good job representing

[13:28] them in DC.

[13:29] Thank you.

[13:30] Sir.

[13:31] Thank you, sir.

[13:32] Appreciate you.

[13:33] Thank you, sir.

[13:34] Thank you.

[13:35] Appreciate you.

[13:38] Thank you.

[13:38] And I'm a public comment and it takes us to agenda item age, can think calendar.

[13:45] Any members of the council wish to have any items on the consent agenda pull for separate consideration.

[13:52] Councillor Smith.

[13:54] Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

[13:56] You know, I think with the holiday and the schedule is being different than the usual work period.

[14:01] We kind of, my view over did the consent calendar and some items on here that I think they're separate discussions.

[14:07] And so I'd like to pull H5, H10, H11, and to say my colleague,

[14:15] Darren Jepont from Avenue, asked for it, H13.

[14:19] Here.

[14:22] So, five, 10, 11 and 13.

[14:25] 11 and 13.

[14:26] Thank you.

[14:27] Anybody else?

[14:32] Okay.

[14:32] See, none of you had anything from the public?

[14:34] We don't have anything there.

[14:36] Or a discussion or a motion with respect to the balance.

[14:43] It's like we did sort of like first a count for Smith is that a new comment to your new comments

[14:48] Okay, hang on one sec so we have

[14:51] They we had a motion I think how's my new problems first Harris is first

[14:55] Okay, do pop first Harris second if we have a penny

[15:00] Motion to knock out the announcement.

[15:01] Just two comments. One, I appreciate staff's vigilance and suggesting this would jump from YouTube to Facebook to further disseminate our meetings.

[15:11] I would hope that if Facebook is still a viable option that even if it's not the channel of record that it's still continue.

[15:18] And then second, fully in support of the MLK Street Closer, you know, we've been having this conversation on other items about city sponsorship.

[15:25] And I just want to say that had this item that presented to us as a

[15:28] consponsorship opportunity, I would have supported that.

[15:34] Because it does carry some additional expenses to the city.

[15:39] So, can we just clarify it's transitioning from Facebook to YouTube?

[15:42] You said YouTube to Facebook.

[15:44] I could just want to make sure it's qualifying correctly.

[15:46] Thank you.

[15:46] I got that wrong.

[15:48] Jeff, on our Facebook, where there will still be a link or some sort of direction to the...

[15:54] Yeah.

[15:55] So for a period of time, we'll work with the PIO to make sure there's comments to redirect people from the Facebook stream to the YouTube stream

[16:02] and we'll also maintain the Facebook stream at least through this strategic planning session, so we don't lose anybody through the town hall periods.

[16:10] Okay. So we have a lot of viewers on Facebook, but obviously recognizing that YouTube is a better platform in a lot of ways, which is being able to redirect people.

[16:17] Yes.

[16:18] That's where we're going.

[16:20] We're going to.

[16:20] And then for the right here, it is.

[16:23] Are the videos still uploaded to granted case as well?

[16:26] Yes, we're still maintaining granted case.

[16:28] And you'll still also be on our KVTB platforms.

[16:31] Awesome.

[16:32] Thank you.

[16:34] All right.

[16:34] We have a motion in a second.

[16:36] We'll call for the question.

[16:37] You have a motion by Council Member Dupont in a second by Council Member Harris.

[16:41] The motion will include agenda item H3.

[16:44] The introduction of ordinance 2586.

[16:46] and ordinance of the City Council of the City of Merced, California, emitting section 15.32.080,

[16:53] state connection regulations, backflow control devices of the Merced Municipal Code,

[16:58] agenda item H6, the adoption of resolution S82026-01, a resolution of the successor agency to the redevelopment agency

[17:06] of the City of Merced, approving a recognized obligation payment schedule ropes 26-27, including a administrative budget for July 1,

[17:18] The

[17:19] Adoption of Resolution

[17:20] 2026-0303

[17:22] Resolution of the City Council of the City of

[17:25] Merced California, a

[17:26] Proving a

[17:26] Amendment to joint

[17:27] Power's Agreement of the

[17:28] Central,

[17:29] Samuel King Valley Risk Management Authority,

[17:32] And Agenda Item H8,

[17:33] The Adoption of Resolution 2026-0202.

[17:37] The

[17:37] Resolution of the City Council of the City of Merced California,

[17:40] And many of the salary range for the

[17:44] our two Pull Manager Recreation Coordinator, Recreation Leader, and Recreation Specialist, Mayor

[17:50] in Council, please cast your votes.

[17:56] Okay, and the motion passes unanimously.

[17:59] Mark takes to each five.

[18:00] This is a transfer of its triple land situated at 626 West Main Street Council We're Smith.

[18:08] Thank you.

[18:08] Good evening, Mr. Kutazam.

[18:09] Good evening.

[18:10] This is one of the two concerned items that I was asked about five members of the community.

[18:14] I don't have a whole lot to ask.

[18:17] other than, I understand this item is seeking approval to transition ownership of this strip

[18:24] on a M Street basically across from the hotel from the former redevelopment agency to the

[18:30] city.

[18:30] Is that right?

[18:31] Right.

[18:32] The staff report also, and it could just be the way it's written, but it seemed to convey to

[18:36] me that a decision has already been made to give that strip to an adjacent landowner.

[18:41] Is that the case?

[18:43] No.

[18:43] Okay.

[18:44] Can you clarify then?

[18:45] Yes.

[18:45] But we'll have to follow the proper protocols of the surplus, if it falls, surplus land acts.

[18:54] And Council will have an opportunity to weigh in on how that property is dispersed.

[19:01] What we're asking now is for the successor agency to transfer the property to the city of Mercedes.

[19:08] that the admiral report does state that there was an applicant who had interest in the property,

[19:18] but we would also have to follow the proper protocols to dispose of the property correctly.

[19:23] And that would go through the city and not the successor agency.

[19:26] All right.

[19:27] Thank you.

[19:30] Thank you.

[19:31] that move to approve.

[19:33] Okay, is there a second?

[19:36] Thank you, Smith Harris.

[19:37] Any discussion or additional comments?

[19:40] Mr. Cardoso?

[19:43] Seeing none, gentlemen.

[19:44] I'll put it on.

[19:44] Motion like Council Member Smith.

[19:45] Any second by Council Member Harris?

[19:47] Mayor and Council.

[19:48] Please cast your votes.

[19:52] Okay.

[19:52] The motion passes unanimously.

[19:55] Okay.

[19:55] To each ten, again, Council Member Smith.

[19:57] This is a 112,000, I believe.

[19:59] a dollar grant from the Department of Justice to help combat under age drink.

[20:05] I fully support this item.

[20:08] I just want to point out that this requires five votes for approval.

[20:11] So I'm not sure it was properly situated on the consent agenda

[20:18] for the city attorney.

[20:28] Second.

[20:35] Five vote item.

[20:37] Additional discussion or questions?

[20:42] And is this discussion or a move to approve?

[20:44] Second.

[20:46] Thank you.

[20:46] I have a motion.

[20:47] I can't remember Smith.

[20:48] And a second by Councilmember Dupont.

[20:50] The motion will include the adoption of Resolution 2026-05.

[20:54] A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Merced, California, to accept the grant

[20:58] funds in the amount of 112,000 and 26 dollars from the State of California Department

[21:03] of Justice Office of Attorney General Tobacco, Law Enforcement and Grant Program, and approving

[21:08] the memorandum of understanding.

[21:09] Mayor in Council, please cast your votes.

[21:15] Okay, the motion passes.

[21:16] The Council member, John Voting, no.

[21:22] H11.

[21:22] This is a proposed modification board for to a J walking ordinance.

[21:27] Councilor Smith.

[21:29] Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

[21:29] So this is what I really want to get to.

[21:32] We pull off the red line.

[21:35] I've had.

[21:36] I've got folks in the community asking me what it is that we're proposing to do here.

[21:41] And so I know the public safety committee had a discussion about

[21:44] pedestrian crossings a few months back, but I want to give City Attorney Cornwall a chance

[21:48] to explain kind of what he's proposing here and if we if enacted what this change

[21:53] in the pedestrian crossing ordinance would do.

[21:57] Thank you sir.

[21:59] The Attorney Cornwall will do for the for the question mayor and council.

[22:05] In 2022 the state legislature basically decriminalized day walking.

[22:13] And they did it in a matter of where it controls law enforcement.

[22:21] They are not too issue j-walking citations with the exception of immediate danger.

[22:34] So, there is a narrow lane for the city to have Jaywalking on the books because it is a subject that is that we want to get out to the community to warn on potential dangers of that activity.

[23:01] So this ordinance

[23:06] does not restate the state legislature because we can't because of pre-imption of jurisdiction,

[23:21] but what it does do is allow for law enforcement to cite if there is imminent danger of a collision

[23:35] with a moving vehicle or other device moving exclusively by human power and not attempt a roadway

[23:45] crossing under such conditions, which is the language coming from the state.

[23:52] So this ordinance just addresses the remaining exception from the state's action in 2022.

[24:07] So on the J-walking side, the legislature has left up in the ability for us to

[24:12] legislate requiring people to cross in crosswalks.

[24:15] Is that right?

[24:21] If there is, if there's a crosswalk available,

[24:28] are we talking about?

[24:29] But sighting, we cannot sight unless there is anything.

[24:41] So that's B1.

[24:44] Well, A1 says a no pedestrian self-cross the roadway at any place except in a crosswalk.

[24:52] Am I misreading it?

[24:57] No, you're not. I guess I'm jumping to the, that's okay, enforcement part of the ordinance, but yes.

[25:11] So pedestrian may not cross a roadway except in a cross crosswalk, when a crosswalk is available.

[25:17] But then law enforcement doesn't have the ability to cite even if a person is in crossing in a crosswalk.

[25:23] Okay. So then what's the benefit of having the ordinance on the books then?

[25:29] Because the ordinance is a way for the city to speak to its public, we can do educational activities from this ordinance.

[25:45] We can remind law enforcement that in the case of imminent danger they can act.

[25:51] There's other means, this assignment came from fatalities that had occurred in the city

[26:04] from Jaywalking, so the task or the challenge was issued, what can the city do?

[26:13] To help the public understand that there's still undertaking a potentially dangerous activity.

[26:22] So that's what this is.

[26:25] I'm sorry.

[26:25] Oh, sorry.

[26:27] But an officer could tell somebody.

[26:29] He says, no pedestrian shall cross the road.

[26:31] A place except in a crosswalk.

[26:32] An officer could tell somebody, look, you can do this.

[26:36] You can start.

[26:36] You have to stop and go back.

[26:37] This is discovered in the vehicle code.

[26:41] No, the, um, go ahead.

[26:45] The enforcement part of

[26:49] it.

[26:50] With all,

[26:53] yes.

[26:57] I mean, I get your point about bringing this to the forefront.

[27:01] And the public can be correct, but it's not, it's not empowering law enforcement to do anything

[27:08] that they're already not empowered to do.

[27:18] Correct.

[27:19] The Freedom to Walk Act that came out in 23, basically said officers can stop somebody

[27:23] for walking outside the crosswalk, but there's no enforcement.

[27:26] There's no ticket enforcement for what, when I was on patrol, we were called Jaywalking,

[27:32] right?

[27:32] We would issue Jaywalking tickets, this was pedestrian out of crosswalk.

[27:35] Now in order to issue such citation, you have to prove that the pedestrian's actions to go into the roadway caused an imminent safety hazard to either the driver or the pedestrian.

[27:48] So that's where your enforcement comes from. Now crosswalks.

[27:52] The idea we've got it. I just take that out of your brain. That doesn't exist anymore. It's whether or not an individual is walked into a street that's caused an imminent safety hazard is the issue now.

[28:01] Does that make sense?

[28:02] So,

[28:10] it's a very narrow opportunity to regulate in

[28:20] this.

[28:20] Councillor Smith, let's see if we have a more Councillor.

[28:23] No.

[28:24] And so, thank you.

[28:25] Okay, Councillor Smith.

[28:26] Well, just to jump back in.

[28:28] So, I agree with the city attorney as a chance for us to message about this issue, but also on

[28:34] the civil side, if either the driver or the pedestrian is not acting in accordance with

[28:41] statute and something that happens, that could be basically per se evidence of negligence

[28:48] by one part of the other and maybe over time that would create a deterrent as well, even

[28:52] if law enforcement is not involved. I do want to segue that the proposed red line also

[28:58] does another change to our ordinance, what's that city attorney?

[29:06] This is actually about

[29:07] that's more about.

[29:08] You're talking about this.

[29:09] Why are we no longer legislating that you can't lock or stand in the road?

[29:15] because that is on the state level and we could not simply mirror the state statute because of a

[29:29] California Supreme Court case that determined when the city mirrors the state that is a pre-imption

[29:41] of jurisdiction.

[29:44] And so long, long way of saying whether we think it's a good idea or a bad idea.

[29:47] The decisions been made for us. Correct. And that

[29:52] those regulations are on the state level.

[30:00] We're just taking it out of the city's local ordinance.

[30:04] Okay. Now, I got some constituent questions. It seemed to think that we had sort of a furiously

[30:04] Okay. Now, I got some constituent questions. They seemed to think that we had sort of a furiously

[30:10] taken this step, and I thought it was important that the community here for me. So, I appreciate

[30:14] your thoughts and discussion.

[30:17] Yes, we're sure.

[30:19] Just with regards to A2, the exact language on no pedestrian shelf cross, the roadway, any

[30:19] Just with regards to A2, the exact language on low pedestrian shelf cross, the roadway, any

[30:26] place except in a crosswalk. So I understand what our city attorney is saying in terms of

[30:26] place except in a crosswalk.

[30:28] So I understand what our city attorney is saying

[30:32] in terms of like sitting on message.

[30:32] like sitting on message. Now I guess my question is, because it's in the ordinance rather

[30:35] Now, I guess my question is,

[30:37] because it's in the ordinance rather than in the resolution

[30:39] than in the resolution or sorts, wouldn't a resolution make more sense to sit on a city's

[30:40] or sorts, wouldn't a resolution make more sense

[30:42] to sit out a city's message rather than in ordinance

[30:43] message rather than in ordinance in which we typically have enforcement power?

[30:46] in which we typically have enforcement power?

[30:52] Well, no, because there is, there is that one exception out there where we can enforce and we wouldn't be able to do it through the resolution.

[30:53] Well, no, because there is, there is that one exception

[30:57] out there where we can enforce, and we wouldn't be able to do it through the resolution.

[31:04] The eminent danger is still available to law enforcement.

[31:04] The eminent danger is still available, it's law enforcement.

[31:13] Does that mean that if somebody crosses at a crosswalk, and there is an eminent danger, does

[31:13] Does that mean that if somebody crosses out a crosswalk and there is an eminent danger? Does that mean that they,

[31:19] that mean that they, did apply it here as well?

[31:21] applies here as well, because as someone does not cross at a crosswalk, but

[31:24] Yeah, as someone does not cross at a crosswalk, but Chen first is the street, and there's

[31:30] 10 versus the street, and there's imminent danger, law enforcement can step in for

[31:34] imminent danger, law enforcement can step in for the person safety as well as the vehicle,

[31:39] the person safety as well as the vehicle, whatever it is, imminent danger that's posed.

[31:42] whatever it was, imminent danger that's posed.

[31:47] That exception is left is available to the city.

[31:47] That exception is left, is available to the city.

[31:55] Okay. Thank you.

[31:57] Thank you.

[31:57] We can, I'm sorry.

[31:58] I'm sorry, I don't want to.

[31:59] I don't want to.

[32:00] Excuse you.

[32:00] I'm sure you.

[32:01] No, I understand that.

[32:03] So I guess where I was going was that.

[32:04] If they cross at a crosswalk,

[32:04] If they cross at it, crosswalk.

[32:07] and there was an imminent danger,

[32:07] And there was an imminent danger.

[32:11] In that instance.

[32:11] in that instance,

[32:15] does this orness still apply as well?

[32:15] Does this ordinance still apply as well?

[32:21] If they cross at a crosswalk there

[32:22] If they cross at a crosswalk,

[32:25] they're

[32:27] within there, I mean, then you go by the where they should they have walked or not walked, the reasonableness of their crossing I guess would be an issue if they're within the crosswalk if that's your question.

[32:28] within there.

[32:31] I mean, then you go by the, should they have walked or not walked, the reasonableness that they're crossing, I guess would be an issue if they're within the crosswalk.

[32:46] If that's your question.

[32:48] If I can jump in, it comes down to the pedestrian's actions.

[32:49] If I can jump in, it comes down to the pedestrian's actions.

[32:52] So if the pedestrian's actions cause a safety hazard to the flow of traffic.

[32:52] of the pedestrian's actions causing a safety hazard to the flow of traffic.

[32:58] So we look at a crosswalk, you can look at no crosswalk.

[33:01] If you're talking about entering an intersection, crosswalk or no, there's a duty to make sure

[33:06] that it's safe to enter for a pedestrian, right, because in most of the cases I've ever

[33:06] that it's safe to enter for a pedestrian, right?

[33:09] Because in most of the cases, I've ever seen the cars going to win versus a pedestrian.

[33:11] seen the car is going to win versus a pedestrian.

[33:14] So, if you have somebody that darts into traffic at an intersection that has even across walk

[33:15] So if you have somebody that darts into traffic at an intersection that has even a crosswalk

[33:20] at a 35 mile an hour speed, you know, a normal traffic flow, the person does not have a response

[33:20] a 35 mile an hour speed, you know, a normal traffic flow, the person does not have a response

[33:26] time to react in time to avoid that. So there's a duty on behalf of a pedestrian, even

[33:26] time to react in time to avoid that.

[33:28] So, there's a duty on behalf of a pedestrian, even at a crosswalk to make sure that it's safe

[33:30] at a crosswalk to make sure that it's safe to cross, right, and not create a traffic hazard.

[33:32] across, right, and not create a traffic hazard if you're, you know, there's 100 scenarios

[33:37] If you're, you know, there's 100 scenarios, burning all dark, not properly lit, writing one of

[33:39] was wearing all dark, not properly lit,

[33:41] writing one of these electric scooters

[33:41] these electric scooters or on a bicycle where somebody just can't react in time, the pedestrian

[33:42] or on a bicycle where somebody just can't react in time.

[33:46] The pedestrian would be at fault,

[33:46] would be at fault even at that. The crosswalk doesn't automatically just give a pedestrian,

[33:47] even at that, the crosswalk doesn't automatically

[33:49] just give a pedestrian the freedom to go out in a traffic.

[33:52] the freedom to go out into traffic. You know what I'm saying? They're still as an obligation to

[33:54] You know what I'm saying?

[33:54] There's still as an obligation to make sure it's safe to do

[33:56] make sure it's safe to do so without causing a safety hazard.

[33:57] so without causing a safety hazard.

[34:00] And, you know, I always think of the families

[34:00] And you know, I always think of the

[34:02] families that are just driving home from work that somebody darts out into traffic and they have to

[34:02] that are just driving home from work.

[34:05] That somebody darts out into traffic

[34:07] and they have to live with that for the rest of their lives.

[34:07] live with that for the rest of their lives. That always bothers me because they're following the rules of

[34:08] that always bothers me because they're following the rules of the road.

[34:11] So, what we're just trying to do is align our municipal code with what the state says we can do to make sure that we're mirroring each other so that they're kind of on the same page.

[34:12] So what we're just trying to do is align our municipal code with what the state says we can do to make sure that we're mirroring each other so that they're kind of on the same page.

[34:23] So when we do an investigation in some of these, we're just adhering to what the laws and our internal policies and our city policies kind of mirror what the state laws telling us we can't do.

[34:23] So, when we do an investigation in some of these, we're just adhering to what the laws and our internal policies and our city policies kind of mirror what the state laws telling us we can't do.

[34:34] So in the resolution, we don't know about that.

[34:35] And the resolution would not allow that.

[34:39] Well, I guess I was kind of getting to where

[34:41] Chiqui mentioned that just ignore

[34:41] Chiqui mentioned that just ignore the idea of crosswalks here.

[34:42] tidy up crosswalks here.

[34:45] And so I don't fully understand why we have

[34:45] And so I don't fully understand why we have the language

[34:47] the language restricting or restricting crossing

[34:48] restricting or restricting crossing roadway to your crosswalk

[34:51] roadway to our crosswalk when we're applying

[34:53] when we're applying a cross the board.

[34:54] an across the board.

[34:55] Regardless of there is, or there isn't a crosswalk.

[34:55] Regardless of there is or there isn't a crosswalk.

[35:05] Yeah.

[35:06] Say over time.

[35:07] So earlier when she's that film mentioned that they think of it as without any sort of crosswalk, right?

[35:07] So earlier when Chiqui stand film mentioned that,

[35:10] didn't think of it as without any sort of crosswalk, right?

[35:13] And so they would apply either way regardless of,

[35:13] And so they would apply either way regardless of as long as somebody's

[35:17] as long as somebody is crossing a roadway

[35:18] Block crossing a roadway and causing an immediate danger. It was still they was still stopped that person, right?

[35:20] and causing an immediate danger,

[35:23] it was still, they was still stopped that person, right?

[35:26] Now what I'm seeing here is that if we have this language that restricts pedestrians to the crosswalk

[35:26] Now, what I'm saying here is that if we have this language

[35:29] that restricts pedestrians to the crosswalk,

[35:32] Why does that matter when we're applying it across the board regardless of if there is or there isn't to be crosswalk

[35:33] why does that matter when we're applying it across the board

[35:35] regardless of if there is or there is into a crosswalk?

[35:38] In

[35:41] in my wrong

[35:42] my wrong room, we're real quick, my colleague, Captain Dabney just reminded me some crosswalks

[35:42] We're real quick my colleague Captain Dabney just reminded me

[35:47] Some crosswalks are light control crosswalks as well that we still take into account and there's one right outside my office

[35:48] are light control crosswalks as well that we still take into account and there's one right

[35:53] outside my office and I apologize for not even remembering it that you push the button the

[35:54] And I apologize for not even remembering it that you push the button the lights go on. That's a light control crosswalk

[35:56] lights go on, that's a light control crosswalk that tells all drivers the pedestrian now has

[35:59] That tells all drivers the pedestrian now has the right away

[36:02] the right away so those are control crosswalks and I completely forgot about them so I apologize

[36:02] So, those are control crosswalk tonight.

[36:05] I completely forgot about them.

[36:06] So, I apologize for that too.

[36:07] for that too. So if we eliminate that whole idea that that controlled crosswalk idea would go

[36:08] So, if we eliminate that whole idea that that control crosswalk idea would go out the window with it.

[36:12] out the window with it. So many of our crosswalks, especially around schools, are light controlled

[36:13] So, many of our crosswalks, especially around schools, are light controlled crosswalks painted crosswalks with the flashers in them,

[36:16] crosswalks, painted crosswalks with the flasher's in them, which definitely alerts drivers

[36:20] which definitely alerts drivers that the pedestrian is crossing, right?

[36:22] that the pedestrian is crossing, right? I think we all know a common sense tells us that's a different

[36:24] That's, I think we all know a common sense tells us that's a different type of a controlled crosswalk than just a standard painted crosswalk.

[36:27] type of a controlled crosswalk than just a standard painted crosswalk. So I apologize for leaving

[36:30] So I apologize for leaving those out.

[36:32] So, because we have two different kinds, I think, just for simplicity, we leave that in there,

[36:33] So because we have two different kinds,

[36:35] I think just for simplicity, we leave that in there

[36:38] because we do have control, we have many controlled light

[36:38] because we do have control, we have many controlled light control crosswalks still on this down.

[36:41] controlled crosswalks still on this down.

[36:45] And I apologize for forgetting those.

[36:47] Okay.

[36:47] Okay, okay, you forget.

[36:48] Okay, you forget.

[36:49] Because we're joining anything else.

[36:50] No, I don't think so.

[36:52] I think my understanding of the Hornets was simply that we're updating it.

[36:52] I think my understanding of the ordinance was simply

[36:55] that we're updating it.

[36:57] And essentially at the end of the day, an officer can't really stop somebody if they crossed

[36:57] And essentially at the end of the day,

[36:58] an officer can't really stop somebody if they crossed

[37:01] made them prove in the middle of a row of way without a crosswalk. As long as there's no immediate danger.

[37:02] made them prove in the middle of a row of way without a crosswalk, as long as there's no immediate danger.

[37:10] In the stop, you just can't decide.

[37:14] I thought AB 2147 said stop in there.

[37:14] I thought AB 2147 said stop in their

[37:21] languages, no enforcement.

[37:21] The language is no enforcement.

[37:29] Yeah, I thought it's a sight that I could be wrong.

[37:37] It is not.

[37:39] Can I stop?

[37:45] It may also further discussion, or a motion, Councilor Smith.

[37:45] Anybody else further discussion or emotion?

[37:51] Councilor Smith, so I think after all that, to me it's still a positive, if narrow, step

[37:54] So I think after all that, to me, it's still a positive, if narrow, step in the right direction.

[38:00] in the right direction and we can road test this idea, no pun intended for some amount

[38:02] And we can road test this idea, no pun intended for some amount of time and come back and revisit.

[38:05] of time and come back and revisit, so I'll stand and support.

[38:08] So I'll stand and support.

[38:10] You know, I agree as well, I think, you know, we, one of the things we hear about most

[38:11] Do I agree as well, I think, you know, one of the things we hear about most up here is traffic

[38:15] up here is traffic safety, you know, driving is the single most dangerous thing that all

[38:16] safety, you know, driving is the single most dangerous thing that all of us do every single

[38:20] of us do every single day to come and bump both drivers and pedestrians that act in a very

[38:21] today.

[38:22] It's incumbent on both drivers and pedestrians that act in a very responsible manner and

[38:25] responsible manner and you have simply put we have, you know, to many people who don't.

[38:27] simply put, we have, you know, to many people who don't, and I think, you know, recently

[38:30] And I think, you know, recently, especially there's been a lot of, I think this, I don't

[38:32] especially, there's been a lot of, I think this, I don't know, I think, unfortunately,

[38:36] this law has kind of had an unintended consequence of the state law of emboldening some

[38:38] the state law of emboldening some of it,

[38:40] for pedestrians to act in a irresponsible manner.

[38:41] but that's where he's lacking in irresponsible manner.

[38:43] I think just my own personal observations, and I think, you just see a lot of people going

[38:43] I think just my own personal observations,

[38:44] and I think you just see a lot of people

[38:46] going out of the middle of major streets

[38:47] of the middle of major streets and creating a big hazard, primarily for themselves, but it

[38:49] and you're creating a big hazard,

[38:51] primarily for themselves,

[38:52] but it also for drivers as well.

[38:52] also for drivers as well.

[38:57] All right, is there any further discussion or emotion?

[38:57] All right.

[38:57] Is there any further discussion or a motion?

[39:00] Question.

[39:00] Second.

[39:01] Second.

[39:06] Yeah.

[39:06] Yeah, I have a motion.

[39:07] I have a motion.

[39:08] I can't remember Harris in a second.

[39:09] I can't remember DuPont.

[39:10] The emotional include the introduction

[39:10] The motion will include the introduction of ordinance 2587 in ordinance of the city council of the city of

[39:12] of ordinance 2587 and ordinance of the City Council of the City of Merced California,

[39:16] of California.

[39:18] a minning chapter 10.24 of the Merced Municipal Code to prohibit pedestrian crossings outside

[39:18] Emaning chapter 10.24 of the Marseille Municipal Code to prohibit pedestrian crossings outside

[39:23] of crosswalks and repeal the prohibition on standing in road imprisonment.

[39:23] of crosswalks and repeal the prohibition on standing in red rays. Mayor and Council, please

[39:28] Mayor in council please cash interest.

[39:29] catch your vote.

[39:33] Okay and the motion passes unanimously.

[39:33] Okay, and the motion passes unanimously.

[39:36] Right.

[39:36] Right, thank you, Jennifer. On age 13, this is the

[39:36] Thank you.

[39:37] On h 13.

[39:38] This is the billsation item.

[39:40] Bill station item.

[39:42] Mayor.

[39:42] Mayor, if I may, I need to recuse myself

[39:42] If I may I need to re-q this myself from this item as MCOE standpoint of my firm.

[39:44] from this item as MCOE is a client of my firm.

[39:50] Okay.

[39:50] We'll allow Councilor DuPont to step off.

[39:50] We'll allow Councillor Dupont to step off, Councilloror Smith, this was your request to have

[39:52] Councilor Smith, this was your request to have it pulled separately.

[39:53] it pulled separately.

[39:56] Discussion questions or, well, we'll get them out of there too.

[39:56] Discussion questions or get them into their two.

[39:59] Four is your answer.

[40:00] Four is yours, sir.

[40:02] Thank you.

[40:03] No, that was it.

[40:03] I was just being a good colleague and giving Council Member Deponta to answer our cues myself.

[40:03] I was just being a good colleague and giving Councilor DuPont a chance to

[40:06] recuse myself.

[40:11] Questions, comments, discussion?

[40:14] Motion.

[40:15] Motion.

[40:15] Second.

[40:18] Okay.

[40:18] I have a motion by Council Member Harris and a second by Council Member Smith.

[40:18] We have a motion by Council Member Harris and a second by Council Member Smith.

[40:21] The motion will include the adoption of Resolution 2026-04, a resolution of the City Council of the City of Merced California,

[40:22] The motion will include the adoption of Resolution 2026-04, a Resolution of the City

[40:27] Council of the City of Merceded California, approving the sale of the Merced Federal

[40:30] approving the sale of the Merced Federal Building located at 415 West 18th Street, Merced California, Mayor and Council, please catch your votes.

[40:31] Building located at 415 West 18th Street, Merced California, Mayor and Council, please

[40:37] catch your votes.

[40:40] Okay, and the motion passes with Councilmember DuPont, we're using himself.

[40:40] Okay.

[40:40] The motion passes with Council Member DuPont, we're accusing himself.

[40:44] Thank you.

[40:45] Thank you.

[40:45] for answering all those questions.

[40:46] for answering all of those questions.

[40:47] We'd like

[40:57] I'd like Councilor DuPont back in and we'll take up the agenda item I would want.

[40:57] Councilor Dupont back in and we'll take up the agenda item I would want.

[41:02] Okay, agenda item I, business.

[41:04] I want Councilmember Smith's request to discuss Council policy C8 regarding Council

[41:04] I want Councilmember Smith's request to discuss Council policy C8 regarding Council of

[41:09] Subcommittees.

[41:09] subcommittees.

[41:11] Let's go for Smith.

[41:13] Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

[41:14] You know, when I woke up today, I didn't mean to talk so much about our meeting.

[41:14] When I woke up today, I didn't mean to talk so much about our meeting.

[41:17] So to reset the stage, to regular meetings ago, I presented a PowerPoint to Council for a proposal for a more formal committee structure.

[41:18] So to reset the stage at our two regular meetings ago, I presented a

[41:24] The PowerPoint to Council for a proposal for a more formal committee structure.

[41:32] Don't necessarily need to go through the PowerPoint again.

[41:36] I wanted you guys to have it, so you could see sort of what we had talked about and what there was unanimous support for.

[41:36] I wanted you guys to have it, so you could see sort of what we had talked about and what

[41:39] there was unanimous support for.

[41:41] Essentially, I had pointed out that we were, I think, unintentionally having meetings that

[41:41] Essentially, I had pointed out that we were, I think, unintentionally having meetings

[41:46] outside of the public view that we're varying towards the line, if not beyond

[41:46] set of the public view that were varying towards the line, if not beyond, occasionally,

[41:50] occasionally from informational into seeking and giving direction, and I also pointed out that

[41:51] from informational and to seeking and giving direction, and I also pointed out that our charter

[41:57] our charter distributes executive and legislative power up here throughout the seven of

[41:58] distributes executive and legislative power up here throughout the seven of us, and so it

[42:02] us, and so it would be appropriate to maintain this more nimble committee structure

[42:03] would be appropriate to maintain this more nimble committee structure by decilling away the

[42:07] about D. So in a way that comports with the Brown Act and also allows the people who

[42:08] reports for the Brown Act, and also allows the people who sit up here at the chance to build

[42:11] sit up here at the chance to build subject matter expertise and get a chance to weigh on a

[42:13] subject matter expertise and get a chance to weigh on a different subject matter area.

[42:17] and Senate matter areas. So I sat down, I put a pen to paper on a proposed council policy

[42:19] So I sat down, I put Penn to paper on a proposed council policy C8, which is the council

[42:23] C8, which is a council that gave me the green light to do. And I hope that I came back

[42:25] had given me the green light to do.

[42:28] And I hope that I came back with a draft that basically reflects the conversations that

[42:29] with a draft that basically reflects the conversations that we talked about.

[42:34] talk about.

[42:37] There's a purpose that drives with the presentation that I made. There are separate

[42:37] There's a purpose

[42:38] that drives with the presentation that I made. There are separate structures for standing

[42:42] structures for standing committees at ad hoc committees. I can talk about those differences

[42:44] committees at ad hoc committees. I can talk about those differences again if you guys like.

[42:48] again if you guys like. Appointments would be made by the full Council and also as discussed

[42:50] I'm appointments would be made by the full council and also as discussed embedding some

[42:55] embedding some of our regional and joint powers authority appointments into the subcommittee.

[42:56] of our regional and joint powers authority appointments into the subcommittee. Membership,

[43:01] Membership, the ID and being there, if we're building subject matter expertise in certain

[43:01] the ID and being there, if we're building subject matter expertise in certain content areas,

[43:05] content areas, it makes sense to say, have our representative to the regional waste water

[43:06] it makes sense to say have our representative to the regional wastewater authority be somebody

[43:11] authority be somebody who's on the public works committee.

[43:12] on the public works committee.

[43:16] So, I will just kind of pause there as an overview and I'm happy to take any feedback or questions

[43:20] that you all have.

[43:22] Questions for Councilor Smith, Jennifer, do we have anything from the public on this side?

[43:23] Questions for councilmember Smith?

[43:24] Jennifer, do we have anything from the public on this side?

[43:27] We don't have anything there.

[43:28] Okay, questions for councilmember Smith or any comments.

[43:28] Okay.

[43:29] Questions for councilmember Smith or any comments?

[43:35] Okay, councilmember DuPont.

[43:35] Councillor Dupont.

[43:37] Thank you, Mayor.

[43:38] Thank you, councilmember Smith, for bringing this forward.

[43:38] Thank you.

[43:38] Councilmember Smith for bringing this forward.

[43:42] I just want to kind of talk about what our current structure is

[43:42] I just want to kind of talk about what our current structure is.

[43:46] and with this change, what council members, roles, and responsibilities, how they may change in this transition.

[43:46] and what this change, what councilmembers, roles,

[43:53] and responsibilities, how they may change in this transition.

[43:59] So, the question is, how do I think this could change our roles and responsibilities?

[43:59] So the question is, how do I think this could change our roles and responsibilities?

[44:05] Correct. I don't know that it changes our role. I think it potentially expands our responsibilities.

[44:06] I don't know that it changes our role.

[44:07] I think it potentially expands our responsibilities.

[44:12] Number one, the meeting's being public, it's now going to be a part of the public record

[44:12] Number one, the meeting's being public.

[44:15] It's now going to be a part of the public record.

[44:17] of public discourse, is something our community can comment on by decisions I thought

[44:17] Public discourse is something our community can comment on by decisions

[44:21] I thought process, so that sort of elevates the importance of the committee, the committee,

[44:22] process, so that sort of elevates the importance of the committee, the committee meetings.

[44:29] But also I'm proposing that we appoint no more than three council members per committee,

[44:35] that appointment with last for the entire council term.

[44:35] that appointment would last for the entire council term.

[44:38] Right now we're redoing our appointments every year.

[44:38] Right now, we're redoing our appointments every year.

[44:42] So for two years, somebody gets a chance to be on, let's just say, the public safety committee.

[44:42] So for two years, somebody gets a chance to be on,

[44:44] let's just say, the public safety committee.

[44:46] They're going to get a chance to learn from our chiefs and learn about these issues and kind of

[44:46] They're going to get a chance to learn from our chiefs

[44:49] and learn about these issues and kind of builds

[44:51] and subject matter expertise that expertise would translate to the full-diast discussions.

[44:51] and subject matter expertise.

[44:57] Also, I'm proposing that each...

[45:00] Committee have the ability to appoint its own chair and vice chair. So those are additional leadership positions within the council that are supporting it to our presiding officer of the mayor.

[45:10] And so, again, that's going to build not just prestige amongst the council, but also some responsibility and some obligation to do good job at the committee level.

[45:20] In terms of operation, you know, again, I think it's imperative that I heard you guys agree with me two meetings ago that we find a structure.

[45:27] we can continue committee meetings that are compliant with the Brown Act.

[45:32] But also I think there's a positive benefit for our staff.

[45:36] We can set a regular committee structure meeting for the year.

[45:40] Staff is going to know when those meetings are.

[45:42] And so they'll know that at certain points in time,

[45:45] they're going to have to be ready to give an informational update

[45:47] to brief certain members of the committee

[45:50] ahead of brief in the full council.

[45:53] But also as issues come up, if they want to road test an idea,

[45:55] And if they want, if they want feedback from the committee, that committee meetings are already on the counter.

[46:01] The city manager does not have to decide, oh geez, I have to set a meeting and then try to schedule something and everybody knows what we're driving at.

[46:08] And if we get to the regular meeting date, there's no items for discussion, the committee meeting can be canceled.

[46:14] But if we really want to capture this idea that committees are a nimble, more focused element of the council that is better able to deal with issues in real time,

[46:23] I think the structure allows us to do that.

[46:28] One of the other things currently, how our commissioner structure, no authority has really

[46:36] been given to the subcommittees to make policy decisions.

[46:42] Usually policy decision comes to the full council for discussion and approval, would this

[46:47] change that process or that thought of having it come the full council in the sense of a policy decision.

[46:58] The way this is structured is to more formally sort of do in a way what we've been doing now,

[47:04] with the committee's act and advisory capacity.

[47:09] I envision items being delegated to committees in two ways one by majority of the full council.

[47:16] or by the city manager and the committee chair, but I think you're right, you know, we would

[47:21] want to road test this for a while, but this is a potential structure where the future

[47:25] or even now, if Council wanted to delegate decision making authority to the people on the committee

[47:30] they could do so. And there may be instances where we want to do that, right? We know we know

[47:35] a deadline is coming up, and we know there's intensively watched issues that have to happen in real

[47:40] time, you know, like the high speed rail authority committee.

[47:43] We don't have any decision-making power, but I don't know how the full council could engage

[47:49] in those meetings and those negotiations, the mayor protest and the mayor and I have.

[47:54] So this does create that kind of a structure where decision-making authority could in the future

[48:00] be delegated.

[48:02] And there are other cities, pure cities, you know, like Baker's Field, Modesta Sacramento,

[48:06] that do do that.

[48:10] Thank you.

[48:10] You're welcome. Thank you.

[48:14] Good evening, Bill.

[48:22] Sorry, man.

[48:24] You know, yeah, a couple of things.

[48:25] I think that odd committees are, I think this,

[48:28] that odd committees are very important.

[48:30] And it's this obviously memorializes that in the states that at the beginning as well.

[48:34] You know, it gives, for the reasons stated in here,

[48:37] you know, the ad hoc committees play a really essential role.

[48:40] I think this is good.

[48:42] And at it, it, you know, channels, then puts them in the right spot.

[48:45] You know, at a time having sort of a council at time kind of before we had a lot of committees, I think it was a lot.

[48:52] I think it's a big advantage to have that, how committees won because it, again, for the reason to say it in here, it builds expertise.

[48:57] But also, too, it drives work.

[49:00] I mean, I can recall in a lot of council members would express frustration because they'd say, we should do that.

[49:06] And then nothing, you know, then it kind of, nothing would sort of happen.

[49:10] So it really allows the council to drive council's agenda and have council involved in a good way.

[49:16] Which I think at the end of the day is more democratic because we're elected to a responsible resistance.

[49:22] You know, standing committees I think certainly could be a good thing or potentially I would like to kind of figure it out.

[49:27] See if it's too much or if it's, you know, how does it, it's got to be calibrated to the workload.

[49:34] But one little concern is that the city manager has the ability to write now to say, oh,

[49:40] I got something coming up, and I'm going to call this committee or that committee and

[49:46] bring them in.

[49:46] So typically we have stuff up here and that how committees get involved because the council

[49:51] will say, you know, we need to do this and the council directs it, but two also sometimes

[49:57] I think Mr. McBride makes good use of some of the committees as well to say, I need to

[50:02] work on some stuff.

[50:02] So just having a way to, so he has that ability of one to get us involved and helps,

[50:08] I think helps all of us do a better job.

[50:10] And then a couple of little tiny things, he's a little nitpicky, but the public safety

[50:16] committee here under G1, it says Council's Representative to the COC, Shelby, and remember

[50:24] the Public Safety Committee, unless otherwise, directly by Council.

[50:28] We're not, some cities don't.

[50:29] We have, currently, I serve as a representative,

[50:32] a serve as the chair on that.

[50:35] They, the board nominates its own folks,

[50:39] but the city nominates representatives.

[50:42] So it's the structures, a little complicated.

[50:44] General membership and the board,

[50:46] but the COC has its own kind of policy

[50:50] for nominating, accepting board members.

[50:52] But I don't think that's just one little thing.

[50:55] Then we're set integrated and then under public works, the we're set integrated regional water management authority. Again, that's I serve on that and then does anybody serve on the same walking valley air pollution control board.

[51:09] I don't think we always. Yeah, we don't always have somebody on that.

[51:12] There's an appointment committee that one of us gets called down for an annual basis and I think there's a rotating.

[51:19] It's you, the city membership, okay, and I've been on the water management authority in the past, okay?

[51:25] But yeah, I think, no, I take your point that we can refine exactly what it is that we're talking about here.

[51:30] I think you say, I mean, unless otherwise directed by council, like is you a good out right there.

[51:34] And then under three,

[51:37] The left-goer says we're representative of the

[51:39] Reset County Local Agency Formation Commission.

[51:42] We don't always have a left-go spot.

[51:46] So we'll have, I think, there's a gap sometimes

[51:48] where there's a Reset, but again, it says

[51:49] unless otherwise directed by council.

[51:53] Does anybody serve on left-goer right now?

[51:56] I think Darren's on tap if it comes out.

[51:58] Do you have the alternate right now?

[52:03] The same Reset is not up for the position right now.

[52:08] Yeah, since we don't have a seat at the table, we're not on the cycle yet, so, but if we do, I am the one, that's the one.

[52:17] Okay. Yeah, last year, two year alter a period in four years, you serve, and that's, and then it varies depending on which cities, there's a spot for each city.

[52:26] It'll say it's Merced to her in Los Banners turn.

[52:29] Okay.

[52:32] So I appreciate the feedback. A couple of points. One, I completely agree. I think the ad hoc committee serve a different

[52:39] if not sometimes parallel. I would hope that over time that a lot of the work that we

[52:45] delegate to the at-ock committees would go to a standing committee. Just to reduce the number

[52:50] of committees we got filling around, reduce staff time, try to gain these efficiencies.

[52:54] In terms of the city manager's ability to effectively use committees, I think it's section 3-EG.

[53:02] There's the pathway for the C manager to direct work to a standing committee.

[53:07] I mean, I would think considered when the Brown Act

[53:09] of those a real time exigency, we could just call

[53:11] a special session of the standard committee.

[53:18] All right.

[53:19] This would provide your thoughts.

[53:20] I think my observations use these committees very effectively,

[53:27] or you have been done sort of in the past.

[53:30] Do you have any thoughts, I think?

[53:34] I'm just following the dialogue.

[53:35] I think it's all very productive,

[53:37] but I don't think conversations with many of you

[53:38] leading up to tonight, I think.

[53:39] This is a good effort going forward.

[53:44] I guess the one question I have thinking about it

[53:47] some more tonight is the four-year term that does

[53:52] lock you in for a long time.

[53:53] I don't know if you might want to consider.

[53:55] This is not my area.

[53:57] This is really you for consideration.

[53:59] But maybe reconsidering after every election, maybe

[54:02] making it two-year term.

[54:03] So you've got a little more frequency.

[54:06] But that's really a counsel decision.

[54:08] nothing staff. I think, as proposed, we can work with this and we got the flexibility for

[54:14] special meetings. I think this gives us a lot of ways we can do a lot of good work together.

[54:20] So, on that point, I appreciate bringing that up City Manager Pride. So, you pointed out an

[54:24] ambiguity that we're going to fix in my mind council term means the two years that the current

[54:29] body sits and this goes to a suggestion that council member Harris made the last time. I don't want to

[54:34] in the weeds on appointment and composition, but so the idea would be that whoever gets sworn

[54:40] in is sworn in with this council as a two-year run and then folks would sit in the committee

[54:45] seats for those two years that would turn over after the next election.

[54:49] However, it turns over.

[54:51] So, I think that makes a lot of sense to turn it over every two years because the council

[54:55] composition changes and you know there might be a need there either.

[54:58] So, I think we can make council term a defined term in the definition section as a two-year

[55:06] So I appreciate that point.

[55:09] So do you turn Cornwell?

[55:16] I wanted to just get a suggestion out there.

[55:21] And that is for the ad hoc committees.

[55:26] Would the body consider having this policy without

[55:35] naming the ad hoc committees

[55:37] And have a, in restate the ad hoc committees through resolution where it's clear that they are ad hoc.

[55:53] The definition and the authority, the meeting dates are all in a resolution for the committees that the body wants to go forward.

[56:05] And the policy is the framework for whatever committee at all committees that the board wants to use.

[56:19] So I guess two things.

[56:21] One, I think I don't know if you're saying this, but I've work to have at all committees.

[56:26] I'd like to have those committees reflected in this guidance here.

[56:30] But to your point, talk about next steps.

[56:33] Assuming we're all still on board with your thoughts and changes the next step and my mind is the word specifically

[56:39] Review to tighten up the draft

[56:42] And come back the next time with the potential first reading, but also as you said

[56:48] A resolution to reaffirm that the currently existing ad hoc committees and how long they're going to keep running

[56:56] I think I had had that even in the timeline slide or the presentation from a couple meetings go

[57:04] I don't know if that address all your points, but, okay, that's for sure.

[57:10] Well, one, I had the same question with regards to Councilor Turner, but I think Councilor

[57:16] Meriss Smith, if you clarify that.

[57:19] The other question I had was with regards to the agenda for the standing meeting or standing

[57:24] committees.

[57:26] I wasn't too sure how that process worked, or we're adding in a section that has add to

[57:32] agenda on to those agenda as well, where approvals happen, or these just verbal approvals.

[57:41] Now, so this goes to staff resources in why the city manager rightly asked a slow implementation.

[57:50] I mean, I think that the committees are noticed that agenda is emitted just like our meetings and just like any of our

[58:00] I mean, what regards to this section for such an eight or eight in a paragraph two, whereas

[58:10] says with approval of the city manager or standing committee chair without council referral.

[58:16] And this is what regards to adding an item to the agenda.

[58:19] Yeah, I see.

[58:20] I will assure if this was just done during those meetings during the standing meetings or the approval

[58:26] from the chair happening outside meetings.

[58:31] So we can iron out the process in my mind, and this is probably where the problem is

[58:36] it has to be on the page, but it'd be like akin to the future agenda item here in a meeting

[58:42] that the chair would have to chair as a vice-chair would have to refer a meeting to a future

[58:48] consideration of the committee, and that would be a part of the agenda packet for the public

[58:54] to see how that item got to the next committee meeting.

[59:02] Okay, I mean, if it follows what we are currently doing, I think that makes sense.

[59:06] But as it is, I wasn't completely sure how that process worked.

[59:11] I can take another swing at that.

[59:13] I do think that the city manager should have the ability to request and paneling

[59:18] or a standard committee meeting or put things on the agenda without

[59:23] re-asking everybody again.

[59:25] Just like happens now.

[59:43] Thank you, Mayor.

[59:46] I guess to that section.

[59:51] How does council policy C1 play into effect?

[59:56] I know it's how we conductors.

[1:00:02] So we would be creating a different process for the standing committees.

[1:00:11] It was different from the standpoint of C1 deals with the operation of the folk council,

[1:00:18] the committee.

[1:00:21] You know, I'd be up into amongst the three people on a committee, two of them have to agree

[1:00:28] to move an item forward to the next agenda.

[1:00:31] And I'm not saying that needs to be the case, but and I'm okay with the city manager

[1:00:36] bring obviously something that they're he's more tuned to the issues here in this

[1:00:42] city so I think it would be open to discussion if on a standing committee if we

[1:00:50] have two members that want to bring something to the committee or if it's just

[1:00:54] going to be a single member.

[1:00:59] I think there's less risk and inefficiency given that

[1:01:04] There's a lot more going on up here, right?

[1:01:08] But I mean, I'm open to others than you just like here.

[1:01:14] I guess everything is sort of informational and visor anyway.

[1:01:18] But if you guys are more comfortable with getting two votes

[1:01:20] amongst the three, to put something on a future agenda,

[1:01:23] I'm open to

[1:01:38] it.

[1:01:38] Customs are strong, the floor is yours as soon as customer

[1:01:40] to do points,

[1:01:43] duh.

[1:01:43] Yeah, I mean, just fine back to the point,

[1:01:46] Councilman, we're at DuPamade at the very beginning.

[1:01:50] As all of these are not committees with authority to make decisions, and their advisory,

[1:01:55] I don't see it as an issue, but if they are, and then that's a bigger issue there.

[1:02:04] Yeah, they're all advisory.

[1:02:05] I mean, it's sort of the same role that so committees currently serve, which is the

[1:02:11] The only difference would be a little more formal and meetings noticed as some of the

[1:02:16] genders.

[1:02:18] But yet, certainly no, they can advise the city manager with his authority, and they can

[1:02:27] make recommendations to the Councillor to advise the council, but you have certainly no authority

[1:02:31] of them.

[1:02:32] Councillor Dupont.

[1:02:35] Yeah, so what I think Council Member Shawlong is getting at is at the very beginning of the

[1:02:40] question was maybe in the future of movement towards having some form of public policy decision

[1:02:48] making and a standing committee correct me if I'm wrong and it's so that I think having

[1:02:55] two votes to put something on a standing committee would be appropriate based on that authority

[1:03:03] to make public policy decisions on behalf of the council.

[1:03:06] I don't know if we're there yet, we may still be in the advisory role and trying to help

[1:03:15] Council come to decisions and recommendations, but I think if we go to a full, you have the

[1:03:24] authority on behalf of the Council, standing committee, make policy decisions, then to maybe appropriate.

[1:03:32] So I take the point that both of you are making.

[1:03:34] I think the way to fix that is to put a little bit more meat on this bone here in 3-H.

[1:03:41] If the full council is delegating to the subcommittee policy making decision, that's the end of the story.

[1:03:48] Right? The seven people appear a majority invoided to do that.

[1:03:52] What we're talking about is the process of putting an item directly on the agenda.

[1:03:57] Well, the city manager only has informational advisory power anyway.

[1:04:00] So, then I think you're probably right, the committee chair or the committee memberships,

[1:04:06] you'll only be able to place items that are advisory or informational only.

[1:04:11] So, there's no risk of it being any kind of decision making authority.

[1:04:16] I think we can do that.

[1:04:27] Anybody else?

[1:04:32] Thank you.

[1:04:32] Councillor Smith, next step.

[1:04:33] Should we talk about further work working with the city attorney and bringing it back?

[1:04:38] Yeah, I'd have respect for my schedule and city attorney, Cornwall's schedule will work to come back in 30 days.

[1:04:45] So I guess the first meeting in February, although I'll give the city attorney a chance to say no way.

[1:04:52] You guys are, all right.

[1:04:54] No big mediation's right.

[1:05:00] All right.

[1:05:01] All right. Thank you, everybody.

[1:05:02] I appreciate it.

[1:05:07] One council policy to another.

[1:05:09] agenda item item item item item item item item adoption of a resolution

[1:05:14] approving the revision of the city council policy for distribution of city

[1:05:18] awards and other forms of recognition from the city council.

[1:05:21] Can we have a presentation on this?

[1:05:27] Mr. Brett.

[1:05:28] Mayor, I'll do my best.

[1:05:29] I know we worked on this some time with some feedback from one of the

[1:05:33] committees.

[1:05:34] made some revisions, I know it's here tonight for your consideration.

[1:05:39] I think probably the biggest change here was just the discussion we had tried to keep the meetings moving quicker.

[1:05:46] There was a lot of discussion about trying to limit the number of awards,

[1:05:51] the recognition provided during the meeting.

[1:05:54] And so I think, at least from my opinion, the biggest change is limiting those to two permitting.

[1:06:00] I think the rest is really minor changes unless someone correct me if I'm forgetting something but I think that's

[1:06:07] part of the biggest change that's proposed in this tonight through your consideration.

[1:06:11] Yeah, agreed.

[1:06:12] There's discussion from the full council to have a different way to streamline the meetings and address

[1:06:18] the ceremonial items that end and see managers that the biggest change here is to limit those to two permitting

[1:06:25] And then, all the other change is very, I guess, just logistical and who to notify and charge

[1:06:33] you what?

[1:06:33] Councillor Dupal.

[1:06:35] Thank you, Mayor.

[1:06:37] Most on ethics and governance subcommittee in discussing this, one just language change, instead

[1:06:45] of a should, it should be a shall, so that we do limit it to, instead of being a suggestion,

[1:06:53] on 7A, but yeah, I think this allows for better flow of our council meetings and without

[1:07:06] taking away that ability to be recognized within a council meeting as well.

[1:07:11] Councillor Harris.

[1:07:14] Thank you, Mayor, just wanted to reinforce that the special meeting we had where we had four

[1:07:20] different groups come up for recognition was very successful and was very well received by

[1:07:28] the community and there was no time issues involved. We had lots of time to recognize

[1:07:33] the mostly kids who were involved in the awards. Didn't detract from a regular council agenda.

[1:07:44] And I thought it was going to go well and it went even better than I thought fully support

[1:07:49] that type of action wherever we can to combine those rewards into a non-council meeting meeting.

[1:08:04] No great.

[1:08:04] I mean, it allows for whoever can show up and show up.

[1:08:06] And everybody's extremely busy with their schedules.

[1:08:09] And then too, which if you have a, you know, just to bring people to the council,

[1:08:12] it allows you to have, you know, a little more celebratory tone than having to go from,

[1:08:17] you know, having to switch tones from that to a council meeting where it's more

[1:08:25] I'm sorry again that I had to travel for depositions, but you guys were celebrating our sports teams.

[1:08:31] I thought it was a great idea.

[1:08:33] Kind of along those lines too.

[1:08:36] I mean, the 2010s I seen to recall that ceremony items were brought up actually before the meeting.

[1:08:41] It's maybe that's another venue.

[1:08:43] I appreciate the subcommittees work on this.

[1:08:47] I stand at support.

[1:08:48] I would second council member do ponds call for making that a mandatory maximum of two

[1:08:53] I did have a question, I think it's just a Mantix House as written, but my reading of the policy is that

[1:09:02] any council member can request the city's attention to printing certificates for recognition. Is that right?

[1:09:14] Yeah, it's a map. Anybody else wants to answer that?

[1:09:16] Yeah, anybody, can you go through the city manager's office? So if you receive a request, you then you ask the city manager to the city clerk.

[1:09:25] So then, this is just a drafting point, but on the very last page, whether there's specifications

[1:09:32] for how the proclamation should be formatted for printing, I think it should then just say

[1:09:37] with room remaining for signature.

[1:09:44] Do you want us to take out the level of the point, tool point?

[1:09:49] It says with room remaining for the mayor's signature, and I'm just saying if certificates are

[1:09:54] Obviously that's the default for the full council, but if other people on the council can request a certificate just to just stay for a second turn.

[1:10:03] Yeah.

[1:10:04] Or may or council in your city?

[1:10:07] But that's fine too.

[1:10:08] It's specific.

[1:10:16] Sounds reasonable.

[1:10:17] Anybody else?

[1:10:20] Sounds reasonable.

[1:10:20] Sounds reasonable?

[1:10:21] Claire, clarification on just the proc.

[1:10:24] The procedure portion.

[1:10:25] So I'm assuming it's the first come first serve for those two that are approved.

[1:10:30] I think we sort of informally done that the last it seems like it's maybe it's

[1:10:37] I don't know if it's been a potential or not, but it's kind of worked out that

[1:10:39] way the last few months, but since city manager says the agenda, but yeah since

[1:10:45] first come for service, those dates will fill up and I know when I've received

[1:10:49] some lately I've asked, you know, is that date available, which dates available?

[1:10:54] So yeah, first come for a service for sure.

[1:10:56] Okay, and then two council members, Ms. Point,

[1:11:01] individual council members are able to still request

[1:11:05] certificates of recognition and the contact information up above here doesn't apply to

[1:11:11] these. Is that how this works?

[1:11:15] Where it talks about specific contacts, who to contact and so forth,

[1:11:21] those are not items that pertain to council members. What do you mean? Because there's this

[1:11:27] The following information shall be including your request, contact persons first and last name, phone number, email address.

[1:11:33] That can be part of it.

[1:11:34] This portion here, if a council member is making their request.

[1:11:38] Are we providing these as well?

[1:11:40] I think you can.

[1:11:41] It's as sure, so as any,

[1:11:45] legally, the difference between shall and should is a big difference.

[1:11:49] That's was mentioned earlier.

[1:11:55] But if, yeah, if you're just getting it, like often I'll get one and if you're going to get it and go hand it out of the bed or you're going to go hand it out to somebody, then it's certainly not necessary.

[1:12:05] I just just see information that a bunch of Jennifer jump in, but it's information that they need to do their job.

[1:12:09] Yeah, so it's usually information if someone requested and they're just going to come pick it up, like we'll need someone's contact information to let them know that it's ready for pick-up.

[1:12:19] So it's been for that instance, but if you guys are going to come pick it up and deliver

[1:12:23] it, then we won't need the person's contact information, but we will need if it's like

[1:12:27] a certificate of recognition, like what it's for, and a little bit of information that

[1:12:31] we can piece it together in names and things like that.

[1:12:34] I will say, though, it is very helpful if we can get these pretty ahead of time because they

[1:12:38] are kind of time consuming, putting them together in that way, we make sure that nothing's

[1:12:42] incorrect.

[1:12:43] We have to redo them, or if there's a missed spelling, so it kind of gives us a little

[1:12:46] more time to make sure that we can get them done in a timely manner.

[1:12:51] OK.

[1:12:52] I think that sounds good, no?

[1:12:54] I'm just not sure if it matters if we need to write that in here or not.

[1:12:57] What regards to how Council handles it individually?

[1:13:01] Or if it's just public facing side?

[1:13:08] All right.

[1:13:09] Digital thoughts comments.

[1:13:11] It's an important thing.

[1:13:12] I think these things, the recognition should mean a lot to our community, and I think this

[1:13:16] strikes a good balance between that.

[1:13:19] and also of Sri Lanka, our council meetings as well.

[1:13:23] But these certifications and recommendations certainly meet a lot

[1:13:26] to a lot of people.

[1:13:28] Good way to get to go.

[1:13:30] All right, anybody else?

[1:13:33] Can you see none?

[1:13:34] Jennifer, what?

[1:13:35] The motion or direction?

[1:13:37] Motion.

[1:13:38] Public comment?

[1:13:40] Okay.

[1:13:40] Oh yes, right.

[1:13:42] Any public comments?

[1:13:43] I would go ahead and see the green.

[1:13:44] We have not received any public comments for this item.

[1:13:48] And Councillor Harris, is that a lot of us regret it?

[1:13:51] Step in real quick.

[1:13:52] Yeah, I just want to confirm with the amendments that we were requesting.

[1:13:58] Yeah, that was adding, it says mayor or councilmember signature and shall so the shed on

[1:14:04] and I think it was, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh,

[1:14:07] seven and two.

[1:14:08] Those two amendments?

[1:14:09] And then I can clarify the council versus public facing when it comes to the contact information.

[1:14:15] And the key more to it is, it should, it should means, you know, it don't have to do it.

[1:14:20] So if you certainly have, I'll get a lot of them where the Jennifer said, people will come and pick them up.

[1:14:25] So if that's the case, you need that information.

[1:14:27] But other ones will get bring them out to the community at that point.

[1:14:31] Yeah, that's not necessary.

[1:14:32] That point.

[1:14:34] All right.

[1:14:35] Was there a second?

[1:14:37] Just to clarify, Mike, is adopting those?

[1:14:41] Yeah, there's three to those.

[1:14:42] Okay, so the motion is as recommended, but with proposed modifications,

[1:14:47] which the should for shallowing, which the council would do,

[1:14:50] what I mentioned, adding council mayor, and council member.

[1:14:54] And then we'll just visit our third floor.

[1:14:56] I think I'll say it.

[1:14:57] Okay.

[1:14:58] Say it.

[1:15:00] Okay, I have a motion by Councilmember Harris. Today's second by Councilmember DuPont. The motion will include the adoption of resolution 2026-01, a resolution of the city council, the city of Merced California, adopting city council policy, C2, distribution of city awards and other forms of recognition from the city council. Mayor in council, please catch your votes.

[1:15:23] Okay, the motion passes unanimously.

[1:15:26] Okay.

[1:15:26] Thank you, Jennifer.

[1:15:28] On two, I three.

[1:15:29] Pageant item.

[1:15:30] I three request to add item to future agenda.

[1:15:33] Okay, so I'm going to write Councillor Dupont anything for future agenda.

[1:15:35] Nothing tonight, Mayor.

[1:15:36] Councillor Gill.

[1:15:37] Nothing.

[1:15:38] Councillor Harris.

[1:15:39] Yes, Mayor.

[1:15:41] I get a lot of questions and discussions from constituents for two standout all the time.

[1:15:54] So, I'd like to take the less important one, roads, and I'd like to put that on the agenda for a discussion on a comprehensive roadway project assessment and schedule.

[1:16:12] So I know that the Capital Improvement Program exists.

[1:16:19] It is in completed tests as far as all the roads we have and it's often hard to understand

[1:16:26] for the general public.

[1:16:29] What I envision is a master list of roads in our community that have the present condition,

[1:16:34] The level of remediation necessary is a simple, simple covering or is it required a full

[1:16:44] depth renovation and the estimated cost without wanting to burden staff on that and I

[1:16:52] would propose and would like to discuss the option of having a citizen involvement in

[1:16:58] where they can go through, and hopefully, objectively, come up with this list, because if you leave it to us, well, we're likely to say my roots in my district are much worse.

[1:17:12] And the fact is that there's roads in another district that are worse than roads in my district.

[1:17:20] I want to see those repaired first.

[1:17:23] So to allow the citizens to be involved in that process, I think,

[1:17:32] save staff time, create a level of involvement that's kind of like buying into it.

[1:17:41] And it's something I would envision a committee doing maybe every five years or so to go back and look at it.

[1:17:48] It's kind of a process that's not a one-off out and something that needs to be done continuously.

[1:17:54] So we always know where our needs are and what are estimated costs are.

[1:18:01] It's not enough to say, well that's just too expensive we can't do it.

[1:18:05] Because if we don't have the money now, then we've got to make a multi-year plan to budget for those roads.

[1:18:14] As I understand it from discussions I've had with staff, we don't have any plans to do any type of road repair on anything less than a collector road.

[1:18:31] So the world's going through most of the streets, most of the residential areas are not in a plan for repair.

[1:18:41] And I think we need to address that and that's what I'm asking for to be added to a future agenda, non-urgent.

[1:18:54] Thoughts a couple of us are our city engineer as soon as you started talking looked down and started writing

[1:19:00] Seriously I

[1:19:02] would just a couple I got asked you for your input in a second, but it

[1:19:06] Big topic potentially for strategic planning one and then two I think there's a lot of information already that

[1:19:15] That in particular city engineer would have about you the current

[1:19:20] plans for certain roads and other things as well.

[1:19:23] I mean, the basketball zipper, the grinder,

[1:19:26] how we're using that, for example,

[1:19:28] it's been done in front of Hoover and some other spots as well,

[1:19:32] pop-rolling in tens of thousands of bottles every year

[1:19:34] filled, those kind of things on the small streets.

[1:19:36] But Darryl, are you real quick, just?

[1:19:40] Thank you, Mayor.

[1:19:43] There is an, as standard PCI report that's done in Cag

[1:19:48] is sponsoring that through the county right now,

[1:19:50] or we didn't get that underway and it will basically define every street in the city of what level of repair and need that it's in with a cost and actually gives this strategy and how to tackle that to save the most streets for the least amount of money.

[1:20:03] So that report is coming. I just don't know the data when it will be delivered yet.

[1:20:10] So within the next six months it's supposed to be already underway. So I would expect within the next six to 12 months we should have that report. Hopefully sooner.

[1:20:21] So, at the outside year, I don't know that we do have a report now.

[1:20:27] It's a bit dated.

[1:20:28] And some of those residential streets which you discuss are in that report that we could

[1:20:33] look at and maybe review that with yourself.

[1:20:35] Yeah, I guess all that report was updated.

[1:20:38] If I'm 2018, maybe you're 2019, then I believe that's correct.

[1:20:43] So, we are overdue, yes, all the peace here.

[1:20:45] Come through to part.

[1:20:52] We are wanting to put this, I'm assuming on an action item because there's going to be staff time

[1:20:59] involved in a sense of making a

[1:21:02] determination

[1:21:02] priority of

[1:21:06] Roads, is that correct?

[1:21:10] I think the first step is to get that list made, and I'm trying to do that with a little staff involved in this possible, by

[1:21:18] recruiting from the community to

[1:21:23] take on that burden of doing the inventory of roads and the condition that they're in.

[1:21:31] So we want the community to determine status and condition of our roads.

[1:21:37] I'm no engineer. I have no idea what road is better than the next other than just saying

[1:21:46] subjectively, because I don't know that that road is better than the other.

[1:21:51] So I think that's...

[1:21:53] I think it's very much objective.

[1:21:55] I think when I'm driving down the road, and you know, I have to move into the center

[1:22:00] or move off to the side to avoid brooding my suspension.

[1:22:06] I can make a checkbox and say, that's a bad road.

[1:22:11] Well, what's the definition of bad versus worse versus terrible versus the worst road in town?

[1:22:20] Because we can disagree on the key all day long, right?

[1:22:23] Which we did.

[1:22:24] Right?

[1:22:25] We didn't think it some, you know, and I think mission may be the worst.

[1:22:30] But that's not.

[1:22:32] There's no engineering or professionalism

[1:22:37] And in a determination of a road status based on even my opinion, without any engineer or professional information on it.

[1:22:50] I mean, that's what it's going to be hard for me to.

[1:22:54] Let me ask you to find that there's value.

[1:22:57] Do you think it's necessary to have that list?

[1:23:02] I think if we do an expansive list of all the roads,

[1:23:06] I think we can spend more time on focusing on the larger road systems that need to be fixed within the city.

[1:23:14] So I think it's a comparative cost of spending time on a large list of roads that the public is going to determine which road is good,

[1:23:27] which world is bad versus an engineering's decision

[1:23:31] of we need to fix these major arterials within our city.

[1:23:39] I'm going to choose the latter every single day.

[1:23:45] And then the neighborhood roads basically never get fixed

[1:23:51] because we'll never have the money to do it unless

[1:23:55] unless we can figure out what the cost of fixing them is and going out or either getting

[1:24:00] a bond or grants or something, but without that information in hand without the knowledge

[1:24:07] to say, this is what it would cost us. We'll never get any resources to fix them.

[1:24:15] We don't even have the funding to fix mission right now.

[1:24:18] Right. So fixing a residential road like the road that's in front of my house.

[1:24:26] I don't have a plan on fixing that with city money until we are fixing our

[1:24:32] materials that are heavily used every single day by more than just the community members that

[1:24:39] live next to me. So we barely, we don't have the funding to fix larger materials currently.

[1:24:46] So, I think, I think it's a cart before the horse discussion of we need to focus on our

[1:24:54] priorities of large arterial roads and find funding for those sources and focus our staff

[1:25:03] time on that and public time on those. And I, I, I, I, I, I can't. I mean, you almost

[1:25:12] don't need an engineer to tell us that we need to work on our interior roads. You know, you

[1:25:20] know, you know, we do, you know, we do. Yeah. That was the council policy, the council direction

[1:25:24] given years ago too. We did with back in 2018. We are, I believe it's 2018. It could be

[1:25:29] But the last time we did, the big piece gave every row in town gets a great piece of the pavement commission and their pavement condition index, everyone gets a PCI score, and then we use that to prioritize.

[1:25:44] But obviously the resources are much smaller than the need one, but the council back then gave direction to prioritize the major arterials.

[1:25:53] I think you see that.

[1:25:55] But the smaller streets too and the smaller streets certainly

[1:25:57] the pop-holeing, we're not going to get a full-death

[1:25:59] reclamation, but you pop-holeing.

[1:26:01] I think that the asphalt zipper holds some promises

[1:26:04] well too for some of the projects.

[1:26:05] It's done already.

[1:26:07] We have overlays, small passion like that

[1:26:08] can certainly be done and gets done.

[1:26:11] That's an excellent point, because those roads

[1:26:13] probably don't need a full-death reclamation.

[1:26:15] We can't pay for that.

[1:26:16] It's too expensive.

[1:26:17] You know, they are expensive, but most of you

[1:26:19] are going to find those on the more heavily travel roads.

[1:26:22] But there's still be able to determine on those other roads

[1:26:26] or what they need.

[1:26:28] Do they need just an overlay?

[1:26:31] You know, and how much does that cost?

[1:26:35] Yep.

[1:26:35] I think the best approach would be,

[1:26:42] and I'm sure we open a better ideas.

[1:26:44] Is one council where Harris getting with,

[1:26:47] with our city engineer Mr. Jordan discussing things

[1:26:50] to them and then we can talk about this strategic planning.

[1:26:54] She's coming up at the end of the month,

[1:26:55] so that's pretty quick too.

[1:26:56] You can talk about certainly a good topic,

[1:26:58] that a couple of us met.

[1:27:02] I think it's faster than a faster than a next council meet.

[1:27:05] You're found, like, faster than a 30 day council meet.

[1:27:08] Thank you.

[1:27:09] Turn it back to City of Janeiro, Jordan.

[1:27:11] You mentioned MCAG is essentially doing an inventory

[1:27:17] of every road in the city of Merced,

[1:27:18] or the county of Merced, maybe give us more background

[1:27:20] what it is that they're studying. That is that is correct. It's the county but each of us

[1:27:26] those streets within the city will also be studied and included in that report. We'll have a specific

[1:27:31] report for all of our interior streets and it'll be defined by the PCI, the condition index of each of them,

[1:27:38] what the recommended remedy is, what the cost would be for those remedies and we can bring that

[1:27:43] information back to this body and you can say we've got X amount of dollars and a huge need

[1:27:49] What do you want to spend that money and what type of streets is your preference, so do you know how much does study cost?

[1:27:56] I don't know if I'd like to be glad to get that back to you

[1:28:00] More than 10,000. Oh, yeah more than 100,000 probably less than 100,000 for our city more than 50

[1:28:07] Right around 50 50 to 75 oh, yes, okay, I mean, I think it's I think Councilor Harris raises the right point

[1:28:15] which is streets that are less than arterial,

[1:28:19] sometimes don't get the attention they deserve.

[1:28:21] I mean, drive on 19th Street downtown,

[1:28:24] it's a different experience in 18th Street or Main Street, right?

[1:28:28] But, you know, I think we want good information

[1:28:30] for this is making, I think engineering staff is better

[1:28:33] situated to give us that information

[1:28:35] than the public.

[1:28:36] We've all been in situations where you ask the public

[1:28:39] and you get a skewed answer sometimes.

[1:28:42] I think that's Mr. Depont's point.

[1:28:44] I think it's more appropriate to ask the adjourning department what information they have and come back

[1:28:49] on a reasonable timeline during our strategic planning process about what information can they give us now.

[1:28:57] And if there's a $50,000 report that's going to give us the gold standard answer to the council

[1:29:00] from right here, it's looking forward. We have to wait a year. Well, at least we're on the path to doing that and we're

[1:29:06] going to do our best to make good budget priorities in the coming year and we're going to be at a better position in

[1:29:12] There's also a discussion about potentially going to the public for a measure, which if we

[1:29:17] don't have to make a decision on what that's about right now either.

[1:29:19] So I think we would be prudent to do a good job and move this direction and not take

[1:29:25] too much time or money I'm getting together with the report that probably will not ultimately

[1:29:30] be what we're based decisions on.

[1:29:34] What's the journey in the city's part of the SIM card study?

[1:29:39] Tummy again, does it go to all the roads or does it all the roads, yes that's correct.

[1:29:44] The road roads included?

[1:29:45] The neighborhood as well.

[1:29:47] Thank you.

[1:29:50] Right, Christopher Joel.

[1:29:53] I think it's a great idea to have a master list of all the roads.

[1:29:57] Their status cost for preparing so forth.

[1:30:04] I know some Mike, I know it's slightly different than what you're thinking, but would it be possible to get a report on this first?

[1:30:11] Right? In terms of what happened in 2018. So this way, when we go into ours to teach our town halls, we kind of see if some of these wealth have been neglected since 2018.

[1:30:23] And maybe that should be the first step is to see what the paths have.

[1:30:28] And then when the new report comes out from its CHE, we could have another report on that,

[1:30:33] and we could actually compare what happened, and then go from there into the next steps.

[1:30:39] But I do think it's important to have community input.

[1:30:42] Yes, it's great to have an engineer evaluate the real status in their conditions and see what's

[1:30:48] on, but it's also important to have community input of, hey, these are the actual roads we drive

[1:30:53] every day and here's our experiences with these roads. So I think it's good to have both sides

[1:30:58] of it. And I think I wasn't clear about the community involvement, I'm not saying that they

[1:31:05] create a list-and-all list that says these are priorities and think they create a list that says,

[1:31:10] look at these roads. We think these are roads that need attention and they can get more

[1:31:17] or in-depth evaluation by professionals?

[1:31:25] Dear, would you able to either bring the strategic planning and or make it available beforehand

[1:31:31] of the past document that has all the PCI grades for all the streets in the city?

[1:31:38] Yeah, Mayor, we'll be able to put that information together for you.

[1:31:45] Yes, Mr. Brock.

[1:31:47] Look, I don't disagree everything that we hear at all the meetings talks about stress or

[1:31:53] roads, such a high priority.

[1:31:55] But there's a couple of things we can do too, and I'm willing to kind of take feedback from

[1:31:59] the council about how you want to handle it if you want to do that at a meeting, if you want

[1:32:03] to handle it, maybe through your strategic planning.

[1:32:07] But we do have resources for roads every year, right?

[1:32:09] We have a toolkit.

[1:32:10] We've got funding.

[1:32:11] we used for roads, we've done a lot of work through our ad hoc subcommittee about talking

[1:32:17] about projects, we're kind of hitting a nice reset now, we're done with our projects,

[1:32:24] down on this team, we're working on new projects, so maybe it's a good time to bring back

[1:32:28] something for you to consider, you know, maybe where you want to focus your road projects

[1:32:33] going forward. We've got a list of ones we've had on a list for a while, one of them

[1:32:38] forward.

[1:32:41] So I think with the toolkit resources you've got, the piece that I talked about, there

[1:32:47] are pieces there that you should be aware of and how you want to prioritize those resources

[1:32:52] and to the comments I'm hearing, you get to make some decisions, you definitely need to

[1:32:56] get feedback from public about how you want to use your live-in to resources. I think that

[1:33:02] all makes sense to me. The question is, do you want to talk about it at a meeting or

[1:33:05] you don't want to do it through your strategic planning.

[1:33:11] A couple of days long, is that a new one or is that,

[1:33:16] because we're here respect to you, sir.

[1:33:19] I think every, I think the big point is everybody agrees to do that on the, that roads

[1:33:24] their huge priority and we agree to do that we need to do better, but yeah, just the process

[1:33:28] is getting there.

[1:33:31] Yeah, I mean, I'm not comfortable going to the冠軍 since you were saying we're not doing

[1:33:35] anything but our terminals.

[1:33:37] Yeah.

[1:33:38] If you live on a collector road, if you live on the residential road, you have a lock.

[1:33:44] I don't think it's true.

[1:33:47] I'm worth it's done on residential streets.

[1:33:52] We do have a list of residential streets.

[1:33:54] They're just not at the top of the list right now.

[1:33:56] That's correct.

[1:34:01] So, through strategic planning, is it more beneficial to have a small,

[1:34:10] that hot group of the council come up with what we think is a structured plan, I think it's worth a meeting of an ad hoc subcommittee to do that,

[1:34:29] but the strategic planning is in L.

[1:34:32] January 31.

[1:34:35] Let's look at that first and see where that leaves us.

[1:34:46] I mean, let's not look at residential roads, I mean, I would point to public works and public

[1:34:51] works would say, no, we work on residential roads.

[1:34:56] So I think it's the priority and I think that's why it's better suited on goals and priorities

[1:35:02] because we have this discussion.

[1:35:03] I mean, Mayor Pro Tem has been talking about college drive since before I was on council.

[1:35:09] So like that's where we deserve the term in our priorities.

[1:35:12] So I think circumventing the way in which we decide our priorities on roads, as well as we're

[1:35:22] going to have a free report come out from M.Cag.

[1:35:27] I think it goes from priorities, question is better suited.

[1:35:34] The draft is faster, but within a month to 20, 60,

[1:35:39] anything else?

[1:35:41] Yeah, I mean, we're going to be dependent on that M.Cag report that if you're saying a year,

[1:35:47] Could easily be longer,

[1:35:52] but it certainly has all the elements I brought up and that's encouraging.

[1:35:59] Yeah, thank you for listening to you.

[1:36:01] It's got to work.

[1:36:05] All right.

[1:36:06] Anything else?

[1:36:06] So that's my resolution is just to go through the strategic planning and see where we are from there.

[1:36:14] Yeah, I think I've built a discussion there.

[1:36:15] One and you already got the report going.

[1:36:22] That's what we're just missing.

[1:36:25] Nothing for me.

[1:36:27] Councilor Tau, you want to discuss?

[1:36:29] Nothing.

[1:36:30] Nothing from me, either?

[1:36:32] On the council comments?

[1:36:33] Change an item.

[1:36:34] A four city council comments?

[1:36:36] I've heard of my left Councilor Tau, any comments?

[1:36:39] No comment.

[1:36:40] Councilor Smith.

[1:36:42] Welcome back, everybody.

[1:36:43] I hope you had a great new year.

[1:36:45] Councilor Harris.

[1:36:46] Welcome back, everybody.

[1:36:47] I hope you had a great new year.

[1:36:47] Councilor Harris.

[1:36:49] We were too pumped.

[1:36:51] Happy New Year to everyone.

[1:36:53] We do have town halls.

[1:36:56] coming up. We also have Town Hall for the maintenance district. Goon Valley on Wednesday.

[1:37:05] So please come out and express your concerns about roads.

[1:37:12] Well, they're at a great holiday season. Merry Christmas happy new year to everybody.

[1:37:16] I think the city had a really nice 25. Thank you. There's so many everybody on the council.

[1:37:21] So many other people in this room here as well for all of our work in 25, moving the city forward and looking forward to a great 26 as well.

[1:37:29] Okay, did you invite him, Jay adjourned?

[1:37:32] Dr. Motion adjourned.

[1:37:33] Motion adjourned.

[1:37:33] Second.

[1:37:34] Okay, I have a motion by Council Member Harris and a second by Council Member D. Pont, Mary and Council, please cast your votes.

[1:37:43] And the motion passes unanimously.

City Council/Public Finance and Economic Development Authority/Parking Authority on 2026-01-05 6:00 PM

Agenda

Transcript