>>mayor kathleen kelly: welcome
to the palm desert city council
meeting and redevelopment
agency, and housing authority
meeting
>> roll call.
>>
>>council member jan harnik:
>>council member gina nestande:
can you state your reason for
remote?
>> dealing with family issues.
>> thank you.
is there anyone over the age 18
present with you?
>> not at this time.
>>mayor pro tem karina
quintanilla: from present
present
>> can you state your reason for
remote?
>> conference.
>> is there anyone in the room
that is under 18?
>> no.
>>
>>mayor kathleen kelly: here.
all council members present.
of
thank you for to staff for
facilitating a remote
participation and in full
compliance with a legal
requirement. We appreciate that
very much.
and take full advantage.
council member, nestande, will
you lead us to the pledge of
allegiance.
>> thank you, mayor. Please
stand as we honor our country.
I pledge allegiance to the flag
of the united states of america
and to the republic for which it
stands, one nation, under god,
indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
>>
>>mayor kathleen kelly: thank
you.
any report from closed session?
>> excuse me.
>>
>>council member jan harnik: the
report could have been very
inspirational.
we don't know.
>> so today I just want to share
a quote from the ancient greek
poet hesiod. "a great treasure
is a sparing tongue."
>>
>>mayor kathleen kelly: thank
you.
>> you're welcome.
>> any report from closed
session?
>> thank you, mayor.
there was no item to report from
closed session.
>> we are hoping the inspiration
will last for the full meeting.
>> we have no awards nor
presentations to announce this
evening.
apart from an important
announcement which will be part
of the city manager's comments.
>> thank you.
I would like to invite amy
lawrence to the podium for a
quick overview of the fourth of
july celebration event.
>>
>> good afternoon, honorable
mayor, members of the city
council.
amy lawrence.
economic development.
I have with me shelby goodwin
who serves as the special events
coordinator.
on july 4th, the city held its
annual celebration in the park
including activities for
children throughout the day.
the boy scouts of america troop
presented the flags and the
pledge of allegiance and the
national anthem. The bands
performance was followed by a 20
minute fireworks display for the
anniversary.
this takes a village to execute.
with that, we have a special
thanks to shelby goodwin and
vanessa and for the city's
compliance and staff and
landscape and special programs
teams as well as park
ambassadors with the special
recreation district, the
riverside county sheriffs
department, the marshals, the
citizens on patrol.
thank you for making this event
a great success.
we would also like to thank the
city's sponsors for helping with
this event.
>> thank you. And thank you for
including the list of those who
were absolutely inspirational in
moving to see how many city
staff and others give up their
holiday to make sure that others
can have a good time.
we certainly did. I loved the
new finale. It was different
from the past and a real treat.
so thank you.
>> thank you.
and I would also like to invite
martin alvarez for the work that
he has been planning.
>> thank you, good afternoon
mayor and members of the city
council.
it's temperatures like we are
experiencing today that give us
a look and appreciate our
outdoor workers and we are
teaming up with the local office
for appreciation week.
along with that, are we are
taking the opportunity
july 20th, in the morning to
have a celebration of all
outdoor workers.
they are too many to list.
we have our streets division,
parks and landscape division,
facilities, traffic, public
works inspectors, building
inspectors and compliance
officers and managers in the
programs.
these are all folks providing a
service to our community and we
want to thank them specifically
next week and show our
appreciation for them
year-round.
we are inviting the city council
and staff to attend. If you
haven't already, please rsvp
soon.
>>
>>mayor kathleen kelly: thank
you so much for doing this and
thank you to council member
harnik for playing a big part in
getting this tradition going.
so, if you see an outdoor
working this month, please say
thank you and be a part of this
tradition.
>> I have nothing further,
mayor.
>> which brings us to mayor and
council member reports and
action.
let's start with mayor pro tem
quintanilla.
>>mayor pro tem karina
quintanilla: thank you, madam
mayor.
I'm very excited that there has
been a lot to report at the
conference that I'm attended and
at the arizona state university
how they have been combatting
and mitigating heat and with
their cooling centers and
getting fema dollars to support
their cooling centers. That was
wonderful and on a federal level
regarding cybersecurity
supervisors and trying to
coordinate a meeting through the
chamber of commerce for small
businesses.
the idea of ransom ware attack
and how they impact our local
economy is very important.
there has been a discussion on
fentanyl in schools and how to
mitigate them and how to bring
the community together and the
housing services and mentioning
the coachella valley as an area
with high need.
this is a national conference
and we were highlighted not only
for the need, but later for the
innovation we were having.
there were questions on the
conference and I found it very
valuable. I appreciate your
support.
>> thank you.
>> council member nestande?
>>council member gina nestande:
I don't have any comments to add
this evening, thank you, mayor.
>>mayor kathleen kelly: thank
you.
>> council member harnik?
>>council member jan harnik:
thank you very much.
a few things, if I may, council
member trubee and I did attend
the cal cities events and there
was a presentation on water and
the issues we are dealing with
and it was valuable to be there
and I'm glad we were able to
take the time to go over.
banning or beaumont?
>> beaumont.
also last thursday, secretary of
transportation announced a
$1.3 billion funding for the
port's and trade corridor.
we are part of the trade court
order going through the
coachella valley and doing a
great job representing all the
cities in this area to get
funding to be sure the I-10 is
taken care of appropriately and
how it impacts our communities.
of course I want to mention,
it's hot out there.
it's time to check on our
neighbors to be sure they are
okay.
july 1st through august 31st is
nine city challenge.
during the summer, our high
school blood drives are
non-existent and many of our
snow birds leave.
that's another source of blood
donations that we don't have.
this is a great time.
every time you donate, you can
save up to three lives. It's an
hour of your time.
you have until august 31st.
make sure you donate.
make sure you say palm desert
because we would like to win.
most important is that we help
other people in this.
so make sure that you take a
moment and you donate to help
others. That again is through
august 31st.
we all have a little bit of time
to get there and donate.
so, thank you.
>>mayor kathleen kelly: thank
you.
>> council member trubee?
>>council member evan trubee:
yes, I want to remind everybody
that this monday is our
inaugural very first task force
meeting and very excited to get
started with this process on the
new beautiful library.
you can attend via zoom or in
person and of course jen and I
will be there.
and delivered a real template
for us to work with.
I'm looking forward to working
with this.
thank you.
>>mayor kathleen kelly: thank
you.
I have a one request for action.
back in 2019, I believe it was
the meeting of april 27th.
the council members unanimously
observed our assessment that the
various downtown overlay
districts were not serving to
effectively implement the
general plan of particularly in
regard to height we thought were
not desirable nor achievable.
since that time, we've had two
different significant economic
stressors to development in the
form of covid and inflationary
cycle and quite a lot of staff
transition.
so now that those currently in
the development department have
gained some experience with the
current system, I would like to
request staff's assessment of
how well the overlay districts
are functioning or not
functioning and perhaps make
some recommendations and
alternatives.
does that seem feasible?
>> yes.
and do my colleagues support
that?
>> absolutely support that.
>> I see you nodding also.
thank you.
this brings us to non-agenda
public comment.
this is the time to alert the
council to topics of enter which
are not on tonight's agenda. If
you are here to talk about an
agenda item, we will give you
that time before it is
considered.
you have up to three minutes to
speak to us about things which
are not on the agenda.
because of state requiring
notice before, we won't be able
to engage you in conversation.
we maybe able to briefly refer
to staff for follow-up.
mr. Mejia, could you add
logistical instructions.
>> for those on zoom, please
press star 9.
if you are on the phone, press
star 6.
>>
>>mayor kathleen kelly: we'll
start with those present.
barbara? Did I pronounce your
name correctly?
>>r
public speaker: yes, I'm
barbara.
I'm here to talk about the
license reader cameras with
intelligence that is a camera
that is logging, learning, that
is an invasion of our privacy,
and also has many problems of
its own.
according to the city of palm
desert at least 101 cameras are
being installed to help the
sheriff "fight crime and enforce
the law".
these are carrots of technology.
according to flock's own
website, they record a detail
vehicle fingerprint, travel
patterns, stores images,
analyzes key elements and that
we own the footage and never
share it.
that is not true.
the stored data goes to amazon,
google and other tech companies
and could easily be hacked.
hundreds of cars come under
suspicion for a crime if they
are recorded passing by a camera
on the event of a crime.
these cameras have access to the
records of all vehicles comings
and goings.
the surveillance system with
their records could be used to
implicate someone in a crime or
any variety of other situations.
these dangers are worsened by
these broad disseminations since
it not only goes to the
neighbors but to other police
even around the country through
flocks new talent system.
which links all the cameras
around the country.
these cameras are black and on
black polls.
not to confuse with the
intersection cameras.
how many people in this room are
listening via zoom value and
want to keep a right to privacy.
can I have a show of hands?
thank you.
we did not ask for this and the
cameras must be taken down
immediately.
we recognize this is an expense
for the city of this technology
and for putting the citizens and
their residents at the forefront
of their decision.
>>mayor kathleen kelly: can I
ask for one clarification?
>> certainly.
>> I heard you say you are not
speaking about cameras placed at
intersections.
>> yes, I'm not talking about,
well these flocked cameras
are -- I have a picture of which
one I'm talking about if you
would like to see it?
>> perhaps you can send that to
the clerk afterwards.
I brought a picture because
there are so many cameras and
they are confusing.
>> if you go give that to our
clerk.
if we can ask for a summary in
the report that safe guards that
offers in place to protect
privacy. Thank you.
>> thank you.
>> any public comment from those
present?
>> any public comment from zoom?
>>clerk: no public comment,
mayor.
>> that brings us to the consent
calendar.
to the consent calendar.
any council members wish to
withdraw any items from consent?
then a motion to approve.
>> we have a motion and second
by mayor pro tem quintanilla and
nestande.
>>
>> roll call, please.
>>clerk: [roll call] motion
passes 5-0.
>> item 2a is award contract
2. Action calendar:
a. Award contract to palm
springs life / desert
publications, inc., to produce
palm desert's 50th anniversary
celebration
2a 50th anniversary celebration
event consultant contract
this is amy lawrence. In honor
of the celebration, staff is
celebrating saturday
november 13th. Staff is asking
for a proposal from consultants
to go through this event.
after the end of this process,
we received nine submissions.
staff is before you requesting
award of contract to produce the
city's 50th anniversary
celebration.
this is an agency that has a
long history serving this city
and the college of the desert
and various businesses,
non-profit organizations and
restaurants could be approved
beneficial to the success and
innovation of the event. Palm
springs showcase this history
within the last year and also
dynamic musical acts and kids
activities, food drink area and
taste of palm desert.
upon approval of this contract,
staff will work with palm
springs life on specific details
of this event, and we will
regularly report to the city
council and will return to
council for park wavers once we
have the scope of the event.
I'm available for any questions
you may have.
>> questions from council.
>> I see no questions.
thank you to staff for vetting
potential consultants.
comments, motion?
>>
>>council member jan harnik: I
would like to move staff's
recommendation.
>> I will second it.
>> please take the vote.
>>clerk: [roll call]
motion passes 5-0.
>> item 2b.
b. Approve contract with
coachella valley water district
for utility conflict relocation
in roundabout at san pablo
avenue and san gorgonio way
2b san pablo roundabout utility
>> hopefully this will culminate
this. This is for a replacement
of a utility pole hopefully with
the installation of the sun
sculpture.
utilities was also a
consideration for this project.
however during the engineering
phase and lighting and solution
plan, it was discovered that
utilities were much more
significantly obstructing than
anticipated.
so approval of relocating these
utilities will allow the project
to remain on track with
installation of the sculpture
this year.
in addition, if this is
approved, staff will work with
residents and businesses in the
area to notify them of the work,
even though it's minimal impact
such as road closures because it
will be refined to the
roundabout.
I'm happy to answer any
questions.
>> questions?
>> I see no questions. So
comments for a motion would be
welcome.
>>council member jan harnik: I
motion to approve.
>> I second the motion.
>> please take the vote.
>>clerk:
>>council member jan harnik:
yes, it sounds like more of the
50th celebration.
>>council member gina nestande:
yes.
>>mayor pro tem karina
quintanilla: yes.
>>council member evan trubee:
yes.
>>mayor kathleen kelly: yes.
>> motion passes 5-0.
>>
c. Award contract no. C45240 in
the amount of $3,057,420 to
matich corporation of san
bernardino, california, for the
fred waring drive street
rehabilitation project (project
>> good evening. I'm ron with
the projects department. The
item before you is for the
project on fred waring drive.
this is showing cracking and
shows failures in the asphalt
and sub grades.
if it is not repairs, there will
be several pot holes. This is
including segments of fred wear
waring drive getting into the
low 50s.
they conducted test and
including ground penetrating
radar and determined the best
treatment would be to full deck
reclamation. To pulverize the
existing asphalt and remove the
top six inches of the new
blended material to lay a full
layer of new asphalt concrete on
top.
there will be a lot of heavy
equipment and significant impact
to traffic and will provide
notification to businesses and
provide one way traffic at all
times. The contract will phase
the project to enclose the
outside lane and then the
driveways first and then to the
outside lanes and once they have
that paved, they will move the
operation to the inner lanes and
rehabilitate those lanes.
in addition to the street rehab,
there is pedestrian facilities
and drainage improvements that
will be maintained. Here is the
timeline.
we anticipate the project will
take approximately 90 calendar
days.
we built a time line with this
in mind.
we added an early completion
incentive to the contract ahead
of schedule.
when we are addressing a project
on an arterial like fred waring,
communication is very important.
with that in mind, we built
significant aspects into this
timeline.
you can see we are up to july
and at this time we sent out
mailers to a large area that are
in and around fred waring drive
and committee meetings with
people to explain and we are
here tonight asking this city
council to award this contract.
we have been receiving support
from our public affairs team to
help get the word out, and in
support of that, we've already
put out changeable messages on
fred waring to notify drivers of
the upcoming project and we have
an engage palm desert for fred
waring live and accessible on
our website.
I'm happy to answer any
questions.
any questions?
>> seeing none, are there
comments or a motion.
>>mayor pro tem karina
quintanilla: I did have a
comment.
I heard from residents that they
know this is necessary but not
looking forward to it. Thank
you to the staff for getting the
message ahead out to folks.
>>
>>council member jan harnik:
similar comments.
we've always taken great pride
in our pavement condition index
being at least in the 80s.
when you said 50s, I was
surprised.
thank you for all the outreach
and making it as easy as
possible for our community
members and our guest.
I know it will be difficult, but
I appreciate all the effort that
everyone is taking to making it
as easy as possible.
>>council member evan trubee:
this project is anticipated to
take 90 days.
how early does the contractor
have to finish to capture that
incentive award?
>> 15 days early in order to get
the whole amount.
so, it's on a scale before that.
>> perfect.
thank you.
>>mayor kathleen kelly: who
would like to make the motion?
>>council member jan harnik: I
move to approve the agenda item
as presented.
>> I will second that.
>> please take the vote.
>>
>>clerk: [roll call] motion
passes 5-0.
>> we have two public hearings
this evening.
the first is
3. Public hearings
a. Approve a proposed plan for
bond issuance by the california
statewide communities
development authority for the
crossings at palm desert
apartment project
I will open the public hearing
and ask for a staff report.
>> good evening, jessica
gonzalez, housing manager, with
your economic development
department.
as proposed as identified on our
request, the california state
communities development
authority, a california public
entity is authorized to issue
revenue bonds for the purpose of
financing multi-rental projects.
a developer has requested that
csda adopt a plan for financing
and providing the issuance of
the housing revenue bonds.
the proposed includes the tax of
revenue bonds not to exceed $60
million for the purpose of
financing, acquisition and
development at crossings at palm
desert. The proposed plan
requires that the local
jurisdiction hold the public
hearing and adopt the resolution
supportive of the bond issuance
to meet the requirements of the
fiscal responsibility act as
well as the internal revenue
service code of 1976. The city
has no obligations besides
offering the tax and the code
and for the financing of this
community will be the sole
responsibility of the borrower
including the payment of the
bonds.
the city has met the
requirements of the code for
other developments including the
sands, the talia apartments.
crossings are on gateway drive.
the community is an affordable
housing development including
106 units from 1, 2, and 3
bedroom units for families not
exceeding 80% of the median.
staff recommends the city
council take public testimony
and adopt the resolution
supporting their borrowers
request.
the developers team, irving,
representative is here and as
well as the representative from
csda.
>>mayor kathleen kelly: any
public comment?
>> no public comment, madam
mayor.
>> any questions for staff or
mr. Irving?
>> I see no questions so I will
close the public hearing.
and invite comment and/or a
motion.
>>
>>council member gina nestande:
I will make a motion to approve
this project and we can't get
affordable housing fast enough.
>> I second.
>> please take the vote.
>>clerk: [roll call]
>> motion passes 5-0.
>> mr. Irving, thank you for
being here, and for moving
forward with the project.
next is item 3b.
b. Approve a power purchase
agreement with forefront power
for the desert willow overflow
lot photovoltaic project
(project no. 777-14/cfa00005)
I will open the public hearing
and invite the staff report.
>> good evening mayor and
members of city council.
the item before you is for the
approval of the golf course
clubhouse. This is another
opportunity to expand this
city's portfolio and renewable
energy projects.
public works staff was directed
to research options to reduce
electrical cost at the desert
willow golf course clubhouse.
and there are locations and they
identified a parking lot that
will be constructed on the
corner of marketplace and willow
drive for this location of the
system and this will use 100% of
the clubhouse as well as the
usage from the golf course
irrigation pump.
the solar project will again
rate over 113 megawatt hours
annually and the city is
expected to save $2.6 million on
electricity bills.
this power purchase agreement is
identical to the power purchase
agreement that the city council
approved in 2022.
the agreement has been reviewed
by nb 5 that are experts in the
field of sustainable planning
and the city attorney has
reviewed the agreement and
analysis are reasonable.
staff recommends the project be
approved per the
recommendations.
>>mayor kathleen kelly: thank
you.
is there any public comment?
>> no public comment, madam
mayor?
any questions from council?
council member trubee?
>>
>>council member evan trubee:
okay, this lot is dirt. And we
are going to ground up this deal
here?
>> the project will be
constructed as part of the
desert development and will add
the take.
>> thank you.
>> all right.
counsel has advised that before
we close the public hearing, we
should make a finding basing on
the independent review of the
proposed system that provides
energy savings in compliance
with government code 4217.
would someone like to move that
finding?
>>council member jan harnik: I
make the motion to move the
staff's recommendation with the
additional finding.
>> it has to be separate.
>> I will make the motion to
move that finding.
>> is there a second?
>> I will second that.
>>
>> roll call, please.
>>clerk: [roll call]
motion passes 5-0.
>> now, I will close the public
hearing. And invite the further
motion you were eager to make.
>>council member jan harnik: so
eager.
and I do have a quick comment if
I may?
>> please.
>> I'm so happy we are doing
this and I know this is one of
council's goals to have this
type of renewable energy and
this is great.
thank you very much for all the
efforts and the team that
brought it to us today.
so then, I will make the motion
to put forth staff's
recommendation.
>> is there a second?
>> I will second it.
>> please take the vote.
>>
>>council member jan harnik:
>>clerk: [roll call]
>> motion passes 5-0.
>>mayor kathleen kelly: that is
all the business on the agenda
for this evening. For those of
you who might be attending a
council meeting for the first
time, you might be amazed that
so many moment things have
happened so quickly and it's
because we received excellent
staff reports that allowed
council to do our homework and
we also have a procedure to ask
questions and seek
clarifications ahead of the
meeting.
so, thank you to everyone for
your efficiencies.
we will be adjourned.
>> thank you, mayor.
>> have a good night. Hydrate.