Welcome every welcome everyone and good evening. Today is Tuesday, April 21st,
2026 and the time is 6 pm. I will call to order the regular meeting of the
following will come to order at the Victorville City Council in the same
council sitting as the Victorville Library Board of Trustees, the Southern
California Logistics Airport Authority, successor agency to the redevelopment
agency, the city as a housing asset successor, the Joint Powers Finance
Authority, and the Victorville Water District. Madam Clerk, will you kindly
call the role? >> Council member Godam
» here. Council member Irving >> here.
» Council member Mora >> here.
» Mayor Prom Haramman >> here.
» Mayor Bisera >> here. We have quorum.
» Thank you, ma'am. If you would please stand for the invocation and pledge of
allegiance. Tonight, invocation will be led by Pastor KS from Bible Baptist
Church and our pledge will be led by Lieutenant John Kluff.
Would you join with me in prayer, please? Our heavenly father, we come to
you and we come to you with humble hearts, thanking you for everything that
we have and that we are. For all the abundant blessings that you have given
to us, we recognize our unworthiness of them. And so tonight we praise your
name. Father, we thank you for your son who died that we might live. We thank
you for salvation that is found in his name. And we thank you, Father, for the
truth, the way, and the life that he is. Father, tonight I bring these council
members before you and I ask for your wisdom upon them and your direction. I
thank you for each of them, their desire to serve our city and each community
which they represent. Thank you for these city workers, Father, who give
themselves to this great city to serve it, to strengthen it. And Father, I pray
for a wisdom on from on high that would come upon them and you'd bless this
meeting this evening. And it's in Jesus name we pray. Amen.
» Amen.
» The pledge of allegiance. Ready? Begin
with liberty and justice for all.
» Thank you, sir. Madame clerk, will you please present
the agenda and any revisions there, too? >> Thank you, Madam Mayor. There are no
revisions to the agenda this evening. >> Thank you, ma'am. At this time, my
council members, any conflict of interest?
» Okay, we'll now move on to public comment. Madame Clerk, is there any
request to speak? >> Yes, Madame Mayor. Welcome to tonight's
meeting of the Victorville City Council. Your city council is interested in your
ideas and opinions and furthermore endeavors to incorporate them into its
deliberations. At the same time, the council must be able to carry out its
business in an organized and efficient manner free from material disruption.
Therefore, this meeting will be administered in accordance with the
council's established policies and procedures and government code section
54957.9 and 54957.95.
Individuals may speak on agenda items or on issues not posted on the agenda
during the public comment section, provided those issues are within the
subject matter jurisdiction of the city council. Individual speakers may address
the council once per public comment period and once per each public hearing
item for up to three minutes. Additional time may be allotted for appeal hearings
in accordance with the city's adopted policy and procedure manual. Those who
desire to comment on a public hearing item may wish to reserve their remarks
until that particular public hearing has been opened. All testimony is to be
directed solely to the council. Although open meeting laws do not permit council
members to engage in dialogue with any speaker during the public comment
periods, please know your comments and questions may be taken into
consideration by council members when discussing the particular agenda item.
The presiding officer may briefly respond or have staff respond to
statements or questions or may request that the staff report back to the
council at a subsequent meeting. Speakers are requested to comment as
briefly as a subject permits. Once comments are invited, the speaker will
be called on by name then recognized by the presiding officer. The speaker will
state the item number that will be addressed or that the subject is a
non-aggendaized matter. Audience members may not disrupt, disturb, or otherwise
impede the orderly conduct of this meeting, and those who do are subject to
removal from the meeting pursuant to code penal for penal code 403. Your
understanding and cooperation are appreciated. Our first speaker this
evening is Jim Hillard on a non-aggendaized item.
» Good afternoon everyone or evening. See a lot of people I voted for here.
Oh, can can you guys hear me better now? Okay. Good evening. Uh, I'm here.
There's a just two or three issues I wanted to bring up. I'm basically
representing my mom here. uh she's 86 years old and um she's getting uh bills
from the Bertech Waste Management Company, you know, stating that she
they've been they came by and they dropped off like a big trash can in
front of her yard, you know, and I believe it's part of this state assembly
bill that was passed that's requiring everybody to have like certain things.
And so she uh has been told that she could apply for an exclusion by filling
out a form, which she's been doing for the past three or four years, but for
some reason they forgot to send it to her this past year. And uh in doing so
now, they send her a bill for like $200 or something. And so I had a
conversation with the manager over there about that and they said that they would
go ahead and still exclude her for this year. But um their requirements are that
she has to take her trash to a sort facility which is out in felin which is
approximately 20 miles from her house. This is like a 40 40 mile round trip and
she has to do that uh 12 times a year. And she said that and the manager also
told me that the previous um requirements were that they were
citizens were supposed to bring their trash there 52 times a year. That's once
a week. And in other in order to get simply get receipts to provide receipts
to um be excluded and that seems like really completely absurd and excessive
that that needs to be addressed. So I did have a conversation with her. She
said they did reduce it to 12 receipts a year. That's once a year. But the
problem is is a lot of people don't produce that much trash, especially a
single senior citizen living by herself. And then and then it becomes an
imposition for her to have to drive 40 miles round trip all these times, you
know, just to get receipts to prove to the Berech company who's making like a
hundred million dollars a year on this, you know, and it's it's it's wrong and
it needs to be addressed. And uh I did, like I said, I did talk with the manager
there about this. She said she's open to suggestions about um revising that form.
And some suggestions I have is that you know if it if it imposes an undue
hardship on a senior um it should be addressed and it should be granted like
without question. So that's one issue. The other issue um is I I have tried to
reach um several like different county members um uh representatives offices
and usually uh I get no no answer to any phone call ever. I always have to leave
messages and wait for somebody to call me back. And it's usually some secretary
there that doesn't know how to do anything. And it's sad to me that this
is how things are run. And I think it should be should they should do a better
job and that the people that we represent should be available to the
public, people like us directly face to face, so we can sit out and talk about
these stuff and hack hack them out. The guy that I did talk to, he did
» their time is up. >> Sir, can I ask you a question? Where
does your mother live? Over here. >> Where does your mother live?
» She lives right down the street on Palmdale and Amethyst.
» So in the county section. >> Yeah, we've been trying to get a hold of
Sanino County, too. We'll have fun with that. Mr. Mensler, can we at least give
them >> I I think on that issue because we do
have some folks here that that certainly represent us as the city on all of our
solid waste related stuff. So either Doug Matthews is in the back or Ben
Lucha is over here. He's our environmental program manager. maybe
before you leave, they can meet you in the back and at least uh offer you some
guidance uh because if you're not in our jurisdiction, there's probably little we
can do uh directly, but we may be able to give you some good advice on on how
to how to handle your particular situation.
» Uh the second one I think was regarding county staff, not necessarily city
staff, if I understood you correctly. For me, it's pretty much been anybody
I've ever tried to get a hold of. But, um, I did reach out to the county clerk
and and the secretary called this person that I mentioned, I guess, on behalf of
their office and then he called me back and he said, "We're just going to defer
to her on that." And that's to me, that's not how you handle it. You know,
these people probably don't know how to resolve problems like the people who are
represented can. You know, they probably don't have the power to do it. So,
people won't listen to them anyway. you know. So, um,
» yeah. So, let's start with Doug and and Ben in the back. But, you know, to the
extent you run into that experience, I agree. I mean, regardless of what
jurisdiction you're in, if there are issues, you know, I would say you're
close enough to to our jurisdiction. If we can at least hear what your issues
are, we can certainly, if it's not something we can help out with directly,
certainly something we could potentially influence from our end, government to
government, being able to at least connect with the right person to be able
to get you the service you need. >> The thing that the thing that really
bothered me about it was they said that if she didn't pay her pay the bill, they
were going to put a levy on her home. And that just really ticks me off.
If it never that ends up happening, we're going to have a massive class
action lawsuit. Okay. So, just FYI, >> if your mom needs your trash dump, we're
going to Somebody back there will give you my phone number. I'll go pick up.
» We've been taking her trash to the dump every couple months. I'm the one that
helps her do that. >> Okay. But if your mom needs help, have
her call me. I'll go pick up the trash. >> 40 miles round trip to do it.
» I get it. >> I'll dump it in mine. I can understand
that. >> Can I get you on the phone, though?
» Yeah. They'll give you They'll give you my number. They'll give you somebody
back there. Juan, give them my number. >> I think we'll find some assistance to
get the mayor out there. >> All right.
» Thank you, sir. >> Thanks, guys.
» Our next speaker is Mary State on a non-aggendaized item.
» Good evening. U my purpose for coming this evening was to thank our sheriff's
department and our first responders and our um fire department. Uh there was
recently tragedy on my street. Uh crime is on a upcline on off a wagon wheel in
La Mesa. Okay. And and I would I'm just
requesting like for the city to look at giving our sheriffs more funding
as well as our state agency and our federal agency. so that they could have
more pathways for keeping our community safe and that they can have a point of
contact with the community when there's um hotspots that they need to address.
But once again, they have to have the staffing, they have to have the funding
to make that possible. So um that's that was my main uh reason for speaking
tonight. I didn't have enough time to speak the last time that I came when I
addressed your um other programs that you provide for the senior citizens, but
we definitely desperately need um more sheriffs to be able to do more patrols
to keep our city a safe place to live, work, and play as is advertised on our
on your website for for the city of Victorville. So, thank you very much.
And please do feel free to contact me should you want any additional
information. And also, it would be nice to suggest them having a neighborhood
watch. I'm I'm from the foothills of Aladena and we had neighborhood watch
there and that sort of helped keep crime at bay because they work with the
sheriffs to let them know what was going on. So, I just wanted to give that a
suggestion because I don't think that we have neighborhood watch. Mary, do we
have your information, a contact number that we can pass on to the sheriff's?
» I can give it to the city clerks over there and you all can feel free to
contact me and we could sit down and have a round table because it's about
making our city safe. Like I said, there was recently a really a bad tragedy and
I will leave it there. >> Thank you very much for coming.
» Thank you, Madam Mayor. I don't have any additional speaker cards. However, we
did receive one public comment via email that was distributed to the council and
posted to the website. Thank you very much. Our first business of order is a
consent calendar items 1 through 13. At this time, I'll invite a motion.
» Move to adopt. >> Second.
» First by council member Godan, a second by Mayor Prom Haramman. Madam clerk,
will you take the vote? >> Council member Godan.
» Yes. >> Council member Irving,
» yes. >> Council member Mora,
» yes. >> Mayor Prom Haramman,
» yes. Mayor Bisera. >> Yes.
» Motion passes unanimously. >> We've now taken action on items 1
through 13 in accordance with recommendation as set forth on the
agenda. We'll move on to written communications. Item 14, Edward Burn
Memorial Justice Assistance Grant. Mr. Mensler, would you kindly introduce this
item? >> Thank you, Madame Mayor and members of
the council. This is an a grant uh called the Edward Burns Memorial Justice
Assistance Grant. It's a grant that we're used to uh getting through the
sheriff's department. The sheriff's department will take the lead in
applying for these funds as they're the eligible party to do so. Uh and then
ultimately uh pass those funds through to be spent through uh our our budget.
And so that's a big part of why this item is here is uh to deal with the
appropriations on the revenue uh and the expenditure side uh but then also
accepting the grant. And this particular grant um will be used largely to fund
overtime worked with a number of our uh uh multiple enforcement team uh and gang
you unit uh specialized enforcement uh efforts. Uh and so and largely it's uh
funding uh the overtime for those. And so with that, the item has been authored
um by the police captain, Mr. Jerry Davenport. Though he's not here, we have
Lieutenant John Kluff available to answer any questions or comments you
might have. Thank you, sir. Madam clerk, would you please read the recommendation
» that the honorable city council adopt resolution number 26-019
and 26-020, thereby accepting grant funds from the
Department of Justice's Edward Burn Memorial Justice Assistance Grant
Program for 2023. Authorize the city manager or his designate to finalize all
documents needed to execute the grant contract and amend the annual budget for
fiscal year 2025 2026 to reflect an additional appropriation in the amount
of $75,351.
» Thank you. At this time, we'll do technical questions from council
members. Council member Godan, >> I have none. Thank you.
» Council member Mora, >> I don't have any. Thank you.
» Council member Irving, >> I don't have any questions. Thank you.
Mayor Tim Herman. >> I have no questions. Thank you.
» And I have none. I'll invite a motion for this item.
» Move to adopt staff recommendation as to points one, two, and three as presented
on the agenda. >> Second.
» The first by council member Goden. A second by council member Irving. Madam
clerk, will you take the vote, please? >> Wait, I'm sorry. Comments on the pending
motion. >> Mayor Pam Herman, comments on the
pending? >> I have none.
» Council member Mora, >> I have none. Thank you. Counciloman God.
» I have none. >> Councilman Irving,
» no comments. >> Okay. Now, Madam Cler, will you take the
vote, please? >> Council member Godan,
» yes. >> Council member Irving,
» yes. >> Council member Mora,
» yes. >> Mayor Prom Haramman,
» yes. >> Mayor Bera,
» yes. >> Motion passes unanimously.
» We've now taken action to approve staff's recommendation as presented on
the agenda. Item 15, Homeland Security Grant Program and Ballistic Shield
Purchase. Mr. Menser, would you kindly introduce this item? Thank you, Madame
Mayor and members of the council. This item also uh deals with the accepting of
grant funds. Uh this one, the 2023 Homeland Security Grant program, also
applied for by the sheriff's department and made available uh to assist us in
our uh efforts. Uh this item uh also deals with the revenue and expense side
of the uh grant receipt and expenditure. Uh this one is intended to spend uh on
ballistic shields uh for use during critical incidents. Uh really to help
ensure additional uh safety and uh personal protective equipment on some of
the u uh critical incidents uh such as active shooter type events. And so with
that uh this item also has been authored uh by the police captain, Mr. Jerry
Davenport, uh Mr. Jerry Davenport. Uh but we have Lieutenant John Kluff
sitting in for him. Uh we're both available for any questions or comments
you might have. >> Thank you, sir. Madame Click, would you
please read the recommendation? >> That the honorable city council adopt
resolution number 26-022 accepting grant funds for the 2023
Homeland Security Grant Program. Adopt resolution number 26-023
amending the annual budget for fiscal year 2025 2026 to reflect an additional
appropriation the amount of $31,417 and authorize the purchase of ballistic
shields from blackbox safety. >> Thank you ma'am. At this time we'll do
technical questions from council members. Council member Irvy,
» no questions. Thank you. >> Counciloman Mora,
» no questions. Thank you. >> Councilwoman God,
» I have none. >> Mayor Pam Herman,
» I have none. And I have none. I'll invite a motion for this item.
» Go ahead. >> Move to approve staff recommendation as
it pertains to items one, two, and three.
» Second. >> We have a first by Mayor Pam Haramman, a
second by Counciloman Mora. Madame Clerk.
» Yes. >> Comments on the pending motion?
» I have none. >> Council Mora,
» I have none. Thank you. >> Council God,
» I have none. Thank you. >> Council Irving,
» no comments. Thank you. >> And I have none. Now, Madame Clerk, will
you take the vote, please? >> Council member Godan,
» yes. >> Council member Irving,
» yes. >> Council member Mora,
» yes. >> Mayor Pam Haramman,
» yes. >> Mayor Bera,
» yes. >> Motion passes unanimously.
» We've now taken action to approve staff's recommendation as presented on
the agenda. Item 16, award of a construction agreement, Oldtown
Commercial Faucer,
would you kindly introduce this item? Thank you, Madame Mayor and members of
the council. Through our community development block grant program, uh it's
a competitive process, as you know, where applicants apply for monies uh
available. And in this particular case, uh these monies uh have been used uh to
award funds uh to two applicants in Oldtown basically to conduct facade
improvements along two facilities. one uh along D Street at 17053D D Street,
the other at 15593 uh 7th Street. U and in this particular
case, these funds will be used to to help uh make improvements to the
exterior of buildings, really to help try to to to improve the aesthetic
feature of some of those buildings in Oldtown. It's a part of our uh larger
goal of of trying to uh clean up the Oldtown area. And so with that, this
item has been authored by your deputy city manager, Mr. Tony Kamargo, and he's
available for any questions or comments you might have.
» Thank you, sir. Madame Clerk, would you please read the recommendation?
» That the honorable city council award a construction agreement to Global
Builders, Inc. for commercial facade improvements at 17053D Street and 155937
Street in the amount of $185,522.
authorize a 10% contingency for unforeseen repair expenses and authorize
the city manager or his designate to execute the construction agreement and
any related change orders by and between the city of Victorville and Global
Builders, Inc. >> Thank you, ma'am. At this time, we'll do
technical questions from council members. Mayor Pam Haramman,
» I have none. >> Council God,
» I have none. Thank you, Madam Mayor. >> Councilwoman Mora,
» I have none. Thank you. >> Councilwoman Irving,
» I have none. Thank you, Madame Mayor. >> We don't have none. I'll invite a motion
for this item. >> Madame Mayor, move to adopt staff's
recommendations. >> Second.
» We have a first by Councilwoman Irving, a second by Councilwoman Godan. Comments
on the pending motion, Councilwoman Irving?
» No comments. >> Councilwoman God,
» just that I'm excited to see this progressing forward and uh I'm happy to
be able to see the results soon. So, this is this is good and I'm glad that
this is finally getting um some motion behind it. So, thank you.
» Thank you, ma'am. Council Moira, >> I have none. Thank you.
» Mayor Tim Herman. >> Yeah, I do. Um
although I think this is great. I I I still can't figure out, and I discussed
this with our city manager, why nobody is bidding on this work from our high
desert. The money is not staying up here. And I just I just I can't figure
it out. I made some phone calls uh the other day and you know I don't know why
these the our local contractors are not participating in work like this. There's
there's a hundred of them out there. So I'm just kind of disappointed in that.
I'm glad it's getting done and I'm excited for Oldtown and all. I
just I I I'm struggling to find a way to get uh try to get these guys in here to
start doing some work so our our wages and the money stays up here in our area.
That's all I have. >> Thank you, Madam Clerk, will you take
the vote, please? >> Council member God,
» yes. >> Council member Irving,
» yes. >> Council member Mora,
» yes. >> Mayor PM Haramman,
» yes. >> Mayor Bisera,
» yes. >> Motion passes unanimously.
» We've now taken action to approve staff's recommendation as presented on
the agenda. Item 17, the purchase of a skid steer caterpillar PC306 coal
cleaner with a water tank attachment. Mr. Metro, can you kindly introduce this
item? >> Thank you, Madame Mayor, members of the
council. This item involves uh the purchase of equipment uh for the
airport. And as you know, out at the airport, the Southern California
Logistics Airport, uh we do operate and maintain a large facility with a vast
amount of asphalt and concrete. Uh in many cases that asphalt and concrete
especially when we're doing uh repair work um currently requires a physical uh
jackhammering of uh concrete or asphalt uh to perform repairs of those surfaces.
This type of equipment will actually help make that process a little bit
easier uh by actually um uh milling uh asphalt and/or concrete um which can
help um uh us repair a lot of the servants surfaces out there at the uh
airfield facility. It's also a piece of equipment that I expect uh or envision
being loaned to public works when they're in need of doing sidewalk uh
work uh throughout the city as well. So, I think it'll get multi-purposes,
but this item has been brought forward by your airport director, Mr. James
Morski. He's not here tonight. Uh, so I can certainly answer any questions uh
that you might have. >> Madam clerk, would you please read the
recommendation? >> That the Southern California Logistics
Airport Authority Board of Directors approve the purchase of a Caterpillar
PC306 cold planer with water tank. >> Thank you, ma'am. At this time, we'll do
technical questions from council members. Council member Mora,
» I have none. Thank you. >> Councilman God,
» I have none. Thank you. >> Counciloman Irving,
» no questions. Thank you. >> Member Cham Harman,
» I have none. >> I have a question. Mr. Man,
» you know why Mr. Morowski didn't come in today? Right.
» Right. Putting the pressure on me. >> Um,
is when you say it's going to be loaned down, is public works, and they're going
to get mad at me. I'm glad they're not there. Are they going to help pay for
any of it? No, no. This is going to be funded entirely by the uh by the
airport. So, it'll be principally to serve the airport, but certainly if it's
not being used every day uh and there's a project that could be uh it could be
useful for certainly uh uh the airport uh will be looked upon to share that
with either public works or even water if that might be the case.
» Thank you, sir. You let me know when it comes in, will you?
» I'll invite a motion for this item. >> Madame Mayor, move that we adopt staff
recommendation. >> Second. We have a first by Councilwoman
Irving, a second by Mayor Tim Haramman. Council member Irving, comments on the
pending motion? >> No comments.
» Mayor Tim Herman, >> I have none.
» Council God, >> I have none.
» Council member Moira, >> I have none. Thank you.
» And I have none. Mr. Master, I'll leave you alone.
» Madam clerk, will you take >> Council Member Godan?
» Yes. >> Council member Irving,
» yes. >> Council member Mora,
» yes. >> Mayor Prom Haramman,
» yes. >> Mayor Bera,
» yes. >> Motion passes unanimously. We've now
taken action to approve staff's recommendation as presented on the
agenda. Item 18, rejection of proposal civic civil engineering services for the
new park restrooms various parks project CC26-046.
Mr. Mensler, would you kindly introduce this item?
» Thank you, Madame Mayor and members of the council. We did uh go uh through a
solicitation process inviting civil engineering firms to to bid on a scope
of work uh focused on uh the civil work surrounding uh the ultimate installation
of modular bathrooms uh pre-engineered uh restroom facilities I'm sorry at
multiple park locations Eagle Ranch Schmidt Park uh and Green Tree Golf
Course uh at Green Tree Golf Course it' be two locations um uh out in the the
golf course area holes uh five and 14. Uh but that notwithstanding the bids
came in at a price that was something much more than we envisioned. Uh and so
certainly we are recommending because there isn't sufficient budget to handle
this uh go through a formal rejection of the bids. we'll go ahead and go back to
uh redrawing the scope to make sure it's much more clear uh and then determining
the the next best uh step forward. Uh and so with that, this item has been
authored by your community services director, Miss Donna Mester, and she's
here and available for any questions or comments you might have.
» Thank you, Madam Clerk. Would you please read the recommendation? that the
honorable city council reject all proposals received for civil engineering
services for new park restrooms various parks project CC26-046
and authorize staff to re-evaluate the project scope and procurement approach
prior to issuing a new solicitation for civil engineering services.
» Thank you ma'am. At this time we'll do technical questions from council
members. Councilwoman Mora >> I have none. Thank you.
» Counciloman God >> already had my questions answered. Thank
you. Councilwoman Irving, >> I don't have questions. Thank you.
» Mer Herman, >> are both those contractors out of the
area?
» Let me check. Didn't look that close.
» They are. >> Okay. All right. Uh, yes, they are.
Sorry. >> Okay. I'll save the rest for comments.
» I'll invite a motion for this item. Move to adopt staff recommendation as to
points one and two is presented on the agenda.
» Second. >> I have a first by council Godan, a
second by counciloman Irving. Councilman Godan, comments on the penny motion?
» I have none. >> Councilman Irving?
» No comments. >> Councilwoman Mora?
» No comments. Thank you. >> And now Mayor Pam here.
» Okay. So, uh again, uh and I I'm going to speak from as a
retired contractor. uh work is bid geographically and I guarantee you and
I'm sure our engineer and others will tell you when companies come from down
in the valley they're too they're not in line with what things go for around
here. Maybe sometimes they are, but the these these prices are just outrageous.
And we got to figure out a way to get our local contractors to start getting
active in bidding the work for our city. That's all I have.
» Okay. Mayor Tim Herman, don't take this wrong, but Mr. Medler, how many meetings
have we had with the contractors to try to teach them how to bid on our jobs?
Two or three that I can remember. >> Yeah, I don't know the exact number, but
we have gone through that process to >> So, we basically hold their hand through
the process short of us hiring their employees. We walk them through and show
them how to fill out the bids, how to get the insurance, how to pay for work
when comp, everything. Correct. >> Yeah. We've had those uh environments
where we're educating people on the process. Ultimately, once they submit
the bid, you know, then there's no more handholding. Uh you know, goes through
the the selection process from there. Uh but yeah, we've we've done a lot to try
to help the the community be aware uh not only of the projects, but the
process. >> Okay. Um, hold on. Our our engineering,
our public works department, our community service, HR, top-notch. We
know what we're doing. We know how to get the bids out there. If our local
contractors cannot come to the table, we are doing everything we can to try to
bring them to the table. I'm stick up for you guys.
» Can I Can I go ahead? >> I wasn't talking down on our staff. I I
agree. We've done a lot of things. That's why I I said it we need to figure
out a way because it it just uh uh we've done everything and I agree and I wish
we had maybe staff uh that could do the same save us a lot of money. But
anyways, yeah, that's all I have. I'm not talking bad about our staff. I've
just and I'm not saying we haven't helped and held people's hands. I just I
just I I have a hard time understanding why nobody wants to do work for us.
That's all I have. >> Madam Clerk, will you take the vote,
please? >> Council member Godam,
» yes. >> Council member Irving,
» yes. >> Council member Mora,
» yes. >> Mayor Prom Haramman,
» yes. >> Mayor Bisera,
» yes. >> Motion passes unanimously.
» We've now taken action to approve staff's recommendation as presented on
the agenda. Item 19, Senate bills 1061, 1062, and 1063,
AO AOA B. Mr. Mencer, would you kindly introduce this item?
» Thank you, Madame Mayor, and members of the council. This item was brought to
our attention uh through the attendance of our Mountain Desert Division uh of
the California League of Cities. And this was brought forward as we were
requested to consider taking a letter of support uh for these bills. These bills
uh Senate bills 1061 2 and three are all related to the Western Joshua Tree
Conservation Act which uh went into uh effect I believe uh starting January 1st
of 2023. Um, in in its simplest form, the the the
act uh actually uh provides additional protections to the western Joshua Tree,
which is the the species of tree uh found here in the Victorville area. Uh
and altogether it serves as a protection to that tree. Uh and it actually does
create impediments to further development including uh the
construction of affordable housing. That notwithstanding uh this bill was put in
place u to uh ease some of the burdens. Uh certainly one area is establishing a
targeted exemption for the relocation within same parcel or contiguous
parcels. Uh also there's a recognition that uh for the construction of uh life
sa life self life sustaining services roadways utilities things of that nature
uh to have the the Joshua tree impeding upon those abilities for us to provide
our essential services doesn't sound right. And so those are some of the um
things that these bills do in terms of uh just offering some relief uh to uh
the the original act. And so with that, um, this item is brought forward, uh,
for your consideration. I did author the I did author the staff report. There is
no fiscal impact. Uh, with your approval, we'll, uh, proceed in
submitting letters of support to, uh, legislators on these bills. That's all I
have, Madame Mayor. >> Thank you very much. Madam clerk, will
you please read the recommendation? that your honorable city council support
Senate bills 1061, 1062, and 1063 and authorize the mayor to sign a letter of
support. >> Thank you. At this time, we'll do
technical questions from council members. Council God,
» I have none. Thank you. >> Counciloman,
» I don't have any questions. Thank you. >> Councilwoman Mora,
» I have none. Thank you. >> Mayor Pam Herman,
» I have none. >> And I have none. I'll invite a motion
for this item. Move to adopt staff recommendation to
draft the to send these letters out to support the bills.
» Second second. >> I have a first by Councilman Goan, a
second by Mayor Tim Herman. Comments on the pending motion. Councilman Goan.
» I have none. >> Mayor Tim Herman.
» Yeah. Um small small step, but uh we're getting
we're we're moving in the right direction.
» Counciloman Irving. >> I don't have any comments. Thank you.
Council member Mora, >> I have none. Thank you.
» And I have none. Madame clerk, will you please take the vote?
» Council member Godan, >> yes.
» Council member Irving, >> yes.
» Council member Mora, >> yes.
» Mayor Prom Haramman, >> yes.
» Mayor Bera, >> yes.
» Motion passes unanimously. >> We've now taken action to approve
staff's recommendation as presented on the agenda. Item 20, discussion and
possible action to consider an adjustment to the city council
compensation. Mr. Meer, would you kindly introduce this item?
Thank you, Madame Mayor and members of the council. This item is brought
forward uh pursuant to an action taken by the city council back in November of
2024 where then uh the council um asked for an item to be automatically placed
on ag on an agenda in every even year um so that the council can consider uh
whether or not it wants to um alter increase uh its salary. And as you know,
uh, the salary offered, uh, to council members is prescribed in municipal code.
Uh, and it specifies a certain specific dollar amount and also includes
provisions, uh, as to the ability to increase it. Um and the increase allowed
for pursuant to the code uh if you so choose to increase it is um a measure of
either 5% um uh or CPI whichever is is greater is the basic measure and so um
the council this item's brought forward for the council to consider whether or
not it wants to make an increase to u its salary within those parameters. Uh
and it's also important to note that notwithstanding
um any action by the council tonight to change its salary, the effectiveness of
that uh change in salary would not take place until uh after the um general
election uh in November. And so with that, uh the author is uh authored by
your city clerk. Uh but both she and I can answer any questions or comments you
might have. >> Thank you. Madam clerk, would you please
read the recommendation? Any action is at the discretion of your
honorable city council. >> Thank you. At this time, we'll do
technical questions from council members. Counciloman Goa,
» I have none. Thank you. Councilwoman Irving,
» I only want one uh one point for clarification. The last time we
considered this item, we got a 5% increase. Is that correct?
» I believe it was a 5% increase over a number of years.
because the council hadn't uh raised its salary for uh quite some time. So when
it did it last, it was playing catchup. >> Okay. Thank you.
» Councilman Moa, >> I have none. Thank you.
» Member Herman, >> I have none.
» And I have none. >> I'll invite a motion for this item.
Since there is no motion, motion dies. Correct. Uh,
city clerk. Yes, madam. >> The item dies for lack of a motion.
» Okay.
Item 21, city manager reports. Mr. Metsler.
» Yes. Thank you, Madame Mayor, members of the council. Uh, a few items to report
on the animal services side. Uh, the animal services uh, division will be at
the High Desert Farmers Market at BBC this Thursday, April 23rd, from 8 a.m.
to 12 pm. an opportunity to stop by, meet some of our adorable pets available
for adoption. Uh, also join us this Saturday, April 25th, uh, from 10 am to
2 pm at the Animal Care and Adoption Center for our national adopt a shelter
pet uh, day event. Uh, we'll be featuring a live radio broadcast from Y
102. Um, and all adoptions are free and include vaccinations and microchipping.
On the community services side, uh, this is, uh, National Library Week. Uh the
library is celebrating with fun activities throughout the week,
including a scavenger hunt and uh art projects. Uh then to wrap up the week,
join us for a community celebration this Saturday, April 25th, from uh noon to 2
p.m. uh featuring refreshments, a movie, and a number of giveaways. Uh on the
environmental program side, uh we do have Shredfest and a composting giveaway
uh on Saturday, May 2nd from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. And that's at the MURF uh
here in Victorville. Residents can bring up to four 20 pound boxes of bags of
paper documents uh to be shredded for free. Uh and we'll also be giving away
up to 50 gallons of free composting per household. And so with that, I also will
forward you the email that has all the projects uh of interest that are going
through our development process. uh on that document, you'll be able to
see where uh all the commercial and residential projects that have been
submitted, where they're at in the process, and what you can expect to see
uh in terms of breaking ground in the near future. Uh that's all I have at
this time, Madame Mayor. >> Thank you, sir. At this time, we'll move
on to item 22, discussion and possible action regarding upcoming agenda items.
Councilman Godan, >> I have none.
» Councilwoman Mora, >> I have none.
» Councilwoman Irving, >> I don't have anything. Thank you. Mayor
Tim Herman. >> I have none.
» And I have none. We will move on to item 23, reports from council members.
Council members, if you guys want to say thank you or something came up or
whatever you want to say, go ahead. At this time, you know, we'll be allowed.
Uh, madame clerk, is it a three minute or a five minute?
» Three minutes. >> Three minutes. Okay. Um, we'll start off
with Councilwoman Mora. I just want to say congratulations to our survey tech
on passing the National Council of Exams for Engineering and Surveying Mr.
Bradley East. So, and also a big thank you to all of our city staff. Um,
everyone does amazing job and our public safety um public comments really there
are lots of incidents, but I know our first responders are always out there
dedicated. So, I'm always thankful and grateful for them. And um that's all.
Thank you. >> Thank you, ma'am. Council Mcota. Thank
you, Madame Mayor. I just wanted to thank uh Mr. Bonia and his team for an
amazing engineering report. Um I definitely enjoyed the traffic edition
section um with all the information. So thank you. I enjoyed reading through
your report. Lots of good things. Um and then I also just wanted to thank Mr.
Duran for his uh engineering or his code compliance uh pardon me, your code
compliance report. You and your team, good job. Um, I was happy to read all of
the just improvements and the numbers especially that we've added the parking.
Um, and so I think that's great and uh I appreciate both of you and your teams
for just such amazing reports. They're very easy to read, very thorough. So
well done and thank you. That's all. Thank you, Madame Mayor. Councilwoman
Irving, >> I just want to Well, I want to echo what
my colleague has said. I'm very very pleased with the direction of the city
and I too would like to commend code enforcement for their hard work and the
department of engineering for their hard work and I do appreciate their reports
as well. Thank you. >> Mayor Tim Herman.
» Yes. Um I love my city. I really do. I think
this city I love when I'm out of town and I'm going to do it again the next
three days in Sacramento. I love bragging about how good this city is and
how we're we're leading I at least in my opinion I I believe we're not only
leading the high desert but you know we have cities that come up here just to
look at the things we do and I want to thank Freddy and uh code enforcement
George I I just can't say enough on how things have changed and since I was
on the planning commission it it kind of took off from
uh with uh putting the uh uh wellness center together and I just I I probably
I I can't begin to tell you how much nicer
uh and cleaned up at least where I live is and I live in like the the biggest
retail area in the city. Uh, I want to thank Doug public works. Uh, Alex uh uh
planning and Bobby for the the the uh fire department and Joe for building and
Heather for HR and forgot your name,
but but I I I I I mean it, you guys. I I love this city. I'm gonna go to I'm
gonna go to bat for us no matter what it is. And I want to thank uh all the
deputy city managers who have been a world of knowledge for me and when I
have questions and our lieutenant uh our our police department is really going
through a challenge right now. I in the last
last two months have been hell. There's been some real
strange stuff going on and the the police department has had handled it
very professionally. I'm proud of that. Uh there was a fire at a house in my
neighborhood and our fire department was there to get it all under control. I
just love how everything is happening in my city and I just want to say thank you
to everybody. I know that wasn't real, but I mean it. That's it.
» Thank you. Um Engineering and Code, I also read your reports. Joe, I read your
reports. Yes, buddy. Thank you. Very informative. For those of you who did
read the reports, Bear Valley Road is going to get restriped at Bear Valley
and Armagosa. Now we can make it to Double Hand Turn
Lane. That's going to be fun. Thank you, sir. I agree. I appreciate everything
you guys do over there, Juan. You and your guys, you know that Doug, thank
you. Um, Sue, Route 66 fair information has gone
out. Um, people have been writing back and everything. It's going to be
exciting. So, the Route 66 fair that's going to be downtown. It's on the
website. Any questions, go through our PIO office. Yes, ma'am. Thank you very
much. Also, the tour of Victorville 101 is also coming up. So, get on that.
That's the one that everybody needs to go to. So now I would like council to
know that I was busy this morning. I decided to go to the Sanino County Board
of Supervisors meeting and speak at their meeting this morning. So, if you
guys hear about it, um, I spoke with being upset, not being upset, concerned
with our landfill being closed because outside trash is being brought in from
other counties and there isn't a concern of our trash having to sit in trucks on
the side of the road because they couldn't dump. So, that's what I let
them know. Um, I behaved. I They used English your guys. So good to go. Um if
there is anything else, Mr. Medler, >> not you again.
» I forgot it.
He had such a disappointed look on his face. How could I forget?
Every time my password needs to be redone.
» And you forgot the city clerk's department who makes your travel
arrangements. and our city going on air. I I I told
you I wouldn't remember everybody. >> I'm sure the parks department is very
upset. They just cut the grass today. >> Thank you.
» Thank you, Donna. >> At this time,
» at this time, if there is nothing further, Andre, do you have anything?
» Thank you, mayor. I have nothing. >> Thank you, sir. Um, the time is 6:46 and
this meeting's a journ.
HR got you guys. Thank you.